Xbox 360 is a prerequisite for these item. But they also make great gifts, so don't let that stop you.

See, I love my time at the arcade, but you don’t always feel like going out to play, especially in the rainy season. At home, you may not have as many multiplayer, cooperative gaming options available. Here are a couple of great choices!

Bejeweled 3 for Xbox 360 is not only a terrific game in its own right, the disk version also includes Bejeweled Blitz Live, which is a really fun way to spend time with someone you care about. I’ve spent hours with good friends, alternately winning and losing rounds, talking smack and laughing like crazy as we make gems explode.

Plants vs. Zombies for Xbox 360 has the first-ever co-op mode in a PopCap game, and it’s a great choice if you want to sneak a love of gaming past the skeptical or snooty misgivings of a friend or partner who’s been reluctant to try it out. Even better, it also includes Peggle, the simplest form of radiant delight the world has ever known. (And if that sounds like hyperbole, you haven’t played Peggle.)

So that’s my holiday shopping list from PopCap!  What about you?

Rather than waste valuable brain cells that we could otherwise be devoting to Solitaire Blitz this morning by writing our own take on what this update includes, we’ll just resort to ye olde Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V and let the Bejeweled team tell you themselves:

New game update — Bejeweled now has Butterflies!

No, the game isn’t nervous. It has a fascinating new game mode! Butterfly gems appear at the bottom of the board and move up a space every turn. The hungry spider at the top of the board is waiting to catch any butterfly it can — so you’ll need to match butterflies or use special gems to free them. How many butterflies can you save?

Butterflies mode tips:
• Don’t waste moves matching butterflies that are already aligned to match up.
• Try to match as many butterflies as possible in one match for a super score combo!
• Take your time and think it through, Butterflies will test your powers of forethought to the maximum of your ability.

Share the fun
There’s now a simple way for you to gift Bejeweled to a friend — right from inside the App.

New Badges
We just added two new achievement badges. Can you earn them?

That’s it for this update. As always, we’re constantly looking for ways to bring you more Bejeweled fun. We hope you enjoy the game!

Woot–there it is! So go get the update, because it’s free! Because we love you! (And we were just kidding about Solitaire Blitz, by the way. We’d never play games during the work day, because that would be totally irresponsible and bad overall for the world economy.)

For Matt H., Senior Artist on hit games like Bejeweled 3, Peggle Nights and Feeding Frenzy 2, just drawing random things gets his juices flowing. “Fan art, megaman, old cars – anything that sounds fun, even if it’s off-task. It will usually get the brain going for me.” Guy W., Audio Director and mastermind behind the music in our newly launched Solitaire Blitz game, finds inspiration running trails with his dog Murphy, meditation, yoga and writing music for himself.

Taking walks and listening to music are my antidote to writer’s block (unfortunately standing in front of the refrigerator is less effective, as I keep reminding myself). I have some favorite go-to tunes and I love discovering new pieces that inspire me. This morning I found a phenomenal finger-style guitar version of Laura Shigihara’s music from Plants vs. Zombies that someone sent me. Just awesome! Maybe it will inspire you too.

If only I could listen to that while I stand in front of the refrigerator!

Now it’s your turn! Tell us what YOU do to get your creative juices goin’. Post it on our Facebook page and we’ll keep sharing more tips from folks here.

Valentine’s Day is coming up… and whether you’re in a relationship or not, we have the perfect match for you: Bejeweled 3.

Instead of the usual Valentine’s Day gifts — flowers, chocolate, dinners — celebrate the holiday by buying yourself a nice present — Bejeweled 3 at half off!

The game has 8 different modes and depending on your mood, you can relax with Zen mode, challenge yourself in Quest or match brilliant gems in Classic mode.

From now until February 14, Bejeweled 3 is 50% off. So, save some money (and calories) and grab Bejeweled 3 for only $9.95 now.

Hello procrastinating gift-givers! Don’t worry, I’m right there with you. Thankfully, there’s still time, and this last-minute shopping experience is perfectly suited for today’s gift guide: the thrill-seeker!

Zuma’s Revenge! PC/Mac — Iron Frog Mode

If you think regular Zuma is hard — Iron Frog is the ultimate Zuma challenge. First, this mode is only unlocked after completing Adventure Mode so you’ve got to have some skills before you can even get here. Once there, Iron Frog mode only gives you one life and challenges you to beat 10 levels in a row. Yep, 10 levels without dying once. The adrenaline junkie in your life will love it.

Bejeweled 3 for PC/Mac — Diamond Mine Mode

If you’re familiar with Bejeweled Blitz, Diamond Mine is very similar to this — except you’re given the extra challenge of playing with half of the board. The lower part of the board is filled with rocks and you have to match gems next to the rocks in order to clear more space and add extra time. The board will continue to move up as well, so you’ll have to match quickly and strategically to play Diamond Mine!

P.S. You can also play this mode in the Bejeweled app, for your friends with iPhones or iPod touches.

Feeding Frenzy for XBLA

Feeding Frenzy will give your thrill-seeking friend the chance to start as prey and move up to predator! The more fish you eat, the bigger you become. Of course, with any type of success comes enemies. As you grow, bigger and more dangerous fish will be after you, so you’ll have to dart about ever more nimbly to evade their maneuvers, and more importantly, their mouths. Obviously, being a fish is a perilous existence, perfect for your risk-taking friend.

Need more suggestions? Check out all of our gift guides here.

• Plants vs. Zombies made it into a music video! Indie band, Hey Geronimo, recreated several video games to make their latest video for “Why Don’t We Do Something.”

• Co-founder Jason Kapalka talks to the Edmonton Journal about creating casual and social video games before they became popular.

• Gamepro reviews Bejeweled 3 DS and gives it a solid 4 stars — a perfect gift for the holidays!

• PopCap CEO, Dave Roberts, recently spoke at Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s Entrepreneur University and shared his startup secrets with the crowd.

Don’t know any Zen Gardeners? Maybe it’s time you met one. There’s a Zen Gardener hidden inside all of us. Don’t believe me? Well, just play one of these games and you’ll radiate calm!

Bejeweled 3 for PC and Mac

Let your inner wisdom be your guide while you match sparkling gems in Zen mode. There’s no pressure or time limit here. You can create your own relaxing retreat with awesome audio-visual effects to help modulate your breathing and rejuvenate your spirit. You can even choose ambient sounds, positive affirmations, and binaural beats to accompany you on your journey.

Will you walk with me, Grasshopper?

Mahjong Escape: Ancient China for PC

Unlock ancient Chinese wisdom as you match gold tiles in Classic Mahjong solitaire. This is truly a Zen paradise. Soothe your senses with relaxing music, beautiful scenery and hand-painted backgrounds as you travel through time. This is a perfect game for parents and grandparents.

Chuzzle for PC and Mac

Even Zen Gardeners need to release their inner silly. There’s just no better way to soothe frayed nerves and restore balance than playing with these cute, googly-eyed furballs. In Zen mode, you won’t find any puzzle locks or timers to stress out about. You’ll soon float away in Chuzzle bliss as you walk the path to Chuzzlightenment.

Ommmm….

Just remember: With the holidays fast-approaching, we all need to cultivate a little inner peace! So have fun and come back next week for more Gift Guides.

Michael Guillory, Producer of Bejeweled 3 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Jeff: Have you had dreams/nightmares about jewels falling from the sky?
Michael: Yeah, I find myself making matches of 3+ everywhere I go. Fallen leaves, traffic signs, birds on a wire, you name it, I match it. It’s primal pattern recognition. Mostly my dreams are free of jewels though. Mostly.

Jeff: Let’s say you didn’t work at PopCap. I’m not implying that you won’t be. This is just hypothetical. What game franchise would you love to be working on?
Michael: Hmm, I’m going to say Final Fantasy, specifically XIV. The game is ridiculously beautiful and has been evolving after a messy initial release. It’s got a ways to go, but if I wasn’t working at PopCap, I’d like to be part of that continuing evolution.

Jeff: I don’t get why it takes so long to move the game from PC/Mac to console. Don’t you just press the “port” button on some machine? What specifically, are the biggest challenges in doing adaptations like this? Is it just about the controller, or are there other big issues?
Michael: The “port button” is sort of like… replicators on Star Trek. Maybe someday we’ll be able to say “Earl Grey tea… hot” (or rather “Bejeweled, new platform, perfect.”) and have it handed to us a few moments later, but until then, porting involves a surprising amount of work. For example, in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, we wanted game menus to be on a single plane (like PvZ), because that’s easy to negotiate with controllers. Unfortunately, several of the PC menus were not designed with this in mind, so we redid a number of them (including the Main Menu — the tree is gone, replaced by the ring). In addition to this, and controllers, and adapting the game to different screen sizes, each platform has its own way of handling things under the hood. So, long story, long: there is a lot of work involved. But PopCap has been working to streamline the process, and I think you’ll find more and more simultaneous launches going forward than we’ve done in the past.

Jeff: A) Modern Warfare, b) Skyrim, c) Skyward Sword d) None of the above because I only play EA games.
Michael: I’ve been enjoying Skyrim quite a bit. I’ve also been playing a lot of The Sims Social lately, so I’ve got my EA base covered. Can you send me some Love so I can complete a doorframe?

Jeff: Do you think we’ll ever see a 3-D Bejeweled? Have you guys ever talked about it? Note that I don’t really care because I hate 3-D. But do you think it’s possible?
Michael: A 3-D Bejeweled is something that gets brought up a lot, and some day we may look at it in depth as things develop. But your eyes are safe. For now.

Jeff: Go-to junk/snack food while knee-deep in game production stress.
Michael: Tim’s Salt and Vinegar potato chips. They detonate in your mouth like salty, vinegar depth charges. Mmmm.

Jeff: I assume you’re going to take a vacation now that this game is finally out the door. Will you play Bejeweled 3 on this vacation?
Michael: I will. Diamond Mine, especially. I <3 Diamond Mine.

If the game is destined for retail shelves, the designers also need to come up with awesome packaging. You may not judge a book by its cover, but admittedly, the packaging always counts. With the release of Bejeweled 3 for Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 3 yesterday, our design team did a brilliant job with the packaging.

First they spent many hours working on the look of each package and deciding on the special effects they wanted to use to make the boxes look amazing on retail shelves.

For our latest Bejeweled 3 boxes, they ordered extra-fancy custom holographic foil paper; when it was time for the boxes to be printed, the designers flew off to Terre Haute to a press check, where they worked with press men who have many years of experience making designs like ours come to life in three dimensions.

Check out the video below to see all the action: