iOS deals begin, App Store freeze coming Thursday

And so it begins -- the App Store has its busiest time of the year over the Christmas holiday, when iPhones and iPads and iTunes gift cards are unwrapped under the Christmas tree, and millions of people take to the App Store to pick up some great apps. There are lots of sales coming out this week. We'll have more posts each day, and stay tuned to our Twitter account for even more.

• Velocispider is free right now.
• ComicBook! is down to just 99 cents.
• Sesame Street's Monster at the End of this Book (starring Grover, of course) is only 99 cents right now as well.
• 1Password for iPad is on sale for $5.99, well worth it according to fans of the app.
• The micro version of Sword and Sworcery is just 99 cents, while the universal version is $1.99.
• EA's mobile sale continues -- Trenches 2 is currently on sale for just a buck, along with more than a hundred other EA titles. Odds are that if EA makes it, you can get it for cheap this week.
• Sega also has a big 99 cent sale going on, with Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Gunstar Heroes, and many other titles available for just a buck.
• Gameloft's also got a nice library of titles on sale, including the Gameloft Action Pack of games.
• And so does Square Enix, but those games have only dropped a few bucks to around $4.99 to $11.99, rather than down to 99 cents. Still, Final Fantasy Tactics for $11.99 is not a bad deal if you've been waiting for it to drop.
• Firemint (through EA) has Spy Mouse on sale for a buck. You've bought that one already, right?
• Readdle's got a sale going on its apps, including ReaddleDocs for iPad on sale tomorrow for $2.99.
• Happy Hills has gone free for a limited time.
• Big Fish Games is having a huge sale on most of its titles starting tomorrow -- there's a lot of good stuff in there, including Drawn: The Painted Tower for cheap, and Azada HD as well.
• In Case of Fire is free through the holidays.

That's just the beginning -- stay tuned all through the week for more deals on lots of different apps and games around the App Store. Everything will likely be sorted by Thursday (as that's when developers become unable to make any more price or app changes), but before then, we'll see lots and lots of apps on sale, no doubt.