Bejeweled 3 Coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS This Year

PopCap Games will bring its massively successful Bejeweled 3 puzzle game to a variety of consoles at the end of the year, after releasing it for the PC and Mac platforms at the end of last year.

PopCap made a huge amount of money with its casual titles, and Bejeweled 3, the newest installment in the popular jewel-matching puzzle genre, turned an even bigger profit than previous releases.

Now, after the game impressed gamers on the PC and Mac platforms, PopCap has confirmed that it will be bringing the experience to new platforms, including the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 home consoles, as well as to the Nintendo DS portable device.

"Critics agree that Bejeweled 3 raised the standard for match-3 games to new heights," said Ed Allard, studio head at PopCap Games. "This holiday, we're bringing that experience to PlayStation 3, PSN, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, and Nintendo DS gamers with adaptations that look great and play even better on each platform."

PopCap hasn't fixed concrete release dates to all these versions, but they are expected to arrive at the end of the year in North America and Europe, possibly between October and December, just in time for the winter holiday season.

In case you're still unaware of the Bejeweled series, the franchise kicked off back in 2000, and, since then, has invaded a huge amount of platforms, from the PC to consoles, mobile phones or even airplane seatbacks, entertaining, according to PopCap, over half a billion people.

Bejeweled 3 adds plenty of brand new features to the franchise, including new mini-games and a graphics overhaul that enhance the whole experience, and make the jewel matching gameplay that much more addictive, capturing casual players and even regular, hardcore gamers that aren't even interested in puzzle titles.

Expect Bejeweled 3 to once again sell a huge amount of copies once it is released on the aforementioned platforms at the end of the year.