I have a really personal relationship to the Touchgrind series from developer Illusion Labs. You see, I didn’t buy the original iPhone when it launched in June of 2007. I wanted one, but I couldn’t afford it and I was locked into my Verizon contract and it was just one of those unobtainable things at the time. When Apple released the iPod touch a few months later I definitely considered it, but again it was a lot of money and I just couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger. I needed a push. Well, when Apple opened up the App Store alongside the launch of the iPhone 3G in July of 2008, my desire for an iOS device was at a fever pitch. Despite not even owning an iOS device I was following along closely with the App Store’s launch lineup of games and I knew it was just a matter of time before I caved. I no longer needed a push, I just needed a nudge. Perhaps even the force of a light breeze. Touchgrind was that nudge. By the fall of 2008 I had discovered TouchArcade as my go-to source for everything to do with iOS gaming, both its front page stories and its forums that were teeming with activity back then. I read it religiously everyday at work, and it was when they posted the first trailer for the original Touchgrind on September 9th, 2008 that I finally broke down. That day also happened to be the same day Apple released the 2nd generation iPod touch, and I cruised over to Best Buy on my lunch hour and snatched one up. What a beautiful little device ...