Star Wars

It was another slow week for App Store releases but there were a few noteworthy announcements made and trailers released this week. The biggest App Store news was the confirmation by the Pokémon Company that the the Pokémon Trading Card Game will be released to the iPad. This marks the first time a Nintendo-owned game will be ported to iOS.

Rovio finally announced an official release date to its Angry Birds spin-off Stella. The game will be available on September 4th. Nival announced its new RPG Etherlords will hit the App Store on the same day as Stella, and trailers for The Witcher Battle Arena and Mikey Boots were also released this week. You can see all of this week's trailers at the bottom of this page.

Angry Birds Star Wars II has been updated with 30 new levels, and it is free for the first time on the Apple App Store. The all-new "Master Your Destiny" chapter allows you to play as a young Jedi warrior or Pork Federation member as you train to become a Jedi or Sith Knight. There are 15 new Bird Side levels and 15 new Pork Side levels.

If you have never played Angry Birds Star Wars II, the game is based on the original Star Wars prequels. Players can choose to join the Force for good, “Join the Pork Side” and play as popular villains such as Darth Maul. The game features over 30 playable characters based on popular Star Wars universe and it supports Hasbro's interactive telepod toys.

Disney Mobile has teamed up with NimbleBit to bring the classic business simulation video game Tiny Tower to the Star Wars universe, and the result is the awesome Star Wars: Tiny Death Star! Players must help the Empire build the Death Star through the "power of commerce" by employing Galactic bitizens to work at intergalactic businesses. Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader will oversee your progress while you "fund the Empire’s evil schemes to defeat the Rebels and conquer the galaxy once and for all!"

You can build over 80 types of Star Wars themed residential and commercial floors, and employ over 30 unique species, including Wookiees and Ewoks, to work at businesses like the Cloud City Spa. Like any freemium title, Star Wars: Tiny Death Star does feature in-app purchases, and requires a certain amount of waiting around for construction of individual floors to be completed. You can of course speed up this process by spending in-game money called "Imperial Bux," which for sale through the game's in-app store. You can also spend Imperial Bux on new costumes for your citizens and to unlock VIPs and other fun Star Wars characters.

While most eyes were on the release of iOS 7, Angry Birds Star Wars 2 quietly slipped into the App Store one day earlier than its announced release date. The tie-in Angry Bird Telepod toys have even started popping up online at retailers like Amazon.

In the sequel, players can choose to join the Pork Federation or the Pork Side, and have access to more than 30 playable characters like Jar Jar Binks and Jango Fett. Angry Birds Star Wars 2 also features separately sold "telepod" toys to use along with the game. The telepods allow users to teleport their favorite characters into the game by using their device's built-in camera.

Rovio Entertainment has released nine character trailers for Angry Birds Star Wars 2. The characters include Jar Jar Binks, Jedi Youngling, Luke Skywalker Jedi, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker Endor, Droideka, TIE Fighter Pilot, Zam Wesell and Emperor Palpatine. You can watch all nine videos on the official Rovio Entertainment YouTube page.

Angry Birds Star Wars 2 will be available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices on September 19. The game will be $0.99 to download and will feature additional toys that can be bought separately and used to unlock certain characters within the game. Angry Birds will be the third video game plus toy line released this year. Earlier this month, Disney launched its own iPad app to tie-in with its Disney Infinity video game, which also includes NFC-enabled collectible action figures.