Zynga and LOLapps may not be the only ones after your personal information for an extra buck. In a report published by the Wall Street Journal today, complete with flashy infographic breaking it down for reader, reporters found that games like Bejeweled 2 and Angry Birds for the iPhone and Android phones may be sending your private data such as contacts, your phone's unique ID number and even your phone number to third party marketing and advertising firms.
The report encompassed 101 of the most popular apps and games on both platforms and, more specifically, found that Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds, knows your phone's unique ID number, contacts and location thanks to you playing the game. Worse off, WSJ suspects that the company is sending that information to third parties. In a reaction statement made today by the developer, Rovio denied all allegations that it is sending this information to anyone other than Crystal, the social network that supports its games, and uses Flurry, an analytical software.
"Crystal does not store any personal information, as insinuated by the WSJ article, nor does it utilize any data without the user's explicit knowledge," a Rovio spokesperson told gaming news site Develop. "Flurry collects analytical data to display numerical data such as numbers of users per different countries based on Phone ID and general location. This information is only displayed as aggregate statistics - Flurry never stores or displays any data pertaining to an individual."
As for Bejeweled 2, WSJ found in its research that PopCap, the game's developer and publisher, knows your user names, passwords and phone number. And yes, it too is sending that information to third parties, according to the Journal report. PopCap has yet to make a statement confirming or denying the claims made by WSJ.
And don't think these are the only games and apps that could be making some coin off your private information. The chart and infographic go on to mention that Doodle Jump, Ninjump, Paper Toss, Foursquare and even Tweet Deck are having their way with a least a sliver of your personal data. While the report does point a few fingers, its true purpose is to raise awareness to the fact that our personal data may not be safe even on our smartphones.
The report ends with a poll asking whether readers feel that games and apps should notify them of when they're accessing their information. A whopping 66 percent seem to feel that it should be done every time. And if the Journal's findings turn out to be true, well, I'd have to agree.
Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 1, 2012
CityVille: Two new goals offer a free Holiday Tree
Aside from some new buildings and decorations, CityVille is celebrating the holidays by giving every player a free Christmas tree for a new game goal. The first part of the new Holiday Tree goal is called "Place the Holiday Tree" and it's really simple. Just go to the user panel on the bottom right, access the inventory, click on the Holiday Tree and drag it into your city to install it. This will pay you 50 Coins.
CityVille Growing the Tree
Part two is called "Growing the Tree" and to complete it, you'll either need 20 City Cash or have 10 friends willing to send you a "Present" each from the "Free Gifts" page.
CityVille Presents Holiday Tree wall post
You can notify your friends that you need presents by clicking on the "Growing the Tree" goal icon on the left hand side, then "Ask Your Friends" to post to your wall. But be careful -- if you cancel the wall post instead of allowing it to post, you'll lose the "Ask Your Friends" option, because that button will turn into the message "Waiting for your friends to respond", which means you won't be able to click it anymore. Friends who answer your wall post for gifts will get 50 Coins for helping you. As for you, the more presents you get, the bigger your tree will grow!
CityVille Holiday Tree
CityVille Growing the Tree
Part two is called "Growing the Tree" and to complete it, you'll either need 20 City Cash or have 10 friends willing to send you a "Present" each from the "Free Gifts" page.
CityVille Presents Holiday Tree wall post
You can notify your friends that you need presents by clicking on the "Growing the Tree" goal icon on the left hand side, then "Ask Your Friends" to post to your wall. But be careful -- if you cancel the wall post instead of allowing it to post, you'll lose the "Ask Your Friends" option, because that button will turn into the message "Waiting for your friends to respond", which means you won't be able to click it anymore. Friends who answer your wall post for gifts will get 50 Coins for helping you. As for you, the more presents you get, the bigger your tree will grow!
CityVille Holiday Tree
FrontierVille Toy Factory Contest: Win an iPad for Christmas
The giving spirit has clearly overtaken Zynga as the company will be giving away an Apple iPad to one dedicated pioneer in FrontierVille this Christmas. From now through Jan. 3, 2011 the Zynga team will be watching us like Santa does the little girls and boys every year, but for a far different reason. The player who has hoarded the most Toys by Jan. 3 will be awarded a 16GB iPad in the FrontierVille Toy Factory Contest.
However, everyone who wants in will have to specifically register via e-mail including their Facebook profile link and other important information. This way, Zynga will be able to track your Toy-gathering prowess over the next two weeks and declare a winner on the FrontierVille fan page and forums that day. Thankfully, the team will also be counting Toys turned in the exclusive items that the Pioneer Toy Factory, so feel free to spend like normal. Though, you'll have to hoard if you want to keep track of your own progress and to be prepared to break a tie. Check out the forums for the official rules and how to enter. Now, get to sending those Toys if you want the toy of the Holidays.
Find the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
However, everyone who wants in will have to specifically register via e-mail including their Facebook profile link and other important information. This way, Zynga will be able to track your Toy-gathering prowess over the next two weeks and declare a winner on the FrontierVille fan page and forums that day. Thankfully, the team will also be counting Toys turned in the exclusive items that the Pioneer Toy Factory, so feel free to spend like normal. Though, you'll have to hoard if you want to keep track of your own progress and to be prepared to break a tie. Check out the forums for the official rules and how to enter. Now, get to sending those Toys if you want the toy of the Holidays.
Find the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
FarmVille: Platinum Combine now available, but only for the Holidays
Couldn't get enough of the Silver and Gold theme of items released in the new FarmVille Mystery Game last night? You're in luck, as Zynga has added another shiny, regal item to the game in the form of the Platinum Combine - shop fast though, it will only be around for the holidays.
This Platinum Combine costs a whopping 110 Farm Cash, the equivalent of around $20 US, if you look at the current exchange rate on purchasing Farm Cash packages. As with other Combines (whether you built one, or purchased one from the store), this Platinum version allows you to Harvest, Plow, and Seed your land with a single click, saving you time, but not fuel in the process, as the Combine uses the same amount of fuel as if you had completed each of the three basic farming tasks separately.
As a nice incentive to purchase the Combine, it starts out allowing you to plow, plant, and harvest on nine squares at a time, rather than a smaller amount as seen with other Combines (specifically the Red Combine that many users chose to build back in September).
As part of the Winter Holiday series of limited edition items, this Platinum Combine will only be available for the next 42 days - sure, that's a heck of a lot longer than the other Winter Holiday items that are still available in the game, but you might want to purchase this item sooner, rather than later, so you don't forget and then miss out.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
This Platinum Combine costs a whopping 110 Farm Cash, the equivalent of around $20 US, if you look at the current exchange rate on purchasing Farm Cash packages. As with other Combines (whether you built one, or purchased one from the store), this Platinum version allows you to Harvest, Plow, and Seed your land with a single click, saving you time, but not fuel in the process, as the Combine uses the same amount of fuel as if you had completed each of the three basic farming tasks separately.
As a nice incentive to purchase the Combine, it starts out allowing you to plow, plant, and harvest on nine squares at a time, rather than a smaller amount as seen with other Combines (specifically the Red Combine that many users chose to build back in September).
As part of the Winter Holiday series of limited edition items, this Platinum Combine will only be available for the next 42 days - sure, that's a heck of a lot longer than the other Winter Holiday items that are still available in the game, but you might want to purchase this item sooner, rather than later, so you don't forget and then miss out.
Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.
FarmVille Greeting Card Contest: Win 1,000 Farm Cash and riches galore!
FarmVille Community Manager Lexilicious gave users a sneak peek of this newest contest in the latest official FarmVille podcast, but for those that didn't listen, we now have all of the details on the recently launched FarmVille Winter Holiday Greeting Card Contest for 2010.
This contest calls to all aspiring artists and asks them to create a holiday greeting card that, of course, has FarmVille as its theme. These cards can be created either virtually, through Microsoft Paint, Photoshop or another image creation/editing program, or you can put your real-life artistic skills to good use and draw, paint, or otherwise create your own card in the real world and then photograph it for your entry.
Your entry needs to be posted on the FarmVille forums before December 31 in order to be considered for the many prizes you can win. After this point, the FarmVille team will select the top ten winners. What do you win? Why, only one of the best prizes ever - a whopping 1,000 Farm Cash, 1 million coins, and any limited edition FarmVille item of your choosing (so long as the item is either currently available in the game, or has been previously released - no unreleased items unfortunately).
What are you waiting for? Put those thinking caps on and come up with your own creative ideas that could be worth financial security in the game for weeks or even months to come (or just some shopping spree money - the choice is yours).
This contest calls to all aspiring artists and asks them to create a holiday greeting card that, of course, has FarmVille as its theme. These cards can be created either virtually, through Microsoft Paint, Photoshop or another image creation/editing program, or you can put your real-life artistic skills to good use and draw, paint, or otherwise create your own card in the real world and then photograph it for your entry.
Your entry needs to be posted on the FarmVille forums before December 31 in order to be considered for the many prizes you can win. After this point, the FarmVille team will select the top ten winners. What do you win? Why, only one of the best prizes ever - a whopping 1,000 Farm Cash, 1 million coins, and any limited edition FarmVille item of your choosing (so long as the item is either currently available in the game, or has been previously released - no unreleased items unfortunately).
What are you waiting for? Put those thinking caps on and come up with your own creative ideas that could be worth financial security in the game for weeks or even months to come (or just some shopping spree money - the choice is yours).
Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 1, 2012
Free Puzzle Game Contest - Win a Copy of 4 Elements!
Part match-three, part hidden object, part spot the difference, 4 Elements is the puzzle game for puzzle game addicts. You can demo the game right on Games.com, but you can win a copy of the FULL game right now!
The magic of the four elements that kept an ancient kingdom running for centuries has been corrupted by evil powers and the altars no longer yield the energy of life. It is up to you to unlock the 4 ancient books of magic and collect 16 mysterious cards that will help you restore the kingdom to life.
We have five codes to for you to win!
Here's how to win:
Step 1. Join our Facebook fan page! If you haven't joined our Facebook fan page yet, now's your chance! Go to facebook.com/gamescom, and hit the "Become a Fan" button at the top.
Step 2. Leave a comment saying "I Love 4 Elements!" using the Wall Post and include your email address so we know where to reach you!
We'll pick five qualifying entries at the beginning of next week and email winners the codes.
Any questions or comments? Post them in the comments area here and we'll do our best to answer them! Good luck!
The magic of the four elements that kept an ancient kingdom running for centuries has been corrupted by evil powers and the altars no longer yield the energy of life. It is up to you to unlock the 4 ancient books of magic and collect 16 mysterious cards that will help you restore the kingdom to life.
We have five codes to for you to win!
Here's how to win:
Step 1. Join our Facebook fan page! If you haven't joined our Facebook fan page yet, now's your chance! Go to facebook.com/gamescom, and hit the "Become a Fan" button at the top.
Step 2. Leave a comment saying "I Love 4 Elements!" using the Wall Post and include your email address so we know where to reach you!
We'll pick five qualifying entries at the beginning of next week and email winners the codes.
Any questions or comments? Post them in the comments area here and we'll do our best to answer them! Good luck!
Solitaire Games Fan? Check Out a New Variation for the iPhone/iPod Touch
Solitaire players on our site know that there are dozens of variations on the classic one-player card game. You may have played Klondike, Pyramid or Tripeaks, but we're pretty sure you've never played anything like Up Down Solitaire, a new game for the iPhone and iPod Touch ($0.99).
Up Down is part Free Cell, part Crescent (we've got our lingo down!) -- two decks of cards are shuffled together, then dealt into thirteen piles (each representing one of the thirteen ranks) and a draw pile. The object of the game is to complete each of the eight foundations (from Ace up to King for each suit on the right side, from King down to Ace on the left). If no cards can be played, you can draw a card, which will also let you play cards from the associated rank pile.
It's a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it Up Down is as addicting as any of the Solitaire variations you might have played before. The game also lets you upload your score to the game's official website, where you can compare your stats with your friends.
We spent a good chunk of last night hunched over our iPod Touch with this game instead of attacking Mafias or crop farming -- suffice to say that at 99 cents, it's a deal.
Up Down Solitaire [link opens in iTunes]
Solitaire Classic Play Free NowCheck out Solitaire games you can play right on Games.com!
- Solitaire: Classic (Klondike)
- Solitaire: Pyramid
- Solitaire: Tripeaks
- All Solitaire Games
Up Down is part Free Cell, part Crescent (we've got our lingo down!) -- two decks of cards are shuffled together, then dealt into thirteen piles (each representing one of the thirteen ranks) and a draw pile. The object of the game is to complete each of the eight foundations (from Ace up to King for each suit on the right side, from King down to Ace on the left). If no cards can be played, you can draw a card, which will also let you play cards from the associated rank pile.
It's a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it Up Down is as addicting as any of the Solitaire variations you might have played before. The game also lets you upload your score to the game's official website, where you can compare your stats with your friends.
We spent a good chunk of last night hunched over our iPod Touch with this game instead of attacking Mafias or crop farming -- suffice to say that at 99 cents, it's a deal.
Up Down Solitaire [link opens in iTunes]
Solitaire Classic Play Free NowCheck out Solitaire games you can play right on Games.com!
- Solitaire: Classic (Klondike)
- Solitaire: Pyramid
- Solitaire: Tripeaks
- All Solitaire Games
Downloadable Games for $2.99? Big Fish Games' Daily Deals Push Casual Games Pricing
Want to pay less for the games you play? Publishers may just start dropping game prices to compete for your attention.
Pricing for casual games over the years has largely stayed between $5.99 and $19.99, depending on the novelty of the game and the availability of the game on subscription/token-based sites such as GameHouse and Big Fish.
The latter of those sites, however, has been testing out a new Daily Deal promotion where a selected game is available at $2.99 for 24 hours. The deals are visible only to users who have installed the Big Fish Games Toolbar (which displays a search bar and navigation to their new releases, top games, etc), although that hasn't stopped blog A Game For Everyone from posting each day's coupon for non-toolbar users.
New Daily Deals have been posted every day since late July of this year, including on Saturday and Sunday. Originally the promotion was scheduled to run through the end of August, but as that date has come and gone, it's possible we'll see these offers discontinued any day now.
That said, we wonder if Big Fish is taking a cue from the popularity of cheap games on the iPhone/iPod Touch, the bulk of which are available for free or $0.99. Will we start to see other casual game vendors try out cheaper pricing models to compete with price expectations being set by Apple's device?
As games on other platforms like the iPhone get cheaper, do you expect to pay less for similar-featured games on your computer?
Pricing for casual games over the years has largely stayed between $5.99 and $19.99, depending on the novelty of the game and the availability of the game on subscription/token-based sites such as GameHouse and Big Fish.
The latter of those sites, however, has been testing out a new Daily Deal promotion where a selected game is available at $2.99 for 24 hours. The deals are visible only to users who have installed the Big Fish Games Toolbar (which displays a search bar and navigation to their new releases, top games, etc), although that hasn't stopped blog A Game For Everyone from posting each day's coupon for non-toolbar users.
New Daily Deals have been posted every day since late July of this year, including on Saturday and Sunday. Originally the promotion was scheduled to run through the end of August, but as that date has come and gone, it's possible we'll see these offers discontinued any day now.
That said, we wonder if Big Fish is taking a cue from the popularity of cheap games on the iPhone/iPod Touch, the bulk of which are available for free or $0.99. Will we start to see other casual game vendors try out cheaper pricing models to compete with price expectations being set by Apple's device?
As games on other platforms like the iPhone get cheaper, do you expect to pay less for similar-featured games on your computer?
Weekly News Wrap: When Cafe World Took Over Our Lives
Days seem shorter? Check. Weather getting cooler? Uh huh. Well now that autumn seems to be in full swing, we're hunting down new indoor activities to keep us warm and busy. Farming and playing with cute animals still rank highly versus the Friday night TV lineup but this week's arrival of Zynga's Cafe World seriously threw us for a loop. We've been playing since we first caught wind of the game.
But that's not all that happened this week as Mafia Wars players found new adventures in Moscow, Zuma's Revenge gets a new version and we discovered a buried box of FarmVille tips that you'll just have to read. So get warm, it's time for the week's best stories.
Farmville Crop Mastery Released - Earn Bonuses Just Like in Mafia Wars
Farming isn't hard and fans of FarmVille have repeatedly wondered if the game might be better if there were more depth. Now, the game that gets Facebookers out to the dirt has added mastery bonuses to the game. Borrowed from FarmVille's cousin Mafia Wars, players gain mastery bonuses for repeating the planting of seed based foods. The details on what players gain from the mastery bonus is still a bit of a mystery, but any way to add more action to Facebook's hotttest game isn't a bad thing.
Mafia Wars: Moscow Tips - You'll Get By With a Little Help From Your Friends
Notice how your Mafia Wars-addicted friends skipped any social events this week? You can blame Mafia Wars: Moscow, the newest city expansion that brings mafia managers to Mother Russia's capitol to do business. Like the previously released Cuba expansion, Moscow tasks players with using the pugilist egos of your friends to complete jobs. It's an interesting development that you too can experience, if you're level 70 or higher. If you're already there, you'll want to read our tip guide before you take you trip.
Zuma's Revenge Adventure: Ball-Busting at Half the Price
Mention any of PopCap's games (Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, etc) and you'll find that even people who wouldn't necessarily play games, sure do play a lot of them. The latest variation of PopCap's Zuma series, Zuma's Revenge, pits players against a series of colored orbs that move closer and closer, your role is to shoot similarly colored orbs to make triplets, thus causing them to explode. While the full game carries a $20 price tag for the PC, the company released a pared down version called Zuma's Revenge – Adventure. You still get 60 levels of play, six new bosses but will miss out on the competitive challenge mode. Our recommendation is to get more game for $20, but if you're only got $10, there's still a lot of game with Zuma's Revenge – Adventure.
Farmville Maker Debuts New Facebook Game, Café World
Zynga surprised everyone this week by releasing a beta version (testing) of its upcoming game, Café World. In it, you take on the roles of café manager, head chef and room designer. As chef, you buy a menu items which gives you all the ingredients you need to make a meal. Of course, with cooking times ranging from 5 minutes to two days (yes, 48 hours), you still need to manage the hungry crowds of eaters. If you're looking to take a break this weekend, or looking for a familiar break from FarmVille, Café World is the type of welcome distraction that will warm up your chilly nights.
But that's not all that happened this week as Mafia Wars players found new adventures in Moscow, Zuma's Revenge gets a new version and we discovered a buried box of FarmVille tips that you'll just have to read. So get warm, it's time for the week's best stories.
Farmville Crop Mastery Released - Earn Bonuses Just Like in Mafia Wars
Farming isn't hard and fans of FarmVille have repeatedly wondered if the game might be better if there were more depth. Now, the game that gets Facebookers out to the dirt has added mastery bonuses to the game. Borrowed from FarmVille's cousin Mafia Wars, players gain mastery bonuses for repeating the planting of seed based foods. The details on what players gain from the mastery bonus is still a bit of a mystery, but any way to add more action to Facebook's hotttest game isn't a bad thing.
Mafia Wars: Moscow Tips - You'll Get By With a Little Help From Your Friends
Notice how your Mafia Wars-addicted friends skipped any social events this week? You can blame Mafia Wars: Moscow, the newest city expansion that brings mafia managers to Mother Russia's capitol to do business. Like the previously released Cuba expansion, Moscow tasks players with using the pugilist egos of your friends to complete jobs. It's an interesting development that you too can experience, if you're level 70 or higher. If you're already there, you'll want to read our tip guide before you take you trip.
Zuma's Revenge Adventure: Ball-Busting at Half the Price
Mention any of PopCap's games (Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, etc) and you'll find that even people who wouldn't necessarily play games, sure do play a lot of them. The latest variation of PopCap's Zuma series, Zuma's Revenge, pits players against a series of colored orbs that move closer and closer, your role is to shoot similarly colored orbs to make triplets, thus causing them to explode. While the full game carries a $20 price tag for the PC, the company released a pared down version called Zuma's Revenge – Adventure. You still get 60 levels of play, six new bosses but will miss out on the competitive challenge mode. Our recommendation is to get more game for $20, but if you're only got $10, there's still a lot of game with Zuma's Revenge – Adventure.
Farmville Maker Debuts New Facebook Game, Café World
Zynga surprised everyone this week by releasing a beta version (testing) of its upcoming game, Café World. In it, you take on the roles of café manager, head chef and room designer. As chef, you buy a menu items which gives you all the ingredients you need to make a meal. Of course, with cooking times ranging from 5 minutes to two days (yes, 48 hours), you still need to manage the hungry crowds of eaters. If you're looking to take a break this weekend, or looking for a familiar break from FarmVille, Café World is the type of welcome distraction that will warm up your chilly nights.
Bebo Launches Ambitious 'Social Game Experience'
Bebo's 'Social Game Experience' officially launches today, after a two-week beta period, and the social network says they've seen a 54% rise in game installs during that time.
The Bebo games page highlights a few noteworthy games, such as Pet Society from Playfish, in addition to a leader board that lists top-ranking players for a variety of games and an area where in-game updates appear. There's also a list of Most Addictive Games based on how many minutes they're played per user.
More features will be rolling out for the Bebo games hub, including the ability to challenge other players using Bebo Messenger, in the games hub page and inside the actual games. Players will also be able to see who is actively playing games, who is idle, etc.
This launch follows Facebook's announcement last week that they will soon be adding a game-specific hub to the popular social networking space. We've also seen similar game consolidation on hi5 and on MySpace in the past year, but those serve more as game aggregators than Bebo's more robust 'experience.'
We're curious to see if Facebook will settle for a simple game list or follow Bebo's model, offering a little something 'extra' for social game fanatics.
Note: Bebo and Games.com are both owned by AOL.
The Bebo games page highlights a few noteworthy games, such as Pet Society from Playfish, in addition to a leader board that lists top-ranking players for a variety of games and an area where in-game updates appear. There's also a list of Most Addictive Games based on how many minutes they're played per user.
More features will be rolling out for the Bebo games hub, including the ability to challenge other players using Bebo Messenger, in the games hub page and inside the actual games. Players will also be able to see who is actively playing games, who is idle, etc.
This launch follows Facebook's announcement last week that they will soon be adding a game-specific hub to the popular social networking space. We've also seen similar game consolidation on hi5 and on MySpace in the past year, but those serve more as game aggregators than Bebo's more robust 'experience.'
We're curious to see if Facebook will settle for a simple game list or follow Bebo's model, offering a little something 'extra' for social game fanatics.
Note: Bebo and Games.com are both owned by AOL.
Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 1, 2012
Play CityVille, Army Attack on your iPad with GameBox for Facebook
That is, of course, if you're willing to let go of three bucks. For $2.99, GameBox for Facebook--which, to dispel any confusion, is the name of the iPad app--will allow CityVille and Army Attack players to get their city building (and destroying) fix on the go.
What the app does is take Flash-based games (i.e. almost every Facebook game ever), which Apple devices cannot support, and makes them available for play on the iPad. However, there are several caveats to GameBox.
First of all, CityVille already exists on the iPad, though in a version far different from what's available on Facebook. Second, the app already has a competitor in iSwifter for iPad and Android, which offers a stable of games from not just Facebook, but several other Flash game portals like Kongregate (and the games we host on Games.com). Though, the app is a bit pricier at $4.99.
GameBox for iPad
Of course, GameBox developer Mobi2SNS plans to make more games available through the app in the future, according to Mobile Entertainment. Regardless of how many games either app makes available, there are two issues that face them. For one, getting players to pay to play games on their iPad that they've never paid to play before will be a challenge. More importantly, Facebook's rumored Project Spartan--an initiative to bring the platform along with several apps and games (including Zynga games) to mobile browsers through HTML5--could render both GameBox and iSwifter moot.
What the app does is take Flash-based games (i.e. almost every Facebook game ever), which Apple devices cannot support, and makes them available for play on the iPad. However, there are several caveats to GameBox.
First of all, CityVille already exists on the iPad, though in a version far different from what's available on Facebook. Second, the app already has a competitor in iSwifter for iPad and Android, which offers a stable of games from not just Facebook, but several other Flash game portals like Kongregate (and the games we host on Games.com). Though, the app is a bit pricier at $4.99.
GameBox for iPad
Of course, GameBox developer Mobi2SNS plans to make more games available through the app in the future, according to Mobile Entertainment. Regardless of how many games either app makes available, there are two issues that face them. For one, getting players to pay to play games on their iPad that they've never paid to play before will be a challenge. More importantly, Facebook's rumored Project Spartan--an initiative to bring the platform along with several apps and games (including Zynga games) to mobile browsers through HTML5--could render both GameBox and iSwifter moot.
Ragnarok Online creator's new Facebook game is your Eternal Destiny
Well, it looks like you have no choice but to play it. Gravity Interactive, creator of the mega hit MMO (massively mutliplayer online game) Ragnarok Online, will bring Eternal Destiny to Facebook this Aug. 11. The game, which looks terribly similar to the Calif.-based developer's flagship game, throws players into an epic battle to restore the realms' connections that the God of Chaos has shattered. (It's almost as if these storylines are ad-libbed, no?)
The game, which looks to be inspired by Chinese folklore and themes, tasks players with slaying monsters, grabbing loot and aiding hapless citizens of various cities. In that regard, it's not a far cry from what you've come to expect from an RPG (role-playing game). Once players reach Level 30 in this 3D fantasy land, they can choose their favorite realm and fight in the name of said realm in player vs player battles. Of course, it helps to be in a guild of fellow adventurers, which players can join or create.
Eternal Destiny Facebook
Players will connect to WarpPortal, which hosts Gravity Interactive's games, through Facebook. However, no particularly social features have been mentioned by Gravity Interactive, which has us slightly worried whether Eternal Destiny will take advantage of the platform. Regardless, if you've been hankering for a new, free world to romp around in and fight baddies, Eternal Destiny sounds like a promising start based on the Ragnarok pedigree alone.
The game, which looks to be inspired by Chinese folklore and themes, tasks players with slaying monsters, grabbing loot and aiding hapless citizens of various cities. In that regard, it's not a far cry from what you've come to expect from an RPG (role-playing game). Once players reach Level 30 in this 3D fantasy land, they can choose their favorite realm and fight in the name of said realm in player vs player battles. Of course, it helps to be in a guild of fellow adventurers, which players can join or create.
Eternal Destiny Facebook
Players will connect to WarpPortal, which hosts Gravity Interactive's games, through Facebook. However, no particularly social features have been mentioned by Gravity Interactive, which has us slightly worried whether Eternal Destiny will take advantage of the platform. Regardless, if you've been hankering for a new, free world to romp around in and fight baddies, Eternal Destiny sounds like a promising start based on the Ragnarok pedigree alone.
AT&T Android gamers, welcome to Mobage, your new home
Well, at least until your contract dries up. AT&T and Ngmoco, the U.S. mobile game developer now owned by Japanese (or should we say global) mobile social game company DeNA, have signed a deal to bring Mobage to the mobile phone carrier's Android customers. Mobage, DeNA's Ngmoco-enhanced mobile social games platform for Android, went live around the world recently.
However, the platform will now be conveniently placed as an app on the Android Market for AT&T customers. (Our guess is that by "conveniently," AT&T means "more prominently.")
Not only will Mobage serve as a hub for Android users to find new games to play, the service will provide its social gaming community complete with a virtual currency to use within Mobage games, MobaCoins. Most games are free to play on the platform, but are of course supported through MobaCoin transactions.
However, according to TechCrunch, DeNA plans to bring Mobage to iOS gamers, too. Not only is this indicative of DeNA's desire to make headway underneath mobile gamers' thumbs in the English-speaking world, but it also shows AT&T's interest in capitalizing on that dang-fangled mobile gaming.
Just recently, the phone carrier signed a similar deal with Zynga to provide its games to Android users. It looks like not just the phone makers, but the phone service providers want a piece of the mobile gaming pie.
However, the platform will now be conveniently placed as an app on the Android Market for AT&T customers. (Our guess is that by "conveniently," AT&T means "more prominently.")
Not only will Mobage serve as a hub for Android users to find new games to play, the service will provide its social gaming community complete with a virtual currency to use within Mobage games, MobaCoins. Most games are free to play on the platform, but are of course supported through MobaCoin transactions.
However, according to TechCrunch, DeNA plans to bring Mobage to iOS gamers, too. Not only is this indicative of DeNA's desire to make headway underneath mobile gamers' thumbs in the English-speaking world, but it also shows AT&T's interest in capitalizing on that dang-fangled mobile gaming.
Just recently, the phone carrier signed a similar deal with Zynga to provide its games to Android users. It looks like not just the phone makers, but the phone service providers want a piece of the mobile gaming pie.
Facebook will get its groove back with better social games discovery
Getting bored of the same three Zynga Facebook games? Facebook Director of Games Partnerships Sean Ryan has some wonderful news. If you remember, Ryan recently outlined several plans and ideas for improving the gaming experience on Facebook. During an interview with Inside Social Games, Ryan revealed that before 2011 is through Facebook will display more games-related stories to players, and even filter out stories that players click on more frequently.
"Last year when we made the changes because of the spam issues, we really dialed back [virality]," Ryan told ISG. "Now that we feel confident about our automatic [filter] systems, we can start dialing back up virality with better targeting and better quality. So that if your game is sending stories through the news feed that users don't like - they don't click on it - then over time, the algorithm adjusts and users see fewer of those stories. We want quality to be about whether or not users like it."
In other words, Facebook will essentially learn which games you like, and those that you don't. Then, the platform will display those News Feed messages accordingly. However, this approach doesn't exactly gel with new users, as the platform needs time to react to how players interact with News Feeds. Ryan is considering an App Store-like approach that would basically tell players what to buy, but thinks that method goes against what Facebook is all about: social discovery, according to ISG.
Facebook Games Directory
Unfortunately, Ryan and his team hasn't pinpointed a solution to this problem yet, though ISG points out that new users can find new games through the existing Games page on Facebook. (Click on the "Games Request" tab on the left hand side, and scroll to the very bottom to see what games your friends are playing.) And looking into 2012, Ryan studies existing games platforms like Xbox Live--he teases voice chat, but says that Facebook's focus is on discovery. Hey, look on the bright side: You'll find new games to play with soon enough, and hopefully far more easily than ever before.
"Last year when we made the changes because of the spam issues, we really dialed back [virality]," Ryan told ISG. "Now that we feel confident about our automatic [filter] systems, we can start dialing back up virality with better targeting and better quality. So that if your game is sending stories through the news feed that users don't like - they don't click on it - then over time, the algorithm adjusts and users see fewer of those stories. We want quality to be about whether or not users like it."
In other words, Facebook will essentially learn which games you like, and those that you don't. Then, the platform will display those News Feed messages accordingly. However, this approach doesn't exactly gel with new users, as the platform needs time to react to how players interact with News Feeds. Ryan is considering an App Store-like approach that would basically tell players what to buy, but thinks that method goes against what Facebook is all about: social discovery, according to ISG.
Facebook Games Directory
Unfortunately, Ryan and his team hasn't pinpointed a solution to this problem yet, though ISG points out that new users can find new games through the existing Games page on Facebook. (Click on the "Games Request" tab on the left hand side, and scroll to the very bottom to see what games your friends are playing.) And looking into 2012, Ryan studies existing games platforms like Xbox Live--he teases voice chat, but says that Facebook's focus is on discovery. Hey, look on the bright side: You'll find new games to play with soon enough, and hopefully far more easily than ever before.
Wal-Mart cuts 3DS price early, gives players best of both worlds [Updated]
Update: According to the Wal-Mart website, both the Aqua Blue and Black Nintendo 3DS systems have had their prices cut to $169.96 (exactly) early. However, we would strongly recommend purchasing them in stores, as your online orders will not ship until Aug. 12--just past the cut-off date for those 20 free games as part of the Nintendo's Ambassadors Program.
Nintendo 3DS price cutI bet Nintendo President Satoru Iwata and Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke are having a just lovely phone call right now. Cheap Ass Gamer reports that Wal-Mart will cut the price of the 3DS system in its stores to $169.99 on Aug. 9, citing "a trusted source." That's three days earlier than when Nintendo announced the price drop would take effect.
More importantly, if this turns out to be true, then gamers could buy their new 3DS system on the cheap and log into the Nintendo eShop before Aug. 12 to redeem the 20 free games promised by Nintendo to early adopters. Though, something tells us that, with all the media attention this rumor is getting, Nintendo is already on the horn with Wal-Mart. (Sorry, folks--just doing our job.)
Nintendo execs are already taking cuts to their salaries over the debacle (including a whopping 50 percent slash for Iwata). So we imagine that, once it finds out about this little undercutting scheme, the Mario maker will do everything in it's power to stop it. As for us, we'll meet you at Wal-Mart at 12 a.m. on Aug. 9--we're going camping!
Nintendo 3DS price cutI bet Nintendo President Satoru Iwata and Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke are having a just lovely phone call right now. Cheap Ass Gamer reports that Wal-Mart will cut the price of the 3DS system in its stores to $169.99 on Aug. 9, citing "a trusted source." That's three days earlier than when Nintendo announced the price drop would take effect.
More importantly, if this turns out to be true, then gamers could buy their new 3DS system on the cheap and log into the Nintendo eShop before Aug. 12 to redeem the 20 free games promised by Nintendo to early adopters. Though, something tells us that, with all the media attention this rumor is getting, Nintendo is already on the horn with Wal-Mart. (Sorry, folks--just doing our job.)
Nintendo execs are already taking cuts to their salaries over the debacle (including a whopping 50 percent slash for Iwata). So we imagine that, once it finds out about this little undercutting scheme, the Mario maker will do everything in it's power to stop it. As for us, we'll meet you at Wal-Mart at 12 a.m. on Aug. 9--we're going camping!
Thứ Hai, 9 tháng 1, 2012
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Winter Creek & Dog Sled
As we told you yesterday evening, Zynga has released a new limited edition set of items in FarmVille called "Winter Wonderland." We've been wondering whether or not this would be a large theme, or just a single release, and we seem to have found our answer thanks to some as-of-this-writing unreleased new images that show off some like-themed items.
The two items are the Dog Sled and the Winter Creek. The Dog Sled is like that you'd find running in the Iditarod - the "Great Sled Race" - that sees participants racing their dog teams through arctic conditions. The Winter Creek, then, represents once such arctic condition - a chilly little stream of water surrounded by snow-covered pine trees.
Both of these items look to be decorative only, as we can't see the Dog Sled actually being released as an animal item, or one with a function (although watching your avatar ride around on one would be cool, I must admit), but remember, there is no guarantee as to whether or not these items will officially launch in the game, so keep that in mind.
We'll be sure to let you know when and if these items are officially released in the game, so keep checking back!
The two items are the Dog Sled and the Winter Creek. The Dog Sled is like that you'd find running in the Iditarod - the "Great Sled Race" - that sees participants racing their dog teams through arctic conditions. The Winter Creek, then, represents once such arctic condition - a chilly little stream of water surrounded by snow-covered pine trees.
Both of these items look to be decorative only, as we can't see the Dog Sled actually being released as an animal item, or one with a function (although watching your avatar ride around on one would be cool, I must admit), but remember, there is no guarantee as to whether or not these items will officially launch in the game, so keep that in mind.
We'll be sure to let you know when and if these items are officially released in the game, so keep checking back!
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Duck Pond coming soon?
In one of the more exciting FarmVille Sneak Peeks that we've been able to bring you, it looks like the next animal storage "building" that will be released in the game will be one for our friends the Ducks. We've come across an unreleased image of what the interior of the new Duck Pond building might look like.
As usual, it looks like the Duck Pond will be a "buildable" item, and that we might need four items in total to build it. Could this mean that we'll see an exclusive Duck Pond building ingredient - perhaps something like a "Bucket of Water" - that must be collected in addition to Bricks, Wooden Boards, and Nails? All of that, of course is still up in the air, but one thing has been revealed - the Duck Pond will apparently allow users to feature five of their ducks from their Duck Pond at the bottom of the menu.
The most likely reason for this will be that all of the Ducks you have in your Duck Pond won't be visible, but you'll be able to choose the five ducks that you most like that you'd want to see, perhaps even swimming in the water of the Pond.
We'll be sure to bring you more details about this unreleased feature as they become available, but for now, remember that there is no guarantee that we'll actually see the Duck Pond in the game. Sure, it would be surprising if it didn't launch, but stranger things have happened.
As usual, it looks like the Duck Pond will be a "buildable" item, and that we might need four items in total to build it. Could this mean that we'll see an exclusive Duck Pond building ingredient - perhaps something like a "Bucket of Water" - that must be collected in addition to Bricks, Wooden Boards, and Nails? All of that, of course is still up in the air, but one thing has been revealed - the Duck Pond will apparently allow users to feature five of their ducks from their Duck Pond at the bottom of the menu.
The most likely reason for this will be that all of the Ducks you have in your Duck Pond won't be visible, but you'll be able to choose the five ducks that you most like that you'd want to see, perhaps even swimming in the water of the Pond.
We'll be sure to bring you more details about this unreleased feature as they become available, but for now, remember that there is no guarantee that we'll actually see the Duck Pond in the game. Sure, it would be surprising if it didn't launch, but stranger things have happened.
FarmVille Pigpen Expansion: Everything you need to know plus links
Pigpen Expansion
Bring on the slop, farmers, because Zynga will soon allow you to expand your Pigpens in FarmVille. Thanks to our friends over at FarmVille Freak, we have all the information and tools you'll need to get that Pigpen even bigger (and even sloppier) as soon as possible. Luckily, it's pretty simple albeit potentially tedious. You'll need to acquire 12 of these three items from friends in good old "BegVille" style:
12 Wooden Boards
12 Bricks
12 Nails
Get all 36 items and, just like that, your Pigpen will be able to hold twice as many Pigs as before at 40 Pigs. After about 20 minutes on the good old calculator, I deduced that this should... double your chance of finding precious Truffles. What, does it look like I went to college for mathematics? Anyway, if you're having trouble finding any of these three items in your Free Gifts page, here are some links that should take you straight there:
Bring on the slop, farmers, because Zynga will soon allow you to expand your Pigpens in FarmVille. Thanks to our friends over at FarmVille Freak, we have all the information and tools you'll need to get that Pigpen even bigger (and even sloppier) as soon as possible. Luckily, it's pretty simple albeit potentially tedious. You'll need to acquire 12 of these three items from friends in good old "BegVille" style:
12 Wooden Boards
12 Bricks
12 Nails
Get all 36 items and, just like that, your Pigpen will be able to hold twice as many Pigs as before at 40 Pigs. After about 20 minutes on the good old calculator, I deduced that this should... double your chance of finding precious Truffles. What, does it look like I went to college for mathematics? Anyway, if you're having trouble finding any of these three items in your Free Gifts page, here are some links that should take you straight there:
FrontierVille Arts and Crafts: Awesome 3D avatar, Sugar Glider models
3D Avatar
Some pioneers express their love (or temporary disdain) for FrontierVille through words on various message boards, through comments right here on the site or even through skillful, hilarious Photoshop edits. But FrontierVille forum member SisLayla has articulated her adoration for the homestead through clay. In her spare time, SisLayla has been working on bringing her FrontierVille avatar into the real world through the art of clay sculpture and the results are pretty amazing.
According to her original forum post, she used solely polymer clay. FrontierVille Info reports that she later created a Suger Glider (pictured below) from the same material. You know, the one that's still available from the in-game Mystery Animal Crate until Jan. 6? Both are impressive creations and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next. In the meantime, why not send any social game-inspired artwork you find or have made yourself to us at editors@games.com? Check out some more snapshots of how she did it both in her forum post and on FrontierVille Info.
Sugar Glider 3D model
Some pioneers express their love (or temporary disdain) for FrontierVille through words on various message boards, through comments right here on the site or even through skillful, hilarious Photoshop edits. But FrontierVille forum member SisLayla has articulated her adoration for the homestead through clay. In her spare time, SisLayla has been working on bringing her FrontierVille avatar into the real world through the art of clay sculpture and the results are pretty amazing.
According to her original forum post, she used solely polymer clay. FrontierVille Info reports that she later created a Suger Glider (pictured below) from the same material. You know, the one that's still available from the in-game Mystery Animal Crate until Jan. 6? Both are impressive creations and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next. In the meantime, why not send any social game-inspired artwork you find or have made yourself to us at editors@games.com? Check out some more snapshots of how she did it both in her forum post and on FrontierVille Info.
Sugar Glider 3D model
FrontierVille's Giant Pink Tree goes missing, Zynga is on the case
There have been many recent complaints on the FrontierVille forums that the Giant Pink Tree decoration from the Toy Factory has gone missing. A four-page long forum thread has sprouted as a result of the issue, which according to forum moderator Miss Marme, has already been reported to Zynga.
The item, which certainly makes a statement, costs 250 Toys from the Toy Factory. If you've been keeping up with recent events on the homestead, you'll know that collecting 250 Toys is no easy feat and the Giant Pink Tree is the second most expensive present available inside the Toy Factory. According to FrontierVille Info, many players are receiving this message upon logging into the game at the top of the screen, "We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve an issue where Pink Christmas Trees are temporarily missing." It's unsure what type of solution Zynga is cooking up for this little mishap, but let's hope it involves either bringing the Giant Pink Tree back or a pretty hefty refund.
The item, which certainly makes a statement, costs 250 Toys from the Toy Factory. If you've been keeping up with recent events on the homestead, you'll know that collecting 250 Toys is no easy feat and the Giant Pink Tree is the second most expensive present available inside the Toy Factory. According to FrontierVille Info, many players are receiving this message upon logging into the game at the top of the screen, "We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve an issue where Pink Christmas Trees are temporarily missing." It's unsure what type of solution Zynga is cooking up for this little mishap, but let's hope it involves either bringing the Giant Pink Tree back or a pretty hefty refund.
Thứ Bảy, 7 tháng 1, 2012
CityVille Get Noodle-ing & Time to Go Lunar Goals: Everything you need to know
As we told you over the weekend, Zynga has launched a Chinese / Lunar New Year themed set of missions in CityVille, the first of which rewarded you with the ability to purchase a new Noodle Shop from the store. Now, two more missions are available called "Get Noodle-ing" and "Time to Go Lunar," with the first requiring you to, you guessed it, purchase a Noodle Shop for your town.
There are two other tasks to complete as well. You can't simply build the Noodle Shop, but you must also collect from it a total of five times. You'll also need to mail your Lunar New Year presents at the Post Office (or simply collect the bonus from the Post Office two times).
The Noodle Shop itself can be purchased from the store for 4,000 coins, and it requires 90 Goods to operate. Simply wait for those goods to run out five times and you'll have this goal finished. The reward for this mission is a Dragon Dancers item. You can share free goods with your friends on your wall.
Meet us behind the break for a look at the second of these two goals.
Time to Go Lunar is an entirely different quest - the third (in total) of the new Lunar New Year mission series. Just like those before it, this one requires you to complete three tasks:
Ask friends for 8 Red Envelopes
Have 1 Lunar Gate
Click on 20 Neighbor Businesses
In other words, you'll need to visit at least four neighbors, clicking on their businesses to send tour buses. The Lunar Gate, meanwhile, can be purchased from the store for 4,000 coins. It will provide a bonus payout to surrounding structures of 3%. Once you finish this mission, you'll receive the Fireworks Shop, which can be stocked with 100 Goods.
As of this writing, this is as far as the Chinese / Lunar New Year set of missions goes, but we'll be sure to let you know if Zynga adds additional quests or items to the game in the future.
There are two other tasks to complete as well. You can't simply build the Noodle Shop, but you must also collect from it a total of five times. You'll also need to mail your Lunar New Year presents at the Post Office (or simply collect the bonus from the Post Office two times).
The Noodle Shop itself can be purchased from the store for 4,000 coins, and it requires 90 Goods to operate. Simply wait for those goods to run out five times and you'll have this goal finished. The reward for this mission is a Dragon Dancers item. You can share free goods with your friends on your wall.
Meet us behind the break for a look at the second of these two goals.
Time to Go Lunar is an entirely different quest - the third (in total) of the new Lunar New Year mission series. Just like those before it, this one requires you to complete three tasks:
Ask friends for 8 Red Envelopes
Have 1 Lunar Gate
Click on 20 Neighbor Businesses
In other words, you'll need to visit at least four neighbors, clicking on their businesses to send tour buses. The Lunar Gate, meanwhile, can be purchased from the store for 4,000 coins. It will provide a bonus payout to surrounding structures of 3%. Once you finish this mission, you'll receive the Fireworks Shop, which can be stocked with 100 Goods.
As of this writing, this is as far as the Chinese / Lunar New Year set of missions goes, but we'll be sure to let you know if Zynga adds additional quests or items to the game in the future.
FrontierVille: Pony Express Collection is the Postcard Collection
After a few snags, the Pony Express has finally launched in full in FrontierVille, and along with it comes the ability to earn collectibles. For starters, if you're having trouble building the Pony Express building, or completing the accompanying goals, check out our full guide.
That out of the way, after you complete the construction of the Pony Express, and you start to collect mail from the building through Daily Bonuses and Special Deliveries, you'll likely come across a few collectibles. However, these items won't be a part of a new collection (trust us - there is no "Pony Express Collection" even available in the game) - instead, FrontierVille Legend has found that you'll receive postcards from the incredibly difficult-to-complete Postcard Collection.
The five items in this collection all deal with American travels, so it only makes sense that the Pony Express would be created to offer these items. Here's a rundown of what to look for:
Baltimore Postcard
Boston Postcard
New York Postcard
Philadelphia Postcard
Richmond Postcard
The rewards for finishing this collection are three tools and a free Seed Drill. The prizes may not be much to be excited about, but being able to finally say that you've completed this collection seems pretty worth it.
That out of the way, after you complete the construction of the Pony Express, and you start to collect mail from the building through Daily Bonuses and Special Deliveries, you'll likely come across a few collectibles. However, these items won't be a part of a new collection (trust us - there is no "Pony Express Collection" even available in the game) - instead, FrontierVille Legend has found that you'll receive postcards from the incredibly difficult-to-complete Postcard Collection.
The five items in this collection all deal with American travels, so it only makes sense that the Pony Express would be created to offer these items. Here's a rundown of what to look for:
Baltimore Postcard
Boston Postcard
New York Postcard
Philadelphia Postcard
Richmond Postcard
The rewards for finishing this collection are three tools and a free Seed Drill. The prizes may not be much to be excited about, but being able to finally say that you've completed this collection seems pretty worth it.
FarmVille England Expansion saga continues
Back in the January 24 official FarmVille podcast, FarmVille community manager Lexilicious and her British friend Charles offered us a very quick sneak peek of new foreign content that would be added to the game. At the time, that was all we had to go on, but shortly thereafter, a sign advertising a trip to England was spotted as an unreleased image.
Now, that same sign has appeared on all farmers' land, similar to the CityVille billboard that appeared a few weeks ago. Does this sign mean we'll be able to travel to England in the incredibly near future? One would believe so. Clicking on the sign gives us a few slight details (although still vague) about this new expansion. Note: You can remove the sign by clicking on it and then clicking on the "Remove sign from farm?" toggle at the bottom of the pop-up window.
We're told that this feature will give us a "whole new way to play" FarmVille, and that it will indeed be a full "England Expansion." Furthermore, news, official sneak peeks, prizes, and more will be coming to the game "soon" to give us more details about what this entire expansion will entail.
As it stands, we're still fairly in the dark concerning this new expansion, but if assumptions hold true, this is looking to be an incredibly large feature in the game, so we can't wait to see what officially comes of it.
What are your theories concerning this new expansion? Do you think it will simply be a new neighbor to visit, or will there actually be activities to participate in once we get there?
Now, that same sign has appeared on all farmers' land, similar to the CityVille billboard that appeared a few weeks ago. Does this sign mean we'll be able to travel to England in the incredibly near future? One would believe so. Clicking on the sign gives us a few slight details (although still vague) about this new expansion. Note: You can remove the sign by clicking on it and then clicking on the "Remove sign from farm?" toggle at the bottom of the pop-up window.
We're told that this feature will give us a "whole new way to play" FarmVille, and that it will indeed be a full "England Expansion." Furthermore, news, official sneak peeks, prizes, and more will be coming to the game "soon" to give us more details about what this entire expansion will entail.
As it stands, we're still fairly in the dark concerning this new expansion, but if assumptions hold true, this is looking to be an incredibly large feature in the game, so we can't wait to see what officially comes of it.
What are your theories concerning this new expansion? Do you think it will simply be a new neighbor to visit, or will there actually be activities to participate in once we get there?
Become an entrepreneur in space with Galactic Trader
6waves is a very large publisher of Facebook games with over 30 titles so far. A brand new title to join the masses is Galactic Trader, which is an adventure game developed by 3 Blokes Studios (known for their work on Virtual Villagers). Galactic Trader is a hybrid of the Treasure Isle style of seek-and-click games combined with the theme and flavor from sci-fi games like Mass Effect. In fact, there are some serious similarities with Mass Effect that make the game feel comfortable for those of us who are totally comfortable as Commander Shepard.
The main objective of Galactic Trader is to level up by a combination of exploring new planets and fighting enemies encountered in space. Traveling through the solar system is as simple as clicking on the planet you want to go to. Landing on planets takes energy, as does seeking for resources while on the planet. One neat feature is the ability to scan planets to reveal the best locations to dig. (We told you that there are similarities to Mass Effect). Scanning costs 3 energy but is virtually an "I win" button since it shows you exactly where to dig. While digging you discover a variety of materials such as aluminum or titanium, money to spend, and experience.
Galactic Trader
Collecting materials is one of the main goals of because there is a market (named the Galactic Trading House) where you can buy and sell materials. Materials cost coins or Facebook Credits and can also be transmuted in a laboratory into higher level resources.
Another big part of Galactic Trader is combat. Each player has ships purchased in the Shipyard which can be upgraded with boosts to do more damage or have more defense. Combat is easy, and just requires you to move close to the enemy and target it while your ammunition is automatically fired. Buying and upgrading new and better ships requires finding or buying the resources needed to build them, collecting particular items from friends, and spending money. Better ships do better damage and have more boost slots to upgrade their power.
Galactic Trader
There definitely feels like there is something here and this game could appeal to that core gaming demographic. It's fairly easy to understand and doesn't venture too far off the beaten path, but could use a bit more polish on some of the interface elements and the combat. We'll be keeping a close eye on this game to see if it gains any traction. We want to know what you think in the comments!
The main objective of Galactic Trader is to level up by a combination of exploring new planets and fighting enemies encountered in space. Traveling through the solar system is as simple as clicking on the planet you want to go to. Landing on planets takes energy, as does seeking for resources while on the planet. One neat feature is the ability to scan planets to reveal the best locations to dig. (We told you that there are similarities to Mass Effect). Scanning costs 3 energy but is virtually an "I win" button since it shows you exactly where to dig. While digging you discover a variety of materials such as aluminum or titanium, money to spend, and experience.
Galactic Trader
Collecting materials is one of the main goals of because there is a market (named the Galactic Trading House) where you can buy and sell materials. Materials cost coins or Facebook Credits and can also be transmuted in a laboratory into higher level resources.
Another big part of Galactic Trader is combat. Each player has ships purchased in the Shipyard which can be upgraded with boosts to do more damage or have more defense. Combat is easy, and just requires you to move close to the enemy and target it while your ammunition is automatically fired. Buying and upgrading new and better ships requires finding or buying the resources needed to build them, collecting particular items from friends, and spending money. Better ships do better damage and have more boost slots to upgrade their power.
Galactic Trader
There definitely feels like there is something here and this game could appeal to that core gaming demographic. It's fairly easy to understand and doesn't venture too far off the beaten path, but could use a bit more polish on some of the interface elements and the combat. We'll be keeping a close eye on this game to see if it gains any traction. We want to know what you think in the comments!
Picture of the Day: FarmVille Rubik's Cube
FarmVille players are always making something unique and interesting out of haybales and other decorations. This picture shows just how intricate some of these designs can get as a player constructed an actual Rubik's Cube on their farm. We're not sure how long this took, but we can only imagine the amount of effort that went into making this look like sheer perfection.
Are you into creating pixel art on your farm? Send us an email with your creations and we'll be happy to feature them here!
(Thanks to Ron W. for the submission!)
Are you into creating pixel art on your farm? Send us an email with your creations and we'll be happy to feature them here!
(Thanks to Ron W. for the submission!)
Thứ Sáu, 6 tháng 1, 2012
FarmVille Scam Alert: White Kitten News Feed posts are not real
White Kitten scam
The FarmVille scammers have to be turning some type of profit to brew up a new scam almost daily. This time, FarmVille Freak reports that News Feed posts offering a free "White Kitten" are circulating through Facebook. Like all other scam posts, this is not an official offer from Zynga, thereby making it fake and a potential source for nasty malware. So, should you and yours fall for one of these scams, we recommend changing your password and running a virus scanner. Also, please do spread the word, because we're kind of getting sick of writing these up. However, we really should turn this into a game show, no? Sure, you could just take every relatively new item or animal in FarmVille, place them on a wheel, and spin it to predict which one becomes the next scam. Throw in some social features and--boom--Zynga's got their next big game.
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you fallen victim to this or a previous scam before? What steps do you take to avoid getting tricked or brought down by malware?
The FarmVille scammers have to be turning some type of profit to brew up a new scam almost daily. This time, FarmVille Freak reports that News Feed posts offering a free "White Kitten" are circulating through Facebook. Like all other scam posts, this is not an official offer from Zynga, thereby making it fake and a potential source for nasty malware. So, should you and yours fall for one of these scams, we recommend changing your password and running a virus scanner. Also, please do spread the word, because we're kind of getting sick of writing these up. However, we really should turn this into a game show, no? Sure, you could just take every relatively new item or animal in FarmVille, place them on a wheel, and spin it to predict which one becomes the next scam. Throw in some social features and--boom--Zynga's got their next big game.
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you fallen victim to this or a previous scam before? What steps do you take to avoid getting tricked or brought down by malware?
FarmVille maker and Zynga CEO Mark Pincus is worth $1 billion
Surely, Sean Parker is somewhere responding to the news with, "Yes, $1 billion is cooler." Forbes reports that Mark Pincus, the CEO of Zynga, is officially worth $1 billion. (Cue the pinkie-in-mouth maneuvers.) The report comes after Pincus made Forbes' annual Billionaires List, joining like veterans like Apple CEO Steve Jobs and, of course, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates among 214 newcomers.
At this point, Zynga has been valued by some at $10 billion, making it worth more than EA and just $3 billion short of Activision Blizzard. According to Forbes, it's all thanks to the company's revenue strategy: Offer the game for free, but rely on the small five percent of gamers that will spend on virtual goods. Though, an extensive business background of Wall Street brokering, an MBA from Harvard and several tech start-ups under his belt certainly didn't hurt.
[Image Credit: Robyn Twomey]
What are your thoughts on social gaming bringing someone into the Billionaires List? Do you think Zynga's rapid success has affected its games?
At this point, Zynga has been valued by some at $10 billion, making it worth more than EA and just $3 billion short of Activision Blizzard. According to Forbes, it's all thanks to the company's revenue strategy: Offer the game for free, but rely on the small five percent of gamers that will spend on virtual goods. Though, an extensive business background of Wall Street brokering, an MBA from Harvard and several tech start-ups under his belt certainly didn't hurt.
[Image Credit: Robyn Twomey]
What are your thoughts on social gaming bringing someone into the Billionaires List? Do you think Zynga's rapid success has affected its games?
FarmVille maker Zynga launches studio in India; the empire presses on
Zynga India
Short after Zynga opened up payment options for its games in India and several more Asian countries, the company has opened a studio in Bangalore called Zynga Studio-I, Business Standard reports. (Why not just Zynga India?) This is the largest Zynga studio outside of the US and will focus on creating new gameplay mechanics, in-game features and creative elements across the company's list of games.
No mention has been made of this new studio working on original games, but just creating new ways to extend existing Zynga properties. Either way, it's an exciting time for developers in India, whose game creation scene is certainly burgeoning.
In only one year, India has made exciting advancements in technology that have truly improved efficiency for the entire company, said Zynga India Country Manager, Shan Kadavil (pictured left). With the launch of Studio-I, we are expanding our capabilities to leverage the amount of creative talent based in India for new features within Zynga's popular games. We are looking for more people with an entrepreneurial drive combined with engineering and artistic skills to join our exciting and growing team.
Aside from improved payment options and, of course, localization, we can't to see what Zynga Studio-I cooks up. Not to mention what this means for Zynga's inevitable further expansion. There's a little country starts with an "I" and ends with "donesia" that would be fine target.
Short after Zynga opened up payment options for its games in India and several more Asian countries, the company has opened a studio in Bangalore called Zynga Studio-I, Business Standard reports. (Why not just Zynga India?) This is the largest Zynga studio outside of the US and will focus on creating new gameplay mechanics, in-game features and creative elements across the company's list of games.
No mention has been made of this new studio working on original games, but just creating new ways to extend existing Zynga properties. Either way, it's an exciting time for developers in India, whose game creation scene is certainly burgeoning.
In only one year, India has made exciting advancements in technology that have truly improved efficiency for the entire company, said Zynga India Country Manager, Shan Kadavil (pictured left). With the launch of Studio-I, we are expanding our capabilities to leverage the amount of creative talent based in India for new features within Zynga's popular games. We are looking for more people with an entrepreneurial drive combined with engineering and artistic skills to join our exciting and growing team.
Aside from improved payment options and, of course, localization, we can't to see what Zynga Studio-I cooks up. Not to mention what this means for Zynga's inevitable further expansion. There's a little country starts with an "I" and ends with "donesia" that would be fine target.
Zynga PokerCon to welcome Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson and more poker stars
Zynga's first major convention ever, Zynga PokerCon, is right around the corner--next weekend, to be exact. The company announced today that several poker superstars will be joining the festivities at the Palm Resort Casino in Las Vegas. Famous professional card shark Annie Duke will be teaching attendees tips from the pros in Zynga Poker University. Other professional poker players who will grace con-goers with their presence include Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, Gavin Smith, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso and Mike Sexton.
Yet, apparently a squad of famous poker players wasn't enough as Zynga also announced that hip hop artist B.o.B. will perform an exclusive show at the first ever PokerCon. The game's 38 million fans should be ecstatic, yet there are still tickets available for $125.
"The goal of our first live poker event and tournament is to bring Zynga Poker fans from Facebook to the felt," said Zynga Poker GM Laurence Toney. "The two-day event encourages community members to turn their online connections into offline friendships, and enjoy playing the game that brings people across the world together. We're really upping the ante with powerful poker pros and musical entertainment from B.o.B."
If a $100 thousand prize pool wasn't enough for you to put in the money, Zynga seems to hope that these guests will. Hey, you could always try your hand at the Shoot Outs tournaments for a set--just don't do what Jimmy Kimmel's relatives did.
[Image Credit: Palms Resort]
Are you attending Zynga PokerCon? What do you think about fan conventions for social games?
Yet, apparently a squad of famous poker players wasn't enough as Zynga also announced that hip hop artist B.o.B. will perform an exclusive show at the first ever PokerCon. The game's 38 million fans should be ecstatic, yet there are still tickets available for $125.
"The goal of our first live poker event and tournament is to bring Zynga Poker fans from Facebook to the felt," said Zynga Poker GM Laurence Toney. "The two-day event encourages community members to turn their online connections into offline friendships, and enjoy playing the game that brings people across the world together. We're really upping the ante with powerful poker pros and musical entertainment from B.o.B."
If a $100 thousand prize pool wasn't enough for you to put in the money, Zynga seems to hope that these guests will. Hey, you could always try your hand at the Shoot Outs tournaments for a set--just don't do what Jimmy Kimmel's relatives did.
[Image Credit: Palms Resort]
Are you attending Zynga PokerCon? What do you think about fan conventions for social games?
CityVille Expansion changes slowly roll out to unhappy mayors
The CityVille forums are in a stir over some sneaky changes Zynga is slowly making to how expansions work in the game. Players are reporting that one moment the cost for an expansion was the normal 500 thousand coins and level-appropriate amount of permits, but that's long gone. Upon logging in recently they've noticed the cost has been reduced to 20 thousand coins, requires no permits, but demands a total population of 25 thousand.
Unsurprisingly, players are either furious with the change or confused as to why it hasn't happened to them yet. CityVille forum moderator Amelia interjected with this:
"In our continued effort to provide everyone with a fun and balanced gaming experience we are working on adjusting the current expansion costs/requirements. What some of you are seeing is part of those adjustments, which are being rolled out slowly while we continue to work on optimizing them in order to ensure the best gaming experience for our players."
Players like Chef Tony replied, "... Requiring 25 thousand population is not making the game fun or balanced. Very few people will be able to expand their town with that requirement." Regardless of how you feel about the change, we highly recommend holding off on buying any expansions until these changes are final.
[Image Credit: Maritte]
What do you think these early changes imply for the future of expansions? How would you change expansions to better fit the game's rapid pace?
Unsurprisingly, players are either furious with the change or confused as to why it hasn't happened to them yet. CityVille forum moderator Amelia interjected with this:
"In our continued effort to provide everyone with a fun and balanced gaming experience we are working on adjusting the current expansion costs/requirements. What some of you are seeing is part of those adjustments, which are being rolled out slowly while we continue to work on optimizing them in order to ensure the best gaming experience for our players."
Players like Chef Tony replied, "... Requiring 25 thousand population is not making the game fun or balanced. Very few people will be able to expand their town with that requirement." Regardless of how you feel about the change, we highly recommend holding off on buying any expansions until these changes are final.
[Image Credit: Maritte]
What do you think these early changes imply for the future of expansions? How would you change expansions to better fit the game's rapid pace?
Thứ Tư, 4 tháng 1, 2012
Now you can ruin a Sim's life for free: The Sims FreePlay available now
Don't act like you've never driven a Sim to the brink of filth and homelessness, only to manipulate it into burning its own house down. It's what god games are all about: raw, uncompromising power. Now, EA provides players with those fatal abilities for free, and in their pocket, with The Sims FreePlay for iPhone and iPad. However, this is not a mobile version of The Sims Social.
This is a completely new game that's more akin to traditional Sims games like The Sims 3. (Though, that line has been blurred almost entirely.) Created by the team that put out The Sims 3, The Sims FreePlay lets players create their own Sim and guide it through a 3D world with their very own dog. Of course, the game takes cues from its social counterpart, like goals to complete and things like sleeping and eating to sit around and wait for completion. You know, standard social game stuff.
Gallery: Sims FreePlay iOS
Of course, you can spend LifeStyle points, which may as well be referred to as "SimCash", to speed these mundane actions up. Based on an early look at the game, we find that The Sims FreePlay is a blend of tropes from two eras of The Sims. However, rather than finding and making new friends, you'll have to create your own (up to 16). If that tickles your fancy more than relying on actual people, head over to the App Store and get to ruining--er, creating those lives.
Click here to download The Sims FreePlay for Free Now >
Are you psyched to see a free Sims game on the iPhone/iPad? Which do you think is more appealing: FreePlay or Social?
This is a completely new game that's more akin to traditional Sims games like The Sims 3. (Though, that line has been blurred almost entirely.) Created by the team that put out The Sims 3, The Sims FreePlay lets players create their own Sim and guide it through a 3D world with their very own dog. Of course, the game takes cues from its social counterpart, like goals to complete and things like sleeping and eating to sit around and wait for completion. You know, standard social game stuff.
Gallery: Sims FreePlay iOS
Of course, you can spend LifeStyle points, which may as well be referred to as "SimCash", to speed these mundane actions up. Based on an early look at the game, we find that The Sims FreePlay is a blend of tropes from two eras of The Sims. However, rather than finding and making new friends, you'll have to create your own (up to 16). If that tickles your fancy more than relying on actual people, head over to the App Store and get to ruining--er, creating those lives.
Click here to download The Sims FreePlay for Free Now >
Are you psyched to see a free Sims game on the iPhone/iPad? Which do you think is more appealing: FreePlay or Social?
Zynga Games Research Program wants you to squash its games' bugs
Want a chance to squash Zynga game bugs before they piss you off for real? The creator of CityVille has started the Zynga Games Research program in which the developer will enlist you, the players, to test its games before they're released. Well, before the new games are released in open beta. (So, would that be "closed beta," "slightly ajar beta" or just "alpha"?)
The developer is blasting the opportunity out to its many Facebook games' fan pages, offering players to take a short survey that will qualify them to take part in the testing program. Of course, Zynga is offering rewards for your time spent providing feedback to the company's various game creation teams across play-testing, interviews and--yes, unfortunately--more surveys.
But you might want to reconsider moving on to the next Internet distraction about now: Zynga will give testers cash, game cards and in-game rewards for their trouble. We don't know the quantities or frequency of said cash rewards, but cash is cash, no? Many players' comments on the company's various Wall posts advertising the program already scream the same sentiment: Focus on fixing the games you already have before releasing new games.
It's a valid complaint, as players clamor for fixes to almost endless issues daily. In response, Zynga has started to communicate with players one-on-one in luncheon chats at its San Francisco headquarters. It's clear that the company wants more feedback, and it's providing to tools for you to submit it. But what Zynga does with that feedback could not determine the enjoyability of future games, but the company's future success.
Do you plan on participating in the Zynga Games Research program? Across the board, what's the number one improvement all Zynga games desperately need?
The developer is blasting the opportunity out to its many Facebook games' fan pages, offering players to take a short survey that will qualify them to take part in the testing program. Of course, Zynga is offering rewards for your time spent providing feedback to the company's various game creation teams across play-testing, interviews and--yes, unfortunately--more surveys.
But you might want to reconsider moving on to the next Internet distraction about now: Zynga will give testers cash, game cards and in-game rewards for their trouble. We don't know the quantities or frequency of said cash rewards, but cash is cash, no? Many players' comments on the company's various Wall posts advertising the program already scream the same sentiment: Focus on fixing the games you already have before releasing new games.
It's a valid complaint, as players clamor for fixes to almost endless issues daily. In response, Zynga has started to communicate with players one-on-one in luncheon chats at its San Francisco headquarters. It's clear that the company wants more feedback, and it's providing to tools for you to submit it. But what Zynga does with that feedback could not determine the enjoyability of future games, but the company's future success.
Do you plan on participating in the Zynga Games Research program? Across the board, what's the number one improvement all Zynga games desperately need?
Zynga HQ's 1,700 staffers eat 24K pounds of food a week [Infographic]
Now we'd like to see the fleet of dishwashers at Zynga HQ. Or is it just one giant, dish-washing megazord? The creator of top social games like FarmVille and CityVille went public on the Nasdaq today, raising $1 billion at around $10 a share. As part of its day-long celebration, the company has released an infographic providing a series of interesting figures.
Alright, so maybe the lot of it is back-patting, but A.) you would be be back-patting too if you just made that kinda' cash and B.) at least some of the data raises eyebrows. Take the fact that the culinary staff at Zynga HQ serves 24,000 pounds of food per week to the San Francisco studio's over 1,700 employees. Or that the dog-to-person ratio within Zynga's main offices is 9 to 1.
In the infographic, Zynga draws a lot of comparisons between its games and other casual games and activities, such as the fact that while 2 million Scrabble boards are sold a year, 4.8 million Words With Friends games are completed daily. Comparisons like these speak volumes to the fact that Zynga isn't just after the games industry, but the entertainment industry on the whole. And based on the infographic below, CEO Mark Pincus and crew seem to be doing a fine job of that so far.
Based on the data below, what do you think of Zynga's impact thus far? What other areas besides video games could you see the company disrupting?
Alright, so maybe the lot of it is back-patting, but A.) you would be be back-patting too if you just made that kinda' cash and B.) at least some of the data raises eyebrows. Take the fact that the culinary staff at Zynga HQ serves 24,000 pounds of food per week to the San Francisco studio's over 1,700 employees. Or that the dog-to-person ratio within Zynga's main offices is 9 to 1.
In the infographic, Zynga draws a lot of comparisons between its games and other casual games and activities, such as the fact that while 2 million Scrabble boards are sold a year, 4.8 million Words With Friends games are completed daily. Comparisons like these speak volumes to the fact that Zynga isn't just after the games industry, but the entertainment industry on the whole. And based on the infographic below, CEO Mark Pincus and crew seem to be doing a fine job of that so far.
Based on the data below, what do you think of Zynga's impact thus far? What other areas besides video games could you see the company disrupting?
Zynga IPO stock: Should you buy it?
As of today, FarmVille-maker Zynga is officially a public company, and stock for the company is actively being traded under the ticker symbol ZNGA. So if you're a fan of Zynga's special breed of social games and have a passing interest in the stock market -- you might be thinking, hey, why not own a small piece of the company that makes my favorite games?
Well, if you're looking to buy in and then cash out fast, this probably won't be the stock for you. It looks like Zynga's success (or lack thereof) may be more of a slow burn. After its debut at $10/share, Zynga dipped below its starting price by mid-afternoon. This is vastly different from other tech darlings, such as LinkedIn and Groupon -- their stock jumped dramatically on the first day, and then dropped later on.
zynga ticker
Industry watchers say that Zynga's future is hazy, due to the fact that the company relies heavily on Facebook for its revenue and that internal politics are forcing out some of the more talented minds behind the company's mega hits like CityVille, FarmVille and other 'Ville' games. Then again, Zynga is a tech startups that actually makes money and, well, you know how much cash you're willing to spend on the Big Z's games -- whether you'd like to admit it or not. Multiply that by a few million and, well, you get the picture.
Image credit: Zynga
Zynga stock: Are you in or out?
I'm in!Count me out.Waiting to see what happens.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
Well, if you're looking to buy in and then cash out fast, this probably won't be the stock for you. It looks like Zynga's success (or lack thereof) may be more of a slow burn. After its debut at $10/share, Zynga dipped below its starting price by mid-afternoon. This is vastly different from other tech darlings, such as LinkedIn and Groupon -- their stock jumped dramatically on the first day, and then dropped later on.
zynga ticker
Industry watchers say that Zynga's future is hazy, due to the fact that the company relies heavily on Facebook for its revenue and that internal politics are forcing out some of the more talented minds behind the company's mega hits like CityVille, FarmVille and other 'Ville' games. Then again, Zynga is a tech startups that actually makes money and, well, you know how much cash you're willing to spend on the Big Z's games -- whether you'd like to admit it or not. Multiply that by a few million and, well, you get the picture.
Image credit: Zynga
Zynga stock: Are you in or out?
I'm in!Count me out.Waiting to see what happens.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
Nickelodeon fires Monkey Quest at iPhone, iPad with Thunderbow
Monkey Quest, the browser-based goofy action MMO (massively multiplayer online game) by Nickelodeon, seized the infinitesimal attention spans of 4 million kids last month. The entertainment company decided to capitalized on the side-scroller's success with an equally explosive iPhone and iPad game, Monkey Quest: Thunderbow. The best part? It's 100 percent free.
Thunderbow sets players' fingers behind the bow of--who else?--Thunderbow, as he shoots his way through three jungle worlds to stop an evil cat lord from taking over the jungle. (You know, standard Nickelodeon cartoon material.) Players must fire various types of arrows at enemies that block Thunderbow's path. The shooter is instantly reminiscent of Rovio hit Angry Birds, but with less puzzling play and more explosions.
The game also doubles as a companion app for kids who play Monkey Quest on the browser. Logging into Thunderbow with their details used for the original Monkey Quest will unlock exclusive weapons and equipment to use in the web game.
Of course, there's a number of boosts available to players in Thunderbow, which can be accessed through either NickCash (virtual currency) payments or a subscription. Check out the trailer below, and beware of losing your iPad to the kids for a bit.
Click here to download Monkey Quest: Thunderbow for Free Now >
Have you or your little ones tried Monkey Quest on the web yet? What do you think of Nickelodeons approach to kid-friendly MMOs?
Thunderbow sets players' fingers behind the bow of--who else?--Thunderbow, as he shoots his way through three jungle worlds to stop an evil cat lord from taking over the jungle. (You know, standard Nickelodeon cartoon material.) Players must fire various types of arrows at enemies that block Thunderbow's path. The shooter is instantly reminiscent of Rovio hit Angry Birds, but with less puzzling play and more explosions.
The game also doubles as a companion app for kids who play Monkey Quest on the browser. Logging into Thunderbow with their details used for the original Monkey Quest will unlock exclusive weapons and equipment to use in the web game.
Of course, there's a number of boosts available to players in Thunderbow, which can be accessed through either NickCash (virtual currency) payments or a subscription. Check out the trailer below, and beware of losing your iPad to the kids for a bit.
Click here to download Monkey Quest: Thunderbow for Free Now >
Have you or your little ones tried Monkey Quest on the web yet? What do you think of Nickelodeons approach to kid-friendly MMOs?
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