THE BUZZ: Epic games announced Infinity Blade 2, the sequel to its bestselling iOS game, for release on December 1, 2011.

The announcement came at today’s Apple press conference, slid in amoung the obligatory self-congratulating and slide presentation. Apple claims to have the #1 portable gaming platform, and credits games like the original Infinity Blade for getting them there.

Using a modified version of the Unreal Engine 3, Infinity Blade was recognized for having stunning 3D graphics and more hardcore gameplay. Infinity Blade 2 looks to build upon the first title, and provide another chapter to this original game world. Coinciding with the game’s announcement, Epic and ChAIR Entertainment revealed an original novella, set in the game’s world, Infinity Blade: Awakening. The novella is written by New York Times bestselling author, Brandon Sanderson. It is available now for digital download on the iBookStore, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, for the paltry sum of $2.99.

No price was specified for the game, but a few screens and a teaser trailer were released to get fans excited.

EGM’s TAKE: It’s interesting to see some bona fide gamer news come out of the press conference. True, if you consider the total number of games available on iOS, it could be considered the largest game system. Of course that’s like saying the PC is the biggest game console because they all come with solitaire installed. Still, the gaming market is blurring, and to dismiss iOS as an option for casual gamers only would be a mistake. Therefore, we will have more about the new iPhone, iPods, iCloud and iOS, and how these affect you as a gamer, tomorrow. After we are done dissecting all of the info spewed out at the press conference and getting to the heart of the matter. In the meantime enjoy the Infinity Blade 2 trailer. It’s really pretty.

Do you game on your iOS enabled device, and are you excited about Infinity Blade 2? Let us know, below.