Like cutesy birds? How about ropes? Then you'll love Rope Rescue

How do you best the crazy success of two of your most beloved iOS games? Make one game to rule them all! At least that's what seems to be EA and Chillingo's idea behind Rope Rescue. This upcoming game for iOS devices is set to release "soon," according to video posted by Kotaku's Brian Crecente (found below).

The game was spotted at an EA fall preview event, and it challenges players with--using a rope attached to one bird across pulleys and avoiding obstacles--freeing a slew of caged birds. Hmm, colorful, animated birds guiding ropes that are in danger of being cut?

That sounds as if Chillingo and EA are looking to hook Angry Birds and Cut the Rope (you know, the two astronomical iPhone games?) fans--though, that could entirely coincidental. In the duo's defense, neither are these birds "angry" nor is the goal of the game to "cut the rope." (In fact, your mission is to keep the rope intact amidst floating knives, bursts of flame and other threats.)


There looks to be around 60 levels that will be ready at launch, which will grow in complexity as you progress. And as you rescue more birds, they will be featured in a bird sanctuary of sorts. It also displays secret butterflies, should you manage to find them in each level. No official release date or price was announced during the event, but Kotaku seems to think we'll be seeing the game this September. Stay tuned, folks: This might be the next Angry Birds ... or should I say Cut the Rope? Oh, whatever.

PETA wags the finger at Nintendo for Mario's taste in furry power-ups

Mario Kils Tanooki
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has chosen a peculiar target for its next pro-animal campaign. You all likely know him quite well: Super Mario. The organization has created a highly suggestive Flash game that essentially calls developer Nintendo out for what it claims is a message that says it's OK to skin animals and wear them as suits.

You could also say this for Mario's less popular Frog Suit, but that just wouldn't have the same sting as "Mario Kills Tanooki." That's the title of the game, which throws players behind the controls of--literally--a skinned tanuki. You can probably already guess the game's objective: Capture Mario ... who happens to be flying away with your fur coat. So much for subtleties.

"Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur," the PETA game's website reads. "By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur."

The timing of Mario Kills Tanooki is spot on, as Nintendo just released Super Mario 3D Land in which the plumber's famous Tanooki Suit is a prominent feature. Frankly, we've never seen a more menacing Mario than within PETA's interactive call to arms in defense of the tanuki. Now, you gotta' wonder how the organization would feel about this guy.

Mass Effect for Facebook looks even more likely, job posting suggests

nd honestly, with how well Dragon Age Legends (DAL) did (and how impressive of a game it is) when its companion Dragon Age 2 launched this year, why wouldn't it be? Mass Effect is even bigger than Dragon Age--that's enough to convince me, but alas, we have another piece of hard evidence. Inside Social Games reports that Bioware is looking for "a well-rounded Artist to work on an exciting, new, social game for gamers," a job posting reads.

More specifically, the job is based in Bioware San Francisco. You know, the studio that was born of EA2D, the social game arm of Bioware's parent company? The studio that was also wholly responsible for Dragon Age Legends? (Hopefully, this is all coming together now.) While the text does well to avoid pointing out any Bioware franchise in particular, the timing is simply too close to the release of Mass Effect 3.

The console game releases on March 6, 2012, and most social game development cycles range between six and nine months. The job posting calls specifically for an experienced concept and UI artist, meaning this game could be past early planning stages already.

While DAL never cleared the 1 million monthly players most Facebook games strive for, again, Mass Effect has much more mainstream appeal than Dragon Age and could easily blow past 1 million monthly players. We have only one request, Bioware: Please, somehow, make it involve a Reaper?

[Via Kotaku]

Do you think this is enough evidence to guess that Bioware is working on a Mass Effect Facebook game? What would want out of a Mass Effect game on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment