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Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.
  • Battle Casters Preview
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    • iOS
    Battle Casters Preview

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    Looking at Get Set Games existing catalog, it's not hard to see the "Three C" approach at work. With past efforts like Mega Jump and Mega Run under their belts, you can't deny that "cute, cuddly and casual" are the adjectives that seem to work best. Their next project, though, goes in the direction of a very different C: challenging.Last week, Gamezebo was invited to Get Set Games studio in Toronto to go hands-on with Battle Casters, their upcoming dual-stick dungeon crawlfor mobile devices. While the gameplay still remains pick-up-and-play friendly, there's a level of ferocity in the game design that their existing fans might be surprised by. It's an action-packed experience that puts players on a timer with an incredibly short fuse.The object of the game is to proceed through different floors of a dungeon within a set time limit. If you complete a floor you'll get a time bonus and a quick trip to the next floor. If you don't, you'll be right back at square one. 
  • Fox goes ape@#$% over early Family Guy game videos
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    • iOS
    Fox goes ape@#$% over early Family Guy game videos

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    What a difference a day can make. Last night - roughly 24 hours before the official launch of TinyCo's Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, the game accidentally snuck onto the New Zealand App Store for a short period of time. Gamers who noticed had just assumed the game had soft launched and, as any fans of Family Guy might have, decided to download it. And like a lot of folks who download games nowadays, they made videos to show off what they were playing.Bad move, gamers.In what one could only describe as an epic PR fail/complete misunderstanding of their audience, Fox went a little nutty and decided to try and shut down players who were showing the game a smidge too early. Touch Arcade has the full story, using their forum member HansKaosu's experience to illustrate the point. In short, HansKaosu received a polite YouTube message from Fox asking him to remove the content, followed by a copyright claim against his videos, and… then Fox had his Twitch channel shut down. Like, completely. It's been nuked.
  • 5 Student-Made Games You Need to Play
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    • PC
    5 Student-Made Games You Need to Play

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    Every great game maker had to start somewhere - so why not school?The fourth annual Level Up Student Showcase was held in Toronto this past weekend, showcasing the work of nearly 100 student-run development teams. Everything you could imagine was on display, from well-established genres to completely unique offerings unlike anything we'd ever seen.There were plenty of great games to choose from, but there were five in particular that really screamed "the next big thing." Don't be surprised if you see these games - and their developers - making a big splash in the near future.
  • James Bond is getting a mobile game courtesy of Glu
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    • iOS
    James Bond is getting a mobile game courtesy of Glu

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    You know who's had a spotty record in the world of video games? Bond. James Bond. GoldenEye was a genre-defining success back in 1997, but everything that's come before and after has been sort of… meh. Having said that, everyone's favorite super spy has yet to try his hand at the most popular platforms of today: smartphones and tablets - which seems ironic, considering the iPhone seems like a gadget that only a 70s-era Bond film could have predicted.But that's about to change courtesy of free-to-play mobile powerhouse Glu. Expected to launch in summer 2015 (that's not a typo), their untitled Bond project will be "inspired by the franchise's rich history, themes, characters, and narrative," or so says a press release.In other words, they're keeping mum on the details.Still, Glu has a pretty stellar track record in the world of free-to-play. Not only do they deliver games that frequently appeal to the action-oriented gamer, but they do it with plenty of visual style and flair. Details or no details, this one seems like one to watch.
  • Kentucky Route Zero Act III before the end of May
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    • PC
    Kentucky Route Zero Act III before the end of May

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    Here's an interesting development that Kentucky Route Zero fans probably weren't expecting. Series creators Cardboard Computer - who earlier this year told their fans that it was too big a project to really give an ETA - may now in fact have an ETA!The team took to Twitter on March 29 to answer questions in a very tongue-in-cheek Magic 8-Ball sort of way. Much to my surprise, they provided a pretty solid answer to the following question from @HotAndSpicyMilk: "Act III before May 31, 2014?""signs point to yes."Magic 8-Ball's aren't infallible, and if the team behind Kentucky Route Zero: Act III is to be believed, it's a big enough game that unforeseen delays might be par for the course. That said, having a release window - any release window - is an exciting development from a studio who has publicly shunned them after their experiences announcing dates for Act I and Act II.Here's to hoping we're back on the Zero before summer solstice hits. Something tells me that'll be a weird place after that. Well… weirder, anyway.
  • Mojang’s Scrolls is (finally) coming to tablets
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    • PC
    Mojang’s Scrolls is (finally) coming to tablets

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    While everyone (with access to a Canadian iTunes account) has been furiously playing Hearthstone on their iPads this week, I've found myself thinking of similarly great strategy games that I wish I could play on my tablet. Chief among them? Scrolls.A cards-meets-combat game that debuted in beta last summer (read our early impressions here), we've been hearing rumblings of a tablet version since 2011. Those rumblings have finally turned into a roar. In an update on Scrolls.com today, Mojang's Owen Hill delivered the good news:"An iPad/tablet version of Scrolls is in the works! We've enlisted the aid of Ludosity to port Scrolls into flatter, more touchy devices. We'll have more news on this soon."This is great new for fans of Scrolls (or, really, strategy games in general). Ludosity has already wowed us once this year with Card City Nights, and their 2013 release Ittle Dew was one of our picks for the top games of the year.That wraps up your fantastic multiplayer strategy news for the day. Now get back to playing Hearthstone, you crazy kids.
  • Sometimes you just need to play Tetris on a giant building
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    • PC
    Sometimes you just need to play Tetris on a giant building

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    Want to feel old? This summer Tetris turns 30. And like anyone entering their thirties, sometimes you just want to kiss your youth goodbye in the biggest way possible.That happened for Tetris this past weekend, when Alexey Pajitnov's puzzle classic was played on the side of The Cira Centre; a 29-storey skyscraper in Philadelphia.The massive project was undertaken by Dr. Frank Lee, a professor at Drexel University (who you might know better as the guy who put Pong on the side of The Cira Centre last year). According to a press release put out by The Tetris Company, Lee is hoping to break the Guiness World Record for Largest Architectural Video Game Display, which - you guessed it - he already holds for Pong.Playing Tetris on the side of a giant building is cool and all, but it's not half as exciting as the real story behind the first few years of the game. If you have an hour to kill, be sure to check out this great documentary for a taste of Cold War video game craziness.
  • This Week in China: Whale watching
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    • Android
    • iOS
    This Week in China: Whale watching

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    When you develop free-to-play games, a lot of your time is spent playing Moby Dick. Your business can live or die by the elusive whale - a gamer who's willing to spend money in your game, and spend big. In China, the story is no different. That's why it's so great to get some insight into what whales in the Chinese market look like, which is something we do this week.Thanks again to Laohu.com, the Beijing-based site that graciously provides a roundup of China's gaming news every week for the Gamezebo audience. To learn more about the Chinese gaming scene, be sure to give Laohu.com a read.