Black Friday starts now for iPhone and iPad gamers. SEGA has announced an early bird sale that sees 13 of their more popular iPhone, iPad and iPod touch titles reduced to as little as $0.99 each. The sale lasts until Cyber Monday, November 28th, and includes names such as Sonic the Hedgehog (three installments) and Super Monkey Mall, saving gamers up to 80% per title.

The SEGAs of America and Europe have united in a way the U.S. government could only dream about (if politicians still knew how to dream) to announce a 48-hour sale in the App Store. Gamers can save up to 80 percent on some of the company’s biggest titles on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, including titles such as Super Monkey Ball, Shinobi 3 and Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing.

It seems SEGA of America has developed a bit of a crush on the iPhone. And with Valentine’s Day approaching, they figured now’s the time to do something about it. The company has announced sweetheart deals on the App Store, including hits such as ChuChu Rocket! and Super Monkey Ball 2 for both iPhone and iPad. Those and others $0.99 until February 15th, while a few Sonic titles are going for $2.99.

First they hype up Super Monkey Ball as being the perfect game for the iPhone platform. Heck, it has accelerometers, and it’s like controlling the surface that the monkey rolls on. Sounds great! So, then you buy it and play the first level. I can hear it now. “The controls suck!” Sound familiar?

MTV Multiplayer Blog is reporting that they can confirm that SEGA is working on a patch for the controls that many of us have come to dislike. Furthermore, the rumored patch is said to be imminent. So for the 300,000 or so of you out there that have already purchased Super Monkey Ball, rest easy, for SEGA can feel the frustration as you fall off the platform again and again and again…

Catch your fall past the break.

MacRumors is reporting that Apple is finally providing registered iPhone developers with daily download statistics of their applications to give them a good idea on how they are doing in the App Store.

From the report:

Before today, most developers had been left in the dark about their applications performance, and had to wait until the first of the monthly reports. Apple had originally posted download numbers publicly but quickly removed this feature once it became clear that you could easily estimate a particular developer’s revenue. Registered iPhone developers can find their daily stats at iTunes Connect.

More after the break.

It’s been a week now since Apple has released the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software, and we’re not done celebrating. To prove it, we’re ready to share some gaming goodness with you, our faithful readers.

Our original intent was to give this game away with our Super Monkey Ball review, but we held off, considering the iPhone 3G buying problems many are still facing. We can wait no longer; get in line for your iPhone now, because one lucky entrant will soon be selected to receive a $10 iTunes gift certificate to use towards the purchase of Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone.

Enter the contest after the break.

Yes, and it’s about time we put it out of its misery. Even before the iPhone, the iPod never stood a chance as a legitimate gaming device. This saddens me somewhat, too, because I really wanted it to be. I viewed gaming on the iPod much as I do on my Macintosh, in that I didn’t buy a Mac to play games, but if there are games available, I’ll certainly play them. Unfortunately, developers just never put much thought into iPod games, and Apple didn’t seem interested in helping out.

Find out what went wrong—and what’s starting to look right—after the break.

There’s no doubt that one of the most anticipated games for the iPhone at the launch of the App Store was Sega’s Super Monkey Ball. With outstanding graphics and great use of the accelerometer, it quickly shot up to the the top of the iTunes list for most purchased paid apps. With all this hype around it, it really had to deliver what the users were expecting.

After the break, I’ll let you know if it did.

Yes, it is true. Apple has launched the App Store, the NDA is lifted and now everyone can finally talk about their applications! The store went live this morning with about 550+ applications, ranging from Super Monkey Ball to an Abacus (for only $0.99, you can count and calculate on this fully customizable abacus!). If more »

Everyone’s favorite glass-encased-monkey game is coming to the iPhone. We had a quick glimpse of the game during the “iPhone Software Roadmap Event,” but Sega has released more details at the recent WWDC. 110 stages have been developed since we had our first look, and the game allows users to play as any of the more »