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Minecraft Pocket Edition building worlds in 700K pockets

We don't know if you guys knew this or not, but Minecraft is, like, super popular. Not only has the desktop version of the game reached 20 million registered users, but Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS and Android has broken the 700,000 sold barrier, according to Mojang's Daniel Kaplan.

Between iOS and Android versions, Mojang is selling around 5,000 copies per day, which is a pretty amazing feat considering the game costs $6.99 and has no crafting or survival elements. Well, not yet, anyway.
[photolinc via Shutterstock]

PSA: Soulcalibur now on iOS, is twelve freaking dollars

The Soul still burns a hole through your wallet.
Soulcalibur has finally arrived on iOS, meaning eager fans can keep the classic fighter on hand at all times. That is, if you're willing to part with enough cash to buy roughly a dozen other iOS titles. Yup, Soulcalibur will currently set you back $11.99 and it's on sale. The normal price will actually be $15.

For comparison's sake, the Xbox Live Arcade version costs $10 and features better graphics, more modes (like, an actual versus mode) and physical controls. There are more modes planned for the iOS version but ... really, fifteen dollars?

New Zynga titles struggle, analysts call for increase in daily active users

Zynga's two latest games, Hidden Chronicles and the iOS-only Scramble With Friends, have failed to accumulate the same daily active user (DAU) totals as two of the social giant's previous releases, Castleville or Empires and Allies. This spells big trouble for the company's trading value and future growth, at least according to a report released by financial analysis group Cowen and Company.

Hidden Chronicles' 12 day post-launch DAU total of 710,000 is well below the over 5 million DAU figure reached by Empires and Allies and Castleville during their first 12 days of existence; similarly, Scramble With Friends has failed to penetrate the Top 20 barrier on the App Store. Historically, Zynga's DAU totals peak 3 months after a game has been released (according to the report), and while it's possible that both Hidden Chronicles and Scramble With Friends could slowly acquire a larger user base, there's nothing in Zynga's statistical history to make that extremely plausible.

Now, 710,000 daily users sounds like a ton of people, but Zynga has set the bar so high that it's not enough to keep the company's overall growth even: "The quarterly rate of DAU decline for Zynga's titles that are at least three months old has averaged 18.4 percent per quarter for the last two years," explained Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company. "Assuming Zynga averages a 20 percent quarterly rate of decline for titles beyond their launch windows in 2012, the company must add 9-10 million DAUs per quarter from new games just to keep total DAUs constant."

So basically, any game Zynga releases in 2012 has to achieve at least 5 million daily users in order for the company's user base to break even. In other news, Zynga has constructed a super-sonic ultra-high-altitude aircraft to recover the bar it's accidentally set for itself in the exosphere.

Puzzlejuice summoned to App Store tomorrow

Greg Wohlwend, part of the team behind the amazing iOS version of Solipskier and the upcoming Ridiculous Fishing, has a new game coming to the App Store tomorrow. Puzzlejuice, a collaboration with Asher Vollmer, retains the neon color scheme of Solipskier, with a combination of falling-block and word gameplay.

We don't really understand it, but it appears that you direct Tetris-like blocks into a pile, then tap them to reveal letters, then select words within those groupings of letters. We look forward to figuring it out tomorrow, when the game will be released for $3.

Caverns of Minos offers minotaurs, Mothersheep through App Store



Jeff Minter's latest iOS installment doesn't directly involve goats, but it does bring back the illustrious minotaurs and disco-psychedelic flavor of classic Llamasoft style. Caverns of Minos has players grab minotaurs from the depths of vertical caverns to return them to the Mothersheep (yes, it's a giant, floating sheep), all in brilliant neon, old-school graphics.

Caverns of Minos is available now in the App Store for $1.99 from Minter's Llamasoft, which self-supposedly offers "the finest minotaur-rescuing games on the entire App Store."

Q.U.B.E. being prototyped for iOS, Mac and OnLive versions on the way

Not a PC owner? Take heart, because the folks behind the Indie Fund's first release, Q.U.B.E., are already hard at work on bringing the game to a platform more accessible to you. "We're currently prototyping an iOS version, and a Mac version has been in the works for two months now," Toxic Games managing director and co-founder Daniel Da Rocha told Joystiq by email earlier today. The game is also planned for an OnLive release in the not so distant future. "Hard to say right now, hopefully Q1 2012," Da Rocha said.

As for an Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network port of the already profitable game, that concept is a bit more nebulous. "We would love to go in that direction," Da Rocha told us. "It's all dependent on how well the PC version does." You heard him, folks! Get crackin'!

Scribblenauts Remix DLC adds 20 more levels to the mix

If you're done with all the built-in levels in Scribblenauts Remix ... you're probably some kind of genius. A Thesaurus Rex of a person. You're also the target audience for the 20 new levels 5th Cell just released. You can get them in-app for 99 cents.

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Another World 20th Anniversary Edition headed to Android

Another World
After bringing Another World 20th Anniversary Edition to iOS, developer DotEmu has announced that it will soon bring Eric Chahi's classic to Android devices as well. As with the iOS release of Another World (known as Out of This World in North America), the Android version will feature both original and enhanced graphics and (obviously) touch controls.

The Android version of Another World 20th Anniversary Edition should be available in "a few months." Assuming it's as good as the iOS port, Android owners are in for a real treat.

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Cliff Bleszinski to host GDC Awards, Schatz returns for IGF Awards

Planning to attend GDC? If you are, you'll get to see everyone's favorite design director of Epic Games, Cliff Bleszinski, host the 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, replacing Double Fine's Tim Schafer as host. The Independent Games Festival Awards is kicking it old-school with 2007-2009's host, Andy Schatz of Monaco, winner of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Design awards in 2010's IGF.

Peruse the list of finalists for both award shows right here, and look for winners to be announced March 7 from GDC.

PSA: Call of Duty Elite app now available on Android Market

Call of Duty Elite is now available on the Android Market, for free. The Android version comes one week after the iOS launch but offers the same unprecedented ability to check your stats, review recent matches and update your in-game loadout from your phone. Elite on your Android device could make lunch lines, bus rides, work breaks, and long, fast car rides on busy freeways much more entertaining (OK, not that last one).

Beachhead Studios head Chacko Sonny sees the initial mobile launch of Elite as a wonderful opportunity to get feedback from the community, so don't hold back -- not that you would, but now you have permission.

[Thanks, Lance V.]

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