Bejeweled 3 Launch Party: Tea and Good Manners

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Bejeweled 3 Launch Party: Tea and Good Manners


PopCap Games has put the world on notice that Bejeweled 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Bejeweled-3-Mac/dp/B0047SIUZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291684455&sr=8-1] is coming with the most hard-rocking, take-no-prisoners game launch tea party ever held in the living room of a middle-aged British mother of two.

Launch parties are always fun, especially themed events that go all-out to immerse attendees in the ambiance of the game, like the recent PopCap [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103924-Win-a-Trip-to-Vegas-With-Bethesdas-New-Vegas-Sweepstakes] went all-out to give it the most unique and appropriate blowout of all.

A survey of 2000 casual gamers in the U.K. drew a mostly-serious conclusion that the average Bejeweled player is "a 43-year-old married mum called Sue with two grown up children who counts watching Midsomer Murders and playing on her own games console as among her favorite pastimes." With that in mind, PopCap launched the game in the U.K. with a get-together attended by a Women's Institute secretary, a grandmother, a Welsh librarian, a "glamorous banker," a trendy dad and several others, held at the home of a mother of two where tea was served and Bejeweled 3 was played.

The new game's most "unique and interesting" feature, according to Stress Management Society [http://blog.games.com/2010/12/06/popcap-launches-bejeweled-3/] member and launch party attendee Neil Shah.

It's all a bit silly and tongue-in-cheek, but don't be too quick to dismiss it as lightweight fluff. Since its debut ten years ago, the Bejeweled franchise has sold more than 50 million units, and PopCap claims that a new copy is sold every 4.3 seconds. That, my friends, is a whole lot o' tea.

Bejeweled 3 comes out on December 7 for the PC and Mac.


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Eri

The Light of Dawn
Feb 21, 2009
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I sure love Bejeweled, but they chose the worst possible date to come out unfortunately.
 

Glutnix

Splody McSploderson
Nov 21, 2009
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♫ There ain't no party like a PopCap tea party! Hey! Ho! ♫
 

seekeroftruth86

New member
Nov 20, 2010
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I still play the second one on my iPhone. I never played the first one. Highest level I got was to level 10. Then I ran out of moves.

Looks interesting, gonna have to take a look.

And that party looks hardcore.
 

Bre2nan

New member
Nov 18, 2010
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What's everyones problem with the release date? Sure, it's coming out the same day as Cataclysm, but it seems like there's not that much overlap between people who play WoW and people who play Bejeweled. Also, release date does not matter that much for the average Bejeweled player, they usually don't keep track of this stuff as much as your average "hardcore" gamer does. They'll just buy it when they find it, or someone else will buy it for them as a Christmas present.
 

BonsaiK

Music Industry Corporate Whore
Nov 14, 2007
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Jiraiya72 said:
I sure love Bejeweled, but they chose the worst possible date to come out unfortunately.
Dude, the release date is perfect. Same day as WOW:Cataclysm. Brilliant, I'd be willing to bet they planned it deliberately. Think about the implications of the release date for a minute. No, really think about it. Bejeweled 3 is going to smash sales records this time around, and it'll be partly because of the release date. You heard it here first.
 

Eri

The Light of Dawn
Feb 21, 2009
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Andy Chalk said:
Jiraiya72 said:
I sure love Bejeweled, but they chose the worst possible date to come out unfortunately.
What's so bad about it?
Cata. Clysm.
Bre2nan said:
people who play WoW and people who play Bejeweled.
<---
But also, even if there isn't much overlap, it still would have helped them more had they not launched it on the same day. Even if they sell a crapton, which I'm sure they will, they would have sold more if they had just released a day or two earlier.
 

Lono Shrugged

New member
May 7, 2009
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I think it's kinda pretty good. Sure everyone will be cracking foxy that it's a very cheap marketing stunt to appeal to their demographic but I think it's swell that these guys are making games open to a wide audience which is what a lot of folks on this site have been whistling about.

I mean I'm going to mail this least 2 people over 40 who will enjoy the idea of a blockbuster game company having a very personal launch that does not alienate anyone really.
 

Plinglebob

Team Stupid-Face
Nov 11, 2008
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Andy Chalk said:
Jiraiya72 said:
I sure love Bejeweled, but they chose the worst possible date to come out unfortunately.
What's so bad about it?
Can't you imagine the headlines?

Wife Killed Over Computer Game Argument
Fred (37) was arrested earlier today for murdering his wife for not getting off the PC. "I wanted to try for level 85 today" Fred told police, "but the stupid woman wouldn't stop playing Bejewelled so I got her off the PC the only way I could.
 

Tharwen

Ep. VI: Return of the turret
May 7, 2009
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Interesting...

Does anyone know how much it costs? Strangely, the PopCap website has no information on it.

EDIT: Actually, I may be wrong there. However, I can't tell since the Bejeweled 3 page 404'd on me.
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Heh. Overlap or not, Bejeweled is one of those games with a ridiculously long tail, so even if it gets hammered by Cata today (which I rather doubt) it won't have any real impact on sales. Was it intentional? We'll probably never know, but given the tongue-in-cheek approach PopCap appears to be taking with the launch I wouldn't be surprised. And it's not as though PopCap and Blizzard aren't exactly strangers:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91181-Peggle-Invades-World-of-Warcraft [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91181-Peggle-Invades-World-of-Warcraft]

Good fun, eh?