We are always looking for ways to keep our minds sharp as we get older, and Bejeweled Blitz may have just joined the ranks of crossword puzzles and Sudoku as tools to help us do that. A recent survey study of more than 10,000 U.S. adults suggests that playing Bejeweled Blitz regularly could enhance mental sharpness and pattern recognition in adults over 50.

This survey, which is the first in a series that takes a rare look at the cognitive benefits of video game playing on adults over 50, focuses on Bejeweled Blitz and the tasks the game sets on the brain, including quick decision making, visual searching, and reaction time. Sharpness in performing other tasks was the benefit seen most often – 47.2% in people over 50. Pattern recognition was reported most in adults over 65, as well as the ability to perform timed tasks more quickly.

The results were presented by PopCap Games and University of Massachusetts Amherst psychology researcher Susan K. Whitbourne, Ph.D. at this year’s American Psychological Association convention in Washington, DC., and were well received by fellow researchers attending. Dr. Walter Boot, director of the Attention and Training Lab of the Department of Psychology at Florida State University, stated “I believe the work Dr. Whitbourne and her colleagues are doing, using Bejeweled Blitz, is both critical and exciting, and that more research like this needs to be done exploring not only the types of games that bring about cognitive benefits, but also the types of games older adults are willing to play and why. The best cognitive aging intervention in the world is useless if older adults aren’t willing and able to engage in it. By investigating attitudes and perceived benefits of video game interventions, this research has the potential to discover game interventions that are both effective and enjoyable.”

It will be interesting to see what comes from the remaining surveys in the series and whether or not any of them spark more research into this potential, such as including new hands on studies with people who haven’t ever played before. But maybe that’s the next step… actually evaluating Bejeweled Blitz’s effectiveness as a tool for cognitive improvement after investigating its potential. Of course, all I really have to say is that I hope Bejeweled Blitz is still around when I am 65 .

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.

It appears that five versions will be available — one each for Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade. No, I have no idea how the last two versions will differ from their respective console’s version. Maybe the downloadable copy will be more bare-bones?

The games are scheduled to ship in Q4 2011.
Of course, we know what comes after this…mobile phone versions. Well, at least I hope so.

As the first week of PopCap Games’ unprecedented auction of unique game art pieces comes to a close, fans are gearing up for the second wave of displayable history to bid on. The first week’s auctions brought in nearly $1700 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation in the United States and SpecialEffect in the United Kingdom, and with the second week’s lineup, it promises to continue that trend.

Starting today until next Tuesday is your chance to take home a Plants vs. Zombies Peashooter costume, a Plants vs. Zombies ceramic bowl and mug set, a Plants vs. Zombies Organ Grinder Zombie concept sketch on wood, a Plants vs. Zombies XBLA player house concept sketch on canvas, a Plants vs. Zombies diorama, a Zuma Tiki Gods original concept sketch on paper, and a Lex Bookwarm original sketch on paper.

Check them out at PopCap’s ebay page and help raise funds for these two nonprofits dedicated to helping seriously ill and disabled children. Starting bids range from $1 to $350.

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The fun begins this week (through May 30th) with Chuzzle, the slidey smooth match 3 game filled with furry little round guysthat need to be freed and sent home. The Droid version of Chuzzle features four modes of play including Classic, Zen, Mind Bender, and Speed for hours and hours of Chuzzle action, as well as a trophy room to keep track of achievements, a scrambler to shake things up, and a generator that makes absolutely certain that all levels are unique for eternity.

“PopCap is a brand synonymous with great mobile games, and we’re thrilled to offer our customers Chuzzle and Plants vs. Zombies for Android exclusively through the Amazon Appstore,” stated Aaron Rubenson, category leader at Amazon.
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What’s that you say? Plants vs Zombies? It’s true. “Later this month”, Plants vs Zombies will make its way over to the Amazon Appstore as well. You might want to hold that Droid a little farther away from your brains.

“Our relationship with Amazon is pivotal to PopCap’s overall strategy in bringing a growing roster of mobile titles to the ever-widening base of smartphone users,” noted Giordano Bruno Contestabile, PopCap’s senior director of global product and business strategy for mobile. “By making these titles available on the Android platform, we’ll significantly extend the reach of our top franchises to legions of new mobile customers and gaming fans alike.”

The games will be entirely FREE for the first day of their availability, after which they’ll be available for purchase and download for a list price of US$2.99 each. Enjoy!

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The leaders in fun casual game experiences has acquired social games company, ZipZapPlay. Social Gaming is the fastest growing area of the game industry and every company is looking to grab their share, including PopCap.

Interestingly, ZipZapPlay doesn’t have a long list of accomplished titles. They have brought Baking Life to Facebook where you build your own bakery and ask your friends for help. Before that was Happy Habitat.

“Adding ZipZapPlay’s strong design and development team to our rapidly-growing social games group is a big move for us,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at PopCap. “ZipZapPlay is a great cultural fit: a truly creative company that lives and breathes in this space. And their next game is very innovative and exciting – we believe it has the potential to be a step forward in the evolution of social gaming.”

PopCap seems to think they will bring the innovation that PopCap is known for to Facebook, but I just don’t see it yet. If anything, I see this as a reason for people to make a Facebook game that is based on the time management genre that we see everyone making and you’ll get paid large amounts to do it over and over again.

PopCap Games today announced the launching of a new creative outlet for their developers and designers. It’s a smaller games company which takes its name from the intersection where PopCap HQ stands, 4th & Battery.

“4th & Battery is a pressure valve intended to keep our heads from exploding,” explained Ed Allard, Executive Vice President of Studios at PopCap. “The PopCap brand has become closely associated with ultra-high quality, polish and attention to detail — which is a great thing. But our standard game development process is therefore long and involved, and doesn’t really accommodate all of the creativity pumping through our collective veins. 4th & Battery gives us a way to quickly try really strange or marginal ideas, and to give our designers a safe area to hone their chops.”

Not to mention giving the fans a fun, fresh way to appreciate the talent and potential talent stewing in the PopCap pressure cooker up there. I, for one, am kind of excited to see what they come up with – what we wouldn’t ordinarily get a chance to experience. The products of 4th & Battery are expected to be smaller scale, arcade-style games aimed at mature audiences (YAY!), but not confined to the PC (freedom to create anywhere!). They are expecting to also release Facebook, and iPhone games and adaptations as well.

“4th & Battery is a purely experimental, creative label with none of the typical concerns like schedules, profitability, or even target audience. It’s kind of the video game equivalent of B-sides or short films,” explained Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at PopCap. “Expect weirdness.”
This seems apparent in the details of their first release, Unpleasant Horse in which players embody a “strikingly unpleasant horse” (surprise!) that sports wings (doesn’t that make it a pegasus?) and rack up points by flying through the air, destroying small birds and stomping poor pleasant horses into the ground. Available later this month for the iPhone and iPod touch through the Apple App Store, Unpleasant Horse will be available for free. Check it out – and read the FUQ, lol.

Here is an update on the sales: “We’re happy to report that the sale raised more than $200,000 which is being passed along to the International Red Cross for use in their ongoing efforts to provide food, shelter, medicine and other essentials to those suffering from the devastation in Japan.”

PopCap Games has announced that it’s discounting the prices of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad versions of it’s games. The games include Bejeweled, Bookworm, Chuzzle, Peggle and Plants vs Zombies . All of which have been reviewed here on GamingAngels by Dawn.

Starting Saturday, March 19 and ending at midnight on Sunday March 20, the titles are reduced to 99cents for the iPhone and iPod touch. iPad adaptations are reduced to $1.99.

“We recently opened an office in Tokyo, and while our Japan-based employees are safe and uninjured, we understand countless others in Japan need food, shelter, and medical attention,” said Ellen Marett, Senior Director of Workforce Culture at PopCap. “Given that Plants vs. Zombies reached #1 on the iPhone and iPad sales charts in Japan, it seemed like the most appropriate game to feature in this fundraising campaign.”

Purchase from PopCap.com or the Apple store.

GSN.com recently announced it crossed a huge threshold in 2010 with some of its most popular PopCap games. Just last year alone, players were awarded $60 million playing their cash tournament adaptations of PopCap favorites like Bejeweled 2, Zuma and Chuzzle. PopCap fans (and any fans of great games) who want to get in on the fun can head to GSN.com to join in tournaments for real cash prizes.

“At GSN Digital, we strive to be the platform where users can play the titles they know and love,” states Peter Blacklow, EVP, GSN Digital. “Bejeweled 2, Zuma and Chuzzle are three great titles that are extremely popular among our players, and we’re thrilled to provide social competition where players can win real cash prizes.”

GSN Digital also offers cash prize competitions in these popular PopCap titles: Bejeweled Twist™, Bookworm™, Dynomite!™, Mystery P.I.™ and Plants vs. Zombies™.

I will say that GSN.com is where I first found some of my favorite games I still play today, including Dynomite and Zuma. It’s a great way to play against others, for those of us who have a competitive spirit, and a good alternative to other social gaming sites where you only play against people you know. You can play for cash or for fun! Head on over to GSN.com today.

The same basic rules apply to the game as in the original. Match a set of like-colored balls and you generate points, the more chain matches, combo and gap shots you make the better the score. If you make matches fast enough, you get a speed bonus and become one “hot frog!” And by “hot frog,” I mean your green guy becomes a blazing amphibian ready to blow up large segments of ball chains for three shots. The score multipliers are back in this game, so watch for the balls with marked with a number and an “X” beside it to get extra points. Periodically, fruit appears and if you can shoot ‘em, do it. Your score will be happy you did. Treasure chests sometimes replace the fruit targets. When hit, the chests will reward you at the end of the game with little vials of “mojo.” Fear not, your head will not explode like the Fembots in Austin Powers due to “cross-mojulation.” No, this mojo is like currency in Zuma Blitz. With each ball you hit, you get one mojo bottle. The more mojo you have the more special powers you can buy to use in your game. With each new level you pass you gain experience points, idols (which help unlock powers/mojo), and refills on mojo and lives. And all this for free? Yes, but if you find yourself wanting more mojo or lives, you can always pay with facebook credits (via credit card/paypal) to get refills if you can’t wait. My recommendation to PopCap would be to let players accumulate mojo at a faster level and to create a short tutorial on how the idol and mojo purchasing system works.

Aside from the few hiccups in the beta, PopCap keeps the game fresh and fun with a new board each week. The graphics are still stunning like it’s precursor, Zuma’s Revenge and if the tribe-like music doesn’t get you in the mood to play, I’m not sure what will. Highly addictive, fun and to quote my little green frog friend, there’s nothing better to play if you need a little “oooga and perhaps booga” in your day. Anyone else starting to hear drum-beats?