Back on Sunday, Restaurant City was willing to give away a free band member, Lenny the Singer (a sea snail that costs 12,000 Coins it the store) from their current Under the Sea theme set.
But twenty-four hours to vote wasn't enough for fans to make it to the 125,000 'Like' votes required, so Playfish couldn't give out Lenny. In compensation, Playfish has decided to award everyone with 3,000 Coins instead!
Just log into Facebook, make sure you're a fan on the official Restaurant City Facebook fanpage, and click here. Do note that clicking the link will launch the game. But you only need the game on for a few seconds for this deal to work. Just make sure you click within the next 7 hours, cause it's another 24-hour only offer!
Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 2, 2012
Hotel City goes transnational with second flags set
Hotel City Bellboy Playfish Hotel 2
Hotel City Larch, Pine, Tulip, BushIn under a week, Hotel City's unfurled new flags from 28 countries, including three special ones for players with less geopolitical attachments -- Hotel City flag, Playfish flag, and Pirate flag.
Counting the June 3rd set, there are now 44 country flags ready to represent players, though we really doubt there are any from North Korea spending time on Facebook games. But this year's FIFA World Cup does have a North Korean team, and that's where all the games are taking their cues for these flag sets.
Along with these new flags are four new pieces of outdoors decor, which the game refers to as "Ground Decorations" -- Larch tree (2 PFC), Pine tree (2 PFC), Tulip bed (5,000 Coins), and Bush tree (7,000 Coins). If you look at (image above) the new design of the Bellboy Playfish Hotel, you can see that these items are no longer limited to the ground. You can decorate the roofs of rooms as well!
All the flags cost 10 Playfish Cash each. PFC are sold in sets, where the more you buy, the more you'll save. At the smallest set, you can get 25 PFC for $5 USD. To find the new flags and decor, click on the "Build" hammer icon, and look at the two new tabs on the bottom.
Here's a full visual of the new flags. And on a side note, the game has finally fixed the spelling for Philippines.
Hotel City international flags, Hotel City, Playfish, and Pirate flags.
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, England, Ghana, Greece, Netherlands, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Korea DPR (or North Korea), Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Korea Republic (or South Korea), Switzerland, Uruguay, Sweden, and Poland.
Hotel City Larch, Pine, Tulip, BushIn under a week, Hotel City's unfurled new flags from 28 countries, including three special ones for players with less geopolitical attachments -- Hotel City flag, Playfish flag, and Pirate flag.
Counting the June 3rd set, there are now 44 country flags ready to represent players, though we really doubt there are any from North Korea spending time on Facebook games. But this year's FIFA World Cup does have a North Korean team, and that's where all the games are taking their cues for these flag sets.
Along with these new flags are four new pieces of outdoors decor, which the game refers to as "Ground Decorations" -- Larch tree (2 PFC), Pine tree (2 PFC), Tulip bed (5,000 Coins), and Bush tree (7,000 Coins). If you look at (image above) the new design of the Bellboy Playfish Hotel, you can see that these items are no longer limited to the ground. You can decorate the roofs of rooms as well!
All the flags cost 10 Playfish Cash each. PFC are sold in sets, where the more you buy, the more you'll save. At the smallest set, you can get 25 PFC for $5 USD. To find the new flags and decor, click on the "Build" hammer icon, and look at the two new tabs on the bottom.
Here's a full visual of the new flags. And on a side note, the game has finally fixed the spelling for Philippines.
Hotel City international flags, Hotel City, Playfish, and Pirate flags.
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, England, Ghana, Greece, Netherlands, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Korea DPR (or North Korea), Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Korea Republic (or South Korea), Switzerland, Uruguay, Sweden, and Poland.
Happy Island gets into the game with World Cup Series set
Happy Island World Cup Series
Happy Island Special Offer Soccer iconPlayers who log into into Happy Island and click on the "Special Offer" soccer ball on the left side of the game window will see the new World Cup 2010 decor.
This World Cup Series attractions and decor set involves flags for 24 countries, an animated pitch that comes complete with goalies playing amongst themselves, and a virtual replica of the World Cup trophy.
The Neighborhood Pitch attraction costs 99 Facebook Credits (roughly $10 USD), and earns 2,300 Coins. If it's anything like the other attractions, there should be an option to upgrade the pitch into something much larger and better-looking, such as a full stadium. The World Cup trophy costs 15,000 Coins and is purely decorative, while the world flags are 15 FB Credits (roughly $1.50 USD) each.
Happy Island Special Offer Soccer iconPlayers who log into into Happy Island and click on the "Special Offer" soccer ball on the left side of the game window will see the new World Cup 2010 decor.
This World Cup Series attractions and decor set involves flags for 24 countries, an animated pitch that comes complete with goalies playing amongst themselves, and a virtual replica of the World Cup trophy.
The Neighborhood Pitch attraction costs 99 Facebook Credits (roughly $10 USD), and earns 2,300 Coins. If it's anything like the other attractions, there should be an option to upgrade the pitch into something much larger and better-looking, such as a full stadium. The World Cup trophy costs 15,000 Coins and is purely decorative, while the world flags are 15 FB Credits (roughly $1.50 USD) each.
Cafe World: Earn 6 Free Cafe Cash in 3 New Promo Surveys
Cafe World Pretty Little Liars, Windows Phone, and Windows 7
Feel like getting some free premium money in Cafe World? Then log into Facebook and head over to the Earn Café Cash tab for the 3 new deals under "Free activities". Each offer will dish out 2 free Cafe Cash for a total of 6 CC.
Keep reading to get a full walk-through before you try each one.
Pretty Little Liars Lie Detector
Offer #1 is from ABC promoting the premiere of their new show, "Pretty Little Liars". Just submitting two short sentences into the designated "Truth" and "Lie" boxes are all you need to earn you the cash. I typed "I hate ikura" into the Lie Box, and "I love ikura" into the Truth Box. After that, the sponsor wants you to install the Pretty Little Lie Detector app, "where your statements are waiting to be sent to your friends!" So install the app if you want (you DON'T have to! for the free Cafe Cash), but seeing that other people are going to see what you've typed if they use the app, be careful what you say.
Cafe World Windows Phone 7
Offer #2 is for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. You get a little multiple choice question asking you which of the 3 features of the phone you're most looking forward to. Answer however you want, then click "Share" to submit your answer. And that's it -- 2 instant free Cafe Cash!
Cafe World Windows 7 features
Offer #3 is also from Microsoft, but this time, it's asking about which of their Windows 7 features you'd like best. To do that, you're going to have to watch some videos, but each one's only 7 seconds long! So pick whatever looks interesting and make your choice. I watched a bunch of the vids, but voted for "Home Group". And BAM! -- that's the last batch of 2 free Cafe Cash for me!
Now here's the most important question: how do you know any of these work? Well, SocialVibe, the company that's helping bridge these offers with Cafe World, has a feature that let's you see what offers you've completed and when you did them (see image below). You can access it by clicking the "Missing Cafe Cash" button which is on the same page as the Earn Café Cash tab.
Cafe World Social Vibe feature to check for Cafe Cash Missing
Feel like getting some free premium money in Cafe World? Then log into Facebook and head over to the Earn Café Cash tab for the 3 new deals under "Free activities". Each offer will dish out 2 free Cafe Cash for a total of 6 CC.
Keep reading to get a full walk-through before you try each one.
Pretty Little Liars Lie Detector
Offer #1 is from ABC promoting the premiere of their new show, "Pretty Little Liars". Just submitting two short sentences into the designated "Truth" and "Lie" boxes are all you need to earn you the cash. I typed "I hate ikura" into the Lie Box, and "I love ikura" into the Truth Box. After that, the sponsor wants you to install the Pretty Little Lie Detector app, "where your statements are waiting to be sent to your friends!" So install the app if you want (you DON'T have to! for the free Cafe Cash), but seeing that other people are going to see what you've typed if they use the app, be careful what you say.
Cafe World Windows Phone 7
Offer #2 is for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. You get a little multiple choice question asking you which of the 3 features of the phone you're most looking forward to. Answer however you want, then click "Share" to submit your answer. And that's it -- 2 instant free Cafe Cash!
Cafe World Windows 7 features
Offer #3 is also from Microsoft, but this time, it's asking about which of their Windows 7 features you'd like best. To do that, you're going to have to watch some videos, but each one's only 7 seconds long! So pick whatever looks interesting and make your choice. I watched a bunch of the vids, but voted for "Home Group". And BAM! -- that's the last batch of 2 free Cafe Cash for me!
Now here's the most important question: how do you know any of these work? Well, SocialVibe, the company that's helping bridge these offers with Cafe World, has a feature that let's you see what offers you've completed and when you did them (see image below). You can access it by clicking the "Missing Cafe Cash" button which is on the same page as the Earn Café Cash tab.
Cafe World Social Vibe feature to check for Cafe Cash Missing
Two-fer Tuesday: Chocolatier Sweet Society and My Vineyard
Tired of harvesting and planting crops in FarmVille? Washing and feeding your pet in Pet Society? If you're looking for something new to play on Facebook, stop by the Games.com blog for Two-fer Tuesdays. Every week, we'll be recommending two new Facebook games that, ya know, aren't FarmVille.
This week's Two-fer highlights two games that have been flying under the radar, but include a certain something that might appeal to the FarmVille set -- chocolate and wine. The first is My Vineyard from Metaplace -- a sort of well-heeled FarmVille -- where you grow grapes and then turn them into wine. The second game is Chocolatier: Sweet Society where instead of wine, you make and sell chocolate in your very own chocolate shop. We're getting hungry just thinking about it. Chocolatier Sweet Society
Chocolatier Sweet Society
This Facebook game, based on a PC downloadable game with the same name, puts you at the helm of your very own high-end chocolate shop. In the game, you have to make chocolate in the factory and then, upon completion, sell the sweet stuff for coins which can be used for upgrades. Different types of chocolate takes different amounts of time to make, so you'll need to think strategically to make sure your inventory stays stocked and customers stay happy.
Pros: The game looks good, and overall, has high production values that you don't necessarily see in other Facebook games. Even though this game bears some similarities to other cooking games on Facebook, it also requires more time management to make your shop successful.
Cons: Outside of making chocolate and sending gifts, there's not all that much else to do in this game. Oh yeah, and the biggest negative of this game -- it makes you crave chocolate every time you play.
Play Chocolatier on Facebook >
My Vineyard
my vineyard
If you've ever fantasized about making your own wine, you can put your inner oenophile to the test by running your own virtual vineyard. Start by planting different varieties of grapes, juicing them (by stepping on them 'I Love Lucy'-style) and then aging them in the barrel of your choosing. You can sell your wine right away, or let it age and sell for more coins. Your vineyard can also be decked out with houses and other decor -- some buildings require your friends to pitch in and help.
Pros: One of the better-looking Facebook games with a relaxing soundtrack. There's also plenty of side activities to keep you occupied, like building houses, collecting truffles. Plus, it's about wine -- who doesn't like that?
Cons: If you're really tired of growing and harvesting crops, this game is centered on that basic concept. My Vineyard also has about 800K players according to AppData, which is a pretty decent number, but you still might be hard-pressed finding neighbors without straying outside your existing Facebook friend circle.
Play My Vineyard on Facebook >
Disclaimer: Games.com writer Tami Baribeau is a producer at Metaplace which creates My Vineyard.
This week's Two-fer highlights two games that have been flying under the radar, but include a certain something that might appeal to the FarmVille set -- chocolate and wine. The first is My Vineyard from Metaplace -- a sort of well-heeled FarmVille -- where you grow grapes and then turn them into wine. The second game is Chocolatier: Sweet Society where instead of wine, you make and sell chocolate in your very own chocolate shop. We're getting hungry just thinking about it. Chocolatier Sweet Society
Chocolatier Sweet Society
This Facebook game, based on a PC downloadable game with the same name, puts you at the helm of your very own high-end chocolate shop. In the game, you have to make chocolate in the factory and then, upon completion, sell the sweet stuff for coins which can be used for upgrades. Different types of chocolate takes different amounts of time to make, so you'll need to think strategically to make sure your inventory stays stocked and customers stay happy.
Pros: The game looks good, and overall, has high production values that you don't necessarily see in other Facebook games. Even though this game bears some similarities to other cooking games on Facebook, it also requires more time management to make your shop successful.
Cons: Outside of making chocolate and sending gifts, there's not all that much else to do in this game. Oh yeah, and the biggest negative of this game -- it makes you crave chocolate every time you play.
Play Chocolatier on Facebook >
My Vineyard
my vineyard
If you've ever fantasized about making your own wine, you can put your inner oenophile to the test by running your own virtual vineyard. Start by planting different varieties of grapes, juicing them (by stepping on them 'I Love Lucy'-style) and then aging them in the barrel of your choosing. You can sell your wine right away, or let it age and sell for more coins. Your vineyard can also be decked out with houses and other decor -- some buildings require your friends to pitch in and help.
Pros: One of the better-looking Facebook games with a relaxing soundtrack. There's also plenty of side activities to keep you occupied, like building houses, collecting truffles. Plus, it's about wine -- who doesn't like that?
Cons: If you're really tired of growing and harvesting crops, this game is centered on that basic concept. My Vineyard also has about 800K players according to AppData, which is a pretty decent number, but you still might be hard-pressed finding neighbors without straying outside your existing Facebook friend circle.
Play My Vineyard on Facebook >
Disclaimer: Games.com writer Tami Baribeau is a producer at Metaplace which creates My Vineyard.
Thứ Bảy, 11 tháng 2, 2012
Mafia Wars Must-Play Weekend: 2x Fight Loot + 2x Job Mastery
As part of Mafia Wars' Must-Play Weekend, mafiosos looking to get a leg up can now earn double the Fight Loot and Job Mastery for the next two days. Might not sound like much, but I'm finding the extra job mastery extremely helpful with the new Mafia Wars South Africa Challenge Mission.
mafia wars must-play weekend 2x job mastery
To get these bonuses, all you have to do is login to Mafia Wars on Facebook and start clicking.
Bookmark this site!
mafia wars must-play weekend 2x job mastery
To get these bonuses, all you have to do is login to Mafia Wars on Facebook and start clicking.
Bookmark this site!
FrontierVille Fourth of July Goal (Part 1) - Craft Five Fireworks
For the Fourth of July, FrontierVille rolled out a special four-part mission, and let's just say you'll probably eat up plenty of time this holiday weekend trying to get these done. Part 1 of this mission asks that you Craft Five Fireworks and this might be the most difficult of the four to complete.
frontierville craft fireworks misson
To craft fireworks, you'll need a cabin, 1 saltpeter and five fires. The saltpeter can be acquired by completing the new Manure Collection, which consists of five distinct types of poo that you collect from different animals. For a refresher: here are the five types of poo and which animals you can collect them from.
frontierville manure collection
Poultry Puddin' (harvested from chickens, geese)
Piggy Poop (harvested from pigs)
Brush Brownie (harvested from sheep, goats)
Prarie Pile (harvested from mules, horses)
Meadow Muffin (harvested from cows, oxen)
Read more on the FronterVille Manure Collection.
Once the collection is complete, turn it in and you'll be rewarded with a saltpeter. So now you have part of what you need to make the fireworks. The other thing you'll need is fire -- five fires to be exact. You can create fire by going inside the Wagon and combining 7 wood (get from chopping trees) and 5 cloth (get by visiting neighbors).
frontierville craft fire
Now that you have everything you need, go inside the Cabin and click 'Create' to make the fireworks.
frontierville craft fireworks
Once the Fireworks are complete, you'll get a reward or 500 coins, 50 XP and the chance to share Fireworks with friends by posting a message on your Facebook wall.
frontierville craft fireworks
Then, move onto Part II of the Fourth of July Mission -- Part II: Collect 5 Cornbread, Collect 3 Hams, Collect 1 Ribeye (from oxen) -- To be continued...
Do you have any tips on how to breeze past the FrontierVille Fourth of July missions? Or, have items you want to trade with other players?
frontierville craft fireworks misson
To craft fireworks, you'll need a cabin, 1 saltpeter and five fires. The saltpeter can be acquired by completing the new Manure Collection, which consists of five distinct types of poo that you collect from different animals. For a refresher: here are the five types of poo and which animals you can collect them from.
frontierville manure collection
Poultry Puddin' (harvested from chickens, geese)
Piggy Poop (harvested from pigs)
Brush Brownie (harvested from sheep, goats)
Prarie Pile (harvested from mules, horses)
Meadow Muffin (harvested from cows, oxen)
Read more on the FronterVille Manure Collection.
Once the collection is complete, turn it in and you'll be rewarded with a saltpeter. So now you have part of what you need to make the fireworks. The other thing you'll need is fire -- five fires to be exact. You can create fire by going inside the Wagon and combining 7 wood (get from chopping trees) and 5 cloth (get by visiting neighbors).
frontierville craft fire
Now that you have everything you need, go inside the Cabin and click 'Create' to make the fireworks.
frontierville craft fireworks
Once the Fireworks are complete, you'll get a reward or 500 coins, 50 XP and the chance to share Fireworks with friends by posting a message on your Facebook wall.
frontierville craft fireworks
Then, move onto Part II of the Fourth of July Mission -- Part II: Collect 5 Cornbread, Collect 3 Hams, Collect 1 Ribeye (from oxen) -- To be continued...
Do you have any tips on how to breeze past the FrontierVille Fourth of July missions? Or, have items you want to trade with other players?
Cafe World Super Sliders are back (this weekend only)
Cafe World Super Sliders are making a special re-appearance this weekend only. Why should you care? Aside from the fact that tiny burgers (even virtual ones) are inherently awesome, these little dudes only take five minutes to cook, cost 5 coins and yield 24 servings, 4 coins per serving and a total of 10 Cafe points.
You can also send Sliders to neighbors as a Free Gift. Happy cooking!
You can also send Sliders to neighbors as a Free Gift. Happy cooking!
Hi5 boss: Facebook's social gaming dominance won't last forever
The last time we heard from Hi5 president Alex St. John, he was declaring war on Facebook gaming and publicly badmouthing Zynga's spammy Facebook marketing at March's Game Developer's Conference. So it's not that surprising, then, that a recent Financial Times interview with St. John features some less than optimistic predictions for the future of both companies' social gaming businesses.
"Facebook stumbled onto a really exciting new gaming phenomenon and they're going to walk away from it or accidentally screw it up," St. John predicted. Because Facebook isn't focused exclusively on games, St. John argues, they will run into the same problems that popular generalized casual gaming portals encountered in the recent past. "WildTangent, Real Networks and Big Fish [specialised casual gaming services] are immensely grateful that Yahoo screwed up gaming and gave us their audiences. Facebook will do the exact same thing," he said.
In the interview, St. John was also pessimistic about the shallow games that dominate social gaming currently, predicting "the death of the games that are viral but have no other substance, which is kind of the first-generation Mafia Wars and Farmville-type games." Luckily, St. John says Hi5 and its recently-acquired Big Six platform will be around to save the market from itself. "The Zynga and Facebook guys are just scratching the most naive edge of online commerce models," he said. "The commerce platform that I built at WildTangent and that Big Six has built are decades ahead in sophistication and capability. It's rolling out now and we're going to show the social media industry what it means to really make money from these games."
"Facebook stumbled onto a really exciting new gaming phenomenon and they're going to walk away from it or accidentally screw it up," St. John predicted. Because Facebook isn't focused exclusively on games, St. John argues, they will run into the same problems that popular generalized casual gaming portals encountered in the recent past. "WildTangent, Real Networks and Big Fish [specialised casual gaming services] are immensely grateful that Yahoo screwed up gaming and gave us their audiences. Facebook will do the exact same thing," he said.
In the interview, St. John was also pessimistic about the shallow games that dominate social gaming currently, predicting "the death of the games that are viral but have no other substance, which is kind of the first-generation Mafia Wars and Farmville-type games." Luckily, St. John says Hi5 and its recently-acquired Big Six platform will be around to save the market from itself. "The Zynga and Facebook guys are just scratching the most naive edge of online commerce models," he said. "The commerce platform that I built at WildTangent and that Big Six has built are decades ahead in sophistication and capability. It's rolling out now and we're going to show the social media industry what it means to really make money from these games."
Sega looking in-house for social gaming development
With companies from EA to Disney spending millions of dollars to acquire hot social and casual gaming companies, it might seem like a gold rush mentality has set in amongst the established mega-publishers. Well, the mentality has yet to reach long-lived publisher Sega, it seems. In a recent GamesIndustry.biz interview, Sega West president Mike Hayes says the company is hesitant to buy its way into the social gaming market at this point.
Hayes compares the social gaming market today to the mobile gaming market of five years ago, when heavily-hyped-but-unprofitable startups sold for inflated prices. "I'm not saying that about social gaming, but the value of what is current - you could argue is actually too high," Hayes said. "If you look at a lot of famous companies, I won't mention any names, but look at their balance books and they are not making any money."
That's not to say Sega isn't interested in the social and casual gaming markets -- they'll just be focusing on those markets through their newly established San Francisco digital division, rather than by scooping up an existing company. The key, Hayes says, is taking the time to come up with new ideas and models for sustainability, rather than throwing money at a quick cash-in. "Controlled profitable growth in digital is key," he said. "It's nothing we have to rush into and use a lot of money on. It's something some company's need to get into quickly but carefully, and that's exactly the way we're going to approach it."
Hayes compares the social gaming market today to the mobile gaming market of five years ago, when heavily-hyped-but-unprofitable startups sold for inflated prices. "I'm not saying that about social gaming, but the value of what is current - you could argue is actually too high," Hayes said. "If you look at a lot of famous companies, I won't mention any names, but look at their balance books and they are not making any money."
That's not to say Sega isn't interested in the social and casual gaming markets -- they'll just be focusing on those markets through their newly established San Francisco digital division, rather than by scooping up an existing company. The key, Hayes says, is taking the time to come up with new ideas and models for sustainability, rather than throwing money at a quick cash-in. "Controlled profitable growth in digital is key," he said. "It's nothing we have to rush into and use a lot of money on. It's something some company's need to get into quickly but carefully, and that's exactly the way we're going to approach it."
Thứ Năm, 9 tháng 2, 2012
Baking Feature Battle: Cafe World's Design-A-Cake versus Baking Life's Cupcake Creator
Cafe World Design a Cake is here!
Fans of ZipZapPlay's Baking Life would recognize Cafe World's newest feature, Design-A-Cake. But while Baking Life offers players a mix-and-match option for making and selling their own virtual cupcakes, Cafe World does this with cakes. After your pastry creation is ready, you'll have the option of sharing it with one friend as a Wall post, and then as giveaway extras.
Cafe World vs Baking Life personalized designer cupcake and cake
But there are three major differences between Cafe World's designer cakes and Baking Life's cupcakes features...
Cafe World: Your Cake is Ready!
...first of all, Cafe World has integrated Facebook's birthday reminders into its feature. Because after designing a cake, you'll get to scroll through your list of friends and see how many days it's been, or will be, until their birthdays. Granted, Baking Life doesn't do this, but this just means you'll have to remember your friends' birthdays for yourself.
Only Baking Life has truly personalized cakes
Secondly, the custom cupcakes in Baking Life will show up in yours, and your friend's store, as the ones you've designed. But in Cafe World, they just end up as this stock vanilla cake slice called Custom Cake (see image above). This is incredibly disappointing, because while you're technically selling the cake you made, it's really not the same cake, cause there's nothing different about it. It's just a generic slice of cake.
And thirdly, Baking Life's feature has been around the longest and they've got a better sense of humor about this personalized cakes business. Just look at the monster cupcake below that I managed to whip up using their Cupcake Creator:
Baking Life Monster Cupcake made with Cupcake Creator
Pretty neat, huh?
Fans of ZipZapPlay's Baking Life would recognize Cafe World's newest feature, Design-A-Cake. But while Baking Life offers players a mix-and-match option for making and selling their own virtual cupcakes, Cafe World does this with cakes. After your pastry creation is ready, you'll have the option of sharing it with one friend as a Wall post, and then as giveaway extras.
Cafe World vs Baking Life personalized designer cupcake and cake
But there are three major differences between Cafe World's designer cakes and Baking Life's cupcakes features...
Cafe World: Your Cake is Ready!
...first of all, Cafe World has integrated Facebook's birthday reminders into its feature. Because after designing a cake, you'll get to scroll through your list of friends and see how many days it's been, or will be, until their birthdays. Granted, Baking Life doesn't do this, but this just means you'll have to remember your friends' birthdays for yourself.
Only Baking Life has truly personalized cakes
Secondly, the custom cupcakes in Baking Life will show up in yours, and your friend's store, as the ones you've designed. But in Cafe World, they just end up as this stock vanilla cake slice called Custom Cake (see image above). This is incredibly disappointing, because while you're technically selling the cake you made, it's really not the same cake, cause there's nothing different about it. It's just a generic slice of cake.
And thirdly, Baking Life's feature has been around the longest and they've got a better sense of humor about this personalized cakes business. Just look at the monster cupcake below that I managed to whip up using their Cupcake Creator:
Baking Life Monster Cupcake made with Cupcake Creator
Pretty neat, huh?
Zynga pulls Farmville from MSN Games
Well that didn't last long. Only six months after Zynga brought its hit farming simulation Farmville to MSN Games, the company has apparently decided to pull the game from Microsoft's portal.
As Inside Social Games notes, it seems like an odd move for Zynga, which has lately been trying to decrease its dependence on mega-network Facebook. Then again, it's not the first time Zynga has decided to pull its games from a social network -- see the company's canceled relationship with relatively minor network Tagged.
While having access to MSN's millions of users surely didn't hurt Farmville, Zynga likely decided their resources were better spent focusing on other markets, such as Japanese mobile phone networks, for instance. As we saw with Zynga's canceled Facebook game Street Racing, sometimes the opportunity cost of the status quo outweighs the benefit of leaving things as they are.
We've reached out to Zynga for a comment on the move and will let you know if and when we hear back.
As Inside Social Games notes, it seems like an odd move for Zynga, which has lately been trying to decrease its dependence on mega-network Facebook. Then again, it's not the first time Zynga has decided to pull its games from a social network -- see the company's canceled relationship with relatively minor network Tagged.
While having access to MSN's millions of users surely didn't hurt Farmville, Zynga likely decided their resources were better spent focusing on other markets, such as Japanese mobile phone networks, for instance. As we saw with Zynga's canceled Facebook game Street Racing, sometimes the opportunity cost of the status quo outweighs the benefit of leaving things as they are.
We've reached out to Zynga for a comment on the move and will let you know if and when we hear back.
Square Enix brings freemium RPG to Japanese social network
RPG-maker Square Enix's "exploration" of the social game space seems to be continuing apace -- in Japan, at least. SiliconEra reports that the company has released classical RPG Knights of the Crystal on Japanese social network GREE.
With a look reminiscent of the company's popular Final Fantasy series (thanks to Final Fantasy Tactics A2 artist Ryoma Ito), the game is reportedly a standard turn-based RPG in the Square Enix mold. One major difference from most Square Enix RPGs, though, is that the game is being offered as a free-to-play game on browsers and mobile phones, with money generated from in-game item sales.
This isn't the first time Square Enix has dabbled in Japanese social gaming -- previous titles on GREE include historical tactics game Sengoku Ixa and farming adventure game Chocobo's Crystal Tower. The company hasn't been nearly as active (or, um, active at all) in the American social gaming scene, but they've given every indication that they're interested in breaking in.
With a look reminiscent of the company's popular Final Fantasy series (thanks to Final Fantasy Tactics A2 artist Ryoma Ito), the game is reportedly a standard turn-based RPG in the Square Enix mold. One major difference from most Square Enix RPGs, though, is that the game is being offered as a free-to-play game on browsers and mobile phones, with money generated from in-game item sales.
This isn't the first time Square Enix has dabbled in Japanese social gaming -- previous titles on GREE include historical tactics game Sengoku Ixa and farming adventure game Chocobo's Crystal Tower. The company hasn't been nearly as active (or, um, active at all) in the American social gaming scene, but they've given every indication that they're interested in breaking in.
Popcap goes casino crazy with domain registrations
While Popcap games like Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz favor skill over luck, a host of new domain registrations hint that Popcap is looking to expand its involvement in skill-free online gambling games.
Super-sleuth Superannuation first noticed the newly-registered domains, which combine various Popcap game names (Bejeweled, Big Money, Chuzzle, Peggle, Plants vs. Zombies, "PvZ," Zuma and the Popcap name itself) with various gambling-related (bingo, casino, keno, lottery, lotto, poker, scratch, scratchcard, slot and slots).
The new domains likely indicate a continuation of Popcap's deal with British site JackpotJoy. That deal has already led to online gambling games such as Bejeweled Bingo and Zuma Slots that can be played for free or with real money. I suppose there's a chance these new domain names could indicate some new, real-world gambling initiative by Popcap, but it seems unlikely.
While these gambling games aren't likely to appeal to all social and casual gamers, it's nice to see that some of Popcap's brands seem to be gaining earning power outside of the games themselves.
Super-sleuth Superannuation first noticed the newly-registered domains, which combine various Popcap game names (Bejeweled, Big Money, Chuzzle, Peggle, Plants vs. Zombies, "PvZ," Zuma and the Popcap name itself) with various gambling-related (bingo, casino, keno, lottery, lotto, poker, scratch, scratchcard, slot and slots).
The new domains likely indicate a continuation of Popcap's deal with British site JackpotJoy. That deal has already led to online gambling games such as Bejeweled Bingo and Zuma Slots that can be played for free or with real money. I suppose there's a chance these new domain names could indicate some new, real-world gambling initiative by Popcap, but it seems unlikely.
While these gambling games aren't likely to appeal to all social and casual gamers, it's nice to see that some of Popcap's brands seem to be gaining earning power outside of the games themselves.
Quote of the Moment: Social gaming 'tailor-made' for Disney
"It became pretty clear to us that game-playing on social networks is real, here to stay. There are obviously a multitude of people that are already playing. There are about a half a billion people who are members of Facebook already, about 40 percent of those people participate in game playing.
"I mentioned in my remarks that the customer base is pretty diverse, from 18 to post-50. It's dual gender, meaning it's not - it doesn't skew just in the men's direction, which we know a lot of other games do.
"It seemed tailor-made for not only Disney-branded games, but Marvel and ESPN, and we really like the opportunity. The other thing that was really interesting to us is that we now have over 50 million people who are members of various Disney, ESPN and ABC groups on Facebook. So we begin with a very, very solid base of people to market to and when you add to that the over 40 million people who are playing Playdom games already, that seemed pretty compelling to us."
-Disney CEO Bob Iger explains the reasoning behind the company's recent purchase of social gaming company Playdom in a an investor's conference call
"I mentioned in my remarks that the customer base is pretty diverse, from 18 to post-50. It's dual gender, meaning it's not - it doesn't skew just in the men's direction, which we know a lot of other games do.
"It seemed tailor-made for not only Disney-branded games, but Marvel and ESPN, and we really like the opportunity. The other thing that was really interesting to us is that we now have over 50 million people who are members of various Disney, ESPN and ABC groups on Facebook. So we begin with a very, very solid base of people to market to and when you add to that the over 40 million people who are playing Playdom games already, that seemed pretty compelling to us."
-Disney CEO Bob Iger explains the reasoning behind the company's recent purchase of social gaming company Playdom in a an investor's conference call
Thứ Hai, 6 tháng 2, 2012
FarmVille Wild West Horned Toad
farmville horned toad
What would life in the Wild West be without a Horned Toad?
You can purchase the LE Wild West themed Horned Toad with 12 FV$ farm cash during the next 12 days only in the FarmVille Market.
FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released September 9, 2010):
Horned Toad – 12 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
What would life in the Wild West be without a Horned Toad?
You can purchase the LE Wild West themed Horned Toad with 12 FV$ farm cash during the next 12 days only in the FarmVille Market.
FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released September 9, 2010):
Horned Toad – 12 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
YoVille Romantic Bathroom items in the furniture store
yoville romantic bathroom items
The new YoVille Romantic Theme continues! Beautiful YoVille carved sinks, toilets and bathtubs can now be found from the Furniture store.
Romantic bathroom items also include lounges, tables and small items such as tissue boxes and elegant vases to make your Romantic bathroom just perfect!
Check the full list of items and prices after the link, and tell us what you think in comments.
yoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom items
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
The new YoVille Romantic Theme continues! Beautiful YoVille carved sinks, toilets and bathtubs can now be found from the Furniture store.
Romantic bathroom items also include lounges, tables and small items such as tissue boxes and elegant vases to make your Romantic bathroom just perfect!
Check the full list of items and prices after the link, and tell us what you think in comments.
yoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom itemsyoville romantic bathroom items
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
FarmVille maker Zynga's 24-hour contest: You play, they'll pay
There's nothing like cold, hard cash to drive people to action. In this case, Zynga is giving away 1,000 bucks every hour for 24 hours if you play eight of its most popular games: YoVille, Zynga Poker, FarmVille, PetVille, Cafe World, Treasure Isle, Mafia Wars and FrontierVille. After you play a game, it will be checked off in the game bar that appears above each game (see pic below).
zynga 8-hour contest check the gamebar
When you've played all eight, your name will be entered into the next hourly drawing for $1K. The contest has already started today and will end tonight (Monday night) at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Please note: The contest is open to United States citizens over age 18 only -- sorry international fans, looks like you're going to have to sit this one out. :(
Also, here's a dirty little secret: You only need to load the game to get the checkmark to appear on the game bar, you don't actually have to 'play' them for it to count.
zynga 8-game challenge win cash
zynga 8-hour contest check the gamebar
When you've played all eight, your name will be entered into the next hourly drawing for $1K. The contest has already started today and will end tonight (Monday night) at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Please note: The contest is open to United States citizens over age 18 only -- sorry international fans, looks like you're going to have to sit this one out. :(
Also, here's a dirty little secret: You only need to load the game to get the checkmark to appear on the game bar, you don't actually have to 'play' them for it to count.
zynga 8-game challenge win cash
FrontierVille Horseshoe Pit: Everything you need to know
Update (10 p.m.): Message from Zynga: "Please note that you MUST enter the other games through the Horseshoe pit window in order to get credit for levelling up or planting/harvesting crops in those other games."
FrontierVille introduces a new game within the game -- Horseshoes. The new buildable Horseshoe pit, now available in the Market (in the *Special* section) costs 2,500 gold coins and 20 wood to get started.
Of course, that's just how you get this new project started -- then you have to build it (which requires 10 energy and 120 wood), and then put on the finishing touches by collecting a handful of materials from friends and other Zynga games.
frontierville horseshoe pit
After you place the Horseshoe pit on your property -- much like all FrontierVille buildables -- you will have to give this thing 10 Whacks, and each Whack costs 1 Energy and 10 Wood. After each Whack, you earn 1 XP and loot for the following collections: Shed, Foundry, Inn, School, General Store, Land Office and Sawmill. (When I built mine, I scored items for the Schoolhouse, General Store and Storage Shed Collections)
Once all of the whacking is complete, you'll have to start gathering materials required to finish the Horseshoe Pit.
horseshoe-pit-materials
Instead of begging friends for all of these materials, this construction project will send you into other Zynga games to get the items you need. The only items you'll get from friends is the Measuring Tape. Below is a list of items you need, and how to get them:
10 Measuring Tape -- Request from friends via a Facebook Wall post
1 Wooden board -- Play FarmVille, plant and harvest 200 crops
1 Bag of Sand -- Play Treasure Isle, level up once (after level 5)
1 Spike -- Play Mafia Wars, level up three times (after level 5)
1 Bar Stool -- Play Cafe World, level up once (after level 5)
1 Gold Horseshoe -- Play Zynga Poker, level up once (after level 5)
If you don't want to go to the trouble of playing all of those other games to finish your Horseshoe Pit, you can buy each item for 50 Horseshoes, for a total of 300 Horseshoes. That seems mighty pricey for a humble frontier person like myself, but to each their own.
Once your Horseshoe Pit is complete, you will be able to play the game once a day for free (if you want to play more, you'll have to pony up 1 Horseshoe per toss), and you'll be able to play on neighbors' pits as well. Each time you play, you will earn points, which can be redeemed for a handful of prizes by clicking the 'Cash Out' button (see image below).
horseshoe pit rewards
INITIAL PLAYER REACTIONS: There seem to be mixed feelings about having to play all of those other games to get materials for the Horseshoe Pit. But, according to FrontierVille player WAKEMEUP, it looks like you will have the chance to win some more valuable items if your horseshoe tossing skills are up to the task. Including a whopping 3,500 Horseshoes.
Every toss gives certain amount of points.
Miss - Game Over (You have to collect your reward, and you can´t continue.)
Near - +1 Point
Touch - +2 Points
? - Need info
? - Need info
Points can be redeemed for the following Horseshoe game prizes:
0pts - 2 EXP
1pts - 300 Gold
2pts - Cherry tree
3pts - 10 EXP
4pts - 2 Energy
5pts - 2 Pigs
6pts - 5 Energy
7pts - 2 Pears
8pts - 2 Cows
9pts - 2 Oxen
10pts - 1 Mule
11pts - 200 EXP
12pts - 1 Horse
13pts - 10 Horseshoes
14pts - 30 Energy
15pts - 1 Beef Jerky
16pts - 1 Mystery Animal Crate
17pts - 1 Mystery Crate
18pts - 2 Beef Jerky
19pts - 150 Energy
20pts - 200,000 Gold
21pts - 3,500 Horseshoes
Gallery: FrontierVille Horseshoe Pit Item Hunt
NOTE: You MUST enter the other games through the Horseshoe Pit window if you want it to count.
NOTE: #2: When you're trying for the boards in FarmVille, plant and harvest your 200 crops, then look for a wooden board icon on the left-hand side of the screen. Click that icon to claim your free boards and be directed back to FrontierVille (see pics below).
farmville boards icon front
frontierville farmville boards horseshoe pit
Below is the pop-up I saw after leveling up three times in Mafia Wars:
mafia wars frontierville railroad spike
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
FrontierVille introduces a new game within the game -- Horseshoes. The new buildable Horseshoe pit, now available in the Market (in the *Special* section) costs 2,500 gold coins and 20 wood to get started.
Of course, that's just how you get this new project started -- then you have to build it (which requires 10 energy and 120 wood), and then put on the finishing touches by collecting a handful of materials from friends and other Zynga games.
frontierville horseshoe pit
After you place the Horseshoe pit on your property -- much like all FrontierVille buildables -- you will have to give this thing 10 Whacks, and each Whack costs 1 Energy and 10 Wood. After each Whack, you earn 1 XP and loot for the following collections: Shed, Foundry, Inn, School, General Store, Land Office and Sawmill. (When I built mine, I scored items for the Schoolhouse, General Store and Storage Shed Collections)
Once all of the whacking is complete, you'll have to start gathering materials required to finish the Horseshoe Pit.
horseshoe-pit-materials
Instead of begging friends for all of these materials, this construction project will send you into other Zynga games to get the items you need. The only items you'll get from friends is the Measuring Tape. Below is a list of items you need, and how to get them:
10 Measuring Tape -- Request from friends via a Facebook Wall post
1 Wooden board -- Play FarmVille, plant and harvest 200 crops
1 Bag of Sand -- Play Treasure Isle, level up once (after level 5)
1 Spike -- Play Mafia Wars, level up three times (after level 5)
1 Bar Stool -- Play Cafe World, level up once (after level 5)
1 Gold Horseshoe -- Play Zynga Poker, level up once (after level 5)
If you don't want to go to the trouble of playing all of those other games to finish your Horseshoe Pit, you can buy each item for 50 Horseshoes, for a total of 300 Horseshoes. That seems mighty pricey for a humble frontier person like myself, but to each their own.
Once your Horseshoe Pit is complete, you will be able to play the game once a day for free (if you want to play more, you'll have to pony up 1 Horseshoe per toss), and you'll be able to play on neighbors' pits as well. Each time you play, you will earn points, which can be redeemed for a handful of prizes by clicking the 'Cash Out' button (see image below).
horseshoe pit rewards
INITIAL PLAYER REACTIONS: There seem to be mixed feelings about having to play all of those other games to get materials for the Horseshoe Pit. But, according to FrontierVille player WAKEMEUP, it looks like you will have the chance to win some more valuable items if your horseshoe tossing skills are up to the task. Including a whopping 3,500 Horseshoes.
Every toss gives certain amount of points.
Miss - Game Over (You have to collect your reward, and you can´t continue.)
Near - +1 Point
Touch - +2 Points
? - Need info
? - Need info
Points can be redeemed for the following Horseshoe game prizes:
0pts - 2 EXP
1pts - 300 Gold
2pts - Cherry tree
3pts - 10 EXP
4pts - 2 Energy
5pts - 2 Pigs
6pts - 5 Energy
7pts - 2 Pears
8pts - 2 Cows
9pts - 2 Oxen
10pts - 1 Mule
11pts - 200 EXP
12pts - 1 Horse
13pts - 10 Horseshoes
14pts - 30 Energy
15pts - 1 Beef Jerky
16pts - 1 Mystery Animal Crate
17pts - 1 Mystery Crate
18pts - 2 Beef Jerky
19pts - 150 Energy
20pts - 200,000 Gold
21pts - 3,500 Horseshoes
Gallery: FrontierVille Horseshoe Pit Item Hunt
NOTE: You MUST enter the other games through the Horseshoe Pit window if you want it to count.
NOTE: #2: When you're trying for the boards in FarmVille, plant and harvest your 200 crops, then look for a wooden board icon on the left-hand side of the screen. Click that icon to claim your free boards and be directed back to FrontierVille (see pics below).
farmville boards icon front
frontierville farmville boards horseshoe pit
Below is the pop-up I saw after leveling up three times in Mafia Wars:
mafia wars frontierville railroad spike
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
YoVille: More new Romantic Clothes in the clothing store
yoville romantic clothes
New batch of YoVille Romantic Clothes arrived the Clothing Store! Ornate fans, monocles, dresses and gentleman tops to add to your wardrobe, all in four colors to choose from.
Clothes in Coins, accessories and hats in YoCash. Check the full list of items and prices after the link.
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
New batch of YoVille Romantic Clothes arrived the Clothing Store! Ornate fans, monocles, dresses and gentleman tops to add to your wardrobe, all in four colors to choose from.
Clothes in Coins, accessories and hats in YoCash. Check the full list of items and prices after the link.
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
yoville romantic clothes
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Thứ Bảy, 4 tháng 2, 2012
Microsoft could buy its way into social games in 2011, analysts say
Microsoft Game Studios
The year 2011might involve even more acquisitions in social gaming from more companies than just Zynga, with potential buyers like Microsoft and media giant Viacom expected by analysts to be considering serious purchases, Reuters said. Because advertising isn't exactly working out this decade, big media and tech companies will look to virtual goods to stay afloat, according to analysts' predictions.
"The truth is everybody is talking to everybody, every potential buyer is probably talking to just about every social game company out there," said principal with Norwest Venture Partners Tim Chang, whose firm invested in Playdom.
Apparently Microsoft could be the next big customer, looking to enhance its Xbox Live platform, industry executives said. With Zynga's FarmVille coming to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, they just might be right. However, Zynga is pretty much off the table at this point with an estimated worth of over $5 billion, but that doesn't mean smaller companies couldn't fill that void.
Find out who could be gobbled up next after the break.
Money Handling
"With Playfish and Playdom gone, Zynga being unbuyable, we're on the downside of that slope," said Don Rainey, a partner at Grotech Ventures. "We're through the big moves and into the small moves."
What about 'small move' companies like CrowdStar or Kabam? While CrowdStar chairman Peter Relman reportedly doesn't feel the pressure to sell, Microsoft could probably offer him something enticing. Who knows, Microsoft could be looking to promote the next phase of its Halo franchise through social gaming. All the cool kids are doing it. A Microsoft-owned CrowdStar could become the Facebook brand manager for Microsoft Games Studio much like Playfish is for Electronic Arts.
While consolidation through buyouts is certainly good for business, this could hurt the creative potential of social games studios to make gripping games with fresh ideas. There's nothing like the pressure to create a brand seller to stunt innovation. Hey, at least according to analysts, social games could be worth over $2 billion come next year.
The year 2011might involve even more acquisitions in social gaming from more companies than just Zynga, with potential buyers like Microsoft and media giant Viacom expected by analysts to be considering serious purchases, Reuters said. Because advertising isn't exactly working out this decade, big media and tech companies will look to virtual goods to stay afloat, according to analysts' predictions.
"The truth is everybody is talking to everybody, every potential buyer is probably talking to just about every social game company out there," said principal with Norwest Venture Partners Tim Chang, whose firm invested in Playdom.
Apparently Microsoft could be the next big customer, looking to enhance its Xbox Live platform, industry executives said. With Zynga's FarmVille coming to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, they just might be right. However, Zynga is pretty much off the table at this point with an estimated worth of over $5 billion, but that doesn't mean smaller companies couldn't fill that void.
Find out who could be gobbled up next after the break.
Money Handling
"With Playfish and Playdom gone, Zynga being unbuyable, we're on the downside of that slope," said Don Rainey, a partner at Grotech Ventures. "We're through the big moves and into the small moves."
What about 'small move' companies like CrowdStar or Kabam? While CrowdStar chairman Peter Relman reportedly doesn't feel the pressure to sell, Microsoft could probably offer him something enticing. Who knows, Microsoft could be looking to promote the next phase of its Halo franchise through social gaming. All the cool kids are doing it. A Microsoft-owned CrowdStar could become the Facebook brand manager for Microsoft Games Studio much like Playfish is for Electronic Arts.
While consolidation through buyouts is certainly good for business, this could hurt the creative potential of social games studios to make gripping games with fresh ideas. There's nothing like the pressure to create a brand seller to stunt innovation. Hey, at least according to analysts, social games could be worth over $2 billion come next year.
Mobile social games are cooler than Sunday Night Football
Flurry iOS games beat out Sunday Night Football
And that's just on the Flurry network for iPhone. According to data compiled by Nielsen and Flurry, a social network for iPhone games and applications, more people played social games on their iPhone than those who watched Sunday Night Football on NBC.
When television is competing with mobile social games for viewers, you know this industry is more than a fad. Not to mention mobile social games on the iPhone alone are only about two years old. Flurry welcomes 19 million daily players for 22 minutes on average through the 50,000 apps that support the network, which is only 4 million viewers away from the most popular TV out there, American Idol. With numbers like this, it's a no-brainer for studios like Zynga and CrowdStar to look at mobile as the next frontier.
Count in players from other mobile social gaming networks like Open Feint and Plus+, open up the device categories to include Android and Blackberry and you got yourself far more eyes than that glorified Star Search American Idol will ever reach. It's no wonder that media giants like Viacom are joining Microsoft in looking to join the fun. It looks like we're going to see plenty more ads in our games than we might like come 2011.
And that's just on the Flurry network for iPhone. According to data compiled by Nielsen and Flurry, a social network for iPhone games and applications, more people played social games on their iPhone than those who watched Sunday Night Football on NBC.
When television is competing with mobile social games for viewers, you know this industry is more than a fad. Not to mention mobile social games on the iPhone alone are only about two years old. Flurry welcomes 19 million daily players for 22 minutes on average through the 50,000 apps that support the network, which is only 4 million viewers away from the most popular TV out there, American Idol. With numbers like this, it's a no-brainer for studios like Zynga and CrowdStar to look at mobile as the next frontier.
Count in players from other mobile social gaming networks like Open Feint and Plus+, open up the device categories to include Android and Blackberry and you got yourself far more eyes than that glorified Star Search American Idol will ever reach. It's no wonder that media giants like Viacom are joining Microsoft in looking to join the fun. It looks like we're going to see plenty more ads in our games than we might like come 2011.
ESPNU College Town update brings Facebook Credits and new Competition rules
Playdom's new sports university management game ESPNU College Town received a much-deserved update today in the form of Facebook Credits, new Competitions features and over 100 new items. Not to mention that now Event Revenue never expires, meaning you can collect profits from an event at any time after the event is through. The social network's official currency is now available for use in the game and applies to the existing packages:
20 Campus Cash: 4.99 = 50 Facebook Credits
42 Campus Cash: $9.99 = 100 Facebook Credits
85 Campus Cash: $19.99 = 200 Facebook Credits
240 Campus Cash: $49.99 = 500 Facebook Credits
500 Campus Cash: $99.99 = 1000 Facebook Credits
Now, you'll have to buy the Facebook Credits outside of ESPNU College Town and the game still supports direct credit card and Pay Pal purchases, but this just makes things a lot easier to understand. Clicking and dragging All-Stars into the starters brackets for Competitions is no longer necessary. Just click the All-Star and then click the spot to place them in position; also, players cannot compete in this feature without at least one All-Star card for each sport, basketball and football.
With Event Revenue now permanent, there's no need to regret or hesitate scheduling longer events that yield more benefits as they'll be there to collect whenever you return. There's also a slew of new items including new mascots, statues and iconic buildings representing real-life college sports stadiums. All in all, these are welcome changes to the new game, which already boasts over 1.2 million users in its first month. They grow up so fast... and then they make mommy and daddy millions.
20 Campus Cash: 4.99 = 50 Facebook Credits
42 Campus Cash: $9.99 = 100 Facebook Credits
85 Campus Cash: $19.99 = 200 Facebook Credits
240 Campus Cash: $49.99 = 500 Facebook Credits
500 Campus Cash: $99.99 = 1000 Facebook Credits
Now, you'll have to buy the Facebook Credits outside of ESPNU College Town and the game still supports direct credit card and Pay Pal purchases, but this just makes things a lot easier to understand. Clicking and dragging All-Stars into the starters brackets for Competitions is no longer necessary. Just click the All-Star and then click the spot to place them in position; also, players cannot compete in this feature without at least one All-Star card for each sport, basketball and football.
With Event Revenue now permanent, there's no need to regret or hesitate scheduling longer events that yield more benefits as they'll be there to collect whenever you return. There's also a slew of new items including new mascots, statues and iconic buildings representing real-life college sports stadiums. All in all, these are welcome changes to the new game, which already boasts over 1.2 million users in its first month. They grow up so fast... and then they make mommy and daddy millions.
Happy Aquarium: Twilight-inspired fish sparkle and transform for Halloween
Happy Aquarium Sparkling Vampire
In the spirit of glittering vampires and really ripped werewolves--or Halloween these days--CrowdStar has revisited some old and introduced some new fish to Happy Aquarium. Jacob Black--er, the Werewolf returns from the Twilit theme for 48 Facebook Credits ($4.80) and, yes, he still transforms when you click him. The newest addition to the 'Halloween-themed' fish is Edward Cullen the Sparkling Vampire that for 55 Facebook Credits, or $5.50, sparkles when you click him. Oh, how fitting.
There is also a new wallpaper to go with your no-so-frightening fish: the Cemetery for 30 Facebook Credits, or $3. Its description reads, "Put fear into your tank with this Cemetery setting." Not with those fish, you won't. If there's one thing I can say about CrowdStar's paid currency items, it's that while most of them are shallow pop culture references, some of them are just plain hilarious.
In the spirit of glittering vampires and really ripped werewolves--or Halloween these days--CrowdStar has revisited some old and introduced some new fish to Happy Aquarium. Jacob Black--er, the Werewolf returns from the Twilit theme for 48 Facebook Credits ($4.80) and, yes, he still transforms when you click him. The newest addition to the 'Halloween-themed' fish is Edward Cullen the Sparkling Vampire that for 55 Facebook Credits, or $5.50, sparkles when you click him. Oh, how fitting.
There is also a new wallpaper to go with your no-so-frightening fish: the Cemetery for 30 Facebook Credits, or $3. Its description reads, "Put fear into your tank with this Cemetery setting." Not with those fish, you won't. If there's one thing I can say about CrowdStar's paid currency items, it's that while most of them are shallow pop culture references, some of them are just plain hilarious.
Social City: Reach Level 5 in ESPNU College Town for a free Track and Field stadium
Now that the 5 Days of Gifting College Town is over in Social City, Playdom has another ESPNU College Town promotion in the works -- reach Level 5 in ESPNU College Town for a free Track and Field stadium in Social City.
Here's some tips to level up quickly in ESPNU College: First of all, the game starts you off with two venues, a field and a gym. Upgrading these will net you a ton of XP. After that, you should click on the venues to "Start Event", which is more or less identical to creating "Contracts" for the Factories in Social City.
Next, buy and install as many buildings as you can. The act of installing buildings will help you earn XP, and after that's done, the buildings can begin making money for you. You can use this money to upgrade your venues. All this should quickly get you to Level 3.
Social City Track & Field Stadium
There might be a bit of a lag between you hitting Level 5 in ESPNU College Town and getting your Track and Field, but once the offer clears its way through the system, you should receive the pop-up window above. You can then find your stadium in your Social City inventory, and installing the stadium in your city will grant you 15 XP.
Here's some tips to level up quickly in ESPNU College: First of all, the game starts you off with two venues, a field and a gym. Upgrading these will net you a ton of XP. After that, you should click on the venues to "Start Event", which is more or less identical to creating "Contracts" for the Factories in Social City.
Next, buy and install as many buildings as you can. The act of installing buildings will help you earn XP, and after that's done, the buildings can begin making money for you. You can use this money to upgrade your venues. All this should quickly get you to Level 3.
Social City Track & Field Stadium
There might be a bit of a lag between you hitting Level 5 in ESPNU College Town and getting your Track and Field, but once the offer clears its way through the system, you should receive the pop-up window above. You can then find your stadium in your Social City inventory, and installing the stadium in your city will grant you 15 XP.
Thứ Năm, 2 tháng 2, 2012
FIFA Superstars Referral Rewards: Find new players for powerful perks
Been having a hard time convincing your friends that soccer on Facebook can actually be fun? Playfish understands, which is why they've launched the Referral Rewards program in FIFA Superstars. Players who get their friends to play the game and reach Level 5 will be rewarded increasingly better items like free Grab Match Credits, high-level Transfers and even time with Club Staff like the Personal Trainer and Coach. (What? No terribly expensive lawyers?) Here's a breakdown of what you'll win for recruiting up to 50 friends:
One Referral: Three Match Credits
Two Referrals: Three Match Credits
Three Referrals: Physical Trainer
Five Referrals: Coach
10 Referrals: Five Match Credits and Silver Transfer
20 Referrals: Five Match Credits and Silver Transfer
50 Referrals: Five Match Credits and Gold Transfer
To make sure you reap the benefits, just provide your friends with the unique link that FIFA Superstars gives you (and no, the link found above will not work for you) and make sure they reach Level 5--you can even track your progress. Oh wait, we didn't explain how this is going to help you get your friends to play. Well, if they were real friends they wouldn't mind doing you a simple favor. Trust us, the guilt trip is fool-proof.
One Referral: Three Match Credits
Two Referrals: Three Match Credits
Three Referrals: Physical Trainer
Five Referrals: Coach
10 Referrals: Five Match Credits and Silver Transfer
20 Referrals: Five Match Credits and Silver Transfer
50 Referrals: Five Match Credits and Gold Transfer
To make sure you reap the benefits, just provide your friends with the unique link that FIFA Superstars gives you (and no, the link found above will not work for you) and make sure they reach Level 5--you can even track your progress. Oh wait, we didn't explain how this is going to help you get your friends to play. Well, if they were real friends they wouldn't mind doing you a simple favor. Trust us, the guilt trip is fool-proof.
Trippy Game of the Day: Nuclearoids
nuclearoids
Smooth techno beats, colorful explosive blasts, and balls of all sizes flying across the screen? Yep, that's Nuclearoids, today's Funky Game of the Day. Nuclearoids is all about setting off a massive chain reaction. When two orbs touch, they build up energy and eventually EXPLODE, sending bits flying all over the place. As you complete levels, note that eventually the goals become specific, so aim your Nuclearoids in the right direction. Hmmm, I wonder if this is how the universe was created?
Click here to play Nuclearoids >
Smooth techno beats, colorful explosive blasts, and balls of all sizes flying across the screen? Yep, that's Nuclearoids, today's Funky Game of the Day. Nuclearoids is all about setting off a massive chain reaction. When two orbs touch, they build up energy and eventually EXPLODE, sending bits flying all over the place. As you complete levels, note that eventually the goals become specific, so aim your Nuclearoids in the right direction. Hmmm, I wonder if this is how the universe was created?
Click here to play Nuclearoids >
FarmVille: Penguins return for a short while, Animal Feed now giftable
The wait is finally over, Morgan Freeman lovers. Penguins are back in FarmVille and for a limited time players can spread the adorable, aquatic bird love for free. That's right, Penguins are giftable for a short time. We're not sure as to why, but we can only imagine it's a ploy to get us to run out and buy a third, fourth or even fifth copy of March of the Penguins starring Mr. Freeman's mystical voice.
Penguins were first introduced as one of the wandering wild animals almost a year ago and largely disappeared since. After that, statues were erected in the birds' honor across all of FarmVille and Emperor Penguins arrived to fill the void--but it just wasn't the same. And now, for but a fleeting moment, they've returned at last.
In other, more boring news, you can now send Animal Feed to your friends as a gift, making luring in hapless animals with the Feed Trough that much easier. But, to be honest, if the Trough doesn't lure cute little penguins, we're simply not interested.
Penguins were first introduced as one of the wandering wild animals almost a year ago and largely disappeared since. After that, statues were erected in the birds' honor across all of FarmVille and Emperor Penguins arrived to fill the void--but it just wasn't the same. And now, for but a fleeting moment, they've returned at last.
In other, more boring news, you can now send Animal Feed to your friends as a gift, making luring in hapless animals with the Feed Trough that much easier. But, to be honest, if the Trough doesn't lure cute little penguins, we're simply not interested.
ESPNU College Town Campus Affiliation just got a whole lot easier
Campus Affiliation
Affiliation ButtonAs part of Playdom's relentless mission to streamline the day-to-day experience of what just might be its new flagship game, ESPNU College Town, the studio just added an "Affiliation" button to the sidebar in-game. Clicking this button just below the "Gift Inventory" button will take you right to the page displaying your current campus affiliation. Players can also use the search box found above to easily find the school they're looking for instead of meticulously scrolling through every last college.
Better yet, you can browse each university's set of items and buy them right from within this window. Take a look for yourself and see what you think. You might just find a university that you like better (traitor).
Affiliation ButtonAs part of Playdom's relentless mission to streamline the day-to-day experience of what just might be its new flagship game, ESPNU College Town, the studio just added an "Affiliation" button to the sidebar in-game. Clicking this button just below the "Gift Inventory" button will take you right to the page displaying your current campus affiliation. Players can also use the search box found above to easily find the school they're looking for instead of meticulously scrolling through every last college.
Better yet, you can browse each university's set of items and buy them right from within this window. Take a look for yourself and see what you think. You might just find a university that you like better (traitor).
Megamind meets FarmVille, Top 25 Facebook games for November [PM Linkage]
FarmVille's 24-hour Megamind movie promo kicks off Thursday [Games.com]
Top 25 Facebook Games for November 2010 [Inside Social Games]
BringIt raises $1.5M, helps RockYou generate revenue by putting a game inside a game [Venture Beat]
Facebook Makes Signing Into Mobile Apps Incredibly Easy [Mashable]
Redken Video Game Beckons Girls to Hair Salons [NY Times]
The Business Of Magic: How the Disney marketing machine generates billions [Newsweek]
Top 25 Facebook Games for November 2010 [Inside Social Games]
BringIt raises $1.5M, helps RockYou generate revenue by putting a game inside a game [Venture Beat]
Facebook Makes Signing Into Mobile Apps Incredibly Easy [Mashable]
Redken Video Game Beckons Girls to Hair Salons [NY Times]
The Business Of Magic: How the Disney marketing machine generates billions [Newsweek]
City of Wonder's Russia Week brings the Manifesto to your settlement
Russia Week
Players of City of Wonder have seen nearly every ancient civilization in world history from Mesopotamia to Egypt to Ancient Greece, but now it's time to enter the age of political upheaval and military might with Russia Week. In this seven-day event, you'll find several items inspired by the ancestors of the Mongols and the birthplace of socialism. Most importantly, this update includes a new legend, Beethoven, who will clean all of your cultural buildings.
But when it comes to buildings, Playdom has got you covered with structures like the brand new Marvel, St. Basil's Cathedral--the iconic church will boost your Happiness and Culture by three percent. There are other interesting items like the Gold Wall, which for one Gold a piece will "protect your city in style," and Cossack Calvary who are known for "their awesome hats." You can decorate your city with the Kremlin Clock, a Russian Church and Socialist Statue to finish off your settlement's religious and political personality. The Russian theme is only here for another six days, so get your Slav on before these items go way of the dodo.
[Image Credit: Playdom]
Players of City of Wonder have seen nearly every ancient civilization in world history from Mesopotamia to Egypt to Ancient Greece, but now it's time to enter the age of political upheaval and military might with Russia Week. In this seven-day event, you'll find several items inspired by the ancestors of the Mongols and the birthplace of socialism. Most importantly, this update includes a new legend, Beethoven, who will clean all of your cultural buildings.
But when it comes to buildings, Playdom has got you covered with structures like the brand new Marvel, St. Basil's Cathedral--the iconic church will boost your Happiness and Culture by three percent. There are other interesting items like the Gold Wall, which for one Gold a piece will "protect your city in style," and Cossack Calvary who are known for "their awesome hats." You can decorate your city with the Kremlin Clock, a Russian Church and Socialist Statue to finish off your settlement's religious and political personality. The Russian theme is only here for another six days, so get your Slav on before these items go way of the dodo.
[Image Credit: Playdom]
Thứ Tư, 1 tháng 2, 2012
Flickr creator to 'Glitch' Facebook with new social game in 2011
Stewart Butterfield actually started in the games business with Ludicorp before Flickr became his claim to fame earlier this decade. Now, Butterfield returns to gaming at probably the most opportune time on one of the most opportune platforms. Butterfield's first social game with his studio, Tiny Speck Inc., is titled "Glitch" and is set to launch on Facebook in 2011. Obviously a major departure from what made him famous and very rich, we hope, the game takes place within the imagination of 11 giants. It's already weird, we know.
According to the game's first trailer, players will become figments of these giants' imaginations, working to make their ideas bigger and better. The game seems like it will play a lot like Maple Story with side scrolling controls and similar interaction. Other things that we could deduce from the trailer? How about learning new skills, studies, making fruit juice and blue, humanoid goat creatures?
For some reason, angry crows called The Rook have attacked the 11 giants' minds to steal their imaginations. It's apparently up to you, blue goat man, to thwart their plans with juice. That last part is a complete guess, but who wouldn't like to see that happen?
I don't know about you, but that's more than enough for me to at least give it shot. Take a look at the trailer above and you'll see how Butterfield is making extremely entertaining use of his philosophy degree. According to News.com, Glitch will be made available on PC and mobile devices as well as Facebook in order to maximize its presence. Expect Glitch to release in March or April of 2011.
According to the game's first trailer, players will become figments of these giants' imaginations, working to make their ideas bigger and better. The game seems like it will play a lot like Maple Story with side scrolling controls and similar interaction. Other things that we could deduce from the trailer? How about learning new skills, studies, making fruit juice and blue, humanoid goat creatures?
For some reason, angry crows called The Rook have attacked the 11 giants' minds to steal their imaginations. It's apparently up to you, blue goat man, to thwart their plans with juice. That last part is a complete guess, but who wouldn't like to see that happen?
I don't know about you, but that's more than enough for me to at least give it shot. Take a look at the trailer above and you'll see how Butterfield is making extremely entertaining use of his philosophy degree. According to News.com, Glitch will be made available on PC and mobile devices as well as Facebook in order to maximize its presence. Expect Glitch to release in March or April of 2011.
New Thanksgiving FarmVille Animals: Black Turkey, Paint Horse
Thanksgiving may have come and gone in the real world, but Zynga just can't seem to let the theme go in FarmVille, as they have released a new duo of Thanksgiving-themed animals into the game's store.
The two animals are the Black Turkey and the Paint Horse. While the Black Turkey obviously screams "Thanksgiving," the Paint Horse is more reserved, and is simply a lovely brown and white painted horse. It will cost your 26 Farm Cash to purchase, while the Black Turkey costs less, at 18 Farm Cash.
Both of these items will be available in the game for the next two weeks, which is actually a fairly generous time limit, considering the fact that the holiday they represent is now officially over. That being said, if you want to stock up on animals that you can pull out for Thanksgiving 2011 in FarmVille, this isn't a bad way to go.
The two animals are the Black Turkey and the Paint Horse. While the Black Turkey obviously screams "Thanksgiving," the Paint Horse is more reserved, and is simply a lovely brown and white painted horse. It will cost your 26 Farm Cash to purchase, while the Black Turkey costs less, at 18 Farm Cash.
Both of these items will be available in the game for the next two weeks, which is actually a fairly generous time limit, considering the fact that the holiday they represent is now officially over. That being said, if you want to stock up on animals that you can pull out for Thanksgiving 2011 in FarmVille, this isn't a bad way to go.
New FarmVille Thanksgiving Buildings: Harvest Store & Fall Nursery
If you were beginning to think that the Thanksgiving theme in FarmVille was finished, and would simply be allowed to expire from the store with no further additions (we won't blame you if you were, as we were too), you may be happy to learn that additional Thanksgiving items have been released in the store. As we try to imagine that Thanksgiving hasn't already passed, let's take a look at two new buildings that are now available in the game.
The first is the Harvest Store, which we brought you a sneak peek of more than a week ago. It costs 300,000 coins, and will reward you with 3,000 experience points as a bonus for purchasing it. Meanwhile, the other item is the Fall Nursery, or greenhouse, which is a premium item. It costs 15 Farm Cash - a cheap price considering the normal prices of buildings in FarmVille.
These two buildings will be available for the next two weeks, so you'll have plenty of time to stock up for decorating next Thanksgiving!
The first is the Harvest Store, which we brought you a sneak peek of more than a week ago. It costs 300,000 coins, and will reward you with 3,000 experience points as a bonus for purchasing it. Meanwhile, the other item is the Fall Nursery, or greenhouse, which is a premium item. It costs 15 Farm Cash - a cheap price considering the normal prices of buildings in FarmVille.
These two buildings will be available for the next two weeks, so you'll have plenty of time to stock up for decorating next Thanksgiving!
New FarmVille Thanksgiving Decorations: Autumn Fall, Pocahontas Gnome, & Orange Pumpkin
Thanksgiving may have come and gone, but if you're not still trying to wake up from your turkey coma, why not take a few minutes to start stocking up on Thanksgiving decorations for next year in FarmVille? The developer has released three new decorative items into this expansive Thanksgiving theme, with these items coming in the form of an Autumn Fall, a Pocahontas Gnome, and an Orange Pumpkin.
The Autumn Fall is actually a lovely natural waterfall comprised of water and fallen leaves that has a fairly high price tag of 30 Farm Cash. Meanwhile, the Pocahontas Gnome costs much less, at 12 Farm Cash. Finally, the Orange Pumpkin (not to be confused with the White or Black Pumpkins that are still available in the store) costs just 1,500 coins - quite the bargain price for a limited edition decoration.
While it may seem odd to buy Thanksgiving items in FarmVille when most users' minds have now moved fully into the Christmas and Winter columns, you've got 14 days to hold onto Thanksgiving by purchasing these new items before they expire.
The Autumn Fall is actually a lovely natural waterfall comprised of water and fallen leaves that has a fairly high price tag of 30 Farm Cash. Meanwhile, the Pocahontas Gnome costs much less, at 12 Farm Cash. Finally, the Orange Pumpkin (not to be confused with the White or Black Pumpkins that are still available in the store) costs just 1,500 coins - quite the bargain price for a limited edition decoration.
While it may seem odd to buy Thanksgiving items in FarmVille when most users' minds have now moved fully into the Christmas and Winter columns, you've got 14 days to hold onto Thanksgiving by purchasing these new items before they expire.
FarmVille Grey Goose now available to purchase in the market
In an interesting move, Zynga has released the Grey Goose formerly given out as a bonus for purchasing FarmVille Farm Cash to the market as a "regular" premium item.
Earlier this week, if you had taken the opportunity to purchase any Farm Cash package, this Grey Goose would've been give to you for free, but as that was a limited time opportunity (that has since expired), if you want to get your hands on this interesting bird, you'll have to pay Farm Cash, to the total of 16 Farm Cash, to be exact.
It's also interesting to see the Grey Goose listed as a limited edition item - part of the new Winter Holiday theme of items. While the Goose doesn't scream either Winter or Holidays for that matter, we'll give Zynga the benefit of the doubt on this one.
You've got 14 days to add this Grey Goose to your animal collection in the game, so make sure to take advantage of its release while you can.
Earlier this week, if you had taken the opportunity to purchase any Farm Cash package, this Grey Goose would've been give to you for free, but as that was a limited time opportunity (that has since expired), if you want to get your hands on this interesting bird, you'll have to pay Farm Cash, to the total of 16 Farm Cash, to be exact.
It's also interesting to see the Grey Goose listed as a limited edition item - part of the new Winter Holiday theme of items. While the Goose doesn't scream either Winter or Holidays for that matter, we'll give Zynga the benefit of the doubt on this one.
You've got 14 days to add this Grey Goose to your animal collection in the game, so make sure to take advantage of its release while you can.
Đăng ký:
Bài đăng (Atom)