Every week, we endeavor to point the way to the games and apps that most made an impact in the App-o-sphere. Here’s this week’s picks:

Zombie Highway – Cars, guns, and zombies bring smiles to all the kids faces. What else do you really need to know to not already love this game? Steer the car to avoid obstacles that creep up in the way. Shoot zombies that are looking to get some juicy brain matter. Repeat until you are king of the Facebook rankings. Time to prove just how awesome those zombie survival skills are.

$0.99

Zombie Highway

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-08-27 :: Category: Games

$0.99

The Hero HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-09 :: Category: Games

$0.99

The Hero - 2nd Edition

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-03-08 :: Category: Games

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD – Time for iPad owners to rejoice and sing songs of praise. GTA: Chinatown Wars is finally getting the proper HD treatment. New controls specifically for the iPad are just the start here. Bigger, sweeter, and sexier visuals will grace your pupils. Game play will suck away hours of your time. Download this now…just do it!

$4.99

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-09 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-01-18 :: Category: Games

GetGlue for iPad – GetGlue is a social network for entertainment buffs. Now iPad owners get to see what all this fuss is about. Check-in when you crack a new book or fire up that B-rated horror movie. Check out what friends are up to. Even find some new jingle that might become a new ring-tone. Round off all this fun with stickers for all those ratings your slapping down on those TV shows.

FREE!

GetGlue for iPad

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-08 :: Category: Entertainment

FREE!

GetGlue

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-06-22 :: Category: Entertainment

PhotoArtista: Oil – Time to take those boring vacation photos and add some punch to them. PhotoArtista will take that photo and turn into and oil painting that even Van Gogh will be envious about. Choose from several oil styles, bush sizes, stroke variations, and effects. There is enough here to keep artists busy playing around for hours.

$2.99

PhotoArtista - Oil

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-08-29 :: Category: Photography

$2.99

PhotoArtistaHD - Oil

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-08-29 :: Category: Photography

Random musings of the app store

GTA: Chinatown Wars coming to the iPhone

Last week, as most of you know, Rockstar Games announced that it was porting its critically acclaimed GTA: Chinatown Wars to the iPhone. Not only is this great news for fans of the game, though we do already have the superb Gangstar, but it also shows how seriously the iPhone is taken as a gaming platform. Rockstar is not a company to make gratuitous ports for every platform available (I don’t think the Wii will be getting GTA anytime soon), so this upcoming port shows that Rockstar believes in the power of the iPhone. If Rockstar will port GTA for the iPhone, what other big-name developers will follow? The days of the iPhone being a phone that you could play some gimmicky accelerometer games on are over. Sony, I would be afraid.

New ngmoco FPS trailer, now called Eliminate, reveals the use of micro-transactions

Ngmoco has released a new trailer for their upcoming Eliminate, and while the game is looking awesome, most people are fixating on another detail: you will only be able to play so many matches online for credits in one day, and if you want to play for credits again without waiting a day, you have to buy an “energy pack” using real money. So what’s the big deal? Well if you ask me, as long as ngmoco doesn’t abuse this, nothing. Here’s the kicker: if you run out of energy, you can still play online, you just won’t win credits. So the only people who will buy extra energy are the perfectionists who have to show how good they are. For people like me, who just want to play a game to have fun (isn’t that what a game is for), you can play however much you want and still have fun. So really, this is a great idea as long as two things hold true: the game is not originally priced above $6.99 and the amount of energy you get per day is reasonable. What do you guys think? Sound off in our comments below.

C64 Emulator finally approved by Apple

After months of back room deals, Apple rejections, and Apple non-communication, Manomio has finally gotten their superb C64 emulator has been approved! Obviously this won’t appeal to everyone, but if you’re one for nostalgia, at $4.99, it’s worth picking up because of the high level of polish and solid controls. The emulator comes with five fully licensed games, but no BASIC emulator as was originally included, though it’s apparently suspiciously easy to enable the BASIC if you’re SSH savvy. Future games will be available via DLC at prices to be determined by the original IP holders. Next up, Manomio, a legal Atari emulator (I wish)!

$4.99

Commodore 64

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-09-05 :: Category: Games

This week’s sign of the apocalypse

Smule’s “I Am T-Pain” is the number one paid app in the entire app store. Enough said.

$2.99

I Am T-Pain 2.0

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-09-04 :: Category: Music

Apps of the Week

Modern Combat: Sandstorm

Modern Combat is the most visually impressive title on the iPhone to date, bar none. Models are good, textures are sharp, and everything is fully and accurately 3D. Not only this, but Gameloft actually nailed the controls, a first for an FPS on the iPhone. The gameplay, specifically the AI and level structure leave something to be desired, but Sandstorm remains a great accomplishment nonetheless, and it comes with a solid recommendation at the low price of $6.99.

$4.99

Modern Combat: Sandstorm

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-09-02 :: Category: Games

Samurai: Way of the Warrior

Samurai is one of the coolest games I’ve played on the iPhone. It’s a hack-and-slasher with great graphics, perfect controls, and gratuitous blood! Controls involve different combinations of swipes, and the gameplay is actually somewhat strategic – you have to balance small attacks with huge combos, because if you miss a huge combo, you leave yourself very prone to an attack. Execute moves correctly, and you might be lucky enough to see the body of the opponent samurai stop, then fall on the ground in two pieces, with blood squirting across the screen. Samurai comes with both a story mode and an endless or “dojo” mode. My only complaints about this game are that once you figure out the controls, it’s too easy – there’s an uneven difficulty curve, and that it does get repetitive at times. Still, I found myself playing this $2.99 gem much more than Sandstorm. Expect a full review soon, but until then, you really have to see a video to appreciate the awesomeness of this game.

$0.99

Samurai: Way of the Warrior

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-09-01 :: Category: Games

That’s it for this week, tune back in next week for the winner of the contest and some more MMAHQ. Have a great week!

Sweet Photoshop job done by the lovely folks at PSPWorld.com

Currently, GTA: Chinatown Wars is currently only available for the Nintendo DS, but is coming out later in the fall for the PSP. The official press release, from which I got the lovely quote above, can be found here for your reading enjoyment.

I don’t have many details now, but it’s safe to say that I’ll be scouring the internet for an official promo video. Enjoy!