The Oral History Of PopCap Games
Added 2021-04-05 19:28:44 +0000 UTCMinnMax's Ben Hanson interviews key figures throughout the history of PopCap Games to tell the complete story of the studio behind massive successes like Bejeweled, Peggle, Plants vs Zombies, and more. From PopCap's cancelled games, to EA spending buying the studio for hundreds of millions of dollars, this is the most thorough look at the beloved studio yet. Thanks to our interviews Jason Kapalka, John Vechey, Laura Shigihara, Garth Chouteau, Anthony Coleman, Riana McKeith, Jeff Green, Matt Johnston, and Ellen Marett. This documentary exists because of Patreon supporters like you, so THANK YOU!
You can watch and share the video version of The Oral History of PopCap Games here - https://youtu.be/NwzxWLonObo
To jump to a particular section of PopCap's history, check out the timecodes below...
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:54 - Opening montage
00:02:32 - How PopCap started
00:10:50 - The origins of Bejeweled
00:27:28 - The "glory years"
00:47:15 - PopCap's greatest press
00:55:23 - The origins of Peggle
01:04:10 - Valve, Blizzard, and PopCap's collaborations
01:10:03 - Creating Plants vs. Zombies
01:21:12 - PopCap and Apple's iPhone
01:26:22 - Prototypes and cancelled games
01:40:03 - Gyromancer and "Final Fantasy Bejeweled"
01:42:29 - The problems with "Burrito"
01:49:27 - Introducing Jeff Green
01:51:35 - The rise of Facebook and social gaming
01:59:14 - Introducing PopCap Dublin
02:03:35 - PopCap's legendary parties
02:14:04 - Bookworm/PAX
02:18:05 - Creating 4th and Battery
02:22:47 - The PopCap podcast
02:24:37 - The EA acquisition
02:33:47 - What to do with hundreds of millions of dollars
02:53:43 - Bejeweled Blitz and the push for "monetization"
03:00:08 - The struggle of Plants vs Zombies 2
03:20:30 - Studio closures
03:23:10 - PopCap's life as an EA studio
03:38:47 - Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
03:41:50 - Peggle 2 and "the jump"
03:44:00 - Thoughts on modern PopCap
03:50:12 - In conclusion
03:56:15 - The final performance
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Comments
Ben, this was really great. I enjoyed PopCap games well enough, but I was never a super fan or anything. Even with that in mind, hearing these stories I got caught up in it and felt strangely nostalgic for something I never really was terribly invested in. By the time the song was playing at the end I was practically weepy. Great, great job.
Patrick Polk
2021-04-08 20:47:09 +0000 UTCThat's an interesting question, I think a bit. Especially the part where Jeff Green talks about how it can't help but change a company, no matter what.
Ben Hanson
2021-04-07 21:45:01 +0000 UTCThis is pretty extraordinary, Ben. Really, really enjoyed it. I'm now very curious how, after putting this together, it's changed the lens through which you view the Bethesda acquisition?
Woodman
2021-04-07 20:28:50 +0000 UTCHey Shane! Yeah, I saw enough comments about it this time that we've slowed it down and added a transition. We can continue to tweak it as well in the future.
Ben Hanson
2021-04-06 12:58:25 +0000 UTCJesus Christ this was so good! Great job, Hanson. I am not even a Popcap super fan, and I couldn't stop watching. I agree with one of the YouTube comments about the Wall of Heroes being a distraction. I commented in the thread that maybe just moving it down a bit so it doesn't lay over the two people speaking, as well as increasing the time a frame is shown, and/or fading frames instead of the hard cut will make it less obtrusive. At the end of the day I don't mind it, since I know it is important to supporting this indie media. Thanks for making this awesome stuff for us!
PlainShane
2021-04-06 12:49:31 +0000 UTCThis sounds awesome 👏
Kevin Korpi
2021-04-05 23:12:09 +0000 UTCLove how consistent MinnMax is with making audio versions of their content.
2021-04-05 22:38:03 +0000 UTCGlad to hear it, any help sharing is appreciated!
Ben Hanson
2021-04-05 21:07:04 +0000 UTCLove these big projects
Austin Cummings
2021-04-05 20:25:20 +0000 UTC
