PopCap, Square Enix team up for puzzling RPG: Gyromancer

Square Enix announced Gyromancer for Xbox LIVE Arcade and Steam today. Gyromancer is a new puzzle-RPG developed in collaboration between Square Enix and PopCap. The game promises a blend of puzzle elements from the PopCap Games puzzle hit Bejeweled Twist and the RPG acumen of Square Enix, Gyromancer is an all-new experience that hopes to redefine the puzzle-RPG genre. Of course Puzzle Quest currently holds that distinction.

In the game players assume the role of a summoner named Rivel, ventures through the enchanted Aldemona Wood. Each stage contains its own set of objectives, from defeating beasts that block the player’s way, to solving puzzles before time runs out. Rivel can learn to summon dozens of the creatures he encounters, and commanding them in battle. Hidden within each stage are a number of rewards earned for completing certain tasks, though finding them all won’t be easy.

The game’s battle system is based on the popular puzzle game Bejeweled Twist and offers 50 monsters to summon, hidden objects to be found, and an online ranking system.

A release date is to be determined.

EA, Activision Dominate Jan. PC Charts

NPD Group retail numbers are in for January 2008, and while we don’t have a head count for the number of units sold, it appears that Activision and Electronic Arts continue to dominate the top twenty in North America. Activision had 9 of the top twenty games in January with various The Sims 2 and Spore products, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 - and Left 4 Dead which it distributes for Valve Software.

Activision had six titles on January’s charts including a number of World of Warcraft products, Call Of Duty: World At War and the StarCraft Battle Chest.

Bethesda’s Fallout 3 managed to break in to the top ten, and Take-Two’s Civilization IV landed at number twelve. the rest of the top twenty was comprised of budget titles like PopCap’s Bejeweled Twist, Masque Publishing’s IGT Slots: Little Green Men, and Phantom EFX’s Reel Deal Slots BlackBeard’s Revenge. Full list after the jump

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PopCap Donates Bejeweled Twist to Overseas Military

PopCap Games announced today that it will ship the first 500 boxed, retail copies of its new release, Bejeweled Twist to the non-profit Games For Soldiers organization tomorrow. GFS will deliver the boxed copies of the game to armed services personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan in time for soldiers in the field to enjoy it during the holiday season. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, Bejeweled Twist will hit retail shelves next Tuesday.

“We really appreciate PopCap’s generous contribution – one of several the company has made to our organization – and are ramping up to distribute copies of Bejeweled Twist to soldiers in the field by mid-December, just in time for the holidays,” said Jesse Williams, founder of Games For Soldiers and Army National Guard soldier who returned home from a deployment to Afghanistan earlier this year. “So-called ‘casual’ games like Bejeweled, Peggle and Zuma are hugely popular with military personnel of all ages, ranks and backgrounds. These games lend themselves to the occasional and haphazard ‘down time’ common to military life in combat areas, and provide some distraction and even stress relief in what are often high-adrenaline and/or high anxiety environments.”

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