Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: What was the first game developed by PopCap Games?
PopCap Games was founded by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka in 2000. They wanted to create games, primarily by learning from other Internet gaming sites. Their first game was Bejeweled, a gem-swapping game, which was supported on all major platforms and awarded by Computer Gaming World Hall Of Fame in 2002. The company expanded in 2005 with the acquisition of Sprout Games, a Seattle-based casual games developer company like PopCap Games, founded by James Gwertzman. Sprout Games is the creator of the game Feeding Frenzy. The Sprout team helped PopCap to make a sequel to the game, Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown, with Gwertzman becoming the Director of Business Development at PopCap. In early 2006, PopCap International was opened, based in Dublin, Ireland, working on product localization, mobile games development, marketing, sales and business development.
Dynomite! is a PC game developed by both Raptisoft Games and PopCap Games. Its gameplay is largely similar to that of the "Puzzle Bobble" series, but it has several unique differences.
To date, Plants vs. Zombies is the fastest-selling video game created by PopCap Games.[49] Plants vs. Zombies director George Fan estimated that half of the game's sales are from hardcore gamers.[50] According to PopCap, the iOS release of Plants vs. Zombies sold more than 300,000 copies in the first nine days it was available on the App Store, generating more than $1M in gross sales, and considered it "the top-grossing iPhone launch".[51]
This is a list of video games published and/or developed by PopCap Games.
PopCap Games in Vancouver started the title's development in early 2012. With PopCap hoping to use a new game to expand the franchise and introduce it to a broader audience, they intentionally opted not to make a 2D tower defense game and opted for a different genre. The team was inspired by other team-based shooters with colorful visuals such as "Left 4 Dead" and "Team Fortress 2", and the team faced different challenges when designing the game's eight classes. Game engine Frostbite 3 powered the game, and the team collaborated closely with EA DICE when implementing the game's technology.
Venice is a Microsoft Windows-based action puzzle game set in an abstract representation of Venice, Italy developed by both Retro64 Games and PopCap Games, it was published by PopCap Games. The game was released on June 26, 2007.
Bejeweled 2 is a tile-matching puzzle video game. The sequel to "Bejeweled", it was developed and published by PopCap Games. In 2004, "Bejeweled 2 Deluxe" was released, which includes extra game modes and features. "Bejeweled 2 Deluxe" was released for the Xbox 360 as a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game on November 22, 2005. In 2007, the game was released on the PlayStation 2 alongside another PopCap game, "AstroPop" as a two-game compilation pack as "PopCap Hits! Volume 1". PopCap also released a version for iOS in 2008. "Bejeweled 2" was also released for PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network on January 29 2009, on the Wii via WiiWare on June 14, 2010, and on PlayStation Portable on June 29, 2010, and for Android. As with the original "Bejeweled", "Bejeweled 2" is based on the "Shariki" game mechanic.
"Peggle Extreme" was packaged with the Windows version of "The Orange Box", featuring levels inspired by "Half-Life 2", "Team Fortress 2", and "Portal". It includes ten levels with one Peggle Master, and five Challenges. "Peggle Extreme" was eventually made free to download for anyone with a Steam account. The game was developed in conjunction with Valve Corporation after PopCap's Tams learned that "Peggle" was played often at Valve's offices and that the company had helped to promote the game on Steam. PopCap proposed a version that would pay tribute to Valve's games, which Valve readily warmed up to, helping PopCap with its development, including providing graphical assets and artwork.
Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown is an arcade-style video game by American developer Sprout Games involving the marine food chain. It is the sequel to the 2004 game, "Feeding Frenzy". The game was developed and published by PopCap Games on February 6, 2006.
PopCap Arcade Vol. 1 and PopCap Arcade Vol. 2 are retail packages of four and three Xbox Live Arcade games. The disc works by inserting it into the console just like any other game. However, rather than directly launching any of the titles, it adds four items to the Xbox Live Arcade menu with a small disc icon next to each name.
The game has been ported to other platforms, including Microsoft Windows, as "Bejeweled Deluxe", and iOS devices. Astraware produced versions for PDAs on the BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile smartphone platforms. "Bejeweled Deluxe" was released on Xbox as a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game. On September 12, 2006, it was released as one of the first games downloadable from the iTunes Store for the iPod. PopCap released a web app version of the game for iOS on October 11, 2007. On December 13, 2011, PopCap released a HTML5 version of the game, which is available on the Google Chrome Web Store for free.
A HD version for iPad debuted in May 2012.
The whole package received a generally positive reception. Cooper called the premise of the game "absurd", though it remains a "polished shooter with heart" and he generally regarded PopCap's first attempt in the shooter genre a mildly successful one. Petit called it a refreshing game due to its playful tone, though the game's lack of content is disappointing. Albert believed that the game translated the humor and charm of the series well. Wehner wrote that the game was not "perfect", though players should give the game a chance due to its charm and playful tone. Gies praised PopCap's experiment with the shooter genre, saying that it extracts the best parts of the franchise and PopCap had successfully applied them on a new genre. Denton called it one of the most likable games released for Xbox One, and believed that PopCap had "overachieved", given that this was their first foray into the shooter genre. Reviewers praised PopCap for not fleshing out the franchise's silly premise of plants defending zombies. Marchiafava was disappointed by the title's lack of longevity and felt that the randomness of the sticker packs fundamentally hurt the game.
Peggle is a casual puzzle video game developed by PopCap Games. Initially released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X systems in 2007, it has since had versions released for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, the Nintendo DS (with the help of Q Entertainment), Windows Mobile, iOS, Zeebo and Android; the game has also been ported as a Java application, and an extended minigame incorporated into the massively multiplayer online game "World of Warcraft". A sequel was released in September 2008, titled "Peggle Nights". PopCap, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts, announced "Peggle 2" at E3 2013.
On January 25, 2010, a jury in the 193rd Civil District Court in Dallas County, Texas awarded MumboJumbo $4,600,000 in damages resulting from a breach of contract on the part of their former business partner PopCap Games. MumboJumbo had previously held a North American retail distribution agreement with the casual games developer. According to MumboJumbo, the relationship was violated when PopCap Games began to develop its own strategies for selling at retail. During the 12-day trial, MumboJumbo's law firm Rose-Walker showed that PopCap's actions "severely damaged" their business relationship with Wal-Mart.
The game was first thought up in 2007 during a meeting between PopCap and Square Enix, which had published several of PopCap's games in Japan. Jason Kapalka, the co-founder and chief creative officer of PopCap, claims that he "half-jokingly" proposed a game collaboration between the two companies that would combine a role-playing game with "Bejeweled"-style gameplay, calling it “Final Fantasy Bejeweled”. Kapalka was envisioning creating a similar game to "", a 2007 video game which members of the development staff of both companies were playing at the time. The idea attracted the attention of Yuichi Murasawa, designer of "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance", and the game began formal development. To differentiate the game from "Puzzle Quest", the gameplay was based around "Bejeweled Twist" rather than "Bejeweled", which Kopalka feels fit the art design of the game more. Other candidates considered were "Zuma" and "Peggle", but they were dropped as the developers felt that they did not fit in with the combat theme. PopCap developed the early prototype for the game, then allowed Square Enix to complete the bulk of the work in designing and creating the game, especially in regards to the RPG aspects. Square Enix and PopCap announced the game on September 24, 2009. It was published by Square Enix on the Xbox Live Arcade and on the Steam platform for Windows PCs on November 18, 2009. A downloadable pack of maps and a pack of items were made available for sale a week after launch on November 23, 2009 for both versions of the game.
Alchemy is a computer puzzle game from PopCap Games first introduced on August 29, 2001 and initially only available on the Windows platform.[7] In May 2002, a version was made for the Mac platform. That June, a version was released that was available for shipping.[8] That September, a handheld version was released.[9] This title can be played for free online at various websites minus some components, or a full version can be downloaded and unlocked for a fee. On mobile devices, the game can only be played if downloaded for a fee. The objective of the game is to turn a board of squares from lead to gold by placing randomly generated symbols called runes on every square.[10]
AstroPop is a real-time puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. The Macromedia Flash version can be played online for free at several different websites, or a deluxe version can be downloaded and unlocked for a fee. The game is available for Xbox and Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade. "AstroPop" was ported over to the PlayStation 2 in 2007 alongside another PopCap game, "Bejeweled 2" which was released as a two-game compilation pack as "PopCap Hits! Volume 1". The game has also been ported to cell phones.
On October 29, 2010 "Bejeweled 3"s game trailer appeared on its YouTube channel. On November 1, 2010, the game's development and release date was announced by PopCap Games.
PopCap Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Seattle. The company was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka, and was acquired by Electronic Arts in July 2011.
Hammer Heads is an action arcade game similar to Whac-A-Mole. It is developed by Nuclide Games and distributed by PopCap Games.
The game was created by PopCap Games as a web-based Shockwave (later using Flash) game called "Diamond Mine", inspired by the 1994 MS-DOS game "Shariki". PopCap created partnerships which allowed Microsoft Zone and other gaming sites to host "Bejeweled" as well. The name "Bejeweled" was suggested by Microsoft, who thought the original name "Diamond Mine" was too similar to that of an existing game, "Diamond Mines".
PopCap began another round of expansion in July 2007 by buying other casual game developers including the creators of an online consumer portal, SpinTop Games. One week prior, the company acquired the Chicago-based development house Retro64, founded by Mike Boeh, which is best known for their retro-arcade action and puzzle titles. After these acquisitions, the PopCap logo was rebranded, dropping the "Games" portion. PopCap's premium games list on their website are mixed with other games from other developers/distributors.
"Peggle" is considered to be an addictive game. The game is stated to have a simple premise that follows the KISS principle, but requires some amount of repeating playing to master, similar in fashion to early arcade games, leading to its addictive qualities. "Peggle" is also claimed to entice the user to play "just a few more minutes". The accessibility of the game across multiple platforms is also considered to contribute to its addictiveness. MSNBC named "Peggle" one of the "Top 5 most addictive computer games of all time." Despite its addictive nature, the game, like many of PopCap's casual games, is also considered a stress reliever. A study underwritten by PopCap at East Carolina University found that across 132 subjects, "Peggle" was found to increase their mood by 573% across all subjects, with a 45% reduction in depression. "Peggle" along with other PopCap games were also found to help children with ADHD improve their attention span and memory recall, in a survey done by Information Solutions Group on behalf of PopCap.
Companies such as Konami ("Konami Classics Volume 1" & "Volume 2"), Namco Bandai Games ("Namco Museum Virtual Arcade"), PopCap Games ("PopCap Arcade"), and Capcom ("Capcom Digital Collection") have made disc compilations of their respective XBLA games.
Some large established video games developers are acquiring small operators to capitalize on the social gaming industry. The Walt Disney Company purchased social game developer Playdom for $763.0 million, and Electronic Arts purchased PopCap Games for $750.0 million in July 2011.