Many say that mobile platforms will eventually get so popular that dedicated mobile consoles such as the Nintendo 3DS and Sony PSP just won’t be able to compete. While we haven’t seen this put into full effect just yet many different mobile software developers are doing what they can to help this along. PopCap is one developer who has many different titles available for the various mobile platforms including Apple’s iOS which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

One of their more popular games, Plants vs. Zombies, has managed to impress both in terms of gameplay and sales numbers but it doesn’t look as if PopCap is looking to slow up with the game just yet. Just today, PopCap sent out a message via Twitter letting us know that Plants vs. Zombies will be coming to the Android mobile platform at some point in the next couple of months.

Seeing how Android has grown to be one of the most used mobile platforms this is sure to boost sales of the game dramatically. We’ll have to wait and see how things turn on.

Available on the Android Market for quite some time was a PlayStation emulator. Quite obviously, this application allowed consumers to download PlayStation ROMs (games) and then play them on their phone essentially turning it into a portable PlayStation 1. The only problem? Google has just pulled the application from the Android Market saying nothing more than that they remove applications that go against their policies. But what was the application pulled after being on the Android Market for so long?

Many have hypothesized that the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is to blame. If you’ve been following this device you’ll already know what it is but if not it’s essentially a typical smartphone with a  slide-out gamepad complete with d-pay, touch sensitive analog stocks and face buttons. Sony is going to be backing the Xperia Play pretty heavily with some specialized games – probably some of which were available for free with the above mentioned PlayStation emulator.

On that note, anyone looking to grab an Xperia Play?

The various mobile platforms currently on the market have become so successful that some analysts have said that they will eventually go on to phase out dedicated mobile consoles such as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. While we’ve yet to see such a thing happen it’s no secret that platforms like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are becoming quite popular with hit titles such as Angry Birds.

However, the developers of these platforms aren’t looking to slow their revenue creating abilities just yet. In fact, it was just announced today that Google will be giving Android users the ability to make in-app purchases at some point next week. In other words, if you’re playing a game that requires something like energy that replenishes over time (a la FarmVille, CityVille, etc.) you will soon be able to waste money on refilling that energy bar without ever leaving the app. Oh joy!

Check out more information here.

Angry Birds is one of the most popular mobile games on the market with such hype that a recent leak of a special level has emergered. However, Rovio, the game’s developers, are looking to keep things fresh with a brand new level dubbed ‘Ham Em High.

‘Ham Em High will feature 30 brand new western themed levels featuring the same classic Angry Birds game play we’ve all come to know and love. Also included in the pack are new some bonus items and the ability to toggle the graphics quality for underpowered devices.

Sounds pretty good to me. Check out the download in the Android Market now.

via androidcommunity

According to a new report, Google has acquire casual game developer Slide for an estimated $190 million. Slide is the developer of several casual games, including SuperPoke. Google is strengthening their Google Games project, after recently investing over $100 million in Zynga.

According to SlyVisions, Google has secretly invested $100 million into social game company Zynga. Zynga are the makers of the popular FarmVille and MafiaWars, among other Facebook games. Zynga has been valued at almost $4 billion, making it the most valued independent game company in the world.

It seems that Google has just signed former game technology consultant Mark DeLoura as their resident game developer advocate. No, Google isn’t entering the console market (yet) but they do want to ramp up the game’s that will be/are available for their various platforms be it Android, Chrome OS or even their O3D web API.

DeLoura’s job at Google will involve linking potential game developers up with the information and tools they need to succeed.

We wish him the best of luck!

via joystiq

If you’re currently in South Korea with a Google Android powered device you better get ready for some bad news — Due to conflicts with the South Korean government, Google is being forced to remove every single game from the Android Marketplace. The reason for this being that the South Korean doesn’t want any games made available that they haven’t rated beforehand.

Pretty lame but Apple was forced to do the same not too long ago.

via gizmodo

Google has found its way into pretty much every market imaginable but one it hasn’t touched is the video game market. Now, it seems that Nintendo, Shift and Google will be teamping up to release a game called And Kensaku that is powered by the search engine giant.

Siliconera tells us that the game will utilize 10,000 Google search terms and trends and then will have players going head-to-head to see who can guess which search terms are more popular.

Sounds kind of lame if you ask me but it’s still cool to see Google in a video game.

It seems that sometime last week an easter egg was found on Google’s homepage which you can see above. Look familiar? It should as it’s the mark of the Triforce found in the ever popular Zelda franchise.

It seems that this is the work of Zelda superfan/Google artist Susis Sahim who was tasked with designing some logos for Google. Instead of producing said logos, Sahim decided to slip in the Triforce image which was then promptly removed sometime after.

Let’s hope that Google can find the humor in this instead of giving Sahim the boot.

via Destructoid