Star Wars fans are in for a treat this Wednesday with the release of Star Wars Blu-ray: Early Access to the App Store. The app will be a companion for the upcoming Blu-ray collection, The Complete Saga. The app is being released early to coincide with the start of Comic-Con in San Diego.

The App, available for all iDevices including the iPad and iPhone will highlight a sampling of bonus materials featured in the Blu-ray collection, including never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm Archives such as matte paintings and concept art; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more.

[Engadget]

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is now available in the app store for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4. A first person action game, it puts players in the well known “Millennium Falcon” gun turret where you advance through 20 levels of action. Relive some of the most exciting missions like the Death Star escape, asteroid field pursuit over Hoth and infamous Kessel Run.

SPECIAL MODIFICATIONS: As you blast your way through waves of TIE fighters, Star Destroyers, and a few other special surprises, you’ll earn credits that can be used to make special modifications to the Falcon’s offensive and defensive capabilities, including concussion missiles and a low-level tractor beam… perfect for grabbing TIE interceptors and launching them back at their black-helmeted buddies. For iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G users, an optional augmented reality mode lets players use a device’s camera to overlay enemy fighters on top of their natural surroundings and the device’s compass or gyroscope to enable 360-degree, full body motion control movement.

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Runner is fully compatible with the Retina Display, Game Center and also includes Facebook integration too. The game is only recommended for use on  iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4; THQ state that older devices will experience memory issues. It is not currently available for the iPad, but will be come December (we do not know if the app will be updated to a universal binary or if there will be a specific version for the iPad at an additional cost).

Star Wars fans, go and grab it now, let us know what you think of it in the comments!

[$4.99 -  iTunes Link]

Like Star Wars? Like tower defense games? Then you might want to take a look at THQs recent release Star Wars: Battle for Hoth for iPhone. 

The game premise is that of all tower defense games; prevent your enemy (in this case the Imperial Empire) from reaching the other said of the map. As you play the game you get a fairly diverse set of units to deploy in defending Hoth. But, before I get into that, let’s look at play mechanics first. 

You start Battle for Hoth with some simple ground troop units and a shovel. The shovel allows you to alter the landscape of the level and force units to move a certain route. This is a great tool in later levels as you can really funnel the Empire to their doom. When you place your units and they destroy a wave of Imperials, you are rewarded with a green wrench icon you have to touch to collect. This gives you points to build or upgrade units. You have to be fast though if you wait too long the wrench will change color to orange then red, decreasing the point value. Wait too long, and your points are gone forever.

As you play through the 15 levels you unlock more types of units including; seated blaster units, radar lasers, turrets, snow speeders, x-wings, shield generators and ion cannons. Some of the more complex units like the ion cannon, shield generators and turrets require an energy generator placed next to them. The energy generator is required to power those units. If you upgrade a unit (say the shield generator) without upgrading the energy unit, you run the risk of losing power to that unit so you always have to keep it in check. 

You can upgrade your existing units to make them more powerful and sell them as needed. I found the most fun in the game building up units under the safety of the shield generator and then taking out AT-ATs with relative ease once my units were upgraded to the maximum.

When writing this review, I have to admit I had some distaste for this game. Simple and not a lot of variety in what appeared to be a shameless use of an awesome gaming license. However, after I made my video review above, I am having a bit of a change of heart. I think I am trying to make Battle of Hoth more than it is;  a simple Star Wars-themed tower defense game to kill a view minutes in your day while standing in line to get groceries. Should you get it? If you are a Star Wars fan I think you will enjoy. If not, I would pass. 

[$2.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Fast gameplay
• Fun in small chunks
• Fast forward the game action
• Familiar Star Wars universe
• Units behave as they should

Cons

• Original game music is not the Star Wars music we love
• Easy is too easy
• Lacking variety of Star Wars units and ships

Speaking of Daring Fireball links and HTML5, Guillermo Esteves has re-created the opening crawl from the original Star Wars using only web-based technologies. It currently runs exclusively on the bleeding-edge WebKit nightly builds, Safari for OS X Snow Leopard… and on the built-in iPhone Safari (though it doesn’t look as polished).

That’s right. No Chrome anything, including Android 2.1. No Palm webOS browser. That it works on the iPhone’s and iPod touch’s MobileSafari… is kind of crazy considering it hasn’t been updated since iPhone 3.1.2 back on Oct. 8. Just goes to show how seriously Apple is pushing the web on the iPhone.

So, yeah, words moving away into perspective in your browser, but this is without QuickTime or Flash or anything to strain your bandwidth or burn your battery. Very nice.

YouTube video of the WebKit/Safari version after the break!

The force is strong with Star Wars: Trench Run [$4.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch, as it’s just hit the iTunes App Store.

Features include Force Powers, 3D trench flying, X-Wing style, easter eggs (you tease!), and did we say 3D Death Star trench flying?

If this is the iPhone Star Wars game you’ve been looking for, go get it and tell us what you think!

With Star Wars: Trench Wars THQ Wireless is finally giving all of the Star Wars fans what seems to be a quality game based off of the classic films. To us it looks like a nice remake of the classic Star Wars arcade game.

Use the Force to overthrow the evil Galactic Empire as they attempt to destroy the small Rebel base on Yavins jungle moon. As part of the Rebel Alliances Red Squadron you dogfight with TIE Fighters above the Death Stars surface before heading into a trench where you are inundated by cannon fire. Dodge obstacles, and stay out of Darth Vaders sights as he tries to gun you down before you have the chance to fire your proton torpedoes into a thermal exhaust port the size of a womp rat. If successful, a direct hit will cause a chain reaction that destroys the Death Star, thus saving the Rebel base from impending doom.

While no price or exact release date has been given, the game is showing promise. I’ve grown up a fan of the Star Wars films and yes, the last three films were unfortunate but hopefully games like this will make us all feel a little bit better. Maybe?

[Via Touch Arcade]

Black Friday may be over, but there are still some good deals happening in the App Store and we have a few notables for you today.

Are you a Star Wars fan? Well then you’ll be happy to know that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed [iTunes Link] has dropped $2 and is now available for $5.99. If you are not sure if it’s your type of game check out Rene’s full Star Wars: The Force Unleashed review!

This next app is perfect for all of you skiers and snowboarders out there. Snow Reports + GPS Ski & Snowboard Trail Maps [iTunes Link] is a great app that uses iPhones GPS to keep track of where you are on the mountain. View all of the trails, lifts, and more! You can now get this app for half off the regular price of $5.99. So if you are hitting the slopes this winter do not pass up on this one for $2.99!

Finally, we have a racer’s delight… Asphalt 4: Elite Racing. [iTunes Link] If you missed out on the reviews for this racer and more, be sure to visit the TiPb Grand Prix! You can now get this top racer for only $5.99, that’s $2.00 off the regular price.

So there you have it folks, just a few sales going on in the ever popular App Store! Enjoy!

(Not one, but two premiere game reviews on TiPb today. If you haven’t already checked out the review of Spore for the iPhone, go get your evolution on!)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Mobile) for the iPhone by THQ Wireless is available for $9.99 via the iTunes App Store. Alongside Spore, it’s one of the highest profile games released so far for the “funnest iPod (and iPhone) ever”.

Now, Star Wars was the first movie I remember seeing in the theater (which, yes, makes me old and tells you something about how big a deal actually going to a movie theater was in the days before PPV, torrentz, and home cinema!) I had a lot of the toys. I played a lot of the video games, from the early Nintendo fare that drove the sound track so far into overuse I still cringe when I hear Jawa, to the truly epic Battlefront II on the original Xbox. I even have had the prequels Jedi-mind-tricked out of my consciousness (“not the Star Wars you were looking for…”)

So yes, Star Wars is in my DNA every bit as much as Apple. Put them together and — even absent Megan Fox — and The Force Unleashed pretty much had me at announce. But would it hold me? Does THQ deliver Empire-class sizzle, or Phantom-style fizzle?

Check out the review, after the break!

Story

We play said apprentice, and right from the start, we’re told not to leave any witnesses alive — Imperial or Rebel alike. Keeps things nice and simple, at least to start.

If you’ve seen the game trailers, however, where whole Star Destroyers get pulled from the sky, you know this isn’t n00b Luke or aged Yoda or wasted Windu. This is the Force we always wanted…

… Just not enough of it. The Mobile version is cut way down from its big platform brothers, and ultimately doesn’t last as long as we’d have liked. Think of it as the Force Unleashed: Crib Notes Edition.

Score: 4/5

Music and Sound Effects

Now, the themes and effects are all classic to the point of being repeated pretty much endlessly for the last 30 years. That’s either made it endearing or maddening, depending on your point of view. Except for the aforementioned Jawa theme, it still works for me.

It all comes through well on the iPhone’s “casual listening” speaker, and better still with earphones. I had some issues with stuttering, but a force quit (hold down Home for 10 seconds) cleared it up. Strange that an iPod-based device could have sound issues, unless games are handled differently?

On the negative side, there’s no voice. Instead, we get text screen dialog after text screen dialog, in tiny, thin font. It’s strange to see on a device that can easily handle hour upon hour of podcast, but let’s just assume it’s a limitation of mobility and move on. (Although given the poor excuse for James Earl Jones the big consoles get, it could actually be a blessing!)

Score: 4/5

Graphics and Visuals

Given that split focus, how do the Force Unleashed’s graphics hold up in the actual mobile world? Surprisingly well. It’s nowhere near the PS3 version, of course, so if you’re expecting that, check yourself into real-hab immediately. I’d say Xbox and PSP were a bit of an overstatement as well, but having played me some Goldeneye 64 back in the day, these are on-par in the polygon pushing department, though the text-mapping is predictably — and happily — more advanced.

With regards to the art direction: some aspects are… cartoonish. Vader in the beginning, the lush yet animation-style (i.e. static) background plates. Not that the game as a whole shoots for realism, just that it doesn’t present a unified feel.

Also, I did have the same jitter issues I had with the sound, and while the force quit memory clean-up helped, it didn’t make it perfect.

Bottom line though? This game looks great… for a mobile game, and outstanding for a phone game.

Score: 4/5

Gameplay

A word of warning (and potential deal breaker to some): We don’t have any influence over where our Sith anti-hero goes. No directional control. No movement at all. Like Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair (Wikipedia them) and some of the older Star Wars PC games, cut scenes and the computer move us from situation to situation.

So what can we do? Stand there, get attacked, and have to deal with defense and counter. That’s our job, deflect laser fire, and show boxes, Droids, Storm Troopers, Rebels, and Jedi alike the true power of the Dark Side.

A tutorial starts off the game to teach us the basic Force Grip (a choke) and Throw, and as we progress, new tutorials teach us Force Push and Pull, Force Heal, Mind Trick, Dark Force Lightning, etc. Each is activated by a unique gesture we need to draw on the screen at the appropriate time. For some powers, like the initial Force Grip, the gesture is shown on the screen above the target — a helpful reminder. Simply draw it out and it happens. For others, like Force Heal, you have to either remember it, or pause the game and check the built-in reference — also helpful.

To add some measure of complexity, not all powers work on all enemies all the time, and later we have the ability to switch powers depending on foe and factors. For example, a two-finger upward swipe, downward swipe, or tap switches between Force Pull, Force Push, and Force Grip, with the gesture hint changing along with the power (or changing to an empty circle to show when a particular power will not prove useful).

Some may find flashing fingers all over the display distracting or disastrous, but it’s a touch-screen device, and while that paradigm is new, it’s a good attempt at dealing with controls absent a joystick or d-pad. This is especially true given that the accelerometer isn’t used for anything other than rotating the display. (Though it should be noted that the ability to rotate — and hence choose between between portrait or landscape mode — rocks and is executed with buttery smoothness.) Maybe next time THQ could throw us a bone and let us use that accelerometer to move our character around a bit, even just between action dioramas?

Along with the game mechanics, there are controls aplenty to pause the game, explore options, pick between continuing and starting a new story, and choosing chapters (once you’ve completed them and made them available for replay).

We can also drop in and out relatively well — an imperative on a phone-based game. Take a call, or switch out of the game, and when you come back, you can pick up at the scene where you left off (not just chapter!). This is a lesson in integrated device gaming other developers really need to pay attention to.

One perplexing choice, however, given the multi-touch-centricity of the iPhone, are the dialog boxes. You can hold down and pull scroll bars or hit the More button to move down long passages of text, but you can’t just touch them and flick. It’s the iPhone, dang it! We don’t need no sticky scroll bars.

Score: 4/5

Replay Value

There is a more difficult mode, which will likely appeal to hardcore gamers (which I am, admittedly, not), and since completed levels become stored as unlocked chapters specifically for replay, perfectionists and casual time-killers alike might be drawn back into them. Might.

Score: 3/5

Conclusion

Sure, the iPhone version doesn’t pack anywhere near the scope or power of $59 (PS3, Xbox 360), $49 (Wii), or $39 (PSP) versions, but with no real load times to slow us down, and the ability to drop in and out pretty much on a whim, it fits very well into the iPhone environment.

If you like the iPhone and you like Star Wars, it’s a no brainer. The story is intriguing enough and an interesting addition to the mythos, the sound is classic, the graphics are a contender, and the gameplay is workable.

If you like action games (minus, you know, moving) and want to experience the first important steps of Apple’s “Game On” initiative, it’s a similarly easy choice.

Otherwise you’re paying for the Star Wars name and the fancy production, and you probably want to look around the App Store a while before hitting that buy button.

Final Score

Outside Spore, and perhaps the recently demoed Need for Speed, there’s no bigger game waiting on this year’s iPhone horizon than THQ’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. And now it’s available via the iTunes App Store.

We’re already downloading and will be back with a review as soon as we can get with the dark side and bring some order to the galaxy…

You got it yet? How’s it seem? Awesome like the original trilogy, or prequel city?

(And any sign of Lightsaber Unleashed yet?)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed preview gallery after the jump!

MacBox, the developer of PhoneSaber, has given word that they’ve had to pull the app from iTunes after a request from THQ wireless. The chat: friendly. The news: THQ has the rights to Star Wars IP on mobiles. The result: MacBox had to pull the app.

That’s the bad news. Here’s the awesome news. THQ is going to work with MacBox to make PhoneSaber not only official, but better with actual ‘canon’ sound effects. MacBox is hoping the app will remain free, perhaps in a promotional capacity for the actual THQ game, The Force Unleashed.

via MacRumors, Thanks to Bad Ash for the tip!

Hmm. Megan Fox in retro Star Wars chic, hawt she is. But iPhone 3G with latest CGI, rocks it does!

Okay, while I may personally still be waiting for my Battlefront Touch, and accelerometer X-Wing dogfights, Star Wars: the Force Unleashed from THQ brings plenty of lightsaber and force-powered goodness:

the battles can grow enjoyably hectic as you block fire and toss your enemies aside. And it’s all promised to be backed by the same soundtrack we’ll hear in the Xbox/PS3 versions of the Force Unleashed (we just heard placeholder music during our hands-on). Oh, and something really cool. You can rotate the game between portrait and landscape mode. Neither gave the characters the stretched look.

Available September it will be. Check Gizmodo for the screenshots… you must.

Pardon us while we forget how civilized, non-misogynistic, and enlightened owning an iPhone has made us. The iPhone gets to our caveman brain — we’re as helpless staring at the iPhone as a neanderthal staring at fire. Other things that get us in that same primitive gadget zone: Star Wars and that recent Transformers move (which, except for that Shia guy, was good times).

What we’re getting at here is that while we may not have as many celeb sightings as our CrackBerry.com friends, when we get one we make it count, friends, we make it count Tri-Fecta style. Megan Fox of Transformers fame + iPhone + retro Star Wars T-Shirt is worth five hundred janky Paris Hilton CrackBerry sightings.

Let’s do this some more — send in your Celeb iPhone sightings to news@theiphoneblog.com

[original source, slightly NSFW]