Today's TiPb Top 5 will be directed towards our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who love First-Person Shooting (FPS) games. Just like our other TiPb's top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full overview, follow us after the break!

Wolfenstein 3D Platinum

Wanna kick it old, old school? Wolfenstein 3D (Wolf3D) started it all. What is great about this version of the game is that you get A LOT of levels. You get episodes 1-6 plus the Spear of Destiny add-on pack for a total of more than 60 levels. Wolf3D has customizable controls and a super-fast framerate. This is a great version of the original and a bargain price. [$1.99 - iTunes Link]

• Old school fun
• Customizable controls
• So many levels!
• Fast and smooth gameplay

DOOM Classic

Ah, DOOM — one of my all time favorites. The iPhone version is top-notch. Fast and fun. The controls have been tweaked a little more than with Wolf3D, but are similar. If you can play one, you will be instantly at home with the other. DOOM takes the Wolf3D premise and adds a grand 3D element to it. Mars is invaded by devils from hell and it is up to you to eradicate them over 36 levels. Future updates in include Doom 2 with in-app purchasing! Doom as multiplayer support over local Wi-Fi, but sadly, no online deathmatches are planned at this time. [$6.99 - iTunes Link]

• Just the way I remember it
• Customizable controls
• Fast gameplay
• Totally fun!

Eliminate Pro

One of the most anticipated apps for the App Store, Eliminate has arrived! This illustrates what mobile online multiplayer can be about. This game revolves around playing matches and winning; that simple. The catch is having “energy” when you play. If you win a match (or actually play a match) with energy you earn credits. Credits are used to buy weapons, armor and stats. After your energy is depleted, you can buy more with in-app purchasing, or wait 90 minutes (the time keeps changing as ngmoco:) finds the right balance) for a partial energy recharge. You can play over the Internet with Wi-Fi or 3G. A new map is on its way, but no word on voice chat. [$Free - iTunes Link]

• Internet multiplayer
• Upgradable weapons and armor
• Friend lists
• Private matches with friends

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies

This game was a surprise that came out of nowhere! Like shooting zombies WWII Nazi-style? Well, look no further than Call of Duty: Zombies. You are in a room with boarded entrances. Zombies are closing in on every side. What do you do? destroy them of course! You can buy different weapons and choose from a few different control styles. This game gets tough fast, but in the end is hampered by a less-than-accurate control scheme. I have faith this will be fixed in a future update. You can play single player or multiplayer locally. Sadly there is only one map right now, but more are coming soon! [$9.99 - iTunes Link]

• Top-notch graphics
• Erie atmosphere make playing it stressful!
• Continuous onslaught of zombies to kill
• Local multiplayer

Modern Combat: Sandstorm

Looking for a FPS with a good challenge? Sandstorm will give it to ya! This is not a run n’ gun game, you have to use strategy defeat the relentless AI. This game has great controls and graphics. You can crouch, zoom, carry two different weapons plus grenades; all intuitively with fun. You are placed in the Middle East set to take down the bad guys. What is the big news about this game? There is an online update coming out before Christmas 2009 that will add  Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes! This looks to be an amazing addition onto an already solid single player title! [$4.99 - iTunes Link]

• Great control scheme with lots of functionality
• 10 different missions
• Great visuals  and story
• Very challenging compared to other FPSs on the App Store

Conclusion

The graphics and gameplay for 3D games on the iPhone is really heating up. With so many good games, it is hard to pick a winner. Out of this match-up, in their current state, I have to choose Eliminate Pro. The reason? Awesome online multiplayer action. I think once Sandstorm gets its update, it will be a real viable contender; for single player, it wins hands-down. Being able to play against anyone, anywhere is always better than bots. Because if this, Eliminate Pro wins by a landslide. Hey, and it’s free

Winner: Eliminate Pro

There you have it, TiPb's Top 5 FPS Games. Did we miss any of your favorites? Overlook any killer shooters? Drop us a comment and let us know your list, and your winner!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb’s Top Five First-Person Shooting Games!

Techcrunch’s Michael Arrington takes the US Thanksgiving holiday to give sweet blog love to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and everything he’s done for Apple — and for consumers:

What would our world look like without him? We'd likely still be in mobile phone hell. Chances are we still wouldn't have a decent browsing experience on the phone, and we certainly wouldn't be enjoying third party apps like Pandora or Skype on whatever clunker the carriers handed us. Even if you use an Android, Palm Pre or newer Blackberry today, you must thank Apple for pushing open the doors to mobile freedom. Think back to the phone you had in 2006, and then tell me you don't love Apple for the iPhone alone (yes, I've moved on, but the iPhone was the genesis).

He manages to sneak in a few swipes at MobileMe (which now works pretty well), and the MacBook Air (which, since the second generation, has been magnificent), and still calls Apple irritating and sorta evil, but from Arrington’s fascinating lawyer-days working on the Apple/NeXT deal, to his admiration for their sexy new iMacs and iTablets to be, he gives the CEO of the Decade a lot of credit and is hard pressed to imagine an Apple, or a technology sector, without him.

We are too. For Apple II, Mac, Pixar, iPod, iTunes, Apple Retail, and of course, the iPhone, we join Arrington in saying — thanks Steve!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Giving Thanks for Steve Jobs Returning to Apple, Willing iPhone Into Existence

Apple.com has published a new page with information on iTunes LP and iTunes Extras for Developers:

Here's everything you need to know to create a rich, interactive experience around your music and movies. All right in iTunes.

It includes the latest version of Apple’s TuneKit (think WebKit HTML+CSS+Javascript with iTunes hooks), as well as templates, best practices, a development guide, and info on asset delivery and testing. It’s not all automagical yet, however:

Automatic, electronic submission of your iTunes LP or Extra is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010. Until then, the submission process is manual and limited. Please contact your label or studio rep for details and consideration. An existing iTunes contract is required. Your iTunes LP or iTunes Extras will be reviewed by the iTunes team for appropriateness of content and for technical quality.

Still, it’s nice to see the technology and supporting material made available, and the brouhaha from last month made farcical.

Now, all we need is for Apple to show some iTunes LP and iTunes Extras love to the iPhone. Where’s that iPhone 3.2 already?!

Anyone planning to get TuneKit’ty with it? Let us know how it works for your content!

[Apple.com via feed://www.9to5mac.com/feedburner.xml">9to5mac]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Publishes iTunes LP and iTunes Extras for Developers

Those waiting for the US (and UK, Canadian, etc. honorific) Apple Online Store’s Black Friday Sale — the only sale Apple ever does — can get a sneak preview as it’s already Black Friday in Australia and Apple’s deals are live. Call us down-underwhelmed (groan, we know) but really, who expected anything more than 8%-10% of iPod touch, iPods in general, Apple TV, and Macs?

If you’re in Oz and have been waiting to pull the trigger, pull away. If you’re in the UK or North America, check it out and see if there’s anything pull-worthy for ya.

[via TUAW]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Black Friday Sale Goes Live in Oz — Up to 10% Discounts on iPod, Apple TV, Macs

Whether its the big black leather above, or some woolly mitts, when the weather outside turns frightful and you need to operate a capacitive touchscreen like the iPhone, you can save yourself some cash — and frostbite — with a little bit of sewing and a bunch of conductive thread.

Instructables has the step by steps…

[Instructables via Lifehacker via Gizmodo]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

How to: Make Your Own iPhone Capacitive-Compatible Gloves!

Microsoft is working with Apple on getting Silverlight (their Flash-like technology) content onto the iPhone? Made our eyes widen as well, but it wasn’t what we expected. Unlike the debate over Flash, and a Flash player/plugin for iPhone, this doesn’t involve a Silverlight player/plugin at all, but what looks to be a much smarter backend solution. According to Microsoft User Experience Platform Manager Brian Goldfarb:

“So we’ve worked with Apple to create a server-side based solution with IIS Media Services,” Goldfarb continued, “and what we’re doing is taking content that’s encoded for smooth streaming and enabling the content owner to say, ‘I want to enable the iPhone.’ The server will dynamically make the content work — same content, same point of origin — on the iPhone. We do this with the HTML 5 <VIDEO> tag, in many ways.”

“We’re translating the content to support the MPEG2 v8 [decoder] format that the iPhone format; we’re moving it to their adaptive streaming format. So it’s the same IIS smooth streaming content, the same server, the same point of origin, but now I can get that content to play without any code changes, without any real work, on the iPhone. That’s the critical thing for our customers.”

Goldfarb clarifies that “worked with Apple” means his team did everything, but made sure Apple was “comfortable” with the solution.

TiPb clarifies that if this ends up working well, it gets more video to more iPhone users without the security, privacy, performance, and dodgy plugin architecture that plagues desktop implementations of code-interpreters.

So add to the list of YouTube, Ustream, Stickam, and Vimeo, we could now see all Silverlight video (including Netflix?) made compatible with the iPhone and H.264.

Rather than Flash 10.1, maybe Adobe should be looking to build this cleaner, safer-sounding solution into their next plugin as well?

[Betanews via 9to5mac]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Microsoft “Worked with Apple” on Silverlight for iPhone — On the Server Side

iPhone app developers have gone crazy this week with some great sales in the App Store and just in time for Black Friday.

Agile Web Solutions popular Mac application, 1Password, [iTunes Link] has been ported over to iPhone and is now free until December 1st! Some of it’s features are as follows:

• Saves web site login credentials, personal identity information (such as names, addresses and telephone numbers), a variety of information that you might find in your wallet (licenses, social security numbers, credit cards, etc.), and freeform secure notes to store any data you’d like to keep safe from prying eyes.
• Locks your data behind both a four-digit unlock code and a master password, both of which you configure. Even if your mobile device is stolen or misplaced, your 1Password data is safe.
• Syncs safely and securely with 1Password for the Mac over a WiFi connection, provided both the mobile device and the Mac are on the same network. The sync is two-way, so new information can be easily added on your mobile device and synced back to your Mac!

Still searching for that decently priced GPS app? Perhaps CoPilot Live North America [iTunes Link] which is on sale for $19.99 will raise your interest. This sale is only valid until midnight on November 30th so act fast!

• Ease of use: the app includes colorful 3-D maps, text-to-voice directions, full use of the iPhone keyboard and iPod controls.
• On board maps: rather than relying on strong mobile coverage, CoPIlot Live's maps are stored on the phone.
• Value: although $19.99 is low for a turn-by-turn app, there are also no additional charges for update.

Last but not least we have Gameloft and they are also spreading some holiday cheer around as some of their titles are currently $.99 until November 29th!

• Terminator Salvation
• Shrek Kart
• Blades of Fury
• Real Tennis 2009
• Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes
• Castle of Magic
• Hero of Sparta

If any of you, our readers, know of some great holiday sales please share them in the comments below!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apps for Less: 1Password, ProCoPilot Live GPS, and Gameloft Titles Galore