Treasure Isle Flags
Treasure Isle rolled out a set of 34 new animated flags today, and each one will be around for a limited time. These flags come perfectly timed with the FIFA World Cup 2010, and we're sure that isn't a coincidence. You can now represent your homeland (or your favorite team) by purchasing one of these bright and colorful flags. Each flag costs 12 Island Cash, which is definitely not cheap, especially for a simple flag (and let's face it, who wants to fly just one flag? We want a whole mess of flags on our islands). As an added bonus, buying a flag will give you 72 XP.
These flags vary from the United States, UK, and Australia, to more obscure flags such as Turkey and Thailand. They also through in a Zynga logo flag, a Treasure Isle logo flag, and an Earth flag. Not every Treasure Isle release is super exciting, and flags are definitely not a new invention in the social gaming world. Perhaps people will be motivated by the limited time availability, since these flags are only going to be purchasable for the next 5 days.
See the complete collection of the new Treasure Isle flags after the jump.
What flags are you flying on your Treasure Isle island?
Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 2, 2012
Treasure Isle: What's going on with the new Mysterious Egg?
Treasure Isle Mysterious Egg
If you logged in to play Treasure Isle tonight, you may have noticed that a mysterious egg has randomly washed up on your island. Once you click "okay" on the initial popup when you first load in to your Home Island, you can then place the Mysterious Egg anywhere on your island. You can then click on the egg and "investigate it" however the only thing that occurs is a window with the following message:
I wonder where to take this to hatch?
We're a little baffled by this, because that's it. There is no further details about what can be done with this egg. Players are trying to buy various items from the Market and place the egg inside to no avail. This truly is a mystery egg, because there does not appear to be any clues whatsoever about what this could be. After it is placed, the egg does occasionally float up and hover over the ground.
Our early prediction is that this egg will be taken to the Fire God Mountain and placed in the circle pictured above in front of the statue. It seems to be the perfect spot for the egg, and it's clear that the Fire God Mountain is coming soon with all of the buzz lately. This is just another fun way that Zynga are growing the anticipation for the new volcano maps, and we can't wait to see what's next.
What do you think the Treasure Isle Mysterious Egg will be used for?
If you logged in to play Treasure Isle tonight, you may have noticed that a mysterious egg has randomly washed up on your island. Once you click "okay" on the initial popup when you first load in to your Home Island, you can then place the Mysterious Egg anywhere on your island. You can then click on the egg and "investigate it" however the only thing that occurs is a window with the following message:
I wonder where to take this to hatch?
We're a little baffled by this, because that's it. There is no further details about what can be done with this egg. Players are trying to buy various items from the Market and place the egg inside to no avail. This truly is a mystery egg, because there does not appear to be any clues whatsoever about what this could be. After it is placed, the egg does occasionally float up and hover over the ground.
Our early prediction is that this egg will be taken to the Fire God Mountain and placed in the circle pictured above in front of the statue. It seems to be the perfect spot for the egg, and it's clear that the Fire God Mountain is coming soon with all of the buzz lately. This is just another fun way that Zynga are growing the anticipation for the new volcano maps, and we can't wait to see what's next.
What do you think the Treasure Isle Mysterious Egg will be used for?
My Empire: Traveling merchants roll into town, bearing gifts
If you've spotted some mysterious folks with camels in your friends' My Empire cities -- don't be alarmed. They are traveling merchants, and helping them find the town market (done by simply clicking on them), will score you some loot, such as coins or resources used for building.
You will be able to find up to nine merchants a day, and they're not available in all of your friends' towns. Out of our eight My Empire friends, we found two sets of merchants. The two sets merchants were found sitting in front of the Town Hall and have a big exclamation point over their heads, so they're hard to miss. Rewards for finding the merchants (so far) include 50 coins and bronze that is sharable with fellow empire builders.
my empire traveling merchant
The merchants are a nice addition to My Empire, but we're really looking forward to seeing this game incorporate some new features that will really have that 'wow' factor. Maybe some mini-game involving gladiators and ferocious animals? Without the gore, of course.
What loot did you score from the traveling merchants?
You will be able to find up to nine merchants a day, and they're not available in all of your friends' towns. Out of our eight My Empire friends, we found two sets of merchants. The two sets merchants were found sitting in front of the Town Hall and have a big exclamation point over their heads, so they're hard to miss. Rewards for finding the merchants (so far) include 50 coins and bronze that is sharable with fellow empire builders.
my empire traveling merchant
The merchants are a nice addition to My Empire, but we're really looking forward to seeing this game incorporate some new features that will really have that 'wow' factor. Maybe some mini-game involving gladiators and ferocious animals? Without the gore, of course.
What loot did you score from the traveling merchants?
Mafia Wars London: Chapter 2 opens with four new jobs
Mafia Wars London: Chapter 2 officially opens today, and you have 14 days total to get through all of the jobs -- of course, you'll also have to mind your British passport inventory and those pesky London police who are always slowing down your work. The nerve!
The jobs for Chapter 2 include the following:
Stage a distraction at a Nightclub
Kidnap a Partying Royal Family Member
Hand off the Royal to Russian Agents
Steal a Military Police Helicopter
All in a day's work. Good luck on your second set of London missions, mafiosos.
mafia wars london jobs
Did you finish Chapter 1 yet? Got any expert tips on how to breeze through these jobs?
The jobs for Chapter 2 include the following:
Stage a distraction at a Nightclub
Kidnap a Partying Royal Family Member
Hand off the Royal to Russian Agents
Steal a Military Police Helicopter
All in a day's work. Good luck on your second set of London missions, mafiosos.
mafia wars london jobs
Did you finish Chapter 1 yet? Got any expert tips on how to breeze through these jobs?
Pet Society: Romantic Ice Fish gives weddings a splash
Romance is in the air...and in the pond this week in Pet Society. Along with many wedding-themed items at the shops, you can find the Romantic Ice Fish swimming in the pond. The official blog has claimed that you can catch this with anything. (Yeah, right!) We all know how luck plays a BIG role in this game. I'm curious, how lucky have you been lately at the pond?
This article originally appeared on Pet Society Anonymous.
This article originally appeared on Pet Society Anonymous.
Thứ Bảy, 11 tháng 2, 2012
FarmVille July 6 Mystery Box: Find out what's inside *Spoilers*
FarmVille released a new Mystery Box tonight, and it is offering some old limited edition favorites that many players have been hoping for. Like all Mystery Boxes, this one costs 16 FV Cash and is only available for 7 days. You can buy it for yourself or for a friend if you wish. It has a random chance of giving you one of the available items, so it is all in the luck of the draw.
If you wish to see what's inside the Mystery Box this time, read on for the spoilers and pictures! Confirmed items in the Mystery Box include:
Teal Victorian
Alpaca
Pleasant Crow
Cabana
Brown Pony
Waterfall
Here are a few pictures of these items.
FarmVille cabana
FarmVille alpaca
FarmVille waterfall
Did you get what you wanted out of this Mystery Box? What items were you hoping for?
If you wish to see what's inside the Mystery Box this time, read on for the spoilers and pictures! Confirmed items in the Mystery Box include:
Teal Victorian
Alpaca
Pleasant Crow
Cabana
Brown Pony
Waterfall
Here are a few pictures of these items.
FarmVille cabana
FarmVille alpaca
FarmVille waterfall
Did you get what you wanted out of this Mystery Box? What items were you hoping for?
Pirates Ahoy! from Playfish lands on Facebook
Pirates Ahoy, a new pirate-themed treasure hunting game from Playfish/EA lands on Facebook, just a week after spotting the game on the company's Wikipedia page. From the official Facebook page -- here is a brief rundown on what's in store for aspiring scallywags:
Set sail on a swashbuckling adventure in Pirates Ahoy! the new game from Playfish! Take to the seas in your ship with all your friends to search for treasures beyond your wildest dreams! Do battle with sea monsters on your travels, find maps to buried treasure, and build your very own treasure island, the most shipshape pirate haven of them all! Are you game for some pirate fun?
I'm giving this game a go as you read this -- at first glance at the game, it looks like Pirates Ahoy has all of the trademarks of a Playfish game -- colorful graphics, with an overall friendly vibe that will appeal to social gamers of all stripes. A beta tester for the game says, "[I]t seemed like a pretty fun game with room to grow..." Thanks Jennifer!
Try Pirates Ahoy, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Play Pirates Ahoy on Facebook Now >
Set sail on a swashbuckling adventure in Pirates Ahoy! the new game from Playfish! Take to the seas in your ship with all your friends to search for treasures beyond your wildest dreams! Do battle with sea monsters on your travels, find maps to buried treasure, and build your very own treasure island, the most shipshape pirate haven of them all! Are you game for some pirate fun?
I'm giving this game a go as you read this -- at first glance at the game, it looks like Pirates Ahoy has all of the trademarks of a Playfish game -- colorful graphics, with an overall friendly vibe that will appeal to social gamers of all stripes. A beta tester for the game says, "[I]t seemed like a pretty fun game with room to grow..." Thanks Jennifer!
Try Pirates Ahoy, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Play Pirates Ahoy on Facebook Now >
Pirates Ahoy! on Facebook: Getting Started [Video]
Pirates Ahoy from Playfish landed on Facebook today and the new game is a pirate-themed exploration and treasure hunting game. Get a first look at what to expect when you take to the high seas in this adorable new game.
Play Pirates Ahoy! on Facebook now >
Bookmark this site!
Play Pirates Ahoy! on Facebook now >
Bookmark this site!
Review: Playfish's new treasure game Pirates Ahoy
Today, Playfish gave us all a pleasant surprise by releasing their new treasure plundering game, Pirates Ahoy. We got the early scoop on this game last week but at the time, knew only the brief game description that was given to us. Now, we've had the chance to play Pirates Ahoy for ourselves and have a game preview to tell you why you should be playing.
Going in to Pirates Ahoy, you should probably know what to expect. At its core, Pirates Ahoy is a treasure game - similar in vein to Zynga's Treasure Isle and ZSlide's Treasure Madness. This means that you are given a specific amount of energy, and with that energy you can discover islands and dig tiles for treasure collections and XP. Pirates Ahoy isn't a straight clone, however, as it builds upon a theme that is proving to work by adding unique elements that give it a more piratey feel. Every player has their own boat (which can be customized to give some personal branding to the game) and they can sail around the seas, fighting creatures to discover maps. The ship combat is something we haven't seen executed well, and Pirates Ahoy does it in style. In addition to discovering new islands and digging upon them for treasure, Pirates Ahoy has given players their own island that they can customize as they see fit. As players complete maps and collections, they earn trophies in the form of statues that they can proudly display on their island. Your ship is of course always parked nearby, and as you level up you earn ship badges that give you permanent bonuses to things like your maximum energy. Your boat can be changed in color and style to make it truly your own.
Combat is rather primitive, as players can discover enemies and monsters out in the sea. Fighting them simply involves just clicking on them, and as long as you have the required amount of energy you will always defeat them. Monsters can drop coins/XP or give you maps that can be given to your friends or opened yourself. Missions are unlocked at certain levels that require you to defeat monsters or complete maps, and coins are given as rewards.
Socially, Pirates Ahoy is going to excel because it brings viral growth right into the core gameplay. Having a larger "crew" means that you have more energy. This means that inviting friends and playing with them will directly benefit progression within the game and adds a layer of fun to the game. The game also has a mission system that actually allows you to request missions from your friends and send missions as gifts. This is yet another way that interacting with your friends brings depth to Pirates Ahoy. Finally, when you are out at sea you can actually see your friend's ships sailing around the ocean blue and go directly to their islands by clicking on their ships.
So what is missing from Pirates Ahoy? The only real obvious feature that is missing is the idea of an avatar. Everything is focused on your boat, you can customize it, upgrade it, and earn bonuses through the boat badges. When you're digging on islands, you only see your shovel or tool interacting with the ground with no one actually holding it. I'm not actually sure this detracts from the gameplay because the ships play a really important part in establishing personal identity and by seeing your friends actually sailing out in the ocean it adds an immersiveness beyond the standard neighbor bar below the game.
Pirates Ahoy is a very solid game from Playfish. It has a cute and familiar art style, high amounts of polish, depth of gameplay and a lot of unique social features, and room to grow. The main issue that we can see with the game is that it might be just a bit too complicated to be immediately graspable. That might not be a bad thing, as there are millions of game players on Facebook who might be looking for the next big thing with a bit more involved learning curve in exchange for a more meaningful experience.
Going in to Pirates Ahoy, you should probably know what to expect. At its core, Pirates Ahoy is a treasure game - similar in vein to Zynga's Treasure Isle and ZSlide's Treasure Madness. This means that you are given a specific amount of energy, and with that energy you can discover islands and dig tiles for treasure collections and XP. Pirates Ahoy isn't a straight clone, however, as it builds upon a theme that is proving to work by adding unique elements that give it a more piratey feel. Every player has their own boat (which can be customized to give some personal branding to the game) and they can sail around the seas, fighting creatures to discover maps. The ship combat is something we haven't seen executed well, and Pirates Ahoy does it in style. In addition to discovering new islands and digging upon them for treasure, Pirates Ahoy has given players their own island that they can customize as they see fit. As players complete maps and collections, they earn trophies in the form of statues that they can proudly display on their island. Your ship is of course always parked nearby, and as you level up you earn ship badges that give you permanent bonuses to things like your maximum energy. Your boat can be changed in color and style to make it truly your own.
Combat is rather primitive, as players can discover enemies and monsters out in the sea. Fighting them simply involves just clicking on them, and as long as you have the required amount of energy you will always defeat them. Monsters can drop coins/XP or give you maps that can be given to your friends or opened yourself. Missions are unlocked at certain levels that require you to defeat monsters or complete maps, and coins are given as rewards.
Socially, Pirates Ahoy is going to excel because it brings viral growth right into the core gameplay. Having a larger "crew" means that you have more energy. This means that inviting friends and playing with them will directly benefit progression within the game and adds a layer of fun to the game. The game also has a mission system that actually allows you to request missions from your friends and send missions as gifts. This is yet another way that interacting with your friends brings depth to Pirates Ahoy. Finally, when you are out at sea you can actually see your friend's ships sailing around the ocean blue and go directly to their islands by clicking on their ships.
So what is missing from Pirates Ahoy? The only real obvious feature that is missing is the idea of an avatar. Everything is focused on your boat, you can customize it, upgrade it, and earn bonuses through the boat badges. When you're digging on islands, you only see your shovel or tool interacting with the ground with no one actually holding it. I'm not actually sure this detracts from the gameplay because the ships play a really important part in establishing personal identity and by seeing your friends actually sailing out in the ocean it adds an immersiveness beyond the standard neighbor bar below the game.
Pirates Ahoy is a very solid game from Playfish. It has a cute and familiar art style, high amounts of polish, depth of gameplay and a lot of unique social features, and room to grow. The main issue that we can see with the game is that it might be just a bit too complicated to be immediately graspable. That might not be a bad thing, as there are millions of game players on Facebook who might be looking for the next big thing with a bit more involved learning curve in exchange for a more meaningful experience.
YoVile permanent sparklers added to the clothing store
Three new permanent sparklers have been added to the YoVille clothing store. These three sparklers are available in red, blue, and white for 10 YoCash each. These are great for any holiday, but will only be available for a few more days.
Go on to the clothing store and buy some sparklers before they are removed!
What do you think of the sparklers? Tell us in the comments section!
yoville sparklers
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Go on to the clothing store and buy some sparklers before they are removed!
What do you think of the sparklers? Tell us in the comments section!
yoville sparklers
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
Thứ Năm, 9 tháng 2, 2012
FarmVille Unreleased English Barn, Cottage, Ice Cream Shop, Mausoleum, New Mill, Swiss Windmill, Tasting Room, Wine Cellar, Wine Country Barn & YoVille Shed
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Farmer for finding these unreleased FarmVille English Barn, English Cottage, Ice Cream Shop, Mausoleum, New Mill, Swiss Windmill, Tasting Room, Wine Cellar, Wine Country Barn & YoVille Shed Buildings!
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille Unreleased: Stylish new fences in ivy, wood, wire, stone and iron
FarmVille Unreleased Barbed Wire Fence, Climbing Ivy Wall, English Fence, English Gate, Grape Arch, Rope Fence, Stone Fence, Weathered Fence, Wedding Fence & Wrought Iron Fence
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Farmer for finding these unreleased Barbed Wire Fence, Climbing Ivy Wall, English Fence, English Gate, Grape Arch, Rope Fence, Stone Fence, Weathered Fence, Wedding Fence & Wrought Iron Fence!
FarmVille Climbing Ivy Wall and Barbed Wire Fence
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Farmer for finding these unreleased Barbed Wire Fence, Climbing Ivy Wall, English Fence, English Gate, Grape Arch, Rope Fence, Stone Fence, Weathered Fence, Wedding Fence & Wrought Iron Fence!
FarmVille Climbing Ivy Wall and Barbed Wire Fence
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
FarmVille Unreleased Stone Path, Path, Sparrows, Meadow Grass, Lush Green & Grape Trellis
Thank you to FarmVille Freak Farmer for finding these unreleased FarmVille Stone Path, Path, Sparrows, Meadow Grass, Lush Green, & Grape Trellis!
FarmVille Unreleased Stone Path, Path, Sparrows, Meadow Grass, Lush Green & Grape Trellis
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille Unreleased Stone Path, Path, Sparrows, Meadow Grass, Lush Green & Grape Trellis
Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market.
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
FarmVille Tuscany Themed Items Return for 24 hours
FarmVille Tuscany Castello
Today, Thursday August 12th, some FarmVille Tuscany LE items have returned as part fo the 7 days of Summer Sale!
Animals:
Tuscan Cow – 20 $FV
Haflinger Horse – 24 $FV
Buildings:
Observation Dome – 42 $FV
Castello – 65 $FV
Tuscan Villa – 54 $FV
Allegra's Abbey – 42 $FV
Dante's Ristorante – 38 $FV
Galleria – 38 $FV
Cafe Caprice -32 $FV
Alberto's Shop – 42 $FV
Angelo's Books – 38 $FV
Tuscan Barn – 30 $FV
Tuscan Tool Shed – 24 $FV
Tuscan Decorations:
Tuscan Trellis – 18 $FV
Tomato Cart – !2,000 coins
Castello Fence – 5,000 coins
Tuscan Table Set – 12,000 coins
Bellissimo Square – 12 $FV
Tuscan Knoll – 4 $FV
Floral Pot – 6,800 coins
Lamp Post – 5,500 coins
Stone Archway – 7 $FV
Terra Topiary – 3,000 coins
Vine Trellis – 2,500 coins
Elegant Planter – 2,000 coins
Tuscan Pool – 22 $FV
Blue Umbrella – 2,400 coins
Green Umbrella – 2,400 coins
Yellow Umbrella – 2,400 coins
Lawn Chair – 1,200 coins
Oak Tree – 4 $FV
Tuscan Bench – 1,800 coins
Tuscan Fence – 1,000 coins
Will you be purchasing the 'rerun' Tuscan items?
Today, Thursday August 12th, some FarmVille Tuscany LE items have returned as part fo the 7 days of Summer Sale!
Animals:
Tuscan Cow – 20 $FV
Haflinger Horse – 24 $FV
Buildings:
Observation Dome – 42 $FV
Castello – 65 $FV
Tuscan Villa – 54 $FV
Allegra's Abbey – 42 $FV
Dante's Ristorante – 38 $FV
Galleria – 38 $FV
Cafe Caprice -32 $FV
Alberto's Shop – 42 $FV
Angelo's Books – 38 $FV
Tuscan Barn – 30 $FV
Tuscan Tool Shed – 24 $FV
Tuscan Decorations:
Tuscan Trellis – 18 $FV
Tomato Cart – !2,000 coins
Castello Fence – 5,000 coins
Tuscan Table Set – 12,000 coins
Bellissimo Square – 12 $FV
Tuscan Knoll – 4 $FV
Floral Pot – 6,800 coins
Lamp Post – 5,500 coins
Stone Archway – 7 $FV
Terra Topiary – 3,000 coins
Vine Trellis – 2,500 coins
Elegant Planter – 2,000 coins
Tuscan Pool – 22 $FV
Blue Umbrella – 2,400 coins
Green Umbrella – 2,400 coins
Yellow Umbrella – 2,400 coins
Lawn Chair – 1,200 coins
Oak Tree – 4 $FV
Tuscan Bench – 1,800 coins
Tuscan Fence – 1,000 coins
Will you be purchasing the 'rerun' Tuscan items?
FarmVille: Today's your free chance to play the 7 Days of Summer Mystery Game
FarmVille Mystery Game free dart
Today all players will get a free dart at the FarmVille Mystery Game! When clicking on the Mystery game you should receive a pop-up allowing one free try!
Official FarmVille Forum Community Manager Grimwell states:
FarmVille has a special gift for our players! Upon logging in, all players will receive 1 free Dart for the Mystery Game! Use your Dart to pop a balloon and win a Mystery Prize! Head to the Market and play our latest Mystery Game to receive your free Dart!
Source: Official FarmVille Forum
Tuscan theme items, as well as one new addition to FarmVille, are now in the FarmVille Mystery Game!
Keep in mind, each try will cost 16FV$
:: Spoilers Below::
Tuscan Items:
Rare – Rosetta Hall
Rare – Bee Catcher x 2
Uncommon – Bellissimo Falls
Uncommon – Fattoria
Common – Florella Fountain
New Item:
Common – Roe Deer
Have you played the new Mystery Game today? How many tries did it take you to receive the prize you were looking for?
Today all players will get a free dart at the FarmVille Mystery Game! When clicking on the Mystery game you should receive a pop-up allowing one free try!
Official FarmVille Forum Community Manager Grimwell states:
FarmVille has a special gift for our players! Upon logging in, all players will receive 1 free Dart for the Mystery Game! Use your Dart to pop a balloon and win a Mystery Prize! Head to the Market and play our latest Mystery Game to receive your free Dart!
Source: Official FarmVille Forum
Tuscan theme items, as well as one new addition to FarmVille, are now in the FarmVille Mystery Game!
Keep in mind, each try will cost 16FV$
:: Spoilers Below::
Tuscan Items:
Rare – Rosetta Hall
Rare – Bee Catcher x 2
Uncommon – Bellissimo Falls
Uncommon – Fattoria
Common – Florella Fountain
New Item:
Common – Roe Deer
Have you played the new Mystery Game today? How many tries did it take you to receive the prize you were looking for?
Thứ Hai, 6 tháng 2, 2012
Treasure Isle Secret Japan Isles unlocked, plus Monkey Ninjas!
Treasure Isle has opened up a new chain of Islands called Secret Japan. The official post on the Treasure Isle forums says the following about these isles: "Discover the secrets of the strange rocks, trees and statues and witness a log transform into a Ninja Monkey on the seven (7) Isles of Secret Japan." A Ninja Monkey!? I'm so there.
treasure island secret japan ninja monkey
Here's a complete list of the seven Secret Japan Isles, and how much they cost to open:
(i) The Outpost
(ii) The Old Road
(iii) Snowbound (opens for 5000 coins)
(iv) Tiny Village (opens for 50,000 coins)
(v) Mini Metro (opens for 12 Island Cash)
(vi) Forest Creatures (opens for 15 Island Cash)
(vii) Samurai vs Ninja (opens for 19 Island Cash)
treasure island secret japan ninja monkey
Here's a complete list of the seven Secret Japan Isles, and how much they cost to open:
(i) The Outpost
(ii) The Old Road
(iii) Snowbound (opens for 5000 coins)
(iv) Tiny Village (opens for 50,000 coins)
(v) Mini Metro (opens for 12 Island Cash)
(vi) Forest Creatures (opens for 15 Island Cash)
(vii) Samurai vs Ninja (opens for 19 Island Cash)
Mafia Wars 7 Deadly Sins crates: Find out what's inside
Another week, another new crate arrives in Mafia Wars. This one's called the 7 Deadly Sins Crate and it contains a slew of oh-so 'sinful' items inside. As usual, you can buy a single crate for 12 Reward Points (RP) or three crates for 35 RP.
mafia wars 7 deadly sins crates
Before you decide to buy, take a more detailed look at what's hiding inside those boxes.
Without further ado: here are the items in the new 7 Deadly Sins Mystery Crates:
Weapons
Armor
Vehicles
Animals
[Via Mafia Wars Wiki]
What did you get in your 7 Deadly Sins Crate? Is this crate better than the excellent Underwater Crates?
mafia wars 7 deadly sins crates
Before you decide to buy, take a more detailed look at what's hiding inside those boxes.
Without further ado: here are the items in the new 7 Deadly Sins Mystery Crates:
Weapons
Armor
Vehicles
Animals
[Via Mafia Wars Wiki]
What did you get in your 7 Deadly Sins Crate? Is this crate better than the excellent Underwater Crates?
Mafia Wars Loyalty Program: Pay your way into the Mafia Wars elite
mafia wars loyalty program
Mafia Wars has rolled out a new loyalty program, and it has three levels Emerald, Gold and Platinum. Each level can earn various rewards, including Loyalty Points (which can then be used to buy items exclusive to your level). Essentially, the goal of this whole program is to encourage you to spend more money on the game -- if you do -- you'll get exclusive access to rare items, beta programs and Mafia Wars events (among other things).
Seems like most everyone stars out at Emerald and will work their way up by spending more money. Emerald level players get the following benefits:
Earn 1 x Loyalty Points for every dollar you spend
Use these points to buy Emerald items
Get access to special discounts on reward points.
Below, you can see the differences among the three levels. If you're Gold level, you will gain access to exclusive items and Platinum members will get that, plus access to beta content, access to 'exclusive rewards' and invites to Mafia Wars events. Oh yeah, and "platinum customer service" as well. Shouldn't everyone who plays Mafia Wars get 'platinum customer service?"
mafia wars loyalty player
Here's what you can buy with your Loyalty Points, once you have enough saved up.
Emerald Members
Gold Members
mafia wars loyalty gold reward items
Platinum Members
platinum members
Will update this post as more info is released.
What do you think about this new Mafia Wars loyalty program? A way to make you pay more cash or do you think it's worth it?
Mafia Wars has rolled out a new loyalty program, and it has three levels Emerald, Gold and Platinum. Each level can earn various rewards, including Loyalty Points (which can then be used to buy items exclusive to your level). Essentially, the goal of this whole program is to encourage you to spend more money on the game -- if you do -- you'll get exclusive access to rare items, beta programs and Mafia Wars events (among other things).
Seems like most everyone stars out at Emerald and will work their way up by spending more money. Emerald level players get the following benefits:
Earn 1 x Loyalty Points for every dollar you spend
Use these points to buy Emerald items
Get access to special discounts on reward points.
Below, you can see the differences among the three levels. If you're Gold level, you will gain access to exclusive items and Platinum members will get that, plus access to beta content, access to 'exclusive rewards' and invites to Mafia Wars events. Oh yeah, and "platinum customer service" as well. Shouldn't everyone who plays Mafia Wars get 'platinum customer service?"
mafia wars loyalty player
Here's what you can buy with your Loyalty Points, once you have enough saved up.
Emerald Members
Gold Members
mafia wars loyalty gold reward items
Platinum Members
platinum members
Will update this post as more info is released.
What do you think about this new Mafia Wars loyalty program? A way to make you pay more cash or do you think it's worth it?
Microsoft Bing's Farmville ad campaign up for award
As if attracting over 400,000 new Facebook fans for their client wasn't reward enough, the minds behind this Spring's inventive Farvmville-based ad campaign for Microsoft's Bing search engine are up for a major marketing award.
Ad agency Deep Focus and social marketing agency SVnetwork are up for the OMMA (the Online Media, Marketing and Advertising) Award for Best Social Campaign thanks to their work on what's officially dubbed the "Bing Farmville Engagement." As you may remember, that 'Engagement' offered free Farmville Farm Cash to anyone willing to become a Facebook "fan" of Bing, attracting much needed attention to Microsoft's new search effort.
The promotion helped Bing spring past Google in the "Facebook fans" race, but it also aided the search engine in some more important metrics. Seven in ten people who took part in the offer ended up using Bing in the next month, according to an SVnetwork press release, and those users were "twice as likely to search with Bing than users who discovered Bing through other channels," according to the campaign's OMMA nomination page.
In what might be the first ever official recognition of Farm Art as a marketing tool, the nomination also recognized Deep Focus for "using the farm as a canvas" in creating the in-game version of the Bing logo, pictured above.
The campaign has already been named one of the "Best Ever Social Media Campaigns" by Forbes magazine, although given the age of social media marketing as an industry, perhaps that's not saying too much.
Ad agency Deep Focus and social marketing agency SVnetwork are up for the OMMA (the Online Media, Marketing and Advertising) Award for Best Social Campaign thanks to their work on what's officially dubbed the "Bing Farmville Engagement." As you may remember, that 'Engagement' offered free Farmville Farm Cash to anyone willing to become a Facebook "fan" of Bing, attracting much needed attention to Microsoft's new search effort.
The promotion helped Bing spring past Google in the "Facebook fans" race, but it also aided the search engine in some more important metrics. Seven in ten people who took part in the offer ended up using Bing in the next month, according to an SVnetwork press release, and those users were "twice as likely to search with Bing than users who discovered Bing through other channels," according to the campaign's OMMA nomination page.
In what might be the first ever official recognition of Farm Art as a marketing tool, the nomination also recognized Deep Focus for "using the farm as a canvas" in creating the in-game version of the Bing logo, pictured above.
The campaign has already been named one of the "Best Ever Social Media Campaigns" by Forbes magazine, although given the age of social media marketing as an industry, perhaps that's not saying too much.
Three Facebook games to look out for this week
Ninja Saga mission
The AppData weekly numbers on the fastest growing Facebook games is out again and this week you're in for a treat. That is, if you like ninjas, knights and monsters. If you're into any of those three topics (who wouldn't like at least one of those?), then join us behind the cut for a look at three Facebook games that could very well be the net big thing. And even if you don't, be open-minded for once, will ya?
Ninja Saga Combat
Ninja Saga
Here we have a game with over 5.3 million monthly players yet chooses not to reveal the name of its developer. However, just a glance at even the game's logo will reveal how unabashedly Ninja Saga has ripped from Naruto, the super-popular anime series. It's safe to say this is most likely the reason for the secrecy.
Everything from this game's visual aesthetic to its characters' outfits to its brief plot just scream Naruto. Obvious copycatting aside, Ninja Saga is a pretty robust Facebook RPG with impressive cut scenes and a good variety of missions.
Mission include everything from using a new ability on training dummies in the Kage Room, or training area, to delivering messages to other villages in little mini games with randomized battles. While every mission pretty much amounts to combat (sometimes pretty complex combat, at that), throw in a couple of friends and a real-time battle arena and you got yourself an addicting little brawler.
Character progression works through buying ninja abilities in the Academy and equipping your character with them. It's recommended that you stick with one element of skills since each time you level up, you'll gain points to increase the effectiveness of your elemental powers. Spreading your points across all five elements would result in your character suffering jack-of-all-trades syndrome.
The paid portion of this game comes in the form of Ninja Tokens, which are currently used to speed up your progress in the game rather than bar you from most items. Better yet, the game features a gold-to-token converter that allows you to avoid paying cash for those items that do cost Tokens. Also, be sure to make a clan (think mafias in Mafia Wars) if you want to stay competitive in the player versus player portions of the game.
Play Ninja Saga Now >
Kingdoms of Camelot gameplay
Kingdoms of Camelot
This strategy game developed by Kabam! is definitely not for the casual folk. With walls of text explaining statistics and the numbers attached to them, this is a Civilization fan's dream come to Facebook--and with over 6.2 million monthly players, Facebook must be filled with folks itching for a strategy fix.
The game leads you through its complexities via quests (and an elaborate guide book) that will get you started on mustering your defenses. Oh, did we mention that you're on a deadline? Because it takes a while to amass a kingdom fit to defend itself, players are barred from attacking new players for four days after they begin the game. After that buffer, it's a Facebook-wide free-for-all.
Spend the four days of tranquility gathering resources by building mines, farms and sawmills outside of your keep's wall while inside building cottages and barracks to increase your population and military reserves. To speed up production, preparation, and proliferation, Kingdoms of Camelot offers speed increases and stat boosts through paid transactions known as Gems.
The game seems like it will require an epic amount of patience for what might turn out to be a flop. But keep an eye on it for at least four days to see if the combat system is at least interesting or if your interested in a real-time, persistent world on Facebook. Until then, keep on building!
Play Kingdoms of Camelot Now >
Monster World tutorial
Monster World
This cute little farming simulator from Wooga takes the tried and true formula and gives it a new makeover: adorably weird monsters and goofy crops like 'lemonade bushes." The goal of Monster World, which we would have never guessed going off the title (really), is to make the best and brightest Monster Garden. This is done in the same way most farming games operate, which is to harvest crops to buy decorations and expand your garden.
At least the game does something to explain who exactly you're selling your ripe crops to. Meet Robert the Robot, a composting machine that takes your crops and sells the byproduct elsewhere (we told you it was weird). Selling the crops when Robert wants to buy them will net you more money than the average market price, so be on time.
So, what's to make you buy decorations and not amass crops and money? You're little three-legged monster farmer will become unhappy and go on strike. Literally. He will not plant one more crop until you raise his happiness through buying decorations, which can get pretty expensive. All in all, it's a balance between decor and good farming. If you're looking for a pallet swap from your traditional FarmVille, look no further. Plus, with over 3.4 million players monthly, you certainly won't be alone for long.
Play Monster World Now >
The AppData weekly numbers on the fastest growing Facebook games is out again and this week you're in for a treat. That is, if you like ninjas, knights and monsters. If you're into any of those three topics (who wouldn't like at least one of those?), then join us behind the cut for a look at three Facebook games that could very well be the net big thing. And even if you don't, be open-minded for once, will ya?
Ninja Saga Combat
Ninja Saga
Here we have a game with over 5.3 million monthly players yet chooses not to reveal the name of its developer. However, just a glance at even the game's logo will reveal how unabashedly Ninja Saga has ripped from Naruto, the super-popular anime series. It's safe to say this is most likely the reason for the secrecy.
Everything from this game's visual aesthetic to its characters' outfits to its brief plot just scream Naruto. Obvious copycatting aside, Ninja Saga is a pretty robust Facebook RPG with impressive cut scenes and a good variety of missions.
Mission include everything from using a new ability on training dummies in the Kage Room, or training area, to delivering messages to other villages in little mini games with randomized battles. While every mission pretty much amounts to combat (sometimes pretty complex combat, at that), throw in a couple of friends and a real-time battle arena and you got yourself an addicting little brawler.
Character progression works through buying ninja abilities in the Academy and equipping your character with them. It's recommended that you stick with one element of skills since each time you level up, you'll gain points to increase the effectiveness of your elemental powers. Spreading your points across all five elements would result in your character suffering jack-of-all-trades syndrome.
The paid portion of this game comes in the form of Ninja Tokens, which are currently used to speed up your progress in the game rather than bar you from most items. Better yet, the game features a gold-to-token converter that allows you to avoid paying cash for those items that do cost Tokens. Also, be sure to make a clan (think mafias in Mafia Wars) if you want to stay competitive in the player versus player portions of the game.
Play Ninja Saga Now >
Kingdoms of Camelot gameplay
Kingdoms of Camelot
This strategy game developed by Kabam! is definitely not for the casual folk. With walls of text explaining statistics and the numbers attached to them, this is a Civilization fan's dream come to Facebook--and with over 6.2 million monthly players, Facebook must be filled with folks itching for a strategy fix.
The game leads you through its complexities via quests (and an elaborate guide book) that will get you started on mustering your defenses. Oh, did we mention that you're on a deadline? Because it takes a while to amass a kingdom fit to defend itself, players are barred from attacking new players for four days after they begin the game. After that buffer, it's a Facebook-wide free-for-all.
Spend the four days of tranquility gathering resources by building mines, farms and sawmills outside of your keep's wall while inside building cottages and barracks to increase your population and military reserves. To speed up production, preparation, and proliferation, Kingdoms of Camelot offers speed increases and stat boosts through paid transactions known as Gems.
The game seems like it will require an epic amount of patience for what might turn out to be a flop. But keep an eye on it for at least four days to see if the combat system is at least interesting or if your interested in a real-time, persistent world on Facebook. Until then, keep on building!
Play Kingdoms of Camelot Now >
Monster World tutorial
Monster World
This cute little farming simulator from Wooga takes the tried and true formula and gives it a new makeover: adorably weird monsters and goofy crops like 'lemonade bushes." The goal of Monster World, which we would have never guessed going off the title (really), is to make the best and brightest Monster Garden. This is done in the same way most farming games operate, which is to harvest crops to buy decorations and expand your garden.
At least the game does something to explain who exactly you're selling your ripe crops to. Meet Robert the Robot, a composting machine that takes your crops and sells the byproduct elsewhere (we told you it was weird). Selling the crops when Robert wants to buy them will net you more money than the average market price, so be on time.
So, what's to make you buy decorations and not amass crops and money? You're little three-legged monster farmer will become unhappy and go on strike. Literally. He will not plant one more crop until you raise his happiness through buying decorations, which can get pretty expensive. All in all, it's a balance between decor and good farming. If you're looking for a pallet swap from your traditional FarmVille, look no further. Plus, with over 3.4 million players monthly, you certainly won't be alone for long.
Play Monster World Now >
Thứ Sáu, 3 tháng 2, 2012
Four things that drive me crazy about Facebook games
For the record, I love social games. I love that they're free to play and accessible to all types of people. I love that their popularity has exploded over the past two years, and that they've been turning all of game-dom on its head.
But, after playing FarmVille, Mafia Wars and the rest for just over a year now, there are a few things in these games that have really started to gnaw on my nerves -- four in particular. They don't actually make me want to chop down a door with an axe like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but they make me go, ya know, something, something.
Bugs, bugs, bugs
My biggest gripe about social gaming is the bugs. I'm talking about all of the little glitches in games that never really seem to go away. Examples of this include items that mysteriously disappear, buttons that don't work or losing connection to a game. It's like Whack-A-Mole, once one bug is bopped in the head, another one pops up somewhere else.
For instance, I was tending my FarmVille crops this weekend and got the ever annoying 'Game out of sync with server' message, which means you have to reload the game and re-do everything you just did again. So after spending five minutes harvesting and planting crops, then I had to do it again. Then I had to reload the game again. Then harvest the same crops again. Ugh.
This has happened to me several times in Mafia Wars as well. After promising that a more stable game experience was on its way, Mafia Wars rolled out a special event, San Juan, and then had to roll it back again. Then it launched again. This had also happened a few weeks before with the similar Beat the Feds event. FrontierVille, lately, has also been a big reloader.
Some might say that's the nature of social gaming -- everything's created and pushed out to players without proper testing, but I'm looking forward to the day that this whole form of gaming evolves and it will not be acceptable for games to have so many problems after it's made public, especially considering how many players might be losing real-life money due to some random in-game hiccup.
frontierville huge savings sale
Annoying pop-ups advertising virtual currency sales
I've also recently noticed that more games have started introducing random pop-ups, informing me that I've been especially been chosen to participate in a sale on the game's virtual currency. It's all very annoying, kind of like those silly TV infomercials that play on a loop after midnight. No, I don't want a Slap Chop or a Perfect Fit button, and I don't want to buy any Horseshoes in FrontierVille either. The only way that I'm might possibly consider spending my real-life cash for virtual cash is if there was a 75% clearance sale. And that's just to consider it. Zynga games have particularly been aggressive with this form of advertising, and it ain't working for me.
Pop-ups in general are also annoying. If I have already given blanket consent for a game to post messages to my Wall, why do I still have to click on pop-ups that ask for my permission to post something to my Facebook wall?
treasure isle too many t
Too many extra things to do in a game
One of the great things about playing games on Facebook is that you can get in and out quickly. I can take a break from writing or whatever I'm doing, jump into a game for five minutes, play and then be done. In the beginning, it was easy to run out of things to do in FarmVille and the other big Facebook games. Once you reached the max level, it was pretty much game over. To keep people playing, developers responded by rolling out more and more new features -- special fighting events, buildable items, holiday-themed events, etc. While these new add-ons will certainly keep the average virtual farmer busy, they have also started to pull players into too many directions, rather than giving players a more directed experience.
Zynga's Treasure Isle is one of the worst offenders -- I am literally working on four side projects at once, and instead of digging for treasure, I usually spend most of my time posting message on my Facebook Wall, begging for friends to send me dye, ropes and other building materials to get the jobs done. RockYou's Zoo World is another serious offender. Just slow down on the projects, partner. Not everyone is playing your game 24/7.
gifting-facebook games drive me crazy -- blog.games.com
Accepting gifts ... for hours
Sending and receiving gifts is an integral part of the social game experience. And let me tell you, I like getting gifts, however, accepting them. A few games like Pet Society, Cafe World and PetVille have streamlined the gifting process quite nicely. But, when it comes to accepting gifts in the three games I probably play the most -- FarmVille, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars -- it's a time-consuming affair.
The process breaks down like this: I click to accept a gift on Facebook, then I wait while I'm bounced to the game. Then, I click another button confirming that I want to accept the gift. Then I click another button to go back to my Facebook game gift page (if available). Sometimes I'll accept a gift from someone and instead of directing me back to Facebook, the game loads automatically right afterward. Then I'm frantically scrambling to hit the back button so I don't get stuck waiting for the game to load. Exhausted yet? I am.
While I'm sure there's a reason the gifting is set up this way; I really wish there was a better way to get the job done. I don't want to click anything to receive gifts -- just let them flow automatically into some virtual gifting box and let me have those hours I spend accepting gifts every week back to actually spend more time playing the games.
But, after playing FarmVille, Mafia Wars and the rest for just over a year now, there are a few things in these games that have really started to gnaw on my nerves -- four in particular. They don't actually make me want to chop down a door with an axe like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but they make me go, ya know, something, something.
Bugs, bugs, bugs
My biggest gripe about social gaming is the bugs. I'm talking about all of the little glitches in games that never really seem to go away. Examples of this include items that mysteriously disappear, buttons that don't work or losing connection to a game. It's like Whack-A-Mole, once one bug is bopped in the head, another one pops up somewhere else.
For instance, I was tending my FarmVille crops this weekend and got the ever annoying 'Game out of sync with server' message, which means you have to reload the game and re-do everything you just did again. So after spending five minutes harvesting and planting crops, then I had to do it again. Then I had to reload the game again. Then harvest the same crops again. Ugh.
This has happened to me several times in Mafia Wars as well. After promising that a more stable game experience was on its way, Mafia Wars rolled out a special event, San Juan, and then had to roll it back again. Then it launched again. This had also happened a few weeks before with the similar Beat the Feds event. FrontierVille, lately, has also been a big reloader.
Some might say that's the nature of social gaming -- everything's created and pushed out to players without proper testing, but I'm looking forward to the day that this whole form of gaming evolves and it will not be acceptable for games to have so many problems after it's made public, especially considering how many players might be losing real-life money due to some random in-game hiccup.
frontierville huge savings sale
Annoying pop-ups advertising virtual currency sales
I've also recently noticed that more games have started introducing random pop-ups, informing me that I've been especially been chosen to participate in a sale on the game's virtual currency. It's all very annoying, kind of like those silly TV infomercials that play on a loop after midnight. No, I don't want a Slap Chop or a Perfect Fit button, and I don't want to buy any Horseshoes in FrontierVille either. The only way that I'm might possibly consider spending my real-life cash for virtual cash is if there was a 75% clearance sale. And that's just to consider it. Zynga games have particularly been aggressive with this form of advertising, and it ain't working for me.
Pop-ups in general are also annoying. If I have already given blanket consent for a game to post messages to my Wall, why do I still have to click on pop-ups that ask for my permission to post something to my Facebook wall?
treasure isle too many t
Too many extra things to do in a game
One of the great things about playing games on Facebook is that you can get in and out quickly. I can take a break from writing or whatever I'm doing, jump into a game for five minutes, play and then be done. In the beginning, it was easy to run out of things to do in FarmVille and the other big Facebook games. Once you reached the max level, it was pretty much game over. To keep people playing, developers responded by rolling out more and more new features -- special fighting events, buildable items, holiday-themed events, etc. While these new add-ons will certainly keep the average virtual farmer busy, they have also started to pull players into too many directions, rather than giving players a more directed experience.
Zynga's Treasure Isle is one of the worst offenders -- I am literally working on four side projects at once, and instead of digging for treasure, I usually spend most of my time posting message on my Facebook Wall, begging for friends to send me dye, ropes and other building materials to get the jobs done. RockYou's Zoo World is another serious offender. Just slow down on the projects, partner. Not everyone is playing your game 24/7.
gifting-facebook games drive me crazy -- blog.games.com
Accepting gifts ... for hours
Sending and receiving gifts is an integral part of the social game experience. And let me tell you, I like getting gifts, however, accepting them. A few games like Pet Society, Cafe World and PetVille have streamlined the gifting process quite nicely. But, when it comes to accepting gifts in the three games I probably play the most -- FarmVille, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars -- it's a time-consuming affair.
The process breaks down like this: I click to accept a gift on Facebook, then I wait while I'm bounced to the game. Then, I click another button confirming that I want to accept the gift. Then I click another button to go back to my Facebook game gift page (if available). Sometimes I'll accept a gift from someone and instead of directing me back to Facebook, the game loads automatically right afterward. Then I'm frantically scrambling to hit the back button so I don't get stuck waiting for the game to load. Exhausted yet? I am.
While I'm sure there's a reason the gifting is set up this way; I really wish there was a better way to get the job done. I don't want to click anything to receive gifts -- just let them flow automatically into some virtual gifting box and let me have those hours I spend accepting gifts every week back to actually spend more time playing the games.
Def Jam Rapstar Tweet Battles let wordsmiths duke it out in 140 characters
Def Jam Rapstar Tweet Battles
Konami and 4mm's new rap battler Def Jam Rapstar not only challenges your lyrical accuracy, but your precious web presence as well with Tweet Battles. This unique feature lets you spit out lyrics within Twitter's 140 character limit and send them to other Tweet Battles players to have a public, real time face-off showing who can write the best rhymes within two minutes.
"This is actually one of the first video games to really include a social media platform, and that's going to make all the difference because hip-hop is very social," said Scott Steinberg, video game analyst at consultancy Tech Savvy, to Silicon Republic.
Frequent winners are posted to a leaderboard shown on the Tweet Battles website, who will also be rewarded in the feature's first contest that ends Nov. 15. The top five Twitter lyricists by then will be rewarded prizes like Xbox 360 consoles, copies of Def Jam Rapstar and the most skilled writer will win the only Def Jam Rapstar wireless mic in the world.
Hopefully, this marks the start of a greater trend for not only music games, but for other competitive games as well. The only issue with a feature like this is having to leave the game in order to play. For social features to truly take off in traditional console games, they'll have to be integrated into each game's interface, allowing players to post achievements and challenges to Facebook and, in this case, Twitter. Knock Sony all you want, but they're on to something.
Konami and 4mm's new rap battler Def Jam Rapstar not only challenges your lyrical accuracy, but your precious web presence as well with Tweet Battles. This unique feature lets you spit out lyrics within Twitter's 140 character limit and send them to other Tweet Battles players to have a public, real time face-off showing who can write the best rhymes within two minutes.
"This is actually one of the first video games to really include a social media platform, and that's going to make all the difference because hip-hop is very social," said Scott Steinberg, video game analyst at consultancy Tech Savvy, to Silicon Republic.
Frequent winners are posted to a leaderboard shown on the Tweet Battles website, who will also be rewarded in the feature's first contest that ends Nov. 15. The top five Twitter lyricists by then will be rewarded prizes like Xbox 360 consoles, copies of Def Jam Rapstar and the most skilled writer will win the only Def Jam Rapstar wireless mic in the world.
Hopefully, this marks the start of a greater trend for not only music games, but for other competitive games as well. The only issue with a feature like this is having to leave the game in order to play. For social features to truly take off in traditional console games, they'll have to be integrated into each game's interface, allowing players to post achievements and challenges to Facebook and, in this case, Twitter. Knock Sony all you want, but they're on to something.
Waste Management and Greenopolis train players to recycle through Facebook game
Recycling technology company Greenopolis--you know, the recycling kiosks at your local Wholefoods?--launched a Facebook game today to bolster its efforts on the green front and capture to social gaming crowd, Oceanopolis. The game is designed to be a companion to the points system already in place with the Greenopolis (a subsidiary of Waste Management) kiosks scattered across the nation, which have already recycled over 4 million items, the company claims.
Players can earn interchangeable points within the island building and upkeep game to increase their standing as a Greenopolis member. In the game, you'll collect trash from the island, save washed up sea creatures and build a clean island paradise using the trash treasure you find. Players can also turn in the digital garbage to the Greenopolis compacter inside the game for additional points to use toward real-life discounts at stores that have a kiosk on site.
"We have a goal to triple the amount of items we recycle by 2020," said vice president of organic growth of Waste Management Carl Rush to Venture Beat. "Oceanopolis will help us reach this goal by integrating new technologies with our established network of recycling facilities."
Other than this unique feature, there isn't much more substance to the game, but this is another important step towards both the oft-alluded to gamification movement and the company's goal for 2020. Now if only there were something similar out there for gas price discounts.
Players can earn interchangeable points within the island building and upkeep game to increase their standing as a Greenopolis member. In the game, you'll collect trash from the island, save washed up sea creatures and build a clean island paradise using the trash treasure you find. Players can also turn in the digital garbage to the Greenopolis compacter inside the game for additional points to use toward real-life discounts at stores that have a kiosk on site.
"We have a goal to triple the amount of items we recycle by 2020," said vice president of organic growth of Waste Management Carl Rush to Venture Beat. "Oceanopolis will help us reach this goal by integrating new technologies with our established network of recycling facilities."
Other than this unique feature, there isn't much more substance to the game, but this is another important step towards both the oft-alluded to gamification movement and the company's goal for 2020. Now if only there were something similar out there for gas price discounts.
FarmVille Halloween Sneak Peak: Dracula Duck, Dragon, Pegasus, and Griffin
FarmVille Halloween: Dracula Duck, Dragon, Pegasus, and Griffin
Classic mythological creatures are in the works for FarmVille this Halloween, and these include a Pegasus, Dragon, Griffin, and one ridiculously charming little oddball -- the Dracula Duck.
All these creatures come fully animated (which you can watch by viewing the bottom of this post). The pegasus proudly flaps its wings; the griffin is the bouncy, easily excitable sort; the dragon shows off with a little bit of fire-breathing; and the duck does an evil laugh, followed by the twinkle of a sparkling fang.
[Via FarmVille Latest]
Find more stories on our 2010 Halloween Guide for FarmVille, Mafia Wars & more.
Classic mythological creatures are in the works for FarmVille this Halloween, and these include a Pegasus, Dragon, Griffin, and one ridiculously charming little oddball -- the Dracula Duck.
All these creatures come fully animated (which you can watch by viewing the bottom of this post). The pegasus proudly flaps its wings; the griffin is the bouncy, easily excitable sort; the dragon shows off with a little bit of fire-breathing; and the duck does an evil laugh, followed by the twinkle of a sparkling fang.
[Via FarmVille Latest]
Find more stories on our 2010 Halloween Guide for FarmVille, Mafia Wars & more.
GodFinger developer joins Japan-based DeNa, mobile social games now a big deal
DeNa, Japan's most successful social gaming company, has bought Ngmoco for $400 million, putting DeNa in prime position to become the largest mobile social games company in the world. The creator of iPhone hits like Rolando and GodFinger will now be developing games for Tokyo-based DeNa, but it's doubtful that this is the end for Ngmoco games in the U.S.
"The big tide in social gaming is coming, right now. We'd like to capture it and quickly become the world's No. 1 mobile gaming platform," DeNa CEO Tomoko Namba told the New York Times. We want to enable developers to go cross-device and to go cross-border. And we need this to happen quickly, in about the next one or two years."
Who would've thunk mobile social gaming would be taken so seriously? You don't become the world's most ubiquitous anything without good localization, so Ngmoco games aren't going anywhere but farther than ever before. However, it's unsure what this acquisition could mean for the company's relationship with Plus+, the social infrastructure it currently uses in titles like Rolando.Time will tell whether other social mobile gaming platforms like Open Feint (and possibly Plus+) can compete with DeNa's serious clout, but with $400 million behind them at least expect Ngmoco production values to soar. It's appropriate now to cross your fingers for Rolando 3 for iOS 4.
"The big tide in social gaming is coming, right now. We'd like to capture it and quickly become the world's No. 1 mobile gaming platform," DeNa CEO Tomoko Namba told the New York Times. We want to enable developers to go cross-device and to go cross-border. And we need this to happen quickly, in about the next one or two years."
Who would've thunk mobile social gaming would be taken so seriously? You don't become the world's most ubiquitous anything without good localization, so Ngmoco games aren't going anywhere but farther than ever before. However, it's unsure what this acquisition could mean for the company's relationship with Plus+, the social infrastructure it currently uses in titles like Rolando.Time will tell whether other social mobile gaming platforms like Open Feint (and possibly Plus+) can compete with DeNa's serious clout, but with $400 million behind them at least expect Ngmoco production values to soar. It's appropriate now to cross your fingers for Rolando 3 for iOS 4.
Thứ Năm, 2 tháng 2, 2012
Treasure Isle Atlantis: Venture deep into the forbidden city soon
Atlantis
When you've explored nearly every mysterious island sitting on the high seas where else can you go? Well, you could always go down. In Treasure Isle, players will be exploring the forgotten, underwater city of Atlantis in Zynga's next content update. While details are essentially nonexistent, this could very well be the first time us adventurers will be on the hunt for treasure under the sea. Expect plenty of ancient Greek references considering the first recorded references to the ancient mythological city were in 360 BC from the philosopher Plato's writings.
Stay tuned to the blog for when we finally see Atlantis open up after thousands of years of being invisible to man.
When you've explored nearly every mysterious island sitting on the high seas where else can you go? Well, you could always go down. In Treasure Isle, players will be exploring the forgotten, underwater city of Atlantis in Zynga's next content update. While details are essentially nonexistent, this could very well be the first time us adventurers will be on the hunt for treasure under the sea. Expect plenty of ancient Greek references considering the first recorded references to the ancient mythological city were in 360 BC from the philosopher Plato's writings.
Stay tuned to the blog for when we finally see Atlantis open up after thousands of years of being invisible to man.
Quote of the Moment: Downloadable games are 'irrelevant'
"Downloadable [PC] games are irrelevant. We only work on them because they work well to go to other platforms.
iPhone didn't exist two years ago. There was no App Store. There was no Facebook platform. We need to look at new games and make them in different ways. And what makes one of our games 'one of our games' is really changing."
PopCap co-founder John Vechey talks about how this company is changing to keep up with the changes in the larger gaming industry. Read a full recap on Vechey's IGDA Leadership Forum talk on Gamasutra.
iPhone didn't exist two years ago. There was no App Store. There was no Facebook platform. We need to look at new games and make them in different ways. And what makes one of our games 'one of our games' is really changing."
PopCap co-founder John Vechey talks about how this company is changing to keep up with the changes in the larger gaming industry. Read a full recap on Vechey's IGDA Leadership Forum talk on Gamasutra.
Happy Pets' Daily Limited Editions give everyone a chance at rare crittersHappy Pets' Daily Limited Editions give everyone a chance at rare critters
Daily Limited Editions
Don't call it a comeback. CrowdStar has introduced a new feature to Happy Pets called simply "Daily Limited Editions." Each day, a previously featured limited edition pet will appear in the Happy Pets Store for just 24 hours. While they'll appear in extremely small quantities, at least this is a chance at scoring pets that we once thought would never come back.
Starting today, it seems that players have a second chance at owning the awesomely named Ultracat. A black cat with fearsome purple stripes, this pet is on sale for 120 Facebook Credits, or $12, though as of this writing only 77 are left. So act quickly if want your very own kitty that looks like a superhero's loyal sidekick. Don't worry if you can't get this one in time as in less than 24 hours yet another rare pet will hop on the scene. And another after that... and another after that... and another...
Don't call it a comeback. CrowdStar has introduced a new feature to Happy Pets called simply "Daily Limited Editions." Each day, a previously featured limited edition pet will appear in the Happy Pets Store for just 24 hours. While they'll appear in extremely small quantities, at least this is a chance at scoring pets that we once thought would never come back.
Starting today, it seems that players have a second chance at owning the awesomely named Ultracat. A black cat with fearsome purple stripes, this pet is on sale for 120 Facebook Credits, or $12, though as of this writing only 77 are left. So act quickly if want your very own kitty that looks like a superhero's loyal sidekick. Don't worry if you can't get this one in time as in less than 24 hours yet another rare pet will hop on the scene. And another after that... and another after that... and another...
New FrontierVille Mystery Animal crate arrives in the market
FrontierVille keeps us guessing with a new Mystery Animal Crate that you can buy in the Market for 50 Horseshoes for the next two weeks. Every crate will contain one of three animals: Chinchilla (white or gray) a gecko (pink or blue) and a shaggy haired long-horned cow, better known as a Highland Cow (brown or gray).
mystery animal crate
mystery animal crate
Mafia Wars Atlantic City is live, a brand new city inside your phone
For those who have suffered the inexplicable (albeit much flashier) horrors of Zynga's Mafia Wars app for iPhone, the wait for a true Mafia Wars experience on mobile is over. Atlantic City is live and ready to be pillaged for all players above Level 18. All you need to do is type this address, m.mafiawars.com, in your phone's native mobile browser (this hasn't been tested on Opera mobile yet, sorry folks) and log in using Facebook Connect.
Find out what the first real Mafia Wars game for mobile is like after the break.
Mafia Wars Fight
After logging in, you'll be surprised at how similar the experience is to its big brother on the full web Facebook. Not to mention how much faster it is (I was connected via WiFi). You have the choice of either hopping in fights--that is, with all Mafia Wars players--or taking on Atlantic City's unique jobs.
Mafia WarsJobs
Jobs operate just like normal ones with one key difference: since this is a casino town, the exclusive currency for Atlantic City is Vegas Chips. Though, for veterans of Sin City, these jobs should be cake with the amount of leftover Chips they should have. While the jobs don't contain the pretty artwork like they do on Facebook, at least completing these contributes to your actual character and not one made up for a poorly executed social app. You can even used your saved Energy packs if you run low.
Mafia Wars Level Up
Leveling up in Atlantic City is just like normal, but again, much faster. So this is what it feels like to be free of Flash, huh? Better yet, you can collect from your properties in all cities (even Italy!), though this city unfortunately doesn't have properties of its own. All in all, Mafia Wars Atlantic City is more than the ultimate companion app; it's nearly an entire city on your phone. With how smoothly the game runs on mobile, we hope this is just the beginning.
Find out what the first real Mafia Wars game for mobile is like after the break.
Mafia Wars Fight
After logging in, you'll be surprised at how similar the experience is to its big brother on the full web Facebook. Not to mention how much faster it is (I was connected via WiFi). You have the choice of either hopping in fights--that is, with all Mafia Wars players--or taking on Atlantic City's unique jobs.
Mafia WarsJobs
Jobs operate just like normal ones with one key difference: since this is a casino town, the exclusive currency for Atlantic City is Vegas Chips. Though, for veterans of Sin City, these jobs should be cake with the amount of leftover Chips they should have. While the jobs don't contain the pretty artwork like they do on Facebook, at least completing these contributes to your actual character and not one made up for a poorly executed social app. You can even used your saved Energy packs if you run low.
Mafia Wars Level Up
Leveling up in Atlantic City is just like normal, but again, much faster. So this is what it feels like to be free of Flash, huh? Better yet, you can collect from your properties in all cities (even Italy!), though this city unfortunately doesn't have properties of its own. All in all, Mafia Wars Atlantic City is more than the ultimate companion app; it's nearly an entire city on your phone. With how smoothly the game runs on mobile, we hope this is just the beginning.
Thứ Tư, 1 tháng 2, 2012
Earn 4 free PetVille Pet Cash from Bing Promotion
As many a PetVille player could confirm, decking out each room in your pet's in-game home isn't cheap, especially if you want to get your hands on some truly special premium items - those which cost Pet Cash.
Zynga is here to help with that just a bit this week, as they have launched a new activity in PetVille, allowing players to answer "Bing's Holiday Shopping Questions" to earn 4 free Pet Cash. This activity can be launched by clicking on the Sponsored Link window (seen at right), which is located underneath the PetVille gameplay area. From there, you'll launch a new window where you can take part in the activity.
This one is fairly basic, and simply asks you to answer the question "What's the worst gift decision you've ever made?" You'll then share your answer anonymously and move on. The next few questions are multiple choice, with the entire activity being completed in just a few minutes of your time. You'll know when you've earned your Pet Cash, as you'll be notified of such in the top right corner of the activity's window. If you wait in this screen long enough, you'll earn your Pet Cash before taking part in the final "step" of the activity, that being to take a spin on the Bing Holiday Facebook app. You can if you'd like to try out the functionality, but we can confirm it is not required to earn the Pet Cash.
When you're finished, you'll be able to refresh the PetVille game page to see your in-game total having automatically gone up by 4 - not bad for just a few clicks of the mouse.
Zynga is here to help with that just a bit this week, as they have launched a new activity in PetVille, allowing players to answer "Bing's Holiday Shopping Questions" to earn 4 free Pet Cash. This activity can be launched by clicking on the Sponsored Link window (seen at right), which is located underneath the PetVille gameplay area. From there, you'll launch a new window where you can take part in the activity.
This one is fairly basic, and simply asks you to answer the question "What's the worst gift decision you've ever made?" You'll then share your answer anonymously and move on. The next few questions are multiple choice, with the entire activity being completed in just a few minutes of your time. You'll know when you've earned your Pet Cash, as you'll be notified of such in the top right corner of the activity's window. If you wait in this screen long enough, you'll earn your Pet Cash before taking part in the final "step" of the activity, that being to take a spin on the Bing Holiday Facebook app. You can if you'd like to try out the functionality, but we can confirm it is not required to earn the Pet Cash.
When you're finished, you'll be able to refresh the PetVille game page to see your in-game total having automatically gone up by 4 - not bad for just a few clicks of the mouse.
FarmVille Sneak Peek: White Ram, Snow Goose, Arctic Rabbit, Muskox
It's time once again for a FarmVille Sneak Peek, where we bring you leaked images of unreleased items that might be coming to FarmVille in the near future. This time around, we've come across a set of unreleased animals, all of which seem to have a connection to the upcoming winter holiday.
The animals are (from left to right), the White Ram, Snow Goose, Arctic Rabbit and Muskox. It's unclear yet as to whether or not these animals will be available for Farm Cash or coins (we're assuming the former for all of them), or how much they'll be worth when harvested.
As usual, there is no guarantee that any of these items will officially launch in the game, so keep that in mind.
The animals are (from left to right), the White Ram, Snow Goose, Arctic Rabbit and Muskox. It's unclear yet as to whether or not these animals will be available for Farm Cash or coins (we're assuming the former for all of them), or how much they'll be worth when harvested.
As usual, there is no guarantee that any of these items will officially launch in the game, so keep that in mind.
City of Wonder: Stock up on extra Gold in Black Friday sale
As most Facebook games have done this year, Playdom is holding a Black Friday sale in City of Wonder, allowing users to stock up on extra Gold (the game's premium currency) that they can then use to purchase exclusive buildings and decorations.
This sale is a bit backwards, in terms of design. Rather than lowering the amount of money required to purchase each Gold package in the game, Playdom has instead simply increased the amount of Gold each package contains. That being the case, you can now pick up 100 Gold for $19.99 and 280 Gold for $49.99 (as examples), rather than the original 85 and 240 Gold packages originally available at those prices.
This sale will only be going on for a limited time, and Gold packages are available in quantities of as little as 20 Gold for $4.99, so make sure to take advantage of the bonus Gold now if you're at all interested.
This sale is a bit backwards, in terms of design. Rather than lowering the amount of money required to purchase each Gold package in the game, Playdom has instead simply increased the amount of Gold each package contains. That being the case, you can now pick up 100 Gold for $19.99 and 280 Gold for $49.99 (as examples), rather than the original 85 and 240 Gold packages originally available at those prices.
This sale will only be going on for a limited time, and Gold packages are available in quantities of as little as 20 Gold for $4.99, so make sure to take advantage of the bonus Gold now if you're at all interested.
Cafe World: Earn 50 Cafe Cash for Harry & David purchase
If you've been waiting for another shopping promotion in Cafe World, Zynga has launched a new one this weekend that you might be interested in. This newest promotion is from Harry & David, a gourmet gifts retailer.
Via this promotion, you'll be able to receive 30% off gourmet gifts, and get free standard delivery on all purchases. You'll need to activate this offer by clicking on the link (as seen at right) which appears below the Cafe World gameplay area. From there, place a legitimate order between now and December 18 and you'll receive 50 free Cafe Cash a reward for taking part.
While this offer will, of course, require you to put out some real money before you receive your Cafe Cash, if you had been planning on making such a purchase anyway, why not take a few extra seconds to activate the Cafe World deal and earn something for yourself in the process?
Via this promotion, you'll be able to receive 30% off gourmet gifts, and get free standard delivery on all purchases. You'll need to activate this offer by clicking on the link (as seen at right) which appears below the Cafe World gameplay area. From there, place a legitimate order between now and December 18 and you'll receive 50 free Cafe Cash a reward for taking part.
While this offer will, of course, require you to put out some real money before you receive your Cafe Cash, if you had been planning on making such a purchase anyway, why not take a few extra seconds to activate the Cafe World deal and earn something for yourself in the process?
FarmVille Sneak Peek: Mini Black Stallion & Mini Black Stallion Foal
This weekend has been a good one for the released of leaked images from FarmVille, allowing us to bring you another FarmVille Sneak Peek, which contains images of items that may or may not be coming to FarmVille in the near future.
This time around, we've spotted images of a Mini Black Stallion, perfect for those users that are tired of waiting for the Wandering Stallion to appear and help them breed foals in the Horse Stable. We're assuming this Stallion will be sold in the store for Farm Cash, but of course that hasn't been confirmed as of this writing.
The Black Stallion Foal, then, is what we're assuming would be produced when a Mini Black Stallion is placed inside the Horse Stable.
As usual, there is no guarantee that these animals will actually be released in the game, so keep that in mind.
This time around, we've spotted images of a Mini Black Stallion, perfect for those users that are tired of waiting for the Wandering Stallion to appear and help them breed foals in the Horse Stable. We're assuming this Stallion will be sold in the store for Farm Cash, but of course that hasn't been confirmed as of this writing.
The Black Stallion Foal, then, is what we're assuming would be produced when a Mini Black Stallion is placed inside the Horse Stable.
As usual, there is no guarantee that these animals will actually be released in the game, so keep that in mind.
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