Gamezebo: Features | Console

NinjaBee announces "spiritual successor" to Cloning Clyde

erin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:45:36 -0500

NinjaBee and J. Kenworthy Entertainment, the creative team that developed Cloning Clyde for Xbox Live Arcade, have announced the title of their next XBLA game: Ancients of Ooga.

Arkanoid Live!

erin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:46:47 -0500

Arkanoid Live! is a sequel of sorts of the 1980's arcade classic Arkanoid, developed and published by Taito, and now available as a download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Taito is one of the oldest video game companies in the world, making pinball machines in the 1960s and video games as early as 1973. Their track record as one of the only 40-year companies in this young industry speaks for itself, and Arkanoid Live! continues that long tradition of great games.

Wallace & Gromit: Fright of the Bumblebees

erin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:53:06 -0500

Wacky adventures abound in the Wallace and Gromit universe. A staple of British culture and American dorm rooms everywhere, Wallace and Gromit are taking their polite sense of British humor and sense of adventure to the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. Crazy contraptions, get rich quick schemes, and maddening mayhem ensue in this point and click adventure game that captures the spirit and charm of the Wallace and Gromit franchise beautifully.

1 vs. 100 goes Live

erin — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:34:31 -0500

The popular game show 1 vs. 100 will soon be coming to the Xbox 360, but it promises to be more than just a simple trivia game that you can play with a few friends. Instead, Microsoft will actually be rolling out a live interactive game show with regular episodes that broadcast weekly via the Xbox 360’s online gaming service, Xbox Live, and allow thousands of players to come together and share in the experience.

Microsoft demonstrated 1 vs. 100 to a roomful of journalists at a preview event that Gamezebo attended yesterday. The full game is scheduled to launch later this spring, but what we saw was more than enough to whet our appetites.

DS Casual: Littlest Pet Shop - Spring

erin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:20:41 -0500

Littlest Pet Shop - Spring is the latest in a series of Nintendo DS pet sim games based on Hasbro's Littlest Pet Shop toy franchise and animated television show. Like all games in the series, the goal in Littlest Pet Shop – Spring is to adopt pets and bring them the Pet Plaza – one of four worlds that you'll end up unlocking – to lavish them with love, attention, food, and adorable accessories like caps, sunglasses and dresses.

Introducing the Nintendo DSi, the latest in portable gaming

erin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:44:17 -0500

There's a new Nintendo gaming device on store shelves today, and it's called the DSi. The latest version of the immensely popular Nintendo DS ("dual-screen") portable gaming system, the DSi features a camera for snapping photos, a completely revamped menu system that mimics the Wii's easy-to-use interface, and a "DSiWare" shop where you can buy and download games and applications directly to the DSi via wireless Internet. Check out Gamezebo's hands-on first impressions of the device behind the cut.

Look and feel

The Maw eats its way onto the Xbox Live Arcade

erin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:32:57 -0500

The Maw is the first outing from developer Twisted Pixel. When the game debuted at the most recent Penny Arcade Expo, it won the coveted Audience Choice Award. Read on to find out more about this Xbox Live Arcade game.

In The Maw you play a little blue alien who has been captured by a mysterious bi-pedal race. You are held captive along with several other types of creatures, one of which is none other than The Maw.

DS Casual: Build-a-lot

erin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:08:39 -0600

HipSoft's real estate tycoon game Build-a-lot has been given a new home on the Nintendo DS courtesy of MumboJumbo. It's basically the same game as the PC version aside from slightly different appearance and controls, which is bad news if you were hoping for something new, but good news if you want portable version of Build-a-lot in portable form to kill time on a train or bus.

Xbox Avatars come alive in A Kingdom for Keflings

erin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:11:27 -0600

The "New Xbox Experience" system update on Nov. 19, 2008 introduced several upgrades to the Xbox 360's dashboard, and one of the biggest was the ability for players to create customized Avatars of themselves. A Kingdom for Keflings from NinjaBee Studios (who also brought us the Xbox Live Arcade games Outpost Kaloki, Cloning Clyde, and Band of Bugs), is the first game that lets players use their Xbox 360 Avatar as the main character.

A Kingdom for Keflings is one of many building sim games on the market these days. How does Kingdom of Keflings separate itself from the other building games out there? Read on to find out how it sucks you in to a world of a giant and his Keflings.

Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir

erin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 08:48:16 -0500

With so many popular casual PC games migrating over to the Nintendo DS, it was only a matter of time before mega-popular seek-and-find series Mystery Case Files followed suit. You might well ask, "How on earth could anyone cram scenes full of hidden objects onto that tiny little screen?" Read on to find out how Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir adapts itself to the DS's unique layout.

DS Casual: Doing the Brainwave

admin — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:50:59 -0600

In the inaugural edition of DS Casual, we dissected a pair of brain games from Nintendo, Big Brain Academy and Brain Age. Taking different approaches to neurological stimulation, both are winners in their own unique hemispheres.

Now Majesco is seeking to capture our brainwaves with its own pair of head games -- Brain Boost: Beta Wave and Brain Boost: Gamma Wave.

Wii for Victory

admin — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:12:07 -0600

Congratulations, casual gamers - you've just won a major victory for mankind, common sense in general, and the entire interactive entertainment industry as a whole. So go claim your trophy: Its name, Nintendo's Wii.

At stark odds with the presently sorely-undersupplied and hefty-priced ($499/$599 20GB or 60GB) PlayStation 3, the much better-stocked and value-minded machine ($249 w/ Wii Sports game pack-in) isn't just a boon to holiday shoppers. It's also a minor coup for all of us who adore software providers such as RealArcade, Oberon Games, Reflexive, PlayFirst, iWin.com, Big Fish Games, etc sending a clear message to consumer/enthusiast media and retailers alike.

DS Casual: A House Full of Games

admin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 08:51:26 -0600

"Wanna play a game?" As a kid, that question was usually followed by a mad dash to the hall closet where our hoard of games was stashed. Among its treasures were Monopoly, Clue, Life, Scrabble, and several other favorites.

One item in particular stands out, though. It was a cheesy plastic attachÃ© filled with a gamut of gaming goodness. Think of a classic table game and chances are good it was in there.

Cloning Clyde Adds Platform Puzzling to Xbox Live Arcade

admin — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:49:49 -0500

Despite a promise by Microsoft that Xbox Live Arcade games would provide new casual game experiences for a console audience, the large majority of games for the service have been ports of arcade classics like Pac-man or popular PC casual games like Zuma Deluxe. So it's nice to see a game like Cloning Clyde that brings an original experience that is well-suited to the console.

The game focuses on Clyde, a somewhat-dull test patient at a somewhat-mad scientific research facility. As the victim of a cloning experiment gone bad, the original Clyde suddenly finds himself as one of hundreds of clones trapped throughout the lab. Tired of this shabby treatment, the original Clyde decides to free, er, himself and break out of the maniacal lab.

DS Casual: Landing in the Drop Zone

admin — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 10:21:17 -0500

I love puzzle games! I can play them for hours on end...and usually do. It's just so easy to lose track of time when I'm "hard at work" on a mind-bender. If that's your story, too, read on as we get our handhelds dirty with a pair of addictive brainteasers, Tetris DS and PokÃ©mon Trozei!

Card Games Come to the Xbox

admin — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:18:47 -0500

People used to playing online Hearts and Spades on their computers might be interested to know that competitive card games are making headway on the Xbox Live Arcade. Two recent releases, Uno and Texas Hold 'Em Poker, show the promise of the system for online card games, despite some flaws in presentation and game design.

Uno is based on the popular Mattel card game of the same name. Players take turns playing cards from their hand having the same number or color of the previously played card. Special cards can make opponents skip a turn or draw cards, reverse the turn order, or change the color to one of the player's choosing. The first player to call Uno and then play their last card wins the game.

DS Casual: All The Marbles!

admin — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:10:29 -0500

In the inaugural edition of DS Casual, we indulged in some cerebral gaming via Big Brain Academy and Brain Age. Now, functioning with a much enhanced cortex (though, my wife won't confirm it), I'm going to turn our attention to a more action-oriented indulgence.

And, what's that? Well, read on and I'll spill the marbles.

DS Casual: Bring on the Brainiacs

admin — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:01:01 -0500

When you think casual games, Windows is the obvious choice. It offers a veritable smorgasbord of gaming goodness. But, it's not the only platform for casual fans. A less obvious alternative is Nintendo's DS, now available in a "Lite" version (more games, less grams).

Yep. You'll find a cool cache of casual games on hand, or soon to appear, for this diminutive device.

Demo Links:

Big Brain Academy

Brain Age

Geometry Wars - The Bejeweled of the Xbox Live Arcade

admin — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:05:46 -0500

Geometry Wars is a casual game, but it's not the kind of game you play casually. It's the kind of game you play on the edge of your seat, your gnarled hands making visible dents in the controller as the adrenaline pumping through your body makes you shake. It's the kind of game that makes you cry out and throw the controller down when you lose, only to pick it up again and try to beat your high score in just "one more game."

In other words, it's the kind of game they don't make much anymore.

Xbox Files: X360 & Casual Games - A Match Made in Heaven?

admin — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:21:16 -0500

The Xbox 360 might not seem like the most logical choice to bring a casual game revival to your living room's video game consoles. After all, the 360 is the most powerful console currently available -- home to sprawling, graphically rich. Why would anyone want to use all this power on a casual game? The answer is Xbox Live Arcade.

Xbox Live Arcade is Microsoft's ingenious system to allow players to download games directly to the system's hard drive for a small fee. The program has proven wildly successful, showing in a few short months that casual games and complex epics can coexist peacefully on the same system.

So what makes Xbox Live Arcade so cool for the casual game player?