PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies for Android is free on Amazon today

For lack of a better word: yay. The deservedly-famous Plants vs. Zombies from PopCap is available now on Android. Better yet, it's free! That's right, download the game through Amazon and pay absolutely nothing for the next 12 hours or so. This cool deal, which you can find right here, comes from a promotion PopCap orchestrated with the online retailer to release the Android edition of this hit game. It's not until after two weeks that PvZ will be available anywhere else than Amazon. Even if you miss the free WiFi-only download today, it'll only cost $2.99 after that, which ain't bad at all for one of the best pocket games, um, ever.

Update: PopCap also reminded us in a press release that an update to the iPhone version of PvZ will go live on June 2.

[Via Twitter]

[Image Credit: PopCap]

Have you picked up your free PvZ for Android yet? Which method of download do you prefer for your Android games?

ESRB soon gets to say, 'You must be this old to play this iPhone game'

With this bit of news, you're mileage may vary. This could be either the most depressing or comforting news you hear all day, dependent upon your age. The ESRB, or the Entertainment Software Rating Board, will roll out a content ratings system for iOS and Android. IndustryGamers reports that the ESRB will have help from the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.

The new system will standardize video game and app ratings across iOS and Android devices, which is admittedly a fragmented mess at the moment. While the App Store allows developers to choose ratings based on age, the Android Market features ratings with wording from "Everyone" to "High Maturity." With this system, mobile game creators would have to submit their games to the ESRB--just like they do with console and PC games--in order to receive a rating.

According to IndustryGamers, the ESRB has rated over 21,000 games since its inception in 1994. With the amount of games that hit the App Store and Android Market every week, that number is about to skyrocket. How this system will be enforced once employed is unknown, which is certainly a concern considering the amount of parents that let little Mary Sue play with the iPad.

Are you relieved or annoyed that mobile games are about to get their own standardized ratings system? How could the ESRB enforce such a system on the App Store and Android Market?

Zynga Mobile Chief: Mobile is a 'new social gaming frontier'

Everyone else is right there with ya, big red. During an interview with The Guardian, Zynga Mobile SVP David Ko said, "We believe that mobile represents a new social gaming frontier. We've always said we want Zynga to be the best content creators in the world, and we are platform agnostic." More and more Zynga fans expect to play its games on their phones and tablets, which wasn't exactly where CEO Mark Pincus's heart was many moons ago.

Regardless of whether Zynga has been creating mobile games since Zynga Poker hit iOS devices in 2008, it was only the advent of Facebook Connect that motivated the company to dig deeper into the platform. From that we got games like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown, neither of which are feature-complete versions of their Facebook counterparts. (The latter of which is a different game entirely.)

Now, The Guardian reports that Zynga is looking to take advantage of mobile devices' key features like cameras and accelerometers in future games. And tablets appear to be a big deal in Zynga HQ--Ko told The Guardian the company was "very bullish" on the idea. And HTML5, the emergent web coding language that's been touted as the proverbial messiah for cross-platform social gaming, is something Ko admits the company is interested in.

"HTML5 is interesting, although I do feel it is early," Ko told The Guardian. "With those acquisitions, you can see into our thinking in this area a little bit." (Ko there is referring to companies like Newtoy and Dextrose.) Zynga already released one game through HTML5: Mafia Wars Atlantic City.

However, HTML5 games have yet to achieve the complexity of, say, Hanging With Friends, which Zynga just released on Android devices. Regardless, all eyes--including Zynga's--are on those 4-inch screens that rarely leave your side. And with companies as unlikely as Capcom making buku bucks on mobile games, you can bet Zynga is a' hustlin'.

Are you waiting for more mobile games from Zynga? What would you like to see the developer do next on smartphones? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment