Yesterday kicked off week 3 of PopCap Games’ art auction to benefit the Starlight Foundation (US) and Special Effect (UK), both great causes that aim their help at sriously ill or injured children. This 4 week long auction is an opportunity for PopCap fans to take home a piece of PopCap history, not to mention some great looking one of a kind art pieces and help out some phenomenal charities in the process. The original pieces available this week are:

• Plants vs. Zombies Dr. Zomboss Original Concept Sketch
• Bejeweled Neon Blue Diamond
• Zuma’s Revenge Underwater Stage Concept Painting on Canvas
• Peggle Splork Drawing
• Zuma Blitz Ceramic Tea Cup & Saucer Set
• Personalized Sketch by a PopCap artist
• Plants vs. Zombies Zombie Head Costume
• Plants vs. Zombies Concept Sketch on Canvas
• Plants vs. Zombies Zombie DJ Painting

Head on over to the PopCap auction to bid on your favorite before next Tuesday! 100% of the proceeds will go to the charities mentioned above.

East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic has just revealed the results of a year-long randomized, controlled clinical study that measured the possibility thqt “casual” video games reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Two groups of subjects were split into 60 controls, and participants, all meeting the criteria of clinical depression, participated in the study. They used three family-friendly, non-violent puzzle games: Bejeweled 2, Peggle and Bookworm Adventures.

This isn’t the first time that PopCap Games was the underwriter of a study. Not long ago they did a study on Bejeweled. The hypothesis was then tested out with state-of-the-art technologies including psychophysiology, biochemical and psychological measurements.

They found a statistically significant reduction in depression symptoms of 57% in the experimental (“video game”) group.  This study was the first test the video games in reducing depression and anxiety. It worked. They also found improvements in aspects of mood.

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An ongoing study out of East Carolina University’s psychophysiology lab has released information regarding the relationship between playing casual games, such as PopCap’s Bejeweled and Peggle, and improvement in both cognitive response time and executive cognitive function (doing things faster and getting them right).

The study group consists of adults over the age of 50 and focuses on the short term cognitive abilities measured by both electroencephalography (EEG) and parts A and B of the standardized Trail Making Test™, a timed neurological test that incorporates numbers and/or letters in a ‘connect the dots’ format.

Compared to the control group, those who played 30 minute sessions of either Bejeweled or Peggle showed significant improvements in both areas (87% in cognitive response time and 215% in executive function).

“The initial results of the study are very intriguing, in that they suggest that the ‘active participation’ required while playing a casual video game like Bejeweled provides an opportunity for mental exercise that more passive activities, like watching television, do not,” said Russoniello. “Future applications could include prescriptive applications using casual video games to potentially stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-type disorders.”

What’s interesting to me is that, according to the University, these results are similar to those associated with other types of cognitive interventions such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and cognitive remediation therapy. Now I don’t know about you, but a round of Peggle sounds much more intriguing to me than cognitive remediation therapy, but perhaps a combination of therapy and games could have a more synergistic effect.

“Video games with more complex rules and controls, and more sophisticated or detailed imagery — so-called ‘hardcore’ video games — might provide similar cognitive benefits for many people,” said Russoniello. “But those games take significantly longer to learn to play and appeal to a considerably narrower subset of the overall population, especially older consumers. In our experience, ‘casual’ video games are ideal both in terms of their accessibility and ease of understanding and because they appeal to nearly everyone.”

The study is still underway and should finish sometime later this year. More than 40 participants have been included thus far, with dozens more to be tested before the study is done. So far the results are positive. So I say – keep gaming, people, but stay balanced and mindful – that seems to be the key idea to take away here.

PopCap games sent us a couple of messages about summer deals for their games.

The first deal is the Complete Pack which includes every Mac game from PopCap.com for $49.95. That is 13 games that include Plants vs Zombies, Escape Rosecliff Island, and Zuma’s Revenge. Even better…it’s for the Mac!!

The second deal is the Bejeweled Bundle. That bundle is 30% off for the PC. Gamers can pick up Bejeweled 2, Bejeweled Twist, and Bejeweled Blitz.

My recommendation is get the 13 games and play Chuzzle right away! It’s so addicting!

PopCap

This Saturday only, January 16th, Popcap Games is donating 100% of its sales from PopCap.com to relief efforts in Haiti. PopCap has teamed up with Partners in Health to help everyone show they care and make a difference.
If you have been thinking about getting yourself or someone you love some Plants, Zombies, Chuzzles, Jewels, Peggles, or Zumas to play with, now is the perfect time. Just head on over to PopCap.com and download any PopCap game(s) THIS Saturday and know that 100% of your purchase price will go to help earthquake relief in Haiti. And hey, you get an awesome game to boot.
For more details visit PopCap’s official news page.

“We really enjoyed incorporating the contest winners’ designs into finished levels and have been playing them non-stop,” said Sukhbir Sidhu, Studio Director at PopCap and co-creator of Peggle and Peggle Nights. “These user-generated concepts turned out quite well in terms of playability and challenge, and it’s really interesting and inspiring to see level design ideas from fans of the game!”

The user-created levels, and their respective creators, are:

• “Bucket Revisited” – Michael and Stephanie Liu (Grand Prize, Youth category) – a redrawing of the classic Das Bucket level with Peggle characters.
• “Dynamic Two-Oh” – Matt Ward (Grand Prize, Adult category) – the Undercover Unicorn patrols the streets and rooftops of Pegopolis with his crime-busting partner, Kid Radical!
• “Fun Dead” – Anthony Maddaloni – (Runner-up) – a combination of Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies results in a graveyard scare!
• “Caykee” – Jessica Kozulbal – (Runner-up) – Caykee the Cupcake presents her argument for inanimate objects as Peggle Masters!
• “Peggle 3D” – Brice Johnson (Runner-up) – What if Peggle fully embraced the third dimension? This level presents one possible vision.

PopCap Games announced that its bringing Peggle and the Peggle Nights add-on to the Playstation Network and the Peggle Nights pack to Xbox Live Arcade. Now Playstation 3 fans can purchase Peggle and the Peggle Nights add-on pack for $9.99 and 4.99 respectively. The Peggle Nights content pack for Xbox Live Arcade (because Peggle is already available) is 400 MS Points.

“Peggle has become a cult gaming phenomenon, blowing away our original expectations for the game,” stated Ed Allard, vice president of strategic development at PopCap. “With these latest game installments, we’re delivering even more features that appeal to diehard enthusiasts with hours of great gameplay, competitive multiplayer experiences and community elements that the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE communities should really enjoy.”

An interesting point about the Playstation 3 version of Peggle and Peggle Nights. There is a feature that lets you upload replays to YouTube without leaving the game. That way gamers can capture their best plays quickly and show the world their Peggle prowess.

PopCap Games have announced that Peggle Nights will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Yes, the addiction has been altered a bit for the XBLA player and includes all the levels and challenges from the PC and Mac version along with exclusive multiplayer rounds only found on XBLA. The Peggle Nights expansion pack will be available for download on Xbox Live this Autumn.

Here is what the expansion pack will include:
◊ 60 new Peggle Nights levels for multiplayer over Xbox LIVE and all single player/local modes
◊ Peggle Nights Adventure mode (60 levels), including the Nights story
◊ 60 new Peggle Nights Challenges
◊ A new Peggle Master, Marina
◊ Peggle Nights trophy room
◊ Peggle Nights adventure statistics
◊ New style shots from Peggle Nights PC (available as title upgrade for all Peggle XBLA players)
◊ Three new Xbox 360 achievements worth a total of 50 gamerscore, bringing Peggle up to a total of 250 gamerscore.

“The addictive and fun gameplay of the Peggle franchise translates extremely well when tuned for the XBLA platform,” noted Sukhbir Sidhu, co-creator of Peggle and studio chief at PopCap. “Since launching earlier this year, Peggle for XBLA earned top awards from industry critics while taking full advantage of the XBLA multiplayer format to deliver an incredible gameplay experience. Peggle Nights essentially doubles the size of the Peggle XBLA universe for players everywhere.”

PopCap Games has announced the winners of the first-ever Peggle™ Art Contest, which began in March as part of Peggle Fever. The grand prize winners in the Youth category, Michael and Stephanie Liu, a brother and sister team (ages 13 and 11, respectively) from Naperville, Illinois and in the Adult category, Matt Ward, a 22-year old from Heanor, Derbyshire in England, will enjoy all-expense paid trips to Seattle, Washington. There, they’ll visit PopCap’s headquarters to meet with members of PopCap’s art team and work on the incorporation of their winning entries into a future bonus level pack for Peggle Nights.

“You never know what sorts of ideas will come out of a contest like this, and it’s safe to say we were amazed at the passion and creativity found in so many of the Peggle art submissions,” said Stephen Notley, senior writer and lead Peggle level designer at PopCap, and one of the contest judges. “Peggle obviously inspires people to think outside the box, and many of the contest entries just blew us away.”

Michael and Stephanie Liu, 13 and 10 respectively, were the co-winners in the Youth category with their reinterpretation of the classic “Das Bucket” level from the original Peggle. “We decided to take our favorite level of the game – for that sweet Extreme Slide – and add our favorite characters,” explained Michael. “Of course the main character Bjorn, plus Renfield and Tula for their contrast.” His sister Stephanie added, “We’re so excited to visit PopCap and see how the Peggle levels are made; it’s going to be so awesome!”

Matt Ward, a 22-year old from Heanor, Derbyshire, England was the grand prize winner in the Adult category for his “Kid Radical” entry – a whimsical background scene depicting Bjorn the Unicorn in his crime-fighting regalia and Jimmy Lightning as his boy-wonder sidekick. “When deciding to enter the contest I wanted to draw something that fit into the game’s design but introduced something new,” Matt said. “After playing Peggle Nights for a few minutes I thought that Bjorn’s superhero alter-ego was missing a sidekick; and so ‘Kid Radical’ was born. Ever since first playing Peggle it’s always had a place on our computer for whenever my partner or I want to relax with a nice, chilled out game. It was a huge surprise to have been selected as a grand prize winner, I can’t wait to see where these games are made and see my design incorporated into the series.”

Most contest submissions took the form of hand-drawn suggestions for new Peggle masters and power-ups, while others involved detailed peg layouts and/or level background designs. PopCap expanded the number of semi-finalist winners from two to three such that those three semi-finalist designs, along with those of the two grand prize winners, will all be digitally rendered as individual all-new levels in an upcoming “fan art” bonus level pack for Peggle Nights. I will be interested to see how they come out! One of my favorites made the semi-finalist list, and another is on the runners-up.

A complete list of the winners and prizes can be seen at PopCap.com.

PopCap Games today announced the immediate availability of ten all-new World of Warcraft-themed Peggle™
combining the sights, sounds and storyline of World of Warcraft with the rainbows and unicorns of everyone’s favorite peg-popping pastime.

The WoW-themed Peggle mash-up is a joint collaboration between PopCap Games and World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment. It features ten new levels with Peggle masters Bjorn the Unicorn and Splork with his Space Blast facing off against denizens of Azeroth in scenes with names like “Too Soon, Executus” and “The Traitor King” – as well as ten new challenges with titles such as “Phat Lewtz” and “Pwnyxia.”

T. Carl Kwoh, Associate Producer at PopCap Games, said, “PopCap first brought Peggle to Azeroth in April 2009 and got a great reception from World of Warcraft players. We were jazzed to team up with Blizzard to make a World of Warcraft-themed version of Peggle that’s available to everyone for free.”

Download WoW themed Peggle for Free at PopCap Games! No prior Peggle version required!