‘Tis the season for giving and apparently EA is feeling very generous. All of their games for the iPhone and iPad are on sale for either 99 cents or free. The discount even includes “big ticket” items like Madden NFL 12 for the iPad which regularly sells for $12.99.

I’m looking to pick up a few of their games I don’t have yet, like The Sims 3 and Trenches II. Even though I don’t have an iPad (yet) I’ll probably buy a few of those enhanced apps. I also recommend the very entertaining Spy Mouse HD. The cat-and-mouse puzzle game is a ton of fun. Touch Arcade has an abbreviated list of the EA games included in the holiday sale along with their regular prices for comparison.

If nothing excites you in the EA catalog, try Gameloft. This publisher is also doing a 99 cent sale. They’ve got some good licensed games like Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, James Cameron’s Avatar, Fast Five the Movie: Official Game and Iron Man 2. Once again, we give a tip of the top hat to Touch Arcade for providing a list of all 17 Gameloft games included in the sale.

I love art. I love Star Wars. I really love free stuff. There’s a good chance you do as well. Here’s how to get your very own Star Wars-themed copy of ImagineFX, the magazine for fantasy and sci-fi digital art.

If you’ve upgraded your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to the latest iOS 5, you have access to Apple’s Newsstand app which gives you instant access to thousands of periodicals. Launch the app on your device and head to the store section. Search for “ImagineFX” and get their free magazine app. (Alternatively, you can go to the iTunes Store and do the same thing.) After you’ve installed the ImagineFX app, you can go to their store of back issues to download a bunch of recent magazines for $6.99 each.

To celebrate the launch of Newstand, you can also grab their October 2011 issue free for a limited time. This is the impressive, Star Wars-themed issue filled with great visuals from the legendary franchise. There’s even a tutorial that teaches you how to draw a very menacing Darth Maul.

There’s no telling how long this offer will last so download it today.

Like any new technology, the field of e-books for kids is still experiencing growing pains. In recent history there have been a few exceptional examples of e-books done right, most notably with the classic The Monster at the End of this Book starring the loveable, cute, and furry Grover, as well as this year’s exceptional, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Now Marvel Comics has gotten into the game with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man: An Origin Story, currently available for the iPhone and iPad for $6.99. Can the House of Ideas keep up with Sesame Street and Charlie Brown? Let’s take a look.
Read More

To me, it never really feels like Christmas until I’ve watched ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, the 1965 special that introduced us to the animated world of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts. Well, this year you can experience the classic in a whole new way, thanks to Loud Crow Interactive’s new app, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The app, which is available for iOS as well as Android (but shines on the iPad) re-imagines the animated special as an interactive storybook. Scenes from the cartoon are rendered as beautiful illustrations complete with narration by Chuck himself, Peter Robbins. Besides reading through the story, you can play the piano, decorate your own pathetic Christmas tree, finger paint, and be assured that a few bucks can at least buy a few minutes worth of holiday nostalgic goodness.
Read More

I don’t know how much it comes through here on Saturday Morning Central, but I’m a huge Apple fan. Since way before it was even announced, I’ve been looking forward to getting an Apple iPad, and since it’s release is just days away, a lot of videos are starting to come in from app developers. I’m pretty sure that apps will make this more popular than the iPhone, but only time will tell.

In addition to the fact that Apple’s official iPad case looks like a Trapper Keeper sprayed black (please Mead, make some TK iPad cases!), there are a few retro apps on the horizon that warrant me posting this here. Enjoy!

Read More