Top iPad Game Apps: Army of Darkness Sees Big First-Week Sales

[In this weekly column, Gamasutra rounds up the most popular paid and free iPad gaming applications on the App Store as of today, with Army of Darkness Defense HD, MetalStorm Online and Eternal Legacy HD currently ranking among the platform's top downloads.] This week's top paid titles for the iPad in the U.S. App Store are as follows: 1. Angry Birds Rio HD ($2.99) 2. Splinter Cell Conviction HD ($0.99) 3. Angry Birds HD ($4.99) 4. Army of Darkness Defense HD ($2.99) 5. Eternal Legacy HD ($0.99) 6. Let's Golf! 2 HD ($0.99) 7. Angry Birds Seasons HD ($1.99) 8. Fruit Ninja HD ($2.99) 9. StarFront: Collision HD ($6.99) 10. Words With Friends HD ($2.99) Gameloft drops the prices of a number of apps in its catalog in an attempt to unseat Angry Birds Rio HD, but comes up short. Splinter Cell Conviction HD manages to capture second place following a drop in price to 99 cents, and Eternal Legacy HD and Let's Golf! 2 HD also enter the top ten during Gameloft's sale. Backflip Studios makes a strong impression in this week's chart with its recently releasedArmy of Darkness Defense HD, as Newtoy's Words With Friends HD returns to the top ten behind StarFront: Collision HD in today's results. Here are this week's top free iPad applications: 1. MetalStorm Online 2. Frisbee Forever 3. Spirits for iPad 4. Angry Birds Rio HD Free 5. Hit Tennis 2 6. Angry Birds HD Free 7. Tap the Frog HD 8. Heartwild Solitaire for iPad 9. Crazy Basketball HD 10. Rat on a Skateboard Trade Nations developer Z2Live earns top honors in today's free chart with its recently released aerial combat game MetalStorm Online, pushing last week's top download Frisbee Forever to second place. Spaces of Play takes third place during a day-long giveaway for its Lemmings-like Spirits for iPad, as newcomers Hit Tennis 2, Tap the Frog HD, and Rat on a Skateboard rival Angry Birds HD Free in the latter half of the top ten.