Zynga rides Drop7, Words With Friends to iOS success; what's next?

Zynga's mobile efforts have officially been tripled in the past few months, and it's all thanks to a little developer called Area/Code. The New York-based studio, essentially gave the company one finished mobile game just by signing the paperwork, Drop7. Last week, the company rereleased the critically acclaimed game under the Zynga name in both a free and premium, ad-free version for $2.99.

This sounds familiar: Didn't Zynga do the exact same thing with Newtoy, McKinney, Texas-based studio that offered Zynga a finished, successful mobile game in Words With Friends? After connecting the dots, you can already see what Mark Pincus and his crew are up to.

While Zynga has developed some mobile games to mild reception (even FarmVille just recently hit the Top Grossing App Store charts after a Farm Cash sale), these existing properties will bring more financial success on mobile to Zynga. For instance, Words with Friends sits comfortably at Number 8 on the Top Free charts just above--wait for it--Facebook itself. Not to mention it's in the same position on the Top Paid chart. Just think of all that money falling to Zynga's pockets at little to no development cost.

The same thing is underway with Drop7, whose premium version was available for free all this weekend. While it's not yet on the charts, Zynga could very well take its newfound game to the top thanks to all the cash saved in, well, making the game. While the company is certainly capable of creating a mobile game, it looks as if the company is working another strategy to make some coin off of Apple's magic devices: ride already successful mobile properties from recently acquired companies. Sure, that will rake in the dollars, but what happens next?

Words With FriendsEven Zynga can't go on for much longer just gobbling up every popular iPhone game developer there is and rereleasing their work. There has to be a self-sustained plan, and one is plain as day. Zynga will continue to develop mobile games both internally and through its many satellites, because it has the money and exposure to do so. Both Words With Friends and Drop7 have ad-supported, free versions. Did the lightbulb go off yet? Zynga could simply just advertise and cross promote its existing and future original games through already successful games like Drop7.

Out of the company's 11 recent buyouts, both Area/Code and Newtoy have to be the most clever. While I don't get paid six figures to map out product strategies, you can bet that Zynga is already working on this idea after some suit thought it up months ago. But now Zynga has enough money and notoriety in the App Store to probably beat Angry Birds from its perch at the top. Now, it's time to bring on the original games.

[Image Credits: TipRadar and MCV]

Have you tried either Words with Friends or Drop7 yet? What do you think of Zynga's potential to dominate the mobile gaming space thanks to these games?

FarmVille Wishing Well updated with new English Countryside loot

FarmVille's Wishing Well, which was originally available for St. Patrick's Day, has been updated with items that are far more appropriate to our new English Countryside farms. The Wishing Well works pretty much the same as before -- collect lucky pennies from friends then flick them into the well to see what items you get in return.

The collections (namely, the rewards for finishing each collection) are the biggest difference, and I have to say, it's pretty tempting to finish collect everything to get the cool red Double Deck Tractor (which looks more like a double decker bus) shown in the picture above.
farmville english countryside wishing well update

Note: If you already have a Wishing Well, you should be all set. These new English items will simply replace the St. Patrick's Day items that were in there before. If you -- like me -- sold your Wishing Well prematurely, you can find a new one in your gift box. Just place it on your property and start wishing.

Below are all of the items you'll need to collect from the Wishing Well and the reward for their completion. After you complete a collection, your well will Level up and you will unlock the next collection.

Butterfly Collection
Reward: Animated Butterfly

farmville english countryside butterfly collection

Tree Collection
Reward: White Willow

farmville england tree collection

Bird Collection
Reward: Nightengale
farmville english countryside bird collection

Tea Set Collection
Reward: Warder Duck

farmville english countryside tea set collection

English Cuisine Collection
Reward: Chef Gnome

farmville english countryside food

Vehicle Collection
Reward: Double Deck Tractor
farmville english countryside vehicles

What do you think of the new England-themed Wishing Well items?

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Hoodwinked 2 promotion

A new FarmVille Farm Cash promotion has appeared underneath many players' game screens in association with Hoodwinked 2: The Really Imaginary Sequel (working title). FarmVille Freak found the new Sponsored Link, which has yet to appear under my game. Regardless, this promotion is business as usual: Just click on the link with the Hoodwinked logo to get started.

Clicking the link will take you to an interactive pop-up ad. A promotional video for the Hoodwinked sequel will play on the left side of the screen. (Seriously, this flick gets a sequel and we're still waiting for Finding Nemo 2?) From there, a simple series of questions will appear to the right--answer them and your notification that you've earned your Farm Cash will appear in the upper right corner of the window. When you see this, it's time to close the window, give it about an hour and refresh your game to see if the Farm Cash posted to your account.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Have you seen this promotion in your game yet? Will you be checking out Hoodwinked 2 when it releases (please say no)?

FarmVille sheep breeding tip: Make your very own black sheep with white stars

If you've ventured into the unpredictable world of sheep breeding in the FarmVille English Countryside, you'll soon realize that it takes a dedicated craftsman to come up with some of the more rare mixed breeds of sheep out there. One of these elusive sheep is the black sheep with white stars, and FarmViller Korgly has come up with a visual guide on how to make your very own.
farmville black sheep white star breeding guideClick the image to make it larger

To get started, you will need Brutus the ram, a black ram, a schooled ewe and any star sheep. Then breed the various sheep as listed (click the image above to view a larger version). Of course, you might need to try more than once (or two or three times) to get the correct offspring, but Korgly says persistence will eventually be rewarded.

Please note that we have not actually tested this formula, we're just trusting Korgly knows what he's talking about.

[Via FarmVille official forums]

Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.

Have you successfully bred a black sheep with white stars?

FarmVille English Countryside Sneak Peek: Village Map revealed!

While you've likely already seen the picture upon reaching our front page, spoiler warning! FarmVille Feed has uncovered every point on the FarmVille Village Map for the English Countryside. As you can see, the Sheep Pen, Pub and Dairy Barn are all accounted for. However, the Archaeologist's dig site, a country fair, a strange miniature farm, a courtyard and a castle all await you in your journey to turn the English farm around. Duke and the rest of the game's unnamed characters will all make their debut or cameo through these new Goals. However, when the new content will be unlocked has yet to be seen. Not to mention what that second farm is all about.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Feed]

What do you think of the future locations on the English Village Map? What areas or Goals are you most excited to reach?

CityVille Zoo: Get a sneak peek at the new upcoming missions (plus a new crop!)

Our sleuthing pals over at CityVille Chat uncovered what seems to be a series of new goals surrounding a new City Zoo that will (most likely) be arriving soon. Keep in mind that these items are unreleased, so there is no guarantee when, if and in what form these will arrive in the game.

Oh yes, this series of goals also indicates that a new crop is on the way -- alfalfa.

GOAL: ANIMAL RESCUE!
-Build Jungle Habitat
-Place Jungle Animal
-Collect from 20 Businesses
GOAL: JUNGLE FRIENDS!
-Have Two Animals
-Place an Animal in their Habitat

GOAL: ANIMAL ATTRACTION!
-Collect from 20 Residences
-Place Jungle Zoo Gate
-Send 30 Tour Buses

GOAL: FEED THE TOURISTS!
-Build a Zoo Cafeteria
-Harvest 40 Crops of Corn
-Revive 25 Neighbor's Crops

GOAL:PICNIC AT THE ZOO!
-Place Picnic Area
-Ask friends for 10 Stuffed Animals
-Harvest 20 Alfalfa Crops (new crop!)

Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Ecotopia launches on Facebook: Raising environmental awareness one virtual tree at a time

For the past few weeks, we've been covering the development of Ecotopia, an environmentally-themed city building game on Facebook created by the folks at Talkie. Joining forces with Harrison Ford's Conservation International, Ecotopia looks to reward players for real-world "green acts," whether those be general recycling activities or changing the appliances or light bulbs in your house to eco-friendly models.

After launching in private beta at the beginning of April, Ecotopia is now available to play by the general public in an open beta that is still full of a few holes and bugs, but seems to achieve its overall purpose of increasing environmental awareness, and even helping to educate players as to ways they can be more environmentally conscious that they might not have thought of before. In its most basic form, Ecotopia is a city-building simulator that places you into an incredibly decrepit town that time and all manner of cleanliness forgot and abandoned long ago. To make the town's dreary atmosphere is your guide through the game, the ever-so-cheery (that's sarcasm) Mrs. Griswald. This woman hates the earth, calls anyone associated with environmental conservation a tree-hugging hippie and refuses to help you. Of course, by telling you things that she won't help you do, she actually plants dozens of ideas into our heads, so that's a clever little trick by the developers to create an in-game tutorial.

Gameplay itself, though, is incredibly light, seeing you simply reclaiming abandoned homes, and then putting those homes to work in "Green Acts." These acts are like jobs, that take varying amounts of Greenbacks, the virtual currency, to start, and varying amounts of time to complete. The longer a Green Act takes to finish, the more Greenbacks and experience points you'll earn, sending you to the next levels. Each of these Green Acts is themed to the idea of creating a better planet and conserving energy, so you might schedule the installation of a smart shower in one building, while you'll hang clothes out on a line to dry in another (rather than using the dryer).

Each home can be upgraded along the way by spending your profits, to make the homes entirely "green." This is done step by step, with small upgrades like LED light bulbs and new water pipes costing only a few hundred Greenbacks each, while the more major upgrades like installing geothermal heating or solar power can cost up to 4,000 Greenbacks a pop. Again, this isn't a system of upgrading the entire game - you're upgrading each individual home in your town to its most energy-conscious state, which will take you a ton of Greenbacks, and even more time to accomplish.

While you're waiting for Green Acts to complete, you can use your "Action" points, or energy, to pick up trash around town, reclaim construction debris and so on. You'll complete missions that see you competing certain Green Acts in specific types of homes, purchase new plants for the park, and so on. These are fairly basic, and help to always give you something to do when you could otherwise run out of actions very, very quickly in this starting state of the game.

As for the technical aspects of the game, there are a few issues that need to be addressed before Ecotopia can be a must-play game. For one, the timers on Green Acts can and often do randomize to negative numbers, so you'll have to refresh the game to set things back on track. Another issue is the lack of an action queue, forcing you to wait until each action in the game is complete before clicking on literally anything else, which causes your character to stop their current action (including walking) and move to that new spot.

Also, while Ecotopia does allow you to track your real-world Green Acts, by allowing you to choose from a list of tasks that you may have completed and receive in-game rewards for them (in the form of Greenbacks and XP), there's a limit to how much of a bonus you'll actually be able to earn, as you can only earn extra bonuses if you have an in-game friend that can "verify" that you actually completed them. Sure, this is a way to stop users from abusing the system, but what if you're like me, and are currently playing the game by yourself? I can't receive a bonus for using a reusable water bottle, since I don't have a friend to back me up. Since a few friends could still abuse this system, you are limited to how frequently you can claim these rewards, so I suppose there is somewhat of a balance there.

Gallery: Ecotopia on Facebook


All told, Ecotopia seems to conserve enough of the basic city-building game elements to attract a general Facebook gaming audience, but the game's focus on real-world efforts is currently lackluster at best (perhaps future updates will change this as, remember, the game is incredibly new). Helping clean up a virtual neighborhood is great, but if you're hoping to elicit real world change, it seems that you'll still be much better off joining a local volunteer group and getting clean the old fashioned way, all in the real world.

Play Ecotopia on Facebook --->

Have you tried Ecotopia on Facebook? Do you think this kind of game could actually change gamers' perspectives on how much energy they use in their daily lives?

Earn 5 free FarmVille Farm Cash in SOCOM 4 PS3 promotion

Forget the two free FarmVille Farm Cash opportunities - a new promotion has launched in the game today offering five free Farm Cash for the same amount of work as you'd expect. This promotion is with SOCOM 4 (a military shooter) on the PS3, and it has you adding the SOCOM 4 Teammate Finder app to your profile on Facebook.

To activate this activity, simply click on the Sponsored Link image [pictured] and follow the instructions. The SOCOM 4 Teammate Finder app allows you to create a team or clan name for multiplayer gameplay in SOCOM 4 on the PS3, but you can create entirely random information if you're just out to get some free Farm Cash.

Remember, these promotions never last long (in fact, I'm the only one of my friends that I know has received the promotion thus far), so if you see it appear on your game, don't delay in completing it! It's not often that we see five Farm Cash being given out for so little effort, and you won't want to miss out!

FarmVille Enchanted Love Trees: Ribbon Flower Tree & Giant Ribbon Flower Tree

As we told you earlier today, a new tree has begun appearing from Mystery Seedlings in FarmVille.That tree is the Giant Ribbon Flower Tree, and while it's definitely one of the prettiest trees in the game (in my very humble opinion), what if you haven't received one from a Mystery Seedling, but still want one on your farm? Luckily, with tonight's FarmVille update, you've gained the ability to have one of these trees on your farm regardless of your luck, as you can purchase the Giant Ribbon Flower Tree from 12 Farm Cash from the store.

In addition, the smaller," normal," Ribbon Flower Tree is also available to purchase, for the new (higher) price of 7 Farm Cash. So much for 5 and 10 Farm Cash for each limited edition tree - looks like Zynga finally learned that we'll pay a higher price. Drats! Either way, these two trees will only be available in the game's store for the next two weeks.

What do you think of these two trees? Better yet, what do you think of the higher price tag of limited edition trees in the store?

FarmVille Enchanted Love Animals: Welsh Corgi, Knight Steed re-release

While we've been looking forward to the release of the Corgi in FarmVille for a few days now, with tonight's FarmVille update, the waiting game has stopped. Unfortunately, so has my excitement. The Welsh Corgi isn't actually a "puppy," able to be fed and grown into an adult. It's a full-grown animal just like a cow or sheep you may purchase from the store, with this one costing 18 Farm Cash.

You'll know that you're not getting an actual dog when the "Buy" button simply takes you to your farm where you can place the Corgi on your land. If it were a functional dog in the game, remember that you'd be asked to choose its color and its name before purchasing it. Either way, the Corgi can be "harvested" every two days, and you'll receive 90 coins when you do so.


The other new animal(s) released this evening is also a bit disappointing, as the Knight Steed (and therefore the Knight Steed Foal) were released just back in February as part of the game's Fairy Tale theme. If you missed picking up the Steed then, you can do so now for the same price of 26 Farm Cash. You'll still be able to collect from the Steed every three days, unless you put it in your horse stable, where you have the chance of breeding a foal. Just don't hurriedly purchase this Steed thinking it's a new one for your collection, as it's definitely not.

These two Enchanted Love / Royal Wedding-inspired animals will be available in the game's store for the next two weeks. Will you purchase either of them?

Corrie Nation on hold: First-ever soap opera Facebook game breaks for makeover

Corrie Nation game
Last year, after roughly four decades on television, ABC canceled TV soaps "All My Children" and "One Life to Live". Commentators were quick to point to Facebook games as the culprit, spear-headed by an April AdWeek report, with even earlier speculation supplied by GamaSutra a month prior. Then, "As the World Turns" ended in September, and it no longer felt like speculation. Everyone was running with it.

In this climate stepped "Corrie Nation", a social game on Facebook to mark the 50th anniversary of the U.K soap opera, "Coronation Street". Because obviously, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" seemed like a good call.
Corrie Nation Coronation Street characters actors
But for a show that brings in millions of viewers, the Facebook game only managed an all-time high of 88K monthly average users. Players have been falling since the launch, leading ITV to announce their taking down the game by the end of this coming July. But ITV hasn't given up on the concept. They want a major rehaul over the summer, so they're dropping their contract with Enteraction and will soon be in the market for a new games developer.

Anyone who's interested in checking out "Corrie Nation" within the next two months, can play it on Facebook. There's already a surge of activity due to news of the (hopefully) temporary shutdown.

[Hat-Tip: New Media Age]

The FarmVille Craftshop recipes are here, time to stock up on Bushels

FarmVille Craftshop
How does one make a Nail with flowers and crops? Who knows, and who cares--Zynga is slowly releasing the Craftshop recipes to FarmVille as of this writing. FarmVille Feed reports several potential items are in the process of hitting the new building, not to mention players can now store and sell the building. But who would want to do that when nearly 20 new things to create are headed our way? According to the update, Mastery will soon be added to the Craftshop, which FarmVille Feed estimates will result in more of each item being produced per recipe. Check out some of the recipes that await behind the break.
FarmVille Craftshop recipes
Love Potion, Wooden Board and Nail Recipes

Farmville Craftshop recipes
Lucky Penny, Bottle and English Postcard Recipes


Farmville Craftshop recipes
Pine Fences and Modern Table Recipes

FarmVille Craftshop recipes
Stone Wall, Moat Pieces and Double Avatar Speed Recipes

FarmVille Craftshop recipes
Vehicle Part, Farmhands and Arborists Recipes

FarmVille Craftshop recipes
Last but not least, the Special Tractor

[Source and Image Credits: FarmVille Feed]

Have you seen the Craftshop update yet? Are you satisfied with the requirements? Which item will you attempt to craft first?

Godfinger-maker Ngmoco to challenge Zynga with global mobile games network

Zynga better be prepared for an assault on all fronts, and no, this time it's not in Empires & Allies. Ngmoco, purchased by Japanese social gaming giant DeNA last year for a crazy $403 million, is ready to launch its Mobage mobile social gaming network to the world. VentureBeat reports that the Godfinger creator incorporated its ngCore technology into DeNA's network for what the duo hopes will take the globe by storm. (Well, smartphones around the globe, at least). Zynga has made huge strides to create a more robust mobile games network through acquisitions, but will it be enough to compete?

According to VentureBeat, Ngmoco chief publishing officer Simon Jeffery said that developers are already able to sign up for the platform, which already is home to over 100 games. (Though, we imagine most of which are Japanese.) Regardless, Mobage will release globally, meaning mobile gamers worldwide will have access to hundreds of games. Not to mention that when a developer releases a game through Mobage, it will be available globally in almost an instant, Jeffery said.

This is thanks to Ngmoco's ngCore, which allows games to be created in Javascript (just like Mafia Wars Atlantic City!). The famed web programming language is powerful for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to see more games like Mafia Wars for mobile than not--at least on the outset--on Mobage. The platform will of course feature payment options, a cross-game currency and tools for developers to track their games.

Now that developers are signing up to get their hands on DeNA's service, Mobage looks to be just on the horizon. The question that stands now is whether Zynga and its slew of mobile gaming acquisitions--including the now Zynga with Friends--is ready for such an attack on the mobile front. And honestly, we won't know until DeNA and Ngmoco show their stuff. Though, it's proven rather difficult to tear my mom's fingers from Words with Friends.

FrontierVille 39 x 39 Colossal Land Expansion Goals: Everything you need to know

Even after adding an Orchard or a Big Barn to your land in FrontierVille, are you still running out of room for all of your new decorations, buildings and crops? Even if you haven't yet (again) reached maximum capacity, Zynga is hoping to cut that off at the pass with the release of the 39 x 39 land expansion in the game. This land expansion looks to be mostly rolled out as of this writing, so you shouldn't have to wait very long to get started.

You'll be able to start the new expansion by purchasing its missions for 1,000 coins, but of course, you must already have your Homestead at the former maximum of 37 x 37 before you can move on (check out our guide to those missions if you need to catch up). You should get a pop-up like the one above the next time you login to the game, making things as streamlined as possible. There are five new goals in this land expansion series, but, as usual, you shouldn't expect them to be a cake walk. Meet us behind the break for a full guide. The first of these five goals is called "Colossal Permits," and it asks you to collect just that from friends.

Collect 15 Colossal Permits
Sell 40 Adult Sheep
Harvest 75 Eggplants on your Homestead

If you've already built a Livestock Pen on your land, remember that you can sell Sheep from within the building to count towards your progress. You don't have to pull them out and sell them the old-fashioned way (thank goodness!). As for the Eggplants, they take just two hours to grow, so remember to protect them with a Wither Protection boost if you know you'll be away for longer than four hours. Either that, or simply use an Unwither Boost when you do return - whichever you have more of on-hand at the time. Finally, for the Colossal Permits, you'll need to send out individual requests to your friends to receive them. Finishing this first goal gives you a simple reward - 200 coins and 200 XP.

For Part II of V, things might become a bit more complicated, depending on how much space you have on your land for debris to grow.

Have or Craft 20 Fire
Have 1 Clover Blossom
Clear 10 Wildflowers

The Clover Blossom is part of the Clover Collection, so if you don't have one, at least Clover only takes five minutes to grow. As an aside, if you're still trying to hold out on completing the Canning Master Missions, remember that the second goal in that series asks you to have 15 Fire. If you've been throwing away Fire in an attempt to never reach 15, you'll need to pay for this step to complete so that you don't actually reach 15. Finishing this second goal gives you 300 XP, 300 coins and 20 Cloth, which you'll need shortly.

Part III of V has you harvesting - wait for it - 500 crops, along with two other tasks.

Have or Craft 7 Fancy Clothing
Harvest 500 crops
Clobber 3 Coyotes

Luckily, it doesn't appear to matter which crop you plant and harvest for this task, so feel free to plant 500 clover in multiple five-minute sittings to finish this one as quickly as possible. As for the Fancy Clothing, they are created using two Ribbon and two Clothes each. Clothes themselves come from the Cabin for 500 coins and six cloth each. For finishing this third goal, you'll receive 500 XP, 500 coins and 50 Food.

For Part IV of V, your progress might be slowed considerably, depending on how many fully grown (or at least partially grown) trees you have on your land.

Use Bear Cannon 8 Times
Have or Craft 5 Cake
Collect 25 Recommendations

Recommendations are earned via individual friend requests, while Cakes are crafted in the Inn. Each Cake requires two Fire and four Batter. Batter itself is created (also inside the Inn) for 20 Food and 900 coins each. Remember, to use the Bear Cannon, you'll need Powder Kegs, which are also a crafting item. You've got your work cut out for you here, but don't fret - you'll finish both tasks in time. For completing this quest, you'll receive 750 XP, 750 coins, and unlock access to purchasing the 39 x 39 expansion.

Finally, Part V of V, you'll be required to actually expand your land, with all three steps dealing with your Land Office.

Collect Three Daily Bonuses form the Land Office
Have 5 Land Grants
Buy 39 x 39 Land Expansion from the Land Office

Land Grants are crafted inside the Land Office for 5 Cloth and 2,000 coins each (as of this writing). That means that this expansion will ultimately cost you 1,000 coins (for the goals themselves) and the 10,000 coins for the Land Grants, on top of any other coins you'll expend in buying sheep, crops and so on. Still, for finishing this final goal, you'll not only expand your land, but you'll also receive 1,000 XP, 1000 coins and two Dinners as rewards.

After you've expanded your land, you'll have access to a variety of bonuses (that show up as black and white until you expand) including a Wellspring, an Ox of unknown color, six Mystery Animal Crates and a few decorations. I don't know about you, but those Mystery Animal Crates make me want to finish this expansion as fast as possible, just to see what's inside!

Empires & Allies RewardVille items: Redeem zCoins for homes, decorations and a Zynga Zeppelin

I hope you've been saving up your zCoins in Zynga's RewardVille loyalty program, as Empires & Allies has taken over! Zynga's newest game has been given the full RewardVille treatment, including three pages of goodies that can be unlocked in your own game if you have enough zCoins to spend.

Most of the RewardVille prizes are homes and decorations, but they are items that can't be found in the game's store proper, so they're something to keep in mind if you want to show off to your friends. As usual, every game in the RewardVille program has been given a free item, with Empires & Allies' being the Small Modern House [pictured at right], a dwelling that adds 80 citizens to your population.

Along with the many decorations that are also available (standing Tikis, topiaries, fountains, etc.), you can also outfit your island's Air Force division with the ultimate in Empires & Allies weaponry - the Zynga Zeppelin. This unit has 100 strength in battle, but it doesn't come cheap. First, you'll need to be level 70 in RewardVille to even access it, and then you'll need to shell out 200 of your hard-earned zCoins to actually add one to your game.

For a complete (visual) look at the Empires & Allies RewardVille items, meet us behind the break.
And there you have it! Enough goodies to empty your zCoins pocketbook and still leave you wanting more! We'll make sure to let you know if more Empires & Allies-themed items are added to RewardVille, but for now, keep playing all of your favorite Zynga games to earn more coins to afford these things!

CityVille Water Bottling Plant: Add to your population cap and quench your thirst at the same time!

A new Community Building is now available to add to your town in CityVille. The Water Bottling Plant is a fairly large structure, both in terms of its food print and its height, and it can be purchased from the store for 125,000 coins.

Of course, it isn't as simple as just placing the building and moving on, as you'll need to construct it with the help of friends. The building's base takes a whopping 13 whacks to complete (remember, that will take up 13 energy, which is no small amount), and after that, you'll have to hire almost as many friends to work as staff in the building - 12 friends, to be exact.

Once you've gathered enough staff members, you'll receive a boost of 1,750 citizens to your total population cap. That's a huge boost, to be sure, but you'll definitely have to earn it.

Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.

What do you think of this newest Community Building? Is it worth spending all of those energy points to build, or do you already have a high enough energy cap to last you well into the future?

DeNA prepares global (mobile games) domination with Mobage Android

Is Zynga shaking in its boots yet? Probably not, but the next major move by Japanese competitor DeNA might make the San Francisco-based red dog snarl. DeNA, who recently acquired American developer Ngmoco for $400 million to help with the global expansion of its Mobage mobile social games platform, will initiate phase one this month. Reuters reports that the game publisher will soon go global with a Mobage app for Android devices everywhere.

In an interview recently, DeNA CEO Isao Moriyasu revealed plans to expand into Europe and other parts of Asia through acquisitions, though the company is also in talks with overseas mobile carriers to provide easier access to and payment support for DeNA games. A Chinese version of the Mobage Android app is coming this summer as well.

It might be a smart move to go for a wider platform like Android to start a global mobile games network, but it's only a matter of time before Mobage must head to iPhones and iPads. When it comes to mobile gaming, we all know that the App Store is where the action is. And if DeNA can swoop in and provide games that knock the likes of Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja off of their thrones, then more power to them.

[Image Credit: Octoba]

Are you going to try Mobage for you mobile gaming fix when it releases around the world? Do you think Mobage has a chance of beating Zynga to the punch in mobile games?

Bigpoint, Spil Games try the Facebook alternative: The Buddy System

Facebook is the largest social game platform out there, so what do you do when you can't beat 'em? Shack up with somebody else, that's what. And that's exactly what Bigpoint, the developer behind hit MMOs like Battlestar Galactica Online and most recently RamaCity (a blatant competitor to CityVille by Zynga), has opted for. The Hamburg, Germany-based developer has joined forces with Spil Games, based in the Netherlands, to increase its potential player base to 130 million players.

"We're thrilled to bring our already hugely successful game ZooMumba to Spil's platform," Bigpoint CEO Heiko Hubertz said in a release. "Spil's audience of like-minded gamers is unique in the industry. We're certain this collaboration will ensure high amounts of exposure to ZooMumba and more of our games in the future."

Bigpoint will first take a dive on the deal with ZooMumba, its hit zoo-keeping social game, though there are other Bigpoint games headed for Spil Games' collection of European and Asian social gaming websites, according to a release. Considering Facebook's arguable stranglehold on game developers with its new Credits initiative, it's tough to blame companies for making partnerships to avoid it (and its 30 percent cut). It makes one wonder what Zynga might do ... in five years.

CityVille Cheats and Tips: Meet the Rocket Ship Ride, the best business

Well, now it is the best, at least. As a result of the brand new Street Carnival Goals in CityVille, the infamous Tower Eats--and its enormous Franchise building--is no longer the best business in the game. If you can collect 400 Tickets from your recently-constructed Ticket Booth before the Summer Carnival is through, you can enjoy a Business with these stats:

Rocket Ship Ride:

    Cost: 400 Tickets (or 360 City Cash)
    Size: 4 x 4
    Consumes: 500 Goods
    Pays: 2,800 Coins
    Efficiency: 5.6 Coins per Good


Considering the building costs no Coins whatsoever, the Rocket Ship Ride is hands-down the most efficient Business in the game. (Though, you could always pay up a bit less than $54, if you're feeling impatient ... and rich.) However, it cannot be franchised. Luckily, it can get boosted out the wazoo with decorations like any other Business. Let's look at the Tower Eats for comparison's sake:

Rocket Ship Ride     Tower Eats

Tower Eats:

    Cost: 1 million Coins
    Size: 4 x 4
    Consumes: 165 Goods
    Pays; 900 Coins
    Efficiency: 5.46 Coins per Good


It looks like the Tower Eats just got beat by a freebie, if nearly unobtainable, Business. Honestly, it would be in your best interest to strive for picking up this Business immediately, if you're the type who digs that sort of min-max play style. Even if not, this Business would be a boon to any player's city. Unfortunately, collecting from the Ticket Booth and asking friends are the only ways to find the Tickets, so set that new 18-hour phone alarm and start beggin'.

[Source: CityVille Wiki]

[Image Credit: awsma6]

Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Are you going to try and grab the Rocket Ship Ride now that it's become the best business in the game? What other tips might you have for spreading the wealth?

FrontierVille Still: Is it mission impossible? [Lunchtime Poll]

When the FrontierVille Still missions rolled out last week, virtual pioneers soon discovered that the fourth mission -- which requires you to "Feed 20 Goats on your Homestead" -- had a major problem. You could feed 20, 40, 60 goats, and it would never count toward completing the mission. Now it looks like the goats glitch has been fixed, according to one of the game's community managers -- but some say they still don't have access to this particular set of missions. Is that the case for you? Sound off in today's lunchtime poll.

FrontierVille Still: Is it mission impossible?
Yes, still doesn't work for meYes, I don't have these missions yetNope, already finished my still
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Arby's Casting Call promotion

Is there a better way to start off a Monday than with free stuff? (Just try us in the comments.) Another sponsored link has appeared in FarmVille, and this time it's thanks to Arby's--you know, the joint with the awesome curly fries.

All you need to do to grab 2 free Farm Cash is click on the link beneath the game screen that reads, "It's Arby's Casting Call!" Once you're in the pop-up window that appears, just answer the questionnaire as the advertisement plays.

Eventually, you will see a message appear in the upper right that reads, "You've earned your Farm Cash." Click the "X" next to it to close the window, and the Farm Cash should automatically post to your account.

If not, give it 30 minutes before barking down customer support's door. While you wait, go and try out some CityVille Hometown, why don't ya? (I need more neighbors!)
Arby's Casting Call FarmVille

[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Have you ever had a negative experience with a Farm Cash promotion? If not, what keeps you from pursuing them? (And seriously, where is the CityVille Hometown action at?)

Zynga releases one stinker of a CityVille building, the Community Pool

So, Zynga released an exciting new building in CityVille, but I wouldn't recommend buying it. The Community Pool is a minor community building with a major price. (It still even has special building materials!) And the players in the CityVille forums are not pleased. And rightfully so--look at the stats on this thing:

Community Pool:

    Cost: 150,000 Coins
    Population Increase: 200
    Size: 4 x 4
    Energy required: 13


Notice anything ... odd about the price of this building? If you've seen anything else weird other than the fact that the price is completely disproportionate to the Population it provides, please let us know. But here's the clincher: It even requires building materials after you spend 13 Energy to construct it:

    8× Sunscreen
    8× Chlorine Bottle
    8× Cement
    8× Tiles
    8× Flip Flops


CityVille Community Pool in-game
Are you starting to realize how poor of an investment this would be? Requests, Energy and lots of cash wasted on a building that provides a measly 200 Population? (And it's collection bonuses aren't even special?) We'll pass, guys, thanks. Well, at least until some simple adjustments are made. It's a shame too--an adorable little piece of game art, no?

[Image Credit: Zynga]

Do you still plan on buying the Community Pool? (Why?!) What do you think of Zynga releasing such an item to the game, and do you think it will be fixed?

FarmVille: Re-released bunnies hop back into the store

Here's an animal set in FarmVille that's likely to make you say "Aww" (well, at least I said it). A set of bunnies has been re-released in the game's store this evening, giving you a chance to not only stock up to eventually earn their Animal Mastery signs, but also giving you a greater variety of animals to choose from when stocking your new Pet Run Habitats.

Again, the key to this set of animals is remembering that they're all being re-released from previously retired themes or events. None of them are truly 100% new, so you'll want to make sure you don't already have some frolicking around your farm(s) and then accidentally spend Farm Cash on duplicates.

Here's the list of available bunnies:

    Rex Rabbit - 12 Farm Cash
    English Lop - 12 Farm Cash
    Chocolate Rabbit - 12 Farm Cash
    Brown Dutch Rabbit - 12 Farm Cash
    Lop-Eared Bunny - 9 Farm Cash


Personally, both of the "lop" bunnies are easily my favorite, but that's not to say that the rest of these bunnies aren't absolutely adorable as well. For only having a week available to purchase these animals, that doesn't leave us much time to debate over which rabbits to buy and which to pass on once again, so make sure to check these guys out now while you still have time.

Will you purchase any of these rabbits for your farm(s), or did you already own them? Which one is your favorite?

Facebook wants its games selection to match consoles' variety

And they're getting mighty close. During an interview with MCV, Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan said, "There is a range of sophisticated games we want to get on our platform." He's referring to the fact that there is simply more of a variety of games on consoles when compared to Facebook. To him, Facebook doesn't have that wide selection because, as a games platform, it's only 3 and a half years old.

"We are a pure platform – we don't invest in games or make them," Ryan said to MCV. "But we ask ourselves how we can make games like a football manager title rise up and become a success." When asked about whether this would harm larger traditional game firms, he said to MCV that this is a chance to reach bigger audiences with high-end games. Um, does this mean we'll see Halo soon on the old Facebook?

"Our aim is to have more people playing on Facebook or via games on consoles using the Social Graph," Ryan said. "There is no question the hours spent on Facebook have to come from somewhere and that may mean eating into other traditional gaming areas." OK, so maybe not on Facebook ... but so close!

However, we've already seen full 3D graphics on Facebook in its early stages. It's also important to consider that we already have made game types that dominate the console space--shooters like N.O.V.A. and RPGs like King's Bounty--work on Facebook. These changes are already in motion.

Ryan and crew might have big ambitions for Facebook when it comes to games, but so does another massive web company. And based on Ryan's recent words in regards to Google+ Games, Facebook is ready to defend its position. Not to mention those recent changes--neat-o, huh?

Do you think Facebook could one day have a games selection on par with what's available on Xbox and PlayStation? Would you ever trade in your beefy console to play "hardcore" games over Facebook?

Study: In the year 2013, we'll have over 73 million U.S. social gamers

Every time one of these studies comes in, it feels like we're all at the World's Fair, doesn't it? (And we'll play them while being driven in our hover cars!) A study by eMarketer released today reveals the projection that, by 2013, there will be 73.6 million social gamers in the U.S. of A. This number will explode from today's estimated 61.9 million Facebook gamers in the country, which already sounds a bit low to us. And because of these growing numbers, eMarketer thinks it's thanks to shifting demographics.

"Gone are the days when only males ages 18 to 34 were hardcore gamers or only moms were pelting their Facebook friends with requests for hens or heifers in social games like FarmVille," eMarketer senior analyst Lisa E. Phillips--and author of this very report, "Online Gaming Audience: Lines Blur as the Market Grows--said. "Today's core gamers are also playing casual games. More women are using game consoles beyond the Nintendo Wii, and their game choices include many genres."

And, you know what, she might be right. Just recently, it was estimated that by the same time, 2013, hardcore social games will grow five-fold. Not to mention that there already are nearly 80 million strategy gamers on the platform. While the casual, FarmVille-loving sector will certainly continue to grow, this is hardly the last we've heard from the "hardcore" gaming crowd on Facebook. Check out even more about these rapid yet expected demographic shifts right here.

Do you think Facebook gaming is going to change the general games landscape this drastically? Do you think all forms of gaming would be better or worse if they took onto the general language of Facebook games?

The Sims Social explodes, the third most played Facebook game daily

Wait, so this is where my mom was during this weekend's mess? The Sims Social, the ambitious social version of EA's massive franchise by Playfish London, has grown into the third most played social game on Facebook. Better yet, that measure is through daily players, which is far more telling of a game's success early on than monthly players. As of now, according to AppData, The Sims Social enjoys over 7.2 million daily players.

More importantly, that beats out two more of Zynga's most popular games, Empires & Allies and Zynga Poker. The game already surpassed Pioneer Trail last week, and now EA as a little over a million daily players to go to become the first Facebook game to trump FarmVille in a very, very long time, if ever. (The game begins to flinch a bit at 8.4 million daily players.)

Of course, The Sims Social is a far cry from the behemoth that is CityVille, but hot diggity is it gaining fast. Yes, use of the word "diggity" is deemed appropriate in such impressive circumstances. Remember, this is especially significant considering the game got off to a rocky start, with outages and performance issues aplenty upon its release. If anything, it speaks volumes to the fact that this brand may have found new life on Facebook, and everyone else better watch out.

FarmVille maker spooked by market woes, delays IPO to Nov. [Rumor]

As it turns out, even the mighty Zynga isn't immune to the wear and tear of the market. (But you better bet CEO Mark Pincus [pictured] wants his say.) The New York Post reports, citing two sources with knowledge of the company's plans, that Zynga will call in a delay of its imminent initial public offering (IPO) to November.

After beelining for one of the biggest IPOs in a long time, the creator of hits like FarmVille and CityVille follows a dozen of delayed IPOs due to rickety market conditions after the nation's credit rating dropped earlier this month. "It wouldn't be illogical for the bank to delay a sale, given the markets," said one source to NY Post. "It makes sense for a bank to protect its clients from a market that could potentially be a bottomless pit."

What the source is referring to is "the bubble," or the possibility that all the expectations for this market--social games and virtual goods sales--driving up its value could be inflated, meaning that if these expectations aren't fulfilled, prices could plummet and lose investors quite a lot of money. (Look up the infamous Dot-Com Bubble for more of what I'm talking about.)

Regardless, the NY Post writes that Zynga is still pursuing an IPO in earnest, most likely complete with its CEO's most recently-approved edits. It looks like nothing will stop the company from becoming potentially the most valuable gaming company in the world. Well, nothing save for maybe one game. We've contacted Zynga for comment.

[Via Silicon Valley Business Journal]

Do you think this delayed IPO will affect Zynga negatively? Does this news come as disconcerting to you even as simply a fan of Zynga games?

Kontagent's Josh Williams on why analytics matter in Facebook games [Interview]

Analyta-what? Is that even a real word? Well, not according to the New Oxford Dictionary, but it's nevertheless become terribly important to how the games hundreds of millions of us play daily are made and distributed. Noticing the increasing trend in analytics, or the use of measurable data to crowd source design decisions, we sat down and talked with Josh Williams (pictured below) to learn more.

Josh is President of Kontagent, a San Francisco-based firm that provides analytics tracking services to major social and mobile app companies, namely game makers. The service has been officially tracking 150 million monthly players worldwide across a variety of social games, so we figured Josh would know a bit about what analytics has uncovered regarding our social gaming habits. We also learned that, frankly, this stuff is pretty darn important to how our favorite games are made.

For the uninformed, can you explain what analytics is, exactly?

Analytics help developers look at what players are doing in their games, and then figure out what's working and what's not. The best analytics are sort of a mechanism for players to vote on what they like and don't like inside of a game.

Now that Kontagent tracks about 150 million monthly players worldwide, what would you say are the most interesting numbers relating to how social gamers play?

On the mobile side, there was a bunch of change in the last three to six months. Freemium games have just taken over on mobile over the last several months. So that's changed the way--developers are used to putting out one-time payment games [on the Apple App Store]--developers structure their apps to better track what players are doing.

Generally, people are spending more and more time, but there are more gamers on Facebook than in mobile. But the time is increasing per player a lot, too. From six months ago, [people are playing] 20 percent more time per person between mobile games and social games. It's really changing quickly.

For how long do social gamers play their games? And what are players buying most frequently while playing?

There's a huge range, but on average--the average gamer that plays mobile and social games--is about 20 minutes a day or more now playing. But the range is huge. Of course, you have people who average just a minute per day but for some it's in the hours now. It's really become a major method of consumption for games.

It really depends on the game, but overall we're seeing a shift. Early on, micro-transactions were a lot about the cosmetic items. That has definitely shifted now to items that have use in the game. There are two classifications for those: durable goods, or things that you buy and last forever, and the consumable stuff. The consumable goods are taking a larger and larger portion of micro-transactions spent both in social and mobile games. Right now, it's roughly split between [the two]. Mobile games are a little bit behind, but they're rapidly evolving.

More specifically, what are the numbers showing about how "social" social gamers are (i.e. how and what are they sharing through updates)?

These games are designed to be that way, but there are a few different numbers to look at, one being the number of users coming in via social channels--the virality of the app. Another is how many social messages get sent, and then also how many responses happen to those. Or, when you see a friend posting about [a social game] how often do you respond to those posts. All three of those numbers for social games are high, but for mobile it's actually really, really low.

When it comes to new users entering a game when their friends post a message about it, you can get as much as 15 percent--some games do a lot better, but that's a typical number--from the messages being sent out. [It's huge,] but that number actually used to be a little higher back in the days when Facebook used to just spam everybody. Facebook has toned that down a lot, which is a good thing for gamers, I think.

Kontagent
Recently, Kontagent CEO Jeff Tseng said that social games are more like casinos than we think. Could you speak to that, and how are social gamers' habits supporting that ideology?

There's a lot of the same psychology at play in a lot of the social games. In the social games now, you have a lot of them designed around simple mechanics that's kind of the gambling psychology and structure. But I'd say there is a lot more quality wrapped around [them].

What would you say is most useful about analytics to a game designer?

I'd say analytics are pretty vital to mobile and social game development. Think about it: This is the first time in the last few years that you could have a direct connection with players. Back in the days of retail games, you were basically building in the dark. Maybe you did some play testing and even had a beta. But after shipment they're hoping they did a good job, waiting until the reviews and sales numbers to come in.

Now, designers really change reviews--a lot of times they'll shift something within the first patch. And a lot of times that works, so from there the numbers that are most important to a designer are engagement metrics. So, you're looking at how much time people are spending in the game, how frequently are they coming back. If you have a sharing mechanism, how often are they sharing. You're looking for the numbers that tell how much they like the game.

Josh WilliamsWould you say that monetization becomes more of a priority later down the line for developers?

Yeah, that's right, so monetization becomes a priority later. It's not like you don't think about it up until that point. It's partly retrofitted, but the real optimization doesn't come until later.

Many traditional game developers have gotten into using analytics to inform their game's creation (take Bioware with Mass Effect 2, for instance). Why do you think analytics is slowly becoming a norm in game design across the board?

It's so powerful to have that insight. Analytics are kind of a voting mechanism for the players, so if you can get that feedback on what players really like, why wouldn't you want it? And I think traditional game developers are seeing how well it works in social games and mobile. I think it's going to be more and more [prevalent].

Thanks for taking the time to school us in this pseudo-real, but terribly important word, Josh.

Based on Joshs' words, do you think analytics could become the way all games are made? How do you feel about you voting toward a game's future without even knowing it?

Get Nintendo 3DS for ultra-cheap ($150) on eBay while you still can

What, so an $80 price drop still wasn't enough for you? Fine, then have the Nintendo 3DS for $100 less, you cheapskate. TechCrunch reports that MacMall is offering a limited number of 3DS consoles in both blue and black for just $150 with free shipping. (Seriously, folks, it does not get better than this ... period.)

While the newly announced red model isn't a part of the deal, I sincerely doubt color is an issue when the thing officially (or unofficially?) costs as much as its predecessor, the DSi. While there is no time limit on this deal nor is it an auction, this offer can't last forever, so you better whip out the plastic soon. As of this writing, already 222 were sold. The clock is a'ticking.

While the 3DS suffered more lows than highs since its release this March, it's an impressive piece of hardware regardless, for what it does. While you won't find as robust an online service for gaming or downloading on arguable competitors like iOS and Android devices, it's still pretty mind-blowing to see some of its games in 3D without the need of any accessory.

And besides, more games are on the way, and we seriously doubt Nintendo is going to drop this enormous project anytime soon. So, go on and pick one up. Think of it this way: This will probably be the cheapest, coolest Christmas gift you've ever gifted--and one less to worry about. We knew that would sell you. You can buy the little handheld that could right here.

[Image Credit: Reuters]

Are you going to rush for a 3DS before this deal dries up? Do you believe the 3DS will live on beyond its price drop woes?

How to prevent your friends from stalking you via Facebook games

Do you love your Facebook games, but still feel terribly ashamed for enjoying them? Would you rather people not see you've been logging into FarmVille every two hours to harvest your raspberries? Or how about that time you said you couldn't pick up the phone because you were in the shower, but really, you were glued to a 60-second round of Bejeweled Blitz? And of course, unless your computer is waterproof, there's no explaining to everyone why Facebook says otherwise. And Facebook will say otherwise, cause it knows your every gaming move.

So how do you get Facebook to quit tattling? Here's three things below that you can do:

1) One surefire way to get Facebook games from ever bothering you again without leaving Facebook is to turn off all apps. You can do that by logging into Facebook and clicking here.

2) If you want to stop a single game from sending out information about you, but you don't want to remove it outright, then another method is to head to Application Settings, select the game from the list, click on the word "edit" on the right side, look at the bottom for "App Privacy", and then choose a security setting from the tabbed list on the right. If you choose "Customize" from that list, you'll get the option to make the game viewable to "Only Me" or to even block certain people from seeing that you're using the game.

Facebook application game settings
3) Finally, we come to the spankin' new, never-before-seen Facebook games ticker. For some people, this ticker is a godsend. For others, the ticker represents social gaming stalker central. However you feel about it, there's a way to stop the ticker from telling everyone what you're playing and when you've played it.

Facebook games ticker
To do that, just hover your mouse over your status in the ticker, which should cause a little "x" box to appear. Clicking on it gives you the following options: "Remove this post", "Don't publish 'is playing . . . ' posts", and "Edit app settings". You're going to want the second option if you want the game to stop notifying people of your playtime via the ticker.

And now you're good to go!

Since its inception, the Facebook App/Games Ticker has inspired plenty of love and hate. Which camp do you fall into and why?

Get (the real) Tetris on your Android phone for the cool price of 'free'

Alright proud Android users, time to replace that "Tetris" game on your phones with the real deal. EA has made the ubiquitous Russian puzzle game available on Android for free, zilch, nada, zero. Capiche? (That's your queue to hit up the Android Market.) The game includes new-and-improved visuals, a fan favorite marathon mode and it's the real deal ... for free.

Seriously, do we really need a better selling point? Fine, in addition to full touch controls, players can track their stats and high scores in the free version of Tetris for Android, too. Since the ultimate puzzle game debuted in the '80s, Tetris has been made available on 50 platforms, and is available in nearly every country in the world.

That's sure some progress for a game that hasn't changed much in almost 30 years--and doesn't need to, mind you. (Though, cross-play compatibility with Tetris Battle on Facebook would be most welcome.)

"Tetris is one of the most distinctive, well-known and popular video game franchises in the world and it gives EA the opportunity to grow its already-expanding customer base on the Android platform," said EA Interactive VP of Sales and Marketing Bernard Kim in a statement. "Tetris has a strong legacy in the mobile gaming world and we're excited to bring a free version of Tetris to yet another great platform."

Tetris Android Free
Tetris follows Scrabble as being the second game EA has made available on the Android platform. Perhaps we're witnessing a growing EA trend. Now, if only that trend would find its way over to my iPhone.

Click here to download Tetris on Android for Free Now >

Have you picked up Tetris on your Android phone for free today from EA? What do you say, has Tetris stood the 27-year-long test of time?

Weeds Social Club on Facebook sends your News Feed up in smoke

Facebook just got fired up with another of those deviant pot-dealing games, dag-nabbit! That's right, Weeds Social Club, the Facebook game created to expand on the Emmy Award-winning Showtime program of the same (though truncated) title. Created by Mytopia and published by Ecko|Code, designer Mark Ecko's gaming firm, Weeds Social Club loosely follows the comedy show as players are lured into the wheelin' dealin' world of weed by Andy Botwin, protagonist Nancy Botwin's doofy brother-in-law.

The game enlists you, a friend of the Botwin family down on his luck, to join the trade of selling and growing the fire grass, the devil's leaf, you know the deal. Much like games such as Pot Farm and, ironically FarmVille, players plant and harvest various strains of the plant of perdition. (The developers were sure to take great care in respect to detail, and provides extensive information on the THC count of each strain, as if it's necessary.)

Of course, all growing operations happen indoors, meaning players can have their grow station double as a pimpin' pad. And as players level up, they can focus on certain skills like growing or pushing to improve their pot-pushing experience. "The rich world of WEEDS and the dynamics of marijuana culture provided us the perfect concept for a groundbreaking social game," Ecko|Code executive VP Marc Fernandez said in a statement.
Weeds Social Club in action
While it was supposed to officially launch in June, it went into a beta testing phase instead, and now is available for all fans of the hilarious show. Basically, the idea here behind Weeds Social Club seems to be to engage fans in the most entertaining and, well, most accurate way possible. We'd say letting players grow their own, so to speak, is as accurate as it gets.

Click here to play Weeds Social Club on Facebook Now >

Do you think there's room for more than one pot-growing Facebook game? Would you ever play a game like this much less share your statuses?

CrowdStar's Top Girl gets fancy on Android (and friendly with Amazon)

Android-admiring ladies, your game has arrived. It Girl creator CrowdStar has released its mobile version, Top Girl, to Android devices. However, you can only get it for free on Amazon's Appstore for the next two weeks. This makes CrowdStar's hugely popular girly game one of the first mobile social games to hit Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablet, according to the company.

The Android release of Top Girl looks to be the same game available to iPhone and iPad gamers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the game, players must amass new outfits and model them off for cash to climb the social ladder. Of course, ladies looking for love can find a virtual boyfriend that will lavish their characters with gifts. This is basically a Cosmo reader's dream in your Android phone or tablet.
Top Girl Kindle Fire
Top Girl on Android also marks the beginning of CrowdStar's quest for 1 billion players through its Project Trident initiative. "CrowdStar is entirely focused on Project Trident this year and Top Girl's Android launch is representative of that," CrowdStar studio head Blair Hamilton said in a release. "Now our 'Girl' social gaming franchise is thriving on Facebook, iOS, and Android."

And "thriving" might be a fine way of describing the "Girl" franchise: It has reportedly been downloaded over 4 million times on the iOS App Store. Players are apparently paying up, too, as CrowdStar said that Top Girl toppled both Angry Birds and Zynga Poker as the top-grossing game for iOS when launched earlier this spring. And who said girls don't play games?

Click here to download Top Girl for Android for Free Now >

Are you a Top Girl fan? Where would you like to see the franchise, or CrowdStar in general, go next?

Nintendo's Wii U is for 'a different consumer,' as in a wealthier one?

Aside from what the thing looks like (and a teeny bit of what it plays like), Nintendo's Wii U is shrouded in mystery. We know that the console will embrace social features, will have HD graphics and will cost a helluva lot of money--wait, what? There has been much speculation on the upcoming console's pricing. But Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime alluded to Time what type of crowd the company expects to draw with the Wii U, at least at launch.

"The consumer buying Wii hardware today is going to be a different consumer than the one who will be buying Wii U in the future," Fils-Aime told Time. "This is the first holiday that the Wii is available at $149.99 or below, so its an expanded demographic we're reaching. These are consumers who have heard about Wii for the past couple years, but at $199 or $249 it was economically out of their reach."

Based on earlier comments made by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and now these words, it would be fair to guess that the Wii U is going to cost more than $250 in the US at launch. That figure was the launch price for the original Wii way back in 2006, and still that was cheaper than both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 at launch. Nintendo's bread and butter has been the casual audience, which one could argue includes those that wouldn't exactly leap at a $300 or $400 video game box.

Fils-Aime went on the reiterate that the Wii and Wii U will coexist for some (as he told us recently), but said, "you can definitely expect that pricing is going to be different and that the games are going to be different." In this case, "different" sounds like "more expensive" to us, and we can't help but wonder whether Nintendo's most lucrative audience will bite.

[Via IndustryGamers]

Would you consider purchasing the Wii U if it were more expensive than $250 at launch? What would be your breaking point: $300, $400?

Zynga drops IPO valuation to $10B, but it's still more than EA [Report]

The big red dog looks like it's playing it safe. According to Reuters, FarmVille creator Zynga has lowered its valuation--what a company is expected to be worth based on various conditions--from $14 billion to $10 billion for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). (Of course, the news outlet cites nameless sources in its report.) This would make Zynga worth less than gaming giant Activision Blizzard's $14.21 billion.

However, the CityVille maker would still be leaps and bounds beyond current second place company EA's $7.69 billion. According to market analysts, $14 billion would have been asking for too much in this shaky economic climate. "I think they must have realized that getting $14 billion or higher would be a tough thing in this market," Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia told Reuters. We were wondering how they would pull that off."

Other analysts suggest that Zynga wait to go public, as the company just released its fastest-growing game to date, CastleVille, and revenue from that game hasn't even been recorded yet. According to Reuters, the company still seeks to raise $900 million initially at $8 to $10 a share when it hits the Nasdaq as "ZNGA" on Dec. 16. Company CEO Mark Pincus and crew are also still expected to hit the road next week, showing their stuff to potential investors. And Zynga will have to fight tooth and nail against the media, other companies and its own numbers for those billions.

How do you think it would effect the games industry if Zynga became even the second most valuable game company in the West? Do you think social games are worth investing your money in?

Yazino hopes to 'reinvent gambling' with in-sync social casino games

We'll be the first to admit it: Casino games have become a dime a dozen on Facebook recently. From Zynga's own Zynga Poker to Poker Rivals by Playfish and DoubleDown Casino, the sub genre is quickly becoming crowded. (Even PopCap appears keen on the genre.) That said, it's going to take a unique approach for a chance to attract a healthy chunk of that player base.

Yazino, a UK-based social gaming start-up founded in 2008, looks to bring exactly that with what CEO Hussein Chahine calls "in-sync" gaming. Chahine's vision is to have players compete and chat in real time across the web, iOS and Android devices--and Yazino is already doing just that. The seven games Yazino has today all started with a simple idea.

"The idea that we came by is, 'How do we take poker--a very engaging, a lot of emotions, there's a bit of skill when you play--and build an engine that builds completely synchronous games,'" Chahine tells us. "It's dedicated to games that are multiplayer by nature, and people want to play together. In all of the gambling industry, poker was the most powerful."

With that, Chahine and crew opted to create several classic casino games with the real-time competition that poker provides. And it's because of this direct competition that the Yazino chief believes his team works toward games that are truly social. "We have games on social networks, rather than social games," Chahine says. "If we put Solitaire on Facebook, would Solitaire be a social game?"
Blackjack by Yazino
While only two of Yazino's games--Blackjack and Slots Wheel Deal--are available on iOS, all of its games are on Facebook. Well, sort of. The company's seven games appear to be Facebook applications, but when launched redirect to Yazino's own website, which hosts the games complete with your list of Facebook friends and even random matchmaking. So, why take this route? According to Chahine, Facebook simply can't handle synchronous, multiplatform gaming at the moment.

"Synchronous play has a much deeper and more competitive advantage over asynchronous games. Because of the immersive nature of synchronous games, [the Facebook Ticker] is really a distraction, and actually quite annoying," Chahine admits. "It's like you're [watching] a horse race--you only want to know about what the horse is doing. Do I really care about 'Fred is listening to music?' The synchronous nature and intensity of these games require a different ambiance and a different environment."

Hussein ChahineYazino also looks to give players the option to create personal communities within the larger player base. Chahine (pictured right) uses the English football club Manchester United as an example: A group of friends who play in Manchester United together will soon have the option to create their own sub group, complete with its own leader boards. Because of this, along with the prospects of live chat and real-time gameplay across platforms, Chahine tells us that using Facebook directly isn't an option. (However, it's important to take note that this strategy appears to leave Yazino free from the grips of Facebook Credits too.)

Of course (well, at least in the U.S.), players can't cash in on their virtual winnings, as online gambling was effectively outlawed years ago. And apparently, players are actually happy to accept this reality, according to Chahine. The Yazino head also chalks that up to the fact that players can enjoy its games for free through offers and chips provided daily. Giving players the opportunity to play for free is "a big area of focus" for Yazino, Chahine tells us. And according to him, the entire social gaming scene would be different if online gambling hadn't suffered its run-ins with the law before the turn of the decade. Zynga Poker was one of Zynga's first games, after all.

"Zynga is the only player that's not a gambling site that could throw that game. Poker Stars didn't have the opportunity," Chahine tells us. "They were banned from Facebook, so if PokerStars and the other big sites were allowed even from a virtual perspective. So, if they were allowed to enter that market, there's no way Zynga would have had that success with Zynga Poker."
Slots Wheel Deal by Yazin0
In other words, Facebook could have very well been dominated by casino and gambling games if not for Internet gambling's dashed history with the law before and during Facebook's rise. But Yazino isn't interested in real money gambling. Period. (But is it any less real when players can pay for chips, but not see a return?) Regardless, what Chahine says is that Yazino is interested in is to "reinvent gambling in a much more sophisticated way."

"When you play together, our emotions are heightened," Chahine gushes. "It's more amplified, it's more real and we become more competitive. We do believe at Yazino, what we're trying to become is the pioneer of friendly competition."

Have you tried any of Yazino's games on Facebook (sort of) or mobile yet? What are your thoughts on the rise of casino games on Facebook and elsewhere?

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and that red thing just might get a social game

You know, that thing that looks like a walking, furry Valentine? Wait, that thing has a name, and it's "Gossamer?" (What kind of name is that?) Anyway, Fusible has tracked down a lengthy list of domain names registered by Warner Bros. Entertainment on Nov. 29, nearly all of which seeming to refer to an online game that could be in the works: Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe.

Of course, the game could be named anything. But it's a safe guess for now that domains like "CartoonUniversegame.com", "Playtheuniverse.com" and "Looneytunescu.com," refer to a game titled at least similarly to that. There are other domains that WB registered this week, like "Toontokens.com" and "Wbcash.com", that suggest the game would be supported by in-game purchases using a currency like Toon Tokens.

A Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe game would make a whole lot of sense both on Facebook and elsewhere. Disney is arguably WB's biggest competitor, and the company has already stated plans for its cast of characters to enter Facebook games through developer Playdom. The company has even release a console game titled "Disney Universe." Perhaps WB is eying up a piece of the same pie.

While this game--if it even is a game--could appear on any platform, it's also important to consider the audience. Looney Tunes have always been the more mature cartoon troupe, and the majority of Facebook gamers are adults. Who knows, maybe Bugs, Daffy (and Gossamer) can beat Mickey and crew to the punch.

Would you play a Looney Tunes game on Facebook or elsewhere? Who do you think would be more successful in Facebook games: Disney or Warner Bros.?

EA wants to get into hardcore gaming ... on Facebook [Update]

KlickNation Games
Update: Inside Social Games has confirmed that EA has purchased KlickNation. The outlet reports that the studio will be integrated into BioWare's social game development arm, most likely referring to BioWare San Francisco. Check out the full report here.

No, you probably won't see Battlefield 3 on Facebook anytime soon. But EA could make another social gaming buy by the end of the week, according to Inside Social Games's nameless sources. The Playfish and PopCap owner is reportedly looking to pick up Age of Champions creator KlickNation in a bid to enter the emerging hardcore social games scene on Facebook.

The 70 person-strong studio would add to the publisher's stable of social game developers that could bring its traditional game franchises to life on social networks, like EA2D (now BioWare San Francisco) has done with Dragon Age Legends. It's been said that there are nearly 80 million gamers enjoying more "core" game experiences on Facebook, so it's understandable why EA would be bullish on this audience.

However, as it does with your run-of-the-mill social games, EA faces stiff competition in the strategy games space on Facebook. Developers like Kixeye, Kabam and even Digital Chocolate have staked their claim when it comes to hardcore games on the platform. EA will likely test the waters with its upcoming Risk: Factions on Facebook, but that games appears more cartoon-like than most strategy games on the network.

The second place publisher has struck gold with The Sims Social, though it's in decline. Regardless, EA will be better off sticking with its more recognizable franchises if it's to use the KlickNation team to make new games. That said, maybe Battlefield will make it to Facebook after all--and there's always Command & Conquer.

Is it a good idea for EA to buy a developer like KlickNation? Could EA make a dent in the strategy games space on Facebook with properties like Command & Conquer?

Cafe World Great Cool-Off Goals: Everything you need to know

While some areas of the country may be cooling down as we head into fall, apparently you cafe in Cafe World is still smokin' hot! Imagine how inconvenient it would be, then, if the air conditioning suddenly went out! Well, that's the problem being tackled in the game's latest set of goals, as you'll need to help Ziggy come up with a fix for the A/C problem since the repairman is nowhere to be found. Sure, this is an incredibly far-fetched design for a series of goals in a cooking game, but you'll earn some cold new recipes to serve your guests to keep them cold as well. Let's get started.

Great Cool-Off 1

    Ask for 6 Thermometers
    Serve 25 Corned Beef
    Serve Chocolate Cream Pie 15 Times


If these dishes aren't the ones that show up in your own game (they likely won't be), it's because Zynga has yet again flipped the "random" switch, giving users different dishes to cook to complete the same goals. Remember, these dishes' cooking times should even out at the end so that each individual user has had to spend roughly the same amount of time cooking overall, but there's no way for us to predict the exact dishes for each particular goal you'll receive.

Great Cool-Off 2

    Ask for 6 French Lemons
    Serve 18 Chocolate Cream Pies
    Ask for 8 Chilled Creams


Since Chocolate Cream Pie has shown up twice here, it's likely that one of these times (if not both) is static across all goals. Even if that's not the case, we'll go ahead and remind you that it takes 10 hours to prepare. When you finish this goal, you'll receive a new recipes: Frozen Lemon Custard.

Great Cool-Off 3

    Serve Frozen Lemon Custard 20 Times
    Serve 18 Overstuffed Peppers
    Spice 3 of your dishes


It doesn't look to matter which spices you use, so feel free to use peppers or salts if you don't want to waste anything else.

Great Cool-Off 4

    Ask for 8 Bags of Ice
    Serve 20 Rackasaurus Ribs
    Serve Apple Cider 10 Times


Apple Cider is found on the first page of the Drink Bar, and costs just nine energy to create. You'll receive five servings, so just run through those twice and you'll be done.

Great Cool-Off 5

    Ask for 8 Fresh Cherries
    Serve 20 Elegant Cupcakes
    Serve Vanilla Ice Cream 10 Times


For this goal, the final prize is the Cherries Jubilee recipe (a very pretty color of ice cream).

Great Cool-Off 6

    Serve 30 Taste Lab Dishes with Potatoes
    Serve Cherries Jubilee 12 Times
    Ask for 10 A/C Parts


The Taste Lab dishes are those "Signature Dishes" that you can create manually using various ingredients. You'll just need to create a single dish using Potatoes, and then serve it 30 times to finish this one off.

Great Cool-Off 7

    Master Frozen Lemon Custard through Level 2
    Serve 20 Sisigs
    Serve Mint Ice Cream 10 Times


Remember, these Ice Cream recipes are found inside the Ice Cream Cart, which works similarly to the Drink Bar. Mint requires 35 energy to serve, and you'll earn eight servings to pass out to hungry guests.

Great Cool-Off 8

    Ask for 8 Watermelons
    Serve 40 Creamy Corn Soup
    Ask for 10 Yellow Onions


For finishing this final goal in the Great Cool-Off series, you'll receive one final, cool dish to serve to guests before they all run away from the heat: Watermelon Gazpacho. As usual, you'll then be able to cook this dish as you would any other, but as the goal series is now over, you can also feel free to ignore it and get back to work on other things. It's all up to you.

What do you think of these Great Cool-Off goals in Cafe World? Do you think the theme of these goals was cute and creative, or did it stretch imagination a bit too far?

CityVille Work of Art Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

While you may be pretty focused on finishing the many parts of CityVille's Halloween event, if you're looking for something else to work on, on the side, you'll be happy to know that Louise has come back to offer you a new timed goal called "A Work of Art." This timed goal sees you brushing up on your artistry by putting on an Art Show for all of your town's citizens.

You'll have three tasks to make this show a success:

    Get 18 Art Prints
    Harvest 70 Cranberries
    Remodel a Timeshare Tower


These tasks are all fairly simple, but can be more than a bit time consuming (which is unfortunate, as you're of course being timed here). The Art Prints are earned by asking your friends to send them to you via a general wall post, while Cranberries take a full 12 hours to grow (if your friends don't come by and tend them first). Finally, remodeling a Timeshare Tower is the easiest task, so long as you've already built the Remodel HQ in your town. From there, just change your mouse pointer to the remodel icon in the game's menu (in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen) and click on a Timeshare Tower to choose a new "paint scheme." The cheapest one costs around 33,000 coins (the building's original paint scheme costs less but that's only a valid option if you've already changed the look of your existing towers in your town).

If you can finish this timed goal within two days, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, an Artist's Easel decoration, 2,400 coins and 1,300 Goods. If you can't finish it quite so quickly, but still finish within the first 72 hours, you won't earn the Artist's Easel, but you will earn a Silver Trophy, 2,400 coins and 1,300 Goods. Finally, if you finish the goal at any point after the first 72 hours have passed, you'll receive just 1,300 Goods. That's still a valuable prize, all thing's considered, but if you're going for the top prize, make sure to plan ahead as much as you can before voluntarily starting the time limit in your own game - that is, have Cranberries ready to harvest - so you'll have the best chance of success.

What do you think of this newest Timed Goal? Will you wait until after the Halloween event to try this one out, or are you already ready for a break from the monsters now taking over your city?

CityVille PSA: Stumpfords' Family Vacation goals will expire soon

Back in August, Zynga - the developer behind CityVille - announced that many of the game's original (or at least extremely old) goal series would be leaving the game. With this announcement, we saw the developer opening the door for even more goals to be added to the game to fill in the blanks, but it looks like we've reached capacity yet again. Why? Well, the Stumpfords (those folks that have been on vacation since late August, have finally decided to go home.

To be specific, this marks the upcoming departure of the Family Vacation goals from the game. This particular goal series contains four parts, and sees you doing things like growing carrots and collecting from Diners, so here's a short recap.

My Way or the Highway

    Ask for 4 Maps
    Collect two times from any Library
    Harvest 50 Carrots
    Reward: Giant Ball of Twine decoration


Detour Guide

    Have a Giant Ball of Twine in your town
    Collect from any Diner five times
    Send 5 Tour Buses to Burger Joints
    Reward: 400 Goods


Camping My Style

    Have 6 Fitness Collection collectibles
    Ask friends for 4 Mosquito Repellent
    Pitch Two Tents
    Reward: Wooden Dino


Hoax Busters

    Have one Wooden Dino in your City
    Ask for 10 Pictures of Bigfoot
    Collect two times from any Level 2 Emergency Clinic


If you've yet to start on any of these goals, then you'll definitely want to move quickly as these goals (and the exclusive prizes therein) will officially leave the game in just over 31 hours, as of this writing. Think that's enough time to finish all four of these goals? Perhaps not, if you haven't already upgraded your Emergency Clinic (and you aren't already on that goal), but you can at least blast your way through the first three with a little luck and lots of determination (and don't forget some help from friends). Good luck!

Have you already finished the Family Vacation goals in CityVille? If not, where are you currently? Do you think you'll have enough time to finish the ones you have left?

FarmVille: Will you miss the Perfect Bunches feature? [Poll]

Remember Perfect Bunches? Depending on how long you've been playing FarmVille, or how many flower crops you actively grow, the feature may have never crossed your radar. If you'd like a refresher, Perfect Bunches are decorative flowers that you'll receive at random when harvesting flower crops on your farms. These will go inside your Garden Shed, which has a limited storage capacity and can then be used as decorations on your land. However, the time for Perfect Bunches is now over... well, mostly.

That's right, the Perfect Bunches feature has been deleted from FarmVille, but with a few catches. For the basics, we'll no longer be able to receive Perfect Bunches when harvesting (regardless of which farm you're harvested flowers on), and therefore won't be able to share extras with friends or claim extras posted by friends on their own walls. However, if you have a Garden Shed on your farm(s), the Perfect Bunches inside will still function in the same way - allowing them to be used as decoration until they eventually wither.

What's particularly interesting about this feature removal is one of the questions it brings up. Why would the FarmVille team go to the trouble of creating and coding another Garden Shed specifically for the launch of Lighthouse Cove (and storage of Lighthouse Cove flowers) just to delete the feature almost entirely such a short time later? Whatever the case, we're left with another question as well, that we'll leave to you to answer:

Will you miss the Perfect Bunches feature in FarmVille?
Yes! I planted Perfect Bunches around my farm(s) all of the time!Yes! I'll miss collecting different flowers from my friends!No! I'm glad the Perfect Bunches pop-ups are gone!I had forgotten the feature even existed.
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com


Have something to say about Perfect Bunches or any other removed / changed feature in FarmVille?

CityVille Forsaken Fortress helps you finish goals for a price

Arguably the biggest debate over CityVille's Halloween event isn't whether or not to pay 100 coins to turn your city dark and dreary, but it's over whether the requirement of 3,500 monster citizens in your town is downright crazy or just the slightest bit insane (as, let's face it, it's not the smartest or best thing we've ever seen released).

As a refresher, you'll need to first purchase enough Monster-themed Community Buildings to allow for 3,500 Monsters to be living in your town, and will then need to purchase plenty of smaller Monster-themed homes, taking up tons of space in your town in the process, to eventually reach 3,500. This of course comes as a part of the Halloween-themed goals in the game, and even though complaints have already started spreading like wildfire, circumstances remain unchanged.

Your drama can be avoided, however, if you're willing to shell out an equally large amount of City Cash, as a new home has been released in the game's store - the Forsaken Forteress - for a limited time. In this one home, which costs 85 City Cash, you're given 2,750 Monsters. Again, that's with one building. However, that still doesn't eliminate the need for so many Community Buildings. Throw out another 70 City Cash and you can purchase the Transylvania Station, adding 5,000 Monsters to your total Monster population cap.

With two buildings, you can put this grueling in-game goal to bed, but at a terribly high price. Granted, these items look incredibly neat, along with having those great stats, but are they worth the price? You tell us.

Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.

Should we be required to spend that much City Cash just to avoid cluttering our towns with tons of smaller homes and community buildings to complete goals? Will you purchase any of these City Cash decorations to speed up your progress?

Zynga starts decorating really early in CityVille Holidaytown for iPhone

We can just imagine the meeting that spawned CityVille Holidaytown: "You know what, this is the holidays, gosh darn it! Forget an in-game event--we're doing a full-blown Christmas--er Holiday game." Zynga has released its second CityVille game to the App Store, CityVille Holidaytown, and what better way to stir the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa (did we get them all?) spirit than an iPhone game?

The game looks like it plays essentially the same way as CityVille Hometown, but swap the human residents for elves and and bricks homes for gingerbread houses. Players are tasked with building the ultimate Christmas town with, of course, the help of their Facebook friends. Zynga's first-ever holiday-themed game is governed by quests, much like the original, though it's not connected to your web CityVille game.

Simply put, CityVille Holidaytown is a CityVille dedicated solely to ringing in the holidays (even if a tad early). With the stress of the holidays that begins on the dot on Nov. 25, the least this game could do is get you in the mood to celebrate amidst the Christmas chaos. Besides, it's 100 percent free to play ... now we've got your attention.
CityVille Holidaytown on iPhone
Click here to download CityVille Holidaytown for free from the App Store Now >

Are you ready for Christmas just yet? Do you think a Christmas game wherever you go can put you in the spirit?

The Sims Social Pic of the Day: Gujane's sky-scraping tree house

Gujane's tree house monstrosity has been turning heads since it was shared on The Sims Social forums back in August. It's undergone three incarnations so far, where the original was so tall, the creator couldn't even squeeze a full-size view from his or her play screen. Gujane's sim lives in a tree house built on a 5x6 square tile of land. Among the things Gujane's managed to fit within that space is a sofa, a counter, four farming plots, a jacuzzi, the trash can, a computer, the fridge, a birdhouse, a guitar, a microwave, and a ridiculous amount of trees and tables piled straight to heaven. And just for laughs, all of this is topped by a black-seated toilet, perched like the Eye of Sauron.
Click the image to make it larger.

A modified version of this tree house has two columns of white tables, with the toilet on the right and a telescope on the left. Gujane's sim can actually use the telescope, as evidenced by the screenshot above. How did the sim even get up there? My guess is teleportation, which is something sims can do when you give them the Ninja Trait. As to the secret of Gujane's tree house (and all those spherical bushes floating in mid-air), the answer is stacking, and while it's not something the game is designed to let you do, anyone can learn to do it. We'll be having a guide on that quite soon.

Is Gujane's tree house a work of insanity or genius? Is this the dumbest or most awesome Sims Social house you've ever seen?

Disney, Playdom look to former OnLive exec as head of social games

Former OnLive VP of games and media John Spinale got traditional game publishers interested in streaming their games, perhaps he has a trick or two up his sleeve for Disney. VentureBeat reports that Spinale has joined Disney as its head of social games, essentially taking over Playdom GM (and Disney Interactive Media Group co-president) John Pleasants's duties.

Spinale, now based in DIMG's Palo Alto-Calif. offices, will cover Playdom's day-to-day activities and report to Pleasants, according to VentureBeat. Before coming to Playdom, Spinale handled bringing dozens of new games and publishers on board to OnLive's video game streaming service--quite the feat, if you ask us.

"Playdom has an exciting road map for 2012 and beyond, and John will play an important role in bringing the magic of Disney to the world's most popular social media platforms," Pleasants said. "Social games are a key part of Disney's digital strategy, and will be a critical driver of DIMG's future success."

This news comes just after Business Insider's scathing report on the state of Disney and Playdom, citing nameless sources. One source even said, "Six top executives at the VP level or above have moved on in the last three months including Playdom's Co-COO." If those statements are to be true, then Spinale has quite a lot of work ahead of him. Spinale will have the golden opportunity to oversee Disney's long-awaited entry into social games ... aside from Gnome Town.

Is this the nudge that Disney and Playdom need to make even bigger waves in the social games space? What Disney franchise do you hope hits Facebook first?

Black Friday doorbusters: Coming to an online game near you?

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in retail stores and, apparently, in online games.

Maple Story creator Nexon reports a massive surge in in-game item purchases during BF 2010 and expects history will repeat itself this year. On that day, which is generally devoted to gorging on Thanksgiving leftovers and stalking doorbuster deals, the company saw a 240% increase in virtual goods sales compared to the previous week. What were virtual shoppers snapping up like cheap flat-screen TVs? An item called a Miracle Cube in Maple Story, which can be used to randomly upgrade in-game items.

That statistic certainly leads one to wonder if other online games will roll out some doorbuster deals of their own. I'm sure more than a few people would be willing to wait on a virtual queue to buy, say, a deeply discounted FarmVille Unwither Ring, a rare (and pricey) item that ensures you'll never see a withered crop on your farm ever again.