Diner Dash was free this past weekend in the App Store. It has since gone back up to $2.99. Diner Dash is a game that depends on your quick reaction skills to get big scores. It’s not just about moving quickly though. It’s about thinking ahead of time to rack up combos that go towards your overall score. For what it is, Diner Dash is great fun. But there’s something about the in-app rating system that concerns me.

Today marks the beginning of a brand new year. 2011 is going to be filled, and I mean filled with great games. This year is also going to inevitably bestow a lot of free games upon us too. The first free game to cross our paths this year is Diner Dash for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. From now until tomorrow (January 2, 2011), Diner Dash will be free of charge.

You better start paying attention when you hear news about DeNA Mobage-town games. Mobage is about to become a global thing. Now that DeNA’s acquired ngmoco and it’s Plus +, it’s going to bring Mobage to people around the world. It’s Mobage Smartphone SDK with ngCore is already in private beta.

Odds are, it’s going to be huge. DeNA had already discussed plans to quadruple its profits, and taking Mobage worldwide is a quick way to do it…

With all the Dash casual time management games PlayFirst has created, you almost have to wonder what the company could possibly come up with next. The answer is Soap Opera Dash, a frantic time management simulation where players have to help Rosie work with the residents of Dinertown to put on a successful soap opera. Unlike some of the other Dash entries, Soap Opera Dash basically throws you into a frantic situation with a few tutorials, hoping you pick up enough from the brief introduction to make it through frenzied episodes of a new series. It’s fun, but you better be ready to work and have a reliable mouse if you want to succeed…

Dinerland was a dilapidated theme park. There was nothing worth seeing and Mr. Big, the new owner, was stressed trying to figure out how to revitalize it and bring people in so he could repay the loan his dad gave him. He had 10 days to make Dinerland wonderful before his dad came by and saw what a disappointment it all was. Flo ran a food stand there, which happened to be the only thing in DinerLand that actually attracted customers.

Mr. Big decided to seize that opportunity. Coincidentally, most of the major rides in DinerLand also happened to have restaurants inside of them…

Causal game publisher PlayFirst is celebrating labor Day 2010 with a sale of its own.

Using a special coupon code (click through for the code), you can purchase any game through the PlayFirst web site for only $4.99. This four-day sale ends midnight Labor Day (Monday, September 6, 2010) so you have only a few more hours to take advantage of the bargain pricing…

Quinn’s wedding planning business, which Flo from Diner Dash helps her with, is going very well. In fact, everything in her life is going pretty well – until her mom drops by. Quinn’s mom still thinks Quinn is engaged and preparing to marry Joe, and has come to visit and help plan the wedding.

The thing is, the wedding’s off…

KatGames and PlayFirst found huge success with the original Dream Chronicles series, a trilogy of casual computer games which combined adventure gameplay and storytelling with casual mini-games and puzzles to tell a rich, fairy tale. The first three games follow Faye, a mortal woman who married a fairy man named Fidget, who must save her husband and their daughter from the Fairy Queen of Dreams Lilith. In the end of the original series, Faye and Fidget learn their daughter Lyra is a chosen child with a great destiny.

Now, with Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air a new trilogy begins. This time Lyra finds she has a new journey that she must undertake to realize her own destiny…

The iPad’s international debut is May 28, 2010, and PlayFirst wants to be ready with Diner Dash: Grilling Green. The $4.99 app first made it’s US debut on April 1, 2010 on iTunes. PlayFirst is now localizing it so iPad adopters in the UK, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland will have something to play.

In order to help promote the forthcoming international Diner Dash: Grilling Green iPad release, a brand new trailer has been released. The video not only shows what Diner Dash: Grilling Green looks like in action, but also gives viewers an idea of what it’s like to actually play the game.

Check out the Diner Dash: Grilling Green trailer for yourself…

PlayFirst has just provided gamers another way to show appreciation to their friends and family, for free. Inspired by the Chocolatier line of PlayFirst casual computer games, people can now visit the PlayFirst site to send free, virtual chocolates to your Facebook friends!

It’s a pretty simple process, and is just in time for Mother’s Day. (Remember, it’s Sunday, May 9, 2010!) You go to the page and choose from 12 different virtual candies, spread across three categories – truffles, gourmet squares and infusions. When you see one that looks or sounds cute, you click it, and then start the sending process.

This feat is accomplished through PlayFirst.com Connect…