THE DEFINITIVE NFL EXPERIENCE – DESIGNED JUST FOR iPADTM. Now play MADDEN NFL on a level you’ve never seen before. With stunning HD-quality graphics, Total Defensive Control, GameFlow, Hot Routes Everywhere, plus exclusive innovations to come, MADDEN NFL 11 for iPad will deliver fun and excitement all season long. The most authentic NFL game just got even better!

SEE WHAT THE VISUAL POWER OF iPAD BRINGS TO THE GAME
Watch players rumble into action in authentic stadiums visualized in electrifying detail. Capture the atmospherics of the weather effects. Even see the blades of grass on the field. The incredible visual quality enabled by your iPad will truly draw you deeper into game.
Get it in iPad app store. It’s available now for $7.99.

WIN WITH DEFENSE WITH THE ALL-NEW TOTAL DEFENSIVE CONTROL
Designed to let you play both sides of the ball with equal intensity, the new TDC (“Total Defensive Control”) feature makes playing defense pure fun. Just press the TDC button to pause the action, position your defensive players, and deliver game-changing hits like never before.

GAMEFLOW MAKES IT EASIER TO PICK UP AND PLAY
Based on the great new console feature, GameFlow lets you to choose your play without having to go back into the playbook. Focus on the field and stay on the move with more streamlined gameplay.

DRAW HOT ROUTES EVERYWHERE
For additional gameplay depth, now draw up Hot Routes for passing, running, and defense. Even save your best (or craziest!) routes as audibles. Draw with more precision and see your personal playbook masterpieces in greater detail on the iPad screen.

MATCH UP REAL TEAMS AND REAL PLAYERS
Match up all 32 NFL teams featuring updated rosters and nearly 2,000 real players. Play through a 16-game schedule in Season Mode, making trades and tracking stats. Get into Playoffs Mode and play through last season’s historic playoffs – all the way to the Super Bowl.

Jet Set Games has an introduced a new strategy game for the iPad. The game delivers same gaming experience as its iPhone version but features re-designed maps and better artwork optimized for the iPad. Players are treated to two strategy games to provide an intelligent tactical experience in a more relaxed turn based model where they have to deploy forces using an overhead map view to secure spells and combat support and then engage in 3D combat to use those advantages against enemy forces.

The strategic elements of the game are set against a background storyline with wacky heroes and witty dialogue. Players can choose from many different styles of play, unlocking hero characters with different abilities throughout the course of the game. The game also provides more than 20 single and multiplayer achievements that can be unlocked and includes OpenFeint integration allowing users to compete against other players online.

The iPad’s value as an educational tool continues to increase every day, as new applications arrive for preschoolers, grade schoolers and college students alike. It really says something that the four ABC alphabet-teaching applications we’re looking at in today’s edition of iPad Gems are capable of being featured in such a narrowly-focused roundup; just for fun, we’ve also included a number-teaching application from one of the same developers, as well. Some of the apps here are solely for the iPad, while others are universal and thus work on the iPhone and iPod touch, as well.

All of the titles in this roundup merited at least a B+ strong general recommendation. We were especially fond of Interactive Alphabet for iPad – ABC Flash Cards and Little Explorers: ABC Wildlife, but each title is certainly worthy of its low asking price. Read on for all the details.

ABC Song

To be clear, we love the song, found the art and fun animations to be charming, and know from testing with kids that this will be an extremely popular title for repeated plays—at the $1 asking price, it’s all but impossible to complain about any shortcomings it might have. That said, the two-letter-per-page and fast-paced song design has led to some word choices for letters that are sometimes a little less than intuitive: B is for “big” rather than “balloon” so it can rhyme with “dig” on the next set of pages, with E for “elephant” and then F for “flat” so the elephant can jump into a cart and flatten its tires. Will kids know or understand “flat?” Maybe, but it’s more likely that a parent may have to explain it to them, along with a few others that move by at a very brisk pace. Ideally, this app’s small rough edges could be tweaked, but otherwise, this is a wonderfully amusing app for kids, and we’d recommend it with special enthusiasm because of the low price.