First up, we have Highborn, for the iPhone. It’s been out for a little bit already, but today only the game is free. It’s a well-reviewed turn-based strategy game, with an attempt at being funny in the process through its characters, dialogue and willingness to break the fourth wall in putting everything together. It also features a fairly robust multiplayer mode, which has been improved since the game launched – originally it forced players to use the game’s Facebook integration in order to function, but that’s since been replaced by OpenFeint.

Highborn for iPhone is available for free today, though for the folks who’re looking for something bigger, developer Jet Set Games announced that Highborn for iPad was released today as well at a lower “introductory price.” Check it out!

For players wanting something a little more action-y, we’ve got Alien Swarm for the PC. You may have already read our Alien Swarm review (and if you haven’t, why not?) If you’re unaware, it’s an overhead co-op shooter built on the Source engine. Up to four players can choose from eight different space marines, with dozens of weapons an items to choose from to bring into battle against a, well, swarm of aliens. There’s only one campaign, so it’s a quick run, but it’s a fun one. You can get Alien Swarm on Steam and it’s totally free, you should check it out.

That’s it for this week, folks! Until next time, stay stingy!

First up, we have rRootage Online, an adaptation of Kenta Cho’s vector-based, procedurally generated shooter. If you’ve never played the original rRootage, you basically have several modes in which to destroy an endless stream of enemy battleships. There are no powerups, and you only have your gun and a limited supply of bombs to clear out the bullets around you – the name of the game is more about dodging the hail of bullets than it is destroying the bosses, though of course you want to do that too.

Earlier in the year, we saw an iPhone port of the game done by Lazrhog Games, but it was pretty bare-bones. This new version from developer Miko Wohlgemuth features all four game modes, music and sound effects, multitouch controls and online scoreboards. It’s definitely THE version of the game to get, of the two iPhone versions available. It’s also fully playable in iOS4, so nobody has to worry about compatibility. It does have ads, handled by iAds but only on the high score screen.

If you want a free shooter, this is most definitely the one to get.

On a different track, we have a wonderful platformer called Frogatto. It’s developed by Lost Pixel games, which if you follow developers around, many of those guys are also responsible for the open source game Battle for Wesnoth, which we haven’t yet highlighted on Freebie Friday. (but we’ll be rectifying that soon!) Like Wesnoth, Frogatto is open source as well, and it is a fun, robust little game with amazing pixel art graphics.

The game features the titular character Frogatto, an unemployed little frog who is out looking for work and for adventure, and finds plenty of both along the way. It’s available for free on Windows, OS X and Linux, but the newly released iPhone port will cost you.

Either way, for a gorgeous, solid game you won’t do much better than this. Especially if you’re looking for something at this price!

So all you cheapskates get out there and download some games, it’s a good weekend to play something for nothing. Enjoy!

Of course, with any EA event, Madden took center stage. Madden NFL 11 is planned to launch alongside their console-based big brothers on August 10. It’s a huge improvement over last year’s Madden NFL 10 – there are higher resolution textures and real-looking stadium crowds. The player models have a higher polygon count, the animations are improved and the player shadows look like shadows instead of those small dark circles we’re used to seeing. Even the weather effects have been enhanced. Visually, the game is such a marked improvement over last year’s version, it’s like night and day.

Madden 11's visual improvements make it look like a whole new hardware generation.

Of course, EA Sports has added the GameFlow system that they are including in the console versions – obviating the need to leaf through dozens of pages of plays and presenting only those that’re most relevant to the situation. It’s great for a mobile device, where short play sessions are had more often than not, as well as amateur sports fans who don’t quite get the nuances of the playbook in the first place. Players can even draw routes for their squad on the screen, to customize plays and even save them for use later with an audible.

On top of all this, the game even includes a “vintage voltage football” mode, based on the electric football games of yesteryear. Seems like EA is gong all out to make Madden on iOS the best it’s ever been. Stay tuned for more as the game comes out!

EA Play also came to the party, with some of their adaptations of Hasbro board games, some of their own internal titles, as well as some third-party offerings that are interesting to see.

Seasonal effects and disasters are only some of the new additions to the game.

SimCity Deluxe is, much as its name would have you believe, an upgrade to the original SimCity. It’s not an expansion, mind you, it’s being sold separately as a sequel. In the new game, your city has seasons, and appropriate disasters to go along with each one. Visually, the game is updated to look more like SimCity 4. You’ll also be able to modify the terrain via the touch controls, instead of just using the sliders from the original. The game is still pretty cramped, SimCity generally requires a robust UI and you can only pack so much on an iPhone screen, but it seems EA Play has done a pretty good job of porting the experience over.

The Sims 3: Ambitions is a new game as well – unlike The Sims 3 World Adventures, the game doesn’t allow players to import their existing sims. However, Ambitions is a significant expansion over the original game. Players can now build individual rooms of their houses, just like the PC version, there are kids in the game, players can control the flow of time better, and the city is bigger, with more careers and activities for players’ sims. So that’s something.

If only you could play this online, it'd be a slam dunk. Maybe with DLC?

EA also showed off their mobile version of Risk. It’s pretty straightforward stuff, there aren’t really any twists involved here. Visually, it’s designed to look very futuristic and computer-display-ish, but there’s no surprises here. The downside, is that there is only local multiplayer. It’d have been great to have asynchronous Internet multiplayer with push alerts – that would’ve made this game a real winner, but without that, it’s a tough sell.

Also on display was an iPad version of Yahtzee. There is nothing really notable about this either, it’s Yahtzee in its most simple form – the only really notable thing is its Facebook Connect functionality, for folks to post high scores – EA claims it’s great for issuing challenges, but with local multiplayer modes only, it’s hard to really do that effectively.

One particularly unique title on display was Reckless Racing – formerly an indie title known as Deliverace. It’s a fun top-down racer with a lot in common with the oldschool title R.C. Pro-Am, and it looks like a blast. It was a real surprise to see this game surface, as the game’s website had gone dead for awhile – turns out they were just busy being acquired! In any event, the game should be a lot of fun when it comes out sometime this summer.

The original Bydo empire battle comes to your pocket.

Finally, we have an iPhone port of Irem’s R-Type. No, seriously. It actually comes as quite a surprise to see EA publishing not only this kind of game, but this game in particular. But you know what, the game looks great, it controls well and the frame rates are kept to a high standard. Retro shmup fans should be pleased, it’s a solid port of a classic shooter. This should be a fantastic buy when it launches.

While the games are part of EA’s “summer lineup,” no release dates have been announced aside from Madden – though Risk is already available in the New Zealand app store and should be up in North America’s pages soon. Hopefully we’ll see the new SimCity, Reckless Racing and R-Type sooner rather than later.

Today, the guys at Limbic Software have made their iPad title, TowerMadness HD, available in a free promotion. Normally the game sells for $7.99, but today you can get it for the far less expensive price of nothing.

It’s a tower defense game, in full 3D and features local multiplayer as well as a fairly lengthy campaign. We won’t go into describing how a tower defense game works, it’s the same from game to game. That said, if you don’t already own a tower defense game for your iPad and you’re a fan of the genre, you can’t do better than this deal today!

Do note: It’s only free today only. However, even if you miss out it’s not a bad deal anyway. So what do you say? Are you up for some tower defense?

[source] iTunes App Store

The first app to make use of this is Flare Scratch, a mobile DJ app that does little more than let you add scratch to your tracks. But it’s the tip of the iceberg, with any luck soon we’ll be seeing games on the iPhone that let you do a whole lot more with your music than just listen to it. Audiosurf, anyone?

Wonderful World is a one-on-one fighting game created with Enterbrain’s 2D Fighter Maker. It’s got 13 ladies to choose from, each with their own special moves and a combo system for chaining attacks. PC fighting games are sometimes dodgy, and you’ll definitely want to reconfigure the keys – or use a gamepad – when you play, but for fighting game fans, it’s always interesting to check out a new take on the genre. Sorry Mac fans, it’s Windows only.

On the other side of the spectrum we have DreamScape, an iPhone bubble-popping game set to some pretty nice stellar photography. There’s not a whole lot to say about it besides that – just pop the bubbles and leave the “toxic” ones alone.

You can get Wonderful World here – just click the green download button, and you can grab DreamScape on the iTunes App Store.

Disney has been on a tear lately with picking up iPhone app developers lately, most recently scooping up Walaber in order to put their name on the sequel to JellyCar, the aptly named JellyCar 2.

It’s not clear what their plans are for Tapulous yet, though certainly access to Disney’s music library will likely result in some High School Musical Revenge, or maybe some They Might Be Giants?

[source] TechCrunch

Currently it’s only available to folks via invitation, and it’s only working on certain Samsung devices, as well as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 4. However, next month will see PlayStation 3 owners getting on board, and TVs and Blu-ray players from Sony & Vizio will have access in the fall. Xbox 360 owners however, will be left out in the cold until “early 2011.” And even then, it’ll be for Xbox Gold subscribers only.

Hulu Plus will also provide “season tickets” which let viewers watch every episode of a current season at any time, instead of some shows which in the past have only been able to display the most recent two or three episodes. Hulu also claims to offer full past seasons of shows via the Plus service, “over 120 seasons and 2000 episodes of rich library content.”

Some of the shows being advertised include Arrested Development, Roswell, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Quantum Leap and more. It’s not yet clear how, if it all, this will affect the current Hulu service, since with some shows, these features were available already.

The other thing about Hulu Plus, is that it is also ad-supported. So much like paying for cable, you’re still going to be getting commercials despite your subscription fees. But for those of you who’ve been wanting to watch TV on your TV again, or your phone, or via some other device, it looks like today’s your lucky day.

[source] Hulu blog

Liveblogging the 36 hour process, he’s resulted in getting the game onto the iTunes App Store and Palm App Catalog (where it is waiting approval) as well as Windows and Mac as a free download.

Below you can check out ZDNet’s video of the iPhone version of the game. If you’ve been missing some oldschool PC gaming like Lemmings, today is a pretty good day for you.

It’s been a while since the plan to add them was originally announced, back in April to be precise, but the pair has made their way to the iPhone none the worse for wear. They sport just about all the moves they have on the arcade/console versions of the game, and reportedly play pretty well.

This leaves E. Honda as the last of the original Street Fighter II cast to be left out of the mobile game. It’s likely other characters will show up eventually, producer Yoshinori Ono hinted as much at GDC this year, but it remains to see how that will all shake out.

Street Fighter IV is available now on the iTunes App Store.