Live from GDC 2010, Rene talks to Alexandra Peters of Firemint about Flight Control for the iPhone [$0.99 - iTunes link]

Alex tells us a great story about how Flight Control was conceived and developed, and let’s us know that we just might see an iPad version soon.

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Live from GDC 2010, Rene talks to Bob Koon of Binary Hammer about the Creature24 project that tried to make a complete, polished iPhone game in 24 hours.

The goal of Creature24 was to create a real, polished iPhone game in 24 hrs, transparently on the internet. They didn’t make their deadline, but were valiant in the attempt. They’re going to complete the game, and perhaps do an iPad version of the challenge (with a slightly expanded time limit) next year.

Watch along after the break!

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Chad and Rene discuss iPad pre-orders, GDC 2010, iPhone 4.0 rumors, Google vs. Apple, Windows Phone 7 series, and all the week’s news. Listen in!

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Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

Live from GDC 2010, Rene talks with Jonathan Kromrey, General Manager of Apple Games at Namco about Pool Pro Online 3 [$4.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch… and coming to the iPad as well!

Namco’s Apple group, known as Order of Magnitude, started with the iPhone version but since much of the game runs server side, and they’ve got high resolution art for the PC and Mac versions, moving it over to the iPad is something they can do very quickly. (It will also allow them to bring it to Android — already in beta — and other platforms). Due to the server-side nature of the game, you can also play it across platforms with your settings and customizations linked to your username. That means if you play on the iPhone now, when you get the iPad you can log in and just keep playing.

Multiplayer is supported over Wi-Fi and bluetooth and you can chat (i.e. trash-talk) in any language supported by the iPhone via their Unite SDK, the same system that allows cross-platform challenges to be sent and received. (And you can wager with virtual cash to make it a little more interesting).

We’ve been promised this kind of multi-player, multi-platform gaming for a long time now but Namco looks like they’re delivering. The performance and real-time rendering are slick and swift and the controls and customization are precise and robust.

Check out the video below, and if you’re playing Pool Pro Online 3 let us know how you’re liking it!

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I already mentioned I’m on my way to GDC 2010 to cover the iPhone panel, and that iPhone gaming is getting big, so it’s interesting to see CNET reenforce just how big it’s getting:

strikingly absent among those 18 [Mobile Gaming] panels are any that deal with game development specifically for the iPhone. And why? Because for the first time, the GDC advisory board decided that Apple’s smartphone is an important enough platform to warrant its own summit. And it filled quickly.

Simon Jeffrey, vice president of social applications for leading iPhone game developer Ngmoco says:

“The iPhone is now recognized as a leading platform that’s independent from the mobile. People are specifically naming the iPhone as a threat to their businesses. Nintendo said the iPhone is taking customers away from [its popular] DS handhelds.”

The cost of entry is lower than Microsoft or Nintendo, and it’s getting more and more popular while still maintaining its cool factor.

While Android and Windows Phone 7 Series will bring the competition (and perhaps Palm as well), right now the iPhone is riding high on its head start.

Tuesday and Wednesday TiPb is going to be at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) San Francisco 2010 to find out what’s new and notable in the world of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad gaming. Scuttlebutt is, if you think gaming is big on the iPhone OS now… get ready for it to explode in 2010.

We’ll do our best to meet with all your favorite game companies, from the huge houses to the best and brightest indies.

If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello. If you’re a developer with a great new iPhone OS game to show off, ping us [news at tipb dot com] so we can meet up. If you’re joining us from a far, keep your browsers locked right here on TiPb for all the video action, and follow along for live updates and behind the scenes banter with @reneritchie on the Twitter.

Game. On.