We've been following Halfbrick's upcoming effort Machine Gun Jetpack ever since we got our dirty hands on it at GDC this past March. We instantly fell in love with the gameplay that was built around one of Barry Steakfries' most infamous weapons from Monster Dash [99�], the machine gun jetpack (duh). We've also posted a couple of developer diary videos that the team at Halfbrick has been filming during the creation of the game, giving some insight into their development process of Machine Gun Jetpack.

Except, it's not called Machine Gun Jetpack any longer. Remove that name from your mind, and say hello to Jetpack Joyride, the brand new moniker for Halbrick's brand new game. You might be thinking "why on Earth would they change the name of something that sounded so freaking awesome?", and at first I felt the same way. But after watching this following video, Halfbrick's own Phil Larsen and Luke Muscat put up a pretty strong argument as to why the name was changed.

Basically, the game has evolved so much over the past several months and there's now so much awesome stuff in there that it's no longer just about the machine gun jetpack, but rather a bunch of different and equally cool kinds of jetpacks, as well as tons of other crazy goodies. In short, Jetpack Joyride has evolved into a total gaming beast brimming with variety.

Since it's been nearly 6 months since we last got to hang with Phil from Halfbrick, it warms our hearts to see his bright, shining face in that video. Sure, we got to yap with him on a bonus TouchArcade Show podcast last month, but that doesn't come close to actually hanging out with the man � nay, the legend � in real, physical reality. Oh, also, Jetpack Joyride looks absolutely bonkers.

We've got the final product in our (still) dirty hands, and we'll give you a hands-on look at it later this week. This should properly whet your appetite for you to get your own (probably) dirty hands on the game on September 1st when Jetpack Joyride launches for 99� as a Universal app. Keep your eyes fixed on this space for our preview this week or drop by our forums to discuss the newly renamed Jetpack Joyride.

Look, I'm not one percent sure if HungryMaster's [$2.99] over-the-top It Came From The East design and approach is supposed to feel like its ridiculing and therefore exposing the condition some Japanese games are in when they come to the West, but I really, really want to take it at face value. Because if it is satirical and as self-aware as I think it is, it's absolutely brilliant � the broken English, the ridiculous cast, and the collection of oddball mechanics bolstered by the low-definition approach to audio and visuals paint a truly hilarious picture of sub-par import games in a wholesome and entertaining way.

I know I can't accurately describe the game's premise to you, and hopefully that's the point of HungryMaster. But here's what I know. You play as an overly bubbly young anime girl with green hair who is visited, suddenly, by a magical talking cat named Saten. The cat tells the girl that she can have magic, too, in some fancifully broken English complete with spelling errors. From there, they have discussions about fruit and monsters that I can't follow, but I get the distinct impression that it's all riffing on anime tropes and bad translation efforts.

From a mechanical standpoint, I hesitate to call this a dual-stick shooter, even though it does feel like one. The entire game from what I've seen revolves around moving around a small forested environment and killing little monsters with magical bursts. In turn, these monsters drop food that you have to return to houses when a quota is filled. It's simple and comically offbeat, which is exactly what I expect out of games like these. HungryMaster pushes it all to the next level with its cuteness, horrible dialogue, and hilarious arcade underpinnings which include scan lines and other lo-fi quality presentation tactics. Again, brilliance on display here � if this is supposed to be riffing on the oddity of the import game.

The sad thing is that HungryMaster doesn't work so well as an iPad game. The game doesn't separate its movement and firing mechanics well, as both require you to hold down your finger around the character. With an iCade, however, the game pops. With the joystick, you can move around Delica with precision and ease, and with buttons, you can control your magical attacks in a much more profound and precise way.

Straight-up: I couldn't stomach the game part of HungryMaster without the iCade, but in using it I was actually able to get into the action � to really wander around the world and pummel the monsters I wanted to without fumbling, covering up the action with my fingers, or taking damage based on said fumbling. Without a doubt, I think this is a must-have title if you have an iCade. Don't miss it.

Also, if this isn't satire, I take all of this back, but still maintain that this is ridiculous fun with an iCade regardless.

Previous games we've covered in this series: Mos Speedrun. Check out our list of iCade titles here.

Well now here's something you don't see every day, especially from a company like EA, and especially from a series that among other bragging rights includes the best selling PC game of all time…! The Sims 3 World Adventures [Free] is free today, as part of a particularly confusing promotion as historically speaking Sims games have had absolutely no problem selling like crazy on the App Store. World Adventures is sort of the odd man out of the bunch on the App Store, as instead of focusing on typical Sims-like activities of decking out your house and simulating the various mundane tasks which you yourself do every day, it sends you off to several exotic locales to complete various goals.

The cool thing with this one is that if you've got a sim in The Sims 3 [99�] you'll be able to import and export them to go on your world adventure. The Sims 3 World Adventures didn't have that great of a critical reception when it first launched, but how much can you really complain about a free Sims game?

As an aside, it will be interesting to see what this kind of freebie promotion means for EA on the App Store. As evident by Christmas of last year, they can basically take over the top paid charts at will… And it seems they have the same sway over the free charts as well.

We think the next update to Liv Games' Zen Wars [$1.99] needs to include a Rampart-like icon with a similarly constipated man pointing urgently at fire, but the update we've just received will keep us busy and, more importantly, on speaking terms in the meantime. In addition to a bunch of bug fixes, Liv Games has added a new "one life" multiplayer mode, which has been designed to dramatically whittle down the time spent in each online, cannon-filled affair. The old three life I Don't Have Anything To Do Today mode still exists, so don't panic, please.

Specifically with the bug pass, Liv Games has eradicated the "players playing" bug which showed a perpetual 0, as well as tidied up an issue with survival that kept users from earning achievements. Lastly, Liv has also tuned up the transparency of the HUD when you're working around the top of the screen.

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Zen Wars is a pretty radical game. Jared "Sleeping Beard" Nelson gave it some major props in his review from earlier this month, which you can view here if you're stilling thinking about jumping on the Zen Wars train despite its awful, awful icon.