Rovio announced that it was bringing the popular Facebook game, Angry Birds Friends, to mobile soon. The mobile version will have social integration –  allowing you to challenge your Facebook friends to  weekly tournaments, gather daily rewards, and send/receive gifts.

Angry Birds Friends boasts 15 million active users on Facebook, and the new app would reach iOS and Android users in the near future. This will be the first Facebook game from Rovio to go mobile.

Just yesterday, the company announced it generated $200 million in revenue in 2012- twice the amount from 2011.

Via Engadget

Google’s latest Chrome Experiment makes internet browsing a never ending maze game. The experiment transforms your favorite desktop website into a 3D maze that you can play with your smartphone, and it’s spectacularly addicting. To begin, just go to Chrome.com/maze and sync your phone to explore your 3D web.

If you really enjoyed World Wide Maze – check out some of Google’s other Chrome optimized experiments like Disney’s Find Your Way to Oz or Cirque Du Soleil. Read more

The makers of GamesStick have designed a gaming platform that can fit in your pocket but play games on your big screen television (video embedded above).

SocialTimes has the scoop:

GameStick is small enough to fit in your pocket—it looks almost like a mini USB flash drive. With over 4,374,746,304,000 televisions in the world and only 1 percent being used to play games, the developers of GameStick saw a need for a much more portable games console … Backed by the creator of Guitar Hero, GameStick can be used to play games in the Android ecosystem. According to the Kickstarter page, PlayJam has “identified 200 titles that will be great to play on GameStick but we are working with our network of over 250 developers including great studios such as Madfinger, Hutch, Disney and others to bring you the best line-up. What’s really cool is that the average cost of a game on GameStick will be just a few dollars and many will be free to play.”

In a clever advertising campaign, Old Spice has created an 8-bit video game featuring basketball star Dikembe Mutombo.

The video embedded above introduces the game–we’d love to see more interactive gaming like this instead of banner ads. Here’s more from AgencySpy:

Yes, this is the basis of a real-time, online 8-bit gaming experience from W+K for Old Spice dubbed “4 1/2 Weeks to Save the World,” which will have our hero embark on weekly globe-trotting missions based on current event and help prolong our lives on this planet. So far, from visiting the game play site alone, we gather that this week, Mutombo must stop Gangnam Style and encourage people to vote–might be a little late on that one–but hell, we’re 100 percent behind this mission. Along the way, we’ve met a Cosby sweater-adorning, intelligent talking bear and other odd characters all while trying to figure how the hell get out of level 1.

Read more

ZeptoLab, developer of the popular physics based iOS puzzle game Cut the Rope: Experiments, is branching out today. They’ve just announced a new series of short videos which will star Om Nom, the main character from Cut the Rope: Experiments.

The series will be called Om Nom Stories. They’re going to tell the story of OmNom after he comes to live with a boy named Evan. There will be 10 videos in all, and they will be posted to Youtube on a regular schedule (here is the first). You can also watch the videos from inside the app, which was updated today.

As you can see from the screenshot, the episodes will be made using a mix of live video and traditional animation, resulting in a video similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. ZeptoLabs has already announced that they are planning a second season of 40 episodes.

iTunes

Youtube

Atari has some great news today for anyone who fondly remembers this simulation game. According to Slide to Play, Atari plans to release new versions of Roller Coaster Tycoon next year.

This game was originally released in 1999.The goal is to run a number of theme parks. While rollercoasters are the headline attraction, the over all goal of the game was to build the park  that customers would want to come to, pay to ride games, and leave happy. It was a fairly complex simulation at the time it was released and had tasks for you to complete, optional R&D for new features, and you could even design your own rollercoasters. Read more

Playing games on a smartphone or tablet can be fun, but as any dedicated mobile gamer can tell you there are downsides to playing on a touchscreen. If you’re using a smartphone the screen is too small for you to see the controls as well as the rest of the game and if you’re playing on a tablet then your wrists tend to get sore if you play too long.

Thanks to iCade’s 8-Bitty, most if the issues will go away. Read more

Maxis reports that they are on schedule to release the latest installment in the 23-year-old franchise early next year, and today they released an early gameplay video to show fans what the new game looks like.

This new edition of SimCity looks quite a bit more sophisticated than the last one I played. Of course, that was SimCity 2000, and it came out 16 years ago now. While the basic concepts are similar, now everything is much more detailed. Each of the Sims in the City are modeled on a much more complicated level, and that’s going to make it a lot more fun to build and manage a city.

Earlier today Verizon unveiled Gametanium, their new subscription service for Android games.

The service covers 50 tablet games and 100 games for smartphones, including Doodle God, Fruit Ninja, Plans vs Zombies, and World of Goo. The cost is $6 a month, a fee which will be bundled with your Verizon Wireless account.

This sounds like a good deal, but like any Verizon offer you need to read the fine print.  The subscription is per device, not per account. For those of us with more than one Android device the cost will add up fast.

I’m also not convinced of the value. This service will cost $72 a year, and you could buy 30 or more games with that money.

via

Just in case you don’t have enough reasons to be on Facebook, the BBC has launched a new game. Read more