“Combining Kongregate’s expansive catalogue of games with our well known consumer brand, powerful marketing and strong customer relationships, means that even more gamers will be able to enjoy their games anytime, anywhere and on any device,” says GameStop president Tony Bartel. The company did not disclose terms of the acquisition.

True this could be good for the independent site, but at the same time it’s GameStop and anything they touch I’m immediately skeptical of. Who knows what changes GameStop may want to make once they have more control? In either case I wish Kongregate luck and I’m sure I’ll still visit from time to time to earn some achievements and check out new games.

Via Gamasutra

Arkadium has added 10 new premium games to its ever growing library at their online game site, GreatDayGames.com.
Here’s a brief look at the 10 new games:

• Picture Pieces – Challenge your eyes to put the pieces of the larger puzzle together from a selection of smaller pieces when the puzzle image is already there.

• Cat Fight – Cats and water don’t mix, so get your water weapons together and prepare to match wits with rival kitties in this strategy matching game.

• Dethtris – Cheat death as you jump and run navigating torrential terrain, and dodge crushing blows from falling blocks in this adventure game.

• Dice Dice Baby –Match these falling and rotating dice to clear the board and score points.

• Golf Challenge – Choose your clubs, courses, and sceneries as you swing for your hole in one.

• Hoagie Hero – Become your own sandwich artist as you race against the clock to fill orders and collecting tips.

• Bridge – Bid with your computerized partner to trump those opponents and take your over tricks!

• Mixology – Match up ingredients to put together tasty, juicy beverages for thirsty customers.

• Sport Fishing – Reel in marine monsters big and small from the comfort (and safety) of your home or home.

• Stylistas – A manic-matching fashion game encourages players to harness their inner stylist as they aim to quickly create chic outfits before time runs out.

Look for more from Arkadium heading toward Facebook sometime in the near future as well!

Candystand has taken their games away from your computer to the other gaming devices in your home. I’ve already reviewed their iPhone version of MatchMaker, but this game is from a completely different family tree.

Rating: E
Genre: Tower Defense (hence the “TD” in the name!)
Number of Players: 1
Publisher: Candystand
Cost: $3.99

BUY

There are eight maps to choose from.

Say hello to VectorTD. It is a simple (but deep!) tower defense game. You have eight maps, which get ravaged by small pixel terrorists called “Vectoids” that move from one end of the map to the other. There are seven different kinds of Vectoids, and they get stronger from wave to wave. Every Vectoid that makes it across the entire map drains one life out of you and then goes back to the beginning of the map until they’ve all been eliminated (and each vaporized Vectoid nets you a little cash, as a bonus). After defeating a wave, you get a little break (unless you turn those off, but as a tower defense newbie, I chose not to).

What’s that break for? Well, you’ve got to set up a defense somehow, right? Around the main path, you can place 11 different kinds of towers from four categories (green, red, purple and blue). Just buy the tower, and then place it. Each performs a certain attack, and you can increase its range by upgrading it, up to level 10.

Each Vectoid has a weakness, and it’s your job to determine it and buy the right kind of towers to work to your advantage. Since you get a preview of what’s coming up, this task is made pretty easy.

You also get to customize every tower by choosing what it targets. See, your towers are pretty smart. They can pick the weakest target in range and just shoot away until the HP is gone. They can pick the strongest target and weaken it. One class of towers even slows down its targets using this system, and you can get more shooting time in on individual Vectoids.

Occasionally, you also get a bonus. You can spend that bonus one of four ways. You can purchase one of two towers that increase the damage or range of the towers in its range, you can buy five more lives (remember, every Vectoid that makes it all the way through equals a lost life), and you can also up your interest rate, netting you more money after every wave.

It’s not long before you get in a groove. Spend your cash (or try skipping building for a wave to build up some cash reserves), let the Vectoids attempt to make it through your live fire course, and if they do, build some more – fast. If you fail completely, it’s okay. You can either start over completely on that map, or switch to something new. You may have to replay some maps a few times, since the action does get more and more hectic as you go on.

The music reminds me of being in a club (it’s the same as in the Flash version), and the action is in short bursts, just the way I like it. It was easy to learn, and all of the information I needed to play was available right from the start (though the instruction manual is a little difficult to get to – from what I recall, it required an analog stick press). It’s simple as a whole, but the concept has proven to be an addicting one. I’m glad that VectorTD is my first tower defense title, and I love how I can go back to it over and over again when I need a little timewaster.

Once again, the best part of Candystand selling games for other platforms is that you can try before you buy. To play the original Flash version of VectorTD, click here. In my experience with both, I know that they’re incredibly similar. The only thing that differs even slightly is the screen layout, but they made this with the PSP in mind, so that makes sense. (Doesn’t make it any more difficult to play, though.)

This tower defense title should be a joy to anyone who enjoys the genre already, but even if you’re new like I was, $3.99 is a pretty good price to find out just how much you enjoy it.

VectorTD  was provided by Candystand, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

This week, King.com has released two new sponsored games. The first, Spinmatch, combines tricky avoidance skills with moving color matching. Players control a wheel of spinning brightly colored octopi in an attempt to match up the same colors amongst other octopi moving across the screen at different speeds.
My take: I like the challenge of the game and the new spinny concept. The music is quite fun – at first. As the difficulty level rose, the music got to me a little and I had to turn it down. I do think it’s worth a try for a quick break in the humdrum of a regular day.

The second, Dynamic Systems, challenges players with the task of getting the little silver ball into the cup, armed with tools like iron bars, bounce boards, swinging hammers, gears and big wooden arches. It is a test of architectural eyes and deductive reasoning.
My take: This game reminded me of the board game, Mousetrap, that I played as a kid, where we had to build this series of crazy chain reactions that eventually led to the completion of the goal. I enjoy the different feel of the game as a whole, and the ability to create levels or edit what’s there, as well as seeing a possible solution if it’s not apparent how to put things together. The music is not overwhelming at all, and can soothe the frustration of crazy mazes not working. And, you can always try again It’s a great game to try when you have a little time to tinker around for a while.

As with other sponsored games on King.com, there is no need to sign in in order to play, which is also nice. Hop on over and give them a try!

MochiAds and Dictionary.com have teamed up to sponsor a new word flash game contest for the summer, with a top prize of $7,000! So get out your creativity caps, word brains, and get us thinking! We will also feature the winning game(s) when announced at the end of the summer on GamingAngels.com.
Here are the rules:
* Must be a word game or a game themed around words and puzzles
* Must incorporate the MochiAds Version Control and Encryption service
* Must be distribution-enabled and use MochiAds Leaderboards
* Must run MochiAds advertisements
* Must be entered in MochiAds before midnight August 14th, 2009 PST
* Must be tagged with “dictionary.com”

Here are the prizes:
* 1st Place – $7,000
* 2nd Place – $4,000
* 3rd Place – $2,000
* Honorable Mention (x2) – $1,000 each

This contest began on June 9th and ends on August 14th!
Entries currently being accepted!
Check out the 'Official Contest Rules