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.

Plants Vs. Zombies lawn ornaments, the lawn gnome for the PopCap Games era, as seen on BoingBoing. Thanks, Rebecca!