The “Foam Fighters” video game combines two expertly crafted and air-worthy foam airplanes with a realistic and incredibly fun WWII-like flying simulator App.

The package might say ages 9+, but my six-year-old niece craves this game, and I greatly enjoy it (being a bit older than six myself).

AppGear has been combining free Apps – that are adept at their game’s purpose, such as flying and fighting in this case – with props that function as fun add-ons that stick via a suction cup to the tablet or smart phone the players are using.

And I cannot understate this: having a WWII fighter plane on a stand that can be angled to give you a perfect view of the screen and the soaring foam fighter just beyond the game’s horizon is a great illusion that adds to the action; but what I find most intriguing is that the foam fighters actually glide, and are built extremely well to fly better than the old foam plane kits that we all bought from the ice cream man from time to time.

These foam fighters are balanced and shaped to glide amazingly, once the battery of the iPhone dies, because the actual “Foam Fighters” App, which is free, is a ton of fighter plane firing fun.

What catches the player’s attention immediately is the sound: the music and effects are echoing the windy skies and the loud and clunky WWII plane engines. The pitch, yaw, and throttle all play out and train the player as if they were a real pilot, as the tablet is tilted left and right and angled up and down and all around to guide the gorgeous aircraft toward the enemy!

For anyone that has ever loved a realistic flight simulator and even just a pair of foam planes that glide like a champ, AppGear’s “Foam Fighters” package is an excellent buy at ten bucks.

The hand crafted table is made from premium maple, mahogany and walnut woods with all dovetail joinery and topped with protective glass top.

When it’s time to play all gamers need to do is simply remove the glass table top and extend the retractable cord from the bottom of the controller, plug it in, and enjoy.

The gorgeous conversational piece measures 42″ long by 18.25″ wide by 18″ high and will set you back $3,500 for the fully functioning version and slightly less for the nonfunctioning coffee table only version.

[Etsy Store]

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has become a champion of the next generation video game consoles, but avid and amateur gamers alike have always harped on one major flaw with the powerful system: the D-pad is horrendous.

Since the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation One consoles, the controllers arrived with not only a D-pad, but with mini joysticks as well. Players marveled at the relative ease that avatars could be moved on the bright screen via these ‘sticks.

But many games, such as fighting games like those in the Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Marvel Vs. Capcom series have long required a directional D-pad to perform moves (when a full size arcade machine’s mega-joystick was not around). The micro joysticks cannot begin to replicate the steady up, down, left, right accuracy of the D-pad.

PlayStation maintained one of the best D-pads throughout its three consoles, but the Xbox 360 – for all of its luster and amazing graphic spinning – fell utterly short of functionality. To rectify this, the accessory maker Mad Catz worked with Capcom to release officially licensed Xbox 360 Street Fighter IV Round 2 Fightpads.

For just shy of thirty-five bucks at Amazon (or forty at Gamestop), a Street Fighter controller allows for a tremendous upgrade in gaming on the 360. The Fightpad is similar in shape to the 360’s standard controller, but it contains a grip-like surface on the back, a shiny and gorgeous picture of many of Street Fighter’s most interesting and infamous characters, and a reformatted button layout.

The 360’s standard clunky two top button on either side has been scrapped and the RB and RT buttons have been relocated to form an ergonomic six-button layout that helps greatly with any game that requires fast button mashing. The Xbox 360’s mini joysticks are gone, and a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) 8-way floating D-pad rests in their place, ensuring the most accurate movement imaginable.

There are no batteries required, as this controller is wired in with ten feet of cord, and there is a button capable of invoking the D-pad to act as a joystick in a game that requires more than the amazing arcade experience!

You have to play with this to see just how infinitely improved and adept this controller is at gaming.

The iCade brings old school arcade controls and your favorite retro games right to the iPad with the power of bluetooth, all while making the décor of any room or office orders of magnitude awesomer.

Backed by Atari’s greatest hits, gamers will have access to over 100 classic games including hits like, Asteroids, Centipede, Pong, Tempest, and more. What’s even more exciting is that recent popularity of iCade has prompted 25 other iOS developers to support the desktop gaming system so, there will be more titles to follow.

The iCade is the ideal accessory for any iPad owner, and at today’s price of $59, it’s a great gift on the cheap.

The new Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel, shifter, and pedals really brings that immersion to a new height, but at a hefty price.

Before we delve into the costs, let’s first look at how awesome it is. I have only had a brief experience with the new CSR wheel, but I can say that 5 minutes with this thing is all I needed to say, “wow”.

The form factor and build quality are nothing like I’ve ever put in my hands when it comes to racing wheels. I have extensively used the now discontinued wireless wheel for the Xbox 360, and this thing blows it away. The feedback, the smooth resistance in the wheel, the crispness of the shifter, and rigidity of the pedals all play into an overall amazing Forza racing experience. The force feedback actuators in the steering wheel actually simulate vibrations from the car’s motor and the ABS brakes!

I can say that until I start a company and sell it for millions and/or hit the lottery, this is the closest I’ll get to racing a shiny new Ferrari 458 Italia for some time, and I am perfectly okay with that. The Fanatec Forza racing gear really did make me feel like I was whipping through the turns of Laguna Seca with ease. The three-screen set-up that I played on probably also helped, but all I kept thinking about was how awesome the equipment was. Everything just feels solid in your hands and your feet.

Some would argue that it better feel amazing due to the hefty price tag, but that’s the price you pay for a true racing simulation experience. At around $460 for the whole set, their market are the truly hardcore racing fans. The good news is that you can buy the pieces separately, and just start with the wheel to see if you like the it.

Get ready to hop in your favorite exotic sports car and go on a joy ride when the Fanatec Forza racing gear drops on Oct. 11.

Fluik, the makers of the “Office Jerk” game for Droids and iPhones, have crafted a seasonally fun version that allows for the torturing of the office jerk to be even more necessary . . . because in “Office Zombie” the target is, well, a creature of the undead.

What is worse than a bespectacled office know-it-all that is hell-bent on ruining your gruelingly long day of work with repetitive nagging?

How about if the comrade in arms at the corporate base is in fact a loudly breathing (or groaning), smelly (rotting skin does it), and persistent (in not dying) zombie?

Fun at the office has never been more addictive, as the work atmosphere gifts the wielder of the “Office Zombie” App with various in-house weapons to beat and maim the jerk with.

The player starts out with unlimited hammers (that can be stuck in the gooey eyeballs with a strategic throw), piranhas, and bear traps, and each consecutive striking of the office zombie, such as excruciatingly snagging the zombie’s hand in a trap, yields more points.

But beware because all of the points cease to exist once you miss your mark. So continue to split the heads off the office zombie, literally, with the hatchets, teddy bear bombs, bricks, and cactus, because every office’s jerk deserves to be taught a lesson (even if he is undead).

The current number one free download in the App Store is the “Zombie Highway” game, and it is easy to see why. Fire up the App and turn the iPhone into a steering wheel, a video game controller, and a deadly weapon for surviving a zombie apocalypse via motorway.

Zombies cling to the player’s car, but the driver can commit vehicular manslaughter by scraping the undead-laden side into approaching cars and objects.

After surviving a decent run of miles, despite the sticky scenarios the jump-happy zombies create for the player (and there are no limits to these former track star’s jumps, folks), gains the reward of guns.

Rewards of small handguns lead to pump shotguns, lead to semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles and other creature killing combat devices to help spread the calamities to the undead, instead of the living.

Simply touching the screen fires, while the players continue to tilt the phone in order to steer the wild urban terrain.

The music for “Zombie Highway” is riveting, and the sound effects are frightening, particularly when driving with lunging zombies clinging to and trying to topple over the player’s small sedan becomes quite tricky.

Driving directly into debris, full on, (like one of the myriad junk cars lining the dead roads), will automatically kill the driver and thusly, the game.

You die.

Letting screaming and snarling zombies pile onto the car, will crash it, spilling the player’s brains for all of zombie-dom to revel in their deliciousness.

And you die.

Driving like Mario Andretti, while the backseat person fires away, like Rambo with a much smaller amount of ammo means you live.

And you win.

Wow!

For less than thirteen bucks, the JOYSTICK-IT can easily stick to any capacitive touchscreen and make the do-it-all smart phones true gamer gamuts.

The JOYSTICK-IT is aluminum, so it is sturdy and actually has weight that is felt in the hand (just like a real arcade machine joystick would, folks! I know they’re damn near extinct but they have been so much fun).

How does this ingenious gaming accessory (or necessity depending on how you like to play) work? Simply take the JOYSTICK-IT in the hand and place it right onto the virtual control pad on the touchscreen. Then press down. You are ready!

Any on-screen control pad will work with the JOYSTICK-IT.

I happen to love “Ms. Pac-Man.” She is one of the sexiest and trickiest of arcade games, and her ghost eating abilities make for tastefully difficult experiences. Acquiring the game for the iPhone was a no-brainer.

But there is one problem with my officially badass copy of “Ms. Pac-Man” . . . the touchscreen offers two ways to control the game:  either via swiping on the screen or by pressing my thumb onto a virtual pad, and both are a bit clumsier and slower than the actual machine’s joystick would have been.

Set down the JOYSTICK-IT, and the pellet engulfing bow-bearing woman devours points in an adept, accurate, and awesome timeliness.

There are not even any batteries (or power source) needed to kick major gaming butt.

Duke Nukem Forever will not take forever to come out after all!  The sequel to the Duke’s 1996 hit is going to be released on June 14, 2011 (finally) for the X-Box 360, PS3 and PC!

Duke Nukem 3D nearly single-handedly promoted the burgeoning first person shooter (FPS) video game genre to a popular and all out fun framework for anyone who could handle a mouse, keyboard or controller.  Wolfenstein 3D and the DOOM series began the innovative realism that fans and gamers have come to crave in FPS games today, but it was the over the top ass-kicking Duke that launched the FPS into the limelight.

At the time that the Duke began, no one had ever seen anything quite like it.  Duke Nukem is a stereotypical pro-American meathead merging of Rambo and a blond flattop.  The character curses with witty vulgarities, such as:  “I’m gonna rip off your head and shit down your neck”, and fights against bloodthirsty aliens trying to steal earth’s women.

The initial Duke Nukem 3D release was for the PC (or computer for you console-only gamers), though a largely stripped down version would come out on the Nintendo 64 gaming console, which subtracted the overtly naked breasts of the strippers and the peep show girls.  But the humor and the overtly fun gratuitous violence was so exaggerated that no one could confuse the Duke of being too real; it was just fun, plain and simple.

Duke Nukem Forever is about to finally follow-up its predecessor after fourteen years of company/creator debacles and bankruptcies.  The game is one of the most highly anticipated FPS endeavors of all time, and Gearbox Software (Borderlands) is at the helm to ensure that the graphics and the smooth mix of satiric humor, scantily clad women and alien destroying are central to its beauty.

The Duke Nukem Forever trailers point to a gorgeously developed game that is chock full of gripping narrative and, no wait, there was a gargantuan three-boobed alien and a boss who gets his head kicked through a field goal post!

Hail to the King baby!

The Atari arcade machines that transformed the video game industry into a popular culture/slash/entertainment force and the first truly successful home cartridge-based console video game system, the Atari 2600, are now emulated with precision and beautiful accuracy on the iPhone.

Atari had revolutionized video gaming in the seventies and eighties, and now they’ve provided everyone on the go with 18 of their exemplary arcade games, including “Centipede” and other addictive classics in a mobile “Atari” App.  They even include screen shots of the gorgeous cabinets of the legendary games as if they were in an extinct arcade; “PONG” is shown with its sexy dark-wood panels and bright 1970’s yellow face with the sleekest and simplest of shining metal dial controls below.

Before I elaborate in further detail, know this retro-gamers:  the “Atari” App is FREE!  Download it at iTunes here.

I know I’d like to blast enemies with “Tank” whenever I’m trying not to listen in on a meeting.  This App has 92 potential Atari 2600 games available, with their original box art, and there is Bluetooth Multiplayer for head to head, mono-e-mono, iPhone-e-iPhone battles in “Warlords” and “Pong”!

“Pong” comes free with the “Atari” App too, and the game is very accurate to the original tennis showdown with only a touchscreen set of arrows implemented to replace the dials that the iPhone is lacking.

There is even a two-player mode that lets gamers each take a side of the touchscreen and move the virtual paddles; since only a thumb is required to control them, it is actually feasible to have two people share one iPhone to play ball.

There are currently 25 separate Game Packs that are available at the meager price of 99 cents apiece, or there is a discounted price on the entire gargantuan list of games for $14.99.  Travel and replace the boring in-flight movie with for a fun plane ride back to the seventies!