Does anyone remember the Goosebumps episode/book where two siblings investigate their "father's" weird behavior and come to find out that a plant-zombie-fertilizer eating-crazy-human-thing tied their real dad up in the basement? Well, playing Plants vs. Zombies made me think of that.ANYWAY, I'm not much of a gamer so I didn't spend too much time with this activity. Plus, I already checked it out when I walked into my roommates room - aka the hardcore gamer addict man cave - and he had just downloaded it on his Xbox.
The most interesting part about Plants vs. Zombies, to me, is how it is rapidly diffusing through society as a game for both hardcore players and casual players alike. Not only that, but people are actually paying to play this game!? Wild. Maybe it's because I don't play a lot of video games other than Call of Duty or NCAA Football, but it wasn't that addicting. The fact that this game is a cultural phenomenon that continues attracting new players and more attention everyday amazes me. PopCap is clearly doing an excellent job of marketing the game and making it accessible to everyone by distributing versions for the iPhone, iPad, handheld gaming devices and more.
It's also interesting that while I was playing the game it felt like I was back in 8th grade hanging out on www.addictinggames.com or www.coffeebreakarcade.com. These two sites offer similar games, but PopCap has clearly come a long way since then.
The three biggest problems I had with Plants vs. Zombies:
1. I'm not very good, especially when the major waves of zombies come.
2. Learning how to buy the seed packs from the neighbor dude, plant the seed packs, obtain sunlight and cultivate the front and backyards, etc took me a little while. The learning curve for a non-gamer wasn't excessive, but time consuming nonetheless.
3. Lastly, I see some potential barriers to entry for this game. After the free trial download you have to pay for it and there are some specific download requirements in order to play.
In the end, I'd rather rewatch Stay Out of the Basement than play Plants vs. Zombies.
That goosebumps is classic. I liked Plants vs Zombies even though I'm not a gamer either, but I got hard during big waves of zombies. I thought killing zombies with plants was an interesting take on the zombie myth or genre. But I agree, I would rather rewatch Stay Out of the Basement than play Plants vs.Zombies.
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