Review: Bejeweled 3

One of PopCap's most anticipated releases, and the 2nd true reincarnation of their flagship genre pioneering favorite, Bejeweled 3 had some high expectations to live up to.

Read more →

Casual Games Holiday Guide

This has been an interesting year for Casual Games. Here is a selection of gifts for the casual gamer on your list. Facebook Credits – There has been a shift in Casual Gaming toward social gaming and just about every company has a representation of a game on Facebook. Most of these games are playable for free, but can be greatly enhanced with paid goods or services. Facebook credits are available in a variety of denominations from $10 to $50 and can be purchased at participating Target, WalMart, Gamestop, and Best Buy stores, and are available online through Target or WalMart. You can also use the store locator on Facebook.com to find the closest retailer near you and help spruce up your friend’s farm in Farmville, add some extra sparkle to your Mom’s Bejeweled Blitz, or add some blood to your boyfriend’s Vampire Wars bank account. Bejeweled 3 - PopCap

Read more →

Two Words. Bejeweled 3.

Okay so that’s a letter and a number, but it’s true. It’s coming. Bejeweled 3 will be the first real sequel to PopCap’s Flagship genre-pioneering superstar Bejeweled in over 6 years. Not that there hasn’t been anything newly Bejeweled since then with Bejeweled Twist and the many incarnations of Bejeweled Blitz still holding a place on many a Bejeweleder’s monitor screen. I would imagine there to be a lot of pressure to reach farther should PopCap put forth a new installment of the original. “The challenge in creating a new version of Bejeweled is to innovate and keep it fresh and exciting without losing touch with the game-play that millions of people love. So we’re very careful when we make changes to the core game, which is why it can take so long!” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and chief creative officer at PopCap and co-creator of Bejeweled. “We’ve worked hard

Read more →

Plants vs Zombies gets Game of the Year edition on Steam

The Game of the Year edition for Plants vs Zombies is now available on Steam. This edition will allow players to store and get game data from any computer. There will also be Steam Achievements. “Delivering Plants vs. Zombies via Steam helped us reach a tremendous audience for the game,” said Ron Powers, VP of Product Management at PopCap. “Adding Steam Cloud functionality to the game allows us to increase the value of the title to existing and new customers. In addition, with the title support Steam Play for cross platform play, it seemed the timing was perfect for adding Steam Cloud support.” The great news is if you have already purchased the PC version of Plants vs Zombies, you’ll get the Steam Cloud support for free and the ability to play on any Mac.

Read more →

First Look: Zuma Blitz

This year at Casual Connect Seattle, I was fortunate enough to sit down with some of the folks from PopCap and talk industry trends, social gaming in general, and more specifically, the much anticipated Zuma Blitz. Overall, it seemed like they were in sync with the opinion that there is and has been a pretty obvious shift in the casual gaming space toward social gaming, but still respect the notion that sometimes, we do still want to just sit down and enjoy a game without the pressure of beating each others’ scores or getting in all of our good moves in under a minute. So, there is talk of integrating social feature into their existing games, giving players the freedom of playing solo, or send some smack talk to their friends, getting into the competitive spirit. Having said that, the main topic of conversation was the upcoming speedy, completely social,

Read more →

Get Ready to be Blitzed – Zuma Style

Following the huge success of Bejeweled Blitz, PopCap Games is taking Zuma to Facebook with the all new Zuma Blitz, allowing players to match ball-blasting wits with friends. “We’ve received a ton of feedback regarding how players consume Bejeweled Blitz and other leading social games, and incorporated a number of those insights into this initial phase of Zuma Blitz, with more to come,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at PopCap. “Zuma is a very different game than Bejeweled, so the social adaptation has gone in different directions. Zuma is already a fast-paced arcade game, so the challenge was to make it feel approachable to players of all skill levels, even with just sixty seconds to play.” Like they did it would Bejeweled Blitz, PopCap plans to take it slow with Zuma Blitz, allowing it to over time,with the addition of new features and ways to play. New

Read more →

Where’s Your Bejeweled Love?

“More than half a billion people worldwide have played Bejeweled over the past decade, which still blows our minds,” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at PopCap and co-creator of Bejeweled. “Their enthusiasm for the game is unquestioned and we thought it would be fun to reward that incredible devotion in some way.” What way is that, you ask? Well, by holding a contest and giving away prizes, of course! The Contest: Show Your Bejeweled Love – part of the Bejeweled 10th Anniversary celebration extravaganza The Entries: Participants are to make a video in some creative way showcasing their love for Bejeweled – in 2 minutes or less - and post it on YouTube via the “Post Your Video Responses” button found at Bejeweled.com The Prizes: A limited special edition Bejeweled 10th Anniversary laptop, (one of) 2 Apple iPads, or (one of) 7 complete PopCap game libraries The

Read more →

Buttery, Popping HD Zombies?

It has begun. The gaming floodgates have opened on the iPad and we lead off with one of our all time favorites, PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies. The iPad version of PvZ is packed to the gills with undead pixels (HD 1040×768 resolution), exclusive iPad features, all 3 game modes (Adventure, Quick Play, and Survival), and brand new achievements and mini games. “The iPad is a fantastic platform for gaming, and Plants vs. Zombies HD allows us to show off the great new features and functionality of this exciting device,” said Andrew Stein, director of mobile business development at PopCap. “In this adaptation, we’ve focused on the iPad’s Multi-Touch capabilities and opportunities for new gameplay like the Buttered Popcorn mini-game that will excite both new and current players.” In Buttered Popcorn – a new mini game exclusive to the iPad – players attack zombies by first “buttering” them up – touching

Read more →

There’s a Zombie on Your iPhone

Maybe they think it’s a faster way to your brains… Today marks the much anticipated release of PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies specifically adapted to the iPhone and iPod touch. “Plants vs. Zombies for iPhone and iPod touch marks the first adaptation of our wildly popular ‘flower defense’ game to a new platform, and we’re excited at how well it has translated to the iPhone and iPod touch,” stated Andrew Stein, director of mobile platforms at PopCap Games. “We’ve stayed true to the original computer version with the full-featured gameplay of Adventure mode, and have optimized this adaptation around a seamless touch interface. Plus, we’ve added great content, including the new Quick Play Arena which allows easy replay of any level after completing the Adventure mode, and more than a dozen achievements to reward successful completion of in-game challenges.” Some of the iPhone Plants vs Zombies features include: *Quick Play –

Read more →

iPlants vs. iZombies – The Trailer…

In anticipation of the February 15th release date of PopCap’s much adored Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone, we get a small taste of what it will look like on the touchscreen… Enjoy! I would love to see what it is like to play it on the iPhone, how do you think it will compare? .

Read more →