And if you don't think we're taking all the credit, we can settle this over a one-on-one multiplayer round of Peggle when it hits XBLA in Q2 this year. You see, when we called Peggle one of the best games of 2007 we closed by suggesting, "Maybe Peggle 2 will include some sort of Internet play option. PopCap ... you listening?" Evidently, not only were they listening, they were taking notes and – just to throw doubters off our scent – they're adding multiplayer functionality to Peggle 1!

In an interview done by the folks at Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog – powered by questions from Evil Avatar – PopCap's Greg Canessa confirms that the XBLA release will include "online modes and features" including multiplayer, but didn't offer any specifics short of that (co-op? versus?). You can check out the video after the break to hear it for yourself (scrub ahead to 2:40 to catch Greg's comments). Consider us pleased ... just send that royalty check over to our offices at 1337 Joystiq Way, alright PopCap?

[Via X3F]

Not so fast peg-pounding pellet paramours! PopCap has promptly pulled the plug on PocketGamer's proof of Peggle for DS. Pop! Poof! Phizzle ... ya dig? PopCap VP of Video Game Platforms Greg Canessa issued a brief statement via press release today, claiming the ol' rumor mill has kicked into "overdrive."

"We have ambitious plans for many of our titles including Peggle, and are eager to bring its peg-popping pleasures to as many appropriate platforms and devices as possible," said Canessa, "But Nintendo has not approved this product, we have not signed a developer to port Peggle to DS, and we have not green lighted this project."

PopCap co-founder John Vechey tells PocketGamer that crack-cocaine derivative Peggle will be available over-the-counter for DS sometime in the future. This follows the announcement in early January that Xbox 360 owners would be able to play the pachinko-style ball bouncer in glorious HD. Considering it's in line with PopCap's strategy, expect Peggle to eventually exist on every appropriate format possible – the article also alludes to a mobile version being in the works.

Vechey says Peggle has now outsold Bejeweled with over ten million downloads. He explains that the game's sales weren't doing well on many casual portals when it first released, but that PopCap kept promoting it on its website and the designer drug took off. We're just waiting for the day a PA (Peggle Anonymous) group pops up on our local community center's bulletin board.

Update: File this away as rumor for now. PopCap has issued a statement denying Peggle has been green lighted for DS. More here.

Have any NVIDIA hardware installed on your machine? If so, you're entitled to a free extended demo of Portal, the best game of 2007. Entitled Portal: First Slice, the demo features more content than the normal demo, and is available free to all NVIDIA customers through a new partnership between Valve and the hardware manufacturer.

The offer is accessible through Steam, which will scan your computer to confirm the presence of NVIDIA hardware before making the offer available (creepy). Game|Life also reports that in addition to the Portal: First Slice, demo, NVIDIA customers can also download Peggle Extreme, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast for free through the same offer. Not too shabby.

The ESRB's on-going quest to free cats from their cruel bag prisons has prompted another and surprisingly quick confirmation -- Peggle is indeed on its way to Xbox Live Arcade. Shacknews reports that interactive drug peddler, PopCap, has tentative plans to expose Xbox 360 owners to the Pachinko-like substance in Q2 2008.

Coupled with PC, Mac and iPod versions, it seems there's simply no escaping the addictive power of unicorns.

Get ready to experience Joystiq's #8 game of the year Peggle on your Xbox 360. A search of the latest ESRB ratings revealed that casual games Peggle, Ultra Bust-a-Move and Bliss Island were all rated for Xbox 360. Now one could infer that this means the games will be XBLA titles, but they could very well be retail products and Ultra Bust-a-Move may be an Xbox Original.

There is currently no release information, just that the games have been rated M ... no, kidding, they were rated E. Although that gives us the horrible idea for Peggle with adult themes and noises, perhaps with the orange pegs being cherries -- think about it.

[Update: Peggle has been confirmed for XBLA.]

Phase (iPod)

A must-have game on the iPod? Yep. I'm as surprised as anyone. Apple's music player puttered through Tetris remakes, solitaire, and other obvious clones until Phase established some gaming muscle. (And sure, Musika gets some credit for being unique, but it's more visualizer than game.)

Developed by Harmonix, Phase is a simple Guitar Hero-style beat-matching game. Tap a fifth-generation (video) iPod, Classic, or recent Nano's left, center, and right buttons in time with the music and on-screen prompts. Slide a finger around the wheel to catch falling dots. And that's it. The game becomes so much more because of its quirky visuals and ability to sync to your own songs. Nearly any genre works, especially music with a percussive bass line. While the console rhythm games let you buy new track downloads, Phase's unlimited replay with your own songs makes it a no-brainer for a portable music player.

The most surprising game of the year doesn't have fancy 3-D graphics. It doesn't require a new generation console and it doesn't involve waggling a fancy motion-sensitive controller. It doesn't involve killing anything (not even in the cutesy, Mario-jumps-on-a-Goomba sense of the word "kill") and it doesn't have any gritty, street-smart characters voiced by today's hottest celebrities. None of that is really surprising in its own right – plenty of casual games fit the same criteria. What's really surprising about Peggle is how insanely, addictively fun it is.

Like the best puzzle games, Peggle can be explained in a single sentence: Bounce balls off pegs; destroy all the orange ones to win. The game doesn't require a lengthy tutorial or instruction booklet, just an intuitive grasp of physics and gravity to plan where your ball will bounce. The instant accessibility is aided by excellent graphic and sound design -- pegs burst in explosions of color and sound, culminating in a level-clearing rendition of Beethoven's Ode to Joy that can't help but bring a smile to even the most cynical gamer's face.


Some might argue that this simplicity never gives way to a deeper strategy -- that the game takes a minute to learn but only two or so minutes to master. These people have probably only played the game for those two or so minutes, though, as the imaginative peg arrangement in the later of the game's 100 or so levels require some incredible planning and imaginative use of special powers (not to mention the 60 or so unlockable "challenge" boards, some of which are nigh impossible). While Peggle beginners might only plan one or two bounces ahead, expert Peggle players, much like chess grandmasters, can generally see the shape of a shot through dozens of bounces. After one particular, eight-hour, late-night session with the game, we could swear we had entered a zen-like state where every slight deflection of the ball seemed pre-ordained (of course, the cold medication running through our veins could have also contributed to this feeling).

If you still don't believe Peggle takes any skill, then we humbly challenge you to an editorial-we-on-one Peggle duel. These duels are where Peggle continues to shine long after the single-player game is done, with new strategies enabling a new level of unpredicatability and human fallibity to come into play. Of course, dueling currently works only on a single computer, so duels with random internet doubters will probably be hard to coordinate. Maybe Peggle 2 will include some sort of Internet play option. PopCap ... you listening?

In Peggle parlance, Popcap Games has just landed a very nice rebound shot, knocking out two hits in one day and launching us into a state of "Extreme Fever." In layman's terms, Popcap has just announced the launch of Peggle for Mac OS X, closely following the game's release on Apple's iPod music player.

Identical to the PC-version, Peggle Deluxe on Mac features 55 levels of Pachinko-inspired, ball-bouncing, peg-busting mayhem. Unlike recent Mac ports like Guitar Hero III and GameTap, the release is Universal Binary, meaning it's compatible with Intel Macs, as well as older Power PC Macs.

Also releasing today for the Mac is Popcap's classic puzzle game Chuzzle, a match-three casual title originally released in 2005. Now all we need is Bookworm Adventures on the Mac and we'll be set for life.

Two new games are available on the iPod today, and they couldn't be any more opposite of each other. One is perfectly suited to the iPod's limited controls, and was practically built to be played with the circular click wheel. The other... well... not so much.

The original Sonic the Hedgehog is now available for the iPod, featuring the full Sega Genesis classic, as well as the option to replace the game's seminal tunes with your own crappy music. We love Sonic and all, but the platforming precision required to play through this title will most likely not prove conducive to the iPod's click wheel and buttons. We expect much cramping and cursing.

Contrast this with Peggle, Popcap's ever-so-excellent casual game offering, and the other game now playable on the iPod. Of the two, Peggle's much more suited to the format, and could easily become one of the best games available for the music player. Both titles are now available for purchase through the iTunes Music Store for $4.99 USD each, and are compatible with the 3G iPod Nano, the 5G iPod, and the iPod Classic.

Read - Sonic press release
Read - Peggle press release

Popcap Games have just announced a free, web-based version of their pachinko-inspired, unicorn imbued casual hit Peggle. Despite being played in a browser, the web version of Peggle still requires players to download an executable file and install a plugin before use, making the online game just as PC-exclusive as the (other) downloadable version.

Still, that doesn't rule out all hope for the perpetually-deprived Mac gamers of the world. Some insider news reveals that Popcap is currently working on Mac versions of several of their PC-only titles, including Peggle. No word on whether these will be Universal Binary releases, or just Intel-only, but several are expected for release in the upcoming months. Until then, PC users can still enjoy both the full version of Peggle, and the new free online version, which features scoretracking and randomly-generated levels. Hooray for them.