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Tag: PopCap

  • ‘Peggle 2’ Coming to Xbox 360 in May

    After a bombastic announcement at last year’s EA press conference at E3, Peggle 2 was quietly released as an Xbox One exclusive in December. It is now only a matter of time before the popular Peggle sequel makes its way to every other platform.

    EA and PopCap Games this week announced that the rollout of Peggle 2 will continue first with more Microsoft console exclusivity. The game will be coming to Xbox 360 consoles on May 7.

    Peggle 2 is largely more of the same pinball/pachinko action introduced in the original Peggle. For the sequel PopCap has included several new “Peggle Masters” that come with new game-altering powers for players to exploit.

    In addition to all of the content in the Xbox One version of the game, the Xbox 360 version of Peggle 2 will come with a multiplayer mode called “Duel Mode.” The new mode allows two players to compete on the same stage, online or locally. Duel Mode has also rolled out to Xbox One versions of Peggle 2 this week through a free DLC download.

    “With all the excitement from our fans in December at launch we knew we wanted to continue growing the Peggle universe starting with more content and then expand onto the Xbox 360,” said John Vechey, general manager at PopCap. “By offering the addition of Duel Mode, our fans will be able to challenge their friends continuously to find out who is ultimate ‘Peggle Master’.”

  • Here’s Some More Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Gameplay

    Over the past few months, EA has hyped Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare through a number of trailers and interviews with the team behind the new team-based shooter. Now the game is almost out in the wild, and Xbox has some final gameplay footage to get your hype up just a little bit more.

    Xbox’ Major Nelson and the Xbox Wire team played some Garden Warfare recently and shared the footage with all of us. This particular gameplay footage is far more indicative of what your experience will be like as gameplay trailers tend to come from players who have spent months, if not years, with the game.

    Besides showing some fresh gameplay, Major Nelson details some new gameplay features that we have yet to see. For instance, both sides can summon small plants or zombies that call back to the tower defense games. Players can also earn sticker packs which grant them new items, summons or even powerful class variants.

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare will be out February 25 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. A PC version will launch later this year.

    Image via xbox/YouTube

  • Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Is In On The Joke

    Ever since its reveal, it was pretty obvious that Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was a parody of sorts. The modern warfare genre of first-person shooters had reached a saturation point in 2013, and it was about time somebody made fun of it. Interestingly enough, Call of Duty and Battlefield aren’t the only games being made fun of though.

    In a new trailer for Garden Warfare, the game’s producer – Brian Lindley – talks up the game’s reliance on humor. He’s quick to point out that humor has always been a core tenet of the franchise, and that Garden Warfare afforded them the opportunity to branch out in regards to humor. That humor manifested in the form of promotional posters that poked fun at most of EA’s major franchises, like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Medal of Honor and Dead Space.

    The aforementioned posters are just that though – posters. Is there any chance we might see some DLC in the future that features nods to EA’s stable of franchises? Lindley just gave us a maybe but EA is never one to shy away from monetizing their game through DLC. So fret not, you may be able to play as the Grass Effect team just yet.

    To see more of Garden Warfare’s unique brand of humor, check out its live-action TV spot featuring a dolphin gun.

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is out February 25 on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

    Image via Official EA UK/YouTube

  • Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Gets A Bizarre Live-Action Trailer

    Despite game consoles now being able to output near lifelike models of people and places, game publishers still rely on the overused live-action trailer to sell their game. Not that I’m complaining of course since most of these live-action trailers to implant video game logic into real life with hilarious results.

    The latest game to mix the real and fantastic is Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. In its latest live-action trailer, we’re treated to the modern warfare environment that Garden Warfare is attempting to spoof. In the heat of battle where traditional firearms are king, one brave soldier tries his luck with a dolphin gun that fires fish guts. Now that I think about it – it would probably be pretty effective.

    As you might guess, the dolphin gun is just one of many weapons that the zombies are equipped with in Garden Warfare. The zombies utilize more traditional looking weaponry with bizarre ammo to take on the plants and their photosynthesis-based projectiles.

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’s main attraction may be its team-based multiplayer, but the game also features a fully fleshed out co-op mode where the plants attempt to protect their garden from the invading zombie hordes. For more on that, check out our previous coverage.

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare will be out on February 18 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.

    Image via GamesHQMedia/YouTube

  • Learn How To Succeed In Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

    Everybody likes to win – it’s in our nature. Multiplayer-only games are very popular mostly due to the fact that it gives players that instant gratification of the win. Well, it should, unless you’re just really bad. To avoid that in the upcoming multiplayer shooter Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, the producers are here with some tips and tricks for the aspiring garden defender.

    In the latest video from EA, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’s Creative Director Justin Wiebe and Game Designer Chris Fox give players some strategies to help them out of the gate when the game launches later this month. They note that the game features two 12v12 multiplayer modes that will require players to take on a variety of roles to win. As they say, variety is the spice of life, and for these common garden spices – variety is central to victory.

    If you happen to be on the side of the zombies, you’re fortunately not at any disadvantage. In fact, the zombies were designed with abilities similar to that of the plants. In other words, knowing how to play as the sunflower means you’ll be able to instantly pick up its zombie equivalent. This ensures the game stays fair, but the zombies do have some peculiar quirks that players will have to learn if they want to take over gardens anytime soon.

    If competitive multiplayer isn’t your thing, you’ll want to check out the cooperative mode that looks like a ton of fun.

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare launches February 18 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.

    Image via Official EA UK/YouTube

  • Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Gets Split-Screen Co-Op On Xbox One

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was confirmed to be getting a co-op mode earlier this month. The mode has four friends battling to defend their base from waves of increasingly difficult zombies. At the time, the mode seemed to be online only, but Xbox One players will have one more option.

    EA confirmed this week that the Xbox One version of Garden Warfare will get a couch co-op mode. This mode is exclusive to the next-gen console and will allow up to two players to play co-op on the same screen. It’s a rarity to see couch co-op in this day and age, but it’s a little unfortunate that they couldn’t work a four player couch co-op mode into the game.

    Another mode that’s exclusive to the Xbox One is called Boss Mode. This allows a player to use Kinect or SmartGlass to take on the role of Crazy Dave in his flying RV above the battlefield. From here, players can offer support to those on the ground by collecting sun and dropping powerups. You can think of it as a scaled down Commander mode from Battlefield 4.

    Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is out February 25 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. A PC version is on the way, but it won’t be available for at least a few more months as it’s a timed exclusive on Microsoft’s platforms.

    Image via Official EA UK/YouTube

  • ‘Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’ Gameplay Previewed

    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was one of the most surprising games that EA has announced in the past half-decade. The Popcap-developed console shooter takes the whimsy from the Plants vs. Zombies mobile games and shoves it into what appears to be the best shooter EA has published in years.

    When the game’e release date was announced (February 18, a timed exclusive for Xbox consoles) Popcap released a long look at the title’s gameplay. That video showed off several classes of both plants and zombies battling it out in a silly-looking, but solid deathmatch arena.

    Today Popcap has provided another long gameplay preview of Garden Warfare. This video previews the “Gardens and Graveyards” mode seen in the game.

    As Popcap producer Brian Lindley states as the video’s narrator, Garden’s and Graveyards plays like a mix of Battlefield‘s Rush and Conquest modes. Zombies must tray and capture plant gardens by raising tombstones while the plants try and fend them off.

    If nothing else, the new video shows that Garden Warfare will bring some color and silliness to the increasingly drab and serious world of console shooters:

  • ‘Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’ Release Date Announced

    Though console shooters were popularized with games such as GoldenEye 64, modern console shooters have taken a more serious turn. With their more militaristic bent, games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, and Gears of War are now the face of console shooters.

    Fatigue in the face of these games’ serious tones could be why, when EA revealed a light-hearted Plants vs. Zombies-branded shooter at E3 not everyone though it was a dumb idea.

    The game, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare looks to be a modern third-person shooter mixed with PopCap’s odd take on the zombie genre. With announced support for 24-player competitive multiplayer, customizable characters (plants and zombies), and plenty of items to use, the game resembles PC shooters such as Team Fortress 2 more than other console shooters.

    Today EA officially announced that Garden Warfare will be coming to Xbox 360 and Xbox One on February 18. Microsoft and EA have carved out a timed exclusive period for the game. Though no PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 release dates have yet been officially announced, EA did at least state that the game will be coming to PC “at a later date.”

    In conjunction with the release date announcement, EA today also released a nine-minute gameplay video for Garden Warfare. The game seems to have a fairly unique play-style that appears at first glance to be barely-controlled madness:

  • Plants Vs. Zombies 2 Is Finally Available On Android

    Back in July, PopCap and EA launched Plants vs. Zombies 2 on iOS devices. It soon launched on Android devices down under, but the rest of the world’s Android devices had to wait. Now that wait is over.

    PopCap Games announced today that Plants vs. Zombies 2 is now available globally via Google Play. There’s no explanation behind the Android version being delayed well past any timed exclusivity period, but it may have something to do with PopCap integrating Google Play Game Services into the title. In fact, it’s the first PopCap title to do so.

    “With the arrival of Plants vs. Zombies 2 on Android, we’re effectively reaching a huge new audience of mobile players who have been eagerly awaiting the game,” said Tony Leamer, Franchise Business Director for Plants vs. Zombies. “We’re particularly pleased that the Android iteration of the game has all the great features and functionality found in other mobile editions.”

    Unlike the first Plants vs. Zombies title, the sequel is entirely free-to-play with its main source of revenue coming from in-app transactions. PopCap notes that the entire game can be accessed for free, and that the in-app transactions are only there for those who want to augment or enhance their game in some way.

    As was the case with the iOS release, Plants vs. Zombies 2 on Android will include three worlds at launch which encompasses more than 60 levels. PopCap promises that there will be more worlds and more levels coming soon as well.

    If you want to get your zombie busting action on, you can grab Plants Vs. Zombies 2 from Google Play today.

    [Image: GamesHQMedia/YouTube]

  • ‘Peggle 2’ Previewed, Trailer Released at Gamescom

    It’s safe to say that Peggle has become one of the most popular casual games of all time. The game has been released on nearly every gaming platform available, bringing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony to the masses. Publisher EA announced a sequel to Peggle at its E3 conference this year, but details have been sparse until today.

    At its big Gamescom conference, EA revealed the first gameplay trailer for Peggle 2. As the trailer shows, the game will play very similarly to the first Peggle, being a mixture of pinball and pachinko. The new game will have new levels, new power-ups, new multiplayer modes, and new “Peggle Master” animals (it appears that Bjorn the unicorn is back, though).

    Keeping with a major theme at this year’s Gamescom, EA also announced a deal with Microsoft to make Peggle 2 a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. The Xbox One version of Peggle 2 will also have Kinect control functionality.

    “With Peggle 2, we’re taking everything that our fans love about Peggle and bringing it to another level,” said Jared Neuss, Peggle 2 lead producer at PopCap. “The new Peggle Masters have tons of personality, their powers are all completely over the top and there is a massive amount of content for players to explore. We’re also focused on taking full advantage of all that the Xbox One has to offer by giving our fans new ways to control the game, share their favorite moments and compete with their friends.“

  • ‘Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’ Detailed, Trailers Revealed

    EA had some of the biggest announcements today at Gamescom. The publisher is heavily supporting the Xbox One with exclusive FIFA 14 content and a pack-in deal. It announced Battlefield 4 Premium, previewed more gameplay from its much-hyped Titanfall, and showed off new features from the upcoming The Sims 4.

    The big titles weren’t all EA focused on, though – it also found time to mention on its smaller IPs. In particular, more details about Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare were revealed.

    The game is a third-person shooter set in the Plants vs. Zombies mobile game universe. It will feature four-player co-op for horde mode and 24-player competitive multiplayer gameplay. Gamers will be able to play as either plants or zombies, both of which are customizable with a variety of items.

    EA also announced that it and Microsoft have come to an arrangement to make Garden Warfare a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. The length of the exclusivity window was not announced, but will begin at the game’s spring 2014 launch.

    Along with the exclusivity, the Xbox One will be getting exclusive features on Microsoft’s new console. Two-player split screen gameplay is one of those features. Another is Kinect and SmartGlass “Boss Mode” gameplay as either “Crazy Dave’s RV” or “Dr. Zomboss’ Blimp.” A preview of the Boss Mode can be seen in the first video below. The second video shows EA and PopCap’s silly new trailer for Garden Warfare.

  • One More Day to Get Plants vs. Zombies For Free

    Last month, PopCap Games, the makers of Plants vs. Zombies, teamed up with the American Dental Association to “stop zombie mouth.” The campaign distributed over 1 million Plants vs. Zombies trading cards and educated kids on the importance of dental hygiene. Along with the trading cards, PopCap was giving away copies of Plants vs. Zombies for free with a redeemable coupon code.

    Evidently, giving away one of the most popular tower defense games of the past few years proved a success. Over 250,000 copies of the game were distributed, and PopCap has announced it is extending the deadline to redeem the coupon codes to November 13.

    “The Stop Zombie campaign was a tremendous success using a unique platform to improve the oral health literacy of entire families,” said Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, ADA spokesperson on pediatric dentistry. “The American Dental Association looks forward to future innovative collaborations that enable us to realize the goal of reducing oral health disparities.”

    The goal of the campaign was for adults to print out the coupons and give them out instead of candy on Halloween. As bad as that decision sounds, a PopCap survey shows that 93% of kids would take a free video game over candy on Halloween night. Of course, survey also shows that 89% of kids would still like Halloween if it were less about candy and more about “other types of fun.” Someone should explain to kids that other types of Halloween fun are for grownups, and that they should gorge on free candy play Plants vs. Zombies and brush their teeth while they can.

  • PopCap Gives Away Plants vs. Zombies For Oral Health

    PopCap games and the American Dental Association (ADA) this weekend announced that dentists across the U.S. will be handing out packs of Plants vs. Zombies trading cards featuring characters from the game. Each card pack also includes a coupon redeemable for a free copy of the PC/Mac edition of Plants vs. Zombies.

    The giveaway is part of the “Stop Zombie Mouth” campaign that PopCap and the ADA announced last month. The redeemable coupons found in the card packs are also freely available at the campaign’s website. The purpose of the campaign, which lasts through Halloween, is to spread awareness of oral health at a time of year when candy is sold in bulk. The website states that PopCap and the ADA are “redefining what a Halloween ‘treat’ can be…by giving FUN instead of candy.”

    “Changing eating habits among children is one of the most important yet difficult challenges that parents face today,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a supporter of the campaign. “The ADA and PopCap Games have come up with a fun, clever, and compelling approach that should appeal to young trick-or-treaters this Halloween. This campaign will help children recognize the relationship between healthy eating and healthy teeth, and provide one of the coolest alternatives to sugary snacks yet.”

    The limited edition trading card packs to be handed out by dentists will have 5 cards each. The cards will feature 45 different zombie types, including 5 new characters that represent mouth germs. A campaign music video, seen below, was also released featuring the lyrical stylings of those mouth germs. The video is about two minutes long, and can be used as a timer when brushing teeth, according to PopCap and the ADA.

  • PopCap Shuts Down Its Dublin Studio

    PopCap Shuts Down Its Dublin Studio

    One month ago, it was announced that PopCap games would be reorganizing its studios and laying off employees. At the time, it was stated that around 50 employees, mostly from PopCap headquarters in Seattle, would see layoffs. PopCap co-founder John Vechey posted a well-worded blog entry about how much losing your job and firing people sucks. The statement was heartfelt and just about the most kind way (if there is one) to announce layoffs.

    Today, though, word has come down through Twitter that PopCap’s studio in Dublin, Ireland has been closed. Word first came through (now former) Associate Producer at PopCap Mobile JP Vaughan, who posted the word to his twitter account.

    He followed this up with the news that the people at the studio have had 30 days to prepare for the shutdown. Meanwhile, Stu Taylor, dirctor of international public relations at PopCap, tweeted a more lighthearted version of the announcement:

    Joystiq is quoting an unnamed source with saying the closure took place this morning after an 11 am meeting and that 96 people lost their jobs over the past month.

    (via All Games Beta)

  • PopCap Games Announces Reorganization and Layoffs

    PopCap today announced that it has begun a reorganization of its studios that includes a “reduction in force” in North America. More specifically, around 50 employees, most from the PopCap headquarters in Seattle, will be losing their jobs.

    John Vechey, Popcap co-founder and vice president of corporate strategy and development, made the announcement with a post on the PopCap blog. Vechey also stated that PopCap is talking with its Dublin branch to work out whether sales in Europe can be increased enough to keep the branch open. From the blog post:

    Today’s news is something you expect periodically from a company in a fast-changing industry, but it sucks if you’re one of the people losing his or her job. These people are our friends and we don’t like doing this…

    A little context on why we’re making cuts in some areas while we’re investing and expanding in others: In the past year, we’ve seen a dramatic change in the way people play and pay for games. Free-to-play, social and mobile games have exploded in popularity. That happened fast. Surprisingly so. The change in consumer tastes requires us to reorganize our business and invest in new types of games on new platforms. It’s a completely different world from when we started.

    Just over one year ago PopCap was acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) for $605 million. This latest news from PopCap may signal that social and mobile gaming may have reached its saturation point. Zynga, once considered a major PopCap competitor, has faced disaster this year after its stock crashed at the end of July. Zynga COO John Schappert has been ousted from his position and the company is now begging employees to stay on.

    Popcap just yesterday announced that a Plants vs. Zombies sequel will be released sometime in the first half of 2013. Vechey reiterated that that game is still on track for a spring 2013 release.

  • Mobile Games Survey: Nearly Half of Adults are Mobile Gamers

    PopCap Games, the makers of casual mobile games such as Bejeweled, Peggle, and Plants vs. Zombies, today released the results of its poll on mobile gaming. Unsurprisingly, the market for mobile gaming is growing at breakneck speed. The poll also found that the audience for mobile gaming is broadening.

    The survey was conducted by Information Solutions Group, and polled adults in the U.S. and U.K. It found that 125 million adults in those countries play games on mobile devices. 44% of those surveyed said they had played a mobile game within the past month – only 15% said the same thing last year. Clearly, the expanding number and adoption of gaming-capable mobile devices capable is bringing millions of new players.

    “Mobile games continue to vie with social games as the hottest sector of the video game industry and that trend shows no sign of waning,” stated Dennis Ryan, vice president of worldwide publishing at PopCap. “Smartphone adoption continues apace and tablet adoption has added considerable fuel to the fire. Even more important, consumers are embracing the shift toward freemium games and other add-on game content purchases, driving the dramatic and rapid shift in the forms of monetization being used by developers and publishers.”

    While Ryan may be correct that mobile gaming shows no signs of slowing, recent evidence suggests the popularity of social gaming on sites such as Facebook might have already peaked.

    The factors Ryan mentions for the rapid growth in mobile gaming, tablets and fremium pricing models, are clearly part of the reason for the industry’s growth spurt. According to the survey, 36% of mobile gamers own a tablet, and 74% of those gamers did not previously play mobile games. The ease of mobile gaming on tablets, combined with the low prices of the games themselves, are what is bringing in new gamers. 70% of survey respondents cited the availability of more free games as a reason for their increased mobile gaming. Of course, game companies are not simply giving the games away: 51% of these same gamers admitted to making mobile game-related purchases within the past year.

    For the first time in the survey’s three-year history, an equal number of males and females are mobile gamers. Previously, males were more likely to be mobile gamers. Also, the average age of a mobile gamer is now 39.5 years old. This broadening audience means mobile gaming still has plenty of room for growth in the coming years.

    The results of the survey can be seen in a PDF at the Information Solutions Group website.

  • Google+ Games Need To Take Advantage Of The Platform’s Strengths

    It’s pretty much a given these days that games are by far the most popular application on Facebook. The social gaming boom has been enormous and everybody wants a piece of the pie. Google saw that and started getting developers on board with Google+ for games on its service. Games might not be that big of a part of Google+ in the future if things don’t change.

    Gamasutra recently spoke to developers who had created games for Google+. What they found was a lot of reluctance on the part of developers to actually talk about their successes or failures. Not talking is worrying, especially when it comes to a game’s performance. It’s a far cry from Facebook who regularly displays games in their developer spotlight feature as one of the application types pushing adoption of new features like single sign-in and Open Graph.

    Developers from big names like PopCap, creators of popular social game Bejeweled Blitz, to lesser known developers like Kabam are being really selective when talking about their experiences with the platform. They all tell Gamasutra the same story: Google+ is comparable to Facebook, but no specific numbers can be reported.

    At least one person on the inside, Chris Hinton, VP of Central Game Services at Playdom, came out to elaborate a little. His position is one of Google+ still being the new kid on the block. He compares the current development on Google+ with their development of games in the early days of Facebook.

    But are there any numbers indicating how many people are playing games on Google+ or how long people are engaged? Hinton says that a Facebook player spends about 45 minutes playing game and that Google+ numbers are comparable. That’s all we’re going to get until people start reporting real numbers.

    The more interesting case, however, comes from Kabam. Their recent game The Godfather: Five Families received plenty of support from Google in terms of advertising and other perks in exchange for exclusivity. This story seems to be the kind of success that Google needs to aim for more.

    The experience of Kabam seems to correlate with a recent study that found more developers will be going to Google over Facebook this year. While the report was more about developers in general instead of games, I think we can apply at least a few of the findings here. The biggest one being that Google offers better engagement and help when it comes to developing apps for their platforms.

    Google needs to leverage their position as a friend to developers to start getting more original and exclusive content. Social gaming is growing up very fast and sooner or later, the players are going to start having the same fights as console gamers do now. People will be picking sides – Google+ or Facebook? Google+ needs to make sure that it has an arsenal of unique and exciting features to set its exclusives apart besides just being on the platform.

    Look at the recent public launch of Hangouts On Air. That has the potential to revolutionize social gaming and not in the sense of just being able to see your opponent during a game of virtual chess. That’s small fry stuff and far too easy. I’m thinking more along the lines of Tabletop Forge, the Hangouts powered tabletop roleplaying game recently demoed by Google. Those are the kind of experiences that Google+ should be aiming for.

    Let’s take that idea to the next level though. We already know how popular professional gaming tournaments are especially with the likes of StarCraft II. Imagine if Blizzard released a free-to-play version of StarCraft II’s multiplayer on Google+ with Hangouts On Air functionality. That would bring tournaments to an even larger audience through the power of social media. These are the kind of experiences that Google should be aiming for instead of its current range of games that are either on Facebook or games that are too similar to what Facebook offers.

    I want to say that games have a bright future on Google+. There are a lot of features that developers can take advantage of that would definitely set the platform apart from its competitors. It’s a shame that none of them aspire to anything beyond what we can already find on Facebook.

    Being under the label of social gaming is not an excuse to stick to the status quo set by the likes of Zynga. Google+ has, to me at least, always presented itself not as a Facebook competitor, but rather a unique experience unto itself. It’s about time game developers took the same stance when approaching the platform.

    Do you think game developers are seeing a good return from Google+ compared to Facebook? Should they be stepping up their efforts to take advantage of the unique properties offer by Google+? Let us know in the comments.

  • Popchips Ad Pulled For ‘Racist’ Content

    This ad from the Popchips website and Facebook page has been pulled after an outcry about its “racist” content.

    Among the offended was tech entrepreneur Anil Dash, who called it “a hackneyed, unfunny advertisement featuring Kutcher in brownface talking about his romantic options, with the entire punchline being that he’s doing it in a fake-Indian outfit and voice. That’s it, there’s seriously no other gag.”

    “if you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad ‘funny’ accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course. Make some different decisions.”

    Popchips CEO Keith Belling pulled the ad and issued a statement saying, “We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended.”

    Dash blogged again, this one titled “How to Fix Popchip’s Racist Ad Campaign”, writing, “I just got off the phone with Popchips founder Keith Belling, who was sincere and contrite as he offered a thoughtful, apologetic response.” But he suggests Popchip leave the ad up with an explanation as to how the ad failed, and why the end result turned out to be racist.

    This is the equivalent of rubbing a dog’s face in poop to house break it. Beiling apologized and took the ad down. He is an adult and Dash is not his parent. He did what is appropriate when two adults have a differing opinion and one is offended. He apologized and wants to move on. Instead, Dash wants his company to be branded with a big letter “R” until he learns his lesson.

    He doesn’t stop there. He wants the firm that created the ad, Zambezi, to all get together in a video and talk about how what they did was bad. Very bad. Very, very bad Zambezi.

    He admonishes the media, pointing out specific writers in the New York Times and Washington Post, for not talking about how “obviously offensive” the ad was: “it’s astounding that this wouldn’t be obvious on first glance to those who are paid to understand media and culture.”

    Maybe they didn’t find it all that offensive… Sure it wasn’t all that funny. Sure there are lots of people out there that are a lot better at impressions. But to call it “racist” cheapens the word and the abhorrent philosophy it conveys.

    Comedians often pull from so-called “racist” stereotypes for humor. Mike Myers did a whole movie lampooning Indian stereotypes in The Love Guru and much of his other work makes fun of various races and nationalities. Countless others including Eddie Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Dave Chappelle and the Wayan’s brothers have donned skin make-up and attire to make fun of racial stereotypes and it isn’t considered racist.

  • Zuma’s Revenge! Coming To XBLA This Summer

    Zuma’s Revenge! Coming To XBLA This Summer

    While PopCap may be focusing more of their efforts on the Facebook and social market, they haven’t forgotten game consoles. That’s why they’re finally getting around to releasing a 2-year-old game on Xbox Live Arcade.

    PopCap Games announced today that Zuma’s Revenge!, sequel to XBLA hit Zuma, would be coming to the service this summer. The sequel expands upon the original game by adding new features that expand the original game into new territory. The list of features include:

    – Extend your gameplay experience in the new and exclusive Boss Rush and Weekly Challenge game modes
    – Enjoy updated 2012 gameplay: No more lives, no more checkpoints and no more game over
    – Discover and befriend 4 all-new Spirit Animal companions
    – Earn Spirit Badges on every level and use them to power up your Spirit Animals
    – Dominate your friends on a whopping 74 leaderboards
    – Experience remastered HD graphics
    – Unlock 20 Xbox LIVE achievements
    – Flaunt 2 tiki-themed awards for your Xbox LIVE avatar

    Removing the risk of failure and calling it “updated 2012 gameplay” irks me to no end, but that’s another rant for another day. The rest of the features seem to jive with what modern console gamers want out of their puzzle games, especially the leaderboards.

    If you’re new to Zuma and it’s admittedly addictive gameplay, check out the launch trailer for the PC version. Just image it’s in hi-def with some shiny new bells and whistles. Zuma’s Revenge hits XBLA this summer for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

  • PopCap Launches Solitaire Blitz On Facebook

    PopCap Games, one of the first developers to get casual gaming right and helped start the revolution that we see today in Facebook games, has just announced the next game that players are going to get stuck in.

    PopCap today announced the launch of Solitaire Blitz. PopCap is one of those developers that takes a simple idea an runs with and Solitaire Blitz is no different. The main goal in Solitaire Blitz is the same in regular Solitaire – clearing the deck. The catch that earns the game the word Blitz in its title is that players only have 60 seconds to clear their deck.

    If that sounds intimidating, there are ways to augment the experience that make the game easier. Players can collect treasure that is converted into silver which allows them to buy in-game powerups.

    “We’ve taken the world’s most well-known card game and created an exciting new social version using PopCap’s incredibly popular time-based Blitz mechanic made famous by Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz,” said Scott Willoughby, marketing manager for PopCap Games. “We’ve evolved a traditionally solitary pastime into a friendly, shared experience that’s fun for all ages.”

    Knowing PopCap, they probably have another hit on their hands. I don’t think any of their games have done poorly and they even have a solid reputation with the hardcore gaming community after the excellent Plants Vs. Zombies.

    The game is available now to play on Facebook.