Guys, Christmas is right around the corner. Real Racing creators Firemint delicately reminded us of that we're zeroing in on the holiest of holidays with one well-positioned holiday-themed update to its awesome puzzle game, [$.99 / HD]. Starting now with an update, World 1 in Spy Mouse and Spy Mouse HD have been turned into winter-y paradises, complete with snow, candy canes, and other decorations. The team has also turned the game's icon on its head with a bit of Christmas cheer and even added a new challenge to Agent Squeak's backpack. [$.99 / Lite] for the iPhone and iPod Touch have also been updated, though not with anything Christmas-related. These two versions now have a new level featuring a vicious thunderstorm with lightning that can damage your planes. The HD version [$4.99], on the other hand, now rocks a "Moon Base" map with asteroids and four new vehicles: land shuttles, Read More

Flight Control [.99 / Free / HD] creator Firemint makes a fantastic argument with its Real Racing franchise for the iPad and iPod Touch: it says, “Hey, portable racing games can be good, too” and then proves it with sleek visuals and solid racing mechanics and design. If you’re a fan of fast things that go fast or racing with a fast thing against other fast things that go fast, Real Racing games are definite must-haves in your App Store collection. And now you can grab them all on the cheap. Over on its blog, Firemint has announced that it’s putting three of its racing games -- Real Racing, Real Racing HD, and Real Racing 2 -- on sale. For your convenience, here’s the original prices and what will become the new ones: As Firemint notes in its post, the dev doesn’t often play the App Store “game” and screw with Read More

This one comes as a shock. In an age where gargantuan mega-corporations are gobbling up smaller development studios for prices reaching into the tens and hundreds of millions, everyone seems to want to play the guessing game of who the next acquisition will be. But I don't think this one crossed anybody's mind. Australian developer Firemint, who have been making games for over a decade but struck it big with their iOS titles Flight Control [99¢/Lite/HD] and Real Racing [$4.99/Lite/HD] in 2009, and more recently with Real Racing 2 [$9.99] in 2010, have struck a deal to buy fellow Aussie developer Infinite Interactive, who have existed for twice as long as Firemint and are most widely known for their Puzzle Quest series. The juicy details regarding pricing weren't disclosed, but it sounds like a happy venture for all parties involved. Infinite Interactive will consolidate its team into Firemint's in their newly Read More

Flight Control Free is the newest release in the hugely popular Flight Control series for iOS. It’s a free, limited version for the iPhone. If you haven’t yet had a chance to try out Flight Control, this is a nice way to get to know the addictive app before forking out the massive $0.99 to upgrade to the standard version if you’re impressed with it. Here’s the details on the app, via its App Store page: In Flight Control Free, you’re an air traffic controller at an increasingly busy airport. Just touch and drag the planes to their landing zones, but avoid collisions. Sounds easy? It isn’t! Wait until the planes arrive thick and fast – you’ll need nerves of steel and smart strategy to keep the chaos under control. Flight Control Free lets you play the original map as much as you like, with no time or score limits. It Read More