31 March 2008

Euro Payments Available at XIHA Games
Europeans have more choice in purchasing their casual games as XIHA Games announces that it will adds bank transfers to their payment options.

QQ Games Grows in the Chinese Casual Space
Two years ago, the Casual Game Association had a look at what Korea was doing with their casual games, micro-transactions and what we could expect to happen in America. Looking at how well the industry is doing there, we can see that China is starting to explode in the casual space.

3D iPhone Gaming Through Unity Technologies
Game development tools for the iPhone are in demand and Unity Technologies has announced that their 3D game development tool is now compatible with Apple's newest handheld.

28 March 2008

Casual Fun By Managing Your Own Hotel
Realore Studios has announced the release of its newest game, which is about hotel management and becoming a family hero.

Come On Down, You're the Next Contestant On...
Ludia, a Montreal interactive entertainment company, announced the release of the The Price is Right.

Deal or No Deal Coming to Your Mobile Phone
Endemol USA, the makers of hit game shows Big Brother, Fear Factor, and Who wants to be a Millionaire, has now announced a deal with I-play to bring Deal or no Deal to the US mobile market.

27 March 2008

NPD Numbers for PC Games: March 9 - March 15
Sims, MMORPGs and Call of Duty grab top spots this past week.

New Demo Released For Dangerous High School Girls
Mousechief announced the release of a new demo for their newest game, Dangerous High School Girls.

Bella Sora Picks Up Emmy Winning Art Director Phil Trumbo
The man behind the art direction for the games Spiderman 2, The Sims 2 and Lego Star Wars series has joined Hidden City Games as their new Art Director for Interactive Entertainment.

Russian Mobile Market Gets Superscape Games
Alawar NewEdge Mobile and Superscape agree to a distribution and collaboration deal for 3D mobile games into the Russian gaming market.

21 March 2008

User Generated Games Come to The Mobile Phone
Playyoo, a mobile casual community site, has introduced itself to the public with the ability for gamers to create their own games for their mobile device.

Women Are Playing Casual Games
Forbes has just released an article that discusses the casual game industry and how it differs from other parts of the video game industry.

20 March 2008

NPD Numbers for PC Games: March 2 - March 8
Casual games take a back seat as the new Sims 2 expansion pack takes top spot.

NPD Numbers for PC Games in February 2008
The only casual game on the list, Diner Dash, drops to number 11 in the top 20 list.

NPD Numbers for Console Games in February 2008
Casual Wii games continue to be popular with game players of all ages.

19 March 2008

Study Shows That Games Reduce Stress
Video games have been thought to relieve stress from those who have played them, now a new study at McGill University has proof that gaming can reduce a person's stress levels.

PopCap Deals With Southeast Asian Mobile Carrier
After news of a joint partnership with Nokia to put games onto their SNAP mobile platform last month, Popcap Games has now announced a partnership with Acme Games.

12 March 2008

Meez Anounces API for Casual Games
Meez, an online social entertainment network that fuses avatars, casual gaming and a virtual economy, has announced the launch of its distributed gaming service and related API platform for game developers.

Newest Battlefield Goes Free With Micro-transactions
With game piracy hurting the PC gaming business, Electronic Arts has announced a shift in payment models with the newest Battlefield series.

11 March 2008

NPD Numbers for PC Games: February 24 - March 1
Big Fish Games grabs the tenth spot with their latest Mystery Case Files game.

PlayFirst Awards $30,000 to Six Independent Game Companies
Playfirst has announced it has given $30,000 to six different game companies through its 2007 Developer Dash funding program.

PopCap Releases Casual Hits Onto Playstation 2
PopCap Games has announced they are releasing two of their biggest selling games onto the Playstation 2.

10 March 2008

PlayFirst releases Ice Cream Craze
Playfirst has announced the release of Ice Cream Craze, a time management game that allows the player to become the owner of their own ice cream parlor.

Games Based on Movies Growing Once Again
On the news that THQ lost the pitch for “Toy Story 3” to an in-house pitch by Disney Interactive Studios, The Wall Street Journal has released an article about the issues that are encountered by video games based on movies.

08 March 2008

Nexon Releases Beta for Free MMORPG
The US division of Nexon has released their open beta for their free MMORPG, Mabinogi.

Gamestop Gives Casual Games a Go
Next Generation reports that Gamestop has decided to be more active in the casual game business after larger sales in casual games for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

07 March 2008

News Around the World with Skillpod Media
South African company Skillpod Media has announced a large amount of online casual game announcements that cross over companies all over the world.

Analyst Happy Over Ubisoft's Casual Game Sales
With the increase of game sales for the Nintendo DS and the game Assassin's Creed this past year, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter believes Ubisoft will be making an estimated $1.5 billion this fiscal year.

TV Game Shows Coming Online
Bob Saget and Howie Mandel may be coming to a computer screen near you with the US division of Endemol creating a casual game division for the web.

05 March 2008

Top Selling PC Games for Febuary 17 - 23
Casual game publisher Encore makes the top 10 with first person shooters, The Sims and World of Warcraft grabbing the rest of the slots.


© 2008 Casual Games Association. All rights reserved.