The Rumour Mine: Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection, iPad racers, Mass Effect 2

It's a little more than a week until iPad debuts in the US and there's a ton of excitement around what games will be available.

Each day I'm hearing about more secret launch titles, though Apple's clever leak of a few - including Plants vs Zombies HD - is only driving me crazier.

Still, there's plenty to look forward to even if you're not personally amped up about iPad. Zenonia 2 is coming out this week, along with an instalment in a big franchise for which we've been waiting the world over.

Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection cancelled

Announced as a free app from which you could download classic games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Ecco the Dolphin, and Golden Axe, Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection has been slated for release before the end of February.

Well, February came and went without the game appearing on the store, let alone any word from Sega.

Despite enthusiasm for the concept, Sega has decided to pull the plug on the in-app purchase anthology. The decision had less to do with the actual game and more with general struggles the company wants to remedy in its general iPhone and iPod touch gaming strategy.

In short, Sega is completely re-evaluating its approach to iPhone games, and this just wasn't a part of that picture.

Before the tears start to roll, this is actually great news. Kudos to Sega for making quality a priority and working to deliver better games to the iPhone community. I know I speak for a lot of us in saying that I'd love to see well-made Sega games hit the device.

Two major racing games at iPad starting gate

We know that puzzle games will be much of what appears on the App Store for iPad on April 3rd, yet representatives of the racing genre will be at the mark, too. Both are racing games you've already seen on iPhone and iPod touch.

In fact, one you already know is in development: Need for Speed: Shift.

EA Mobile hasn't talked about the game since its unveiling in later January, but I've been told that the team has been working fast to make the iPad launch.

The impressive demo shown during the official iPad announce proved that a lot could be accomplished in a few short weeks, so it doesn't seem all that unlikely that EA Mobile could wrap up the iPad version of Need for Speed: Shift quickly. Much of the work done involved enhancing the graphics and performance for the bigger screen.

As for the second racing game, I can confirm that it has already been sent to Apple for approval and will be out hopefully in the the days following the launch, if not the day of.

If I were to tell you the title, I'd end up like a passenger in Stuntman Mike's car with the developer in the driver's seat (if you haven't seen Quentin Tarantino's Deathproof consider it homework for next week). What I will say about this mysterious iPad launch game is that it's real enough that I'd put money down in Vegas.

EA not giving up on Mass Effect, sequel underway Universal thumbs down for Mass Effect Galaxy hasn't discouraged EA from considering a second game on iPhone and iPod touch. Instead, it's giving it the good ol' college try with a sequel that intends to right all of their previous wrongs.

Good for EA - and hopefully good for you and me. Mass Effect is one of gaming's most original universes, and it seems such a waste that it hasn't been giving grade-A treatment on iPhone and iPod touch.

One idea was to make an artistry game in which you ink tattoos all over Jack's body. That was tossed aside. Instead, the new game smartly reaches for its role-playing roots in place of the banal tilt action of the first effort. It won't be a third-person RPG, but a top-down affair.

I wasn't able to glean many details because the project is in the earliest stages of development. Like Mass Effect Galaxy, its release is being timed to somewhat coincide with Mass Effect 3, which of course is some time off.

This portable sequel intends to bridge the space between Mass Effect 2 and 3, much in the same way you were able to learn about party member Jacob. As with EA's other big console adaptations - Medal of Honor, Dragon's Age, and Dead Space - it's a ways off, so be patient.