We expect that Peggle and the darker, no-more-dangerous Peggle Nights for PSN will feature match the PC and Xbox Live Arcade versions, with Challenges, Adventure modes and replays intact. What the PS3 version brings to the table is the option to upload replays to YouTube, directly from the game itself. Awesome.

Price for Peggle? $9.99 USD. Peggle Nights will run you an additional $4.99 USD, once the fun of the original has been sufficiently drained.

Coming to PSN this Week: Peggle & Peggle Nights [PlayStation.blog]

Zuma's Revenge is the PC/Mac sequel to the multi-million selling Zuma, itself one of those PopCap games from the era of PopCap games that seemed to be awfully similar to other, already-released games (in this case, see Magnetica/Puzzle Loop). The simple Zuma design presents single-screen level after level of snaking pathways that each point toward holes in the ground. Rolling onto the pathway are colored marbles that, if they reach that hole, end the game. To prevent failure, players control a frog-shaped turret that is usually placed in the middle of the screen. With clicks of the mouse in the direction of the desired target, the frog will shoot colored marbles at those in the advancing path. Marbles are eliminated by matching three of the same color, or by power-ups such as bombs, slowdown or direction-reversals. Eliminate all the marbles clears the stage.

Zuma's sequel adds a large helping of new content based on that concept — so much content that it took me longer to beat the game's main campaign than it did Halo 3: ODST. Moms may love this game too, but now I know the truth: With boss battles, a steep difficulty spike and an elaborate series of fights needed to clear its campaign, Zuma's Revenge might as well be a hardcore gamer's game.

Loved
The Going Gets Tough: The early, all-new stages of Zuma's Revenge's 60-level campaign are so easy that they can instill in a son the unhealthy skepticism of a mom's gaming ability. If her games are this easy, perhaps she's merely been wading in the kiddie pool of gaming all these Zuma-loving years? Then the game ramps up and mom is absolved. The marbles roll faster, and one learns that finding and using power-ups are essential. My favorite power-up, new for the sequel, eliminates all marbles of a certain color. One discovers the deep scoring system that makes a challenge out of even the easiest levels. The campaign got so brutal I thought I was playing a Capcom game on hard. That's a level of difficulty I can't enjoy in console action games anymore, but in a puzzle game that has so few parameters and that can be re-started and retried so easily, I welcome it. Moms who play this game far are in the gaming deep end as much of the rest of us. They are performing precision shooting, aiming with a mouse, you know (A suggestion to anyone who struggles: Don't play full-screen; the game's easier when played in a window.)

Smart, If Infrequent, Level Cleverness: In only 20 levels my complaints about the game's difficulty were disposed of. It took longer to get over my despair that the levels in Zuma's Revenge can be uninteresting. I'm sure there are a finite number of ways to snake a path of marbles past the rotating statue of a frog it seems. But cherish the levels where PopCap opted for ingenuity: Levels in which the fog can hop to another lily pad, needing to alternate between two of them for its sniping position; Levels in which part of the snaking path is shielded by stone; Levels that have two paths leading to two possibly game-ending maws. I wish the developers had included more design twists in their 60 campaign levels, but there wind up being just enough to make this a positive. The levels that don't break ground are still generally challenging and fun to play.

Hated
The Wrong Lessons Learned: If playing Zuma's Revenge introduces my mother to some of the worst design aspects of the last two decades' worth of hardcore games, then I think she deserves an apology. All of you game creators out there who are guilty, please say you're sorry. The first foul is locking a lot of content. In the year 2009, a puzzle game need not have its harder campaign mode, its ultimate "Iron Frog" gauntlet mode, and much of its 70 score-based challenge maps mode — all three modes which are displayed on the game's front menu from the start — locked off to the player until they've completed the game's campaign. That's an archaic amount of content-locking for a game that's been paid for.

Also undesirably old-school was the developers' decision to bounce the player back to a checkpointed level (the nearest preceding multiple of five) after the player runs out of lives. Level 57 might be a back-breaker, but there's no joy, after failing at it for five times, to have to replay Level 56. And boss battles… They add little to this game, as they add little to so many games (Hello, Arkham Asyum). That written, I have to acknowledge the hilarious inclusion of one hardcore gaming boss trope: The multiple-form final boss who will… not… stay… dead. I thought the game ended four different times.

You can download the free version of Zuma's Revenge and test most of my analysis yourself. Or you could ask your mom about this game, because there's a strong chance she's already played it or its predecessor. Let her teach you about games for once.

I was happy to play Zuma's Revenge, even if I wished for a little more progressive free-thinking and a little less adoption of some ideas I wish could just collect dust in the past. I feel like I understand my mother just a little better now. Plus, Zuma's Revenge has one of gaming's magically perfect maneuvers. Just as any self-respecting gamer should perform the triple-jump in Super Mario 64, shame on you if you never experience a Double Gap Shot in a Zuma game. Whether you pay to unlock the rest, well… judge for yourself.

(Zuma's Revenge was developed and published by PopCap Games on September 15. Retails for $19.95 USD. Cleared the 60-mission campaign in a whopping 6 hours, 41 minutes. Played some Challenge levels. Got beaten to a pulp in Iron Frog. Wondered if the people on my NYC-Tokyo flight thought I was a nut for playing the game on my laptop even though its omnipresent predecessor was available to be played on the small screens embedded in the back of every seat.)

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While Peggle Nights for the PC was a standalone title, the game being released this fall in the form of an expansion pack for the Xbox Live Arcade version of Peggle. Along with the potential to add 50 more points to your gamerscore, Peggle Nights will deliver 60 new levels for play both online and off, 60 new Peggle Challenges, and the Peggle Nights adventure mode, which tells the story of the ball-dropping game.

The expansion also comes with new style shots from the PC version of Peggle, which will be made available as a title upgrade for all Peggle players.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm of the opinion that you can never have too much Peggle. When I am found dead under a pile of tiny metal ball bearings you can savor the irony.

Now it's on the iPhone, and there's goes all your free time. There's something powerfully addicting about the part-pachinko, part-puzzle, part-crack downloadable game. Mercifully the short levels and basic gameplay lend themselves well to portable gaming; but you're not going to want to put the game down.

Loved
Easy, Addictive Gameplay: Each level is a field of blue and orange pegs where the goal is knock out all of the orange pegs with only 10 shots. Like pinball, players control the initial shot of a little ball into the field of pegs, but after that, it's all about physics as the ball ricochets off of pegs, walls and level-specific obstacles. (And no, the accelerometer on the iPhone doesn't move the ball). Strategy comes in three different ways: you can predict the ball's trajectory via a white dotted line, you can score power-ups or free-ball bonuses by hitting a green peg that will give you some advantage, or you can try and land your ball in portal that slides back and forth along the bottom of the field for extra points and a free ball. The difficulty ramps up steadily through as the game presents more complex fields of pegs that move or form shapes that make it difficult to line up shots.

Over-the-top Drama: In all versions of Peggle, there's a drum roll when your ball is about to strike the final orange peg in a level and the camera zooms in to capture the winning moment. These touches makes the subsequent fireworks, rainbow and blaring rendition of Ode to Joy that much more dramatic. It will probably also make you looks like a freak if you happen to playing the game on public transit with the sound turned up, so make sure to wear headphones.

Hated
Not As Precise As PC: In place of a computer mouse, the iPhone version asks users to use their fingers, dragging them across the screen to line up a shot before pressing a Fire button in the upper right hand corner. You can double tap a space on the field to zoom in and in place of a mouse's scroll wheel, the game has its own slider on the right hand side of the screen that lets you make minute adjustments to the trajectory. It gets the job done, but it just doesn't feel as precise as the PC version, particularly if you've got fat fingers that touch places on the screen you don't mean to touch, like the far right side of the screen when you meant to hit the Fire button.

Even if Peggle iPhone's touch controls aren't all roses, though, the game is every bit as fun and addicting as it was in its other formats. I highly recommend it to iPhone users. Just remember to look up once in a while to make sure you haven't missed your bus stop and try not to sing along to Ode to Joy.

Peggle iPhone was developed and published by PopCap Games. Retails for $5. Played Adventure Mode to completion.

UPDATE: Correct inaccuracy about dramatic zoom-in feature on the iPhone version of Peggle.

Plants vs Zombies is to tower defence what Nintendo's Advance Wars is to turn-based strategy: a game stripped of everything but the raw tactical essentials, then pumped so full of charm and neat little touches that hours, days, even weeks of your life may just be lost to it.

Loved
Simple Works Best – Plants vs Zombies appears simple, even simpler than many other tower defence games. You lay plants out across a small grid to stop the advancing zombies. Who, generally, only come at you from the one direction. But the map's basic layout belies the game's deeper complexity, with the number of enemies you face and ridiculous number of plants at your disposal making every level a deeply strategic affair.

Play It Again, Zombie – The game has a "campaign", where you move around the outside of your house battling the undead. While playing, you think it's the main event, but really, it's just a tutorial for the game's other modes: mini-games, puzzle and survival, which include things like a Horde mode, games where you play as the zombies and even a Harvest Moon-style garden, where you water your plants and...play music for them.

Oozes Charm, Not Brains – Most tower defence games are, to be kind, bland. Cheap visuals, dud designs, a legacy of their Flash game heritage. But PvZ is gorgeous, each zombie full of character, each plant a wildly unique botanical weapon. And I advise everyone to stick around for the pop song conclusion to the game.

Sure, at first glance, Plants vs Zombies looks like just another [name your favourite tower defence game]. But PvZ's beauty lies in the fact that it is just another tower defence game: the perfect tower defence game, balancing boundless strategy and frantic mouse-clicking better than any other title in the genre, while keeping a smile on your face the whole time through.

Plants vs Zombies was developed and published by PopCap Games, for the PC & Mac. Retails for $20. Played Adventure, Mini-Game, Puzzle and Survival mode to completion (barring "endless" levels).

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

The game itself is tower defense strategy. Only instead of a tower, you've got a lawn to seed with plants that shoot, plants that explode and some plants that are just there to slow zombies down. To power your plant army, you need to collect sun and the only to up sun production is by planting sunflowers. The game ramps up steadily in difficulty, throwing more zombies at you with better defenses (traffic cone helmets, screen door shields, etc.).

But the real cute comes from these music videos, scored and sung by Laura Shigihara.

She explains the videos on her blog as a creative impulse:

…about two months ago, after finishing all the in-game music and SFX, I decided that I wanted to make a funny theme song… I thought it would be awesome if the song was basically a dialogue between the Sunflower (the plant I'm holding in this picture) and the Zombies.

She got her dad to the zombies' voices in the Japanese version, which makes it even more cute. Check ‘em out right here and be sure to give the game a go if you've got the time.

[Thanks for the tip, Manfriend!]

Peggle's concept is simple: fire metal balls from a cannon, destroying colored pegs with the help of talking unicorns and skateboarding beavers, ultimately resulting in a screen clearing orgy of points, rainbows, and a feel-good blast of Beethoven. It's all very rewarding work. The Xbox Live Arcade port of Peggle adds what you'd expect from the transition to the Xbox 360, including online multiplayer, voice chat and Achievements, retaining the core gameplay.

Should you catch the extreme fever of Peggle addiction, even if you've already become a graduate of the Peggle Institute?

Loved
It's Peggle, Faithfully Recreated: Everything that made the original Peggle so enjoyable and addictive is present in the Xbox Live Arcade release: the peg crushing fun, the wacky Peggle masters, the challenges that will test your mettle, the overblown, colorful presentation. The game controls beautifully with the Xbox 360 controller, with two precision aiming options that make lining up shots simple without a mouse. The only downside? Not being able to determine exactly where you're aiming as one could with a mouse pointer.

Multiplayer: The ability to hop online and challenge others, extending the life of the Peggle experience, is a fantastic addition. Two-player versus modes are similar to the Master Challenge in the original Peggle, with players taking alternate shots at the same field. Four-player is akin to a scoring challenge, with players competing for the highest score on an individual field. A shot clock keeps the game moving, ensuring that multiplayer games are quick and easy. Given the amount of chance involved and the potential imbalance of the ten Peggle Masters, it may make more sense to take Peggle multiplayer more casually than other Xbox 360 titles. But it's still a blast.

Hated
Not Much New For Peggle Vets: If you've played either Peggle (or Peggle Nights), don't expect to be swimming in new content, new characters and new challenges. Those totally fresh to the Peggle experience likely won't consider this a fault, but this is very much a port of the two-year-old game of the same name.

The Xbox Live Arcade port of Peggle is fantastic, casual, relaxing fun. It's also one of the better deals on Xbox Live Marketplace, considering blowing through the Adventure mode alone will probably take a good six hours or so. Unlockable challenges and master duels will likely double that, with solid multiplayer support pushing it into the ultra extreme value zone.

For casual fun on the Xbox 360 it's nigh impossible to surpass Peggle.

Peggle was developed and published by Popcap Games, released on Xbox Live Arcade on March 11th. Retails for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD). Played Adventure mode to completion, played multiple challenges and tested online and local multiplayer modes.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

While the Xbox Live Arcade release is still listed as "TBD" on both Xbox.com and the official Peggle web site, the boxed version—PopCap Arcade Vol. 2—has a March 31 release date. That ships with the XBLA version of Peggle, along with the already released Heavy Somethingorother and Feeding Blah Blah Blah 2.

At $19.99, it's not a bad value. But the standalone version of Peggle, which adds four-player online action, is planned to retail for a mere 800 Microsoft Points.

PopCap Arcade Vol. 2 [Peggle Fever]

Forbes writes of PopCap's plans for 2009, some aspects of which we're already aware of. It's bringing Peggle to the Nintendo DS and Xbox Live Arcade this year, as well as dropping more guaranteed cash cows like Bejeweled Twist on portables.

But its nefarious plans don't stop there.

It also plans to ship Plants vs. Zombies, described by the publisher's VP as a real-time strategy game with notes of "tower defense games and collectible card games—but in a casual context." Sounds like heroin.

Also en route are more time wasters, like Bejeweled Blitz for Facebook, the ultimate in shirking.

Considering PopCap is one of the few publishers thriving so expertly right now, we'd think they have a pretty healthy year of domination ahead of them.

'Peggle' Publisher Expands [Forbes]

Perhaps this is what Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley meant when he said that half of the company's business would eventually be on the PlayStation 3? SOE and PopCap are collaborating to bring five classic casual titles to the PlayStation Network. Starting with Bejeweled 2, which should be available now for $9.99 in North America. Other titles to hit the PSN through this agreement include Zuma, Heavy Weapon, Peggle, and Feeding Frenzy.

Bejeweled 2 has been tweaked for the PlayStation 3, with the addition of PS3 trophy support as well as PSP remote play, making the addictive classic just that much easier to become addicted to. Just what we needed - more hours lost to jewel matching.

Play Classic Casual Games Bejeweled®2, ZumaTM, Heavy WeaponTM, PeggleTM and Feeding FrenzyTM, on the PlayStation®Network

Sony Online Entertainment and PopCap Games Announce Publishing Agreement that Brings Five New Titles to the PSN

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – Jan. 29, 2009 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) and PopCap Games Inc. announced an exclusive publishing agreement that will bring five hit titles to the PlayStation®Network, with the first, Bejeweled® 2, being available immediately for download in North America with European versions to follow at a later date. Fan favorites, Zuma™, Heavy Weapon™, Peggle™ and Feeding Frenzy™ will also become available for download soon thereafter.

“As leaders in their genre, PopCap is to casual games what SOE is to MMOs,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “Being the second largest publisher on the PlayStation Network, SOE is excited that this partnership will expand the PlayStation®Network catalog with awesome casual titles that players of all types can enjoy.”

Beginning today, Bejeweled 2 is scheduled to be available for purchase from the PlayStation® Store for $9.99 (plus applicable taxes) and features four unique ways to play the time-honored Match-3 game. Players can solve handcrafted brainteasers in Puzzle mode while up against the clock or kick back, relax and rack up the points in Endless mode. With awe-inspiring planetary backdrops, explosive new gems and dazzling special effects, Bejeweled 2 is more wildly irresistible than ever before!

Features Include:
- PlayStation®Network Trophies!
- PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) Remote Play
- Stunning 3D special effects and HD resolution (up 1080p).
- Explosive new pieces: power gems, hyper cubes and time bombs!
- Four ways to play: Classic, Action, Puzzle and Endless modes
- Explore a galaxy of handcrafted puzzles in Puzzle mode.
- Play for eternity and collect jewelry in relaxing Endless mode.
- Discover secret game modes!
- Hint-on-demand feature!

About Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX; Seattle, WA; Denver, CO; Tucson, AZ and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development.

SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest and PlanetSide are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Untold Legends and Legends of Norrath are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

So it's awesome to hear that developers PopCap will be bringing the game to the iPhone and iPod Touch "in the first half of 2009". That's...well, that's kind of soon! Might even be real soon!

Peggle Coming to iPhone This Year [Wired]

The gameplay gimmick that separates Beweled Twist from its Bejeweled precursors? Instead of swapping gems in a 2x1 space, you'll rotate them in a 2x2 square. Can you believe this was accomplished in just three years of development?

If sounds like your cup of tea, or the cup of tea of someone you deeply care about, hit up PopCap to download the thing now.

Bejeweled Twist [PopCap]

Details are scant, as PopCap is keeping the twist in Bejeweled Twist under wraps. The publisher plans to unveil the game at a gala event at Seattle's Experience Music Project Sci-Fi Museum and Hall of Fame on October 27. No, they're no kidding, not even when they say the gala will be "the most spectacular launch event in casual games history."

The most spectacular launch event in casual games history and we have the good fortune to be alive when it happens.

Have you ever played Peggle? If not, it's one of the more surprisingly addictive titles to come out of the PopCap Games stable of brightly colored "casual" games. Even if you have played Peggle—or Peggle Extreme, the free Half-Life themed version that's included in The Orange Box—an 18 million point round might not blow your hair back. So when watching this clip, via Waxy, the first minute or so might not impress. The fanatical, bordering-on-insane planning, however, as demonstrated moments later, might. It also might frighten.

"We're very excited to be bringing some of our top million-selling casual games to consoles via retail shelves, and eager to see how consumers respond," said Glenn Drover, Director of Retail Sales at PopCap. "We've had tremendous success at retail with the PC versions of many of our games, and these new collections for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 are priced even more aggressively, so they should be a hit with holiday shoppers."

PopCap's Casual Video Game Hits Coming Soon for PlayStation® 2, Xbox 360®

PopCap® Arcade Vol. 1 and PopCap® Hits Vol. 1 Arrive at Stores November 15

Seattle, Washington - October 9, 2007 - PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of "casual" video games, today announced the upcoming retail launch of two new "greatest hits" compilations featuring many of the company's biggest-selling puzzle and "retro action" games. PopCap® Arcade Volume 1, available for Xbox 360®, features Bejeweled® 2, AstroPop™, Feeding Frenzy™ and Zuma™ and carries an SRP of US$29.95. PopCap® Hits Volume 1, available for PlayStation® 2, features Bejeweled 2 and AstroPop and carries an SRP of US$19.95. This marks the first time that PopCap games have been available for Xbox 360 at retail, and the first time that any of the company's games have been available for PlayStation 2.

"We're very excited to be bringing some of our top million-selling casual games to consoles via retail shelves, and eager to see how consumers respond," said Glenn Drover, Director of Retail Sales at PopCap. "We've had tremendous success at retail with the PC versions of many of our games, and these new collections for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 are priced even more aggressively, so they should be a hit with holiday shoppers."

The Bejeweled franchise alone has placed PopCap at the forefront of the burgeoning casual games industry. Bejeweled and Bejeweled 2 have collectively sold more than 10 million units across numerous platforms, and have been downloaded more than 300 million times in the past six years. AstroPop, Feeding Frenzy and Zuma have also enjoyed considerable commercial and critical success on numerous devices ranging from PCs and Macs to PocketPCs, PDAs, and mobile phones, as well as on the Xbox LIVE® Arcade online service.

Bejeweled for iPhones was created by Polish developer Arkadiusz Mlynarczyk, is available now, and is free to use. The developer only asks that players consider donating a vowel or two, something apparently in short supply in Poland.

I just played the thing and it was slow as molasses, but definitely kept me interested well beyond the Safari download by a good five minutes. Interested in taking your $600 cellphone into the twenty-first century of casual gaming? Just direct your iPhone to popcapgames.com and start tapping.

Rumored to hit Xbox Live Arcade any day now, Heavy Weapon is PopCap's cartoonish tank shooter that is not only easy to control (you merely move left and right, aiming your turret 180 degrees with the right analog stick) it's definitely the easiest game to play at CES. And, yes, I've played Luxor 2.

Your tank constantly moves to the right and the sky is constantly filled with enemy aircraft. Jets, missiles, bombers, helicopters, and zeppelins will do their best (or close to it) to eliminate you by dropping courteously small amounts of missiles and bombs in your general direction.

Along the way, friendly planes will drop power ups to boost your rate of fire, shields and main weapon strength. They'll also drop MEGA LASER parts, which you'll need four of to deploy for a limited time. Finally, they'll drop nukes, which will give you a screen clearing (and boss damaging) megaton explosion.

After defeating the end level boss, you'll be given a chance to upgrade one of your tank's abilities, from defensive enhancements, to new weapons, such as flak cannons, lasers, homing missiles, lightning bolts (!!!) and more.

Frankly, the game was just too easy. I don't know if the difficulty was toned down for the CES demo, or if I somehow missed setting the skill level, but it was absurdly easy to the point of boredom. Granted, this is a PopCap title, but during my co-op run through of five levels, I lost only one tank. Hopefully, the challenge of the game will increase, because there was a simplistic fun about it, but I can see many gamers becoming quickly uninterested. Michael McWhertor