Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that 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, "", 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.
The series revolves around Yoshi, a green dinosaur-like character. He was first introduced in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game released in 1990, "Super Mario World", where Mario and Luigi can ride on him. The antagonists of the series are Baby Bowser, the young king of Koopas, and Kamek, a Magikoopa who was Bowser's caretaker as a child. The first Yoshi game was the Nintendo Entertainment System puzzle game released in 1991, "Yoshi", which was developed by Game Freak. The first game in what is considered the main series, as well as the first to feature Yoshi in a playable main-character role, is the game released in 1995, "", which introduces the universe staples which are used in many following games. These staples include colorful storybook graphics, and several gameplay elements. One of the earlier games in the series, "Yoshi's Safari", differs heavily from the rest, as it is a Light gun shooter game. The latest game in the series is "Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World", a port of the Wii U game "Yoshi's Woolly World", released in 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS. An upcoming title, "Yoshi's Crafted World" is set to be released for the Nintendo Switch on March 29, 2019.
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.
The first game in the series is based on the video game "Age of Empires III", and was originally titled Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery before being renamed to Glenn Drover's Empires: The Age of Discovery in 2011 following the loss of the naming rights to the "Age of Empires" series. It was originally published in 2007 by Tropical Games, and is currently distributed by Drover's own publishing company, Eagle Games. The game may be played by up to five players, though pieces for a sixth player were available in limited supply, and are included in the "Builders Expansion", released in 2011 along with the renaming of the series.
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A visual novel, "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Portable", was developed by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable and released on February 23, 2012.
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Brett Weiss cites "Superman" (1979) as an action-adventure game, with "Retro Gamer" crediting it as the "first to utilize multiple screens as playing area". Mark J.P. Wolf credits "Adventure" (1980) as the earliest-known action-adventure game, was an adaptation of text-based adventure game "Colossal Cave Adventure" for the Atari 2600, with the player having the ability to fight in combat like in an action game. "Castle Wolfenstein" (1981) was another early action-adventure game. Allgame also claimed the following titles released prior to 1982 were action-adventure games: "Rescue at Rigel" (1980), "Quest for the Rings" (1981), and "Venture" (1981).
This is a list of the best-selling video games of all time. The best-selling video game to date is "Tetris", a tile-matching puzzle video game originally released for the Electronika 60 in 1984 and then popularised upon its Game Boy release in 1989. The game has been ported to a wide range of platforms and sold in excess of 170 million copies, including 100 million paid mobile game downloads and 35 million Game Boy version sales. "Minecraft" and "Grand Theft Auto V" are the only other games to have sold over 100 million copies. The best-selling game on a single platform is "Wii Sports", with nearly 83 million sales for the Wii console.
Clock Tower is a survival horror point-and-click adventure video game series created by Hifumi Kono. The series includes four games in total. The first entry, "Clock Tower" (1995), was developed by Human Entertainment and released on the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan. Human Entertainment developed two more entries, "Clock Tower" (1996) and "" (1998), which were released on the PlayStation and localized outside Japan. The fourth and most recent title, "Clock Tower 3" (2002), was by Sunsoft and Capcom for the PlayStation 2. Gameplay in the series generally involves the player hiding and escaping from enemy pursuers without any weapons to defeat them. Scissorman is a reoccurring antagonist and sometimes the sole enemy in the game.
Doom (typeset as DOOM in official documents and stylized as DooM in other media) is a 1993 first-person shooter (FPS) video game by id Software. It is considered one of the most significant and influential titles in video game history, for having helped to pioneer the now-ubiquitous first-person shooter. The original game was divided into three nine-level episodes and was distributed via shareware and mail order. The Ultimate Doom, an updated release of the original game featuring a fourth episode, was released in 1995 and sold at retail.
The player controls a boy who must save the world from the evil monsters and villains the roam the areas outside the villages and the dungeons. The game is considered to be an action-RPG similar to the "Legend of Zelda" and "Secret of Mana" style of video games. According to the story, the super-nation Millennium which had conquered the world before searches for the secret which had disappeared in one night. Up to three people can be in a party, these three party members are changed around depending on the part of the story that is being played.
"Pac-Pix" was developed and published by Namco. The game was debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2004 as a technology demonstration for the newly unveiled Nintendo DS hardware. According to producer Hideo Yoshizawa, "Pac-Pix" was conceived as an arcade game by director Tetsuya Shinoda four years prior. Using Apple personal digital assistants (PDAs), Shinoda noticed how corrected text would disappear with a tiny puff of smoke when crossed out by the user; he found this type of control intuitive and wanted to implement it into a game. Two years later, the creators pitched the idea as a tablet computer and PDA game, but found the game and the target audience for such hardware did not match. When the DS was announced, Yoshizawa stated that "the time was right". The E3 demo "Pac-Pix" was met with praise from people within the video game industry, many of which requested it be made into a full game. Namco obliged by putting together a development team, which implemented more effective use of the hardware's two screens. According to Yoshizawa, the most difficult aspect of production on "Pac-Pix" was allowing the player to determine size, shape, and place of their own sketches within the gameplay environment.
"Sonic Jam" is a compilation which contains the four main "Sonic the Hedgehog" games released on the Sega Genesis: "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Sonic the Hedgehog 2", "Sonic the Hedgehog 3", and "Sonic & Knuckles". Unlike future "Sonic" collections, "Sonic Jam" does not use a Genesis emulator; the games are proper ports, and all are nearly identical to the original Sega Genesis releases, with the exception of minor bug fixes. "Sonic Jam" emulates "Sonic & Knuckles" "lock-on technology"—a special feature that allows the player to merge elements of "Sonic & Knuckles" into previous games, resulting in changes to the level design as well as the choice to play as Knuckles the Echidna in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and Tails in "Sonic & Knuckles".
Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Computer Game (referred to simply as Monty Python's Flying Circus in the game itself) is a 1990 scrolling shoot 'em up computer game developed by Core Design. It was released by Virgin Games for various computer formats including the Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. It is loosely based on material and characters from the 1970s British comedy series "Monty Python's Flying Circus", in particular the Gumby character.
Pocket Mortys, also known as Rick and Morty: Pocket Mortys, is a free-to-play "Rick and Morty"-themed role-playing video game developed by Big Pixel Studios and published by Adult Swim Games. The game was released worldwide on 13 January 2016 for iOS and Android devices. The game is set in the "Rick and Morty" "Rickstaverse" and the mechanics serve as a parody on the "Pokémon" franchise.
The first two "Disgaea" installments were released for the PlayStation 2. The series debuted in Japan with "" in 2003 on the PlayStation 2 and has since been re-released on the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS with new content. It was known for many uncommon elements previously unseen in the strategy RPG genre, such as complex gameplay, extremely high maximum stats and a maximum level of 9999, and humorous dialogue. "", released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan, has been re-released on the PlayStation Portable under the title "" with new content. Both of these games were later ported to the PC as "" in 2016, and "Disgaea 2 PC" in 2017 respectively. Both are based on the PlayStation Portable versions, with additional content and redone graphics. The series then moved on to the PlayStation 3 for "", released in Japan in 2008, and was re-released on the PlayStation Vita as "" in 2012. "" was released in Japan in 2011 and re-released on the PlayStation Vita as "" in 2014. A direct sequel to the first game, "" was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2013. The latest entry in the series, "" was released in 2015, moving the series to the PlayStation 4, and was ported to the Nintendo Switch as "Disgaea 5 Complete" in 2017.
Scary Larry of "GamePro" viewed the game as the Genesis's answer to "", and remarked that "While "Zelda" had tons of hidden surprises, weapons, and fearsome bosses (making it one of the best action/RPGs ever), "Crusader of Centy" has a too-familiar story line, minor enemies, and a serious shortage of puzzles." He nonetheless concluded that though "Crusader of Centy" would bore the average RPG gamer, it successfully appeals to its young target audience. The four reviewers of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" contended that the game is a worthy "Zelda" clone, with Ed Semrad and Sushi-X going so far as to say it is equally good as the "Zelda" series. They identified the story and Zelda-like play mechanics as the game's strongest points, and gave the game a 7.75 out of 10.
Although not the first trackball game (the first was "Soccer" by Taito in 1973), "Atari Football" was the game that is credited with popularizing the trackball. Considered physically exhausting to play, "Atari Football" involves spinning the trackball as fast as possible to win the game. Just 90 seconds of play could result in sore palms, and longer could cause blisters. Nevertheless, "Atari Football" was as popular as "Space Invaders" during the 1978 football season, but its popularity waned later on. "Atari Football" is sometimes credited as one of the first games to accurately emulate sports. Twenty-five cents (or one American quarter) would allow 90 seconds of playtime, while adding more quarters would allow longer play. It was also the first non-racing video game with vertical scrolling.
In 1992 "Wolfenstein 3d" is released, creating interest in what fps games could become. "Doom" (1993) bursts onto the world scene and instantly popularizes the FPS genre, and even how games are played, as Doom is among the first games to feature multiplayer capabilities. It was "Goldeneye 007" (1997), that introduced an engine that made development of first-person shooters for home consoles a practical idea. It is not until "Quake" (1996), however, that game developers begin to take multiplayer features into serious consideration when making games. "Quake II" (1997), "Unreal" (1998) and "Half-Life" (1998) feature the next evolutionary step in the genre with continual progression of the game (no levels in the traditional sense) and an entirely in-person view, and become one of the most popular video games in history.
Five days before the first PS2 release for "Kanon", a PS2 printer called Tapis MPR-505 went on sale which enabled the user to print out game screens. "Kanon" was one of the three games supported at launch, the other two being "America Ōden Ultra Quiz" from DigiCube and "Marle de Jigsaw" from Nippon Ichi Software. The first PS2 release in 2002 was reviewed by the Japanese video game magazine "Famitsu" where the game received an overall score of 29/40 (out of the four individual review scores of 7, 8, 7, and 7). Yūichi Suzumoto commented in an interview in March 2001 that he felt the end of "Kanon"'s story could be summed up as "the prince and princess live happily ever after. The end," resulting in an ending that does not expand on what could possibly happen afterwards. In the October 2007 issue of "Dengeki G's Magazine", poll results for the 50 best bishōjo games were released. Out of 249 titles, "Kanon" ranked fifth with 71 votes.
The title was developed by PopCap Games in Vancouver, with the title's development being started in early 2012. The concept was envisioned by a team in publisher Electronic Arts, and PopCap incorporated the team into its own structure when they felt that the prototype the team had created suited their "Plants vs. Zombies" franchise. 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 game's original premise was to have the plants and the zombies fighting against each other, and the team came up with different gameplay possibilities such as making an open world or a single-player action game. Ultimately, the team wanted to make the title a multiplayer-focused game because they thought the randomness of multiplayer—playing with friends or strangers—make the title very fun to play. The team recruited employees who have experiences working on other shooters and action games, or those who had utilized the Frostbite engine, while also closely collaborating with EA DICE when they are iterating the game's technology.
On April 5, 2011, PopCap announced the creation of a new subsidiary, 4th and Battery, started in order to create "edgier" games. Their first creation was the game "Unpleasant Horse". On July 12, 2011, Electronic Arts announced it was acquiring PopCap for $650 million with an additional $100 million stock option.
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.
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.