Joel Brodie

Jesper Juul, a researcher at the Singapore e-MIT GAMBIT lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is writing a research study and book on casual games and wants to interview Gamezebo users to get your opinions.Mr. Juul's research will seek to answer the questions of who plays casual games and why they are so popular lately.  The online survey is voluntary, anonymous, and should only take 10 - 15 minutes to complete.  Please click here if you are interested to participate.

Our friends over at Big Fish Games slowly yet surely leaking information on the upcoming release of Azada: Ancient Magic.The official release dates are August 28, 2008 for Big Fish Game Club Members and August 29 for everyone. Click here to go to the Official Azada Web site to view screen shots and videos and click here to discuss here at Gamezebo.Sign up for Gamezebo To Go for daily casual games updates and to be notified the moment this game is released.

Remember when I said that virtual online worlds were the next big thing in casual games but that most would not make money and fail?Well, what I forgot to mention is that Google would launch their own virtual online world without a care about making money. So, the good news for all ye casual game virtual world makers is that business plan has been legitimized. The bad news is that it's game over because Google has already won.Check out Google Lively (you can actually embed your own virtual world space within any Web page, cool!) and read Gamasutra's interesting interview with Google.Update:  Click here for Techcrunch's report card of the $345 million invested in virtual worlds so far this year.  

Place more than two casual game executives in a room together and the one thing they will agree on is that casual game downloads are dead. They are not, of course. The market is just changing, evolving into a whole new market with new genres, distribution channels, and pricing (unlike the price of gas, download games are cheaper, yea!).

Many of you have been wondering, when will I get to vote for the best casual games of 2007 and award my favorite game developer with the coveted Zeebys Trophy?The good news is that now until July 5, you can vote for your favorite casual game of the year. Then, meet us in Seattle. We're opening the Awards Show to the general public and donating 100% of our ticket proceeds to a charity that is dear to our heart, the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation.Click here to vote and then click here to learn more about the Awards Show and our partnership with Starlight. If you can't make it to Seattle, you can still donate to this worthy cause and we'll post a video of the show online, courtesy of our friends at Lifetime TV. Thanks and have fun voting!

When Viqua Games launched Tommy and the Magic Words a few years ago, two thoughts popped into my mind. One, how can I meet this Thai developer who came up with such an innovative word game? Two, how can I leverage the fact I own Gamezebo to get a free trip to meet the developer in Thailand, my favorite place in the world. Well, I have never achieved the latter goal, but I did talk to Chanon Sajjamanochai of Viqua Games. And since that time, Viqua launched numerous casual games, including Sandscript, Cindy's Sundaes, Doggie Dash, and their latest hit game, First Class Flurry. We talked to Chanon about First Class Flurry, community-based social games, and how a good Thai boy grows up to become a successful casual games developer.