I'm sure you've heard the phrase "location is everything" once or twice before in your life, but never has that notion applied more to the world of mobile games than right now! As smartphones and tablets get more and more advanced each and every year, new geographic features like GPS have unlocked a number of exciting location-based options, and not only for map-based apps either: even mobile games are diving into the geographic fun these days! But this past December, Apple officially activated their new iBeacon technology, and if it truly catches on in the way that some are hoping, then you might never walk down the street with your iPhone in the same way again!

In simple terms, iBeacon is a new geographic technology from Apple that works primarily through Bluetooth, rather than GPS, so the total power consumption on your device remains both manageable and low. Right now, the iBeacon technology is mostly being used by restaurants and retail stores to present customers with various promotional deals and coupon offers, but a few development studios have begun to see a greater purpose for the budding new advancement: for use in video games!

One such studio is The Tap Lab, who made a name for themselves in the mobile world with their location-based game , which lets players build their own city by purchasing bite-sized versions of real-life properties surrounding their actual location. I recently had a chance to speak with Dave Bisceglia, the Co-Founder and CEO of The Tap Lab, and Kabir Hemrajani, the VP of Products at The Tap Lab, to find out their thoughts on iBeacon and its future in the mobile games space.

The Tap Lab have already released a short video showcasing one of the many ways that iBeacon could be used to enhance the overall Tiny Tycoons experience just by stepping into your location Starbucks coffee shop (the Starbucks chain has yet to adopt iBeacon support, so a simulated iBeacon was used in this example). For instance, in the demonstration video, when a Tiny Tycoons player walks into the Starbucks location in real life, a notification pops up on their phone giving them the property's value and the name of its owner.

Have you stepped outside today? GOOD GOD, WHY?!?! It's terribly cold outside, and there are plenty of things you could be doing to pass the time indoors. For example: play video games that remind you of just how bitterly cold it is out there.

Grab a cup of hot cocoa, run some hot water so your pipes don't freeze, and grab a controller. Nothing beats the bad weather quite like a handful of great video games.