Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk

Voting is open for the Zeebys’ People’s Choice Awards. On Thursday, July 24, 2008 at the Casual Connect Conference in Seattle, the Zeebys Awards will announce the winners. Lifetime Networks will record and broadcast the show on its Web site, myLifetime.com.

Joel Brodie, CEO of Gamezebo and founder of the Zeebys says that casual games is a $2.25 billion dollar a-year industry. The theme of this year’s Zeebys is “Casual Games Giving Back,” with 100% of all ticket sales benefiting the Zeebys’ official charity partner, Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation. Starlight is a nonprofit dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Tickets for the Zeebys Award Show cost $20.

The Zeebys reward the best in casual games as voted by the general public. From now through July 5, 2008, everyone may vote for the best casual games of 2007 by visiting http://www.zeebys.com/vote-2.php. There are two types of Zeebys Awards:

1. The People’s Choice Awards, which represent the best casual games of the year as voted by the people.
2. The Craft Awards, which reward excellence in game design itself as voted by peers in the Casual Games Association.

Nominations for the People’s Choice Awards have been chosen by members of the Casual Games Association, the largest membership-based association within the casual games industry. New People’s Choice categories to vote for this year include

• Best Hidden Object/Adventure
• Time Management
• Web Game

New Craft Award categories include Best Mobile, Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), and Social Networking Game. For more about the Zeebys, visit www.zeebys.com.