Here's a question for all you deal hunters out there: how long does it usually take from the time you see a great new gaming sale pop up on the internet to the time you hit that enticing "purchase" button? Are you more of an impulse buyer who immediately picks up something the second you see it? Or are you a bit more cautious, and prefer to mull it over for a bit before deciding one way or another?Well I'll tell you what: I've always considered myself to fall under the latter category, as the type of person who would wait to the last possible second before scooping up the hottest new gaming deal. But that was until this week, that is, when so many amazing new deals and indie gaming bundles began cropping up online and forced me to blindly spend all of my money before I even had a second to realize what I was doing. But that's okay, because the new games I got made it so, so worth it."And so if there are any other deals going on this weekend that I may have missed due to my lightning-fast online purchases, be sure to point them out for everyone down in the replies!
Whether it's GDC, Casual Connect, or even MIGS, who doesn't love a good gaming conference? It's no different in China, where they recently held the first China Mobile Gaming Annual Summit. As you can probably guess, announcements were made both in and out of the conference this week, and as always, we're ready to serve them up hot and fresh and ready to order.Once again we'd like to thank our friends at Laohu.com, the Beijing-based website that gratefully gathers up China's top stories for Gamezebo to share with their readers each week. If you're looking for even more Chinese news than this, be sure to give Laohu.com a visit.
Once a pirate, always a pirate is what they say! Even when you've found yourself at the end of a mighty fine lootin' and shootin' journey out to sea, there's always another adventure just lying in wait around the corner: especially when it comes to Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Pirates. And in true Assassin's Creed fashion, the new content has already started rolling out less than a month after the game's initial release, to keep you cruising across the Seven Seas while the wind is still fresh in your sails.The bulk of the update is centered on a brand new campaign mission that's set around a gorgeous new map called Nassau. The Nassau map is said to bring a higher level of challenge into the fold, as seasoned Pirates players will now have to master new dodging mechanics, which effectively let them take down enemy cannonballs in mid-air. 10 new side missions will also accompany the new campaign, leading way for more treasures to be uncovered and more ships to be unlocked."And finally, the first Pirates update will also be adding in a new social component that allows all mobile buccaneers to compare their journey at sea with other players in the game. We happened to think that Assassin's Creed Pirates was a pretty fine swashbuckling good time when we reviewed the game back in December, and so more of the same surely won't disappoint. The new update is officially available today for both iOS and Android versions of the game.
Video games are so hot right now. Specifically, games with digital cards that fight each other and multiplayer online battle arenas.MMOs are quite popular as well I hear (at least developers continue to think so), and turn-based strategy games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Fire Emblem: Awakening proved that when people say they want more games in that glorious genre, they don't actually mean more shooters.These genres can't possibly have anything in common, you say. They're all such very unique snowflakes. You'd be wrong, of course. What they have in common is war: the eternal war of the Warhammer franchise from Games Workshop, to be exact.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: you're browsing your favorite website on your phone, and without realizing it you've clicked on an ad. Oops! Guess your finger slipped, and that's why you're now in the App Store being told to download Candy Crush Saga (even though as a Gamezebo reader, you probably already have it).Maybe your finger slipped… but maybe it didn't.Sites all around the web this week (like Digiday, TechCrunch and Valleywag) have been reporting on a strange and somewhat sleazy phenomenon: ad networks that are automatically sending you to the App Store to download the game they're pitching. Games that have been mentioned as part of this scheme include Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans and Game of War - Fire Age.In other words, the three top grossing games on the App Store.
I'm sure you've heard the phrase "location is everything" once or twice before in your life, but never has that notion applied more to the world of mobile games than right now! As smartphones and tablets get more and more advanced each and every year, new geographic features like GPS have unlocked a number of exciting location-based options, and not only for map-based apps either: even mobile games are diving into the geographic fun these days! But this past December, Apple officially activated their new iBeacon technology, and if it truly catches on in the way that some are hoping, then you might never walk down the street with your iPhone in the same way again!In simple terms, iBeacon is a new geographic technology from Apple that works primarily through Bluetooth, rather than GPS, so the total power consumption on your device remains both manageable and low. Right now, the iBeacon technology is mostly being used by restaurants and retail stores to present customers with various promotional deals and coupon offers, but a few development studios have begun to see a greater purpose for the budding new advancement: for use in video games!One such studio is The Tap Lab, who made a name for themselves in the mobile world with their location-based game Tiny Tycoons, which lets players build their own city by purchasing bite-sized versions of real-life properties surrounding their actual location. I recently had a chance to speak with Dave Bisceglia, the Co-Founder and CEO of The Tap Lab, and Kabir Hemrajani, the VP of Products at The Tap Lab, to find out their thoughts on iBeacon and its future in the mobile games space.The Tap Lab have already released a short video showcasing one of the many ways that iBeacon could be used to enhance the overall Tiny Tycoons experience just by stepping into your location Starbucks coffee shop (the Starbucks chain has yet to adopt iBeacon support, so a simulated iBeacon was used in this example). For instance, in the demonstration video, when a Tiny Tycoons player walks into the Starbucks location in real life, a notification pops up on their phone giving them the property's value and the name of its owner.
Have you stepped outside today? GOOD GOD, WHY?!?! It's terribly cold outside, and there are plenty of things you could be doing to pass the time indoors. For example: play video games that remind you of just how bitterly cold it is out there.Grab a cup of hot cocoa, run some hot water so your pipes don't freeze, and grab a controller. Nothing beats the bad weather quite like a handful of great video games.
The 16th annual Independent Games Festival has unveiled their complete list of Main Competition finalists for their 2014 showcase, and oh are there finalists! SO. MANY. FINALISTS. This year they have dozens of finalists and honorable mentions from the following six main categories: Excellence in Visual Art; Excellence in Narrative; Excellence in Design; Excellence in Audio; the Nuovo Award; and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.A quick glance at the list will show you that Simogo's Device 6 took the nominations completely by storm, literally landing a finalist spot or honorable mention in every single one of the big awards categories (heck, it was even Gamezebo's own #2 game of 2013, so you know it's a good one). Other finalists include some other fan favorites over the last year, like The Yawhg, Don't Starve, The Stanley Parable, and Papers, Please."The actual voting for the finalists will begin on February 18, with the winners being announced a month later on March 19 at the San Francisco Moscone Convention Center in the middle of GDC 2014. You can keep scrolling down to see the full list of finalists and honorable mentions in each of the six Main Competition categories.Do you agree with all of the IGF nominations this year? Who do you think will take home the top accolades in 2014? Be sure to sound off in the replies!