Oh I know a certain GamingAngels editor that would love this! PDP just announced that they have created Alliance and Horde iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S cases. This is a new line and the Alliance and Horde symbols are the first cases to be released on PDP.com and GameStop locations. The cases are $29.99 each.

“We’re excited to offer World of Warcraft players a new way to show their enthusiasm for the game wherever they go,” said Bill Otte, SVP of Sales and Marketing for PDP. “Players can proudly display our new line of Horde- and Alliance-themed iPhone cases as a badge of honor — or as a challenge to their rival faction.”

For Blizzard fans that may not play WoW, PDP will be coming out with Diablo III and Starcraft cases! Which is pretty cool! I can’t wait to see those designs! The Diablo III case was at Blizzcon (I thought I saw that). Android fans, don’t be sad….cases are coming your way too!

It is a first person shooter where you pick up contracts from icons on the map. Each one explains who to take out or shoot with a tranquilizer gun. Everything takes place starting with the map that has locations for your Safehouse and a Store. On the map the location icons reveal more about the story line. Or contacts give you assignments to fulfill.

Gameplay is mainly centered around the shooting and the variety if guns available in the game. You play as a lone sniper hidden in the rooftops of the city. But your character is not immune to the barrage of bullets that may come at you from below.

If you shoot a civilian, you loose. Some contracts are timed and you have to take out a number of targets or get a boss, or you fail. Your character can die too. That reduces your resources. You need energy to play, and if you waste it by failing then you might have to spend some time out from the game while you wait for your energy to build up again.

When you do well and get headshots and complete missions within specific times, you will earn more energy, credits and money. You need all there it seems in this game. That’s how they get you. If you like that sniper gun which costs four hundred credits? Be careful because those credits sell for $19.99 in real money. The Energy which can be restored by food items that replenish it. Of course you need Credits that you buy with in-app purchases.

The game features 17 Story mode missions, as well as an unlimited number of Random Missions across 5 locales for theoretically endless replay value as you level up your character and buy new weapons and ammo to use on missions. Obviously, there’s in-game currency that is used to help generate revenue, and similar to Gun Bros., there are 2 different forms of currency you can purchase to help you in your assassination attempts. You can buy in-game money ranging from $1.99 for $12,000 of in-game money to $49.99 for $350,000 of in-game money. You can also buy credits, ranging from $1.99 for 30 Credits, to $49.99 for 950 Credits. This is a similar model to how Gun Bros. worked, and Glu is likely hoping for similar success with this model for Contract Killer. Contract Killer also comes with Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements, and is a universal app for the iPad as well.

Glu have released plenty of traditional paid apps on the App Store, but appear to be embracing the freemium model between this, Gun Bros., Deer Hunter Challenge, and World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend. It will be interesting to see if they continue to embrace the traditional paid model for their other future releases, or if they follow the ngmoco:) model of just releasing freemium apps, or if they do something similar to Gameloft’s freemium model, by continuing the traditional paid app model, but offering free downloads, and offering to unlock the full app via in-app purchase. Check out a trailer and screens of the game below, available now.

Two big moves in the tablet gaming space for one game retailer have been confirmed today.

GameStop has selected an Android tablet model to serve as their “official” gaming platform next year. These tablet models will launch with some titles pre-installed.

“We’re in test phase right now,” GameStop president Tony Bartel told GamesIndustry.biz. “But we’re excited at the prospect of coming out with this tablet. I would call it a ‘GameStop certified gaming platform.’ We looked at all the tablets and these are the ones that really worked for gaming and we’re going to give you a few benefits that you’re not going to get elsewhere.”

Zynga has finally brought the crazy popular Scrabble-esque app, Words With Friends, to Facebook! I have been playing this since I got my iPod touch and am completely obsessed by it. It”s incredibly easy to get started, just go to the app, find some friends who play, and start a game. The thing I like best about this adaptation is that you CAN take it with you. Start playing a game on Facebook, and that same game carries over to your iPhone or Droid. It’s free (with ads) and truly social, with a chat built in. Enjoy!

Enemies come in waves monsters with swords and axes come at you on all sides. The character is difficult to move and the control stick does not work as fluidly as I am used to from other games with virtual joystick. Frequently he is being jumped from behind because of sluggish controls and an inability to automatically turn to face the attackers. You have two basic type of attacks on tap for the right hand. A quick attack and a heavy attack. Beneath the health bar is a heat meter, and when it is filled a greater attack power can be summoned. He sort of grunts and squats and force waves emanate off him as though he needs a dose of Gas-X.

The backgrounds and the hordes that you have to clear all all a barrage of garish colors all smashed together. You’ll see fuchsia lady bug swarms, heaps of poison spiting green ooze and tall purple crystals dripping with the turquoise waters of fountains. It has a funny over the top art style interpretation that has great resolution.

As each wave comes at you it gets bigger. Thankfully the areas expand too. There are various rewards. Some are straight forward treasure chests. You can keep doing battle until your inventory runs out of power ups and health potions.

You accumulate three types of medium of exchange, you have your experience points. And coins and gems. Killing gleans the experiences points and another factor which is soul remains. The soul remains are a multiplyer you earn by surviving successive waves. Soul remains are transformed at a ‘hearth’ into coins. Coins are used at the shop on new items. Experience points level you up.

Gems are the currency used the freemium currency. Those are earned when clicking ads, watching videos or by in App store purchase. They try to entice you with the better gear armor and weapons, buffs for your character and other bonus deals. Gems can be converted into coin but not vice-versa.

Like other Glu games it keeps annoyingly asking me to log into to Facebook. I don’t want to. I wish it would stop asking me every time. My scores for this game aren’t that important that I want to post them. I’m not likely to want to invite anyone to play through Facebook either, but if someone wanted to, it is more than available. You can play with a friend, or take their character with you on a mission. What I found even more irritating about this aspect of the game is that they repeatedly show a female barbarian warrior avatar with robust cleavage imploring you to add friends. I am wondering if she is playable in the multiplayer? I haven’t found it said anyplace that she is playable though.

Eternity Warriors is a good mindless diversion. It is brightly lit and you don’t have to do much except for tapping the attack buttons. It is a good one for taking up your time while you are doing something else or waiting around and you want something that doesn’t require your full attention. Eternity Warriors best asset is that it is free.

Stephanie Herrera: When I made the game I was a lot younger than now and the differences just came out of thin air, I didn’t plan them at all, just made whatever came to my mind. I think the innocence of the moment also helped and the stuff I was going through in my life at that certain point, such as becoming a self conscious woman.

What art your art style influences?

In that time I liked manga and anime a lot, probably you can tell from the images, lol… But now I’m older I have much more influences in my style, most of all come from cool conceptual art in films and videogames, and the range of styles is infinite, so you can use the stuff you like and combine all the aspects of different design forms.

How hard was it getting your art to become a game?

Actually I was really lucky, I was searching for a freelance job at that time and suddenly Adam appeared out of nowhere, told me he had seen my art and wanted to do a game with me. I never imagined it would become this big within internet gaming.

Was it a lengthy process?

Back then I was exploring my techniques of work as well, so yeah, I was a bit lengthy, but it was very cool process. First I did the sketches, then I put ink by hand, scanned and colored digitally.

Did you begin yiur career with a video game App in mind?

Nope, I never thought this game would become of such proportions. When Adam told me the game had been played more than 20 million times… I was shocked!!

The game tells a story without using words, why did you choose to go that route?

I didn’t chose it to be that way, but I’ve always liked the way someone can tell a story without words. That means the communication level has to be higher to make a story understandable. Now I know it’s better to do games without words, it’s more globalized that way.

Is this your first video game project?

Yes it is I did other small stuff for Adam before Dreams, but nothing as mine as Dreams.

What were you doing before working on Dreams?

By that time, let’s see… I think I was starting with my studies at the university or maybe just finishing high school. I’ve always liked art and drawing and painting, so probably I was doing that as well, lol..

Are you going to make more games?

I already finished some more difference games with Adam that soon will come out, and right now I’m finishing a Pinnochio twisted fairytale in a comic style that I hope people will like a lot too.   Part from that, it’s always been my dream to become a recognized woman in the videogaming world. A lot has been lost in the way of making new games, seems like somehow everybody forgot what is like to really think and use your head to win a game.

What games do you enjoy playing yourself?

I enjoy playing games that are not made for dummies, games that are not just about killing a bunch of dudes and massive special effects, but games that actually require you to use your head and present you an interesting new story and new ways of gameplay.

I had done an interview with someone from Aerial 7 so I checked out what they had. I found this set of Aerial 7 Tank Headphones in a Hello Kitty motif. I wanted them immediately, but I forced myself to really look around first to make sure that it wasn’t just the Hello Kitty design that was drawing me in.

I had many needs to fill. I wanted a headset because I had enough with ear buds. I wanted a decent mic for recording vocals at home. Being able to plug it into an acoustic electric guitar could come in handy for tuning, or practice while the TV is on. It had to be stable enough to handle Skype and not add additional static. Whatever I chose had to be compatible with all of our Apple devices too.

The Aerial7 Tank Headphones feature a 57mm Driver which gives a fairly robust sound quality. They are very comfortable, and have a small enough setting for my size. It came in attractive packaging. The instruction manual was very brief though, and could have been an actual booklet to help explain how each attachment is used in more detail for people who don’t know. For my purpose, just a short description and picture of each cord that they had was enough.

The set Includes a soft cloth case to carry the headphones and the variety of cords all together. The whole thing is compact enough to fit inside the niche in a guitar case, or easily hold an iPod as well as the headphones and the cords, in your purse or a beach bag. It is definitely worth it having the soft feeling of the foam on the ears. The sound is more round and holistic, the stereo separation is much more effective. They cut out background noise such as an air conditioner very well too.

These Tanks, while offering a very cute addition to my collection of Hello Kitty skins and covers for my eQlectronics, are extremely multi functional and handy. There are the many applications for these. I can use them for song writing Apps on my iPad, or gaming, as well as listening to music on iPods. It has those 3.5mm iPhone® – Skype™ adapters which means I can plug the alternate cord with the red and blue ends into my netbook PC for meetings on Skype, and for podcasts. All I have to do is switch over to the cord with the built in mic, or the 3.5mm input plug and 3.5mm iPhone that were included. It also came with a very long coiled DJ cord that can be plugged into a mixer. The fatter plug 3.5mm – 6.3mm (1/4″) adapter is included too. With everything it comes with and the way it sounds, it seems reasonable for the price. I just hope they will last.

Sharon’s background is mainly in marketing, so the goal of her new lifestyle app, Luminous, is to get a high profile sponsor on board to use it as part of Stone Creek Entertainment’s digital marketing campaign. Recently, for example, MTV sponsored a Facebook game Stone Creek created to promote this season of The Real World.

Her career has taken an interesting transition. Her first job was with a sports marketing agency, working on campaigns such as Major League Baseball. She then transitioned into gaming, leading the charge on marketing Grand Theft Auto, developing partnerships with with Jeff Gordon and Coca-Cola. She’s also played an important role in marketing MTV’s Virtual Worlds. Luminous promises to have a wealth of content about prominent females. The app is about understanding your own personality, just as Sharon is now marketing to an audience she feels she can fully understand.

Geek Woman: Your background is in marketing, how did you make the transition to representing games?

Sharon Wood: I worked in entertainment marketing for most of the first half of my career, and then video/digital game marketing the second half.  These weren’t traditional roles, and for the most part, I worked in start-ups, where everyone does and has to know everything.  I was involved with video game product development through market definition and frankly, because I am a girl and have raised a girl, I had opinions about the types of products I hoped to see in the market.  The other thing to keep in mind is that marketing can and should touch product definition, no matter the industry you work in.

What was your job at Grand Theft Auto like?

The Company was ASC Games, not Take Two, and we worked on multiple titles of which Grand Theft Auto was one of them.  It was enormously interesting.  When the first title released, it was quite different from what it is today.  It was more of an appeal to the player’s fantasy of being the “bad guy”, and it made for fascinating focus groups.  We launched with short marketing funds, and the awareness of the game travelled virally before I even began my campaign, so I had a great base from which to launch a campaign.

Are you a gamer?

Yes!  Not a hardcore, console gamer as much as a casual gamer.

What do you play?

I love Words with Friends.  It’s very social and I always have 20 games going with both friends and game-friends.  I also like Tiny Wings, Scoops, Chuzzle (a long time fan) and one of our prior titles, Her Pet Peeves.

What is Luminous about?

Karizmac Luminous is a self-discovery/self-exploration app.  It asks you to agree or disagree with decisions, and then shows you other women who may think like you, spanning women from history, the arts, business, entertainment, fashion and fiction; and it also tells you which personality trait goes with the decision you make, giving you 3 layers of personality traits.  Then it summarizes it on an interactive “Charisma Map”, so you can explore both your traits and the women, in a summarized form.  You can then compare your personality traits from day to day, and see how you do, or do not, shift.

Which type of game play is it?

Although Karizmac Luminous starts out as a quiz, it quickly departs into something that we feel is unique.  We hope women will enjoy gaining more insight about themselves, comparing their thoughts with others and sharing what they think with others.  We’ve seen some women enjoy collaborating on the answer choices, and also being a little competitive in the Bonus/Self Confidence section, which plays a little differently from the other part of the app.

How are the female characters in the game portrayed?

We observed decisions they made and aligned them with the decisions in the app.  We tell you a little bit about them and the situation.  I personally found this fascinating as we were writing.  These are women who, whether their actions were large, high profile, or small, were very thoughtful, in many cases brave and pioneering, and are really interesting.  For example, I had no idea that a woman invented the windshield wiper and the disposable diaper (although that certainly makes sense!).  Another received a Medal from the President for taking her husband’s place on the battlefield.  And various women’s thoughts about their careers, their relationships and motherhood were all intriguing, and thoughtful in ways I hadn’t thought about previously.

How do you go about finding a sponsor for a Facebook game?

In most cases, our team has relationships with sponsors and in others, we reach out to them.  Our sponsorships are strategic in nature; we’re not just asking them to put their name in our game.  We want it to work for them to reach their business goals.

Do you get private information about the gamers from Facebook?

No.

Geek Woman: I was told that you are a snowboarder, do you still enjoy the sport?

Tanya Otero: It’s my passion, and a huge source of inspiration in my life.

Have you ever gotten injured snowboarding?

Oh yes! In fact I am part bionic.

What is your favorite snowboarding video game?

Tony Hawk Shred of course…..I was just released 2010

How do feel when you are snowboarding and listening to your tunes?

Like all the insane beauty was packaged up just for me with my tunes, my mountain, my sound disc and my board. It’s one of my favorite experiences especially when you discover a new tune through Shazam and then its suddenly streaming through your own speakers, so great.

What are your favorite headphones or ear buds at Aerial7?

Actually I like the sound disc. Partially because I am a big fan of headwear, any season and also because you can still hear if need be to the outside world or like with snowboarding for example I like to hear the sound of the board slashing down the mountain.

Do you have anything to offer women who can’t get earbuds in their too tiny ears?

Our new Neo earbud which will be out this summer is smaller in size but carries the same punch as normal size earbuds. They come with a double dome ear tip that fits better in smaller ears plus is comfy for long term use. Aside from a great new product called the Neo, the sound disc is amazing which is a slotted hat or beanie that houses sound discs the Phoenix which is a light weight, compact over ear headphone with a 44mm driver such great sound for the size. Also our Tank, DJ headphone is unisex offering a variety of styles from DJ Loli’s studded headphone to a special Hello Kitty collaboration.

Is there a good sounding product for iPads?

All of our headphones work with apple products and we actually took the liberty of adding a mic to ALL of our headphones as well since we know how much Apple lovers use skype.

What types of products do you offer?

We offer earbuds, over the ear headphones and sound disk beanies

What inspirations do you use in the product designs?

All of our product is designed by our creative team who draws inspiration from music, action sports and fashion!

Are there new products that you can tell us about?

We have new colors coming out in some of our existing lines plus our new NEO ear bud. Then we also have a few new products that will come out late summer/fall timeframe!

Will Aerial7 be getting more into apparel?

We will certainly continue to develop the sound disc offering which does involve apparel on some level however the main focus is quality sounding electronics that last, are comfortable and functional for all the things we like to do.