Are you excited about Hearthstone, Blizzard's upcoming (and now in-beta) card game set in the world of Warcraft? Of course you are! And it turns out you're not alone. Our top stories coming out of China this week have Hearthstone written all over them.Once again, we'd like to thank the fine folks at Laohu.com, a Beijing-based gaming site who are more than happy to share the latest happenings in China with our readers here at Gamezebo. If any of these stories catches you're interest, be sure to follow the link to their full coverage (where you'll either speak the language, or learn to love Google Translate real quick).
Don't you just love it when game developers get in the seasonal spirit by offering up some timely free games and deals around the holidays? This weekend, websites are handing out free games and sales like they're Halloween candy, and the best part about it is that you don't even have to go door to door shouting "Trick-or-Treat" in order to get them! Well, I guess you always could, but that's entirely up to you.The iOS App Store is definitely the rich house on the block that gives away all of the best candy, as there are so many discounted games going on over there that my fingers still hurt from typing them all. But that certainly isn't to say that other houses - err, websites - have some great candy - err, deals - for you to find as well, including a few seasonal bundles that are sure to keep you in the Halloween spirit for some time to come."But as always, it's impossible to make it out to every house during Halloween, and so if we happened to have missed a few good deals that are still out there, be sure to let us know down in the replies!
The month of October has come and gone, and most of us have probably become fully occupied with raking up all of the leaves that are covering the lawn, or putting the last finishing touches on our Halloween costumes. But before we get ready to jump headfirst into November and partake in all of the seasonal offerings that the end of Fall are sure to bring, it's time to take a look back on all of the amazing games that made this past October such a month to behold.While our big winner this month was one of the slickest brawler experiences we've seen on a mobile device so far, you would be mistaken not to check out our many runners-up as well, since most of these incredible games went the route of innovation over intense polish and graphical sheen. Oh, who am I kidding? Every one of these games on our October list went above and beyond in terms of both the gameplay and the visual departments!"Do you agree with our top choices for the month of October? Did some of your favorite games just miss the cut? Be sure to let us know down in the replies (after you finish up with your Halloween costume, of course)!
With so many new video games being released on all sorts of platforms each and every day, sometimes it can be incredibly easy to overlook when one of your most anticipated games has made an appearance on your gaming platform of choice. But don't worry: Gamezebo has your back here with Replay Wednesdays, bringing gamers up to speed on all the latest new platform debuts of your favorite games!Some of the biggest new games to be released in the last few months have finally made their way over to additional platforms this week, such as Angry Birds Star Wars II on PC and Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time on Android. Check out the full list of all the new platform game debuts that went on this week just below!"
It was just a few short weeks ago when we brought you the news that Viewtiful Joe had found his way into the stylized world of Combo Crew to punch his way up the game's challenging and baddie-filled tower. Well it looks like fans of the popular action game were treated to another surprise recently, as The Game Bakers have teamed up with Capcom once again to bring four familiar Street Fighter faces into the fold.You can now play in Combo Crew as Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, and Blanka from Street Fighter fame, in order to give The Boss at the top of that tower an energized fireball right to the face! Each of the new Street Fighter characters can be unlocked for use in the game via in-app purchase for $0.99 apiece. And not only do their character designs bear the perfect resemblance to the iconic cast of gaming fighters, but you'll also be able to unleash some of their signature moves here in Combo Crew as well, so I think it'd only be best if we all celebrate this news with a resounding "SHORYUKEN!"Combo Crew is available for download right now on the App Store and Google Play Marketplace, and be sure to check out the Street Fighter crew in action in the debut character trailer that you can find right within this page.
It was only a week ago today when we first told you that GungHo Online Entertainment's incredibly popular Puzzle & Dragons had launched a second special cross-promotional event with Supercell's Clash of Clans. Well now it looks like Puzzle & Dragons is spreading the love even further, and this time around the game is even getting some crime-fighting and gadget-wielding bats involved.That's right! GungHo Online Entertainment has just announced a brand new collaborative event between Puzzle & Dragons and Batman: Arkham Origins, which just saw a fantastic mobile release earlier this month as well. Taking the form of a brand new Batman: Arkham Origins-themed dungeon, the new Puzzle & Dragons content will allow players to collect such superheroes and villains as Batman, Robin, Catwoman, and even The Joker, and add them to their monster boxes via a special Egg Machine."The new Batman: Arkham Origins special event will be going live in Puzzle & Dragons starting tomorrow October 30, 2013, and is set to run through Tuesday, November 12, 2013.
Like all fathers, I want the best for my kids. And like all parents, I have that innate desire to provide them with a healthy environment that nourishes in every way possible. But apps don't come with the equivalent of nutrition labels, and I'm often frustrated to find myself in the dark, unable to tell just what it is that my kids are consuming. That's a big problem. Keeping up with the casual gaming market is harder than keeping up with the Kardashians. Casual gaming is expected to mushroom to an astonishing $8.64 billion by next year, and it's clear that a large portion of casual gamers are children and young adults. This leaves us parents in a lurch: with thousands of titles out there to choose from, and with life growing busier by the minute, how might we tell what's valuable and what's dross?This question is particularly vexing to someone like myself; in addition to being a dad—my first and most important job—I run a successful gaming studio that produces apps for kids. When we started TabTale, my partners and I knew that we weren't going to be in the educational games market, but we also realized that we would never want to produce something we wouldn't like our own kids to play with.
Along with a handful of other notable press outlets, Gamezebo was recently given the opportunity to tour the Stockholm studios of King, the casual games giant behind titles like Candy Crush Saga and Farm Heroes Saga.We learned a lot about the business of being a leading cross-platform developer, yet despite all of the facts and figures thrown our way, one learning stood out above everything else: King's employees are happy. Not just "there's press here, plaster on a fake smile" happy, but really, genuinely happy. After seeing how the day-to-day operates, it's not hard to see why.