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Super Mega Worm is such a wonderful guilty pleasure that you can be excused for wanting to dig back in once again. Well now you can as Dead Pixel has announced that the world-destroying worm is returning to wreak a terrible vengeance on none other than Santa Claus himself. That's right, it's Super Mega Worm vs. Santa, and the North Pole is no longer safe.

The new title will be a separate release from the standard Super Mega Worm and will retail for 99 cents. The game features 15 new North Pole themed levels alongside 15 new items to eat, three new super powers and two different game modes. Oh, and did we also mention you're trying to eat Santa? I mean come on now what is there not to love about this?

It's pretty funny how Dead Pixel has decided to get into the same Christmas spirit that seems to be popping up in several other App Store titles these days. While most other games have you celebrating the holiday this is a game which finds players trying to actively destroy it, much to their glee. "Well I'm sorry you didn't get that bike you wanted Little Timmy, but a giant worm attacked the North Pole and ate Santa. Now, now, don't cry! The horrible monstrosity is heading this way to devour us whole as well, so we might as well make the most of what little time we have left." Or does it turn out that if Super Mega Worm eats Santa he then assumes Ol' Saint Nick's powers and becomes the new bringer of gifts? So now children will burst into the living room on Christmas morning to open acid-spit soaked presents as dad fills in the "Christmas hole" Wojira created to tunnel into the house and leave the presents under the tree. Oh the joy!

Super Mega Worm vs. Santa is out this week, so prepare yourself for some holiday-destroying fun.

Does anyone remember JibJab's iconic cartoons, starring our potential heads of state? Well, JibJab featured their heads, at least, on top of dancing cartoon bodies. Now there's an app for that, too, except that instead of watching ironic political jingles with presidential candidates, you get to insert your dearest friends into holiday songs.

That app is Super Dance Elf Christmas, and it's here in perfect time for the holiday season. The app may have a grammatically cringe-worthy title, but the name is admittedly descriptive. You take a photo of your face (or your friend's, your coworker's, etc) or draw one from your Camera Roll, and the app grafts it onto a video of a dancing elf's body. The elf dances, the photo-face bobs up and down, and obnoxiously cheery Christmas music plays in sync. Want to see it in action? I recommend the video.

In addition to the default elf, Super Dance Elf Christmas comes with a girl elf, a "reggae reindeer," and "Miss Merry Christmas." Once you've composed a video you like—there aren't too many settings to tweak—you can save your video within the app and email it off to friends. Blackmail, or a great joke? Hmm...well, on the bright side now you can falsify proof of your dancing skills.

If this sounds good to you, Super Dance Elf Christmas is available now on the App Store for a lowly buck. Dancing skills don't come much cheaper than that!

As if it weren't hard enough to walk away from the adorable Om Nom and his insatiable desire for candy, we've just learned that Cut the Rope will have its hooks into us a bit longer as Chillingo prepares for the release of Cut the Rope: Holiday Edition. Tis the season to fall in love with the game all over again.

The new title will be a standalone game available free of charge and should show up in the App Store any day now. The game features 25 new stages as well as a new "Christmas Sock" mechanic. Apparently the magical stocking will allow you to teleport candy from one place to another, putting a whole new wrinkle in the experience. All of this will be bundled with new music and achievements, not to mention a generous helping of holiday cheer.

It's nice to see high-profile games getting in on the holiday spirit, and it seems that games published under the Chillingo banner are leading the way. First we got Angry Birds Halloween, which has now morphed into Angry Birds Seasons and is providing a new level every day throughout the holidays. The only difference was that while that update went for $0.99, the new Cut the Rope content is free, which is an even sweeter deal.

More than current Cut the Rope owners, this promotion seems aimed at the folks who will be getting an iOS device for the holidays and are looking for fun new apps to add. If Chillingo can hook them with a free tinsel-strewn version of an already addictive game, then the odds are very high that those same consumers will go pick up the full version of the standard game practically immediately. It's a smart strategy indeed, and one from which all us current Cut the Rope owners will also stand to benefit.

[via Joystiq]

November 26 is a dangerous yet thrilling day to be an American shopper, as it marks Black Friday. As US consumers know, the day after Thanksgiving is typically when retailers offer their biggest sales and best incentives in the hope of kicking the holiday shopping season off with a bang. Further complicating an already hectic day is the fact that if you're looking to buy an iPad or iPhone for a loved one then you'd best make the Apple Store or another electronics retailer your first stop, as they're poised to go fast.

According to a survey conducted by BlackFriday.com, the iPad is the most sought after holiday gift this year, and the iPhone comes in third. That means that if you're looking to buy either item then you might want to go ahead and get in line at your local Best Buy right now, because both are likely to be sold out about ten minutes after the store opens on November 26 and then remain MIA through New Year's. The upside to all this is that the iPod Touch isn't in the top 10 list of most-wanted items (it lands at number 11), so while all the other crazed shoppers are fighting over the other iOS devices you should be able to snap up an iPod with minimal fuss.

What's most surprising about the Black Friday predictions in general is just how tech-centric they are. Every item in the top 15 is some sort of gadget or gizmo, and nearly 60 percent of survey respondents said they wanted some form of electronics as a holiday gift. In fact, tech dominates the list, with most folks saying that they want things with microchips inside them under the Christmas tree this year. And remember, this isn't some tech site running the survey, but rather a general interest website which is devoted solely to helping people find good sales. In other words, its target market is the average American consumer, and it seems that such consumers really want iPads and iPhones. Looks like Apple is shaping up to have a very happy holiday season.

[via BlackFriday.com]

What do kids want Santa to bring them this year? According to battery-maker Duracell, iOS machines sit atop the list. Fourteen percent of tykes want an iPhone 4, while 13 percent are wishing for an iPod Touch and 12 percent opine for an iPad. As a point of comparison, Microsoft's Kinect, the new "controller free" controller, comes in at only six percent.

The survey was conducted with over 2,000 children ages 5-16, and we're hoping that it was the upper tier of ages which tilted the numbers in favor of the iOS devices. While there's plenty of reason for a 16 year-old who wishes nothing more than to be cool to want an iPhone or iPad, the machines should really hold little sway over a kindergartner. Then again, Apple's ubiquitous iOS ads may have made demand transcend age, in which case we can only say kudos to the evil-yet-effective marketing team. Here's the full top-ten list for those who are curious:

01) iPhone 4 (14%)
02) iPod touch (13%)
03) iPad (12%)
04) Kinect (6%)
05) Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters (5%)
06) Flip Video Camera (4%)
07) Toy Story 3 Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (4%)
08) PlayStation Move (4%)
09) Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4: The Video Game (3%)
10) Barbie Video Girl (3%)

For those of our readers with kids, how closely does this list align with what your youngsters have been asking for? More importantly, how many of you are thinking about getting your children an iOS machine and how many believe that these are devices really more aimed at adults and should be kept out of the hands of kids? Maybe instead you buy yourself the iPad and let your kids play with it when you put it down -- which is never.

[via CVG]

UK development studio Sauce Digital will be holding a 12 Days of Christmas Apps contest from December 26 (Boxing Day) through January 6 (Epiphany). They've gathered hundreds of promo codes from participating developers, and will be giving away one twelfth of the codes on every day of the event. To enter the contest, all you have to do is submit your name and email on the official site, http://www.12daysofchristmasapps.com. The website also has an area where interested developers can sign-up for taking part in the promotion.

Sauce Digital is probably known best for their game Nano Rally, and have recently released Touch Soccer 3D. Their suite of games will be offered in the competition, as well as those from a variety of developers including Hanged by Freeverse, and Harbor Master by Imangi Studios. So far 47 developers have joined the contest pool, and the total number of promo codes collected is at 365 and counting.

Never one to be outdone by the likes of EA and other game publishers, Gameloft has announced their own holiday promotion, which starts today. For the next 7 days leading up to Christmas, Gameloft has placed 7 of their titles on sale for $0.99. Here is the complete rundown:

Brain Challenge $4.99 > $0.99
Castle of Magic $1.99 > $0.99
Castle Frenzy $1.99 > $0.99
Shrek Kart $4.99 > $0.99
Terminator Salvation $2.99 > $0.99
Real Tennis 2009 $4.99 > $0.99
Real Soccer 2010 $4.99 > $0.99

There's been much mention of Blacksmith Games' Appvent Calendar program, which offers a free app a day from December 1st to the 24th. EA Mobile has now followed suit, and although they won't be offering any freebies of their own, they will be putting a game on sale every day until Christmas. According to their site, the sale prices will reach up to 80% off, and most games will be available for 99 cents.

The first title out of the gate for the 25 Games Til Xmas promotion is Trivial Pursuit. Normally available for $4.99, Trivial Pursuit's sale price is $1.99. Chris reviewed it back in May, and gave it a very respectable 4 1/2 stars, calling it a faithful adaptation of the board game.

EA Mobile will be announcing each day's discounted app on their Twitter and Facebook pages. Will any of the other big publishers follow suit? If Black Friday was any indication, then there's bound to be a considerable amount of sales throughout the holidays, and we'll be covering them all as they hit.

I had decided a while ago that I wasn't going to post any reviews of Christmas (or any other) holiday apps. They are all just to trite, simple, and down right annoying. Especially so to a grinch like me. But then, I saw Earthscape Santa Tracker and my heart grew three sizes that day.

Ok, maybe it only expanded 1.5 sizes. But this is still a great app. Earthscape Santa Tracker is a holiday photo viewer and 3D Santa tracker based on Earthscape's great 3D earth platform. If you have kids, it will be extra special on Christmas eve. Here's the description from the developer:

Ho Ho Ho! Follow Santa as he makes his way around the world this Christmas Season! See where Santa is, or will be, on Christmas Eve and explore thousands of beautiful photos of the holidays being celebrated around the world. Learn how to share your own holiday pictures with the rest of the planet for a very special Christmas!