Study Shows Games Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Finally there is some good news to back up gamers. They don’t do enough of these studies about the good games. Not every video game is guts and gore. Some are educational, and others reduce stress and help with fitness training. 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

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Review: Zuma Blitz

Popcap and Facebook have paired up again to bring us our beloved ball-shooting tribal frog on a tight deadline and for FREE!

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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.

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“Bejeweled 3″ released today, therefore we are all attached to computers

It almost sounds like some kind of master plan. First, we have World of Warcraft: Cataclysm keeping us attached to our mice and keyboards, and then…well, PopCap’s Bejeweled 3 happens on the same day. So, almost everyone has a reason to be hooked to the computer today. (Unless you don’t like either one, in which case you’re just weird, I’m sorry. Please note the sarcasm.) Bejeweled 3 adds twice as many game modes to the simple match-3 gameplay, as well as updated sound and graphics (in high definition, of course – what other way is there to go?). The game also boasts 65 achievements (which don’t appear to be connected to your Steam account, if that’s how you’re choosing to go about buying the game) and high score lists. The game itself also has a few twists from the first two titles, including a “Quest” mode, where you seek out

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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

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Zombies Invade the DS

PopCap Games has announced its plans to release its its fan (and GamingAngel) favorite Plants vs. Zombies™ for the Nintendo DS® (in North America) at the beginning of next year. The DS adaptation will include all new DS exclusive game content on top of all of the pea shooting and watermelon launching that we adore from the original version. This news comes just before the much anticipated launch of PvZ on XBLA next month For those of you who can’t wait to defend your brains, GameStop is now taking pre-orders for the game, which will carry an MSRP of $19.95. .

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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,

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“Plants vs. Zombies” entering the Xbox LIVE Arcade arena

PopCap’s insanely popular casual title Plants vs. Zombies is headed to your Xbox. This fall, probably in early September, the game will become available in the Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points. The revamped version of the title will have seven game modes (including two multiplayer modes, Co-Op and Vs.), 12 Achievements and 21 mini-games. Other features include: 12 achievements and 21 mini-games – more than any other adaptation, and including the exclusive Heavy WeaponTM-inspired mini-game A goofy new way to track and share progress online, where players create their own custom house and cruise down the street to see their friends’ cribs! The highest resolution of any Plants vs. Zombies adaptation to date at 1920 x 1080 All 50 levels of the original Adventure mode along with Puzzle, Survival, and Zen Garden PopCap will also release a boxed version of the game for consoles (as well as boxed

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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

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Summer Specials from PopCap Games

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!

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