I never thought I'd be this excited about a game I've already played on three other platforms. Take a look at news screens and a trailer for Plants Vs. Zombies for Xbox Live Arcade.

I first played Plants Vs. Zombies on the PC, and loved it. Then I played it on the iPhone, and still adored it, despite my big snausage fingers getting in the way. The iPad version controlled perfectly, but the gameplay was starting to get a stale.

Now Popcap is releasing Plants Vs. Zombies for Xbox Live Arcade on September 8, and I couldn't be more excited. The game looks larger and more colorful than ever, packed with new features to keep the rotting corpses fresh. The thought of playing co-op has me salivating. Really. It's disgusting.

I never thought I'd be this excited about a game I've already played on three other platforms. Take a look at news screens and a trailer for Plants Vs. Zombies for Xbox Live Arcade.

I first played Plants Vs. Zombies on the PC, and loved it. Then I played it on the iPhone, and still adored it, despite my big snausage fingers getting in the way. The iPad version controlled perfectly, but the gameplay was starting to get a stale.

Now Popcap is releasing Plants Vs. Zombies for Xbox Live Arcade on September 8, and I couldn't be more excited. The game looks larger and more colorful than ever, packed with new features to keep the rotting corpses fresh. The thought of playing co-op has me salivating. Really. It's disgusting.

Michael Jackson's estate wasn't too thrilled with the zombie King of Pop lookalike featured in Plants Vs. Zombies. Not wanting to be startin' something legally with Jackson's legal team, PopCap opted to drop that moonwalking zombie for something less litigious.

Courtesy of PC Gamer, we get a good look at the pretty undead thing that replaces the original Thriller-esque zombie. The Disco Zombie will be patched into the already released versions of PopCap's reanimated-humans-versus-nature strategy game and future releases, like that Xbox Live Arcade port slated for the fall.

As sad as it is to see zombie Michael go to his grave, zombies wearing medallions and platform shoes with dead goldfish inside makes the change less upsetting.

Meet the new disco zombie in Plants Vs Zombies [PC Gamer]

After more than a year spent dancing into our hearts and gardens, objections from the King of Pop's estate cause PopCap Games to replace the killer Michael Jackson lookalike in Plants Vs. Zombies.

The Dancing Zombie in Plants Vs. Zombies will forever remain the Michael Jackson Zombie in my heart, even if plans are currently underway to replace him in all versions of the game with a disco-themed imposter. MTV Multiplayer's Russ Frushtick reached out to PopCap to ask about the change, learning that Michael Jackson's estate had contacted the publisher with objections.

"The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson. After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway."

The change has already been implemented in the iPhone version of the game with the latest update, with plans to phase out the dead pop singer across all platforms.

Michael Jackson Estate Forces 'Plants vs. Zombies' [MTV Multiplayer]

If Plants Vs. Zombies has Xbox Live Achievements, surely there must be a video game to go along with it, right? Yes, of course. PopCap's gardening of the dead smash hit will become an Xbox Live Arcade game in September.

The maker of Peggle and Bejeweled made it official today, revealing an XBLA version of the real-time strategy game that has already hit the PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad. Plants Vs. Zombies for Xbox Live Arcade should arrive in the fall, bringing with it seven game modes, two all-new multiplayer modes (co-op and versus), 12 unique achievements and 21 mini-games.

PopCap also promises:

• A goofy new way to track and share progress online, where players create their own custom house and cruise down the street to see their friends' cribs!
• The highest resolution of any Plants vs. Zombies adaptation to date at 1920 x 1080

The XBLA version will cost 1200 Microsoft Points or $15 in real world bucks.

Later this year, PopCap will also a retail version of Plants vs. Zombies, including Zuma and Peggle for the Xbox 360, along with a new "Game of The Year" edition of the PC/Mac original, a limited number of which will include a zombie figurine.

The recently revealed achievement set for Plants vs. Zombies coming someday soon to Xbox Live Arcade, hint that the game will have cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes.

"ZFF's 4 Evr," gives you 20 Gamerscore should you "Bowl a winner with a friend in Co-OP Wall-Nut Bowling." Then, "Versus vs. Versus" awards 15 for a five-game winning streak "in VS. mode."

The rest of the list is, of course, hilariously named ("Smarty Branches," and "Soil Your Plants" especially.) Hit it up to see what else PopCap intends for you to do and try when the hit tower defense game arrives.

Plants vs. Zombies Achievements [Xbox 360 Achievements.org via Joystiq]

When the students of St. Catherine's High School's new middle school program arrive next year, they'll be sporting shiny new iPads instead of textbooks, giving students plenty of games to play while they should be learning, until they get stolen.

It's a revolutionary idea, I suppose, but a very bad revolutionary idea.

St Catherine's High School in Racine, Wisconsin kicks off its new middle school program next year, inviting sixth and seventh graders into a facility that's traditionally been for eighth through twelfth grade students. Some would consider these new students privileged. Others would consider them targets.

To make things easier for the new attendees, St. Catherine's is doing away with weighty, game-less textbooks, and requiring all new students to pay a $400 technology fee to acquire an Apple iPad.

So not only does St. Catherine's have a crop of fresh, young students entering a school filled with older children, they are making sure everyone knows these younger, weaker kids will be carrying around $500 worth of Apple technology.

Like I said, targets.

The idea of getting rid of heavy textbooks in favor of technology is a very noble and forward-thinking one. The iPad can read electronic books, after all, and also has access to many of the tools children would normally have to pay big money for, like graphing calculators.

And games.

Unless there is some sort of plan in place to regulate the apps loaded on to each device, say a school-wide iTunes account, then there's no way the school is keeping these kids from playing Plants Vs. Zombies all day long. Hell, I had one computer class in high school that gave me 45 minutes with an Apple IIe, and I still spent the entire time playing a hacked copy of Conan.

"We think it's time to do something to take advantage of technology," (School President Christopher) Olley said. "This is a small step for this age group."

Sir, all steps are small steps for sixth and seventh graders.

While the sixth and seventh graders will pilot the program next year, the rest of the school's students will be carrying iPads by the 2012-2013 school year. Hopefully this won't generate any ire between the older students and the newer ones.

New technology replacing textbooks at St. Catherine's iPads for middle school next fall [The Journal Times - Thanks Bryant!]

At the Google I/O conference today, Google revealed the Chrome Web Store, a browser-based application store where users will be able to download and install games like LEGO Star Wars and Plants Vs. Zombies directly to their web browsers.

The Chrome Web Store, due to launch later this year, will enable users to easily discover web applications and developers to reach a larger audience. The web store addresses problems with integrating web applications into a computer operating system by installing web applications directly to the browser. Google's overview of the technology likens the process to creating a "super-bookmark" to the web content.

The Chrome Web Store will work with any browser, though Chrome users will be able to take advantage of a special built-in app launcher area.

Applications will run the gamut of software types, from productivity programs to video games. During the presentation, demonstrations were made of Popcap's Plants Vs. Zombies, along with a port of LEGO Star Wars called LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2. Both games launched immediately, with the Star Wars title running smoothly in full 3D.

Developers will be able to host free applications on the Chrome Web Store, or sell them via a secure payment system.

For more information, feel free to poke around the Chrome Web Store page. You might as well bookmark it now, before the rush.

We knew that Left 4 Dead 2's new expansion, "The Passing," paid a graffiti tribute to Dead Rising's Frank West. It looks like the game's creators admire Plants vs. Zombies as well.

Reader Stephen H. sent in this grab - we're trying to get a bigger image - but evidently Crazy Dave is the guy to see if you need an M60. Crazy Dave, of course, is your neighbor (and the armorer/store owner) in PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies.

This too is in the room with a pool table on the second level of "The Passing." Just scan the wall, you'll hit it and many other zombie genre in-jokes.

Text message from Plants Vs. Zombies lead designer George Fan to the iPhone of PvZ studio co-founder John Vechey, asked and answered at our request — because we care about video game zombies ... and PvZ.