I don't think a lot of you who read these weekly gaming sales roundups can fully understand the extent of how difficult it is for me to type them up from week to week without just buying every single one of them I come across. Seriously, it takes a whole lot of willpower, which unfortunately I don't have all that often. But hey, at least I'm getting a bunch of great games for only a minor dent in my constantly-draining wallet!Because after all, we've got two enormous Humble Bundles that are just too enticing to pass up, countless iOS games that just had their prices slashed, and massively good deals on entire publisher's catalogues. And not only that, but even Gamezebo is hosting a few awesome gaming deals right now (hey, is there such a thing as an employee discount on an already absurdly good deal? Just thought I'd ask)."And if I happened to miss any other great gaming deals that are out there this week, be sure to let me know in the replies, and I'll probably go and buy them too without a moment's hesitation. Okay, I might have a problem…
Revolution Software has announced today that the highly anticipated fifth installment in their popular series of point-and-click adventure games, Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse, is headed our way soon. Taking core adventure gameplay mechanics, but painting everything up in a beautiful high-definition upgrade to the much-revered art style that fans all know and love, the upcoming sequel is currently slated for release on December 4, 2013.In the game, players will follow the tale of George Stobbart and Nico Collard, a lawyer and journalist, respectively, as the two are suddenly thrown into an exhilarating investigation together after a curious painting gets stolen from a lavish art gallery in Paris. What starts out as an innocent chase quickly escalates into a race against time across all of Europe, with shadowy figures and a dark conspiracy waiting around every bend."But this time around, the adventure is so big that it's not all going to fit inside a single game: so Revolution Software has decided to split it up into two different episodes, in another first for the Broken Sword series. Therefore, players can expect to get Episode 1 of the game on the initial release date of December 4, 2013, with Episode 2 to follow shortly after in January 2014. Both episodes will be launching on PC and Mac first ($14.99 for each episode individually or $24.99 when bundled together), with iOS and Android versions not too far behind each respective episode launch.
Lots of news in the social casino and online gaming space this week. No, it is still illegal to gamble online in the US. Though, there are so many land-based casinos opening up in American cities these days, it soon will not matter. Seriously, who knew there were so many Native American reservations to plop down a Vegas-style casino in the US?But, I digress.First off, Betable raised a new round of $18.5 million to support its goal of enabling any developer to add real-cash gambling to their games. So far, Betable only enables online gaming in the UK only, but they are well positioned for when online gaming is finally made legal in the US.
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!
Sesame Street has been a staple of children's television for 44 years. That's a ridiculously long time for a television show to exist, and it's made all the more impressive considering how much the medium (and how we view it) has changed since 1969. I'm not just talking about HDTV here; websites, video games, eBooks, and mobile apps have become so synonymous with our shows that it's border-line symbiotic. Heck, it is symbiotic.A rather large number of children these days, some as young as two or three, are already familiar with smartphones and tablets. The folks at Sesame Street know this, and have been steadily extending their reach into the digital realm with a number of apps and games - some of which were recently shown to the media at the Sesame Workshop's Digital Playground in New York.They have an extensive selection of over 160 eBooks, apps designed to help families dealing with difficult times, and of course apps to help with learning. Nestled among the many, many examples being shown were three rather intriguing recent, upcoming, and even experimental titles: Sesame Street Family Play, Big Bird's Words, and Sesame Street Go.
If there's one thing that gets people talking around the mobile community these days, it's the highly stylized and wildly addictive 8-bit experiences from developer NimbleBit, like Tiny Tower and Nimble Quest. Now couple that winning formula with a full-on Star Wars theme, and you've got yourself one serious contender for an all-out good time. Star Wars: Tiny Death Star has just gone live on the App Store and Google Play Marketplace today, but earlier this week I had the chance to speak with Jon-Paul Dumont, the Studio Director at Disney Mobile Palo Alto, and discuss everything from what it was like working with NimbleBit on this exciting new project, to what kinds of Star Wars fun and humor players can expect to find inside their own Tiny Death Stars.The folks at Disney Mobile have actually been fans of NimbleBit and their impressive catalogue of mobile hits for quite some time, and according to Dumont, the idea for a possible collaboration with the Tiny Tower formula and LucasArts' Star Wars license just seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Disney Mobile had come up with the name "Tiny Death Star" right off the bat, and loved how you could say that name to anyone and have them instantly understand exactly what it means. Yes, I think even Obi-Wan himself would go so far as to say that NimbleBit and Disney Mobile could not "escape their destiny" together.The first thing that might come as a surprise to some Tiny Tower fans is that the team at Disney Mobile took over the actual developing duties here for Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, with NimbleBit stepping back in a more consultative role. However, you shouldn't let that fool you, because Dumont tells me that one of Disney Mobile's biggest goals with this game was to stay true to the iconic 8-bit world of Tiny Tower and preserve its unique niche of gameplay, a modern mobile legacy which Dumont describes as being almost sacred to him and his team. Well just playing through the game for a few minutes, you can already tell that Disney Mobile has done NimbleBit proud with this release, as Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is certainly a Tiny Tower game here in every sense of the word.
Can you imagine a world in which all individual video games were made for one single platform and one single platform alone? That's a pretty scary thought, isn't it? It's right on the same level as an all-out zombie apocalypse. But the good news is that we don't live in such a horrific kind of world, and a lot of our favorite games gets re-released on exciting new platforms each and every week: which is where Gamezebo's Replay Wednesdays comes in!This week's list was dominated by a few particularly awesome PC games that finally made their long-awaited debut in the mobile games space, including Ittle Dew, a cartoony puzzle-adventure that could give Link and Zelda a run for their money, and the alien-apocalyptic Anomaly 2 with the scary good graphics. See anything good that came to your gaming device of choice this week? Be sure to let us know down in the replies!"
It's been four years since Adam Saltsman's Canabalt introduced us to the words "endless runner." Since that time we've run temples, rushed minions, and done everything in between. It would be hard to nail down the exact number of endless runners that have popped up since, but I'm pretty sure a fictional number like "bajillion" or "kazillion" would sum it up nicely.To put it bluntly, there have been a lot.And, as you might expect, those kajillion endless runners have seen their share of gems and flops. By now it seems safe to assume that everybody has a favorite. And so, today, Gamezebo asks: what's the best endless runner?Let us know your favorite in the comments below. If you can include a screenshot and the reason why, even better!