iGame Radio

 

What’s inside this episode:

• An interview with Marc Gumpinger of Scoreloop about the newest updates to the social networking SDK for iPhone/iPod Touch and Android game developers. New features include support for in-game currency DLC.
• Plus, an exclusive preview of Plants vs Zombies HD for the iPad. *Magical* device indeed! Just make sure that you have enough munchies on hand, or you, too, will become a zombie. And believe me, brains are pretty bland.

Show Notes:

• A run-down of the week’s news. Omaha won’t tell you which ones are real and which ones aren’t…you’ll have to figure that one out on your own!
• Did Valve really decide to cancel porting Steam and their games to the Mac?! Does Game Newell really hate the Mac?! Does Gabe really need lots of Tums for that chili cheese dog problem?!

Music Notes:

• Digital Droo produced our theme music here at iGame Radio.

PopCap has done it again, and this time totally under wraps. The next Bejeweled edition has been announced today…but you better be ready to open your wallet for this one. Crafted from the very best cubic zirconia and only sold through the PopCap.com portal, Celebrity Bejeweled replaces the traditional gem pieces with holographic likenesses of popular superstars from film, television, music and sports whose names bear similarity to the gems they replace.

Likenesses include musicians Neil Diamond, Jewel and Crystal Gayle; renowned artist Jasper Johns; and action movie star and former big-time wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Singer Pearl Bailey and NBA Hall of Famer Earl “The Pearl” Monroe will share the honor of replacing the white gem in the game…apparently Oprah Winfrey was given the opportunity should she legally change her name to “Opal” but refused. Lastly Amber Smith, former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and first model of the original Wonderbra ad campaign, will thumb-wrestle TV and film actress Amber Tamblyn (of General Hospital and Joan of Arcadia fame) for the seventh and final gem spot. There’s no word on whether this will be a contest that could result in winners receiving a copy of the game.

But that’s not all. The special collector’s edition package includes actual genetic samples of featured celebrities. PopCap suggests that these samples might be useful in “home chemistry experiments, various forms of extortion and/or sale on eBay.” PopCap also warns that some copies might contain trace amounts of Alec Baldwin spliced with Lady Gaga. This, in our opinion, could lead to some significant legal problems for PopCap, considering the amount of damage that might actually result to someone’s eyes should they actually decide to take that genetic sample and do any biological experiments. But I note that PopCap has not recommended any biological experiments…that must be the reason why.

Celebrity Bejeweled carries a suggested retail price of US$2000. One can see why extortions might be useful. There are no screens available as yet, nor any date of release. And if you want me to review a game that could potentially have an image of Alec Baldwin spliced with Lady Gaga, you’re gonna have to pay me!

Hmm…what’s that noise I’m hearing from my pocket? It sounds like…braaaaaaaainzzzzzzzz! Ah, yes, Plants vs Zombies has come out for the iPhone, in time for me to finally have time to play it. The award-winning zombie casual game pitting poor, defenseless zombies against savage, ruthless plants (ain’t historical revisionism grand) is now available for your iPhone or iPod Touch!

Defend your home from 26 different types of zombies using 49 different plant units in this clever and addictive (no, really, it is) tower defense game that translates really well to the iPhone’s small screen. BTW, this is probably the only game that I’ve ever seen on the App Store that does not have one rating below 4 stars…out of 2429 of them!

Available for all iPhone and iPod Touch versions, starting with the OS 2.2.1 and later. The game is only $2.99. Get it now!

Popcap’s mysterious game for the iPhone that Corey and I mentioned a couple of week’s ago has been released. Chuzzle for the iPhone is available on the App Store as of last Tuesday. And now that it has been released, I can talk a little more about it. The graphics are very true to the original game on the PC/Mac, and the gameplay was very smooth. It’s quite natural to slide the rows and columns on a touch screen. Fun details include that you can tap a chuzzle repeatedly over time, and some of them will respond annoyed, or do interesting things because of that.

The game is currently available for $4.99.

 

What’s inside this episode:

• A review of Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power by Virtual Programming, an average turn-based strategy game with an interesting storyline that tries to take over the gameplay, and a tutorial that isn’t.
  
  
• Also, a review of the tower defense game, geoDefense Swarm for the iPhone by Critical Thought Games. In a genre filled to the brim, this game stands out from the crowd with cool graphics and good gameplay. But beware, the lucky charms may kill you!
  
  
• Plus, Omaha gives a brief report on her foray into the PopCap Games studio here in Seattle, to discover what’s new with their iPhone games. Can you guess what the mystery iPhone game is?

Show Notes:

• Oooh, hot gay elf on Grey Warden action! Or not…
• Is Apple getting into the iPhone game development business for real?
• The ECA debacle. Corey and Omaha discuss it at length, but the real decision is yours.

 

What’s inside this episode:

• An interview with John Graham of Wolfire Games about their game in development, Overgrowth, and their use of the Open Development method.
• Also, a review of Zuma’s Revenge by PopCap Games, a match-three arcade shooter. Zuma’s Revenge hits the sweet spot of fast-paced arcade action and casual relaxation.
• And a review of Lifeboat, Fuel Games’ light-hearted iPhone game pitting you against the dangers of the deep.

PopCap Games has announced the release of Zuma’s Revenge for the Mac and PC. Available via download for $19.95, the game has launched in 8 different languages and simultaneously via retail and download.

In Zuma the player takes the role of a fearless ball-shooting frog, exploring ancient temples and ruins. By firing colored spheres into an advancing chain of balls to make matches of three or more, the frog blasts his way through a series of arcade challenges. The sequel brings the player to an all-new setting, the Polynesian paradise ruled by Zhaka Mu, and ups the ante with nearly triple the screen resolution of the original game, cool 3-D particle effects, and support for widescreen monitors. Further, Zuma’s Revenge takes the relatively basic point-and-click input of the original Zuma up several notches, incorporating horizontal and vertical “sliding” as well as the ability to hop from one lily pad to another to achieve greater flexibility and hit hard-to-reach areas of the screen. All-new tiki boss enemies provide a climactic ending to each major stage of the game and introduce various new forms of attack and defense that must be used to succeed in the game.

I’ve been fiddling with the game for a bit, and it’s quite a challenge, even from the get-go, so I expect the game will provide a lot of replayability. Also, just like Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma’s Revenge includes lots of little quirky comments that you’ll probably love to find.

PopCap Games has announced that they are working on an iPhone/iPod Touch version of Plants vs. Zombies. The game should become available around the end of this year. Unfortunately, no other details are available, so we’ll have to sit tight and wait for more info.

ETA: PopCap says that Rick might have competition for being the overall best at Zuma in the form of Jackie Strickland…a 67 year old great-grandmother. Not your grandma’s game indeed. Also, a trailer has been revealed. Very cool!

ETA2: And catch the screens at the bottom, too.

PopCap Games has just announced that Zuma’s Revenge, the sequel to the incredibly popular Zuma, is headed to the Mac (oh, uh, and Windows). Zuma’s Revenge promises high-resolution graphics, wild new game mechanics, all-new modes and power-ups, and much more. The game is scheduled for release on September 15, with a list price of $19.95, and will be available both retail and download.

From the press release:

In Zuma the player takes the role of a fearless ball-shooting frog, exploring ancient temples and ruins. By firing colored spheres into an advancing chain of balls to make matches of three or more, the frog blasts his way through a series of arcade challenges. The sequel brings the player to an all-new setting, the Polynesian paradise of Zhaka Mu, and ups the ante with nearly triple the screen resolution of the original game, cool 3-D particle effects, and support for widescreen monitors. A full list of new features in Zuma’s Revenge! will be available at launch.

Only PopCap Games can make a game, whose main character is a ball-shooting frog, exciting.

What’s even more interesting is that they’ve got Rick Fortin beta-testing the game. If you’re a Zuma fan, you know Rick. He’s gotten the highest known score in Zuma…3,384,820 with 34 extra lives! What better person to beta-test the sequel.

You can check out some tidbits regarding the game at PopCap Games’ site, or here.

Just finished with the PopCap Games luncheon, and had the opportunity to play with both Bookworm Adventures 2 (announced only for Windows now, but they swear it will come out for the Mac in a few weeks or so), and Bejeweled Blitz for the iPhone, with facebook login. Bejeweled Blitz was much further along than BWA2 was, as the latter crashed pretty quickly while I was playing it. But both looked really good. And Bejeweled Twist had the added benefit that when I logged in on facebook, I could see who else was playing Bejeweled Twist on facebook and compare scores already.

I asked about Bejeweled Twist for the Mac, and was told that it would be coming out “soon”. Within “6 to 12 weeks”. Of course, that was similar to what I was told last year when the Windows client came out, and we have yet to see it. To be fair, PopCap Games has been very supportive of the Mac (and now the iPhone) for most all of their games. They even said that they had learned an important lesson in the past year, as they realized that over 25% of their sales came from the Mac.

But time will tell whether they strive to release the Mac version simultaneous, or within a week or two, of the Windows client.