Two new YoVille collectibles have been added to the furniture store. The two new collectibles available are an Animated Train Ride for 32 Yocash and a Hollywood Lady With Glittering Lamp Statue for 17, 200 Coins. The Train ride allows you to ride into a dark tunnel. The Statue adds a nice Glamorous feel to a Hollywood home. Go ahead to the furniture store to purchase these fabulous new additions for your home!
What do you think?
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 2, 2012
Game of the Day: Word Roundup Challenge
Game of the Day rambles on with more word searching puzzles. If you're looking for a chance to take a brake from your Mafia, Empire or latest Bejeweled Blitz today is the day.
The game of the day is Word Roundup Challenge. We've had a couple like this one already but this one is a little tougher with more letters to search from. Come back everyday to play Word Roundup for a new puzzle - in fact, you should come back to Games.com every day for a new game.
Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official New Game of the Day hub.
Play Word Roundup Challenge now -->
The game of the day is Word Roundup Challenge. We've had a couple like this one already but this one is a little tougher with more letters to search from. Come back everyday to play Word Roundup for a new puzzle - in fact, you should come back to Games.com every day for a new game.
Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official New Game of the Day hub.
Play Word Roundup Challenge now -->
YoVille Hollywood Bathroom Items added to furniture store
yoville hollywood bathroom
Bathroom items have been added to the YoVille Furniture Store. These items are a part of the Hollywood theme. Some of the new items include a Hollywood Black Shower for 6 Yocash, Hollywood Green Sink Cabinet for 2,995 coins, a Hollywood Red Toilet for 7 Yocash, and much more! These items would be great for you Hollywood home. Head on over to the furniture store to buy your glamorous bathroom items today!
Pictures after the link.
Do you like the new stuff?
yoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroom
Thanks to Spiralda for the pictures!
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Bathroom items have been added to the YoVille Furniture Store. These items are a part of the Hollywood theme. Some of the new items include a Hollywood Black Shower for 6 Yocash, Hollywood Green Sink Cabinet for 2,995 coins, a Hollywood Red Toilet for 7 Yocash, and much more! These items would be great for you Hollywood home. Head on over to the furniture store to buy your glamorous bathroom items today!
Pictures after the link.
Do you like the new stuff?
yoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroomyoville hollywood bathroom
Thanks to Spiralda for the pictures!
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Zynga & 7-Eleven event kicks off FarmVille, Mafia Wars & YoVille promotion
zynga 7 eleven event
With the epic kickoff event on June 1st, FarmVille, Mafia Wars and YoVille have invaded 7-Elevens all over the United States. The promotion includes game branded groceries, snacks, beverages and more. Once purchased, players can redeem the codes printed on the treats in return for valuable in-game cash and other limited edition items. Fans have been excited to get their hands on both the great looking snacks and the lucrative game rewards. Fortunately, yesterday, the kickoff event finally opened the flood gates.
Select 7-Elevens in New York, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles hosted the event which included tons of free give aways and fun. Those who were lucky enough to attend found the event to be full of games, free merchandise, amusement park tickets, carnival gift cards and of course, loads of FarmVille, Mafia Wars and YoVIlle themed goodies.
FarmVille fan and donkey, Backpacking Brighty, snapped a few pics from the event in Dallas. In addition, FarmVille Freak asked readers who attended to send in images.
Continue reading to check out all the awesome pictures from the Zynga 7-Eleven Kick Off Event.
Note: Send photos of your FamVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars 7-Eleven merchandise to editors@games.com and we'll post them up on the blog!
Dallas, Texas
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
Staten Island, New York
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
San Francisco, California
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
Denver, Colorado
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
Chicago, Illinois
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
If you're like us and missed the crazy kickoff event, try not to worry; there will be plenty of Zynga game themed goodies to go around. If you haven't already, head to 7-Eleven's store locater by clicking here and see if there is one in your area.
Although supplies are sure to last, rumor has it that a few jerks are going into stores and snapping pictures of all the codes, leaving few rewards to go around! So if you're interested in getting some FarmVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars themed 7-Eleven stuff, it may be in your best interest to act quickly!
Send photos of your FarmVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars 7-Eleven merchandise to editors@games.com and we'll post them up on the blog!
What do you think of the Zynga 7-Eleven kickoff event?
Sources:
Backpacking Brighty - Dallas, Texas
FarmVille Freak - San Francisco, California
FarmVille Freak - Denver, Colorado
FarmVille Freak - Staten Island, New York
FarmVille Freak - Chicago, Illinois
With the epic kickoff event on June 1st, FarmVille, Mafia Wars and YoVille have invaded 7-Elevens all over the United States. The promotion includes game branded groceries, snacks, beverages and more. Once purchased, players can redeem the codes printed on the treats in return for valuable in-game cash and other limited edition items. Fans have been excited to get their hands on both the great looking snacks and the lucrative game rewards. Fortunately, yesterday, the kickoff event finally opened the flood gates.
Select 7-Elevens in New York, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles hosted the event which included tons of free give aways and fun. Those who were lucky enough to attend found the event to be full of games, free merchandise, amusement park tickets, carnival gift cards and of course, loads of FarmVille, Mafia Wars and YoVIlle themed goodies.
FarmVille fan and donkey, Backpacking Brighty, snapped a few pics from the event in Dallas. In addition, FarmVille Freak asked readers who attended to send in images.
Continue reading to check out all the awesome pictures from the Zynga 7-Eleven Kick Off Event.
Note: Send photos of your FamVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars 7-Eleven merchandise to editors@games.com and we'll post them up on the blog!
Dallas, Texas
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
Staten Island, New York
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
San Francisco, California
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
Denver, Colorado
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
Chicago, Illinois
zynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven eventzynga 7 eleven event
If you're like us and missed the crazy kickoff event, try not to worry; there will be plenty of Zynga game themed goodies to go around. If you haven't already, head to 7-Eleven's store locater by clicking here and see if there is one in your area.
Although supplies are sure to last, rumor has it that a few jerks are going into stores and snapping pictures of all the codes, leaving few rewards to go around! So if you're interested in getting some FarmVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars themed 7-Eleven stuff, it may be in your best interest to act quickly!
Send photos of your FarmVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars 7-Eleven merchandise to editors@games.com and we'll post them up on the blog!
What do you think of the Zynga 7-Eleven kickoff event?
Sources:
Backpacking Brighty - Dallas, Texas
FarmVille Freak - San Francisco, California
FarmVille Freak - Denver, Colorado
FarmVille Freak - Staten Island, New York
FarmVille Freak - Chicago, Illinois
Happy Pets: More horses in more colors
heppy pets chestnut horse happy pets bluegrass horse happy pets butter horse
Happy Pets has been absolutely crazy about horses lately. Recently, they released limited edition horses in some seriously zany colors, then they rolled out new horse decor, and finally, they've released a new set of permanent horses in addition to the existing five. The new horses are as follows:
Dun Horse (41,795 Coins)
Chestnut Horse (39,795 Coins)
Bluegrass Horse (45,795 Coins)
Butter Horse (43,795 Coins)
While the horses are all rather expensive, we're relieved that they can be bought with coins. Also interesting is the selling price for the adult horses. An adult horse can be sold for about 20,000 Coins more than the price of the pony, allowing Happy Pets players to do a little ranching. Head to Happy Pets to perhaps consider a horse of a different color.
Click here to play Happy Pets>
Happy Pets has been absolutely crazy about horses lately. Recently, they released limited edition horses in some seriously zany colors, then they rolled out new horse decor, and finally, they've released a new set of permanent horses in addition to the existing five. The new horses are as follows:
Dun Horse (41,795 Coins)
Chestnut Horse (39,795 Coins)
Bluegrass Horse (45,795 Coins)
Butter Horse (43,795 Coins)
While the horses are all rather expensive, we're relieved that they can be bought with coins. Also interesting is the selling price for the adult horses. An adult horse can be sold for about 20,000 Coins more than the price of the pony, allowing Happy Pets players to do a little ranching. Head to Happy Pets to perhaps consider a horse of a different color.
Click here to play Happy Pets>
Thứ Bảy, 11 tháng 2, 2012
FrontierVille Cheats & Tips: Goals Mastery Guide
Hey there, homesteader! If you're a FrontierVille fan, you're going to need this guide.
Why?
Well, one of the surprising things about FrontierVille is that it's got no place for players to see or display their achievements. Most games supply a way for players to proudly display, and keep track of, in-game milestones. These could come in the form of ribbons (FarmVille), medals (Happy Aquarium), statues (Pet Society), etc.
Without this future knowledge, you can't anticipate tasks, so you can't plan ahead to make sure you've got everything you need.
In FrontierVille, achievements are called "Goals", and they seem to appear and disappear like the wind. Sometimes, there can be as many as three goals at once. Sometimes, until you clear one goal, you can't see what the next one may be. Some goals can only be completed through sheer chance. Another annoyance is that you could complete a task, but be forced into a do-over, just because you did it before the goal showed up and told you to!
There are probably over a hundred tasks in the game at this point, divided into about 30 main goals. And now, we've made it our mission to report every one.
---
FrontierVille Goal Icons
Tend Your Homestead
Earns 50 Coins, 3 XP, and Experience Point Bonus for Friends
1) Harvest Three Tomatoes
2) Feed Three Chickens
Hint: Ripe Crops will wither if not quickly harvested. You can always plant more.
---
Clear the Land
Earns 100 Coins, 6 XP, and Wood Bonus for Friends
1) Clear Three Grass
2) Chop Down Two Trees
3) Clear One Rock
Hint: Chop trees multiple times to cut them down. Only trees that take more than one chop count for missions.
---
Find Lost Sheep
Earns 100 Coins, 6 XP, and 100 Bonus Coins for Friends
1) Find Your Sheep and Feed It
TIP: It's hiding under some trees on the upper right side of your homestead.
---
FrontierVIlle Clover in the storePrepare the Harvest
Earns 500 Coins, 10 XP, 40 Food, and Free Feast (15 Food) for Friends
1) Buy One Fruit Tree at the Market
TIP: Buy the Cherry Tree for 620 Coins; it's the cheapest tree available.
2) Buy One Pig at the Market
TIP: Unlocking the Pig for purchase requires 3 neighbors or 5 Horseshoes.
3) Plant Seven Crops
TIP: Plant Seven Clovers at 10 Coins each. It's the cheapest option, but you must harvest 'em within 5-10 min.
Hint: Crops, animals an' fruit trees are a major source o' food and coins, but they take time to mature.
---
Start Building A Cabin
Earns 250 Coins, 6 XP, and Wood Bonus for Friends
1) Buy a Cabin at the Market
TIP: Cabin costs 4 Wood.
2) Whack the Framework Three Times
TIP: You need 7 Whacks to complete the Cabin's framework and 6 Wood per Whack.
Hint: What you buy at the market is just a framework. It takes multiple whacks to complete a building.
---
FrontierVille Visit NeighborsVisit Your Neighbors
Earns 400 Coins, 20 XP, and Cloth for Friends
1) Visit Two Neighbors
TIP: Don't visit your neighbors until this goal appears or you'll have to wait a day to try for this again.
2) Have Ten Cloth
TIP: If you've already visited your neighbors, this task would be fulfilled.
Hint: Invite friends to be neighbors, then click their icons to visit them. You get gifts of cloth for every visit.
---
Move Lost Sheep
Earns 20 Food, 10 XP, and XP for Friends
1) Move Your Sheep
TIP: If you've moved your sheep before, you're going to have to move it again.
2) Own or Buy Four Fences (any type).
TIP: Don't buy fences until you get this task. If you already bought some, those old purchases won't count.
Hint: Use the Move and Rotate tools (inside the My Tools menu) to move and spin objects.
--- You should start seeing the following goals after making it pass Level 4 ~ Addleheaded Tenderfoot ---
FrontierVille Level Up
Prepare the Ground
Earns 100 Coins, 20 XP, and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Clear Seven Grass
2) Clear One Skull
3) Clear Two Rocks
Hint: Watch out for snakes!
---
Lay In Supplies
Earns 200 Coins, 6 XP, and 10 Bonus Food for Friends
1) Have 25 Wood
2) Have 50 Food
Hint: Feed animals and harvest crops for more food.
---
Tame The Wilderness
Earns ??? PENDING
1) Clear Ten Grass
2) Chop Down Three Trees
Hint: Grass can regrow as time passes
---
Spruce Things Up
Earns 300 Coins, 40 XP, and a free decoration for Friends
1) Buy Two Hay Bales at the Market
2) Buy One Pitchforck at the Market
3) Buy Three Other Decorations (total of six)
Hint: Decorations don't take energy to buy, and they give you XP.
---
FrontierVille Clobber SnakesClobber Snakes
Earns 45 XP and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Clobber 3 Snakes
Hint: Snakes live in grass, under rocks, and especially inside skulls.
---
Finish the Cabin
Earns 400 Coins, 25 XP, and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Finish the Cabin
Hint: First you need wood to finish the framework. Then you can send for building materials, or buy them yourself.
---
Customize Your Cabin
Earns 100 coins, 25 XP, and 100 Coins for Friends
1) Customize Your Cabin
Hint: To customize any building, click it and use the "customize" option.
---
Keep On Farming
Earns 55 XP and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Plant 25 Crops
2) Harvest 25 Crops
Hint: Planting takes no energy, just coins.
---
FrontierVille planted CloverMake Medicinal Tea
Earns 3 Energy, 50 XP, and free Energy for Friends
1) Own One Clover Tea
2) Own Two Mushrooms
3) Own Two Purple Flowers
Hint: Clover tea is found harvesting clover, mushrooms are found by clearing, and purple flowers can be found in any color of wildflower.
---
Lay in Firewood
Earns 35 XP, 1 Fire, and Wood Bonus for Friends
1) Buy One Forest Saw at the Market
2) Cut More Wood (50 times)
Hint: Watch out for bears!
---
Keep the Land Clear
Earns 50 XP and 100 Coins for Friends
1) Clear 25 Grass
2) Buy One Goat
Hint: Clearing the grass makes room for more wildflowers.
---
Make An Orchard
Earns 50 XP, 25 Food, and Apple Trees for Friends
1) Plant Two Fruit Trees
2) Have Six Fruit Trees
Hint: Fruit trees are bought at the market; some can be sent as gifts.
--- You should start seeing the following after completing the Get Married goals---
FrontierVille Just Got Married
Do Family Chores
Earns ??? PENDING
1) Have Your Spouse Chop Down Five Trees
2) Have Your Spouse Feed 20 Chickens
3) Have Your Spouse Harvest 50 Wheat
Hint: To pick who will do the work, just click the avatar.
Tip: You can tell an avatar has been selected if it has a little silver star floating above its head.
---
Time For Breakfast
Earns 50 XP and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Buy a Breakfast Meal
TIP: Buying it requires 6 Neighbors (or 5 Horseshoes for early unlock), gives you 7 Energy, and costs you 80 Food.
2) Harvest 12 Crops
Hint: To get more energy, you can buy meals at the market. To harvest crops, ya might have to plant some first.
---
FrontierVille Scare BearScare Bears
Earns 65 XP and XP for Friends
1) Scare 6 Bears
Hint: Bears live in the forest, especially near really big trees. Don't cut 'em all down.
---
...to be continued.
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Why?
Well, one of the surprising things about FrontierVille is that it's got no place for players to see or display their achievements. Most games supply a way for players to proudly display, and keep track of, in-game milestones. These could come in the form of ribbons (FarmVille), medals (Happy Aquarium), statues (Pet Society), etc.
Without this future knowledge, you can't anticipate tasks, so you can't plan ahead to make sure you've got everything you need.
In FrontierVille, achievements are called "Goals", and they seem to appear and disappear like the wind. Sometimes, there can be as many as three goals at once. Sometimes, until you clear one goal, you can't see what the next one may be. Some goals can only be completed through sheer chance. Another annoyance is that you could complete a task, but be forced into a do-over, just because you did it before the goal showed up and told you to!
There are probably over a hundred tasks in the game at this point, divided into about 30 main goals. And now, we've made it our mission to report every one.
---
FrontierVille Goal Icons
Tend Your Homestead
Earns 50 Coins, 3 XP, and Experience Point Bonus for Friends
1) Harvest Three Tomatoes
2) Feed Three Chickens
Hint: Ripe Crops will wither if not quickly harvested. You can always plant more.
---
Clear the Land
Earns 100 Coins, 6 XP, and Wood Bonus for Friends
1) Clear Three Grass
2) Chop Down Two Trees
3) Clear One Rock
Hint: Chop trees multiple times to cut them down. Only trees that take more than one chop count for missions.
---
Find Lost Sheep
Earns 100 Coins, 6 XP, and 100 Bonus Coins for Friends
1) Find Your Sheep and Feed It
TIP: It's hiding under some trees on the upper right side of your homestead.
---
FrontierVIlle Clover in the storePrepare the Harvest
Earns 500 Coins, 10 XP, 40 Food, and Free Feast (15 Food) for Friends
1) Buy One Fruit Tree at the Market
TIP: Buy the Cherry Tree for 620 Coins; it's the cheapest tree available.
2) Buy One Pig at the Market
TIP: Unlocking the Pig for purchase requires 3 neighbors or 5 Horseshoes.
3) Plant Seven Crops
TIP: Plant Seven Clovers at 10 Coins each. It's the cheapest option, but you must harvest 'em within 5-10 min.
Hint: Crops, animals an' fruit trees are a major source o' food and coins, but they take time to mature.
---
Start Building A Cabin
Earns 250 Coins, 6 XP, and Wood Bonus for Friends
1) Buy a Cabin at the Market
TIP: Cabin costs 4 Wood.
2) Whack the Framework Three Times
TIP: You need 7 Whacks to complete the Cabin's framework and 6 Wood per Whack.
Hint: What you buy at the market is just a framework. It takes multiple whacks to complete a building.
---
FrontierVille Visit NeighborsVisit Your Neighbors
Earns 400 Coins, 20 XP, and Cloth for Friends
1) Visit Two Neighbors
TIP: Don't visit your neighbors until this goal appears or you'll have to wait a day to try for this again.
2) Have Ten Cloth
TIP: If you've already visited your neighbors, this task would be fulfilled.
Hint: Invite friends to be neighbors, then click their icons to visit them. You get gifts of cloth for every visit.
---
Move Lost Sheep
Earns 20 Food, 10 XP, and XP for Friends
1) Move Your Sheep
TIP: If you've moved your sheep before, you're going to have to move it again.
2) Own or Buy Four Fences (any type).
TIP: Don't buy fences until you get this task. If you already bought some, those old purchases won't count.
Hint: Use the Move and Rotate tools (inside the My Tools menu) to move and spin objects.
--- You should start seeing the following goals after making it pass Level 4 ~ Addleheaded Tenderfoot ---
FrontierVille Level Up
Prepare the Ground
Earns 100 Coins, 20 XP, and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Clear Seven Grass
2) Clear One Skull
3) Clear Two Rocks
Hint: Watch out for snakes!
---
Lay In Supplies
Earns 200 Coins, 6 XP, and 10 Bonus Food for Friends
1) Have 25 Wood
2) Have 50 Food
Hint: Feed animals and harvest crops for more food.
---
Tame The Wilderness
Earns ??? PENDING
1) Clear Ten Grass
2) Chop Down Three Trees
Hint: Grass can regrow as time passes
---
Spruce Things Up
Earns 300 Coins, 40 XP, and a free decoration for Friends
1) Buy Two Hay Bales at the Market
2) Buy One Pitchforck at the Market
3) Buy Three Other Decorations (total of six)
Hint: Decorations don't take energy to buy, and they give you XP.
---
FrontierVille Clobber SnakesClobber Snakes
Earns 45 XP and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Clobber 3 Snakes
Hint: Snakes live in grass, under rocks, and especially inside skulls.
---
Finish the Cabin
Earns 400 Coins, 25 XP, and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Finish the Cabin
Hint: First you need wood to finish the framework. Then you can send for building materials, or buy them yourself.
---
Customize Your Cabin
Earns 100 coins, 25 XP, and 100 Coins for Friends
1) Customize Your Cabin
Hint: To customize any building, click it and use the "customize" option.
---
Keep On Farming
Earns 55 XP and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Plant 25 Crops
2) Harvest 25 Crops
Hint: Planting takes no energy, just coins.
---
FrontierVille planted CloverMake Medicinal Tea
Earns 3 Energy, 50 XP, and free Energy for Friends
1) Own One Clover Tea
2) Own Two Mushrooms
3) Own Two Purple Flowers
Hint: Clover tea is found harvesting clover, mushrooms are found by clearing, and purple flowers can be found in any color of wildflower.
---
Lay in Firewood
Earns 35 XP, 1 Fire, and Wood Bonus for Friends
1) Buy One Forest Saw at the Market
2) Cut More Wood (50 times)
Hint: Watch out for bears!
---
Keep the Land Clear
Earns 50 XP and 100 Coins for Friends
1) Clear 25 Grass
2) Buy One Goat
Hint: Clearing the grass makes room for more wildflowers.
---
Make An Orchard
Earns 50 XP, 25 Food, and Apple Trees for Friends
1) Plant Two Fruit Trees
2) Have Six Fruit Trees
Hint: Fruit trees are bought at the market; some can be sent as gifts.
--- You should start seeing the following after completing the Get Married goals---
FrontierVille Just Got Married
Do Family Chores
Earns ??? PENDING
1) Have Your Spouse Chop Down Five Trees
2) Have Your Spouse Feed 20 Chickens
3) Have Your Spouse Harvest 50 Wheat
Hint: To pick who will do the work, just click the avatar.
Tip: You can tell an avatar has been selected if it has a little silver star floating above its head.
---
Time For Breakfast
Earns 50 XP and Food Bonus for Friends
1) Buy a Breakfast Meal
TIP: Buying it requires 6 Neighbors (or 5 Horseshoes for early unlock), gives you 7 Energy, and costs you 80 Food.
2) Harvest 12 Crops
Hint: To get more energy, you can buy meals at the market. To harvest crops, ya might have to plant some first.
---
FrontierVille Scare BearScare Bears
Earns 65 XP and XP for Friends
1) Scare 6 Bears
Hint: Bears live in the forest, especially near really big trees. Don't cut 'em all down.
---
...to be continued.
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here.
FarmVille Botanical Garden & Gift Box glitch
In a new FarmVille glitch, FarmVille Freaks are reporting that their Gift Box is doing some strange and unusual things.
The most common report is that farmers FarmVille Gift Boxes are being found filled with Botanical Garden building supplies. The Botanical Garden was a past limited edition building, now retired, that required you to have the help of your neighbors to build. It is not a building with purpose and does not provide storage.
As reported by FarmVille Freak OctaviousOrion,
I got a glitch somehow in Farmville and I posted about it myself and had others say they got the same thing. I opened up my FarmVille page and noticed I had nearly 70 gifts....and 49 of those were the materials needed to build the Botanical Gardens previously released by FarmVille. In no way did i have any part in receiving these, they just showed up. I'll include the screenshot of what i received. (See Picture below)" – FarmVille Freak OctaviousOrion
Similarly FarmVille Freak Dustin experienced this as well,
"I logged into my farm this afternoon and found something weird in my Gift Box. Before I signed off last night I knew I didn't have over 70 items.. so I checked and found all of the Botanical Garden items in there. I already completed the Botanical Garden when it came out, and it's in my storage. I don't know where all these items came from, and I didn't accept any old requests. Anyone else have the same thing happen to them? You can see all the items in this screen shot, and there are 9 Glass Tiles on the first page of my Gift Box, not included in the screen shot." – FarmVille Freak Dustin
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
The most common report is that farmers FarmVille Gift Boxes are being found filled with Botanical Garden building supplies. The Botanical Garden was a past limited edition building, now retired, that required you to have the help of your neighbors to build. It is not a building with purpose and does not provide storage.
As reported by FarmVille Freak OctaviousOrion,
I got a glitch somehow in Farmville and I posted about it myself and had others say they got the same thing. I opened up my FarmVille page and noticed I had nearly 70 gifts....and 49 of those were the materials needed to build the Botanical Gardens previously released by FarmVille. In no way did i have any part in receiving these, they just showed up. I'll include the screenshot of what i received. (See Picture below)" – FarmVille Freak OctaviousOrion
Similarly FarmVille Freak Dustin experienced this as well,
"I logged into my farm this afternoon and found something weird in my Gift Box. Before I signed off last night I knew I didn't have over 70 items.. so I checked and found all of the Botanical Garden items in there. I already completed the Botanical Garden when it came out, and it's in my storage. I don't know where all these items came from, and I didn't accept any old requests. Anyone else have the same thing happen to them? You can see all the items in this screen shot, and there are 9 Glass Tiles on the first page of my Gift Box, not included in the screen shot." – FarmVille Freak Dustin
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille unreleased item: Small Japanese pond
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Shiori for finding this unreleased FarmVille Japanese Small Pond! We can probably expect to see this unreleased item as part of the limited edition Japanese theme in FarmVillle.
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille unreleased item: Japanese Teahouse II
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Farhan for finding this unreleased FarmVille Japanese Teahouse II!
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille unreleased items: Lederhose Gnome & Heidi Gnome
Check out these adorable new unreleased FarmVille Gnomes! Thank you to FarmVille Freak Shiori for finding these unreleased FarmVille Lederhose Gnome and Heidi Gnome.
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
What is your guess as to what FarmVille theme these Gnomes will be part of?
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
What is your guess as to what FarmVille theme these Gnomes will be part of?
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Thứ Năm, 9 tháng 2, 2012
FarmVille New England Tree: Heirloom Apple
farmville heirloom apple
farmville heirloom appleA new limited edition New England tree, the Heirloom Apple Tree, has hit the FarmVille Market.
This limited edition Tree can be purchased for 10,000 coins during the next 10 days only.
This non-decorative tree is harvestable, meaning it will yield coins when harvested.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
farmville heirloom appleA new limited edition New England tree, the Heirloom Apple Tree, has hit the FarmVille Market.
This limited edition Tree can be purchased for 10,000 coins during the next 10 days only.
This non-decorative tree is harvestable, meaning it will yield coins when harvested.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille New England Decorations: Flower Bridge, Rose Arch & Quilts
farmville rose arch farmville quilts
Three new limited edition New England themed decorations have been added to the market tonight in FarmVille.
The FarmVille Flower Bridge, Quilts, and Rose Arch decorations can be purchased in the market during the next 10 days only.
farmville quilts farmville rose arch farmville flower bridge
FarmVille New England Decorations (Released August 2, 2010):
Flower Bridge -42FV$
Rose Arch- 7FV$
Quilts – 10,000 coins
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Three new limited edition New England themed decorations have been added to the market tonight in FarmVille.
The FarmVille Flower Bridge, Quilts, and Rose Arch decorations can be purchased in the market during the next 10 days only.
farmville quilts farmville rose arch farmville flower bridge
FarmVille New England Decorations (Released August 2, 2010):
Flower Bridge -42FV$
Rose Arch- 7FV$
Quilts – 10,000 coins
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille New England Buildings: Stone Villa & Village Center
There are two new limited edition New England buildings, the Stone Villa and the Village Center now available in FarmVille.
These two buildings may be purchased with farm cash in the FarmVille Market during the next 10 days only.
FarmVille New England Buildings (Released August 2, 2010):
Stone Villa – 50 FV$
Village Center – 36 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Bookmark this site!
FarmVille New England Crop: Lady Slippers
farmville lady slippers
A new limited edition New England themed crop, Lady Slippers, a type of orchid, are now available for planting!
Limited Edition Lady Slipper seeds can be purchased in the FarmVille Market during the next 10 days only.
farmville lady slippers
Lady Slippers are unlocked to Level 15 farmers and above. The seeds can be purchased for 70 coins, are ready to harvest in 6 hours, and yield 115 coins and 1 XP with a profit of 30 coins (when you deduct the 15 coin cost of plowing).
There is NO Crop Mastery available for Lady Slippers.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Will you grow Lady Slippers on your farm?
A new limited edition New England themed crop, Lady Slippers, a type of orchid, are now available for planting!
Limited Edition Lady Slipper seeds can be purchased in the FarmVille Market during the next 10 days only.
farmville lady slippers
Lady Slippers are unlocked to Level 15 farmers and above. The seeds can be purchased for 70 coins, are ready to harvest in 6 hours, and yield 115 coins and 1 XP with a profit of 30 coins (when you deduct the 15 coin cost of plowing).
There is NO Crop Mastery available for Lady Slippers.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Will you grow Lady Slippers on your farm?
YoVille: Build an ancient Moroccan city
yoville moroccan items
The Moroccan month in YoVille has not ended yet and it is time for one more installment of Moroccan items. The YoVille Furniture Store was updated with a collection of Moroccan decorations that will look amazing in your oriental rooms. Build your ancient Moroccan city with the new ruins and pillars.
Hookahs:
Different versions of the Moroccan Hookahs are now available for prices ranging between 2-3 YoCash.
Plush Toys:
Plush toy collectors can now enjoy 4 new toys. Get the camel, Aladdin and thief plush toys for 8 YoCash each.
Continue reading to see a complete list of prices and pictures.
yoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan items
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
The Moroccan month in YoVille has not ended yet and it is time for one more installment of Moroccan items. The YoVille Furniture Store was updated with a collection of Moroccan decorations that will look amazing in your oriental rooms. Build your ancient Moroccan city with the new ruins and pillars.
Hookahs:
Different versions of the Moroccan Hookahs are now available for prices ranging between 2-3 YoCash.
Plush Toys:
Plush toy collectors can now enjoy 4 new toys. Get the camel, Aladdin and thief plush toys for 8 YoCash each.
Continue reading to see a complete list of prices and pictures.
yoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan itemsyoville moroccan items
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Thứ Ba, 7 tháng 2, 2012
FarmVille LE Wild West Animal: Western Longhorn
Attention all Longhorn lovers, there is a new special Wild West Limited Edition Western Longhorn that FarmVille debuted tonight.
You can purchase the Western Longhorn for 20 farm cash in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only. The Western Longhorn can be placed in the Dairy Farm and there will also be a chance at yielding a Western Longhorn Calf.
FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released September 7, 2010):
Western Longhorn – 20 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Will you purchase a Western Longhorn for your farm?
You can purchase the Western Longhorn for 20 farm cash in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only. The Western Longhorn can be placed in the Dairy Farm and there will also be a chance at yielding a Western Longhorn Calf.
FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released September 7, 2010):
Western Longhorn – 20 FV$
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Will you purchase a Western Longhorn for your farm?
FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations: Stream, Gold Panning, Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush & Tumbleweed
farmville wanted poster farmville wild west well
Continuing with the Limited Edition Wild West theme, there are lots of new decorations that FarmVille released tonight.
You can buy a Wild West Stream, Gold Panning, Wild West Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush and Tumbleweed in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.
FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations (Released September 7, 2010):
Wild West Stream – 22 FV$
Gold Panning – 20 FV$
Wild West Well – 8,000 Coins
Wanted Sign – 6,000 Coins
Mine Cart – 4,000 Coins
Sagebrush – 1,000 Coins (decorative plant)
Tumbleweed – 800 Coins (decorative)
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
What is your favorite Wild West decorations or item thus far?
Continuing with the Limited Edition Wild West theme, there are lots of new decorations that FarmVille released tonight.
You can buy a Wild West Stream, Gold Panning, Wild West Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush and Tumbleweed in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.
FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations (Released September 7, 2010):
Wild West Stream – 22 FV$
Gold Panning – 20 FV$
Wild West Well – 8,000 Coins
Wanted Sign – 6,000 Coins
Mine Cart – 4,000 Coins
Sagebrush – 1,000 Coins (decorative plant)
Tumbleweed – 800 Coins (decorative)
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
What is your favorite Wild West decorations or item thus far?
Mafia Wars: The fight is on in San Juan for all, thanks to recent patch
Zynga has posted the release notes for today's Mafia Wars patch, and the results are mainly bug fixes and improvements to features that have already been implemented. Most importantly, the San Juan mission pack is finally available to all players!
As an apology, the Zynga team has awarded everyone a compensation package of 100 victory coins and one piece of Hazard Gear armor (35 Attack, 71 Defense). Could this be part of Zynga's promise to make Mafia Wars better? Find a full list of the changes after the break.
Mafia Wars Release Notes September 8 2010
Aside from the San Juan event being open to all, there are a slew of other changes and features added to this release of Mafia Wars. Take a look:
New Underwater Crates Set
Added loot drops and fight mastery to the Hit List
Added loot and boosts to the Vegas Slot Machines
An in-game fix making Mafia Wars compatible with Google Chrome
Fixed an issue with populating list of people to fight in Vegas
Beating a boss in Vegas finally masters a tier
Players can help out their mob as many times as they want in the San Juan event
There's now a two-second cooldown timer on attacking a San Juan boss
Finally (drum roll please), the San Juan event has been extended for another three days! While it's obvious this is to give those who couldn't access the event a chance at all the fun, at least those who have had the access but didn't get to do the event have a second chance.
Mafia Wars Reinstated San Juan gifts
In addition to these announced changes, the ability to send the San Juan event gifts has been reinstated as well to help out those who haven't completed the missions yet. So, get to helping your buddies out!
As an apology, the Zynga team has awarded everyone a compensation package of 100 victory coins and one piece of Hazard Gear armor (35 Attack, 71 Defense). Could this be part of Zynga's promise to make Mafia Wars better? Find a full list of the changes after the break.
Mafia Wars Release Notes September 8 2010
Aside from the San Juan event being open to all, there are a slew of other changes and features added to this release of Mafia Wars. Take a look:
New Underwater Crates Set
Added loot drops and fight mastery to the Hit List
Added loot and boosts to the Vegas Slot Machines
An in-game fix making Mafia Wars compatible with Google Chrome
Fixed an issue with populating list of people to fight in Vegas
Beating a boss in Vegas finally masters a tier
Players can help out their mob as many times as they want in the San Juan event
There's now a two-second cooldown timer on attacking a San Juan boss
Finally (drum roll please), the San Juan event has been extended for another three days! While it's obvious this is to give those who couldn't access the event a chance at all the fun, at least those who have had the access but didn't get to do the event have a second chance.
Mafia Wars Reinstated San Juan gifts
In addition to these announced changes, the ability to send the San Juan event gifts has been reinstated as well to help out those who haven't completed the missions yet. So, get to helping your buddies out!
YoVille: New Romantic Bedroom Furniture has arrived
Yoville romantic bedroom furniture
YoVille armoires, stools, drawers and dividers, this release has it all to make a perfect bedroom in your romantic house! Over 50 new items including mirrors and paintings, potted ferns and nightlamps. Beds, dressers and other furniture available in 4 colours.
Check the full list and prices after the link.
Yoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
YoVille armoires, stools, drawers and dividers, this release has it all to make a perfect bedroom in your romantic house! Over 50 new items including mirrors and paintings, potted ferns and nightlamps. Beds, dressers and other furniture available in 4 colours.
Check the full list and prices after the link.
Yoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Mafia Wars: Log in this weekend to pimp your properties for free
According to a little stealth update in Mafia Wars, Zynga plans to give everyone a free upgrade to their property some time this weekend. While we can't say exactly how many upgrades there will be, we know that you'll be able to apply them to any of your properties in any given city.
The information appears as a small banner ad on your home page that reveal more information once clicked. While free items, apologies and upgrades are nice, we hope this isn't all that Zynga meant when they promised improvements.
The information appears as a small banner ad on your home page that reveal more information once clicked. While free items, apologies and upgrades are nice, we hope this isn't all that Zynga meant when they promised improvements.
Thứ Bảy, 4 tháng 2, 2012
YoVille English Cottage bathroom furniture
yoville english cottage bathroom furniture
English Cottage Bathroom items can now be found from the Furniture Store! Wooden towel shelves, counters and toilets among other bathroom furniture, in 4 matching colors with the previous Cottage releases, which you can find from the Items Database:
English Cottage Living Room
English Cottage Kitchen
English Cottage Mystery Box
Check the list of bathroom items and prices after the link. What do you think of this theme? Tell us in comments!
yoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Bookmark this site!
Tags: cottage, english, english cottage, EnglishCottage, yoville, zynga
More Games News, Tips and Cheats
Image: Read Lunchtime Poll: Would you watch an ad in CityVille for free energy?... Lunchtime Poll: Would you watch an ad in CityVille for free energy?...
Image: Read Pioneer Trail Monumental Homestead Goals: Everything you need to know... Pioneer Trail Monumental Homestead Goals: Everything you need to know...
Image: Read Pioneer Trail: Horseshoe bundles offer free prizes with each purchase... Pioneer Trail: Horseshoe bundles offer free prizes with each purchase...
Image: Read FarmVille: Wither's off while Zynga fixes slew of bugs... FarmVille: Wither's off while Zynga fixes slew of bugs...
English Cottage Bathroom items can now be found from the Furniture Store! Wooden towel shelves, counters and toilets among other bathroom furniture, in 4 matching colors with the previous Cottage releases, which you can find from the Items Database:
English Cottage Living Room
English Cottage Kitchen
English Cottage Mystery Box
Check the list of bathroom items and prices after the link. What do you think of this theme? Tell us in comments!
yoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furnitureyoville english cottage bathroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Bookmark this site!
Tags: cottage, english, english cottage, EnglishCottage, yoville, zynga
More Games News, Tips and Cheats
Image: Read Lunchtime Poll: Would you watch an ad in CityVille for free energy?... Lunchtime Poll: Would you watch an ad in CityVille for free energy?...
Image: Read Pioneer Trail Monumental Homestead Goals: Everything you need to know... Pioneer Trail Monumental Homestead Goals: Everything you need to know...
Image: Read Pioneer Trail: Horseshoe bundles offer free prizes with each purchase... Pioneer Trail: Horseshoe bundles offer free prizes with each purchase...
Image: Read FarmVille: Wither's off while Zynga fixes slew of bugs... FarmVille: Wither's off while Zynga fixes slew of bugs...
Treasure Isle Dragons will take you to lands that are Timeless in China
A new feature appeared in Treasure Isle this weekend that continues the exotic Asian Isles map sets, the Dragon. You heard that right, not the Dragon Sailboat. Zynga decided to quit beating around the bush and give us treasure hunters what we really want: to ride on our very own fierce, majestic dragon.
It's too bad when you find the magical lizard he's sickly and pathetic (since when do dragons get sick?). Fortunately, nursing the little baby back to health will open up a whole new map for you to explore called Timeless in China, which holds eight new islands to find shinies in. Finding the dragon currently seems like a random occurrence, but once you do find him, throw him in the good old backpack and take him to your Home Island. It's there that you can click on the legged, sickly snake to ask six of your friends to help bring him back to good health, though one new friend will automatically come by each day to help if your friends are slowpokes.
You can also pay up 30 Island Cash, or about $5 USD, to bring him into his own instantly Seriously, even if you don't have six friends, it's only six days. We think you can wait. Once fully healed, the dragon is what you'll need to access the Timeless in China maps. Good luck finding the dragon and exploring the Timeless in China maps. Just don't get lost in there, because unlike in Hollywood wushu flicks where that's cool and exciting we call that addiction. And that's just no fun.
It's too bad when you find the magical lizard he's sickly and pathetic (since when do dragons get sick?). Fortunately, nursing the little baby back to health will open up a whole new map for you to explore called Timeless in China, which holds eight new islands to find shinies in. Finding the dragon currently seems like a random occurrence, but once you do find him, throw him in the good old backpack and take him to your Home Island. It's there that you can click on the legged, sickly snake to ask six of your friends to help bring him back to good health, though one new friend will automatically come by each day to help if your friends are slowpokes.
You can also pay up 30 Island Cash, or about $5 USD, to bring him into his own instantly Seriously, even if you don't have six friends, it's only six days. We think you can wait. Once fully healed, the dragon is what you'll need to access the Timeless in China maps. Good luck finding the dragon and exploring the Timeless in China maps. Just don't get lost in there, because unlike in Hollywood wushu flicks where that's cool and exciting we call that addiction. And that's just no fun.
YoVille: Get creative with your free gifts
yoville free gift creativity
Do you have tons of YoVille free gifts stocked up but no idea what to do with them? Here's couple of unique and creative ideas to make the best of them! Featuring Romantic rugs and doors, Cottage chests, bookshelves and paintings!
Are your Cottage Chests too big for your rooms? No worries, they are just the right size for making roofs and trains. Cottage paintings make nice walls for the buildings when placed over each other as boardings.
Or you can use the chests for lining up the rooms, make the railings etc. like Queen KK WYID has done in her lovely Smokey Mt Lodge Lobby:
yoville free gift creativity
Here Queen has used the freebie bookshelves and paintings for railings, and several other freebies to make this gorgeous room at her Cottage! Perfect mix-match of romantic and cottage free gifts!
yoville free gift creativity
If you have dozens and dozens of Romantic Rugs or doors, they may still not be enough after you've seen what Gypsy made out of them! Skyscrapers and Celtic Knot, how genius is that?
yoville free gift creativity
yoville free gift creativity
Pictures originally posted on WYID-fanpage in Facebook. Thank you so much ladies for sharing your talent.
Do you have tons of YoVille free gifts stocked up but no idea what to do with them? Here's couple of unique and creative ideas to make the best of them! Featuring Romantic rugs and doors, Cottage chests, bookshelves and paintings!
Are your Cottage Chests too big for your rooms? No worries, they are just the right size for making roofs and trains. Cottage paintings make nice walls for the buildings when placed over each other as boardings.
Or you can use the chests for lining up the rooms, make the railings etc. like Queen KK WYID has done in her lovely Smokey Mt Lodge Lobby:
yoville free gift creativity
Here Queen has used the freebie bookshelves and paintings for railings, and several other freebies to make this gorgeous room at her Cottage! Perfect mix-match of romantic and cottage free gifts!
yoville free gift creativity
If you have dozens and dozens of Romantic Rugs or doors, they may still not be enough after you've seen what Gypsy made out of them! Skyscrapers and Celtic Knot, how genius is that?
yoville free gift creativity
yoville free gift creativity
Pictures originally posted on WYID-fanpage in Facebook. Thank you so much ladies for sharing your talent.
YoVille Fall Fashion continues in the clothing store
yoville fall clothing fasion
New YoVille clothes were added to the Fall Clothing Line today! Sweaters, skirts and bows for ladies, vest jackets, button downs and sneakers for gentlemen. As before, clothes in Coins, accessories in YoCash.
Time to update the wardrobes! Check the list of the items after the link.
yoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasion
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
New YoVille clothes were added to the Fall Clothing Line today! Sweaters, skirts and bows for ladies, vest jackets, button downs and sneakers for gentlemen. As before, clothes in Coins, accessories in YoCash.
Time to update the wardrobes! Check the list of the items after the link.
yoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasionyoville fall clothing fasion
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
FarmVille looking to Windows Phone 7 to sow seeds of addiction
FarmVille on Windows Phone 7At the recent GigaOm Mobilize Conference in San Francisco, general manager of developer and platform evangelism Matt Thompson claimed that the "hook" Windows Phone 7 will have other smartphones is Xbox Live integration, according to Venture Beat. More importantly, Thompson also mentioned briefly during his time on stage at the GigaOm event that (drum roll, please) FarmVille will be one of the many games coming to Windows Phone 7.
This is the second mobile platform that Zynga will officially be taking its insanely addictive Facebook farming game to (can you guess where you can find it already?). With the San Francisco-based social game creator looking for Android developers, it can't be too long before we're harvesting crops on our Android phones as well.
Whether FarmVille on Windows Phone 7 will take advantage of the phone's Xbox Live features is uncertain, but it is possible considering games on the device are only developed through Microsoft's XNA. A development environment used for Xbox 360's indie games that already allows for Live features, players could add Xbox Live friends as neighbors and share their progress on Xbox Live.
Windows Phone 7 will be available this fall on almost all major carriers, so scratch the, "but there's no FarmVille" excuse off your list of reasons for not getting one of these bad boys.
This is the second mobile platform that Zynga will officially be taking its insanely addictive Facebook farming game to (can you guess where you can find it already?). With the San Francisco-based social game creator looking for Android developers, it can't be too long before we're harvesting crops on our Android phones as well.
Whether FarmVille on Windows Phone 7 will take advantage of the phone's Xbox Live features is uncertain, but it is possible considering games on the device are only developed through Microsoft's XNA. A development environment used for Xbox 360's indie games that already allows for Live features, players could add Xbox Live friends as neighbors and share their progress on Xbox Live.
Windows Phone 7 will be available this fall on almost all major carriers, so scratch the, "but there's no FarmVille" excuse off your list of reasons for not getting one of these bad boys.
Thứ Năm, 2 tháng 2, 2012
Nightclub City adds new Halloween celebrities to the party
One of the subtle draws to Nightclub City is the ability to "collect" celebrities, who will either randomly visit your club, or who can be paid to make an appearance in your club. These celebrities add to your club's popularity for as long as they are in the club, which has multiple effects (the most noteworthy being the sheer increase in the number of patrons coming to your club, thereby increasing your cover charge and drink revenues).
To celebrate Halloween, Booyah has added a new trio of Halloween celebrities to the mix tonight. For a limited time, you can now pay Count Macula, Freakenstein, and the Bride of Freakenstein to make an appearance in your club. All three cost a whopping 1 million coins each to purchase, but they also come with a high amount of popularity points, at 200 points each. Pay 3 million coins and your club will instantly boost 600 popularity points! To put this into perspective, many other celebrities add just 50 or 100 popularity points per appearance.
The only downside? Your club must be located on Elm Street, one of the game's Halloween themed locations in order to have them appear in your club. For those that don't have the 10 million dollars to move their club to said location, this can be a bit disappointing, but at least those that did make the splurge now have more content with which to spend their time.
To celebrate Halloween, Booyah has added a new trio of Halloween celebrities to the mix tonight. For a limited time, you can now pay Count Macula, Freakenstein, and the Bride of Freakenstein to make an appearance in your club. All three cost a whopping 1 million coins each to purchase, but they also come with a high amount of popularity points, at 200 points each. Pay 3 million coins and your club will instantly boost 600 popularity points! To put this into perspective, many other celebrities add just 50 or 100 popularity points per appearance.
The only downside? Your club must be located on Elm Street, one of the game's Halloween themed locations in order to have them appear in your club. For those that don't have the 10 million dollars to move their club to said location, this can be a bit disappointing, but at least those that did make the splurge now have more content with which to spend their time.
FarmVille Stone Coffin: Could this be the last Halloween item?
Just a few minutes ago, Zynga announced the release of yet another Halloween-themed limited edition item into the FarmVille marketplace.
The item is the Stone Coffin, and it can be found under the Decorations tab of the marketplace. It is available to purchase for 20 Farm Cash, and it is an animated item. Remember, as a Farm Cash item, you can also gift one to a friend, if you are so inclined (I'm sure your friends wouldn't turn down a free Farm Cash item).
Could this really be Zynga's final release in this year's Halloween limited edition item set? From the wording on the post on the FarmVille Sheep fan page, it certainly seems so, as the words "one last" definitely indicates such.
Either way, we'll be sure to continue to bring you all of the news concerning FarmVille's Halloween celebration, if it does continue to update. For now though, be sure to add take a look at this item in the marketplace before it disappears in just two days' time.
The item is the Stone Coffin, and it can be found under the Decorations tab of the marketplace. It is available to purchase for 20 Farm Cash, and it is an animated item. Remember, as a Farm Cash item, you can also gift one to a friend, if you are so inclined (I'm sure your friends wouldn't turn down a free Farm Cash item).
Could this really be Zynga's final release in this year's Halloween limited edition item set? From the wording on the post on the FarmVille Sheep fan page, it certainly seems so, as the words "one last" definitely indicates such.
Either way, we'll be sure to continue to bring you all of the news concerning FarmVille's Halloween celebration, if it does continue to update. For now though, be sure to add take a look at this item in the marketplace before it disappears in just two days' time.
FarmVille Halloween costumes: Revealed!
If you're a FarmVille fan and are looking for a last-minute Halloween costume for this weekend -- look no further. Pay homage to your favorite virtual pastime by dressing up as a FarmVille farmer. We've outlined everything you need in our quick Halloween costume guide, and dug up these photos of other people's costumes for additional inspiration.
Our favorite FarmVille costumes we've seen so far is from this duo, who donned overalls, plaid shirts and then added ribbons, stars with their levels in the game. Then, as the pièce de résistance, they handed out chocolate gold coins to anyone who asked about their costume. Awesome.
farmville famer on horseback
This lady farmer on horseback used her dog as a prop. Put on farmer gear, then dress your pooch as a chicken, cow or other farm animal, and you've got a stand-out FarmVille costume. Of course, make sure that pets are welcome at whatever festivities you might be attending.
farmville famer costume last minute
And, then there is this ultimate last-minute costume for FarmVille freaks - put on a plaid shirt, print a few images from the game and paste them to your chest. Ta-dah! You're a FarmVille farmer.
[Via College Humor, Horse & Rider, iJustine]
Our favorite FarmVille costumes we've seen so far is from this duo, who donned overalls, plaid shirts and then added ribbons, stars with their levels in the game. Then, as the pièce de résistance, they handed out chocolate gold coins to anyone who asked about their costume. Awesome.
farmville famer on horseback
This lady farmer on horseback used her dog as a prop. Put on farmer gear, then dress your pooch as a chicken, cow or other farm animal, and you've got a stand-out FarmVille costume. Of course, make sure that pets are welcome at whatever festivities you might be attending.
farmville famer costume last minute
And, then there is this ultimate last-minute costume for FarmVille freaks - put on a plaid shirt, print a few images from the game and paste them to your chest. Ta-dah! You're a FarmVille farmer.
[Via College Humor, Horse & Rider, iJustine]
Zynga streamlines FarmVille news posts - collect items in fewer clicks!
A few months ago, Zynga made an interesting move in their update of FarmVille news feed posts. Instead of being able to click on a free Mystery Egg, lost animal, experience point boost or any other free item posted by your friends and receive them instantly, they added a second step, which slowed down the process considerably.
Up until yesterday, when accepting any of these news feed rewards, you would have to go through a confirmation step before actually receiving your prize. Now, however, the step of "Do you want to accept this gift?" has been removed entirely, streamlining the gifts acceptance process to the point that you can now simply click on a news feed item and receive the reward in one click.
Instead of the above, as you receive your reward (whatever that reward may be), you may or may not be taken to a page where you can voluntarily send a gift back to your friend as a thank you. Again, this is voluntary and can be skipped entirely if you so choose.
For an example, when claiming a free nail from a building material post, you'll see a page containing a graphic like the image above, simply alerting you to the fact that your nail has been successfully added to your Gift Box - no secondary clicking necessary.
As of right now, Zynga is still working on moving over all feed reward posts to the new system, so if you still see the "Do you want to accept this?" page, be patient, as we're sure Zynga will change them all over as quickly as possible.
Up until yesterday, when accepting any of these news feed rewards, you would have to go through a confirmation step before actually receiving your prize. Now, however, the step of "Do you want to accept this gift?" has been removed entirely, streamlining the gifts acceptance process to the point that you can now simply click on a news feed item and receive the reward in one click.
Instead of the above, as you receive your reward (whatever that reward may be), you may or may not be taken to a page where you can voluntarily send a gift back to your friend as a thank you. Again, this is voluntary and can be skipped entirely if you so choose.
For an example, when claiming a free nail from a building material post, you'll see a page containing a graphic like the image above, simply alerting you to the fact that your nail has been successfully added to your Gift Box - no secondary clicking necessary.
As of right now, Zynga is still working on moving over all feed reward posts to the new system, so if you still see the "Do you want to accept this?" page, be patient, as we're sure Zynga will change them all over as quickly as possible.
Cafe World Collections Cabinet: Everything you need to know
If you've played Cafe World for some time now, you'll know how much Zynga loves releasing construction projects in the game. The newest item has been released this weekend, and comes in the form of a Collections Cabinet, which, as the name suggests, brings a collection feature to the game, allowing you to earn special rewards.
Meet us behind the break for everything you need to know about this new cabinet and feature.
First and foremost, you'll need to build the Collections Cabinet, either by asking your friends for help or by purchasing it (or the ingredients to build it) with Cafe Cash.
The Cabinet can be purchased flat out for 75 Cafe Cash, or you can collect 40 ingredients: 10 each of Drawers, Handles, Mounting Bolts, and Paint. You can acquire these ingredients by asking your friends for help. Simply click on the "Ask for More" button associated with the particular ingredient you want to collect, and you'll be taken to a reverse of the game's free gifts menu, where you can send your friends gift requests for those items.
If at any time you'd like to stop waiting for your friends to help you, you can purchase ingredients with Cafe Cash, at a rate of 2 Cafe Cash per individual ingredient. It should be noted that if you choose to place the free Collections Cabinet base from your inventory and then purchase the ingredients individually, you'll wind up paying 80 Cafe Cash, which is actually more than the flat rate you can spend by simply purchasing the Cabinet from the store fully completed.
Once you have completed your Collections Cabinet, you'll be able to complete various collections by simply completing actions in the game that you normally would anyway. You can earn different collection items based on the different actions you take (cooking in your own Cafe, spicing your friends' dishes, completing Catering missions, and so on). Completing these collections earns you coins, and Cafe Points (the game's experience points), with the possibility of much better rewards being available in the future.
Meet us behind the break for everything you need to know about this new cabinet and feature.
First and foremost, you'll need to build the Collections Cabinet, either by asking your friends for help or by purchasing it (or the ingredients to build it) with Cafe Cash.
The Cabinet can be purchased flat out for 75 Cafe Cash, or you can collect 40 ingredients: 10 each of Drawers, Handles, Mounting Bolts, and Paint. You can acquire these ingredients by asking your friends for help. Simply click on the "Ask for More" button associated with the particular ingredient you want to collect, and you'll be taken to a reverse of the game's free gifts menu, where you can send your friends gift requests for those items.
If at any time you'd like to stop waiting for your friends to help you, you can purchase ingredients with Cafe Cash, at a rate of 2 Cafe Cash per individual ingredient. It should be noted that if you choose to place the free Collections Cabinet base from your inventory and then purchase the ingredients individually, you'll wind up paying 80 Cafe Cash, which is actually more than the flat rate you can spend by simply purchasing the Cabinet from the store fully completed.
Once you have completed your Collections Cabinet, you'll be able to complete various collections by simply completing actions in the game that you normally would anyway. You can earn different collection items based on the different actions you take (cooking in your own Cafe, spicing your friends' dishes, completing Catering missions, and so on). Completing these collections earns you coins, and Cafe Points (the game's experience points), with the possibility of much better rewards being available in the future.
Thứ Tư, 1 tháng 2, 2012
Nightclub City: Say "Yee haw" for new Nashville theme!
Booyah has added an entirely new theme to Nightclub City this week, in the form of Nashville. The biggest element of this new theme is the fact that you can now pay to move your club to Nashville for $1 million, where you'll earn more from drinks, as guests will gladly pay for the southern hospitality and casual experience they'll find in this new club location.
In addition, if you choose to move your club to Nashville, you'll unlock access to purchasing a whole array of country-themed decorations, like a pool table, juke box, wooden crates and tables, dark wood flooring, a fireplace (complete with mounted skull overhead), outlaw booths, and even a mechanical bull that adds a whopping 3700 Luxury Points to your club.
For those that move to Nashville, three new Parties will unlock. The first is Honky Tonk Heaven, which takes 4 hours to plan, but rewards $75,000 and 90 Party Points. Hoedown Throwdown takes 12 hours to plan, and rewards $40,000 and 60 Party Points, and finally, the Willie's Whiskey Shoot party takes a full 24 hours to plan, rewards $75,000 and 90 Party Points.
Finally, you'll be able to play appropriate music in your new Nashville club, as a Gloriana track list is now available to play (this list is available even if you don't move your club).
It's nice to see Booyah adding such themed content to Nightclub City, especially for an entirely new musical genre, but the price tag to move clubs might be enough to persuade players in the other direction.
In addition, if you choose to move your club to Nashville, you'll unlock access to purchasing a whole array of country-themed decorations, like a pool table, juke box, wooden crates and tables, dark wood flooring, a fireplace (complete with mounted skull overhead), outlaw booths, and even a mechanical bull that adds a whopping 3700 Luxury Points to your club.
For those that move to Nashville, three new Parties will unlock. The first is Honky Tonk Heaven, which takes 4 hours to plan, but rewards $75,000 and 90 Party Points. Hoedown Throwdown takes 12 hours to plan, and rewards $40,000 and 60 Party Points, and finally, the Willie's Whiskey Shoot party takes a full 24 hours to plan, rewards $75,000 and 90 Party Points.
Finally, you'll be able to play appropriate music in your new Nashville club, as a Gloriana track list is now available to play (this list is available even if you don't move your club).
It's nice to see Booyah adding such themed content to Nightclub City, especially for an entirely new musical genre, but the price tag to move clubs might be enough to persuade players in the other direction.
FrontierVille Thanksgiving Feast Missions: Everything you need to know
While we're all familiar with the basic set of Thanksgiving Missions in FrontierVille - those being "Thanksgiving Part I of V" and so on, once you complete Part IV of V (which sees you preparing the First Course of the Thanksgiving Feast at your Feast Table) you'll actually trigger the unlocking of a second themed mission set, all concerned with continuing the feast.
Meet us behind the break for details concerning this Thanksgiving Feast Mission set.
The first part of this mission set is entitled "Kickstartin' Your Appetite Fer Thanksgiving!" and it asks you to simply prepare the Second Course at the Feast Table.
You'll be able to complete the Second Course in much the same way as you completed the First. Simply click on your Feast Table, click on "Prepare Second Course" and then collect the items necessary on the menu that appears, as seen below.
For those that have yet to attempt completing the first Course (back in the regular Thanksgiving Missions), you'll need to give FrontierVille permission to automatically post to others' walls on your behalf, in order to ask for Feast RSVPs and the Serving Spoons. In order to do this, you'll need to click on the "Allow" button when asked if you'd like FrontierVille to be given this right.
As for the other four ingredients, the Cranberry Sauce, the Sweet Potatoes, Delicious Pie, and Roast Turkey, you can earn these by posting regular requests to your wall for your friends to respond to. However, when you respond to such a request yourself, you'll actually be given the chance of collecting any of the four items for yourself, rather than just receiving the same item in return. This gives you a chance to more easily finish these Courses, as you'll be able to collect just the right ingredient that you still need for the meal.
After completing the second course, you'll move onto a mission called "Jack's Burnin' the Thanksgiving Salad!" which requires you to prepare the third course. This is done in the same way as shown above, you'll just need to collect more of each ingredient in order to fulfill the mission.
Likewise, after completing the third course, you'll move onto "Fowl Language," a mission that asks you to complete the entire Feast. This is actually the "Fourth Course," if it were titled in such a way, and will see you collecting even more ingredients yet.
As you complete these Courses, your Thanksgiving Feast Table will expand and change in complexity, along with gaining more of the in-game characters that will grab a seat around the dinner table. After finishing the first course, Frontier Jack will be joined by Fanny Wildcat, the school teacher, and so on and so forth after that.
Both of the Thanksgiving Mission sets will expire in a little over 11 days, from the time of this writing, so start collecting these ingredients quickly if you want the best chance of completing them all.
Meet us behind the break for details concerning this Thanksgiving Feast Mission set.
The first part of this mission set is entitled "Kickstartin' Your Appetite Fer Thanksgiving!" and it asks you to simply prepare the Second Course at the Feast Table.
You'll be able to complete the Second Course in much the same way as you completed the First. Simply click on your Feast Table, click on "Prepare Second Course" and then collect the items necessary on the menu that appears, as seen below.
For those that have yet to attempt completing the first Course (back in the regular Thanksgiving Missions), you'll need to give FrontierVille permission to automatically post to others' walls on your behalf, in order to ask for Feast RSVPs and the Serving Spoons. In order to do this, you'll need to click on the "Allow" button when asked if you'd like FrontierVille to be given this right.
As for the other four ingredients, the Cranberry Sauce, the Sweet Potatoes, Delicious Pie, and Roast Turkey, you can earn these by posting regular requests to your wall for your friends to respond to. However, when you respond to such a request yourself, you'll actually be given the chance of collecting any of the four items for yourself, rather than just receiving the same item in return. This gives you a chance to more easily finish these Courses, as you'll be able to collect just the right ingredient that you still need for the meal.
After completing the second course, you'll move onto a mission called "Jack's Burnin' the Thanksgiving Salad!" which requires you to prepare the third course. This is done in the same way as shown above, you'll just need to collect more of each ingredient in order to fulfill the mission.
Likewise, after completing the third course, you'll move onto "Fowl Language," a mission that asks you to complete the entire Feast. This is actually the "Fourth Course," if it were titled in such a way, and will see you collecting even more ingredients yet.
As you complete these Courses, your Thanksgiving Feast Table will expand and change in complexity, along with gaining more of the in-game characters that will grab a seat around the dinner table. After finishing the first course, Frontier Jack will be joined by Fanny Wildcat, the school teacher, and so on and so forth after that.
Both of the Thanksgiving Mission sets will expire in a little over 11 days, from the time of this writing, so start collecting these ingredients quickly if you want the best chance of completing them all.
Official FarmVille Podcast (November 19) - Winter Workshop and Holiday Tree Details
In this week's edition of the official FarmVille podcast, FarmVille Community Manager Lexilicious let users in on a special sneak peek of items and features that will be coming to FarmVille in the near future.
First the Winter Holiday theme of items will start releasing in the game very soon. This will see not only a release of new Winter and apparently Christmas themed items, but will also see a re-release of some of last year's items, similar to the setup of this year's Halloween event.
Next, a Chicken Coop expansion will be coming to the game. In other building news, we've received confirmation that the Winter Workshop building will be coming to FarmVille. It will be a constructable building that will let you earn coins once built.
For the Christmas season, the Holiday Tree will be making an appearance in the game in the coming weeks, that will allow you to collect "special goodies that will help you make presents." It's unclear right now as to whether or not this Holiday Tree will be an entirely new tree released in the game, or whether this will simply be a rehashing (in terms of function) of last year's Tree.
We'll be sure to bring you complete details on all of these new features as they go live in the game, but for now, if you want to check out the full podcast, which includes a recap of last week's events, you can find it above.
First the Winter Holiday theme of items will start releasing in the game very soon. This will see not only a release of new Winter and apparently Christmas themed items, but will also see a re-release of some of last year's items, similar to the setup of this year's Halloween event.
Next, a Chicken Coop expansion will be coming to the game. In other building news, we've received confirmation that the Winter Workshop building will be coming to FarmVille. It will be a constructable building that will let you earn coins once built.
For the Christmas season, the Holiday Tree will be making an appearance in the game in the coming weeks, that will allow you to collect "special goodies that will help you make presents." It's unclear right now as to whether or not this Holiday Tree will be an entirely new tree released in the game, or whether this will simply be a rehashing (in terms of function) of last year's Tree.
We'll be sure to bring you complete details on all of these new features as they go live in the game, but for now, if you want to check out the full podcast, which includes a recap of last week's events, you can find it above.
FrontierVille Thanksgiving Contest: Bake goodies for massive rewards
Similar to the FarmVIlle Dessert Contest that is asking users to bake FarmVille themed goodies in the real world for a chance to earn prizes in Zynga's massive farming game, so too has the developer announced a new contest for FrontierVille players, also asking them to let go of the computer mouse (at least for a few minutes) in order to create a FrontierVille-themed dish in the real world for submission in the FrontierVille Thanksgiving Contest.
This contest asks users to cook any sort of FrontierVille-themed dish, whether that ends up being a dessert, an entree, or otherwise. Simply take a picture of your dish, add a brief description about the dish (what is it, how is it themed, and so on), and post it to this thread on the official FrontierVille forums.
Zynga will let the community vote on entries, and the top ten that receive the most votes will receive a whopping 1,500 Horseshoes, 1 million coins, and 1 Mystery Animal Crate. You have until November 28 to submit a dish, so get cooking!
This contest asks users to cook any sort of FrontierVille-themed dish, whether that ends up being a dessert, an entree, or otherwise. Simply take a picture of your dish, add a brief description about the dish (what is it, how is it themed, and so on), and post it to this thread on the official FrontierVille forums.
Zynga will let the community vote on entries, and the top ten that receive the most votes will receive a whopping 1,500 Horseshoes, 1 million coins, and 1 Mystery Animal Crate. You have until November 28 to submit a dish, so get cooking!
Mafia Wars: Earn a free Reward Point from Windows Phone
Similar to the Windows Phone promotion that recently took place in FarmVille, Zynga has launched a new Windows Phone promotion in Mafia Wars, allowing users to watch a series of very short videos advertising Windows Phones and then vote on your favorite.
Technically, you only have to watch one of the three videos, and then click the Vote button next to it in order to qualify for your free Reward Point. You'll know that you've received your prize when it says "You've earned your Reward Points" in the top right corner of the new window that appears.
Sure, this is only a single Reward Point, but it is free, and considering the high price of most premium items in Mafia Wars, it never hurts to boost your account balance, even if it is only by one.
Technically, you only have to watch one of the three videos, and then click the Vote button next to it in order to qualify for your free Reward Point. You'll know that you've received your prize when it says "You've earned your Reward Points" in the top right corner of the new window that appears.
Sure, this is only a single Reward Point, but it is free, and considering the high price of most premium items in Mafia Wars, it never hurts to boost your account balance, even if it is only by one.
Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 1, 2012
Bejeweled creator PopCap opens Zuma Blitz to ball busters worldwide
PopCap, developer of Facebook hits like Bejeweled Blitz and the recently launched Bejeweled 3 for PC and Mac, has finally released Zuma Blitz to the masses on Facebook. Continuing with its tried-and-true Blitz style of gameplay, this Facebook version of the developer's popular Zuma's Revenge for PC and Mac challenges players' ball-busting skills in one-minute bursts.
Somewhat similar to Bejeweled Blitz, players are tasked with matching three or more identically-colored balls in a row to destroy them, keeping the oncoming onslaught of colorful orbs from reaching the Aztec-style skull in the center. Skilled players will be making combos and what are called "Gap Shots"--shots made through temporary gaps between balls made by previous combos--in no time. And because this is on Facebook, of course there will be weekly tournaments and power-ups made available for purchase with Facebook Credits.
You'll also be able to level up as you progress in the game, showing off your progress to friends while checking in on their most recent achievements. And in a feature new to Zuma Blitz, PopCap's second Facebook game, players will be able to channel their inner Hot Frog to unleash section-clearing shots. Considering Bejeweled Blitz has been played by 40 million Facebook gamers, according to PopCap, we'd say Zuma Blitz has a pretty good shot at making it to the big time.
Somewhat similar to Bejeweled Blitz, players are tasked with matching three or more identically-colored balls in a row to destroy them, keeping the oncoming onslaught of colorful orbs from reaching the Aztec-style skull in the center. Skilled players will be making combos and what are called "Gap Shots"--shots made through temporary gaps between balls made by previous combos--in no time. And because this is on Facebook, of course there will be weekly tournaments and power-ups made available for purchase with Facebook Credits.
You'll also be able to level up as you progress in the game, showing off your progress to friends while checking in on their most recent achievements. And in a feature new to Zuma Blitz, PopCap's second Facebook game, players will be able to channel their inner Hot Frog to unleash section-clearing shots. Considering Bejeweled Blitz has been played by 40 million Facebook gamers, according to PopCap, we'd say Zuma Blitz has a pretty good shot at making it to the big time.
James Patterson: Shooting games are not 'my cup of blood' [Interview]
James Patterson is one of the most published authors in the world and has been dubbed a "human bestseller machine." Take a look at his productive career, and you'll see that, that's a pretty accurate description. Patterson holds the Guinness World Record for the most Hardcover Fiction bestselling titles by a single author and has cranked out 65 novels in 33 years.
In the reading world, Patterson is best known for his Women's Murder Club series and his detective novels starring forensic psychologist Alex Cross, even though these represent just a portion of his repertoire. Patterson is also no stranger to the gaming world. Over the years, he has released a handful of Women's Murder Club games (for PC and Nintendo DS) and is doing a publicity tour to promote his new Facebook mystery game, Catch a Killer.
Patterson talks to us about the challenges of writing compelling narrative for a game and why shooting games, such Call of Duty and Halo, are not his "cup of blood." catch a killer facebook game
Is Catch a Killer on Facebook similar to your Women's Murder Club games -- part adventure/part hidden object game?
It's a lot more involved then that. I think to some extent it's a whole new way to experience the mystery-suspense story. It's very different from reading a James Patterson novel. It's different from watching CSI on television. You are the detective and catch a killer. You have to solve the crime yourself. You do have help, because Alex Cross is at your side. He will offer suggestions. But ultimately it's -- Are you good enough a detective to catch a serial killer or a kidnapper or a husband who murdered his wife, etc.?
I am attracted to partners [like Sony Online Entertainment] who want to do things that are as good as you can do it in that theater, whatever it is. So what appeals to me here is this notion of expanding the universe of games. At one point, we're just for fanboys. It's one of those games that let's women in, it lets non-shooters in. I'm not a shooter, so it appeals to me.
Have you played many shooters? What don't you like about them?
I've played about half dozen of them. I just found it too repetitive. It wasn't my cup of blood.
So, back to Catch a Killer -- does the Facebook game follow the story line from any of your books?
To date all of the stories are new on the game. So the only place you can deal with these stories is playing the game. We haven't really talked about whether we would use any of the book stories. I'm not opposed to it. I think initially it felt to us cooler and fresher to do new things.
At this point, there are eleven murder mysteries and I think it's going to go up. What's nice about this kind of thing is if you're done with a book, you hand it in and that's the end of it. This thing keeps living and growing and changing and getting better. That's another thing that appeals to me about [Facebook games].
Why did you decide to launch an Alex Cross game on Facebook instead of a Women's Murder Club game? Are you still targeting mostly women with this game?
I would say Alex has an even larger female audience than Women's Murder Club, believe it or not. I guess they're pretty close proportionately. Alex Cross' audience is much bigger.
Gallery: Catch a Killer on Facebook
You are known for being very involved with every step of getting your books to the public. Did you have the same amount of involvement with Catch a Killer?
Sony was great. They really were very cooperative unlike sometimes in Hollywood where it's very difficult to get heard. They have involved me very nicely right up to the point where we rewrote all the dialogue last week. We thought it could be better, we thought it was a little flat, stale, so we went over it one more time.
We've gone over the graphics a few times and tried to make them as contemporary as we could. We talked about a lot of things that could happen where the game can go, things that are going to make it more innovative and unusual and involving. To date, there's a lot of listening, and I have to listen too because they know this arena, a whole lot better than I do.
james patterson booksWhat are some of the challenges of turning your fiction into games?
What we're trying to do is not take as much of a backseat as it did in Women's Murder Club; we're trying to inch it forward a bit. You can only go so far, but there's more story here.
I think that's the main thing in terms of narrative. We've tried to, as much as you can, put twists and surprises in, which I think is what drives most mysteries. Something hooks you in the beginning, you're like, alright how can this be. Then you're surprised along the way. The surprise part of it, I think, is necessary in the mystery genre and it's not as important certainly in shooter games.
There's a lot of room in the game area for better narrative. I love stories, so the less there's story in things, the less that there's surprises, the less that that I'm pulled forward by a narrative, I don't like it as well. I still am somewhat hooked to melody in music, so that limits to some extent, my enjoyment of certain kinds of music.
Facebook is a hot place to launch games right now. What's your take on Facebook as a place to play games?
It's just so massive right now. At my site we're up over 800,000 fans. As my 12-year-old tells me, "They're not your friends Dad, they're your fans." So it's incredible to be able to reach this many people. This whole notion of democratization of whatever is: mysteries, games, that's kind of exciting and interesting to me.
Read our review of James Patterson's Catch a Killer >
In the reading world, Patterson is best known for his Women's Murder Club series and his detective novels starring forensic psychologist Alex Cross, even though these represent just a portion of his repertoire. Patterson is also no stranger to the gaming world. Over the years, he has released a handful of Women's Murder Club games (for PC and Nintendo DS) and is doing a publicity tour to promote his new Facebook mystery game, Catch a Killer.
Patterson talks to us about the challenges of writing compelling narrative for a game and why shooting games, such Call of Duty and Halo, are not his "cup of blood." catch a killer facebook game
Is Catch a Killer on Facebook similar to your Women's Murder Club games -- part adventure/part hidden object game?
It's a lot more involved then that. I think to some extent it's a whole new way to experience the mystery-suspense story. It's very different from reading a James Patterson novel. It's different from watching CSI on television. You are the detective and catch a killer. You have to solve the crime yourself. You do have help, because Alex Cross is at your side. He will offer suggestions. But ultimately it's -- Are you good enough a detective to catch a serial killer or a kidnapper or a husband who murdered his wife, etc.?
I am attracted to partners [like Sony Online Entertainment] who want to do things that are as good as you can do it in that theater, whatever it is. So what appeals to me here is this notion of expanding the universe of games. At one point, we're just for fanboys. It's one of those games that let's women in, it lets non-shooters in. I'm not a shooter, so it appeals to me.
Have you played many shooters? What don't you like about them?
I've played about half dozen of them. I just found it too repetitive. It wasn't my cup of blood.
So, back to Catch a Killer -- does the Facebook game follow the story line from any of your books?
To date all of the stories are new on the game. So the only place you can deal with these stories is playing the game. We haven't really talked about whether we would use any of the book stories. I'm not opposed to it. I think initially it felt to us cooler and fresher to do new things.
At this point, there are eleven murder mysteries and I think it's going to go up. What's nice about this kind of thing is if you're done with a book, you hand it in and that's the end of it. This thing keeps living and growing and changing and getting better. That's another thing that appeals to me about [Facebook games].
Why did you decide to launch an Alex Cross game on Facebook instead of a Women's Murder Club game? Are you still targeting mostly women with this game?
I would say Alex has an even larger female audience than Women's Murder Club, believe it or not. I guess they're pretty close proportionately. Alex Cross' audience is much bigger.
Gallery: Catch a Killer on Facebook
You are known for being very involved with every step of getting your books to the public. Did you have the same amount of involvement with Catch a Killer?
Sony was great. They really were very cooperative unlike sometimes in Hollywood where it's very difficult to get heard. They have involved me very nicely right up to the point where we rewrote all the dialogue last week. We thought it could be better, we thought it was a little flat, stale, so we went over it one more time.
We've gone over the graphics a few times and tried to make them as contemporary as we could. We talked about a lot of things that could happen where the game can go, things that are going to make it more innovative and unusual and involving. To date, there's a lot of listening, and I have to listen too because they know this arena, a whole lot better than I do.
james patterson booksWhat are some of the challenges of turning your fiction into games?
What we're trying to do is not take as much of a backseat as it did in Women's Murder Club; we're trying to inch it forward a bit. You can only go so far, but there's more story here.
I think that's the main thing in terms of narrative. We've tried to, as much as you can, put twists and surprises in, which I think is what drives most mysteries. Something hooks you in the beginning, you're like, alright how can this be. Then you're surprised along the way. The surprise part of it, I think, is necessary in the mystery genre and it's not as important certainly in shooter games.
There's a lot of room in the game area for better narrative. I love stories, so the less there's story in things, the less that there's surprises, the less that that I'm pulled forward by a narrative, I don't like it as well. I still am somewhat hooked to melody in music, so that limits to some extent, my enjoyment of certain kinds of music.
Facebook is a hot place to launch games right now. What's your take on Facebook as a place to play games?
It's just so massive right now. At my site we're up over 800,000 fans. As my 12-year-old tells me, "They're not your friends Dad, they're your fans." So it's incredible to be able to reach this many people. This whole notion of democratization of whatever is: mysteries, games, that's kind of exciting and interesting to me.
Read our review of James Patterson's Catch a Killer >
James Patterson's Catch a Killer on Facebook is rated 'M' for mature
James Patterson's new Facebook game Catch a Killer is being billed as the first 'mature' game on the social network. And once you start playing, that's all too apparent. The mystery game - created by the prolific author in conjunction with Sony Online Entertainment - features piles of dead bodies, blood spattered around locations like a Jackson Pollack painting and interrogation subjects who drop the occasional four letter word.
This type of mature content is nothing you haven't seen on CSI or the umpteen other cop/forensic shows on TV, but this is the one of the first times this type of content has made an appearance in a big-name Facebook game. (Before you sound the secret alarm and launch a million PTA meetings around the world -- don't. If you're under 13, you are not allowed to access to the game as per Facebook's rules and regulations.)
Gallery: Catch a Killer on Facebook
If you're someone of age, like me, who has been looking for something a little more engrossing than repeatedly planting crops and collecting taxes from virtual homeowners -- Catch a Killer delivers more often than not. All of the previously mentioned mature content is all part of a series of murder mysteries which you will solve with the help of forensic psychologist and Patterson's most famous fictional character, Alex Cross. catch killer detection tools
Each mystery kicks off with a movie/animation that sets up the story, usually a murder. You're then called in to examine the crime scene (by playing a hidden object game) and look for evidence. Then, you examine the evidence for clues by solving puzzles, such as matching DNA from a blood sample or putting together a puzzle to identify a set of finger prints. You'll also occasionally interrogate suspects choosing the right dialogue to get the information you want. It's hard to tell if there are consequences for choosing the wrong dialogue, which kind of seems to negate the whole 'game' part of these particular segments. So far, a lot of the missions require you to repeat the same activities over and over, but the varied storylines do a good job at keeping you involved.
catch killer energy
Catch a Killer looks and plays like games that are available for download (Mystery Case Files comes to mind) and cost upwards of $20. That means that this Patterson vehicle has high production values -- a polished soundtrack, good-looking graphics and clearly developed plotlines. This game also manages to do a good job at integrating elements borrowed from other Facebook games. Each move you make in Catch a Killer requires energy -- which is indicated by a bar at the top of the screen -- and when you run out, you have to wait a certain amount of time until it refills again. Or, if you're impatient, you have to option to buy more energy with Sony Station Cash, which you can buy with a credit card, Pay Pal or by completing offers.
Like FarmVille, et al, you can also invite friends to play the game with you -- and you can send each other gifts, including energy, so you don't run out of gas as fast. The idea of using energy is rather clever and you start with enough get you through about 1.5 missions before you completely run out and have to wait for a refill. And, that that point, you might feel bummed, but still feel like you got some quality time with the game. And, you might be tempted to actually spend money to keep playing.
james patterson catch killer my house
A less impressive component of the game is the customizable avatar system and avatar home, which for now, seems a little out of place. The avatar and house doesn't seem to have any real bearing on the actual game progress and seems to serve solely as a place spend the virtual currency you earn while solving cases. Maybe this will change in some future update. There's also a spot where you can use your avatar to chat with other players -- live -- which is an interesting idea, even though the chat rooms seem to be empty at the moment.
Back to that whole 'mature' thing. In addition to having 'mature' content, Catch a Killer is a game that will also likely appeal to people with more mature tastes in games. Maybe someone who has played FarmVille for a while and want something a little different. Or maybe someone who or someone who has played a lot casual games (shameless plug: many of which you find right here on Games.com) and has been looking for the same experience in a social game. I expect Catch a Killer will be just the first of many more mature games to arrive on Facebook in the coming year.
This type of mature content is nothing you haven't seen on CSI or the umpteen other cop/forensic shows on TV, but this is the one of the first times this type of content has made an appearance in a big-name Facebook game. (Before you sound the secret alarm and launch a million PTA meetings around the world -- don't. If you're under 13, you are not allowed to access to the game as per Facebook's rules and regulations.)
Gallery: Catch a Killer on Facebook
If you're someone of age, like me, who has been looking for something a little more engrossing than repeatedly planting crops and collecting taxes from virtual homeowners -- Catch a Killer delivers more often than not. All of the previously mentioned mature content is all part of a series of murder mysteries which you will solve with the help of forensic psychologist and Patterson's most famous fictional character, Alex Cross. catch killer detection tools
Each mystery kicks off with a movie/animation that sets up the story, usually a murder. You're then called in to examine the crime scene (by playing a hidden object game) and look for evidence. Then, you examine the evidence for clues by solving puzzles, such as matching DNA from a blood sample or putting together a puzzle to identify a set of finger prints. You'll also occasionally interrogate suspects choosing the right dialogue to get the information you want. It's hard to tell if there are consequences for choosing the wrong dialogue, which kind of seems to negate the whole 'game' part of these particular segments. So far, a lot of the missions require you to repeat the same activities over and over, but the varied storylines do a good job at keeping you involved.
catch killer energy
Catch a Killer looks and plays like games that are available for download (Mystery Case Files comes to mind) and cost upwards of $20. That means that this Patterson vehicle has high production values -- a polished soundtrack, good-looking graphics and clearly developed plotlines. This game also manages to do a good job at integrating elements borrowed from other Facebook games. Each move you make in Catch a Killer requires energy -- which is indicated by a bar at the top of the screen -- and when you run out, you have to wait a certain amount of time until it refills again. Or, if you're impatient, you have to option to buy more energy with Sony Station Cash, which you can buy with a credit card, Pay Pal or by completing offers.
Like FarmVille, et al, you can also invite friends to play the game with you -- and you can send each other gifts, including energy, so you don't run out of gas as fast. The idea of using energy is rather clever and you start with enough get you through about 1.5 missions before you completely run out and have to wait for a refill. And, that that point, you might feel bummed, but still feel like you got some quality time with the game. And, you might be tempted to actually spend money to keep playing.
james patterson catch killer my house
A less impressive component of the game is the customizable avatar system and avatar home, which for now, seems a little out of place. The avatar and house doesn't seem to have any real bearing on the actual game progress and seems to serve solely as a place spend the virtual currency you earn while solving cases. Maybe this will change in some future update. There's also a spot where you can use your avatar to chat with other players -- live -- which is an interesting idea, even though the chat rooms seem to be empty at the moment.
Back to that whole 'mature' thing. In addition to having 'mature' content, Catch a Killer is a game that will also likely appeal to people with more mature tastes in games. Maybe someone who has played FarmVille for a while and want something a little different. Or maybe someone who or someone who has played a lot casual games (shameless plug: many of which you find right here on Games.com) and has been looking for the same experience in a social game. I expect Catch a Killer will be just the first of many more mature games to arrive on Facebook in the coming year.
FarmVille: Zynga gives free Holiday gift to all players!
For the past few days, Zynga had been asking FarmVille players to "Like" the official Zynga Inc. fan page on Facebook. We brought you news of this in the past, as Zynga was promising a free Festive / Holiday Cow to all users, should said fan page reach 1 million likes.
Of course, that total has been reached, and passed, and Zynga has confirmed that we will be receiving the Cow. Now, users that log into FarmVille will receive a very interesting pop-up, as Zynga has released a free present in the game. This is a wrapped present, and we are told we won't be able to open it until Christmas proper - December 25. Could this be the Holiday Cow they promised us?
While that would make the most sense, as the free present ensures that all users are able to have their free cow without any extra work outside of the game, we also wouldn't turn down another free gift, just for playing the game.
When the time comes (or if you'd just like to look at your present early), you can find your gift by heading into your Holiday Tree's menu (click on the and click on "Look Inside") and then click on the Presents tab. This is where you will find all of the wrapped (read: locked) gifts on your account, and this is where you'll be able to go to unwrap them when we get the green light.
We'll be sure to let you know what's inside the wrapped Zynga present, if it turns out to not be the free cow (it may be unlikely, but stranger things have happened).
Of course, that total has been reached, and passed, and Zynga has confirmed that we will be receiving the Cow. Now, users that log into FarmVille will receive a very interesting pop-up, as Zynga has released a free present in the game. This is a wrapped present, and we are told we won't be able to open it until Christmas proper - December 25. Could this be the Holiday Cow they promised us?
While that would make the most sense, as the free present ensures that all users are able to have their free cow without any extra work outside of the game, we also wouldn't turn down another free gift, just for playing the game.
When the time comes (or if you'd just like to look at your present early), you can find your gift by heading into your Holiday Tree's menu (click on the and click on "Look Inside") and then click on the Presents tab. This is where you will find all of the wrapped (read: locked) gifts on your account, and this is where you'll be able to go to unwrap them when we get the green light.
We'll be sure to let you know what's inside the wrapped Zynga present, if it turns out to not be the free cow (it may be unlikely, but stranger things have happened).
FarmVille: Second wave of Holiday Tree prizes now available
As we told you last week, the FarmVille Holiday Tree is now available, and friends and family everywhere have turned their eyes squarely to the endeavor of collecting presents - lots, and lots, and lots of presents. At launch, there were but six prizes available to earn by redeeming some of your stockpile of presents (if you don't include the many contents of the Winter Whimsy box), and today, we see FarmVille increasing the prize variety by six.
Now, if you look inside your Holiday Tree (click on the tree and click "Look Inside" on the small menu that appears), you'll see that instead of just being able to trade your presents in for the first six items, that there is now a "Page 2." This Page 2 has some of the items that you were able to earn via the Winter Whimsy box (like the Ice House or Tinsel Tree), but it also has items that were given away during the Festive Tree quest set (like the Frozen Fantasy statue).
All told, these new items cost more presents, but are more elaborate, or at least more exclusive, so it seems to make up for the increased cost. The six items are:
Sneezy Sheep - 75 Presents
Tinsel Tree - 100 Presents
Frozen Fantasy - 125 Presents
Ice House - 150 Presents
Kodiak Cub - 200 Presents
Arctic Fox - 275 Presents
Don't worry though - if you had yet to gather enough presents to have a chance at the six items released at first, these items are still there for your redemption pleasure. For those that have enough Ice Cubes or Winter Whimsy boxes, however, these prizes will give you plenty more to collect for.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Do you like this second set of presents better than the first? For the items that are found in the Winter Whimsy boxes, will you choose to save up to purchase the items outright, or will you continue to purchase the Winter Whimsy boxes and hope to get lucky?
Now, if you look inside your Holiday Tree (click on the tree and click "Look Inside" on the small menu that appears), you'll see that instead of just being able to trade your presents in for the first six items, that there is now a "Page 2." This Page 2 has some of the items that you were able to earn via the Winter Whimsy box (like the Ice House or Tinsel Tree), but it also has items that were given away during the Festive Tree quest set (like the Frozen Fantasy statue).
All told, these new items cost more presents, but are more elaborate, or at least more exclusive, so it seems to make up for the increased cost. The six items are:
Sneezy Sheep - 75 Presents
Tinsel Tree - 100 Presents
Frozen Fantasy - 125 Presents
Ice House - 150 Presents
Kodiak Cub - 200 Presents
Arctic Fox - 275 Presents
Don't worry though - if you had yet to gather enough presents to have a chance at the six items released at first, these items are still there for your redemption pleasure. For those that have enough Ice Cubes or Winter Whimsy boxes, however, these prizes will give you plenty more to collect for.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Do you like this second set of presents better than the first? For the items that are found in the Winter Whimsy boxes, will you choose to save up to purchase the items outright, or will you continue to purchase the Winter Whimsy boxes and hope to get lucky?
Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 1, 2012
FarmVille Mystery Game (01/02/11): "Best of" animals now available
It's a Sunday night, and during the holiday season, that means that FarmVille's Mystery Game has been restocked with six new items for you lucky players to try and win. This week's theme is "Best of" animals, and it contains, as the name suggests, some animals that were released in the game previously, but were removed and are now making a reappearance (likely due to fan suggestions).
The confirmed contents of this week's Mystery Game are:
White Peacock
White Owl
Japanese Duck
Red Parrot
Carinal
Female Ostrich
Remember, these items range in rarity from Common to Rare, so keep that in mind when playing the game. If you'd like to do so, this week's Mystery Game costs 20 Farm Cash to play, with 20 Farm Cash earning you a single dart that you can use to attempt to win one of these prizes.
This week's Mystery Game contents will be available for just the next six days, at which point another round of the Mystery Game will launch, with six new items to play for and collect.
The confirmed contents of this week's Mystery Game are:
White Peacock
White Owl
Japanese Duck
Red Parrot
Carinal
Female Ostrich
Remember, these items range in rarity from Common to Rare, so keep that in mind when playing the game. If you'd like to do so, this week's Mystery Game costs 20 Farm Cash to play, with 20 Farm Cash earning you a single dart that you can use to attempt to win one of these prizes.
This week's Mystery Game contents will be available for just the next six days, at which point another round of the Mystery Game will launch, with six new items to play for and collect.
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Animals: Baby Penguin, Brown Gypsy Horse, Brown Gypsy Foal
In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the launch of an entirely new limited edition item theme in the game. This theme will continue in the game's love of the winter holiday, as it is called simply "Winter Wonderland." To start this theme off with a bang, we see the release of three new animals to the game, with two of those animals being available in the game's store.
For some of you, you'll recognize these animals as those we brought you a sneak peek of some time ago. They are the Baby Penguin and the Brown Gypsy Horse. Both of these animals are premium, meaning that they can only be purchased with Farm Cash. The Baby Penguin costs 12 Farm Cash, and the Brown Gypsy Horse costs 26 Farm Cash. You'll gain a hefty XP bonus for purchasing either animal - 1200 for the Penguin and 2600 for the Horse.
Remember, since this is a Horse that can be placed inside the Horse Stable, it can also be bred. You guessed it - the Brown Gypsy Horse can produce a Brown Gypsy Foal, that can then be shared with your friends on your wall. If you know of any of your FarmVille neighbors that have purchased this horse for themselves, keep a special lookout for their wall posts to make sure you don't miss out on a free Brown Gypsy Foal for your own farm (or Nursery Barn, if you prefer).
This (first?) round of Winter Wonderland items will remain in the game's store for the next 13 days. We'll be sure to let you know if and when more items are added to the theme in the future, so keep checking back!
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
For some of you, you'll recognize these animals as those we brought you a sneak peek of some time ago. They are the Baby Penguin and the Brown Gypsy Horse. Both of these animals are premium, meaning that they can only be purchased with Farm Cash. The Baby Penguin costs 12 Farm Cash, and the Brown Gypsy Horse costs 26 Farm Cash. You'll gain a hefty XP bonus for purchasing either animal - 1200 for the Penguin and 2600 for the Horse.
Remember, since this is a Horse that can be placed inside the Horse Stable, it can also be bred. You guessed it - the Brown Gypsy Horse can produce a Brown Gypsy Foal, that can then be shared with your friends on your wall. If you know of any of your FarmVille neighbors that have purchased this horse for themselves, keep a special lookout for their wall posts to make sure you don't miss out on a free Brown Gypsy Foal for your own farm (or Nursery Barn, if you prefer).
This (first?) round of Winter Wonderland items will remain in the game's store for the next 13 days. We'll be sure to let you know if and when more items are added to the theme in the future, so keep checking back!
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Building: Bundle up and head into the new Igloo
Brrrrr. It's cold in here. You'd think the walls were made of ice or something. Oh wait... in the case of FarmVille's newest Winter Wonderland building, the Igloo, they are made of ice! The new Igloo is a cute, average sized building item that you can purchase for Farm Cash as a decorative building for your farm. Unfortunately, you can't actually walk inside it - darn!
The Igloo can be purchased for 16 Farm Cash, and can be sold for 8,000 coins, should you change your mind about keeping it once the winter season ends. You'll receive 1600 experience points as a bonus for purchasing the Igloo. While 16 Farm Cash might seem like a high price, this is actually one of the most affordable buildings we've seen released in the game in some time, at least where premium, or Farm Cash only, items are concerned. That being the case, we certainly couldn't blame you if you wanted to pick this one up because of its slightly lower price.
The Igloo will remain in the game for the next 13 days, at which point it will disappear from the store, likely not to be seen again (at least not until Zynga potentially decides to re-release the Igloo next year once winter comes around).
The Igloo can be purchased for 16 Farm Cash, and can be sold for 8,000 coins, should you change your mind about keeping it once the winter season ends. You'll receive 1600 experience points as a bonus for purchasing the Igloo. While 16 Farm Cash might seem like a high price, this is actually one of the most affordable buildings we've seen released in the game in some time, at least where premium, or Farm Cash only, items are concerned. That being the case, we certainly couldn't blame you if you wanted to pick this one up because of its slightly lower price.
The Igloo will remain in the game for the next 13 days, at which point it will disappear from the store, likely not to be seen again (at least not until Zynga potentially decides to re-release the Igloo next year once winter comes around).
FarmVille Winter Wonderland Decorations: Ice Skating Ring, Penguin Fishing, Iced Duck & More!
In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the launch of five new decorative items in the new Winter Wonderland theme of limited edition items. The five items are those that we've seen in the past, through a FarmVille Sneak Peek that we brought you last month.
Four of the items are premium, for those that don't mind spending a little Farm Cash, but there is one item (and a cute one at that) that is available for coins. The four premium items are the Hot Springs, Ice Skate Ring, Penguin Fishing, and the Iced Cow. The Hot Springs and Ice Skate Ring are large, natural looking elements, while the Penguin Fishing is an oddly named item (in our opinion). Yes, it has a penguin that dives into a frozen pond to retrieve a fish, but couldn't it have been called "Fishing Penguin" instead? Either way, the Penguin Fishing item costs 18 Farm Cash. The Hot Springs and Ice Skate Ring cost 30 Farm Cash and 26 Farm Cash, respectively, while the Iced Cow is a relative bargain (at least by comparison) at 4 Farm Cash.
The lone coin item fits in with the Iced Cow, as it is an iced version of another in-game animal. The Iced Duck will set you back just 10,000 coins - now that's a real bargain in the game, at least where limited edition decorative items are concerned.
These five items will be available in the game for the next 13 days (as of this writing). It's still unknown as to whether or not Zynga will release more items in this theme, or if this is a one-off release, but we'll be sure to let you know if and when more new items arrive.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
Four of the items are premium, for those that don't mind spending a little Farm Cash, but there is one item (and a cute one at that) that is available for coins. The four premium items are the Hot Springs, Ice Skate Ring, Penguin Fishing, and the Iced Cow. The Hot Springs and Ice Skate Ring are large, natural looking elements, while the Penguin Fishing is an oddly named item (in our opinion). Yes, it has a penguin that dives into a frozen pond to retrieve a fish, but couldn't it have been called "Fishing Penguin" instead? Either way, the Penguin Fishing item costs 18 Farm Cash. The Hot Springs and Ice Skate Ring cost 30 Farm Cash and 26 Farm Cash, respectively, while the Iced Cow is a relative bargain (at least by comparison) at 4 Farm Cash.
The lone coin item fits in with the Iced Cow, as it is an iced version of another in-game animal. The Iced Duck will set you back just 10,000 coins - now that's a real bargain in the game, at least where limited edition decorative items are concerned.
These five items will be available in the game for the next 13 days (as of this writing). It's still unknown as to whether or not Zynga will release more items in this theme, or if this is a one-off release, but we'll be sure to let you know if and when more new items arrive.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
CityVille Cheats and Tips: How to move, sell and delete items
If you've been playing CityVille for a while, you know the importance of moving and deleting items. Moving decorations and organizing your buildings can earn you thousands of extra coins for very little energy. Unfortunately though, many people just aren't sure how to move or delete their items. This makes decorating and reorganizing your CityVille city a daunting task. Fortunately for you, moving and deleting items is extremely simple. Unlike other city building games like Millionaire City, CityVille lets you move items for free, no money, bots, or cheats required.
To move an item, building, decoration, or some other CityVille structure, simple click on the arrow or cursor button at the bottom right of the screen (pictured above). It can be found above the 'Build' button and left of the button that contains your Inventory, Collections, and Franchises.
Click the cursor button and a menu will open allowing you to either move, rotate, or sell an item. When you're done moving items, click the Stop icon where the cursor icon used to be. Simple.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
To move an item, building, decoration, or some other CityVille structure, simple click on the arrow or cursor button at the bottom right of the screen (pictured above). It can be found above the 'Build' button and left of the button that contains your Inventory, Collections, and Franchises.
Click the cursor button and a menu will open allowing you to either move, rotate, or sell an item. When you're done moving items, click the Stop icon where the cursor icon used to be. Simple.
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 1, 2012
Respectable research firm Doritos finds women like games more than sex
We've all heard the chocolate gag, but this is just ridiculous. Doritos--you know, Nacho Cheese?--found during a survey of 2,052 people for its upcoming Facebook game, Doritos Dip Desperado, that women like video games more than sex. Well, at least that's how we're (and everyone else is) spinning it, because crazy statistics like this are fun ... and its Friday.
According to the survey, 49 percent of women admitted to playing "online games," though as GamePro points out: It's not made clear whether these women are bombing cities in Call of Duty or building them up in CityVille. We're going to go with the latter. Regardless, this number is just 1 percent below men, meaning a whole darn lot of folks have their eyes glued to some screen, somewhere.
Of the 49 percent of video game femme fatale, 84 percent said they enjoy gaming sessions, compared to just 70 percent who said they enjoy love making, whoopee, boinking, what have you. (Women also reportedly enjoy games more than having a bath and shopping.) Now, here's the clincher: 23.1 percent of women, according to Doritos, spend more time online playing games than men, who came in at 22.3 percent. Dudes, we know you're digging on Halo more than FarmVille, but maybe it's time you joined the lady--ain't no shame in trying something new.
According to the survey, 49 percent of women admitted to playing "online games," though as GamePro points out: It's not made clear whether these women are bombing cities in Call of Duty or building them up in CityVille. We're going to go with the latter. Regardless, this number is just 1 percent below men, meaning a whole darn lot of folks have their eyes glued to some screen, somewhere.
Of the 49 percent of video game femme fatale, 84 percent said they enjoy gaming sessions, compared to just 70 percent who said they enjoy love making, whoopee, boinking, what have you. (Women also reportedly enjoy games more than having a bath and shopping.) Now, here's the clincher: 23.1 percent of women, according to Doritos, spend more time online playing games than men, who came in at 22.3 percent. Dudes, we know you're digging on Halo more than FarmVille, but maybe it's time you joined the lady--ain't no shame in trying something new.
Facebook pulls app directory, makes finding new games that much harder
Apparently, I'm one of the only people that actively used the App Directory on Facebook. Back in December, we brought you an in-depth look at discovering new Facebook games by using the directory, as you could browse applications based on popularity, or even date added. Now, though, the entire App Directory has been removed from the service, and with it goes your ability to use it to find new games.
AllFacebook noticed the removal as well, as they have pointed out a new blog post on the Facebook Developers Blog that explains a bit as to why the directory was ditched.
"Many developers have been confused about what it means to submit to the App Directory and frustrated by the length of time it took to get approved. As we have looked into this issue, we found that the App Directory drove less than 0.5% of all app installs while a significant number of app installs came as a result of Facebook search. Until now, to be visible in search, you had to submit your app to the App Directory.
Today, we are announcing two updates to decouple the search submission from the directory to make it easier for you to get your app into the Facebook search index:
1. We are removing the App Directory (in its current form) since it does not drive a significant amount of traffic to your apps.
2. We are creating a new, simplified way to get your app into the Facebook search index."
In short, this means that for now, the search bar has been given much more prominence in the app discovery process. Sure, sidebar ads will still likely trigger many more app installs, but now, app developers can submit their apps to the Facebook search index without approval, allowing users to get to them faster. Sounds great, right? Well, it would be, if search currently functioned properly.
I know I can't be the only person who types something like "FrontierVille" into the search bar to find a specific Zynga-run fan page, only to be greeted by user-created or even spam apps/fan pages that may have absolutely no relevance to what I'm searching for. If apps no longer have to go through an approval process to be added to search (and everything really is as open as it seems), doesn't this open the door for so much more clutter? Hopefully, this will all just be a temporary solution to some much larger feature being added to the site that will make finding new apps an enjoyable process, rather than a chore.
AllFacebook noticed the removal as well, as they have pointed out a new blog post on the Facebook Developers Blog that explains a bit as to why the directory was ditched.
"Many developers have been confused about what it means to submit to the App Directory and frustrated by the length of time it took to get approved. As we have looked into this issue, we found that the App Directory drove less than 0.5% of all app installs while a significant number of app installs came as a result of Facebook search. Until now, to be visible in search, you had to submit your app to the App Directory.
Today, we are announcing two updates to decouple the search submission from the directory to make it easier for you to get your app into the Facebook search index:
1. We are removing the App Directory (in its current form) since it does not drive a significant amount of traffic to your apps.
2. We are creating a new, simplified way to get your app into the Facebook search index."
In short, this means that for now, the search bar has been given much more prominence in the app discovery process. Sure, sidebar ads will still likely trigger many more app installs, but now, app developers can submit their apps to the Facebook search index without approval, allowing users to get to them faster. Sounds great, right? Well, it would be, if search currently functioned properly.
I know I can't be the only person who types something like "FrontierVille" into the search bar to find a specific Zynga-run fan page, only to be greeted by user-created or even spam apps/fan pages that may have absolutely no relevance to what I'm searching for. If apps no longer have to go through an approval process to be added to search (and everything really is as open as it seems), doesn't this open the door for so much more clutter? Hopefully, this will all just be a temporary solution to some much larger feature being added to the site that will make finding new apps an enjoyable process, rather than a chore.
Indie social game creators team with RockYou Studio Partners to get noticed
Fans of indie social games, this might be the next place to look for new games that your friends probably never heard of. RockYou announced the launch of Studio Partners, a new initiative to take indie Facebook game creators under its wing and give their games the exposure they deserve by leveraging its "advertising solutions, analytics tools, and broader marketing support," RockYou said in a statement.
Studio Partners is an open platform for developers to submit their games and potentially increase their reach through publisher RockYou's resources. Following the company's relationship with John Romero's indie--can you say that about the guy who co-created Doom?--social game studio Loot Drop (whose first game, Cloudforest Expedition, is due out this summer), RockYou looks to maintain developers' creative freedom while hopefully increasing their audience.
"We're inspired by the originality and imagination of social game developers around the world," said Josh Grant, SVP and GM of Studio Partners and formerly RockYou's SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development. "Studio Partners gets to the heart of what RockYou believes in-delivering the very best, most innovative games to our players." If innovation is truly the way to beat the monolithic competition in the social games space, RockYou (and its upcoming stable of indie creators) might have the leg up.
Studio Partners is an open platform for developers to submit their games and potentially increase their reach through publisher RockYou's resources. Following the company's relationship with John Romero's indie--can you say that about the guy who co-created Doom?--social game studio Loot Drop (whose first game, Cloudforest Expedition, is due out this summer), RockYou looks to maintain developers' creative freedom while hopefully increasing their audience.
"We're inspired by the originality and imagination of social game developers around the world," said Josh Grant, SVP and GM of Studio Partners and formerly RockYou's SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development. "Studio Partners gets to the heart of what RockYou believes in-delivering the very best, most innovative games to our players." If innovation is truly the way to beat the monolithic competition in the social games space, RockYou (and its upcoming stable of indie creators) might have the leg up.
Working for Gameloft is far from fun and games, whistleblower says
It takes quite a lot of work to become one of the top mobile game developers, but Glenn Watson, former Head Studio Programmer at Gameloft's New Zealand studio, says it's taken too much work. The former Gameloft employee told all to Games On Net in a feature that described the company's working conditions as "dangerous."
"Starting at 9:30 AM, going home at 2:30 AM, and then coming back into the office at 8:30 AM to start work again was not unusual ," Watson described. "There were other times when I would be called back into the office at 11:30 PM by the studio producer, only to head home again at 2:30 AM. It was after I worked four consecutive weeks of fourteen-hour days - including weekends - that I realized I needed to resign."
According to Games On Net, other anonymous former Gameloft employees have confirmed Watson's allegations. Watson went on to reveal that Gameloft had falsified deadlines to create a constant sense of crunch time. It was internally known as "golding," or constantly telling employees to keep going in order to reach gold status on time with a given product. Games On Net reports that, according to leaked internal emails, this process persists. For more on what may be going on inside French publisher Gameloft's many offices, read the feature in full here.
This is far from the first time a game studio has been accused of less-than-respectable work conditions. Most recently, the creators of Rockstar's L.A. Noire, Australia-based Team Bondi, was the target of whistleblowers for unsavory work conditions. Regardless, it's important to know that, sometimes, the idiom "blood, sweat and tears" may not be too far from reality.
"Starting at 9:30 AM, going home at 2:30 AM, and then coming back into the office at 8:30 AM to start work again was not unusual ," Watson described. "There were other times when I would be called back into the office at 11:30 PM by the studio producer, only to head home again at 2:30 AM. It was after I worked four consecutive weeks of fourteen-hour days - including weekends - that I realized I needed to resign."
According to Games On Net, other anonymous former Gameloft employees have confirmed Watson's allegations. Watson went on to reveal that Gameloft had falsified deadlines to create a constant sense of crunch time. It was internally known as "golding," or constantly telling employees to keep going in order to reach gold status on time with a given product. Games On Net reports that, according to leaked internal emails, this process persists. For more on what may be going on inside French publisher Gameloft's many offices, read the feature in full here.
This is far from the first time a game studio has been accused of less-than-respectable work conditions. Most recently, the creators of Rockstar's L.A. Noire, Australia-based Team Bondi, was the target of whistleblowers for unsavory work conditions. Regardless, it's important to know that, sometimes, the idiom "blood, sweat and tears" may not be too far from reality.
Ravenwood Fair creator Lolapps joins 6waves to combat big leaguers
In another case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," social game developer Lolapps has merged with publisher 6waves. While financial details were not disclosed, TechCrunch reports that the marriage of the Ravenwood Fair creator and the Hong Kong-based publisher makes for a collective 39 million monthly players worldwide. The company will be re-branded as 6waves Lolapps, though each company will continue to act independently.
6 waves CEO Rex Ng will lead the newly formed company, and Lolapps CEO Arjun Sethi will report to him. After leading the creation of the 25 million-strong Ravenwood Fair, veteran designer John Romero left the company to create his own studio, Loot Drop. This move will likely help Lolapps' future games reach a wider audience, which now will use the recently-acquired Fliso engine for creating Flash games that run faster.
And if you count the two companies' collectively player base, the duo is larger than Diamond Dash creator Wooga, which enjoys just under 35 million monthly players, according to AppData. Now that EA has acquired PopCap, and Zynga has bought, well, everyone else almost, the big players in the social game space are starting to emerge. The rest of this year will show whether 6waves Lolapps can hang in the Facebook game major leagues.
6 waves CEO Rex Ng will lead the newly formed company, and Lolapps CEO Arjun Sethi will report to him. After leading the creation of the 25 million-strong Ravenwood Fair, veteran designer John Romero left the company to create his own studio, Loot Drop. This move will likely help Lolapps' future games reach a wider audience, which now will use the recently-acquired Fliso engine for creating Flash games that run faster.
And if you count the two companies' collectively player base, the duo is larger than Diamond Dash creator Wooga, which enjoys just under 35 million monthly players, according to AppData. Now that EA has acquired PopCap, and Zynga has bought, well, everyone else almost, the big players in the social game space are starting to emerge. The rest of this year will show whether 6waves Lolapps can hang in the Facebook game major leagues.
Thứ Hai, 9 tháng 1, 2012
Google+ Games sidebar rips another note from Facebook's playbook
Imitation is the finest form of flattery, but this is just getting ridiculous. Google has updated the home page of its Google+ social network with a sidebar that allows users to jump into the games they've played recently. In other words, Google+ has ripped Facebook once again. (But don't think you're off the hook either, Facebook.) Granted, this is a fundamental change.
But that still doesn't explain why, after months of Google+ Games existing, that these incremental changes are introduced to the platform. Of course, it's not as if Facebook had its "Apps" sidebar trademarked or patented, but these updates only serve to make it looks as if Google+ biting off of its number one competitor chunk by chunk. The comparisons are simply unavoidable.
However, the Google+ Games sidebar does have a one-up over its Facebook counterpart: You can actually remove it. We do have to admire Google+ for how it much it allows users to change about what's displayed. That said, getting the Games sidebar back after removing it--aside from those fleeting moments in which you can click "Undo"--is currently unknown. Commenters are also clamoring for more games, which is something Google is taking very seriously ... almost too seriously.
Google+ Games sidebar
As Google continues to rip pages from Facebooks' playbook (and Facebook does the same), it'll be interesting to see how the company takes advantage of its unique position. Google has the chance to change how a social games platform is done. But not if it continues to entertain this slap fight with the gorilla.
But that still doesn't explain why, after months of Google+ Games existing, that these incremental changes are introduced to the platform. Of course, it's not as if Facebook had its "Apps" sidebar trademarked or patented, but these updates only serve to make it looks as if Google+ biting off of its number one competitor chunk by chunk. The comparisons are simply unavoidable.
However, the Google+ Games sidebar does have a one-up over its Facebook counterpart: You can actually remove it. We do have to admire Google+ for how it much it allows users to change about what's displayed. That said, getting the Games sidebar back after removing it--aside from those fleeting moments in which you can click "Undo"--is currently unknown. Commenters are also clamoring for more games, which is something Google is taking very seriously ... almost too seriously.
Google+ Games sidebar
As Google continues to rip pages from Facebooks' playbook (and Facebook does the same), it'll be interesting to see how the company takes advantage of its unique position. Google has the chance to change how a social games platform is done. But not if it continues to entertain this slap fight with the gorilla.
Mafia Wars Shakedown holds up the App Store for absolutely free
Well, that's not much of a holdup, now is it? Regardless, Mafia Wars Shakedown--or, as we like to call it: Mafia Wars Mobile: Take Three--is now available on the U.S. App Store for the cool price of "free". This next attempt at a suitable Mafia Wars game for mobile devices marks the first time Zynga has launched a full HTML5 game through the App Store.
And frankly, it looks downright slick when you consider it was built using HTML5, the web-based coding platform that Zynga has been less than bullish on before. Now, Mafia Wars Shakedown is the fourth HTML5-based game released by the developer, so we're going to guess Zynga is whistling a different tune by this point. According to a release, "Players are challenged to steal collection pieces from friends and strangers in order to earn powerful items and defeat bosses to level up from chump to Don."
But our very own in-depth preview can already tell you what the game is like. Based on that, it sounds like a fairly bare bones release that works well technically, but more importantly a number of features are already teased as "coming soon." The game's App Store page claims that players can steal from their friends live. So, we'd say Mafia Wars Shakedown is worth at least a try, if only to see what a Mafia Wars game looks like in real time.
And frankly, it looks downright slick when you consider it was built using HTML5, the web-based coding platform that Zynga has been less than bullish on before. Now, Mafia Wars Shakedown is the fourth HTML5-based game released by the developer, so we're going to guess Zynga is whistling a different tune by this point. According to a release, "Players are challenged to steal collection pieces from friends and strangers in order to earn powerful items and defeat bosses to level up from chump to Don."
But our very own in-depth preview can already tell you what the game is like. Based on that, it sounds like a fairly bare bones release that works well technically, but more importantly a number of features are already teased as "coming soon." The game's App Store page claims that players can steal from their friends live. So, we'd say Mafia Wars Shakedown is worth at least a try, if only to see what a Mafia Wars game looks like in real time.
Lunchtime Poll: Would you skip work to play a new Zynga game?
Right now is the best time to be a video game aficionado, especially if you own Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PlayStation 3 systems. Highly anticipated games, such as the new Gears of War, Batman and Call of Duty are hitting the shelves, and fans will do whatever it takes to get their hands on a copy ASAP -- including waiting in long lines at special midnight launch events held at various retail stores.
A new survey also says that lots of people are willing to skip work so they can spend hours sniping at enemies in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 without interruption. CouponCodes4u asked 2,312 people if they were planning to take time off work to play the action-packed game and 19% said yes. Which made me wonder, would you consider skipping work to play CastleVille? What about another Zynga game? Sound off in today's Lunchtime Poll.
Would you skip work to play a new Zynga game?
Heck yeahCastleVille? Yes!Really depends on the gameNo way, I'll just play at workNo, never
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
A new survey also says that lots of people are willing to skip work so they can spend hours sniping at enemies in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 without interruption. CouponCodes4u asked 2,312 people if they were planning to take time off work to play the action-packed game and 19% said yes. Which made me wonder, would you consider skipping work to play CastleVille? What about another Zynga game? Sound off in today's Lunchtime Poll.
Would you skip work to play a new Zynga game?
Heck yeahCastleVille? Yes!Really depends on the gameNo way, I'll just play at workNo, never
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
Zynga says 'gimme back' to early employees awarded company stocks
Or you're fired. No, seriously. That's essentially how a recent report by The Wall Street Journal reads, citing anonymous sources. According to the report, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus (pictured) and a number of his fellow higher-ups decided that it had awarded employees with too much stock while planning its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) last year. Zynga wasn't very happy with the situation that put it in.
With this hindsight, Zynga decided to offer said employees an ultimatum: Either return your not-yet-vested stock or pack up your things. (According to CNET, it's common for tech startups to dole out stock packages to desired prospects to make seemingly-low salaries more attractive on the outset.) WSJ reports that Pincus and crew tried to offer the take-it-or-leave-it to employees they felt whose contributions to Zynga didn't reflect the potential windfall they could come into once the IPO hit. According to WSJ, the execs hoped to lure in future employees with the promise of stock.
To put things into perspective, Zynga is expected to clear $1 billion with its IPO, which could make some of said employees very, very rich. Once Pincus and other execs approached their target employees with the demand, they were unsurprisingly met with resistance. WSJ cites two anonymous employees that hired attorneys to settle with Zynga, giving up only a portion of their shares.
One of those employees has since left the FarmVille maker. Of course, this is far from the first time nameless Zynga employees have spoke out regarding the company's practices.
With this hindsight, Zynga decided to offer said employees an ultimatum: Either return your not-yet-vested stock or pack up your things. (According to CNET, it's common for tech startups to dole out stock packages to desired prospects to make seemingly-low salaries more attractive on the outset.) WSJ reports that Pincus and crew tried to offer the take-it-or-leave-it to employees they felt whose contributions to Zynga didn't reflect the potential windfall they could come into once the IPO hit. According to WSJ, the execs hoped to lure in future employees with the promise of stock.
To put things into perspective, Zynga is expected to clear $1 billion with its IPO, which could make some of said employees very, very rich. Once Pincus and other execs approached their target employees with the demand, they were unsurprisingly met with resistance. WSJ cites two anonymous employees that hired attorneys to settle with Zynga, giving up only a portion of their shares.
One of those employees has since left the FarmVille maker. Of course, this is far from the first time nameless Zynga employees have spoke out regarding the company's practices.
Angry Birds looks to make angry bucks, flocks to overseas retail stores
We know what you're thinking: "But wait, isn't Angry Birds absolutely free to play on Google+ and in the Chrome Web Store?" Why yes, it is. MCV reports that Rovio's flagship mobile-turned-everywhere game will hit retailers in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for £10.20. That amounts to about $16.25 USD. A majority of which we gather is for the disc.
If you want to nitpick, that's three copies of each of the Angry Birds games released for iOS and enough for yet another. As irony would have it, the publishing deal Finland-based Rovio signed with Focus Multimedia covers PC versions of all three Angry Birds games. The first game to be released under the deal is none other than the original game on Nov. 25. The game has already reached 500 million downloads across all the platforms it exists on, so why now go the brick and mortar route?
"Boxed retail is another way to reach more audience," Rovio spokesperson Ville Heijari told MCV. "Digital and mobile are still at the core of our business, but boxed retail is a good addition for taking the brand forward." The guy has a point: If Rovio is serious about hitting the 1 billion fan mark, the company must consider those unfortunately without Internet access. However, we doubt charging them ten times as much for the game will have them running to the nearest GameStop.
If you want to nitpick, that's three copies of each of the Angry Birds games released for iOS and enough for yet another. As irony would have it, the publishing deal Finland-based Rovio signed with Focus Multimedia covers PC versions of all three Angry Birds games. The first game to be released under the deal is none other than the original game on Nov. 25. The game has already reached 500 million downloads across all the platforms it exists on, so why now go the brick and mortar route?
"Boxed retail is another way to reach more audience," Rovio spokesperson Ville Heijari told MCV. "Digital and mobile are still at the core of our business, but boxed retail is a good addition for taking the brand forward." The guy has a point: If Rovio is serious about hitting the 1 billion fan mark, the company must consider those unfortunately without Internet access. However, we doubt charging them ten times as much for the game will have them running to the nearest GameStop.
FarmVille, Angry Birds double the number of gamers in three years
Games -- everybody loves 'em. Or, at least, more people love them than ever before. A new Parks Associates study shows that the number of gamers have doubled in the past three years thanks to games like FarmVille and Angry Birds.
The study surveyed people who play at least one hour of games every month, and that number increased from 56 million in 2008 to 135 million in 2011. The majority of the new gamers are so-called 'casual gamers,' many of whom play quick-hit games on social networks and mobile devices.
"These changes have significant implications for the gaming industry," Parks Associates analyst Pietro Macchiarella says. "This new majority of casual gamers is looking for games with low entry barriers, with limited investments required in terms of dollars and time necessary to learn the game.
gaming doubles in three years
"The ubiquity of portable devices and Internet access allows more people to play on-the-go, putting pressure on the gaming industry to design games that can deliver a satisfactory experience within these specific conditions," he adds.
Macchiarella predicts that with the rapid consumer adoption of tablets, such as the not-yet-released Amazon Kindle Fire, Americans will spend more time than gaming before as well. More people spending more time playing accessible games on even more accessible devices? Yep, sounds about right to us.
The study surveyed people who play at least one hour of games every month, and that number increased from 56 million in 2008 to 135 million in 2011. The majority of the new gamers are so-called 'casual gamers,' many of whom play quick-hit games on social networks and mobile devices.
"These changes have significant implications for the gaming industry," Parks Associates analyst Pietro Macchiarella says. "This new majority of casual gamers is looking for games with low entry barriers, with limited investments required in terms of dollars and time necessary to learn the game.
gaming doubles in three years
"The ubiquity of portable devices and Internet access allows more people to play on-the-go, putting pressure on the gaming industry to design games that can deliver a satisfactory experience within these specific conditions," he adds.
Macchiarella predicts that with the rapid consumer adoption of tablets, such as the not-yet-released Amazon Kindle Fire, Americans will spend more time than gaming before as well. More people spending more time playing accessible games on even more accessible devices? Yep, sounds about right to us.
Thứ Bảy, 7 tháng 1, 2012
FarmVille: Winter Wonderland Theme melts away today
Winter Wonderland melts away
And that's all she wrote for winter in FarmVille, folks. According to a post on the FarmVille Blog, Winter Wonderland items will no longer be available as of today. It's Groundhog Day, what did you expect? So, kiss this awful weather we've been having goodbye (at least in-game) and say hello to ... wait. We have no idea what Zynga has in store for us next, come to think of it.
Well, we do have some guesses as to where the game is headed next. Surely the Valentine's festivities will truck on through Feb. 14. But then, it looks like we're either headed to England as our next theme (or hopefully a new destination altogether). But we also have the upcoming Greenhouse to look forward to, which looks extremely promising. But who knows, Zynga could always thrown in something from left field. Stay tuned here to find out what's in store on the farm next.
And that's all she wrote for winter in FarmVille, folks. According to a post on the FarmVille Blog, Winter Wonderland items will no longer be available as of today. It's Groundhog Day, what did you expect? So, kiss this awful weather we've been having goodbye (at least in-game) and say hello to ... wait. We have no idea what Zynga has in store for us next, come to think of it.
Well, we do have some guesses as to where the game is headed next. Surely the Valentine's festivities will truck on through Feb. 14. But then, it looks like we're either headed to England as our next theme (or hopefully a new destination altogether). But we also have the upcoming Greenhouse to look forward to, which looks extremely promising. But who knows, Zynga could always thrown in something from left field. Stay tuned here to find out what's in store on the farm next.
Words with Friends headed to an Android device near you (Thanks, Zynga!)
When FarmVille-maker Zynga bought NewToy, the creator of the Scrabble-like game Words with Friends last year -- it seemed like quite a coup. Not only had one of the biggest social gaming companies bought one of the coolest (IMHO) mobile games, but it also gave social gamers hope that other Zynga games on Facebook would soon be getting better mobile counterparts.
While we have yet to see Zynga Facebook gaming hits like FrontierVille roll out on mobile, word junkies will be happy to learn that Words with Friends will be headed to Android phones and tablets later this month. The game will also work across platforms, so you will be able to play the game with friends who have the game on iPhones (or other iOS devices) and vice versa.
Zynga says it plans to offer a premium version of the game (i.e. meaning you that will be ad-free later on this year. As for more Zynga games going mobile, we'll just have to wait and see.
Gallery: Words with Friends on Android
Image courtesy of the Word with Friends Facebook fan page
While we have yet to see Zynga Facebook gaming hits like FrontierVille roll out on mobile, word junkies will be happy to learn that Words with Friends will be headed to Android phones and tablets later this month. The game will also work across platforms, so you will be able to play the game with friends who have the game on iPhones (or other iOS devices) and vice versa.
Zynga says it plans to offer a premium version of the game (i.e. meaning you that will be ad-free later on this year. As for more Zynga games going mobile, we'll just have to wait and see.
Gallery: Words with Friends on Android
Image courtesy of the Word with Friends Facebook fan page
Earn 100 free FarmVille Farm Cash when you order from Pro Flowers
Why not kill two birds with one web order this Valentine's Day? The most recent FarmVille Sponsored Link lets you do just that. Just click on the link below the FarmVille game screen that reads, "Send Valentine's Flowers, get 100 Free Farm Cash!" From there accept the pop-up window and start ordering.
There's no mention of a minimum amount spent, so feel free to spend as little or as much as you want for the lovely missus. But don't skimp out too much--I'm sure she deserves something nice for putting up with your rampant digital farming. Once you're done making the order, give it a half hour before the 100 big ones post to your FarmVille account. Believe me, she's going to be much more impressed by this than that Unwither Ring you were mulling over.
There's no mention of a minimum amount spent, so feel free to spend as little or as much as you want for the lovely missus. But don't skimp out too much--I'm sure she deserves something nice for putting up with your rampant digital farming. Once you're done making the order, give it a half hour before the 100 big ones post to your FarmVille account. Believe me, she's going to be much more impressed by this than that Unwither Ring you were mulling over.
FarmVille Valentine's Day redeemable prizes get a refresh
Just when I was starting to think about how umimpressed I was with the FarmVille Valentine's redeemable prizes (seriously, that Valentine's goat was cute, but just how many am I going to buy?), a new batch of prizes make an appearance in the game. So for those of you who've stuffed your Mailbox full of Valentines, you can also redeem them for the following:
farmville valentine gifts updated
Pecking Ducks- 75 Valentines
Pigs in Love - 100 Valentines
3 Hearts Fountain - 125 Valentines
Pink Patch Cow - 150 Valentines
Chocolate Fountain - 200 Valentines
Eiffel Tower - 275 Valentines
And, as an added bonus. once you hit 500 Valentines, you'll be able to add this fetching hot pink swan to your farm.
farmville pink swan
farmville valentine gifts updated
Pecking Ducks- 75 Valentines
Pigs in Love - 100 Valentines
3 Hearts Fountain - 125 Valentines
Pink Patch Cow - 150 Valentines
Chocolate Fountain - 200 Valentines
Eiffel Tower - 275 Valentines
And, as an added bonus. once you hit 500 Valentines, you'll be able to add this fetching hot pink swan to your farm.
farmville pink swan
FrontierVille Pony Express: Everything you need to know
Ever since FrontierVille first launched last year, Frontier Jack has been reminding us of the existence of the Pony Express, which has been responsible for delivering your mail in the game. Now, though, it seems like we'll finally be able to meet these dedicated riders in the flesh (or, the virtual flesh, that is), as we can now build our very own Pony Express building in the game.
This new building is hitting users' accounts on what seems to be a very slow rollout, so if you don't have the building upon reading this, be patient! We're sure it will be released into your own game in the very near future. Once you are able to access the Pony Express, you'll need to purchase it from the market for 665 coins and 8 Wood.
After placing the base on your land, you'll need to whack the building 16 times to complete the frame, with each whack costing 4 Wood. Of course, this is only part one of the building's construction - meet us behind the break for the rest of the requirements for building the Pony Express.
Once you have completed the frame of the Pony Express, you'll need to go about the process of asking your friends to help you gather a total of 66 building materials - 10 each of Bags of Gravel, Moldings, and Whitewashes, and 12 each of Paintbrushes, Wax Seals, and Pony Express Plans.
As usual, these six items are split evenly between those that you'll need to request from individual players, and those that can be earned through general news feed posts. In this case, the Bags of Gravel, Whitewashes, and Moldings can be received by clicking on the Ask button and then sending out individual gift requests to those neighbors that you think will help you, while the other three items (Paintbrushes, Wax Seals, and Pony Express Plans) are earned through general news feed posts that any friend can click on. Unfortunately, you'll only be able to post one of these general wall posts every few hours, so be sure to be on the lookout for your friends' posts, so that you can earn some bonus items while you are waiting for the ability to post again.
So what's the point of building the Pony Express? It's actually a fairly complex reason. To put it as simply as possible, each day, you'll be able to collect a Daily Bonus from the Pony Express building, just as you can any other building in the game. Doing this gives you a chance to earn a "Special Delivery" package from a traveling Pony Express Rider. This rider will drop off satchels that can be opened to receive prizes (we'll bring you more on these prizes when we've learned more).
You can also trigger an additional Special Delivery each day, by clicking on Bonus items (coins, experience points, food, wood, etc.) in a fast enough succession to reach the "Insane" level in the Bonus Bar. Again, you can only receive a Special Delivery through this method once per day.
We'll make sure to bring you images and more information about the Pony Express as soon as we have them. In the meantime, while you're building the Pony Express building, why not also take a look at the equally new Pony Express Goals that were also released in FrontierVille, via our new guide.
This new building is hitting users' accounts on what seems to be a very slow rollout, so if you don't have the building upon reading this, be patient! We're sure it will be released into your own game in the very near future. Once you are able to access the Pony Express, you'll need to purchase it from the market for 665 coins and 8 Wood.
After placing the base on your land, you'll need to whack the building 16 times to complete the frame, with each whack costing 4 Wood. Of course, this is only part one of the building's construction - meet us behind the break for the rest of the requirements for building the Pony Express.
Once you have completed the frame of the Pony Express, you'll need to go about the process of asking your friends to help you gather a total of 66 building materials - 10 each of Bags of Gravel, Moldings, and Whitewashes, and 12 each of Paintbrushes, Wax Seals, and Pony Express Plans.
As usual, these six items are split evenly between those that you'll need to request from individual players, and those that can be earned through general news feed posts. In this case, the Bags of Gravel, Whitewashes, and Moldings can be received by clicking on the Ask button and then sending out individual gift requests to those neighbors that you think will help you, while the other three items (Paintbrushes, Wax Seals, and Pony Express Plans) are earned through general news feed posts that any friend can click on. Unfortunately, you'll only be able to post one of these general wall posts every few hours, so be sure to be on the lookout for your friends' posts, so that you can earn some bonus items while you are waiting for the ability to post again.
So what's the point of building the Pony Express? It's actually a fairly complex reason. To put it as simply as possible, each day, you'll be able to collect a Daily Bonus from the Pony Express building, just as you can any other building in the game. Doing this gives you a chance to earn a "Special Delivery" package from a traveling Pony Express Rider. This rider will drop off satchels that can be opened to receive prizes (we'll bring you more on these prizes when we've learned more).
You can also trigger an additional Special Delivery each day, by clicking on Bonus items (coins, experience points, food, wood, etc.) in a fast enough succession to reach the "Insane" level in the Bonus Bar. Again, you can only receive a Special Delivery through this method once per day.
We'll make sure to bring you images and more information about the Pony Express as soon as we have them. In the meantime, while you're building the Pony Express building, why not also take a look at the equally new Pony Express Goals that were also released in FrontierVille, via our new guide.
Thứ Sáu, 6 tháng 1, 2012
Today is Defriend Day: Do Facebook game friends count too?
If you were to ask author and political activist Mark Dice, yes, your fellow FarmVille friends probably count. In promotion of his new book, "Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True," Dice has called for everyone on Facebook to prune their friends list of people they don't even know. (If you remember, Jimmy Kimmel called for something similar recently.) And Facebook gamers are arguably the largest culprit of adding otherwise anonymous people to their friends list. Not to mention, what if that is your personal account as well? Have you considered these things before aimlessly accepting friend quests for yet another "neighbor?"
Sure, some social gamers play on designated accounts that are essentially on privacy lock down for this very reason, but I'm willing to bet a majority of you game on your personal account. There's no need to put on your tin-foil hats--Dice does enough of that in his new novel. However, the guy has a brilliant point. It's interesting how social gamers are willing to welcome complete strangers into their digital lives.
Think about it: How many of those miscellaneous friends have you come to know on a personal level? Probably little to none, but they might know everything about you. Of course, this depends on how much you share, but considering the amount of data Facebook processes daily I'd imagine you share just as much as I do: a lot. You never know who is looking at your profile. (We're all guilty of Facebook stalking, regardless of how harmless.)
When you think of the amount of estranged Facebook friends you game with, which for some is likely in the hundreds, how does it feel to know they're part of the digital audience of your life? Now, don't freak out and go defriend every unknown person attached to your account. Just think about these things the next time you add a friend to game with or share something on your profile. There are many things in the digital age that are permanent, but gaming buddies don't necessarily have to be. Especially those you don't even know.
[Image Credit: Intermediate 2]
Have you ever considered the friends you add to game with on Facebook? Would you ever prune your friends of those you didn't know?
Sure, some social gamers play on designated accounts that are essentially on privacy lock down for this very reason, but I'm willing to bet a majority of you game on your personal account. There's no need to put on your tin-foil hats--Dice does enough of that in his new novel. However, the guy has a brilliant point. It's interesting how social gamers are willing to welcome complete strangers into their digital lives.
Think about it: How many of those miscellaneous friends have you come to know on a personal level? Probably little to none, but they might know everything about you. Of course, this depends on how much you share, but considering the amount of data Facebook processes daily I'd imagine you share just as much as I do: a lot. You never know who is looking at your profile. (We're all guilty of Facebook stalking, regardless of how harmless.)
When you think of the amount of estranged Facebook friends you game with, which for some is likely in the hundreds, how does it feel to know they're part of the digital audience of your life? Now, don't freak out and go defriend every unknown person attached to your account. Just think about these things the next time you add a friend to game with or share something on your profile. There are many things in the digital age that are permanent, but gaming buddies don't necessarily have to be. Especially those you don't even know.
[Image Credit: Intermediate 2]
Have you ever considered the friends you add to game with on Facebook? Would you ever prune your friends of those you didn't know?
FrontierVille Makin' Room Storage Expansion Missions: Everything you need to know
While we've been able to expand both our land and our Storage Shed in FrontierVille in the past, in an effort to de-clutter our homesteads, with Zynga releasing so many new buildings, and so many new decorations, the current limit of 35 items in storage simply wasn't cutting it. Luckily, Zynga has addressed this issue in a big, big way, with the release of repeatable Mega Storage Missions in the game (as Zynga is lovingly calling them).
When the update hits your game, you'll see a pop-up like the one above, introducing you to these new, repeatable, missions. These repeatable missions (did I mention they were repeatable?) will allow you to add 15 spaces of storage each time you complete them, and there currently doesn't appear to be a limit on how big your Storage Shed can get (either that or even Zynga hasn't decided what it should be yet). Do you know what this means pioneers?! It means that we're potentially looking at unlimited storage in FrontierVille, with a couple of catches.
First, these missions will take quite a bit of time and materials on your part (I hope you've been saving up coins and wood). Secondly, you'll be subject to a "Storage Expansion Timer," which will only allow you to move onto your next expansion once every four days. You can, of course, pay Horseshoes to unlock a new set of missions earlier, if you wish.
So what exactly does it take to expand your Storage Shed into the "mega" storage range? Meet us behind the break for all of the details.
The Storage Expansion Mission has three parts. Part I of III is called Stacking Wood, and it has you chopping down trees on your own Homestead, and while it might seem like a tedious task, believe me - you'll need the wood you receive from doing so.
Chop Trees 50 Times on your Homestead
Visit 25 Neighbors
Have 25 Cloth
You don't have to actually do anything at your neighbors' homesteads, luckily enough, so just visit and move onto the next. As for the trees, each individual chop on a tree counts, so if you have full-grown trees, these can of course count for more than one chop if you entirely remove them. If you're a stickler for a clear homestead, though, remember that you can receive free trees for turning in either the Pine Tree or the Oak Tree collection, or you can simply purchase the saplings in the market. Your rewards for finishing this first mission are 300 XP and 100 Food. You'll be able to share some Cloth with your neighbors.
Part II of III will take you some time, as, even if you complete two of the steps, you physically can't complete the third in a single day (without the aid of Horseshoes). This mission, called Mortise and Tenon, requires the following three tasks be completed:
Have or Craft 100 Planks
Have 16 Tools
Collect Two Storage Shed Bonuses
The Storage Shed Bonus can only be collected once every day, and if you've already collected it before starting this mission, you'll be put even further behind. As for the Planks, they can be crafted inside the Covered Wagon for 7 wood and 250 coins each. That's 700 wood, if you currently own zero planks - hence my saying I hope you've been saving up. As for the Tools, you'll be able to earn these from your friends if they hire you, or visit you and happen to receive that as the random bonus they can leave behind. Finishing this second quest rewards you with 400 XP and 800 coins. You'll be able to share Tools with your friends.
This brings us to the final part of the Mission portion of Storage Shed expansion (oh yes, there's more). Part III asks you to complete three more steps:
Clear 15 Debris on your Homestead
Craft 8 Sawhorses
Expand your Storage Shed
Sawhorses can be crafted inside the Barn using, wait for it, more Planks. I suppose this is why Zynga only takes 50 of your 100 Planks when completing the last mission. You'll also need to use up the Tools you just gathered from the previous mission, as Sawhorses take 5 Planks and 2 Tools each to craft.
As for the actual expansion of your Storage Shed, you'll need to gather six construction materials, in a same fashion as when you first build the average building in FrontierVille. To start, you'll need to gather 10 Shelves, 10 Bins, and 10 Padlocks by sending out individual requests to your friends. Three more items are 5 Elbow Grease, 5 Cement and 5 Carpenter Pencils, all of which can be asked for in a general news item on your feed.
Here's where things get tricky. The first time you complete these three missions, and collect all of the construction materials to physically expand, you will receive 15 extra storage spaces inside the Storage Shed. That's all well and good, but when four days have passed and you go to work on another expansion, this final building step will have changed, becoming incrementally more difficult each time you complete it. This is due to the fact that each of the six construction materials will be required in quantities that are two units higher than previously.
As an example, since you only needed to collect 10 and 5 of each ingredient the first time, when it comes time to expand again, you'll need to gather 12 Shelves, Bins, and Padlocks, and 7 each of Elbow Grease, Cement and Carpenter Pencils. On your third expansion, you'll need 14 and 9 of each, and so on.
As you can see, expanding your Storage Shed to any great number will likely take you quite a bit of time, as you'll need to gather the wood and tools necessary to create Planks and Sawhorses, not to mention the time it will take to request more and more collectible items from friends. We can't really complain though - we'd much rather be spending time completing these missions than trying to find places to "hide" seasonal decorations because we don't want to sell them.
What do you think of this new storage shed expansion ability? Are the quests too demanding, or are you willing to do whatever it takes to receive more room on your homestead?
When the update hits your game, you'll see a pop-up like the one above, introducing you to these new, repeatable, missions. These repeatable missions (did I mention they were repeatable?) will allow you to add 15 spaces of storage each time you complete them, and there currently doesn't appear to be a limit on how big your Storage Shed can get (either that or even Zynga hasn't decided what it should be yet). Do you know what this means pioneers?! It means that we're potentially looking at unlimited storage in FrontierVille, with a couple of catches.
First, these missions will take quite a bit of time and materials on your part (I hope you've been saving up coins and wood). Secondly, you'll be subject to a "Storage Expansion Timer," which will only allow you to move onto your next expansion once every four days. You can, of course, pay Horseshoes to unlock a new set of missions earlier, if you wish.
So what exactly does it take to expand your Storage Shed into the "mega" storage range? Meet us behind the break for all of the details.
The Storage Expansion Mission has three parts. Part I of III is called Stacking Wood, and it has you chopping down trees on your own Homestead, and while it might seem like a tedious task, believe me - you'll need the wood you receive from doing so.
Chop Trees 50 Times on your Homestead
Visit 25 Neighbors
Have 25 Cloth
You don't have to actually do anything at your neighbors' homesteads, luckily enough, so just visit and move onto the next. As for the trees, each individual chop on a tree counts, so if you have full-grown trees, these can of course count for more than one chop if you entirely remove them. If you're a stickler for a clear homestead, though, remember that you can receive free trees for turning in either the Pine Tree or the Oak Tree collection, or you can simply purchase the saplings in the market. Your rewards for finishing this first mission are 300 XP and 100 Food. You'll be able to share some Cloth with your neighbors.
Part II of III will take you some time, as, even if you complete two of the steps, you physically can't complete the third in a single day (without the aid of Horseshoes). This mission, called Mortise and Tenon, requires the following three tasks be completed:
Have or Craft 100 Planks
Have 16 Tools
Collect Two Storage Shed Bonuses
The Storage Shed Bonus can only be collected once every day, and if you've already collected it before starting this mission, you'll be put even further behind. As for the Planks, they can be crafted inside the Covered Wagon for 7 wood and 250 coins each. That's 700 wood, if you currently own zero planks - hence my saying I hope you've been saving up. As for the Tools, you'll be able to earn these from your friends if they hire you, or visit you and happen to receive that as the random bonus they can leave behind. Finishing this second quest rewards you with 400 XP and 800 coins. You'll be able to share Tools with your friends.
This brings us to the final part of the Mission portion of Storage Shed expansion (oh yes, there's more). Part III asks you to complete three more steps:
Clear 15 Debris on your Homestead
Craft 8 Sawhorses
Expand your Storage Shed
Sawhorses can be crafted inside the Barn using, wait for it, more Planks. I suppose this is why Zynga only takes 50 of your 100 Planks when completing the last mission. You'll also need to use up the Tools you just gathered from the previous mission, as Sawhorses take 5 Planks and 2 Tools each to craft.
As for the actual expansion of your Storage Shed, you'll need to gather six construction materials, in a same fashion as when you first build the average building in FrontierVille. To start, you'll need to gather 10 Shelves, 10 Bins, and 10 Padlocks by sending out individual requests to your friends. Three more items are 5 Elbow Grease, 5 Cement and 5 Carpenter Pencils, all of which can be asked for in a general news item on your feed.
Here's where things get tricky. The first time you complete these three missions, and collect all of the construction materials to physically expand, you will receive 15 extra storage spaces inside the Storage Shed. That's all well and good, but when four days have passed and you go to work on another expansion, this final building step will have changed, becoming incrementally more difficult each time you complete it. This is due to the fact that each of the six construction materials will be required in quantities that are two units higher than previously.
As an example, since you only needed to collect 10 and 5 of each ingredient the first time, when it comes time to expand again, you'll need to gather 12 Shelves, Bins, and Padlocks, and 7 each of Elbow Grease, Cement and Carpenter Pencils. On your third expansion, you'll need 14 and 9 of each, and so on.
As you can see, expanding your Storage Shed to any great number will likely take you quite a bit of time, as you'll need to gather the wood and tools necessary to create Planks and Sawhorses, not to mention the time it will take to request more and more collectible items from friends. We can't really complain though - we'd much rather be spending time completing these missions than trying to find places to "hide" seasonal decorations because we don't want to sell them.
What do you think of this new storage shed expansion ability? Are the quests too demanding, or are you willing to do whatever it takes to receive more room on your homestead?
Đăng ký:
Bài đăng (Atom)