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Following an endless wave of hype, rumors, pomp and circumstance, Microsoft unveiled the third generation of Xbox earlier today at their headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Though I suppose the location didn’t matter too much. Press and gamer alike, you could watch it from anywhere - whether streamed to your desktop or sent straight to your TV via your soon-to-be-last-gen Xbox 360.

We spend way too much time in our team Skype chats talking about how to do a better job of… umm… our jobs. Granted, much of it is brought on by my own anxiety about the gradual death of PR as a profession, as well as an unfortunate rebellious streak that drives me to subvert the establishment at any cost…. but the fact is — despite a rather solid reputation (I hope) within the industry — we still struggle constantly to secure publicity for some of our clients. What follows is a look into the thoughts we have as a PR agency that wants to constantly adapt to changing market conditions to stay at the forefront of our business.

Following the success of games like Fairway Solitaire and Solitaire Blitz, the pyramid genre of solitaire games has regained a ton of popularity, as the incredibly accessible game type simply asks players to click on cards one number higher or lower than the card on the deck. Following in that same vein is Solitaire Tales on Facebook, a game that starts strong, but quickly suffers from pushy and even deceptive friend invites, and a skewed level difficulty that makes it hard to progress.

Unless somebody happened to sneak up to your lawn recently and have a snack on your brains, then you’ve probably been aware of Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, PopCap’s new social take on their beloved Plants vs. Zombies franchise. In fact, the exciting social and “flower defense” hybrid has just gone live on Facebook as of this morning, so if you’re really feeling short on those brain waves, then you know right where to find them.

There are very few video games out there that have managed to reach such a loved and dedicated fan following as PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies. It seems like every time I log onto Facebook these days, I see fans of the cutesy “flower defense” game posting pictures of PvZ birthday cakes, elaborate zombie setups in their backyards, or their newborn babies dressed up as little Peashooters. Plants vs. Zombies Adventures takes this fun-loving obsession on the open road in a new social setting, and if my time spent with the game is anything to go by, then we’re going to be seeing plenty more creative ways to express our love of this franchise for many miles (and brains) to come.

World of Western is the kind of social strategy game that you'd expect a guy like me to love. I might be fat and chained to a computer during most of my waking hours these days, but once upon a time I was a cowboy on the ranches of Texas – spurs, chaps, and even a slightly bowlegged walk. Alas, this is no Red Dead Redemption. World of Western's heart is in the right place, what with its rifle toting buckaroos and friendly Native Americans patrolling digital Tombstones, but in execution it bears far too many resemblances to the many other city-building-meets-combat games that have been popping up on Facebook lately.

As far as treasure-themed Facebook games go, Atlas Raider is certainly not a looker, and there was a lot about the initial gameplay that underwhelmed me right off the bat. But as I got ready to simply write the game off and do some backyard raiding of my own, I suddenly realized that several hours had gone by: and that I was actually having fun and didn’t want to stop playing. And that’s exactly the kind of game that Atlas Raider turns out to be.

Back in April, I had the good fortune of moderating a panel at the Social Casino Summit in San Francisco. The panel was about how to stand out in the crowded social casino marketplace.  It’s a topic that Michael Carpenter, CEO of Ruby Seven Studios, knows all too well.

Your smartphone and tablet just got a whole lot more adorable, because King has announced this morning that their popular social game Pet Rescue Saga will be headed to mobile devices starting this summer. Pet Rescue Saga is currently the third largest game overall on the Facebook platform, with more than 6 million players visiting the unique and charming fairytale landscapes on a daily basis.

I’ve never really been a fan of fishing. I tried going a few times before with my dad, but it was always really hot and sticky outside, and I could never manage to catch anything bigger than my finger. You can’t really even talk to anyone while you’re fishing either, for fear of scaring all the fish away. Now virtual fishing, on the other hand, is definitely more my speed: where I can cast my line from the comfort of my couch and with the air conditioning on full blast as I wait for something to bite. And that’s why I’m so excited about FISHAO, which looks to bring the core concepts of fishing to the social gaming scene.

One of the first mistakes developers make when handling their own PR is emailing everyone under the sun who writes about games in any capacity. While initially that may seem like a good idea—I see you writing comments like “Isn’t that what you guys do?!”—writers are busy, and a generic pitch that isn’t in line with what they cover is a surefire way to get Marked As Spam and disappear from their inbox forever.

Pretend you have an entire vanilla cake to yourself. Sounds good, right? And for a few bites, it tastes good. Once you’ve eaten a slice, however, you begin to notice how dry the cake is. You want to stop eating, but you have to finish the whole darn thing. Let’s assume your host will call the cops if you don’t. So you gobble up this entire cake and feel weary and a little sick when the last crumb has gone down the hatch. Now you have an idea of what it’s like to play Dessert Shop.

Dessert Shop by Shinezone Games is a delightful time management game on Facebook where you are given your very own dessert shop. You can design and expand it and learn to bake recipes from basic milk cookies to advanced five star desserts; use advanced machines and even grow fresh ingredients from your garden where you will plant and harvest goods as well as grow them from trees and farm plots; and visit your friends’ dessert shops and help each other out as you are building up your businesses. Gamezebo’s quick start strategy guide will provide you with detailed images, tips, information, and hints on how to play your best game.

On my list of “most wanted, never gonna happen” games, a standalone, licensed version of Triple Triad is right at the top.  The brilliance of this card-battling mini-game from Squaresoft’s 1999 Final Fantasy VIII is the one thing fans and non-fans can agree on when not trading blows over the Junction system.  While Square Enix refuses to take our money and create this instant bestseller, other developers are tweaking the idea of Triple Triad and attempting to cash in—sometimes literally, as is the case with Laboratz.

Surely no genre has weathered the ups and downs of Facebook gaming quite like the city building strategy hybrid. Just when we as players think it's dead or that we've seen every possible variation of the template we could possibly see – boom – it returns to mock us for our lack of faith. Its resilience likely lies in the fact that these games are just so fun when all the elements work. Take Kingdom Knights. I jumped into this cartoony strategy game with apathy, but before I knew it, an hour had passed and I was still eager to see where it'd take me.

With the amazing success of King’s Candy Crush Saga and Farm Heroes Saga, it’s only natural to see other developers try their hand at a level-based match-three game on Facebook: and that’s what gamers have been given with Jelly Glutton. Jelly Glutton follows a little monster named Jelly that wants nothing more than to eat all of the sweet treats in existence, one match-three level at a time. You’ll be able to help him fill his belly, and while Jelly Glutton may not be the most original game in existence, it’s still pretty fun to play.

Today’s video games tell their stories with photorealistic graphics, fully orchestrated soundtracks, and crews of professional voice actors. Is there still a place for the genre that started it all—the humble text adventure? Absolutely. There will always be that niche of game fans that enjoy imagining their own visuals and voice-overs. My Geek Farm is a text-based game that strives to attract that niche, but it works better as a ten-minute joke than as a full experience.

A lot of good can come from playing video games. It can reduce stress and depression, and even improve the memory of the elderly. But there are some companies out there who wish to take it further. If playing a game can improve you as a person, why can’t it also improve the world around you? This is a question Global Gaming Initiative is hoping to answer.

All right, put down that blasted video game. It’s time to read some books. Some video game books. Storybundle.com is offering ten awesome video game-related ebooks that are worth a collective $100—but you can donate whatever denomination you think is fair. Be generous!

English author Jane Austen died in the 19^th century, but she’s maintained a pretty interesting career despite her passing. Apparently she co-authored Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in 2009, and she’s still had time to show up in hidden object games (HOGs) like Jane Austen Unbound for Facebook.