Twitterer @lifelower notes that the Australian ratings board has rated The Simspsons Arcade Game and attached Backbone Entertainment as the author. As you may already know, Backbone Entertainment is like a golden god of porting old arcade and console titles to the various digital mediums of today, and are already responsible for bringing two classic Konami brawlers to consoles in recent years with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2007 and X-Men late last year.

Now, consider that about 6 months after the release of X-Men on XBLA and PSN, a port of that port was brought to the App Store as a Universal game for both iPhones and iPads. The X-Men game did considerably well on the App Store too, which would lead me to believe that should one of their other highly regarded brawlers of the 90s arcade era, The Simpsons Arcade Game, come to XBLA then it would make good financial sense to see the game come to iOS as well.

Plus, iOS has already proven to be a great platform for old-school side-scrolling brawlers with Final Fight [$2.99], a great remake of Double Dragon [$1.99], 64th Street [$1.99], the Streets of Rage trilogy, and many more. As a huge fan of The Simpsons Arcade Game (and just The Simpsons in general), I would love to be able to have the game on my iOS devices, and while were at it that totally goes for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles too (why hasn't this happened yet?!).

One wrinkle in my rampant speculation is that, as you may recall, we've already seen a Simpsons game on the App Store. Electronic Arts released The Simpsons Arcade [99¢/Lite] almost two years ago in December of 2009. It was a side-scrolling brawler similar to the arcade original, but wasn't actually based on that game at all. It's a pretty fun game to be honest, if not a bit repetitive, but it's certainly not the same as having a port of the original arcade game. I have no idea if there is any sort of licensing issues with The Simpsons brand that might prevent a port of Konami's game making it to the App Store, but it's a possibility.

We'll certainly be keeping our eyes out for a more official announcement that The Simpsons Arcade Game is coming to the console downloadable space, and if it is, I'll be keeping my fingers and toes crossed that it eventually hits the App Store as well. In the meantime, check out this feature XBLAFans ran this past May discussing what they'd like to see in an updated The Simpsons Arcade Game port.

[Via XBLAFans]

Specifics on what kind of technology will be included in the A6 is still understandably vague, but it's said to utilize both the 28-nanometer construction process as well as 3D stacking technologies among other high-tech features. Other than that, it's safe to assume the A6 will follow in the footsteps of the A4 to A5 evolution in that it will be faster, have more graphical muscle, and use less power.

In other news, we've suspected that we'll see the new iPhone and iPod touch in the next few months as Apple aligns the release of the iPhone with their previous iPod-centric media events. Currently, the rumor mill is fairly certain that this event will fall on September 7th, which fits well in line with events of previous years which have also been held in early September. It also isn't that much of a stretch to think that iOS 5 will launch at or around the same time as this event.

If you've been looking to upgrade your iOS device, it's probably best to wait at least until early September to see what happens. I'd put my bets on Apple announcing a new iPhone and iPod touch at this event, and have them be available in short order. But, if you need an iOS device now, the iPhone 4 still is a solid device, and a 32GB iPod touch refurb for $179 seems like a great deal.

UPDATE: Since this posting, sources have flat out denied an event taking place in September, and rumors have come to light about both an "iPhone 4S" and an "iPad 3" coming in October. What will actually happen? Who knows, surely there's got to be some kind of bingo card for this.

We're back again turning the valve of the ol' rumour spigot to quench our undying thirst for all things secret. This week we've got an overflowing goblet of rumors straight from our most trusted industry insiders planted deep inside the world of iOS. Our first rumour comes courtesy of an unexpected agent we randomly found working the front lines of Apple retail at the Apple Store Friendly Center in Greensboro, NC. While casually wandering around the Apple Store looking to buy an iPod nano, we were approached and asked if we needed any help.

Naturally, we spotted our opening and went in for the kill, juicing the agent for every drop of rumour imaginable. When interrogated regarding the upcoming iPhone, we learned that Apple does in fact release new iPhones every year, confirming our suspicions that an iPhone 5 is in the works. Also, while we were unable to delve in to raw specifics, we confirmed that the device will likely be faster, potentially get better battery life, and even might have additional storage.

In other rumours, we've received direct confirmation from a Gameloft beta tester that the French mobile gaming giant plans to release additional iOS titles. Digging for more specifics we've learned that these future titles spread the gamut of first person shooters, third person action games, and even racing games. When pressed for further details we discovered that these games will not only include Gameloft Live, but also will be controlled using a variety of on-screen controls and even tilt.

Stay tuned for additional rumors.

First of all, the announcement of Final Fantasy III refers to a Japanese release, so even if it is officially in the works there's no guarantee that it will also come to the US. Given the success Square Enix has seen with their iOS Final Fantasy games stateside, I'd imagine that it will, but it would be nice to know for sure. Also, it isn't clear which version of Final Fantasy III would be ported. It was originally a Japanese NES game that wasn't released in the US until the 2006 Nintendo DS 3D remake. It could be a direct port of the NES title, a port of the DS version, or something entirely different.

It's important to remember that the Final Fantasy III that most Americans have fond memories of on the Super Nintendo is actually Final Fantasy VI in Japan, so don't get your hopes up if that's the version you're envisioning for this release. I never played the original Final Fantasy III on NES, but I did really enjoy the DS remake from a few years ago. I would hope that if Square Enix does release a version for iOS that it would be based off of this version, or at the very least an enhanced 2D version along the same lines of their Final Fantasy [$8.99] and Final Fantasy II [$8.99] releases on iOS.

There's a thread in our forums where discussion of this possible upcoming game is taking place, and we'll of course bring you any new information regarding official confirmation of Final Fantasy III for iOS from Square Enix just as soon as we get it.

(Thanks to Joystiq and Siliconera for bringing the post in our forums to our attention!)

First off, since we learned about the Retina Display of the iPhone 4, the Internet has been rumbling with the potential of a similar "Retina" display in the successor to the iPad. According to Mac Rumors, this might not be as far fetched as originally thought. Apparently, version 1.1 of Apple's iBooks [Free] "accidentally" included some graphical resources that are twice the size of the ones currently in use on the iPad.

Now, depending on how you read these virtual tea leaves, this could mean one of two things: Someone at Apple knows that rumor hounds will dig through absolutely everything they can for any kind of hint, or the screen resolution of the iPad 2 will be double that of the current iPad. This would put the screen resolution at 2048x1536, sporting 260 DPI. It's not quite the pixel density of the iPhone 4's Retina Display, but you typically hold the iPad much farther away from your eyes. This means that even at a lower DPI this screen could potentially provide a similar "Retina" effect. (I suppose there's a third alternative that this means neither of these things, but how much fun is that?)

Things get even more interesting though when you consider that Global Direct Parts, the guys who had the "iPhone 5" parts video (which actually turned out to be the CDMA Verizon iPhone), also have their hands on a screen that fits the previously mentioned description. The price of this part? $218.19, compared to the original $144.99 the original iPad screen cost at launch from the same site.

But what does the higher price of the components have to do with anything? Well, as appleguy123 points out on the Mac Rumors forums, according to Apple's 2010 Annual Report:

The Company expects its gross margin percentage to decrease in future periods compared to levels achieved during 2010 and anticipates gross margin levels of about 36% in the first quarter of 2011. This expected decline is largely due to a higher mix of new and innovative products that have higher cost structures and deliver greater value to customers, and expected and potential future component cost and other cost increases.

Whether this refers specifically to the increased cost of the components in the iPad 2, or something else entirely is anyone's guess, but it is a curious coincidence. If the screen does turn out to be 2048x1536, there's an entirely new issue to be addressed: The sheer number of pixels the iPad GPU is going to have to push. For the sake of comparison, the resolution of a 30" LCD is only barely higher, at 2560x1600. Gaming at that resolution is a formidable task for even dedicated gaming PC's, much less a mobile device. That's higher resolution than what we consider "HD" these days as well, which only weighs in at a paltry 1920x1080 in comparison.

Mac Rumors has an answer to this too, courtesy of Apple Insider. If these rumors turn out to be true, both the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 will use a dual-core SGX543 GPU from Imagination Technologies. What makes this rumor hold more water than your typical bean spillage by an "industry insider" is the fact that the iOS 4.3 beta already includes drivers for this GPU. Odd coincidence, eh? What's even cooler is that not only do these GPUs boast some incredible performance figures, they also support anywhere between two and sixteen cores handled entirely by hardware, without a single change to any software required to scale performance.

Again, I'm not entirely sure how true these rumors are, but there is something strange afoot. It would make the most sense to double the iPad screen resolution, as it would allow graceful upscaling via pixel doubling much like running a non-Retina Display app on the Retina Display of the iPhone 4. If Global Direct Parts' pricing can be trusted, the component cost of the screen doesn't seem that far out of line. On top of all that, it's really hard to deny the coincidence between the GPU rumors and Apple actually including the drivers for that very GPU inside of their own operating system.

We'll have to wait and see what Apple reveals as the inevitable iPad 2, but if the Apple rumors scene is to be believed, it has potential to be an insane gaming machine.

With the long-awaited Mortal Kombat franchise reboot slated for early to mid 2011, a version of the series on iOS would make sense. EA Mobile also recently released a version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for JAVA, so it's conceivable that they could have had an iOS version in the works as well. It's not known whether this is a port of the Ultimate Mortal Kombat that hit the Nintendo DS a few years ago, or possibly a version of the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection HD for consoles that was leaked a few months back but has yet to actually surface. If it does end up being a collection of the first 3 arcade games, then consider me overjoyed.

Feel free to speculate about the game with members in our forums, and we'll be eagerly anticipating any additional information or official word from EA Mobile on this release. KnowYourMobile has said the game will be launching in December, and with nearly half the month already gone I'll be interested to see what becomes of Ultimate Mortal Kombat on iPhone in the next couple of weeks.

Update: An EA representative in our forums has confirmed the existence of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iPhone. Though scant on any details regarding release date or pricing, he did graciously post a couple of new screenshots from the game (click to enlarge):

What is interesting about these screens is that they show that the game is actually not a direct port of the original, as the characters seem to be 3D models rather than digitized sprites. From a purist's standpoint, this may be disappointing, but I think it's actually a really good thing. Running sprites with many frames of animation takes a lot of RAM, something that only the iPhone 4 has a decent amount of currently. 3D polygonal characters is likely the reason the game is able to run so fast and smoothly, and hopefully means it will work on a wide range of devices. I'm happy to see that the game has been confirmed, and I think it's looking pretty great so far. We'll bring you any new information on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 as soon as it's available.

Sega has been teasing the reveal of "Project Needlemouse" since September of last year, which we found out tonight was officially an episodic sequel to Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles to be released on WiiWare, PSN, XBOX Live Arcade, and a yet to be revealed mystery platform. Sonic 4 is abandoning the 3D platforming that has plagued recent Sonic games and going back to its 2D roots as you can see in the following trailer:

Where things get crazy is when it comes to a few details which will be unlocked when a few different timers hit zero on the Sonic 4 web site. According to SonicStadium.org and a post on NeoGAF, finding out what lies behind promo1_locked.png and promo2_locked.png on the web site was as simple as removing the "_locked" from the URL. Of course these files are nowhere to be found now, but here are the two images that allegedly were found on Sega's servers:

Now, it's entirely possible we're being pranked here, but, at the same time, Sega is revealing a fourth platform that the game will be on soon. Episodes of Sonic 4 are obviously being distributed digitally, and aside from the Wii, PS3, and XBOX 360, there really only is the DSi, PSP, and iPhone left that Sega would even conceivably release the game on... So, if nothing else, we've got a 1 in 3 chance of seeing Sonic 4 on the App Store.

This morning, Stand Alone Inc announced their intentions to bring Crosswords [$9.99] to the rumored Apple tablet device. While they may be jumping the gun a little bit, announcing a game for a device which hasn't even been officially announced, Stand Alone does have a fair amount of street cred' in tablet application development. They were a major developer for the now defunct Apple Newton and authored an impressive library of software for the Newton, which is still available online.

Crosswords is among the better crossword games available on the App Store, and is one of the few games which has lived on my phone since its initial release in 2008. If the Apple tablet does run the iPhone OS as many are speculating, and it has either its own associated App Store or operates off the existing App Store, we expect this will be the first of an avalanche of announcements of software coming to the device.

Apple's keynote begins tomorrow at 10:00 AM Pacific, and will be covered live by nearly every tech-related web site. We will be providing live updates with anything that pertains to gaming, regardless of what is announced, and if Apple's tablet does end up serving as a gaming device, expect tablet game coverage to supplement our existing iPhone and iPod touch coverage.

Considering the mysterious delay in the release of Mirror's Edge, a game we got a preview of last month, with this recent news it may not be that far fetched to expect to see it as part of a demonstration of the tablet's array of games. Other developers have also been asked by Apple to produce versions of their games that are resolution independent, allowing them to seamlessly scale up to the presumably higher resolution display.

To make things even more interesting, Kotaku and several other general gaming sites have also been invited to the event, along with representatives from quite a few popular iPhone game studios. Of course trying to discern what Apple is up to by reading between the lines of rumors and event invitations is open to all forms of interpretation, but it seems the stars are aligning to a serious gaming announcement on the 27th.

We will have live keynote coverage of the event, and if the Apple tablet does turn out to be a gaming device, you can expect to see reviews of any noteworthy tablet games to supplement our existing iPod touch and iPhone game focus.

Someone posted this YouTube video of World of Warcraft running on an iPhone:

A few interesting things to note. The game is running in the Vollee client, an application from a mobile company whose main purpose is to develop software to allow mobile 3G phones to play CPU intensive PC applications over the network. From an interview:

Through the VolleeX engine, we can take full PC games, MMOs or even virtual worlds and stream them to any 3G enabled handsets. This means that you can now access games or full persistent online worlds right from your mobile handset. It's a real step forward for mobile games as you can now have meaningful connected experiences on your handset.

Vollee's first public demonstration of the product showed off Second Life on a mobile phone. Vollee has announced a partnership with ActivisionBlizzard making a World of Warcraft port a possibility -- one that people have been speculating about for some time. And as a final piece to the puzzle, Vollee said back in 2008 that they will be supporting the iPhone.

When questioned about the functionality of the app, the poster of the video claims it's a "fully working app."

So, there you have it... a very convincing video (or a very intricate hoax).

Thanks MICHAELSD

The original image had been submitted anonymously and simply claimed that testing would begin in October. Some commenters from the original discussion were concerned that these controller pads would be relegated to jailbroken iPhones only due to lack of official SDK support.

A new image that we've received, however, suggests that this upcoming iPhone controller is actually from major accessory manufacturer Belkin and does indeed have official App Store support:

The ad copy promotes using the Joypod to squeeze the most out of your iPhone or iPod Touch to play App Store games in the easiest way. Other features listed include:

If all true, then Belkin's involvement certainly suggests that Apple will be building support into the official SDK to allow App Store games to take full advantage of these controllers.

Update: Belkin denies the rumor.

Jet Grind Radio (known as Jet Set Radio outside of North America) was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 1999 and cause quite a stir with its distinctive, visually impressive cel-shaded rendering.  Gameplay is unique and at times frantic.  The player starts out in the role of Beat, a 17-year-old "rudie" who is leader of the GG's, a skate gang.

The city of Tokyo-To is broken up into multiple portions, each of which is controlled by a different gang of inline skating graffiti artists. You control a gang called the GGs, and you must protect your turf from being sprayed up by rival gangs and venture into the other sections of the city to mark up your rivals' turfs. The game is tied together by Jet Set Radio, a pirate radio station run by DJ Professor K. K appears between levels to advance the plot, similar to Lynne Thigpen's role as the radio DJ in the classic gang film, The Warriors. Unfortunately, Professor K never wishes your clique luck as they bop all the way back to Coney.

Each level gives you a time limit, a life meter, and a ton of areas that must be tagged before you can proceed. You'll encounter resistance in the form of gangs tagging over your tags and various levels of response from law enforcement officials. The law starts out small - a ragtag bunch of keystone cops who run after you with nightsticks. But as you move forward, the law gets more and more severe. Eventually, you'll face tear gas-launching cops in full riot gear, tanks, or find yourself surrounded by gunship helicopters that launch skater-seeking missiles in your direction. You also have to deal with the ever-present Officer Onishima, a roughneck cop with a gigantic pistol and a bad case of five o'clock shadow. Should you get caught in Onishima's sights, he'll chase after you, firing off rounds that will send you flying to the ground.

Gamespot gave Jet Grind Radio an Editor's Choice 9.0 rating.  And based on Kotaku's recent Comic-Con report, it seems that this beloved title may soon make its way to the iPhone.

At the fan convention last week, Kotaku heard indication that SEGA is planning on bringing back the franchise.  Rumor has it that it will be landing on the Wii, but a few additional details show hope of an iPhone conversion.

SEGA recently filed a new Jet Grind Radio trademark application with the USPTO.  Within are references to "game programs for use with mobile phones," "game programs for use with hand-held game machines," and "downloadable game programs."  Add to this the fact that SEGA of America president Simon Jeffery recently expressed his opinion that the iPhone is basically the next Dreamcast and that the company has many titles currently in development for the iPhone platform.

YouTube video of Dreamcast version

The chances of this title gracing the App Store in the future seem pretty solid.  Gamespot's review of the Dreamcast original indicates that "Jet Grind Radio is one of those 'something for everyone' games that really make a perfect addition to the Dreamcast library."  Its standing in the iPhone library would certainly be no different. Our fingers are certainly crossed.

A specific, late-June availability date for all of the above can be expected from today's keynote.

"iPhone 2.0" and the open SDK are poised to utterly change the landscape of mobile gaming.  This is a big day, folks.  Follow the event (auto-refresh text feed + photos) at MacRumorsLive.com.

The features listed include:

• 3 Game Modes: Classic, Timed, Puzzle
• 22 different achievements to find
• Online scoring. See how you compare to others around the world.
• Free demo to be available
• $4.99 Price

Demiforce is aggressively pricing their first game at only $4.99, and hopes to release it as soon as the iTunes App Store opens.

This year, Apple's promo is expected to be their biggest ever... and we've heard this means an iPod touch ($299 value) will be given for free to qualifying buyers.

If true, this means Apple's Touch OS X platform is going to absolutely explode in marketshare over the next 3 months. Along with the 3G iPhone, which is widely expected, every college student buying a Mac this summer will also be getting a device capable of running applications off the iTunes App Store.

Developers should take note at the potential audience Apple is building.

It's True: Details at Apple