I'll tell ya, my wallet has really been hurting this month after shelling out hundreds of dollars on the newest next-generation home gaming consoles, and so scooping up a ton of great games for mere pennies on the dollar is exactly what I need right now. I could also probably use some fresh air too, but who has the time to dillydally around outside when you have all of these free games and sales to look into?You don't need to spend $499 to get a whole swarm of awesomely discounted games like Papa Sangre II and Anodyne Mobile for your iPhone and iPad; you don't need a $60 yearly subscription to scoop up all the latest and greatest games from the 10tons catalogue; and you certainly don't need to spend $120 for a handful of launch games when you've got Gamezebo's own iShooter Gamer Bundle for a mere $4.99!"So which games are you picking up this weekend with the spare change that you have left after this month's big next-gen console releases? Did we happen to miss any good deals that are still out there during our money-spending stupor? Let us know in the replies!
It's no secret that Temple Run has become a force to be reckoned with on the App Store today. Not only does it continuously hold a spot on the App Store Top 100 charts, but it also inspired a number of direct sequels and spin-off games, such as Temple Run: Oz and Temple Run 2. But even beyond that, Temple Run had a huge hand in crafting a brand new game genre that has since taken the mobile world by storm: the endless runner.Now it's pretty safe to assume that you've seen a game or two appear on the App Store that plays a bit like Temple Run, and for good reason: there are a lot of them these days. So we've decided to compile a list of some of our favorite mobile games that offer a gameplay experience that's similar to Temple Run."Do you like our picks? Do you have a few good ones that we may have missed? Don't be afraid to let us know of any other games like Temple Run down in the replies!
There was a time right here in North America where the newsstands were lined with gaming magazines. EGM, GamePro, Nintendo Power; if you stuck Metroid on the cover, you were going to sell some copies. Over the last few years - much as we've seen with the print industry at large - gaming magazine have been dying off one by one. And if you thought this was a Western phenomenon, this week's news from China will prove you wrong.As always, we'd like to thank our friends at the Beijing-based gaming website Laohu.com for sharing the latest news to come out of China with Gamezebo's readers. If you're looking to get your Chinese news straight from the source, be sure to check them out!
Video games have the ability to change a person's brain, but the myth is that it's for the worse. It has long been suggested that gaming negatively impacts our children. The press consistently focuses on the negative aspects of video games: the correlation with "rotting" the brain, encouraging aggressive behavior, promoting anti-social behavior and the list goes on. Must we always look at the downside of something we are not altogether familiar with?For countless reasons, parents and teachers are hesitant to use gaming technology in the classroom. As both a parent and veteran teacher of 14 years, I've had numerous discussions with colleagues who consider video games as simply "mindless" fun. But, those critics are unaware that the touchscreen taps, mouse clicks and joystick jiggles can help sharpen cognitive skills.Edu-gaming—a now-popular concept that integrates games with education—disputes the theory that video games will rot children's brains. A recent and compelling article by writer Nic Fleming discusses how educational games are proven to help people see better, learn more quickly, develop greater mental focus, become more spatially aware, estimate more accurately and multi-task more effectively.As the current lead for reading engagement innovation at Evanced Games (a company that designs influential educational mobile game apps for kids), I spend time each week playing edu-games with children in their school environments. This gives me firsthand experience with the benefits of video games. When played with a purpose, video games are important tools for helping kids take the skills they learn in school and build upon them further after the school day ends.
Any gamer knows that there's no better way to snag a handful of great indie releases for a hugely discounted price than by perusing the latest Humble Indie Bundle. But now the beloved Humble Bundle company is stepping up their own game this week: with the full-fledged launch of The Humble Store online. What this means is that indie developers will now finally have a way to sell their games directly through the charitable Humble Store, thanks to the brand new storefront.And as anything that's ever been associated with the Humble Bundle name before, the newly launched Humble Store promises to offer great games at next-to-nothing prices, with the full proceeds going to the game developers themselves, and a small slice for Humble Bundle and some wonderful charities. And for all of you Bundle fans out there, not to worry: you'll still be seeing more than your fair share of Humble Indie Bundles and Humble Weekly Sales as per the usual alongside the new store."In celebration of the Humble Store's first big day out in the world, the brand new storefront is running, what else, but a number of great sales on some of our favorite indie PC and Mac games! The Humble Store is currently featuring big deals on Don't Starve ($7.49), Rogue Legacy ($7.49), Gunpoint ($4.99), and more for the next five hours at the time of this writing. But if you happen to miss out on these deals, not to worry again: more sales are already on the way for tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that!So will you be picking up any great indie titles on the new Humble Store in support of game developers and charitable organizations? How do you think the new storefront will hold up against some of the other well-established online sites that specialize in gaming deals? Be sure to let us know in the replies!
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.
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:
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.