The Zune HD has been out for a while now, but the current news is the Zune Marketplace's addition of five free 3D titles, including our Vans SK8: Pool Service, which garnered some great reviews in the spring as its original iPhone iteration. Hop over to Gizmodo to take a brief look at the five games available. The new Zune HD edition of Pool Service features a number of tweaks over the original thanks to the device's more robust processor and graphics capabilities, including a new environment, new animations and an smooth framerate of over 50 fps. The game also takes advantage of the Zune's custom playlists, so players can skate to their own tracks. For some video footage of Vans, and the other titles, check out the always sharp-tongued, not-always neck-braced Blair Herter at G4tv.

It turns out quite a bit, or at least that's what iPhone game players seem to think. Since the launch of Lifeboat, one of the biggest features that people have asked for is some way to post their scores outside of their game into Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Players asked and we've listened. With the v1.1 update of Lifeboat, submitted last night, players will be able to post their game results to Twitter or Facebook from within the game. Once it's approved, expect to see a lot more about how Lifeboat is taking the iPhone world by storm!

In addition to the Twitter and Facebook support, we've tweaked a few gameplay elements, making it much easier to control, and have balanced out Quick Play so you're not always starting with beginner upgrades.

Apple's estimates are that it will take about 2 weeks to get approved, so look for this around the end of August!

We're live on the App Store with our latest casual title for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Pick Lifeboat up now for a limited introductory price of 99 cents!

Get out the water wings and chest wax, 'cause we're taking you out into the open ocean this summer with our latest iPhone game, Lifeboat.

Our new title sees a questionably sober captain leaving berth at the helm of a loaded passenger vessel.  Alas, as fate would have it, the star-crossed vessel hits un-cooperative waters and the player is forced to salvage the passengers before the murky depths (and the sharks) get a hold of them.

The gameplay puts you in the role of a relatively omnipotent agent of life, tilting the device to safely allocate passengers into their lifeboats.  Be quick about it, though; you only have so long before the ship goes under, and it's a smorgasbord for the sharks.

Remember that scene in Titanic where the guy's freaking out about the lifeboats only being launched half full? Well, in our game, the passengers are even worse off, because, after so long, those lifeboats are taking off whether or not there's anyone on them, so you better tilt quick.

Of course with all that tilting, some passengers are bound to end up wet, so you'll also have to pull them out of the water before the sharks get their teeth into them.

People tumbling around are also bound to drop a few coins, and since you're their saviour, I'm sure they're more than willing to forgive you for pocketing it, and using it to buy upgrades for the ship.

As you upgrade, you'll benefit from stuff like quicker controls, bonus time, and stronger swimming skills for your passengers.  But enough of my yammering, I'll let some screens of the game do the rest of the talking.  For a closer look, check out The Appera's and SlideToPlay's first takes on the game.  We'll be keeping you up to speed with more info as the game approaches its release.

I'll be speaking at the upcoming 360iDev Denver conference to be held right here in Denver in late September. This looks to be a great conference, and Julian Dolce from our Ottawa studio spoke at the first even in San Jose earlier this year. If you're here in town, or if you're looking for a great smaller iPhone focused conference that's going to be very high on networking and information then I definitely recommend checking it out!

With the release today of the iPhone 3.0 OS software, Vans SK8: Pool Service has also been updated. The biggest new feature is that we now allow you to select your own music tracks when playing the game. If for some reason Penuckly, Slowride, Methadones and Dwarves aren't good enough for you, just hit the "User Your Own Tracks" button and play anything in your iPod library. Similar functionality is also in the Lite version, just press the "My Music" button on the main page to choose your own tunes.

Get Vans SK8 from the Apple App Store now!

Vans SK8: Pool Service Lite is now available on the Apple App Store.

This version provides a basic free gameplay experience for anyone that wanted to try it out before they purchased the full version of Vans SK8: Pool Service.

We're already working on an update too, which will add in direct access to your iPod music for users who upgrade to the 3.0 software when it comes out in a week.

We're off to WWDC next week and looking forward just as much as everyone else, to get more details about the next version of the iPhone.

We're also co-sponsoring the iPhone Dev Union party on Monday night from 7-10pm at Jillian's. If you're going to be at the show be sure to come by!

We know it's been quiet around here for a little while, but that's because we've been hard at work on some pretty cool projects. Look for more info here soon.

The v1.1 update to Vans SK8: Pool Service has just been approved and should now be available on iTunes. While the response to the first version was great, there were a few people who had an issue with the controls, which should be resolved. We've also added a couple highly requested features (such as a restart option in the game's pause menu).

We've also talked to Vans and together have decided to temporarily lower the price of the game to thank the community for their support so far, and to allow even more people to play and enjoy the game.

You can get Vans SK8: Pool Service on the iTunes App Store

Vans isn't just great at making shoes, they're apparently also wicked at putting together cool trailers. Here's the latest trailer for Pool Service, now up on the App Store, courtesy of the team at Vans.