PopCap launches 4th & Battery games label for Facebook, iPhone, & PC games

While PopCap may be known as the developer behind some of the most polished (and popular) PC, mobile, and Facebook games released to date (just take a look at Bejeweled Blitz for one example, which is in the finals of our March Madness Facebook game showdown), all of that time spent fine-tuning just a few games leaves the company's employees with a need to blow off some creative steam.

In come Ed Allard, Executive Vice President of Studios at PopCap to announce 4th & Battery, the company's new small games label that will be creating games for all manner of platforms, including PC, iPhone, and even Facebook games. The label's first announced game is Unpleasant Horse, and while it might be a mobile game, it does give us an idea of just how much "weirdness" (that's a quote) we can expect from this new division. Unpleasant Horse follows, you guessed it, a very unpleasant horse that has wings and destroys small birds or lands on other horses, sending them into the ground into a meat grinder. Doing this will reward you with extra points and "special bonuses." Obviously, the game will be meant for mature audiences, but it will be released for free later this month on the Apple App Store for all who are interested.

Jason Kapalka, CCO at PopCap, gives more of an explanation as to what to expect from 4th & Battery, via a company press release.

    "4th & Battery is a purely experimental, creative label with none of the typical concerns like schedules, profitability, or even target audience. It's kind of the video game equivalent of B-sides or short films. Expect weirdness."

While no announcements have been made as to when an "experimental" new game will be coming to Facebook, we'll make sure to stay on top of things and let you know when that changes.

What do you think of the concept of the 4th & Battery games label? Are you looking forward to seeing what outlandish, creative titles these normally reserved developers can come up with?

The Cat's Eye Gem (and more) blast Bejeweled Blitz for iPhone, iPad

Come on, don't act as if you haven't seen a cat on your iPhone before--these phones were built for sharing "lolcat" pictures. (Apple should just bake the function right into iOS 5 already.) PopCap has updated Bejeweled Blitz with three powerful, familiar Rare Gems from the Facebook game: Phoenix Prism, Moon Stone and ... the Cat's Eye Gem!

Finally, we have the freedom to witness a cat fire lasers from its eyes on the go, too. Honestly, does anyone play for high scores? Of course, just higher scores to get the Cat's Eye Gem to appear, though. Yes, they cost an astronomical amount of Coins to harvest, but the 100,000 Coins PopCap awarded to players for dealing with recent game outages should pay for a few of those.

Besides, could you seriously pass up Anchovy, Snackers' mobile mechanical counterpart? (Really, this cat looks badass.) PopCap teases a future debate between the two mutant felines, but we predict yet another hilarious video. In other words, color us excited on many levels.
Bejeweled Blitz Phoenix Prism

Click here to download Bejeweled Blitz for iOS Now >

[Source: PopCap]

[Image Credit: PopCap, Apple]

Have you found any of the brand new Rare Gems yet in the game? Are you as psyched for the next PopCap comedy skit as I am?