Are you tired of all the Farmville and Mafia Wars clones that plague Facebook? PopCap's chief creative officer Jason Kapalka believes that it won't be long until cheap copycats and their ilk will stop their rapid propagation. "You're definitely in the stage right now in social games where there's a lot of bandwagon jumping, where everyone sees moneymoneymoney and suddenly all these new companies appear," he told GI.biz. "It happened before in mobile, it happened before in casual - in the past it's tended to signal the beginning of the end."
Kapalka isn't suggesting that social games as a whole are going to die. Instead, he says it's the end of a "golden era," where the possibilities of the genre seemed limitless. Now that social gaming has taken root, the realities are becoming more evident: the extraordinary amount of competition, harsher restrictions from Facebook, slowing growth and dwindling margins will make it increasingly difficult for new social games to catch on. "Facebook can't go that much faster," Kapalka added. (Of course, Facebook would disagree.)
While Facebook and social games factor into PopCap's success so far, Kapalka doesn't seem too concerned about any sluggishness in the sector. The reason? PopCap has its hands in enough places to feel secure. "I feel PopCap's really diversified over the last ten years, we've never been necessarily the biggest company doing Xbox games or mobile games, but we've always been able to keep our hands in all these different areas, and sort of shift as necessary to whichever platforms are doing well." Plants vs. Zombies, for example, will continue its expansion to Xbox this week, and Nintendo DS next year.
A friendly reminder that the XBLA ports of Plants vs. Zombies and Dance! It's Your Stage sashay in a shambling manner onto Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. The XBLA version of the flora versus undead tower defense title will cost 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), while that dancing game will be 800 points ($10).
The XBLA version of PvZ features co-op and versus multiplayer, along with your very own customizable house. The XBLA version of Dance! It's Your Stage features, um -- did we mention Plants vs. Zombies is coming out this week?
This January, you'll be able to play Plants vs. Zombies on two screens without running two simultaneous games on your iPhone and computer. PopCap Games revealed plans today to publish the tower yard defense game on DS in January of next year, at a suggested $19.95 price point.
The DS version will have all the content of the original release, "as well as new and exclusive game content." The DS port of Peggle added entirely new, entirely weird levels under the existing levels, but there's no telling how extensive or insane the additions to Plants vs. Zombies will be.
Steam is growing regular ol' Plants vs. Zombies into the "Game of the Year edition." The free update is available for existing PC copies of PvZ. In addition, PvZ is now available in its GOTY incarnation on Mac for $10. Remember, with Steam, if you own the game for Windows and are a closet Mac user (or vice versa), you also own it for the other system.
The update adds 20 Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud support and the "Zombatar" -- a custom zombie creator. You can also try out the Zombatar on PopCap's site and use the image for any of your social networking sites. In only a few minutes we made what we imagine to be a rabid transvestite b-boy.
#popcap
PopCap Games' garden of the living dead strategy game, Plants vs. Zombies, gets an upgrade today, touting its "Game of the Year" status with a handful of upgrades (and one downgrade). More »
It might look like the same game on the surface, but the first trailer for the Xbox Live Arcade version Plants vs. Zombies reveals a few of the new features in the upcoming port. We already knew about co-op and versus multiplayer, but did you know you can also deck out your house and visit your neighbors? Considering how many zombies are on the lawn, running to the neighbor is bound to come in handy. Check out new screens below and find the trailer after the break.
#xboxlivearcade
I never thought I'd be this excited about a game I've already played on three other platforms. Take a look at news screens and a trailer forPlants Vs. Zombies for Xbox Live Arcade. More »
The Xbox Live Arcade port of Plants vs. Zombies has been given a (re-)birthday: Wednesday, September 8. In just five weeks, Xbox gamers who haven't already picked up PopCap's polished tower defense game on PC, Mac or iPhone/iPad can do so on XBLA for $15 (or 1200 Xbox bucks). This latest version doesn't only bring an HD, controller-optimized experience to the console space, it also adds two new multiplayer modes: Co-op and Versus.
In IGN's brief writeup of the game, the site says one co-op strategy is to have one player use defensive plants while the other uses offensive plants, as they try to hold back the oncoming undead. In Versus mode, the zombie player has to eat his or her way into the plant player's home, while the plant player has to shoot down three zombie targets. If the multiplayer enhancements in PopCap's XBLA port of Peggle are any indication, you should expect more than just bullet-point upgrades.
#popcapgames
Michael Jackson's estate wasn't too thrilled with the zombie King of Pop lookalike featured in Plants Vs. Zombies. Not wanting to be startin' something legally with Jackson's legal team, PopCap opted to drop that moonwalking zombie for something less litigious. More »
#popcap
After more than a year spent dancing into our hearts and gardens, objections from the King of Pop's estate cause PopCap Games to replace the killer Michael Jackson lookalike in Plants Vs. Zombies. More »
A recent update for the iPhone version of PopCap's floral tower-defense title, Plants vs. Zombies, makes a significant change to a prominent member of the game's undead roster: Dancing Zombie. The red leather jumpsuit-clad ghoul formerly resembled Michael Jackson in his seminal, super-lengthy 1983 music video "Thriller." After the update, the shambling fiend now has much more generic disco attire.
PopCap explained the reason for the update to MTV Multiplayer, stating, "The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in Plants vs. Zombies based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson." Rather than risk a legal kerfluffle, PopCap has decided to "replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds" of the title.
Unfortunately, the update seems to be causing the game to crash on iPhone 4. Keep an eye peeled for an update update, which will still leave the title King of Pop-less, yet delightfully functional.
#xboxlivearcade
If Plants Vs. Zombies has Xbox Live Achievements, surely there must be a video game to go along with it, right? Yes, of course. PopCap's gardening of the dead smash hit will become an Xbox Live Arcade game in September. More »
Finally, a chance to link the Plants vs. Zombies theme song again! Oh, and we've got some news too, but first -- let's just load up the theme song again real quick.
Okay! Now that we've got that pumping in the next tab, we can get down to the news: PopCap is bringing its tower defense game, Plants vs. Zombies, to Xbox Live Arcade in "early September" for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). (The earliest it could launch in September would be Wednesday, September 1.)
Aside from improved graphics (full 1080p!), the Xbox 360 port will also boast 21 different minigames, two new modes (Co-op and Vs.) and a "house" feature where players can create a custom space that tracks progress and has leaderboards for sizing up which of your friends has the greenest thumb of all.
If you like your games planted on disc, PopCap also plans to launch Plants vs. Zombies, along with Zuma and Peggle (both already featured in PopCap disc compilations), as an Xbox 360 retail compilation. The disc release is expected to shamble to retail shelves "this fall" for $20.
According to a recently revealed list of XBLA Achievements found over at Xbox360Achievements, it seems that the upcoming XBLA iteration of PopCap's zombie gardening game Plants vs. Zombies will be getting a new versus mode, as well as the inclusion (in some form) of co-op play. Two separate Cheevos indicate as much -- the first named "Versus vs. Versus" (fittingly enough) and the second named "ZFF's 4 Evr" (earned by bowling "a winner with a friend in Co-Op Wall-Nut Bowling").
The real question is, of course, whether or not everyone's favorite crazy gardener be a playable character -- we can only dream, folks.
A study conducted by EEDAR and SMU's Guildhall found trusted media outlets do affect consumers' perception of video games and their willingness to purchase. Joystiq received an advanced copy of the study (releasing publicly next week), that involved 165 qualified participants split into three groups, who were then exposed to high, low and no review scores for Plants vs. Zombies before playing the game. After the 20-minute session, the subjects were offered either a copy of the game or $10. A result of the study was that participants exposed to higher review scores were 100 percent more likely than those exposed to low scores to take a copy of Plants vs. Zombies over the $10 and "85 percent more likely to take the game than the control group." The study concludes that "because nearly twice as many participants in the high review group took the copy ... that the relationship between video game sales and professional review scores are not correlative but causal."
Plants vs. Zombies was chosen because it's "regarded by the gaming community and by critics as a high quality title of broad appeal." The mock reviews used in the study were from five well-known media outlets and participants were told that the aggregate review score they were given was "comprised of 51 professional" outlets. All participants "played the same game, on the same type of computer, in the same environment, for the same amount of time."
#music
Laura Shigihara, the writer and performer of the adorable "Zombies on your Lawn" song sends us this live rendition of the tune, complete with undead noises courtesy of game designer George Fan. More »
#gamecakes
Liam Brockwood had a much better birthday than you did, thanks to this lovingly crafted and entirely edible Plants Vs. Zombies cake. I haven't been this jealous of a seven-year-old since 1981. More »
#schooldays
When the students of St. Catherine's High School's new middle school program arrive next year, they'll be sporting shiny new iPads instead of textbooks, giving students plenty of games to play while they should be learning, until they get stolen. More »
[Engadget]
Former Joystiqer Ross Miller is currently on the ground for Engadget at Google's annual dev conference "I/O" in San Francisco, where the company just revealed its web-based app store for Chrome and Chrome OS. Aside from a handful of regular ol' apps and an interactive version of Sports Illustrated (paper? what's that?), Google debuted games for purchase, playable in-browser.
Plants vs. Zombies and Lego Star Wars are explicitly mentioned in the piece, but we can also spot Bejeweled 2 (also by PopCap), as well as Poker Rivals, Scrabble, FIFA World Cup 2010, and Who Has the Biggest Brain? (all by EA). We're not sure how much the games will be going for or even exactly how it'll work just yet, but we'll let you know just as soon as we do (there's a bit more info on the FAQ page). The web store is set to go live for developers "soon," but hasn't been dated for the general public just yet.
#browsergames
At the Google I/O conference today, Google revealed the Chrome Web Store, a browser-based application store where users will be able to download and install games like LEGO Star Wars and Plants Vs. Zombies directly to their web browsers. More »
In a thinly veiled attempt at free time domination the world over (at least with regards to Mac users), PopCap is currently offering its "Complete Pack" for the significantly lowered price of $50. All of our favorite time-thieving addictions are present -- from Plants vs. Zombies to Bookworm to Bejeweled 2 -- as well as a handful of other games totaling 13 in all. There's no cutoff date given for the bundle's sale, but we'd suggest snapping it up sooner than later. That is, if you're looking to say goodbye to everything for a little while.
#easteregg
We knew that Left 4 Dead 2's new expansion, "The Passing," paid a graffiti tribute to Dead Rising's Frank West. It looks like the game's creators admire Plants vs. Zombies as well. More »
#clips
We love Popcap's puzzle game Plants vs Zombies. That's pretty clear. But we're video game writers in our 30's, with black hearts, and tired eyes. What do innocent little puddings think of the game? More »
#screengrab
Text message from Plants Vs. Zombies lead designer George Fan to the iPhone of PvZ studio co-founder John Vechey, asked and answered at our request — because we care about video game zombies ... and PvZ. More »
