On Monday morning, Gamezebo broke news of a story too strange to be believed. King, the makers of Candy Crush Saga, had trademarked the word CANDY. While this won't affect the likes of Skittles or SweeTarts, app developers whose games have 'candy' in their name braced for the oncoming storm.But according to a King spokesperson, that storm may not really be coming."We have trademarked the word 'CANDY' in the EU, as our IP is constantly being infringed and we have to enforce our rights and to protect our players from confusion. We don't enforce against all uses of CANDY - some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask App developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so."
When you have an intellectual property - especially one that's worth millions of dollars - you want to protect it. But can such protections ever go too far? That's the question a lot of industry watchers are asking this morning, as developers far and wide whose games include the word 'candy' are getting emails from Apple on behalf of King, the makers of Candy Crush Saga.In a filing with the US trademark office dated February 6, 2013, King.com Limited registered claim to the word 'candy' as it pertains to video games and, strangely, clothing. On January 15, 2014 the filing was approved for publication. And now, a mere five days later, reports are coming in from developers that they're being asked to remove their app (or prove that their game doesn't infringe upon the trademark)."Lots of devs are frustrated cause it seems so ridiculous" says Benny Hsu, the maker of All Candy Casino Slots - Jewel Craze Connect: Big Blast Mania Land. Benny's game, which shares no similarities with King's properties aside from the word 'candy,' is one of a number of games that have been targeted by King.
Lost Decade Games released the launch trailer for their upcoming dungeon crawler, A Wizard's Lizard. The gameplay trailer shows off a number of the game's environments, as well as many enemies and obstacles players can expect to find within the game. A Wizard's Lizard was originally entitled "Crypt Run" but Lost Decade Games explained that the name change was needed to give the game additional personality, as well as being a catchier title overall.Launching for Windows, Mac, and Linux on January 22nd, A Wizard's Lizard puts players in control of Raga, a wizard's lizard who is seeking vengeance for the untimely death of the wizard. Ever-changing dungeons await players eager to explore them, and by rescuing the trapped townsfolk, players will be able to acquire upgrades to aid them in future adventures.Because Raga was exposed to a magical potion, dying in a dungeon does not mean the end of the game as the realm of the dead features secrets of its own for players to discover.
From game developer Chris Chung comes the world's first first-person destructive cat simulator, Catlateral Damage. Armed with only two paws and the agility of a cat, players must create as big of a mess as they can as fast as they can.Originally created during the 2013 7DFPS game jam, Catlateral Damage gained popularity to the point where Chung decided to develop it into a full game. Development started in September of last year.In Catlateral Damage, players tackle one room of the house at a time, attempting to knock over valuables and anything light enough to swipe over with the strength of a cat. Currently an Alpha-build demo of Catlateral Damage is playable on the game's official website. The demo features only one level, with the solitary objective of achieving 100,000 points. Players navigate the room using the WASD keys, and left, right, and middle-clicking all trigger various paw swipes.
In a recent blog post on his official blog, The Binding of Isaac developer, Edmund McMillen posted answers to some of the most frequently asked questions in regards to the upcoming remake of The Binding of Isaac, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. One of the first questions he posted, and one with one of the lengthier answers, is on why McMillen decided to change the art style for Rebirth."Isaac was a big rush job and I did all the art in less than 2 months," McMillen explains. "I wasn't ever happy with it and hadn't planned on the game being so successful so I just got the job done so I could finish the game…aka the art was lazy and to me, [was] just an eyesore."McMillen goes on to explain that he desired for an entirely different look, favoring a more "retro" look over what he ended up putting into The Binding of Isaac. Because the game was based on Zelda, McMillen said, he wanted to do the whole game in pixel sprites but did not put much faith in his artistic ability, nor did he have the time to invest to do so.
Having a big hit in North America is one thing, but what about when that same hit works in China? According to Cut the Rope 2's Chinese distribution partner Yodo1, it becomes the game's #1 market.Lawsuits, Square Enix games, and more help round out this week's news from China. As always, we'd like to thank our friends at Laohu.com for keeping us in the loop on all things China pertaining to the mobile games market. If you're looking for even more Chinese mobile coverage, be sure to add Laohu.com to your bookmarks folder.
To celebrate the start of 2014 and the last remaining winter months, the mobile version of Bejeweled Blitz has dished out a brand new Rare Gem title update today, which adds in - you guessed it - Vaulted Rare Gems! A fan-favorite feature from the Facebook iteration of the game, the Vaulted Rare Gems allow players to swap their Bejeweled Blitz gems with a number of explosive new effects on the game board.While each of the newly implemented Vaulted Rare Gems is only available for a limited time, players will also be able to unleash the power of another rare winter gem: the Ice-Burrrst Gem! All Vaulted Rare Gems can also be shared directly as gifts within a player's Items tab, and everyone who uses their Daily Spin for 5 Days in a row will be rewarded with a shiny Blazing Steed Rare Gem delivered right into their items.The free Rare Gem title update is now live in both iOS and Android versions of Bejeweled Blitz, and you can also check out the new Ice-Burrrst Rare Gem in action by watching the accompanying trailer that's embedded in this page!
We have an interesting topic of debate this week instead of my usual "BAH! FREE GAMES! LOOK AT ALL THESE DEALS!" introductions that you've grown to know and love so well. And believe it or not, but this topic has to do with certain games actually going on sale a bit too soon after their initial release. Intrigued? Well read on!It's hard not to notice that three of the biggest game deals going on this weekend over at the App Store are for hot new mobile games like Joe Danger Infinity, Archangel, and Alpha 9, which were all barely released more than a week ago. And for some of these games, the price cuts are pretty dramatic (Archangel in particular went from $4.99 to $1.99 in a manner of days). So the question then becomes: will gamers keep buying Day One mobile releases if the pattern shows they could potentially get the game for far cheaper if they wait a few days?"I could certainly see how something like this could burn loyal gamers who support a developer by buying their new games at full price on the day they come out, so it's definitely an interesting subject to think about. So why don't we all mull that over for a bit while we purchase all of the hotly discounted games appearing in the list below, and don't forget to let us know if there are any others that we may have missed in the comments section!