Bejeweled Blitz is a frantic, quickfire version of PopCap's classic matching puzzle game, which forces you to think fast to rack up huge multipliers before the time.
(Redirected from Retro64)
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Video game industry |
---|---|
Founded | 2000; 19 years ago |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Matt Nutt (general manager)[1] | |
Products | List of games |
Number of employees | ~400[2] (2010) |
Parent | Electronic Arts (2011–present) |
Divisions | |
Website | ea.com/studios/popcap |
PopCap Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Seattle. The company was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka; it was acquired by Electronic Arts in July 2011.
- 2Games developed
History[edit]
PopCap Games was founded by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka in 2000. They originally incorporated as 'Sexy Action Cool', a phrase taken from a poster of Desperado (film).[3] Their first title was a strip poker game called 'Foxy Poker' and was supposed to serve as a revenue stream for their future titles.[3]
Their first game as PopCap was Bejeweled, a gem-swapping game, which was supported on all major platforms and awarded by Computer Gaming World Hall Of Fame in 2002. The company expanded in 2005 with the acquisition of Sprout Games, a Seattle-based casual games developer company like PopCap Games, founded by James Gwertzman. Sprout Games is the creator of the game Feeding Frenzy. The Sprout team helped PopCap to make a sequel to the game, Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown, with Gwertzman becoming the Director of Business Development at PopCap. In early 2006, PopCap International was opened, based in Dublin, Ireland, working on product localization, mobile games development, marketing, sales and business development.
PopCap began another round of expansion in July 2007 by buying other casual game developers including the creators of an online consumer portal, SpinTop Games. One week prior, the company acquired the Chicago-based development house Retro64, founded by Mike Boeh, which is best known for their retro-arcade action and puzzle titles. After these acquisitions, the PopCap logo was rebranded, dropping the 'Games' portion. PopCap's premium games list on their website are mixed with other games from other developers/distributors.
On April 5, 2011, PopCap announced the creation of a new subsidiary, 4th and Battery, started in order to create 'edgier' games.[4] Their first creation was the game Unpleasant Horse. On July 12, 2011, Electronic Arts announced it was acquiring PopCap for $650 million with an additional $100 million stock option.[5]
On August 21, 2012, PopCap fired 50 employees in North America in a move to address a shift to mobile and free-to-play games and evaluated ceasing operations of its Dublin studio.[6] The Dublin studio was closed on September 24, 2012.[7]
Games developed[edit]
Alchemy[edit]
Alchemy | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | PopCap Games |
Publisher(s) | PopCap Games |
Designer(s) | Jason Kapalka |
Engine | PopCap Games Framework |
Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS |
Release | August 29, 2001 |
Genre(s) | Puzzle |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Alchemy is a computer puzzle game from PopCap Games first introduced on August 29, 2001, and initially available only on the Windows platform.[8] In May 2002, a version was made for the Mac platform. That June, a version was released that was available for shipping.[9] That September, a handheld version was released.[10] This title can be played for free online at various websites minus some components, or a full version can be downloaded and unlocked for a fee. On mobile devices, the game can only be played if downloaded for a fee. The objective of the game is to turn a board of squares from lead to gold by placing randomly generated symbols called runes on every square.[11]
Each play consists of a rune of a random color and shape being generated by the computer. The rune must be placed directly adjacent to at least one other rune (either above, below, or to the left or right; runes located at a diagonal to the square have no meaning), unless the board is totally blank. All runes that are adjacent to the square where a rune is being placed must share its color or shape.[12]
References[edit]
- ^Brightman, James (May 2, 2017). 'PopCap Seattle getting downsized'. GamesIndustry.biz.
- ^Crecente, Brian (January 1, 2011). 'Ten Years of PopCap Games'. Kotaku.
- ^ abGDC (January 8, 2019), Classic Game Postmortem - Bejeweled, retrieved April 30, 2019
- ^Sliwinski, Alexander (April 5, 2011). 'PopCap launches edgy '4th & Battery' label'. Engadget.
- ^'EA to Acquire PopCap Games'. Business Wire. July 12, 2011.
- ^Edwards, Cliff (August 22, 2012). 'Electronic Arts' PopCap Games Cuts Jobs, May Close Office'. Bloomberg Businessweek.
- ^Chapple, Craig (September 24, 2012). 'EA closes PopCap Dublin'. MCV.
- ^Joshua Quittner (January 8, 2001). 'Hooked Again'. Time.
- ^http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/MacPlay_Ships_Puzzle_Game_Bundle_Bejewled_Alchemy/
- ^'Astraware Launches Five New Games for Pocket PC Handhelds; Premier Developer of PDA Games Converts Popular Palm OS Puzzle and Strategy Games for Use On Pocket PCs'.
- ^https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TIgsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xw4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6324,4211552&dq=alchemy+game&hl=en
- ^Gelmis, Joseph (October 12, 2001). 'Games for all types are free on the Internet'.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PopCap_Games&oldid=922708874'
Of all casual games, there is one name that tends to stand out more than the rest: the poster child of the genre, from PopCap Games – Bejeweled. With millions of users across a multitude of platforms, this simple puzzle game has grown and evolved without measure, and with each rendition becoming slightly different and slightly better (at least in theory). One such version of the title comes for the Facebook platform by the name of Bejeweled Blitz.
If one can imagine it, Blitz is actually an even simpler version of the original versions, or more accurately a shaved down version. For those that may be unfamiliar with the Bejeweled franchise, the game is a very simple puzzle game whose basic mechanics and crisp, yet simple, production values have proven to be the basis of dozens of other small titles.
The objective is to score as many points as possible by swapping jewels of varying colors in order to make rows of the same color that consist of three or more. Doing so will remove them from the board as new ones fall to take their place, and should the newly relocated gems line up as three or more to a color, they will be removed as well. The more jewels you remove, the more points you get. You continue to do this until the game ends (sometimes it’s a puzzle, sometimes a time limit, and sometimes it goes on forever). It is these basic rules that govern Blitz, but as the name would suggest, it is a very short game.
The player is granted one minute to score as many points as possible. That’s about it, but there is some hope as the game is dubbed “beta“ (though so many Facebook titles have that tagged on them it seems to have lost its meaning, because it almost never goes away) and the one minute game is classified as the “current tournament,” suggesting new game play options may come along. As for social features, the game doesn’t use anything particularly new. Scoring more points earns you a few badges to show off in your Facebook profile, and like most social game games, when you play, your score is compared to that of your friends. Unfortunately, it is only your friends, as there is no global leaderboard system.
This makes for some exceedingly simple game play that doesn’t have a lot of options or replay value, especially considering the marathon and puzzle modes that other versions of Bejeweled offer. However, one feature that Blitz does have that comes off as positive, is that your score accumulates with each game to form a “team score.” The higher this score the better prizes you are eligible to win.
Yes, as a promotional means, PopCap, at least currently, is having drawings for prizes that range from a free game, all the way up to a free laptop. Of course, the better the prize, the more you have to play to even be entered into the drawing (100,000 points for the game, 1 million for the computer).
Prizes and give-aways are always a good tool to drive traffic, and for Bejeweled Blitz, that equates to about 1.6 million monthly uniques. If you are a fan of the franchise, then Blitz is worth a play as you might be able to win something with the countless hours that tend to be looged with such games. However, if you are looking for something new with this version, don’t get your hopes too high, because you simply will not find it here.