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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.
  • Stop reading this and go play Oceanhorn
    News
    • iOS
    Stop reading this and go play Oceanhorn

    By

    Why are you still reading this? Did you miss the headline? *Sigh.* Ok, for those of you who insist on an explanation, here it is:Oceanhorn is a Zelda-inspired mobile adventure that has blown our collective socks off here at Gamezebo. It's now available to the public ($8.99 on iTunes), and while we've been playing it for a few days, we don't quite have a review ready yet to sell you on why this is an absolute must-buy.Is it because we're lazy? Normally I'd say yes, but with Oceanhorn, it's because the game is just that @#$%ing big. I'm four hours in, and the game tells me I'm only 17% complete. A lot of that could be sidequesting and bonus play, but even so, story-wise it feels like I'm only a third of the way through. For a mobile game, that's a lot. That's like the App Store gaming equivalent of War and Peace."We have a review in the works. It's coming. But I can't do it right now - because I'm too busy playing Oceanhorn. Want a spoiler? You should be too. Snag it here.
  • Boom Beach Preview
    Upcoming
    • iOS
    Boom Beach Preview

    By

    How do you follow-up a hit like Clash of Clans? If you're developer Supercell, you think long and hard about what made the formula work. Then you do it again, but better. You learn from your mistakes. You tweak, you perfect - and when all is said and done, you deliver a game like Boom Beach to the App Store.Sneaking in a Canadian soft launch late last week, Boom Beach takes the winning ideas of Clash of Clans and fuses them with some changes that players have been clamoring for. It's not uncommon to hear players mutter things to themselves like "why do my surviving troops disappear after a battle?," "why can't I tell my troops where to go?," or "I'm never going to get further in the single player campaign - I'm absolutely stuck!"At the very least, frustration like this have plagued my own Clash of Clans experience from day one. Boom Beach is quick to address such problems: surviving troops return to your landing craft, ready for your next assault. Once you unlock signal smoke, you can give your troops an indication of where you want them to go. The single-player campaign offers plenty of freedom, letting you pick and choose from a variety of battles. In its changes, Boom Beach feels like a checklist of solutions to the little wriggles that bothered players in their last game.
  • Skee-Ball Arcade rolling onto mobile devices next week
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    Skee-Ball Arcade rolling onto mobile devices next week

    By

    Everybody loves Skee-Ball. It's all the fun of bowling combined with the thrill of pumping quarters into a metal slot. Scopely, the developers behind a little game you might remember called Mini Golf MatchUp, have recently announced that they'll be bringing the officially licensed Skee-Ball Arcade to the App Store and Google Play on November 20.This shouldn't be confused with ngmoco's Skee-Ball - which mysteriously disappeared from the App Store and was re-launched as Arcade Ball a few months ago. (methinks there was a licensing deal that ended to allow for this Scopely release - but let's file that purely under "speculation")That said, ngmoco's title was a chart-topper for a time, so we know that Skee-Ball is a formula that has plenty of potential on mobile devices. Few details have emerged, but if the trailer is anything to go by, you should expect a variety of wacky playing fields, power-ups, and the ability to "challenge your friends" - an element that Scopely excels at. Keep an eye out for this one when it hits next week.
  • Why Moscow Matters: Russia is an emerging market you should keep an eye on
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    Why Moscow Matters: Russia is an emerging market you should keep an eye on

    By

    When mobile game developers and other business-minded folks throw around the term "emerging markets," their thoughts almost immediately go to three places: China, Korea, and Japan. For Western developers, these are the markets with the clearest potential for growth - and they're the markets that no Western company has really managed to crack.But what if there was another untapped market eager for developer attention?This year's Live Mobile! European Mobile Congress is being held in Moscow this week (Nov 12 & 13, to be exact); the capital city of a nation that's ravenously eating up the best that mobile gaming has to offer. And as companies like Game Insight are quick to point out, it's home to some chart-topping mobile developers too.To highlight the potential of the Russian marketplace, Game Insight and J'Son & Partners have teamed up to provide this handy infographic - or as we like to call it, a cheat sheet on why you should really be considering translating your latest app into one more language:
  • Gamezebo Presents: The Retro Nintendo Gamer Bundle
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    • PC
    Gamezebo Presents: The Retro Nintendo Gamer Bundle

    By

    If you're in your early thirties like I am, there's a pretty good chance your passion for gaming started with three little letters: NES. Back in 1985 the Nintendo Entertainment System ushered in a new era for home video games, establishing formulas that game designers still look to nearly 30 years later.Don't you wish you could still play those games the way they were meant to be played?While Gamezebo hasn't perfected a time machine, and we're not quite technical enough to repair the busted old NES that's hiding in your closet, we are prepared to give you the next best thing: the RetroN Gaming System.RetroN can play all of your original NES games, and you can snag one right now (with two controllers) for just $18.99. And there's free shipping, so when we say $18.99, we mean $18.99. Not enough for you? You can bundle it together with two games of your choosing for $39, or bundle it with two games, a third controller (this one looks like the classic), and a light gun for $59!More details - and your chance to buy - can be found at deals.gamezebo.com.
  • This Week in China: Kids Spend the Darndest Things
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    This Week in China: Kids Spend the Darndest Things

    By

    This week in China, we learn that some problems are universal - like kids spending an absurd amount of money through in-app purchases. We also see how some developers are working with companies to customize games, get a glimpse of an upcoming mobile racer, and finally hear the word "Foxconn" in a context that has nothing to do with Apple. Probably.As always, this week's Chinese news is brought to Gamezebo courtesy of our friends in Beijing at Laohu.com. If you're looking for a more regular glimpse of gaming life in China (and happen to speak the lingo), be sure to check them out!
  • Call of Duty 4 for $5
    News
    • iOS
    • PC
    Call of Duty 4 for $5

    By

    Money's tight. We get it. With Christmas on the horizon - not to mention a fat Thanksgiving turkey, a winter heating bill, and a new snow shovel - "disposable income" isn't a phrase that's in your vocabulary right now. Which is a shame, because you really wanted to pick up a copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts this week.We can't help you there - but if you want a taste of CoD fun without a big price tag, Gamezebo Deals is offering Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on to PC and Mac gamers on Steam for just $4.99! That's a savings of 75%.Enough jibber-jabber. Get to downloading already.
  • We’re playing Rayman Fiesta Run, Tiny Death Star and more on Twitch right now!
    News
    • iOS
    We’re playing Rayman Fiesta Run, Tiny Death Star and more on Twitch right now!

    By

    SO MANY BIG GAMES THIS WEEK. It's enough to make your head spin. We'll have reviews of them on the site in the coming days -- and you're going to love them -- but why wait if you don't have to? If you want a first glimpse at today's newst iOS releases, we're livestreaming some of them right now on our Twitch channel, twitch.tv/gamezebo.This week we're checking out Rayman Fiesta Run, Tiny Death Star, LEGO Lord of the Rings and Garfield Kart. Be sure to jump in the chat and join in the fun! The more the merrier.Watch live video from Gamezebo on TwitchTV UPDATE: The live feed is now over, but you can watch the archived version above at your convenience. Enjoy!