Meet the man behind the FarmVille theme song

If you've spent as many hours as we have playing FarmVille, you know how easily the game's folksy theme song gets permanently imprinted on your brain. The man behind that ditty is musician Steve Kirk, who has written songs for video games such as Disney's Princess and the Frog and an unannounced LucasArts game.

In an interview on Social Times, Kirk says that he wanted to create a song that was 'down home' but 'not too country."

    The FarmVille Theme was written in June of 2009. We wanted the piece to have as broad an appeal as possible- a "down-home" atmosphere but not too country. So there are no banjos or fiddles, but a simple two guitars, piano and upright bass instrumentation, with the electric guitar carrying the melody. We settled on a style that hints at Chet Atkins and Randy Newman- an older style of American music that is somewhat country-ish and blues-ish in flavor.

    Considering the game-play environment was very important, and because the music was to be only 30 seconds long, we wanted it to bear a lot of repetition before people would turn it off. I wanted to have real instruments be the focal point, and chose guitar because I play guitar and there was no budget to hire other musicians. I decided not to use drums or percussion because I felt that might end up being too distracting from the game.

Kirk's favorite game on Facebook, is not Zynga's virtual farming game -- it's PopCap's crack-like match-three game, Bejeweled Blitz. To learn more about Kirk, check out his official Web site.

FarmVille playground decor - because virtual farmers need recess too

All work and no play makes farmers a dull lot. That's why we were psyched to discover the crop of new playground items that have just arrived in the FarmVille Market.

            farmville tetherball
       
Now our mini farmers can take a rest from all of that back-breaking work and gaze upon the following playground items:

    Lookout Tower
    Merry-go-round
    Seesaw
    Swing set
    Slide
    Monkey bars
    Tetherball

The big winner out of all of these is the Merry-Go-Round, an animated item with a chicken that looks on from the side. Gotta love when regular items get a FarmVille twist.

If you have pictures of your FarmVille playground, please send them to editors@games.com, and we'll post them here.

FarmVille Tuscany items multiply with Allegra's Abby and Dante's Ristorante

Gotta give FarmVille credit-- when it latches on to a good theme, it really goes for broke. Of course, thats ultimately to our benefit, and we're happy to see that more Tuscan-themed items have made their way to the in-game Market, including a handsome Tuscan church called Allegra's Abby and a Tuscan Restaurant, aka Dante's Ristorante, complete with outdoor seating. We could really stand to be kicking back on that restaurant patio about now. There are also three new decorations that will give your farm that extra authentic Tuscan-y look.

        farmville pot of lavender
       

Here is the complete list of new items:

    Tuscany Lamppost
    Tuscany Planter
    Tuscany Rocky Red Flower Knoll
    Allegra's Abby
    Dante's Ristorante

Which Tuscan-themed items have you bought so far?

FarmVille Re-Releases Clover, Amaranth, White Roses, & Forget-Me-Not Seeds

FarmVille Re-Releases Clover, Amaranth, White Roses, & Forget-Me-Not Seeds
Welcome back the Clover, Amaranth, White Roses and Forget-Me-Nots! The Clover will unlock at level 70, Amaranth at level 76, White Roses at level 80 and requires that Pink Roses are mastered, and the Forget-Me-Nots at level 90.

Are you happy to see these crops come back with the ability to master them?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.


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FarmVille Adds New Levels: 90-999

FarmVille has now added new levels! The following levels have been added with the XP needed.

Level 91 = 876,500 XP
Level 92 = 918,500 XP
Level 93 = 963,500 XP
Level 94 = 1,012,000 XP
Level 95 = 1,064,000 XP
Level 96 = 1,120,000 XP
Level 97 = 1,180,000 XP
Level 98 = 1,244,500 XP
Level 99 = 1,313,500 XP
Level 100 = 1,387,500 XP

Level 101 = 1,500,000 XP

Level 102-999 increase in increments of 100,000 XP to achieve next level.

It has been rumored that the levels go up to level 999! We will confirm shortly!

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Update includes One-Click Harvesting for Animal Buildings

one click harvesting
Tonight's FarmVille update featured lots of new limited edition New England themed items, new Mystery Game prizes and some other minor and less noticeable updates including the following:

    Animal Buildings such as the Chicken Coop,Dairy Farm, Horse Stable and Nursery Barn now have one-click harvesting, just like other animals!
    Goji Berry seeds are still available in the FarmVille Market, but have simply moved to another place. Usually the first item you see is Goji Berry seeds, now they can be found with other fruits.
    The Email promotion of "Daily Fuel Boost" is now a regular feature.
    More farmers should have access to the new Crafting Building feature.


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Limited Edition Wild West Animal: Cottontail Rabbit

farmville cottontail rabbit
Are you ready for a new Rabbit? FarmVille released a Limited Edition Wild West themed Cottontail Rabbit tonight.

The Cottontail Rabbit can be purchased for 12 farm cash in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.
farmville cottontail rabbit
FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released August 31, 2010):

Cottontail Rabbit – 12 FV$

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Will you purchase the new Cottontail Rabbit for your animal collection?

FarmVille Unreleased Pinto Bean, Pinto Bean Market Stall, Pinto Bean Mastery Sign, & Pinto Bean Bushel

    farmville pinto bean bushel     farmville pinto bean market stall     farmville pinto bean mastery
Thank you to Teresa for finding these unreleased FarmVille Pinto Bean, Pinto Bean Market Stall, Pinto Bean Mastery Sign, & Pinto Bean Bushel items!

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Unreleased Back to School Duck, Dutch Barn, Rectangular Haybale, & Pig Slop

Thank you to Teresa for finding these unreleased FarmVille Back to School Duck, Dutch Barn, Rectangular Haybale, Slop!

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Unreleased Blacksmith, Sherriff's Office, Water Well, Wanted Sign, Sage, Wild Turkey v2, Gold Rush Stream

    farmville sheriff station     farmville gold rush stream     farmville wild turkey
Lots of new unreleased FarmVille Wild West items! There is a Blacksmith, Sherriff's Office for the buildings and decorations that include a Water Well, an awesome Wanted Sign, Gold Rush Stream, and Sage plant. Finally a handsome Wild West Wild Turkey rounds out the list. These items would look great with the Wild West theme and we can't wait to see if and when they come out!
farmville wanted poster     farmville wild west water well     farmville wild west sage bush
Note, unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market and are subject to change without notice.

Thank you to Teresa for finding these unreleased FarmVille Blacksmith, Sherriff's Office, Wild West Water Well, Wild West Wanted Sign, Wild West, Sage, Wild Turkey v2, Gold Rush Stream items!

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Let's Drink to German Hospitality

Between this new unreleased FarmVille German Beer Garden (see the 3rd item from the left in above pic), last week's lederhosen and dirndl dressed gnomes, and the Oktoberfest Tent from the week before that, there might finally be enough items to pull off a beer fest on the farm. Aside from that, you've got the German Hotel and the German Castle Wall Fence, which is a classier way of corralling your revelers than with cheap wooden fences. And while we're at it, nothing completes a party like a Backyard Pool, but this one comes off more like a garden pond than one for cannon-balling. Grab a dose of serenity by checking out the animation of the pool below:
[via FarmVille Freak and FarmVille Latest]

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Haiti 'The School of Choice' Hot Air Balloon

Our last look at FarmVille's School of Choice campaign showed that they had hit their 400 million mark, and were now aiming for 1 billion in virtual exchanged gifts. Right now, the counter has passed the 750 million mark with a $72k increase in player donations from Sweet Beets.

Given the momentum of this charity drive, it seems inevitable that Zynga will end up donating their promised total of $200k.

Today, a leaked image of a Haiti Hot Air Balloon imprinted with the "L' Ecole de Choix" banner and sporting the colors of the Haitian flag, made its way around the fan sites. FarmVille will probably cap off the event with a commemorative item and we can only bet that this balloon is it. But as always, the only guarantee when it comes to leaked items is a little insight into what the game creators are pondering.

Zynga expands to new global headquarters in San Francisco: More jobs incoming?

Townsend Center
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced today that social gaming colossus Zynga has signed a 7-year lease on a new location for their imperial stronghold global headquarters. Located at 8th and Townsend Streets in the city by the bay, 270,000 of the 650,000 square foot Townsend Center, a TMG Partners building, will belong to Zynga.

The move in from 365 Vermont Street begins in Spring 2011 to the sprawling Townsend Center, complete with wellness center and company cafe, which hopefully will fit however many of the company's 1,200 employees who will be stationed there. Over the past two years, the creator of FarmVille has grown from 398 employees in September 2009 to its current number in September 2010 with offices worldwide in Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Los Angeles, Austin, Boston, Baltimore, Bangalore, Beijing, Tokyo and recently Frankfurt.

"As a 15-year San Francisco resident, I value the city's unique ability to attract the combination of top creative and tech talent that enables innovation," said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus (wait a tick). "Our new headquarters will capture our culture of collaboration, creativity and fun. I want to thank the Mayor for being an outstanding partner in making our new headquarters become a reality."

While Zynga is obviously excited about the move for financial and creative reasons (and more office space!), Mayor Newsom is just thankful for the company's potential "to flourish, keep and grow jobs in San Francisco." With two office buys in the past week with one having room for some 2,000 employees, according to Venture Beat, somebody might be hiring again.

FarmVille's Agricultural Alchemy theme debuts in the marketplace

Less than 24 hours after being shown a teaser video for the newest theme in FarmVille, that being Agricultural Alchemy, we have already been given the first round release of items in this new theme in the game's store.

This (presumably first of many) release sees the addition of the full trio of expected items: Animals, Buildings and Decorations. In this case, the newest animal in the game is the Griffin, which is available to purchase for 40 Farm Cash. This mythical creature can be harvested from every 2 days, and remember, as a Farm Cash item, you can send one to a friend as a gift if you feel so inclined.

Meanwhile, the theme's new building is the Wizard's Lab, also a Farm Cash item, available for 36 Farm Cash. Finally, there are two new decorative items to go along with this theme, and they are the Sorcerer Pig (a cute pig flying on a floating broom), and the Magic Books shelf. Unfortunately, both of these items are premium as well, with the Sorcerer Pig setting you back 18 Farm Cash to the Magic Books' 10 Farm Cash price tag.

With the upcoming release of the newest Harry Potter film, it only makes sense that Zynga would attempt to cross-promote (even unofficially) to make the most of the film's success with fans who are apparently willing to spend real money on items that remind them of the franchise.

FarmVille: New Pilgrim, Turkey, and Wizard costumes

FarmVille Pilgrim and FarmVIlle Turkey
Tonight's massive FarmVille update brought four new adorable costumes, three for Thanksgiving and one for the new Agricultural Alchemy theme. Available for 10 Farm Cash each, these costumes are absolutely cute and are decently priced for the full makeover that they give your avatar.

For Thanksgiving, there are two Pilgrim costumes, a Pilgrim Girl and a Pilgrim Boy. Even if you are a female avatar, you can still wear the other gender's clothing option, so you're not stuck to buying the gender that your avatar happens to be. There is also a new Turkey costume, which has big cute eyes.

For the new Agricultural Alchemy theme, there is a new Wizard costume that will give you the perfect outfit to celebrate the new Harry Potter movie this weekend.

Which costume do you like best? Will you be celebrating Thanksgiving in FarmVille, or is Harry Potter more your style?

Find more stories on our 2010 Thanksgiving Guide for FarmVille, Mafia Wars & more.

Check out the rest of our Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows coverage.

New FarmVille Animals: Harvest Horse & Silver Turkey

It's that time folks - Zynga has officially kicked off the Thanksgiving celebration in FarmVille, and they've started with this set of two two, limited edition animals.

The first is a Harvest Horse, available to purchase for 26 Farm Cash. It is decorated with a lovely wreath of sorts, and is one of the prettiest horses we've seen released in the game to date. It can be harvested from every 3 days.

The Silver Turkey costs a bit less, at 18 Farm Cash, and takes one less day to harvest, allowing you to collect from it at a rate of every two days. While this is a lovely new turkey, that would look great in its own special reserved spot on your farm, we're sure the other Turkeys in your Turkey Roost would love the company of this new fella as well.

As of this writing, the Harvest Horse has a time limit of 16 days, while the Silver Turkey will be around for 19. You've still got plenty of time to save up the Farm Cash necessary to purchase either animal, but keep those dates in mind when you go to shop.

FarmVille: Thanksgiving Buildings/Decorations now available

Not only has Zynga released a new set of Agricultural Alchemy items in tonight's FarmVille update, but they've also unveiled a large portion of this year's Thanksgiving theme of items, including a new building and a whole slew of new decorations.

The new building is the Fall Home, a country home covered in fallen leaves, that is available to purchase for 15 Farm Cash. While this building is quite lovely, it's in the decorative portion of the store that we start to find the items that are really interesting.

There, you'll find two of the three Thanksgiving Balloons we spoke of over the weekend. Those being the Horse and Cow Balloons (as of this writing, the Duck Balloon is strangely MIA). In addition to these balloons (which go for 5 Farm Cash each), you'll find Autumn Gourds for 2 Farm Cash, a set of regular Gourds for 1 Farm Cash, an individual section of Wreath Fencing for 5,000 coins, and two kinds of decorative pumpkins: a Black Pumpkin and a White Pumpkin, each of which costs 1,500 coins.

Currently, these items are listed at between 14-16 days remaining in the game's store, depending on the item. The Balloons, Fencing, Pumpkins and even Fall Home will leave the store after two weeks, but the two Gourds items will last the full 16 day time limit.

As we've seen more unreleased images leak pertaining to Thanksgiving, we can only assume that this is but the first round of Thanksgiving themed buildings / decorations we'll see released in FarmVille this month. Be sure to check back with us as (if) new items release, so you're always on top of the game.

Check out the rest of our Thanksgiving 2010 coverage right here

FarmVille: Ornament Trees return, but at a very high cost

If you're one of the many FarmVille players that started playing the game sometime this year, and didn't have a chance to celebrate the winter holidays in the game in 2009, you'll be happy to know that Zynga has continued the process of re-releasing some of the best items from last year's theme, so that you can have a chance to "catch up."

Two such items were released in tonight's FarmVille update - those being the Ornament Tree I and Ornament Tree II. As their names suggest, these trees are standard evergreen trees, that grow ornaments and bows, rather than any kind of food. Both of the trees can be harvested every two days, returning the tree to an "ornament-less" state, and you'll gain 150 coins for each harvest. The only real difference between these trees, at least functionally, is in the color of ornaments that grow on them. Ornament Tree I grows orange and red ornaments, presents, and bows, while Ornament Tree II grows blue and silver presents, ornaments, and bows.

However, upon this year's re-release of the trees, the price has been increased... how do I say this politely... drastically. Last year, each tree cost just 1,500 coins (visual proof is below). Now, the price is 20 Farm Cash for Ornament Tree I and 15 Farm Cash for Ornament Tree II. Not only are the trees no longer available for coins, but, adding insult to injury, the price is equal to that of many limited edition decorations.

One could argue that these trees are just like any other limited edition decoration, as they will only be available for 23 days, but the simple fact that the price has been increased so much in just a year's time is more than a bit insulting to those players that have been with the game this entire time - even more so to those newer players who were looking to catch up with those veterans.

Either way, whether you purchased these trees last year, or if you're just picking them up this year, they are available to master, with both trees reaching a One-Star level of mastery after 113 harvests. It's the decision in whether or not to actually splurge on these trees that will be the issue at hand.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

Were you playing FarmVille last year? What do you think of this dramatic price increase from last year's holiday theme? If you're a new player, would you be willing to spend this much Farm Cash on a single tree?

FarmVille: CityVille Sam asks "Won't you be my neighbor?"

In an attempt to get FarmVille players to try out their new city-building game CityVille, Zynga has released a two-part cross-promotion in FarmVille, adding a new "neighbor" to players' friends bars at the bottom of the gameplay area, in addition to adding a large billboard to one side of users' farms.

If you attempt to "visit" Sam by clicking on her picture in the neighbor bar, as though she were any other friend, you won't be taken to a new farm; instead, you're shown a large ad asking you if you'd like to check out CityVille. If you agree, CityVille simply loads in a new window. If you decline, the window will disappear and you can go back to farming as usual.

However, where Sam's presence in your friends list really doesn't affect gameplay, the billboard truly can, as it is so massive that is actually blocks the better part of three or four plots' worth of land from your view (for perspective, the picture at the top of this post is the billboard's size after zooming out three times). Since it's placed outside of your farm's limits, it doesn't technically stop you from using this portion of your land, but you won't be able to see what's behind it.

This can be rectified, however, as Zynga has added another function to clicking on Sam's picture - that being to click on a check box that will allow you to "Remove sign from farm." Make sure that you're certain about removing the sign, though, as it doesn't appear that there's any way to get it back once you do.

With most Zynga games now offering some sort of pop-up advertising CityVille, it doesn't surprise me that they've added such a large cross-promotion to FarmVille. We're just glad that you can remove it once you're done looking at it.

What do you think of the addition of the CityVille billboard to FarmVille? Did you remove it from your farm, or are you happen to see the sign when you login to your game?

New FarmVille Animals: Mistletoe Donkey & Winter Goat

Looking to add a bit of a festive touch to your animal pens in FarmVille this holiday season? Then why not add one of the game's two newest themed animals to your herd?

The two new animals come in the form of a Mistletoe Donkey (what appears to be a regular donkey, outfitted with a red and white scarf and a sprig of mistletoe hanging from his head) and a Winter Goat (a regular brown goat with a green scarf and earmuffs). You might recognize this Winter Goat from the FarmVille Holiday Limited Edition Showcase 2 video (what a mouthful!) that was released on Monday.

Both of these animals cost Farm Cash, with the Mistletoe being the more expensive of the two, at 18 Farm Cash. The Winter Goat, then, costs 14 Farm Cash. The Donkey can be harvested from everyday, while the Winter Goat is a two-day harvest animal. The Donkey's higher price tag is further explained by the fact that you'll earn 100 coins from harvesting it, while the Goat only offers 54 coins at each harvest.

Sure, neither of these animals are going to help you quickly earn a mountain of in-game riches, but we all know that you're not spending 18 (or even 14) Farm Cash on an animal because of its possibility for profitability.

Both of these animals will be available in the game for the next 16 days, and remember, you can easily send these items to friends as an in-game gift by just clicking on the "Send" button and choosing a friend, instead of clicking on "Buy" to add these animals to your own farm.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

What do you think of these two new animals? Which other animal do you want Zynga to give a holiday spin to this year?