PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced the launch of Peggle for the iPhone and iPod touch. The game is available now for US $4.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch, or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. One of the most critically acclaimed “casual” video games of recent years, Peggle has been downloaded nearly 50 million times and appeals to gamers of all shapes and sizes.“Our new adaptation of Peggle for iPhone and iPod touch was truly a labor of love,” stated Andrew Stein, director of mobile business development at PopCap. “We spent huge amounts of time specifically optimizing this version of one of our favorite games to one of the world’s coolest devices, so that it was just right.”
Combining elements of pinball and pachinko, Peggle players fire a metallic silver ball from the top of the screen, relying on gravity to propel the ball downwards while it ricochets off unique arrangements of orange and blue pegs. The goal is to clear all the orange pegs from the screen, while earning as many points as possible, before running out of balls. A moving bucket at the bottom of the screen offers free balls, while green power-up pegs unlock special abilities via ten unique and memorable Peggle Masters who guide players through dozens of levels of gameplay challenges. Power-ups include explosive area-clearing blasts, lobster claws that serve as pinball-like flippers and “fireballs” that cut through all pegs in their path.
Exclusive to the iPhone and iPod touch versions of Peggle, the game boasts a host of specifically optimized features. These include a special ‘zoom’ feature for extra-accurate aiming, new types of style shots, a special aiming wheel for precision control, a new trophy system, and an enhanced UI to take advantage of the Touch and iPhone’s intuitive touch interface.
Since its first introduction in March 2007, the Peggle series has been downloaded more than 45 million times on the Web, and garnered more than a dozen awards from leading industry associations and trade journals. The game is now available for PC, Mac, Web, video iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone, 650 models of mobile feature phones and smartphones, Nintendo DS and Xbox Live Arcade.