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The word "free" is a funny thing, isn't it? If you think it means getting something without spending money on it, then we guess a new promotion that allows you to get Peggle Nights for yourself or a family member just by signing up for PopCap's newsletter is pretty darn free.

But if you think "free" means "without cost," "without sacrifice" or "without having to miss out on your kid's piano recital because that last orange peg is just sitting there mocking you," then Peggle Nights is just about the least "free" game you can find.

It's all in your perspective.

[Via Big Download]

With yesterday's announcement from Apple of its much hyped "latest creation" -- the iPad -- and the news that already existing iPhone applications (that means games too, folks) will be playable on the device, we started wondering how the developers of the world felt about this shiny new piece of gadgetry. So we asked a handful of our favorites -- Canabalt's Adam "Atomic" Saltsman, Pocket God's Dave Castelnuovo, and PopCap's Andrew Stein, just to namedrop a few -- to give us their reactions.

"It's hard to say anything concrete without actually playing with the thing personally, but I'm optimistic about it continuing to open up video games to even more 'normal' people," Saltsman told us. "I'm hopeful that having a big multitouch space will help mediate the whole 'fat fingers on a tiny screen' problem." PopCap's Andrew Stein agreed, telling us "We'll certainly look at the unique capabilities of the iPad and work hard to utilize those in instances where they can make our games even more fun."

Republic of Fun prez Mike Rasmussen sees things a bit differently, noting the opportunity in the upped horsepower of the device. "From a pure gaming perspective, I'm excited about the additional resolution and horsepower, and really interested to start understanding the 3D performance of the A4 [chip]." But even the most successful app developer on the market -- Pocket God creator Dave Castelnuovo -- seems a bit reticent of the iPad, telling us he sees "a lot of potential with the device," but his company is going to "wait to see what kind of acceptance the tablet will have" before moving forward with development.

But that's not all! See the full reactions from a variety of iPhone game developers after the break.

If you've been sitting on your duff, waiting for a chance to pick up a digital copy of Plants vs. Zombies or Peggle, you might just want to take the plunge at some point today. No, none of the developer's titles are temporarily discounted -- rather, for one day only, all monies spent on any of the games in PopCap's store will go directly to Partners in Health; an organization that's currently working to help Haiti recover from the catastrophic earthquake it suffered earlier this week.

It's a pretty generous promotion from the casual gaming juggernaut -- but it's only running until midnight. Get to shopping, Joystiq Biomass!

And here we thought PopCap was quite the expert dealer, allowing people to try Peggle for free, then charging when users inevitably came running back for another hit of the sweet stuff. Instead, the casual games giant has just revealed it's going to offer free bonus content for Peggle Nights, the sequel to its first Peggle game.

The "Art Contest" level pack features five brand-new levels, based on submissions in the Peggle Art Contest from early last year. These new levels can be played in both the Quick Play and Duel modes, and are also the basis for five new challenges in Challenge mode.

If you're looking for a fix, you can cram these levels in your pipe and smoke 'em by heading over to PopCap's site here.

You've probably got plenty of games from the present-receiving ceremony of your holiday of choice -- unfortunately, they're all about to get brutally neglected. Casual gaming juggernaut PopCap is offering 15 of its games for half-price; for most of these titles, that knocks the cost down to $9.95. Sadly, there won't be any opportunities to sink time into that still-fresh copy of Dragon Age: Origins once Peggle Nights snaps its colorful, unrelenting jaws down onto you.

Game-related startup companies raised $600 million throughout 2009, according to GamesBeat's analysis. And while $600 million is a lot of money if you're, say, trying to sell a shooter based on the art of modern warfare, it's not quite that much when you're an up-and-coming game developer. Total investments in the field were actually down by 36% since last year. That's not a bubble bursting, but it does mean that startup investors might be a little more careful with their money in the year to come.

The biggest winners in the scene include Zynga, makers of Mafia Wars and a few other popular Facebook titles, who nabbed a big $180 million investment from a Russian technology company, and Playdom. You may not have played Sorority Life, the company's MySpace hit, but Lightspeed Venture Partners must have, because it invested $43 million in the company. If there's a theme here, it's social networking and online games: PopCap is probably the highest traditional game developer on the list, but even its $22.5 million investment was marked for putting its games on the web, mobile platforms, and social networks. Of course, that pull doesn't include the buck we gave them for Peggle.

	0 Platinum 1 Gold 6 Silver 8 Bronze	Difficulty: Very Difficult Online Trophies? Yes Time to Completion: 20 hours DLC Trophies? Yes* *Trophies requiring DLC are highlighted in yellow.
	View Trophy List	Read More About the Game

Here's a little reminder that there are three, count 'em three, Xbox Live Deals of the Week this week, just in time for Thanksgiving. Up for grabs are the Fable II "See the Future" DLC, Peggle and Death Tank. Peggle is now half price at 400, "See the Future" drops from 560 ($7) to 400 ($5), while Death Tank takes a precipitous tumble from 1200 ($15) to 800 ($10).

We'll also take this time to remind everyone that this week is the perfect time to snag both Peggle and the recently released Peggle Nights expansion all for 800 ($10). Trust us, Peggle is the perfect thing to calm the inevitable family arguments over the holidays. Just don't let grandma anywhere near it, because she will not give it back.

Add See the Future to your 360 download queue
Add Death Tank to your 360 download queue
Add Peggle to your 360 download queue

Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend and the beginning of the holiday season, Microsoft has revealed the upcoming additions to Games on Demand and Deals of the Week. On November 23, Games on Demand will see three new entries, Saints Row 2, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and Battlefield: Bad Company.

The same week, there will actually be three Deals of the Week. The Fable II DLC "See the Future," normally 560 ($7) will be knocked down to 400 ($5). Meanwhile, Death Tank, usually 1200 ($15), will be reduced to 800 ($10). As The best deal, however, will be the excellent puzzler Peggle, which will shoot from 800 ($10) to 400 ($5). Pair that with the recently released Peggle Nights expansion (400), and you've got a lot of sweet, sweet Peggle for only $10.

As revealed earlier, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will the Deal of the Week starting November 30. It will be reduced from 400 ($5) to 240 ($3).

"A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that is is the year 10191. The known universe is ruled by the Emperor Björn the Super Guide. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the Peggle. The Peggle extends life. The Peggle expands consciousness. The Peggle is vital to space travel. PopCap Games and its designers, who the Peggle has mutated over 8000 years, use the frequency emitted by the dropping balls across pegs to fold space. That is, travel to any part of the universe without moving. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The Peggle exists ... everywhere, it is all around us, sniff it up and fold some space... wheeeeeeeee! Check out the full PSN update after the break." -- Princess Tula Sunflower

[Thanks to @Colossalblue for answering the call of photochop duty!]

With the exception of Tetris, Blast Corps and Mischief Makers, Peggle is arguably the best game ever created. This Thursday, November 19, PS3 owners will be able to find out why, thanks to the simultaneous release of Peggle and Peggle Nights on the PlayStation Network.

Sure, it's been a long time coming, but the PS3 will have one exclusive feature to make up for the delayed release: Built-in YouTube support. With this feature, players will be able to upload and share replays directly from the PS3. If you've played Peggle before, you know you're bound to have some "OMG did that really happen" moments you'll want to save forever.

Here's how the sausage of video game news gets made: ShackNews reports that the Peggle Nights DLC will arrive on XBLA this Wednesday, November 18. The DLC is a $5 addition to XBLA Peggle, adding sixty-something levels to the game classified in several countries as a controlled substance.

Double-checking with Peggle developer PopCap, the company hasn't officially announced the date in a release and is optimistic that Nights will be available this Wednesday. Checking with Microsoft, the company is "looking into it." So, yeah, there's no reason to doubt anyone, but there doesn't seem to be an affirmation of Peggle Nights' release this week.

Peggle, after releasing pretty much everywhere else to critical acclaim, came out on Xbox Live Arcade this March, to additional critical acclaim, thanks to its new multiplayer modes. Now Peggle fans intent on either playing the game only on Xbox or on buying every Peggle release will have something else to look forward to as PopCap has announced the XBLA release of the sequel, Peggle Nights, coming by way of an XBLA expansion for the original Peggle.

Like other releases of Peggle Nights, the XBLA version includes a new Peggle Master named Marina, 60 new levels, and 60 new challenges and will be available to all Peggle players as a Title Update. Most importantly to some status-obsessed gamers, Peggle Nights will include three new Achievements, worth a total of 50 points.

Peggle Nights will be available sometime this fall for an undisclosed price.

PopCap Games, which modestly labels itself as producer of "broadly appealing" games, has announced the hiring of Robert Chamberlain as Chief Financial Officer. Chamberlain, who replaces interim CFO Karla Horwitz on August 31, 2009, will oversee the giant mountain of cash kept in the company's backlot and comically scamper after bills should a strong gust of wind allow them to escape.

Though we jest, Mr. Chamberlain's 30 years of experience as a finance executive are sure to serve him well in his new role. And just imagine the incredible resolve and concentration required to get any work done inside the Peggle factory!

So, Blizzard and PopCap have teamed up create 10 World of Warcraft-themed Peggle levels, which you can grab now for no money whatsoever. Exciting news? Maybe. But we can't help but wonder at what point the DEA needs to step in and start regulating this kind of stuff.

Like, this is is a combination of Peggle ... and World of Warcraft. At what point does, "Oh, sweetie, you're so addicted to Peggle! <giggle>" become, "You just blacked out on the keyboard for the 17th time, and I'm leaving you for Tracy and taking the kids with me"?