Knight's Story, developed by Anute, tells two stories at once. First, it's a story of a knight who inherits a castle estate and explores the land he rules. Second, this is a retelling of the classic yarn, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Playing this brand new social game for even a few minutes will reveal that it has been heavily influenced by games like Zynga's Treasure Isle. In Knight's Story, the first Facebook game I've ever seen created using Microsoft's Silverlight (a Flash competitor), players explore various tracks of land through a grid system in which each tile explored costs a point of Energy. Sound familiar?
The similarities don't stop there, though Anute does attempt to expand on this tried and true game style. Upon logging into the game, players can customize their knight and its mighty steed with a variety of options. But it isn't until you receive your deed to the castle estate that Knight's Story begins to brag a little. The only way to complete the deed is to sign it--literally. You must use your mouse to click and drag the feather pen as if you were truly writing your signature. It's certainly nothing new when it comes to what's capable in Flash or Silverlight, but it's possibly a first in social games. Regardless, it's entertaining touches like these that almost set Knight's Story apart from the rest of the treasure-discovery games on Facebook.
Gallery: Knight's Story
Unfortunately, the defining characteristics essentially stop there. The game drudges along, employing tactics and interactions we've already seen before, and not done in a way that is particularly engaging. While you will come across new characters along the way, it seems that their purpose doesn't go beyond a short quest such as, "Kill this boar for me, please?"
Speaking of which, the combat in Knight's Story is almost insultingly simplistic. Of course, conflicts with wildlife are settled through turn-based battles in which you have three options: Strike, Bribe and Run Away. The fact that you can already imagine how battles pan out doesn't exactly spell excitement, does it? (Bribery uses coins to convince a monster to leave, by the way.) You can imagine even the most casual of gamers being bored by pressing the sword icon repeatedly.
Knight's Story combat
At least exploration in Knight's Story has a purpose: to build your castle town into a vast kingdom. The materials you find on your travels (and receive from your friends as gifts) are used to complete the buildings you create. These buildings provide you with coins and other tools daily to help you in your travels, creating a balance of nature hikes and home improvement. Unfortunately, there isn't anything terribly exciting about building your kingdom, which will likely lead you to explore more than build.
Knight's Story doesn't do much to distance itself from games like Treasure Isle aside from its theme, but some of those differentiations are glowing. Take the music, for instance. While it does play on a loop like all social games, the tune to this game sounds fuller and better produced than most Facebook games, something we should see more of across the board. For those who adored Treasure Isle and are looking for something new, this is your bread and butter. But if you're seeking a new experience on Facebook (like myself), you likely won't find it traversing tiles and slaying inanimate boars.
A World of Trust for MMO
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
FrontierVille Bess vs. Fanny Contest: It's decision-makin' time
It's been a month since the heated battle began between FrontierVille's Fanny Wildcat and Bess. Pioneers everywhere submitted their creative cases for either Fanny or Bess, and the Zynga community team has chosen their favorite submissions. The prize? The queendom over homesteads everywhere.
Really though, the winners receive a varying amount of Horseshoes and a FrontierVille t-shirt. And now the time has finally come to decide a finalist. Zynga has posted this survey on the FrontierVille fan page and it's up to you and your fellow pioneers to decide which is best.
Each of the 10 selections has a direct link to the submission itself, in case you forgot so soon. You're able to choose your three most beloved pieces of art or prose defending either Fanny or Bess. It's unknown how much time you have to participate, so you better do it quick if you want your favorite female to (and to make some pioneers very happy.)
Really though, the winners receive a varying amount of Horseshoes and a FrontierVille t-shirt. And now the time has finally come to decide a finalist. Zynga has posted this survey on the FrontierVille fan page and it's up to you and your fellow pioneers to decide which is best.
Each of the 10 selections has a direct link to the submission itself, in case you forgot so soon. You're able to choose your three most beloved pieces of art or prose defending either Fanny or Bess. It's unknown how much time you have to participate, so you better do it quick if you want your favorite female to (and to make some pioneers very happy.)
Mafia Wars: Catch up with triple mastery in Las Vegas and double loot from Fights
If you've fallen out of favor with Mafia Wars, and you aren't one of the "naughty" players that Zynga kicked from the game today, you'll be happy to know that Zynga wants you to catch up to your friends, or even pull ahead if you're a high-level player. They're allowing you to accomplish this over the next two days by offering two bonuses throughout the game. First, if you're a fan of the game's fighting mechanic, you'll earn double the loot from fights throughout this entire weekend.
The big news here though is the fact that until sometime next week (six days from now, to be exact), you'll be able to earn triple - yes, I said triple - the mastery points for completing a single mission in the Las Vegas portion of the game. Whether you've yet to step foot inside this virtual version of Sin City, or if you're just trying to finish off your last few missions, this triple mastery will have you doing so three times faster, meaning that you'll save tons of energy in the process! Who can argue with that?!
The big news here though is the fact that until sometime next week (six days from now, to be exact), you'll be able to earn triple - yes, I said triple - the mastery points for completing a single mission in the Las Vegas portion of the game. Whether you've yet to step foot inside this virtual version of Sin City, or if you're just trying to finish off your last few missions, this triple mastery will have you doing so three times faster, meaning that you'll save tons of energy in the process! Who can argue with that?!
FrontierVille Pee Collection: Don't eat the yellow snow
With the addition of a whole pack of puppies in FrontierVille, your land might start to become a bit cluttered with the... uh... wastes of those puppies. It seems Zynga is looking to celebrate this, however, rather than shun it, as they have quietly released the Pee Collection into the game.
This rather disgusting collection is full of five items that can be earned at random each time one of your puppies or dogs "makes wee-wee" on your land. In other words, you'll need to hurriedly finish the Pet Shop, and the accompanying Pet Shop goals to earn the right to have puppies on your land and then watch where you step! Here's what to keep an eye out for:
Yellow Snow
Damp Tree Trunk
Damp Bush
Damp Mailbox
Damp Leg
If we were still close enough to April Fool's Day, I would think that Zynga was playing a joke on us with this collection, but it seems entirely legit. For finding all five items, you'll earn a Yellow Snow Sign (a decoration made available at first last winter) and 50 XP. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean up after my puppies before their "business" stinks up the joint.
This rather disgusting collection is full of five items that can be earned at random each time one of your puppies or dogs "makes wee-wee" on your land. In other words, you'll need to hurriedly finish the Pet Shop, and the accompanying Pet Shop goals to earn the right to have puppies on your land and then watch where you step! Here's what to keep an eye out for:
Yellow Snow
Damp Tree Trunk
Damp Bush
Damp Mailbox
Damp Leg
If we were still close enough to April Fool's Day, I would think that Zynga was playing a joke on us with this collection, but it seems entirely legit. For finding all five items, you'll earn a Yellow Snow Sign (a decoration made available at first last winter) and 50 XP. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean up after my puppies before their "business" stinks up the joint.
Zynga launches Bingo on RewardVille: Play games for extra zPoints
While accepting my RewardVille gifts from Facebook just moments ago, I came across the RewardVille home page, where an interesting new development has launched in the form of RewardVille Bingo. When logging in, you'll see a miniaturized Bingo card of sorts at the top of the screen, where some of the participating Zynga games have been given their own squares. The point is to play a certain set of games within a 24 hour period to create a three-in-a-row pattern on your board, with the default RewardVille square acting as your "free space."
In the image above, I would need to play games like CityVille and Zynga Poker to create a vertical line, or play PetVille and FarmVille for a horizontal line. I suppose in that way, the game really resembles tic-tac-toe, rather than Bingo, but I digress. Once you earn a three-in-a-row line, you'll be rewarded with free zPoints. The first day, you'll earn 30 zPoints, the second day 40 and so on, until the end of the counter. Playing all five days in a row grants you a "Super Bingo Bonus" of 100 zPoints, making playing all of those days in a row definitely worth it.
To be clear, you won't have to login to RewardVille each time you play a new game, and for most players, you won't even need to try and complete a line on your card, as you might play enough games on your own to finish it automatically. In those cases, you can simply go about your business each day, and then add one last step of logging into RewardVille before signing off for the night. Your board updates with everything you've done that day and voila! Free zPoints are likely coming your way.
We'll make sure to keep an eye on this Bingo system, to ensure that other (non zPoint) prizes aren't added in the future.
In the image above, I would need to play games like CityVille and Zynga Poker to create a vertical line, or play PetVille and FarmVille for a horizontal line. I suppose in that way, the game really resembles tic-tac-toe, rather than Bingo, but I digress. Once you earn a three-in-a-row line, you'll be rewarded with free zPoints. The first day, you'll earn 30 zPoints, the second day 40 and so on, until the end of the counter. Playing all five days in a row grants you a "Super Bingo Bonus" of 100 zPoints, making playing all of those days in a row definitely worth it.
To be clear, you won't have to login to RewardVille each time you play a new game, and for most players, you won't even need to try and complete a line on your card, as you might play enough games on your own to finish it automatically. In those cases, you can simply go about your business each day, and then add one last step of logging into RewardVille before signing off for the night. Your board updates with everything you've done that day and voila! Free zPoints are likely coming your way.
We'll make sure to keep an eye on this Bingo system, to ensure that other (non zPoint) prizes aren't added in the future.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
CityVille: The Ultimate Money Making Guide, according to Edgar
If you've been playing CityVille since launch. you probably already have all the money you need. However, the average player (or those without that kind of time, like myself) could use a few pointers. Worry not, for Zynga--er, Edgar I mean--is here to help. CityVille's resident millionaire has left a few of his ultimate tips on the CityVille blog, and we're here to share them. The beauty of teamwork (with fictional characters).
CityVille EdgarFranchise Franchise Franchises! Build them in your Neighbors' Cities and invite your friends to place some in your City too! No one ever said it was a crime to capitalize on your friendships! Click HERE to learn more about Franchises!
Upgrade the Bakery and the Noodle Shop. Make some extra dough, save some space and change the look of these businesses! Sounds like a great opportunity to me.
Supply your Businesses with goods daily! Always keep some extra supplies on hand for a rainy day too; both premium and regular goods. Don't be afraid to stock up!
Choose your Businesses wisely. Build businesses that work for your personal schedule as well as the population in your town.
Decorate the front of your businesses! Did you know that you can increase your payout by adding decorations around each of your businesses? Decorations are a great investment and they are very worth it! Keep your eyes out for those BIG bonuses.
Complete your quests! Many of them unlock and reward businesses that are not available any other way. Don't forget to catch those bandits too. When you catch many of them they reward you with exclusive businesses. Click HERE to learn more about Cops and Bandits Feature.
Expanding is a wise decision. The more land you have the more businesses you can place.
The best business in my opinion is the Tower Eats. That big guy has a strong payout. Plus, who wouldn't want to dine at the top of that puppy?
Much of the tips are general, but do offer a few insider tips to guide your progress. In Edgar's opinion, the best way to make money is to make a few Tower Eats and decorate them out the wazoo. Or was that our tip? Oh well, just follow Edgar's steps (and ours), and you'll see the cash flow in soon enough.
[Image Credit: SkyBlue RPG]
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Are any of these tips helpful to you in the money department? What tips can you add to the discussion?
CityVille EdgarFranchise Franchise Franchises! Build them in your Neighbors' Cities and invite your friends to place some in your City too! No one ever said it was a crime to capitalize on your friendships! Click HERE to learn more about Franchises!
Upgrade the Bakery and the Noodle Shop. Make some extra dough, save some space and change the look of these businesses! Sounds like a great opportunity to me.
Supply your Businesses with goods daily! Always keep some extra supplies on hand for a rainy day too; both premium and regular goods. Don't be afraid to stock up!
Choose your Businesses wisely. Build businesses that work for your personal schedule as well as the population in your town.
Decorate the front of your businesses! Did you know that you can increase your payout by adding decorations around each of your businesses? Decorations are a great investment and they are very worth it! Keep your eyes out for those BIG bonuses.
Complete your quests! Many of them unlock and reward businesses that are not available any other way. Don't forget to catch those bandits too. When you catch many of them they reward you with exclusive businesses. Click HERE to learn more about Cops and Bandits Feature.
Expanding is a wise decision. The more land you have the more businesses you can place.
The best business in my opinion is the Tower Eats. That big guy has a strong payout. Plus, who wouldn't want to dine at the top of that puppy?
Much of the tips are general, but do offer a few insider tips to guide your progress. In Edgar's opinion, the best way to make money is to make a few Tower Eats and decorate them out the wazoo. Or was that our tip? Oh well, just follow Edgar's steps (and ours), and you'll see the cash flow in soon enough.
[Image Credit: SkyBlue RPG]
Check out the rest of our CityVille Cheats & Tips right here.
Are any of these tips helpful to you in the money department? What tips can you add to the discussion?
FrontierVille Upgrade to the Big Barn: Everything you need to know
A few days ago, we gave you a sneak peek at some (then) unreleased goals in FrontierVille concerning the Big Barn. At the time, it was unknown whether or not this Big Barn would be an entirely new building or simply an upgrade to the original Barn, but it turns out that the latter is true. If you've got a fully built Barn on your land, you can now upgrade it to store Mules, Oxen, Cows, and Horses, freeing up tons of space on your land, and allowing you to feed animals in mass quantities that much easier.
To start the upgrade, just click on your Barn and click on Upgrade on the drop-down menu that appears. You'll need to pay 2,500 coins to start the upgrading process, and will then have to collect additional building materials to complete the transformation. Your Barn will change appearance through this upgrade, so if you don't care about the extra animal storage, you're more than free to ignore it entirely.
Meet us behind the break to see which ingredients you'll need to finish the Big Barn upgrade.
Anytime you'd like to continue working on the Big Barn upgrade, simply click on your Barn and click Complete Upgrade. From there, you'll be back in your comfort zone, with a menu of six items that must be earned or purchased with Horseshoes to finish the upgrade. Luckily, two of these items - the Bricks and Paint Buckets - are long-released items in the game, so you very well may have all of the units that you need without having to put out extra effort.
For the other items, you'll need to collect 15 each of Calf Blankets and Oak Beams, along with 10 each of Stable Stalls and Silos. The Silos and Stable Stalls are earned through general wall posts, while the Calf Blankets and Oak Beams are individual gift request items.
Once you finish upgrading your Barn to the Big Barn, you'll be able to store adult Cows, Oxen, Horses and Mules, and will be given the opportunity to receive rare animals like Jersey Cows, Red Oxen and White Mules when you collect the building's Daily Bonus. In the future, if a quest asks you to feed a specific animal, or sell a specific adult animal, you can do so by heading into the Big Barn's menu and choosing which specific kind of animal you'd like to feed or sell.
The Big Barn should be available on all users' Homesteads as of this writing, so jump into the game and start working your way to more free space on your land!
To start the upgrade, just click on your Barn and click on Upgrade on the drop-down menu that appears. You'll need to pay 2,500 coins to start the upgrading process, and will then have to collect additional building materials to complete the transformation. Your Barn will change appearance through this upgrade, so if you don't care about the extra animal storage, you're more than free to ignore it entirely.
Meet us behind the break to see which ingredients you'll need to finish the Big Barn upgrade.
Anytime you'd like to continue working on the Big Barn upgrade, simply click on your Barn and click Complete Upgrade. From there, you'll be back in your comfort zone, with a menu of six items that must be earned or purchased with Horseshoes to finish the upgrade. Luckily, two of these items - the Bricks and Paint Buckets - are long-released items in the game, so you very well may have all of the units that you need without having to put out extra effort.
For the other items, you'll need to collect 15 each of Calf Blankets and Oak Beams, along with 10 each of Stable Stalls and Silos. The Silos and Stable Stalls are earned through general wall posts, while the Calf Blankets and Oak Beams are individual gift request items.
Once you finish upgrading your Barn to the Big Barn, you'll be able to store adult Cows, Oxen, Horses and Mules, and will be given the opportunity to receive rare animals like Jersey Cows, Red Oxen and White Mules when you collect the building's Daily Bonus. In the future, if a quest asks you to feed a specific animal, or sell a specific adult animal, you can do so by heading into the Big Barn's menu and choosing which specific kind of animal you'd like to feed or sell.
The Big Barn should be available on all users' Homesteads as of this writing, so jump into the game and start working your way to more free space on your land!
FarmVille: Double Mastery on now through Memorial Day
If you're a fan of mastering crops or trees in FarmVille, make sure to login every day this weekend, as Zynga has launched another Double Mastery event in honor of the Memorial Day holiday (ok, more so the fact that many of you have Monday off and can take advantage of this event). This event, like all of the others, will allow you to earn double the mastery points for every individual tree and crop harvested on your land.
Play your virtual seeds right, and you could actually earn three mastery points per crop, if you also activate a Bushel. For tree farmers, this would be the perfect time to undertake the tree rotation strategy in your game, moving trees from one Orchard to the next, earning twice as many points as normal while you can!
The Double Mastery event will run through Monday evening at 9:00 PM PST, or midnight Eastern time. You've got plenty of time to master at least one crop, or a couple of trees, so start now to make the most of this event before it ends!
Have you been saving any Instant Grows for a Double Mastery event? How about crops that take four-day to grow? Are there any specific trees you'll work on this weekend?
Play your virtual seeds right, and you could actually earn three mastery points per crop, if you also activate a Bushel. For tree farmers, this would be the perfect time to undertake the tree rotation strategy in your game, moving trees from one Orchard to the next, earning twice as many points as normal while you can!
The Double Mastery event will run through Monday evening at 9:00 PM PST, or midnight Eastern time. You've got plenty of time to master at least one crop, or a couple of trees, so start now to make the most of this event before it ends!
Have you been saving any Instant Grows for a Double Mastery event? How about crops that take four-day to grow? Are there any specific trees you'll work on this weekend?
FarmVille Irish Trees: Chinese Strawberry & Irish Strawberry trees
In an unusual Friday night update, we've seen the launch of the Ireland limited edition item theme in FarmVille. With this update comes two new trees: a Chinese Strawberry tree and an Irish Strawberry tree. The Irish Strawberry is, of course, the level one tree here, costing 5 Farm Cash. You'll be able to spawn the Chinese Strawberry tree either through Mystery Seedlings earned in your own Orchards, or by claiming those posted by friends. You can also purchase a single tree from the market for 10 Farm Cash.
It's presumed that these items launched so early due to the upcoming holiday weekend for Memorial Day. If you know you won't be able to play the game over the weekend, you don't even have to worry about these items expiring early, as we've been given three extra days to compensate for their early release, giving these trees a 17 day time limit in the store. Just remember to play the game at some point in the future so that you don't forget about them entirely and allow them to expire before adding them to your farm.
What do you think of these new Ireland-themed trees? What other sorts of trees do you hope launch in this theme as well?
It's presumed that these items launched so early due to the upcoming holiday weekend for Memorial Day. If you know you won't be able to play the game over the weekend, you don't even have to worry about these items expiring early, as we've been given three extra days to compensate for their early release, giving these trees a 17 day time limit in the store. Just remember to play the game at some point in the future so that you don't forget about them entirely and allow them to expire before adding them to your farm.
What do you think of these new Ireland-themed trees? What other sorts of trees do you hope launch in this theme as well?
FarmVille Irish Animals: Kerry Cow and Irish Hunter Horse
Forget the normal Sunday evening updates - tonight marks an unusual (but appreciated) Friday night update in FarmVille, as the team is allowing players a chance to purchase new items in advance of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, if they won't be around the computer during that time. Two (technically four) new animals have been added to the game in a new Ireland limited edition theme, with these animals being the Kerry Cow and Irish Hunter Horse.
The Kerry Cow costs 22 Farm Cash, while the Horse costs more at 26 Farm Cash. Of course, with either of these animals you have a chance to breed them, with the Kerry Cow giving off an adorable Kerry Calf, and the Irish Hunter Foal coming from an adult horse. You'll have 17 days to add either of these animals to your farm (the three extra days are also a nice holiday-based touch), so just remember to check out the store once you're back in the swing of things so you don't forget they exist.
What do you think of these Irish animals? What other Irish animals should Zynga add to the game? Should we see a return of some of the St. Patrick's Day items, or are these realistic animals enough?
The Kerry Cow costs 22 Farm Cash, while the Horse costs more at 26 Farm Cash. Of course, with either of these animals you have a chance to breed them, with the Kerry Cow giving off an adorable Kerry Calf, and the Irish Hunter Foal coming from an adult horse. You'll have 17 days to add either of these animals to your farm (the three extra days are also a nice holiday-based touch), so just remember to check out the store once you're back in the swing of things so you don't forget they exist.
What do you think of these Irish animals? What other Irish animals should Zynga add to the game? Should we see a return of some of the St. Patrick's Day items, or are these realistic animals enough?
Friday, December 23, 2011
FrontierVille Birch Still Goals: Everything you need to know
A new feature has arrived to spike things up in FrontierVille: The Birch Still. This item allows players to create even more criminal concoctions that offer interesting bonuses like the ability to collect a Daily Bonus twice in one day.
You're definitely going to want to get your hands on this new feature for these attractive boosts, but you'll need to finish four new Goals with a mysterious new character. Luckily for you, we have all the information you'll need right here.
Hair O' The Dog
Tend 25 Chickens
Collect 10 Dog Hair
Mix 1 Concoction
The 25 Chickens, if you don't already own them, will cost 1,875 Coins. The Dog Hair looks to be an item collected from friends, and the Concoction is made within the Still. Finish this Goal and receive 300 XP, 200 Coins and one Fruit Punch.
Spice Things Up
Harvest 100 Tomatoes
Collect 3 Venom Vials
Collect 1 Bonus from the Birch Still
The 100 Tomatoes will cost you 2,500 Coins and take at least 15 minutes to harvest. The three Venom Vials must be found by clobbering Snakes, so don't turn in your Snake Collection--and the Bonus from the Still is self-explanatory. Do this and enjoy 500 XP, 400 Coins and a brand new crop: Chili Peppers.
Birch Still inside
Still at Large
Harvest 80 Chili Peppers
Collect 15 Groundhog Guts
Craft 1 After Burner
Mysterious FrontierVille characterThe 80 Chili Peppers will go for 3,760 Coins and take at least eight hours to harvest if you have 80 plots. Again, it seems that the 15 Groundhog Guts will take some serious clobbering, so don't turn in your Groundhog Collection just yet.
The After Burner is a drink made in the Still that requires Chili Peppers and Iron Ore. Finish these tasks for 700 XP, 600 Coins and the Red Eye concoction unlocked.
The Taste of Victory
Feed 20 Adult Goats on your Homestead
Harvest 60 Corn
Consume 1 Red Eye
If you don't already own 20 Adult Goats, they'll cost you a total of 3,900 Coins and take at least 10 hours to mature into adults. Harvesting 60 Corn will cost you 13,500 Coins and take a minimum of 12 hours to complete.
Now that you've unlocked the Red Eye, just drink one and this Goal is finished. Enjoy a sweet 900 XP, 800 Coins and five Poker Cards for finishing this set of Goals.
[Source: Zynga]
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
Have you started the Birch Still Goals yet? What do you think of this brand new feature, and how long will it occupy you until pangs for the Pioneer Trail start again?
You're definitely going to want to get your hands on this new feature for these attractive boosts, but you'll need to finish four new Goals with a mysterious new character. Luckily for you, we have all the information you'll need right here.
Hair O' The Dog
Tend 25 Chickens
Collect 10 Dog Hair
Mix 1 Concoction
The 25 Chickens, if you don't already own them, will cost 1,875 Coins. The Dog Hair looks to be an item collected from friends, and the Concoction is made within the Still. Finish this Goal and receive 300 XP, 200 Coins and one Fruit Punch.
Spice Things Up
Harvest 100 Tomatoes
Collect 3 Venom Vials
Collect 1 Bonus from the Birch Still
The 100 Tomatoes will cost you 2,500 Coins and take at least 15 minutes to harvest. The three Venom Vials must be found by clobbering Snakes, so don't turn in your Snake Collection--and the Bonus from the Still is self-explanatory. Do this and enjoy 500 XP, 400 Coins and a brand new crop: Chili Peppers.
Birch Still inside
Still at Large
Harvest 80 Chili Peppers
Collect 15 Groundhog Guts
Craft 1 After Burner
Mysterious FrontierVille characterThe 80 Chili Peppers will go for 3,760 Coins and take at least eight hours to harvest if you have 80 plots. Again, it seems that the 15 Groundhog Guts will take some serious clobbering, so don't turn in your Groundhog Collection just yet.
The After Burner is a drink made in the Still that requires Chili Peppers and Iron Ore. Finish these tasks for 700 XP, 600 Coins and the Red Eye concoction unlocked.
The Taste of Victory
Feed 20 Adult Goats on your Homestead
Harvest 60 Corn
Consume 1 Red Eye
If you don't already own 20 Adult Goats, they'll cost you a total of 3,900 Coins and take at least 10 hours to mature into adults. Harvesting 60 Corn will cost you 13,500 Coins and take a minimum of 12 hours to complete.
Now that you've unlocked the Red Eye, just drink one and this Goal is finished. Enjoy a sweet 900 XP, 800 Coins and five Poker Cards for finishing this set of Goals.
[Source: Zynga]
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
Have you started the Birch Still Goals yet? What do you think of this brand new feature, and how long will it occupy you until pangs for the Pioneer Trail start again?
Building the FrontierVille Birch Still: Everything you need to know
As we told you earlier today, there's a new "building" of sorts available for construction in FrontierVille, and a new set of goals to go along with it. You'll be able to build a Birch Still to help you create even more strong and magical concoctions inside the Saloon, but of course, before you can get to drinkin', you'll need to build the actually Birch Still on your land.
Once you place the base of the Birch Still, you'll need to whack it five times, with each whack costing seven wood. Then, you'll need to finish its construction by collecting a set of six ingredients: 10 each of Birch Barrels, Glass Jugs, Metal Pipes, Funnels, Pot Belly Stoves and Hot Coals. The Birch Barrels, Glass Jugs and Metal Pipes are earned through individual gift requests sent to friends, while the other three items are earned by simply posting a general request to your wall for all of your neighbors to see.
Once the Birch Still has been completed, you'll be able to craft something called the After Burner inside using Extra Hot Chili bottles and Iron Ores. You can then take those After Burners into your Saloon where they can be mixed with bottles of Butterscotch (that your friends can send you) to create Red Eye drinks. These drinks let you collect any daily bonus twice in one day, which is great for those frequent goals that slow you down for days at a time while waiting for repeated Daily Bonuses to recharge.
We'll make sure to let you know if more items concoctions or drink ingredients are added to either the Saloon or the Birch Still in the future, so keep checking back. In the meantime, check out our complete guide to finishing the Birch Still's goals for something else to keep you busy while on the Homestead!
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
What do you think of this Birch Still? Should the Red Eye drink simply have been added to the Saloon without the requirement of an additional "building?"
Once you place the base of the Birch Still, you'll need to whack it five times, with each whack costing seven wood. Then, you'll need to finish its construction by collecting a set of six ingredients: 10 each of Birch Barrels, Glass Jugs, Metal Pipes, Funnels, Pot Belly Stoves and Hot Coals. The Birch Barrels, Glass Jugs and Metal Pipes are earned through individual gift requests sent to friends, while the other three items are earned by simply posting a general request to your wall for all of your neighbors to see.
Once the Birch Still has been completed, you'll be able to craft something called the After Burner inside using Extra Hot Chili bottles and Iron Ores. You can then take those After Burners into your Saloon where they can be mixed with bottles of Butterscotch (that your friends can send you) to create Red Eye drinks. These drinks let you collect any daily bonus twice in one day, which is great for those frequent goals that slow you down for days at a time while waiting for repeated Daily Bonuses to recharge.
We'll make sure to let you know if more items concoctions or drink ingredients are added to either the Saloon or the Birch Still in the future, so keep checking back. In the meantime, check out our complete guide to finishing the Birch Still's goals for something else to keep you busy while on the Homestead!
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
What do you think of this Birch Still? Should the Red Eye drink simply have been added to the Saloon without the requirement of an additional "building?"
FrontierVille: Unlock Chili Peppers to spice up your Homestead
Along with the new Birch Still goals and building comes a new crop to FrontierVille. While we mentioned this Chili Peppers crop in passing earlier today, did you know that you actually have to complete said goals to even be able to plant it? You'll need to complete the "Spice Things Up" goal to unlock the Chili Peppers crop, so that you can grow it freely around your Homestead, or you can skip waiting and simply pay 25 Horseshoes to unlock access to it early (you may not see this button appear in your market, if the Birch Goals have yet to launch on your land).
Once you've done that, Chili Peppers can be planted for 47 coins per square, and can be harvested after eight hours. You'll earn 11 XP and 266 coins for each square that you plant, and of course, as you harvest these hot crops, you'll be able to earn items in the new Chili Collection. This Chili Collection is especially important, as its reward can be used back in the Birch Still (see how everything comes full circle? Elton John would be proud).
For finishing the Chili Collection, you'll be able to turn it in to receive a bottle of Extra Hot Chili Hot Sauce. This is one of the two items needed to craft the After Burner drink inside the Birch Still, which is then used to create Red Eye (Daily Bonus refreshers) in the Saloon. Sure, it's a complex series of steps, but just remember to continually plant and harvest Chili Peppers and you should have a full supply of Hot Sauce relatively quickly (here's hoping).
[Top Image Credit: svenwerk]
Will you turn your Homestead into a spicy slice of the west, or will you keep things calm by planting other, previously released crops?
Once you've done that, Chili Peppers can be planted for 47 coins per square, and can be harvested after eight hours. You'll earn 11 XP and 266 coins for each square that you plant, and of course, as you harvest these hot crops, you'll be able to earn items in the new Chili Collection. This Chili Collection is especially important, as its reward can be used back in the Birch Still (see how everything comes full circle? Elton John would be proud).
For finishing the Chili Collection, you'll be able to turn it in to receive a bottle of Extra Hot Chili Hot Sauce. This is one of the two items needed to craft the After Burner drink inside the Birch Still, which is then used to create Red Eye (Daily Bonus refreshers) in the Saloon. Sure, it's a complex series of steps, but just remember to continually plant and harvest Chili Peppers and you should have a full supply of Hot Sauce relatively quickly (here's hoping).
[Top Image Credit: svenwerk]
Will you turn your Homestead into a spicy slice of the west, or will you keep things calm by planting other, previously released crops?
Cafe World Picnic at the Park Catering Order: Everything you need to know
With summer comes tons of outdoor activities and fun in the sun, but if you're still in the mood to cook up a virtual dish or two, a new catering order has launched in Cafe World that will bring the outside fun in! The Picnic at the Park Catering Order is now available on the last page of your Catering Truck.
With this Catering Order comes five tasks, three of which require cooking. You'll need to serve Ranch Beans (a 15-minute dish) 375 times, Red Burritos (a five-hour dish) 115 times, and Corned Beef (a four-hour dish) 115 times. All things considered, these cooking tasks don't appear to be as difficult as those we've seen in other orders, which is definitely a relief. Sure, serving Ranch Beans almost 400 times will be time consuming, but its short cooking time is manageable. Can you imagine if you had to serve 375 servings of a dish that took a full day to cook?!
To help you complete these cooking tasks on time, you can bring up to 13 of your friends in on this order. What they can't help you with, though, will be your two collection tasks. You'll need to collect 14 Picnic Blankets and 16 Folding Chairs. This is done by clicking on the Ask button and sending out individual requests to friends.
If you can complete these five steps within the first five days of starting the order, you'll receive the top score of three-stars, along with 10 Catering Points, 3,500 Cafe Points, 75,000 coins and the Cranberry Casserole recipe. This exclusive recipe can only be earned (as of this writing) by earning three stars on this order, so keep that in mind. If you come up short of the five day mark (or late, if you prefer), but can still finish within a week, you'll earn two stars, 6 Catering Points, 2,500 Cafe Points, and 50,000 coins. Finally, if you finish the order at any time after the first week of starting it, you'll receive a single star, 3 Catering Points, 1,500 Cafe Points and 30,000 coins.
Remember, you can retry retry this order if you happen to miss out on the Cranberry Casserole the first time, so don't feel too much pressure if this is your first go with the catering feature. With enough patience, I know you'll get it done!
With this Catering Order comes five tasks, three of which require cooking. You'll need to serve Ranch Beans (a 15-minute dish) 375 times, Red Burritos (a five-hour dish) 115 times, and Corned Beef (a four-hour dish) 115 times. All things considered, these cooking tasks don't appear to be as difficult as those we've seen in other orders, which is definitely a relief. Sure, serving Ranch Beans almost 400 times will be time consuming, but its short cooking time is manageable. Can you imagine if you had to serve 375 servings of a dish that took a full day to cook?!
To help you complete these cooking tasks on time, you can bring up to 13 of your friends in on this order. What they can't help you with, though, will be your two collection tasks. You'll need to collect 14 Picnic Blankets and 16 Folding Chairs. This is done by clicking on the Ask button and sending out individual requests to friends.
If you can complete these five steps within the first five days of starting the order, you'll receive the top score of three-stars, along with 10 Catering Points, 3,500 Cafe Points, 75,000 coins and the Cranberry Casserole recipe. This exclusive recipe can only be earned (as of this writing) by earning three stars on this order, so keep that in mind. If you come up short of the five day mark (or late, if you prefer), but can still finish within a week, you'll earn two stars, 6 Catering Points, 2,500 Cafe Points, and 50,000 coins. Finally, if you finish the order at any time after the first week of starting it, you'll receive a single star, 3 Catering Points, 1,500 Cafe Points and 30,000 coins.
Remember, you can retry retry this order if you happen to miss out on the Cranberry Casserole the first time, so don't feel too much pressure if this is your first go with the catering feature. With enough patience, I know you'll get it done!
CityVille: Expand your land faster by purchasing Zoning Permit Bundles
By now, we're probably all familiar with the fact that expanding our land in CityVille has become a fairly time-consuming process. Unless you're constantly adding new citizens to your town, or asking your friends for Zoning Permits, you'll have a heck of a time adding more space to your town, but luckily, Zynga has addressed one of those issues by making Zoning Permits available for purchase in bundles.
There are four bundles available to purchase, but unfortunately, all of them cost City Cash. Still, the option to be able to instantly reach your next expansion's qualifications is nice, so take a look at the packages that are available.
5 Zoning Permits - 15 City Cash
10 Zoning Permits - 28 City Cash
20 Zoning Permits - 54 City Cash
40 Zoning Permits - 98 City Cash
98 City Cash is definitely a huge number, but if you're desperate to expand, I suppose it could be worse. Still, perhaps with enough encouragement we'll see some coin bundles released. Sure, it's a long-shot, but stranger things have happened!
There are four bundles available to purchase, but unfortunately, all of them cost City Cash. Still, the option to be able to instantly reach your next expansion's qualifications is nice, so take a look at the packages that are available.
5 Zoning Permits - 15 City Cash
10 Zoning Permits - 28 City Cash
20 Zoning Permits - 54 City Cash
40 Zoning Permits - 98 City Cash
98 City Cash is definitely a huge number, but if you're desperate to expand, I suppose it could be worse. Still, perhaps with enough encouragement we'll see some coin bundles released. Sure, it's a long-shot, but stranger things have happened!
FrontierVille Pioneer Trail Sneak Peek: Hire a Bucket Brigade to extinguish prairie fires
It looks like FrontierVille's Pioneer Trail will include quite the element of danger, as the High Plains are more than just a pretty section to the map. With the dry desert heat comes the potential for fire, and by the looks of things, you're going to run into one or more on your journey.
With Zynga's newest sneak peek, we see that we'll come across prairie fires, and will need to gather as many friends as possible to help douse the flames when things get hot. Here's the full snippet: "The Plains are drier than tinder, and it sounds like there's a real danger of a prairie fire! In a few weeks you'll be out that way. Better stay in touch with the bucket brigade – you'll need lots of friends when things heat up on the Trail."
A Bucket Brigade, eh? Is it just me, or does this scream of something that will have us asking our friends to send us buckets of water? Or, perhaps we'll have to ask friends to simply stand in line, as we all pass buckets of water from person to person from the river. Whatever the case, we're not sure (yet) whether or not these fires will simply provide some sort of additional gameplay element that's random and voluntary, or if the fires could have a real effect on our progress. Once we know more, though, we'll make sure to pass it along.
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Are you getting excited for the launch of the Pioneer Trail in FrontierVille? What sort of gameplay feature do you hope these prairie fires introduce?
With Zynga's newest sneak peek, we see that we'll come across prairie fires, and will need to gather as many friends as possible to help douse the flames when things get hot. Here's the full snippet: "The Plains are drier than tinder, and it sounds like there's a real danger of a prairie fire! In a few weeks you'll be out that way. Better stay in touch with the bucket brigade – you'll need lots of friends when things heat up on the Trail."
A Bucket Brigade, eh? Is it just me, or does this scream of something that will have us asking our friends to send us buckets of water? Or, perhaps we'll have to ask friends to simply stand in line, as we all pass buckets of water from person to person from the river. Whatever the case, we're not sure (yet) whether or not these fires will simply provide some sort of additional gameplay element that's random and voluntary, or if the fires could have a real effect on our progress. Once we know more, though, we'll make sure to pass it along.
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Are you getting excited for the launch of the Pioneer Trail in FrontierVille? What sort of gameplay feature do you hope these prairie fires introduce?
FrontierVille Cheats & Tips: Purchase Roman Candles for free energy
If you're still trying to finish the Canning Master Goals in FrontierVille, or you just wish there was a way to refill your energy bar without spending Food, or even using the meals that you have in your inventory, you can earn a quick energy refill by purchasing Roman Candles from the store.
Released as part of this year's Fourth of July event, the Roman Candle is available to purchase for 950 coins and 10 Wood each. You'll receive 30 XP for each your purchase, which is a great boost in and of itself, but by simply launching one, you'll receive five free Energy as a bonus. Say you purchase ten Roman Candles. You're now looking at 50 free energy, that you didn't spend one single bit of Food to earn. In the process, you've also earned 300 XP - not a bad combo, for the price.
Sure, you'll have to spend a bit of Wood to really get this going, but when you can earn free trees by turning in the Oak and Pine Tree collections, you can simply grow yourself a little forest and have a fairly large supply of Wood over the long-term. While this may not be an incredibly cheap way of earning Energy, if you're the kind of player that simply likes saving as much Food as possible, or doesn't have a stockpile of meals in their inventory, keep this new tip in mind for when you need just a few more energy to complete a task that you're working on, and you don't want to wait.
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
Would you purchase bulk amounts of Roman Candles for the free energy that they give off? Do you have any free energy tips to share with your fellow players?
Released as part of this year's Fourth of July event, the Roman Candle is available to purchase for 950 coins and 10 Wood each. You'll receive 30 XP for each your purchase, which is a great boost in and of itself, but by simply launching one, you'll receive five free Energy as a bonus. Say you purchase ten Roman Candles. You're now looking at 50 free energy, that you didn't spend one single bit of Food to earn. In the process, you've also earned 300 XP - not a bad combo, for the price.
Sure, you'll have to spend a bit of Wood to really get this going, but when you can earn free trees by turning in the Oak and Pine Tree collections, you can simply grow yourself a little forest and have a fairly large supply of Wood over the long-term. While this may not be an incredibly cheap way of earning Energy, if you're the kind of player that simply likes saving as much Food as possible, or doesn't have a stockpile of meals in their inventory, keep this new tip in mind for when you need just a few more energy to complete a task that you're working on, and you don't want to wait.
Check out the rest of our FrontierVille Cheats & Tips right here. >
Would you purchase bulk amounts of Roman Candles for the free energy that they give off? Do you have any free energy tips to share with your fellow players?
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
FarmVille Super Orchard Expansions: Everything you need to know
If you're tired of waiting two days in between harvests of your Orchards in FarmVille, there's now a solution: Super Orchards have launched in the game this evening, giving you a chance to upgrade each of your individual, normal Orchards, to be able to hold up to 40 trees, and be harvested daily.
Let's say that again - each Super Orchard holds twice the trees, and can be harvested every day! Even if you just dabble in the world of tree mastery, this is a fabulous opportunity to earn more points, and fast! However, not everything is sunshine and roses concerning this new feature, as there's one touchy element I've left out: the upgrades don't come free, and in fact, they're incredibly expensive!
It doesn't seem as though the FarmVille team at Zynga has decided on a final price, so you may see anything from 95 Farm Cash to 120 Farm Cash as your price for a single Super Orchard upgrade. By clicking on an Orchard and choosing to upgrade it, you're also given the option to upgrade every one of your Orchards simultaneously, but this cost could be astronomical - ranging from a few hundred Farm Cash to tens of thousands of Farm Cash, depending on how many regular Orchards you happen to own.
Personally, I was incredibly excited to see the Super Orchard option launch in my game, but with those high of price tags, and no current way to upgrade these Orchards for free, I'll gladly save my Farm Cash and will get used to the thought of harvesting trees once every two days once again.
Will you / would you ever purchase a Super Orchcard, or do you think the cost is simply too much to ask for "free" Mastery Points.
Let's say that again - each Super Orchard holds twice the trees, and can be harvested every day! Even if you just dabble in the world of tree mastery, this is a fabulous opportunity to earn more points, and fast! However, not everything is sunshine and roses concerning this new feature, as there's one touchy element I've left out: the upgrades don't come free, and in fact, they're incredibly expensive!
It doesn't seem as though the FarmVille team at Zynga has decided on a final price, so you may see anything from 95 Farm Cash to 120 Farm Cash as your price for a single Super Orchard upgrade. By clicking on an Orchard and choosing to upgrade it, you're also given the option to upgrade every one of your Orchards simultaneously, but this cost could be astronomical - ranging from a few hundred Farm Cash to tens of thousands of Farm Cash, depending on how many regular Orchards you happen to own.
Personally, I was incredibly excited to see the Super Orchard option launch in my game, but with those high of price tags, and no current way to upgrade these Orchards for free, I'll gladly save my Farm Cash and will get used to the thought of harvesting trees once every two days once again.
Will you / would you ever purchase a Super Orchcard, or do you think the cost is simply too much to ask for "free" Mastery Points.
FarmVille: Double Mastery event on now for crops and trees
I've got some good news for you farmers! Zynga has quietly launched a Double Mastery Weekend in FarmVille, applying to both trees and crops. This weekend event actually lasts a bit longer than the name implies, as we'll be able to earn double the mastery points on each and every crop and tree harvested from now until Monday evening at 9PM PST.
It should be noted that as of this writing, it doesn't look like animals are a part of this Double Mastery event, which is disappointing, but not entirely unexpected (let's face it - some of those animals have pretty short mastery cycles already). Also, while most farmers will have plenty to get excited about this weekend, including the ability to have 3X crop mastery when harvesting with a Bushel active, if you're the owner of a Platinum Mastery Statue, this bonus will not stack for you. That is, you won't have a 4X Double Mastery event, no matter how fantastic that would be.
Either way, this is a great time to start mastering those short-growing-time crops, including Super Crops, if you've unlocked them. Also, if you upgrade a few Orchards to Super Orchards (watch out - that's an expensive move!), then you'll be able to have plenty of Orchards ready to harvest at least twice before this event ends, upping your mastery plan even further. It's all up to you as to how you take advantage of this event, but just remember - it won't be around for ever, so don't delay!
Which crops or trees are you hoping to finish mastering during this Double Mastery weekend? Would you pay Farm Cash to "ready" your animals if you knew they fell under Double Mastery as well?
It should be noted that as of this writing, it doesn't look like animals are a part of this Double Mastery event, which is disappointing, but not entirely unexpected (let's face it - some of those animals have pretty short mastery cycles already). Also, while most farmers will have plenty to get excited about this weekend, including the ability to have 3X crop mastery when harvesting with a Bushel active, if you're the owner of a Platinum Mastery Statue, this bonus will not stack for you. That is, you won't have a 4X Double Mastery event, no matter how fantastic that would be.
Either way, this is a great time to start mastering those short-growing-time crops, including Super Crops, if you've unlocked them. Also, if you upgrade a few Orchards to Super Orchards (watch out - that's an expensive move!), then you'll be able to have plenty of Orchards ready to harvest at least twice before this event ends, upping your mastery plan even further. It's all up to you as to how you take advantage of this event, but just remember - it won't be around for ever, so don't delay!
Which crops or trees are you hoping to finish mastering during this Double Mastery weekend? Would you pay Farm Cash to "ready" your animals if you knew they fell under Double Mastery as well?
FarmVille: New Boar to unlock when 3 million Like Zynga fan page
In an effort to drive more attention and fans to its Zynga, Inc. Facebook fan page, the developer has announced a new promotion in FarmVille that will see us unlocking a new, mystery Boar once the page reaches 3 million unique Likes. We aren't told much more other than this, but I highly doubt that the plain Black Boar pictured here is a true indication of what our prize will look like.
Currently, the Zynga, Inc. fan page sits at over 2.3 million Likes, so while there's still plenty of room to climb, the number doesn't seem entirely unreachable. Either way, here's something else to think about: Zynga states that at 3 million Likes, the FarmVille team will "release a new Boar" into the game, but doesn't specifically say we'll all be given one for free. That being the case, this could just be an unlocked animal in the store that we'll have to pay Farm Cash for if we even want it. On the other hand, this could just be some confusing wording, and we very well may receive the animal for free: that's the risk we'll have to take when deciding whether or not to actually Like the page.
We'll keep you posted as the fan page climbs in Likes, and if Zynga reveals any additional information about what this little piggy looks like, we'll make sure to let you know.
Have you already Liked the Zynga, Inc. Facebook fan page, or will you do so now that you know a new Boar will be released with your help? Do you think this new Boar should be free, or perhaps simply discounted in the store?
Currently, the Zynga, Inc. fan page sits at over 2.3 million Likes, so while there's still plenty of room to climb, the number doesn't seem entirely unreachable. Either way, here's something else to think about: Zynga states that at 3 million Likes, the FarmVille team will "release a new Boar" into the game, but doesn't specifically say we'll all be given one for free. That being the case, this could just be an unlocked animal in the store that we'll have to pay Farm Cash for if we even want it. On the other hand, this could just be some confusing wording, and we very well may receive the animal for free: that's the risk we'll have to take when deciding whether or not to actually Like the page.
We'll keep you posted as the fan page climbs in Likes, and if Zynga reveals any additional information about what this little piggy looks like, we'll make sure to let you know.
Have you already Liked the Zynga, Inc. Facebook fan page, or will you do so now that you know a new Boar will be released with your help? Do you think this new Boar should be free, or perhaps simply discounted in the store?
Cafe World Bake-Off Goals: Everything you need to know
It's time for a true Bake-Off in Cafe World with a new eight-part goal series available to complete, which will reward you with four new recipes in the process. As you might expect, these goals are full of tasks requiring you to ask your friends for items or even master various recipes, so we're not really met with any surprises. What we do have, though, is a time consuming process that you're better off starting now and working on at your leisure. Here's a complete guide:
The Bake-Off 1
Serve Jammin' Jelly Donuts 10 times
Serve Angel Fruit Cake 10 times
Ask for 8 Bred Pans
And, already, we're being asked to ask our friends for items. At least you can't say I didn't warn you. Either way, the reward for this first goal is the Pastry Table. As this entire goal series is about baking, you'll need to have a Bread Oven and a Pastry Station operating in your cafe, so keep that in mind for these next goals.
The Bake-Off 2
Serve Choco-Scotch Clusters 30 times
Serve Gem Cake 20 times
Ask for 10 Cake Knives
The Bake-Off 3
Serve Summer Fruit Cake once
Serve Angel Slices 45 times
Ask for 8 Cocoa Beans
Remember, if you're having trouble completing any of these cooking tasks, you can use spices to speed up the process, or you can even use servings that you've saved in your Gift Box to really boost the progress along. For finishing this goal, you'll receive the Cocoa Croissants recipe, which you'll need in this next goal.
The Bake-Off 4
Master Cocoa Croissants to Level 1
Serve Zynga Dog Cake once
Ask for 12 Frosting Tubes
The Zynga Dog Cake comes from your Pastry Station, while these many ingredient items like the Frosting Tubes can be earned through asking your friends to send them to you.
The Bake-Off 5
Master Cocoa Croissants to Level 3
Serve Wedding Cake 3 times
Ask for 10 Bags of Batter
You'll earn another free recipe here: the Apple Friendship Bread.
The Bake-Off 6
Master Apple Friendship Bread to Level 1
Serve 40 Vegas Buffets
Ask for 6 Bread Pans
Remember, use spices or serve extra dishes from your Gift Box in order to speed this process along. The cooking tasks will only become more time consuming as these goals roll on, so you'll likely want to use every piece of help you can get.
The Bake-Off 7
Master Apple Friendship Bread to Level 2
Serve 40 Biscuits of Tomorrow
Ask for 10 Cake Knives
The Bake-Off 8
Master Apple Friendship Bread through Level 3
Serve 80 Macaroni and Cheese
Ask for 10 Bags of Batter
Finally, we've reached the end of this goal series, and you'll be rewarded for one more recipe for making it this far. Completing this goal gives you the Blueberry Streusel Cobbler. At least here, you can master the dish at your leisure, without having to worry about a goal that needs to be completed (at least ... yet).
What do you think of this Bake-Off goal series? Are you overwhelmed with long goal series like these, or do you appreciate always having something to do when you login to your Cafe?
The Bake-Off 1
Serve Jammin' Jelly Donuts 10 times
Serve Angel Fruit Cake 10 times
Ask for 8 Bred Pans
And, already, we're being asked to ask our friends for items. At least you can't say I didn't warn you. Either way, the reward for this first goal is the Pastry Table. As this entire goal series is about baking, you'll need to have a Bread Oven and a Pastry Station operating in your cafe, so keep that in mind for these next goals.
The Bake-Off 2
Serve Choco-Scotch Clusters 30 times
Serve Gem Cake 20 times
Ask for 10 Cake Knives
The Bake-Off 3
Serve Summer Fruit Cake once
Serve Angel Slices 45 times
Ask for 8 Cocoa Beans
Remember, if you're having trouble completing any of these cooking tasks, you can use spices to speed up the process, or you can even use servings that you've saved in your Gift Box to really boost the progress along. For finishing this goal, you'll receive the Cocoa Croissants recipe, which you'll need in this next goal.
The Bake-Off 4
Master Cocoa Croissants to Level 1
Serve Zynga Dog Cake once
Ask for 12 Frosting Tubes
The Zynga Dog Cake comes from your Pastry Station, while these many ingredient items like the Frosting Tubes can be earned through asking your friends to send them to you.
The Bake-Off 5
Master Cocoa Croissants to Level 3
Serve Wedding Cake 3 times
Ask for 10 Bags of Batter
You'll earn another free recipe here: the Apple Friendship Bread.
The Bake-Off 6
Master Apple Friendship Bread to Level 1
Serve 40 Vegas Buffets
Ask for 6 Bread Pans
Remember, use spices or serve extra dishes from your Gift Box in order to speed this process along. The cooking tasks will only become more time consuming as these goals roll on, so you'll likely want to use every piece of help you can get.
The Bake-Off 7
Master Apple Friendship Bread to Level 2
Serve 40 Biscuits of Tomorrow
Ask for 10 Cake Knives
The Bake-Off 8
Master Apple Friendship Bread through Level 3
Serve 80 Macaroni and Cheese
Ask for 10 Bags of Batter
Finally, we've reached the end of this goal series, and you'll be rewarded for one more recipe for making it this far. Completing this goal gives you the Blueberry Streusel Cobbler. At least here, you can master the dish at your leisure, without having to worry about a goal that needs to be completed (at least ... yet).
What do you think of this Bake-Off goal series? Are you overwhelmed with long goal series like these, or do you appreciate always having something to do when you login to your Cafe?
Cafe World Joe and Lisa Proposal Part 2: Everything you need to know
Earlier this month, Zynga launched the Joe and Lisa Proposal Goal series in Cafe World, allowing us to help poor Joe come up with the courage to ask Lisa to marry him (go on, say "aww!"). Now that we've had more than a week to get the process started, Part 2 of the feature has been released, with a kink being thrown in the plan. Lisa's parents have come into town, and you'll need to first help Joe impress her folks (who happen to love Fondue) before going through with the proposal. This comes in a new seven-part goal series that will reward you with plenty of new Fondue dishes; here's our guide:
Changing Course
Place Fondue Station
Collect 4 Table Settings
Serve 10 Truffled Popcorns
This goal series is another one that may present you with different dishes than those presented in our guide. Apologies all around chefs, but there's no way for us to be able to pinpoint exactly which dish you'll need to cook, but we will try out best to make the rest of the goal series smooth.
Fondue Skidoo
Serve 10 Angel Fruit Cake
Complete the Fondue Station
Collect 6 Cups of Shredded Cheese
As with other goals, you'll know the drill here for collecting the Shredded Cheese; just ask your friends to send some items your way, and you'll eventually finish this task along with all other like it. One small step at a time, I always say.
Ring and a Miss
Collect 7 Cheddar Blocks
Collect 5 Artichoke Hearts
Serve 15 Cocktail Weenies
Uh-Oh Joe
Save 20 Artichoke Cheese Fondue
Collect 10 Chipotle Peppers
Spice 10 Neighbor Stoves
Agony of the Feet
Complete Level 1 Mastery of Fiesta Cheese Fondue
Collect 10 Chocolate Shavings
Complete Level 2 Mastery of Artichoke Cheese Fondue
Joe with the Flow
Serve Ginger Ale 18 times
Serve Gourmet Blend 18 times
Collect 3 Bags of Marshmallows
The Goodbye Girl
Collect 3 Plump Berries
Collect 9 Orange Slices
Complete Level 1 Mastery of Chocolate S'More Fondue
Once these goals finish, we're still not sure exactly what Lisa and Joe's status will be. Has Lisa gone home with her parents, or is her devotion to Joe more important? We'll make sure to keep an eye on this entire event, and will let you know when more steps from us are necessary to move on.
What do you think of these next Joe and Lisa Proposal Goals?
Changing Course
Place Fondue Station
Collect 4 Table Settings
Serve 10 Truffled Popcorns
This goal series is another one that may present you with different dishes than those presented in our guide. Apologies all around chefs, but there's no way for us to be able to pinpoint exactly which dish you'll need to cook, but we will try out best to make the rest of the goal series smooth.
Fondue Skidoo
Serve 10 Angel Fruit Cake
Complete the Fondue Station
Collect 6 Cups of Shredded Cheese
As with other goals, you'll know the drill here for collecting the Shredded Cheese; just ask your friends to send some items your way, and you'll eventually finish this task along with all other like it. One small step at a time, I always say.
Ring and a Miss
Collect 7 Cheddar Blocks
Collect 5 Artichoke Hearts
Serve 15 Cocktail Weenies
Uh-Oh Joe
Save 20 Artichoke Cheese Fondue
Collect 10 Chipotle Peppers
Spice 10 Neighbor Stoves
Agony of the Feet
Complete Level 1 Mastery of Fiesta Cheese Fondue
Collect 10 Chocolate Shavings
Complete Level 2 Mastery of Artichoke Cheese Fondue
Joe with the Flow
Serve Ginger Ale 18 times
Serve Gourmet Blend 18 times
Collect 3 Bags of Marshmallows
The Goodbye Girl
Collect 3 Plump Berries
Collect 9 Orange Slices
Complete Level 1 Mastery of Chocolate S'More Fondue
Once these goals finish, we're still not sure exactly what Lisa and Joe's status will be. Has Lisa gone home with her parents, or is her devotion to Joe more important? We'll make sure to keep an eye on this entire event, and will let you know when more steps from us are necessary to move on.
What do you think of these next Joe and Lisa Proposal Goals?
Building the Cafe World Fondue Station: Everything you need to know
Along with a new series of goals in Cafe World's Joe and Lisa Proposal series, the folks at Zynga have also launched a new appliance for us to build in our cafes. This appliance is the Fondue Station, and you'll actually be required to build one to finish off the proposal event and its many goals.
The Fondue Station must be built in the same way as other appliances, by collecting building ingredients with your friends' help. You'll need to collect six Cheese Wheels, six Caquelons (otherwise known as Fondue Pots), eight Dipping Forks and eight Fondue Lamps. Interestingly, the Cheese Wheel is the only one of the four that can be earned via a general news post, while the other three ingredients must be earned by asking your friends individually to help you. Of course, you can also quickly finish this project by filling in the gaps your friends leave behind (that is, once you've already asked folks for help, but perhaps come up short) by spending Cafe Cash (3-4) on each individual item.
Once the Fondue Station has been completed, you'll be able to cook new recipes, based on both Chocolate or Cheese Fondue bases. These dishes are used to complete Part 2 of Joe and Lisa's Proposal Goals, as (in our story) Lisa's parents really love Fondue. That means that the quicker you finish the Fondue Station, the quicker you can finish these goals, so get going!
[Image Credit: Lindt]
What do you think of the Fondue Station in Cafe World? Is your Cafe full of appliances, or is there always room for one more?
The Fondue Station must be built in the same way as other appliances, by collecting building ingredients with your friends' help. You'll need to collect six Cheese Wheels, six Caquelons (otherwise known as Fondue Pots), eight Dipping Forks and eight Fondue Lamps. Interestingly, the Cheese Wheel is the only one of the four that can be earned via a general news post, while the other three ingredients must be earned by asking your friends individually to help you. Of course, you can also quickly finish this project by filling in the gaps your friends leave behind (that is, once you've already asked folks for help, but perhaps come up short) by spending Cafe Cash (3-4) on each individual item.
Once the Fondue Station has been completed, you'll be able to cook new recipes, based on both Chocolate or Cheese Fondue bases. These dishes are used to complete Part 2 of Joe and Lisa's Proposal Goals, as (in our story) Lisa's parents really love Fondue. That means that the quicker you finish the Fondue Station, the quicker you can finish these goals, so get going!
[Image Credit: Lindt]
What do you think of the Fondue Station in Cafe World? Is your Cafe full of appliances, or is there always room for one more?
CityVille Greek and Roman items give your town a Masters in Mythology
I hope you were ready for the Tiki theme in CityVille to end, as it seems to have happened either way. Never fear though mayors! A new theme has launched just as quickly, bringing Greek and Roman items to the game. Most of these items are themed after actual mythology, but with a cute graphical twist. Perhaps the cutest item though isn't even a decoration or a business, but actually changes the look of your citizens as they walk around your town. That's right - Greek Clothing can be purchased for just 1,000 coins, and it places your citizens in cute white and blue togas.
Here's a look at what else has been released this weekend:
Trojan Horse (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 4% bonus payout
Kraken Statue (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 4% bonus payout
Colossus Statue (Decoration) - 15 City Cash - 6% bonus payout
Medusa's Ruin (Decoration) - 25 City Cash - 14% bonus payout
Pantheon (Community Building) - 70 City Cash - allows 2400 more citizens
Homer Library (Community Building) - 50 City Cash - allows 1650 citizens
House of Ephesus (Home) - 25,000 coins - 200-380 population; 188 coins every four hours in rent
Stathatos Mansion (Home) - 70 City Cash - 2,100-4,200 population; 100 coins every hour in rent
Hades Grill (Business) - 6,600 coins - 165 Goods; 999 coins in profit
Greek Carpenter (Business) - 100,000 coins - 310 Goods; 1670 coins in profit
Perseus Statue (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 4% bonus payout
Spartan Soldiers (Decoration) - 15 City Cash - 6% bonus payout
Olive Tree (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 1% bonus payout
As you can see, there's an absolute treasure trove of items to choose from here! Keep in mind though, a lot of these items are limited edition, and will only be available in the game for 3-4 more days. In fact, the Greek Clothing looks to be the only item that won't disappear after that time, so you're definitely on a time schedule for having a shopping spree of your own (or not - that's up to you).
If you need more of an incentive to create a mythological section in your town, keep in mind that these decorative items will offer a bonus payout that's double that of the original bonus if you place them next to other Greek or Roman-themed items. You can check out the items in the store to see the exact figures, but as an example, the Kraken's Statue bonus of 4% jumps to 8% when placed next to other Greek items.
Have fun decorating your town like Ancient Greece and Rome! I know I will!
Which of these items is the most interesting to you? Will you stick with just the coin items, or do you have some City Cash saved up for these community buildings?
Here's a look at what else has been released this weekend:
Trojan Horse (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 4% bonus payout
Kraken Statue (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 4% bonus payout
Colossus Statue (Decoration) - 15 City Cash - 6% bonus payout
Medusa's Ruin (Decoration) - 25 City Cash - 14% bonus payout
Pantheon (Community Building) - 70 City Cash - allows 2400 more citizens
Homer Library (Community Building) - 50 City Cash - allows 1650 citizens
House of Ephesus (Home) - 25,000 coins - 200-380 population; 188 coins every four hours in rent
Stathatos Mansion (Home) - 70 City Cash - 2,100-4,200 population; 100 coins every hour in rent
Hades Grill (Business) - 6,600 coins - 165 Goods; 999 coins in profit
Greek Carpenter (Business) - 100,000 coins - 310 Goods; 1670 coins in profit
Perseus Statue (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 4% bonus payout
Spartan Soldiers (Decoration) - 15 City Cash - 6% bonus payout
Olive Tree (Decoration) - 1,000 coins - 1% bonus payout
As you can see, there's an absolute treasure trove of items to choose from here! Keep in mind though, a lot of these items are limited edition, and will only be available in the game for 3-4 more days. In fact, the Greek Clothing looks to be the only item that won't disappear after that time, so you're definitely on a time schedule for having a shopping spree of your own (or not - that's up to you).
If you need more of an incentive to create a mythological section in your town, keep in mind that these decorative items will offer a bonus payout that's double that of the original bonus if you place them next to other Greek or Roman-themed items. You can check out the items in the store to see the exact figures, but as an example, the Kraken's Statue bonus of 4% jumps to 8% when placed next to other Greek items.
Have fun decorating your town like Ancient Greece and Rome! I know I will!
Which of these items is the most interesting to you? Will you stick with just the coin items, or do you have some City Cash saved up for these community buildings?
CityVille Tiki Backyard Party Contest offers you a chance at 250 City Cash
While CityVille may have already moved on to a mythological theme filled with Greek and Roman goodies, that doesn't mean that the the previous Tiki theme has been forgotten and ignored so quickly. In fact, Zynga is offering a slew of free City Cash to users in a new Tiki Backyard Party contest being held on the game's official forums.
In this new contest, users are allowed to use up to six expansions (that is, a space in their town the size of six expansions) to create a "backyard party fit for a king (or queen)!" You can use whatever items you'd like in the design, even if they aren't technically part of the Tiki theme, but the entire area must be predominantly Tiki in nature to stand a chance at winning. The only other rule that's been given is that you must have a fence or some kind of divider wrapped around the outside of your backyard party, as Zynga's logic is "backyards have fences."
If you can complete your design and submit a screenshot on the forums before September 1, you'll be entered to win. After that point, the CityVille community team will pick the top 25 entries and will then narrow them down to the top 10. The actual winners will be chosen by "popular vote," giving us a chance to actually reward our peers (or even ourselves) with free cash! The first place prize is 250 City Cash, while second and third place will walk away with 150 and 100 CIty Cash each, respectively. Even if you don't place in the top three, all ten of the finalists will receive a free Hawaiian Luau item.
As with all other contests, your participation is entirely voluntary, but you can't walk away with the City Cash if you don't try. Good luck if you do decide to enter!
What sort of backyard party area will you create in your town? Have you already put away all of your Tiki items in favor of another theme?
In this new contest, users are allowed to use up to six expansions (that is, a space in their town the size of six expansions) to create a "backyard party fit for a king (or queen)!" You can use whatever items you'd like in the design, even if they aren't technically part of the Tiki theme, but the entire area must be predominantly Tiki in nature to stand a chance at winning. The only other rule that's been given is that you must have a fence or some kind of divider wrapped around the outside of your backyard party, as Zynga's logic is "backyards have fences."
If you can complete your design and submit a screenshot on the forums before September 1, you'll be entered to win. After that point, the CityVille community team will pick the top 25 entries and will then narrow them down to the top 10. The actual winners will be chosen by "popular vote," giving us a chance to actually reward our peers (or even ourselves) with free cash! The first place prize is 250 City Cash, while second and third place will walk away with 150 and 100 CIty Cash each, respectively. Even if you don't place in the top three, all ten of the finalists will receive a free Hawaiian Luau item.
As with all other contests, your participation is entirely voluntary, but you can't walk away with the City Cash if you don't try. Good luck if you do decide to enter!
What sort of backyard party area will you create in your town? Have you already put away all of your Tiki items in favor of another theme?
CityVille Barley crop will quickly clear out your City Cash reserves
Another limited edition crop has been released in CityVille this week, costing just a bit less City Cash than other limited / premium crops, but still costing enough that you can quickly find yourself in virtual poverty all the same. The crop is Barley, and it can be planted for 4 City Cash per square.
For that price, you'll have (of course) a crop that grows instantly, but you'll only earn 127 Goods per square planted. As a comparison, the Taro crop that's also currently available to plant in the store gives you 158 Goods per 5 City Cash, so whether or not the one City Cash savings is worth the Goods difference will be up to you.
Either way, you'll need to make your decision quickly, as you only have four days to take advantage of this crop's bonuses. It can be mastered, if that increases your desire to plant it, with the first star of mastery coming at just three harvests (you'll also gain a 20% bonus to the Goods you receive from each Barley crop planted thereafter). Three harvests does still equal 12 City Cash though, so please remember to keep the high City Cash cost in mind before diving in!
Do you frequently plant the limited edition crops in CityVille that offer you instant Goods? How many of them have you mastered? Will you plant Barley as well?
For that price, you'll have (of course) a crop that grows instantly, but you'll only earn 127 Goods per square planted. As a comparison, the Taro crop that's also currently available to plant in the store gives you 158 Goods per 5 City Cash, so whether or not the one City Cash savings is worth the Goods difference will be up to you.
Either way, you'll need to make your decision quickly, as you only have four days to take advantage of this crop's bonuses. It can be mastered, if that increases your desire to plant it, with the first star of mastery coming at just three harvests (you'll also gain a 20% bonus to the Goods you receive from each Barley crop planted thereafter). Three harvests does still equal 12 City Cash though, so please remember to keep the high City Cash cost in mind before diving in!
Do you frequently plant the limited edition crops in CityVille that offer you instant Goods? How many of them have you mastered? Will you plant Barley as well?
CityVille Family Vacation Goals: Everything you need to know
Before summer ends, and the kids all have to go back to school, the Stumpford family has requested your help in CityVille. They'd like to have one last hurrah of the summer on a road trip for the whole family (mom, dad and the two kids), but they can't do it without you. In comes a set of four new goals in the game, called "Family Vacation."
The Family Vacation goals offer you a trio of decorations inspired by road trips or the great outdoors, so let's go ahead and jump right in, shall we? Note: You must be at least level 30 to access these goals.
My Way or the Highway
Ask for 4 Maps
Collect two times from any Library
Harvest 50 Carrots
Fortunately, this Library step really does mean "any," so you can collect once from a regular Library and again from a College Library within seconds and have that step completed. As for the Carrots, they cost 46 coins per square and take eight hours to grow, which gives you plenty of time to ask your friends to send you the four maps necessary to finish this one off. Doing so rewards you with the Giant Ball of Twine, a 2x2 decoration that offers a 5% bonus payout to surrounding homes and businesses.
Detour Guide
Have one Giant Ball of Twine in your city
Collect five times from any Diner
Send 5 Tour Buses to Burger Joints
Remember, you'll need to visit your friends' towns to send out Tour Buses, so hopefully at least a few of your neighbors have kept Burger Joints, rather than exchanging them for more profitable businesses. Your reward for this goal is 400 Goods.
Camping My Style
Have 6 Fitness Collection collectibles
Ask friends for 4 Mosquito Repellent
Pitch two Tents
Don't panic with this one; the Tents aren't some building project that must be undertaken - they're simply available to purchase as a decorative item in the store (a single Tent costs 5,000 coins and offers a 4% bonus to payout). Finishing this third goal rewards you with the Wooden Dino. This decoration offers just a 1% payout bonus, but it's a cute item all the same.
Hoax Busters
Have one Wooden Dino in your city
Ask for 10 Pictures of Bigfoot for proof
Collect two times from any Level 2 Emergency Clinic
Apparently, the Stumpfords have stumbled upon something in the forest on their road trip, on top of some Poison Ivy - ouch! You'll need to ask your friends for the Pictures of Bigfoot, but after these three steps are done, you'll have finished this family's vacation, and will be rewarded with the pretty Hidden Lake item. This item takes up a 4x4 square area on your land, but you'll gain a 20% bonus payout to surrounding structures so it's worth the few extra squares it sits on.
All told, these goals shouldn't take you the rest of the summer, but luckily, there doesn't seem to be any time limit on completing them if you'd like to take your time.
[Goals 2-4 Via CityVille Wiki]
Have you already started helping the Stumpfords on their Family Vacation? What do you think of the difficulty level of these goals?
The Family Vacation goals offer you a trio of decorations inspired by road trips or the great outdoors, so let's go ahead and jump right in, shall we? Note: You must be at least level 30 to access these goals.
My Way or the Highway
Ask for 4 Maps
Collect two times from any Library
Harvest 50 Carrots
Fortunately, this Library step really does mean "any," so you can collect once from a regular Library and again from a College Library within seconds and have that step completed. As for the Carrots, they cost 46 coins per square and take eight hours to grow, which gives you plenty of time to ask your friends to send you the four maps necessary to finish this one off. Doing so rewards you with the Giant Ball of Twine, a 2x2 decoration that offers a 5% bonus payout to surrounding homes and businesses.
Detour Guide
Have one Giant Ball of Twine in your city
Collect five times from any Diner
Send 5 Tour Buses to Burger Joints
Remember, you'll need to visit your friends' towns to send out Tour Buses, so hopefully at least a few of your neighbors have kept Burger Joints, rather than exchanging them for more profitable businesses. Your reward for this goal is 400 Goods.
Camping My Style
Have 6 Fitness Collection collectibles
Ask friends for 4 Mosquito Repellent
Pitch two Tents
Don't panic with this one; the Tents aren't some building project that must be undertaken - they're simply available to purchase as a decorative item in the store (a single Tent costs 5,000 coins and offers a 4% bonus to payout). Finishing this third goal rewards you with the Wooden Dino. This decoration offers just a 1% payout bonus, but it's a cute item all the same.
Hoax Busters
Have one Wooden Dino in your city
Ask for 10 Pictures of Bigfoot for proof
Collect two times from any Level 2 Emergency Clinic
Apparently, the Stumpfords have stumbled upon something in the forest on their road trip, on top of some Poison Ivy - ouch! You'll need to ask your friends for the Pictures of Bigfoot, but after these three steps are done, you'll have finished this family's vacation, and will be rewarded with the pretty Hidden Lake item. This item takes up a 4x4 square area on your land, but you'll gain a 20% bonus payout to surrounding structures so it's worth the few extra squares it sits on.
All told, these goals shouldn't take you the rest of the summer, but luckily, there doesn't seem to be any time limit on completing them if you'd like to take your time.
[Goals 2-4 Via CityVille Wiki]
Have you already started helping the Stumpfords on their Family Vacation? What do you think of the difficulty level of these goals?
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Nintendo: Making mobile games 'flies in the face of what we believe in' [Interview]
The maker of Mario couldn't be in stranger times. As Nintendo prepares for what could be one of its strongest holiday seasons with critically-acclaimed games and the 3DS raring to go, the company expects to report its first financial loss in over 30 years. And let's not forget Nintendo's staunch opinions of mobile and social gaming, which are quickly outpacing Microsoft and Sony as the company's biggest competition.
To get a better sense of what to expect from Nintendo this holiday and why the company refuses to dabble in mobile or social games, we sit down with Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime (pictured below). Spoiler: He's excited, like, really, really excited about the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Let's talk holiday releases. We all know what's coming out with Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Mario Kart 7. What game are you most excited about?
Me personally? It's like asking me which of my children do I love the most. I'm a huge Zelda fan -- my favorite game of all time is Zelda: Link to the Past. One of the benefits of my job is that I get to play games in development. I have a special Wii in my office, and I've been playing Skyward Sword since E3 [in June]. I'm very much looking forward to that game.
As I practiced and got ready to play at Jimmy [Fallon] last night, it rekindled all of the things I love about Zelda. It's puzzle solving, it's the battles, but now with the Wii Motion Plus, every battle is a puzzle to solve. And it's such a big game. The development team said that this is the largest Zelda game that they've ever created.
Super Mario 3D Land
Now, what other parts of the holiday lineup--maybe not necessarily Nintendo releases--are you excited about?
Let's talk a little bit about 3DS. So, I've been playing Super Mario 3D Land [picture above]--another one of my advantages: I get the games early. And that game is fantastic. That is a game that the 3DS was built for. [That's] in terms of taking advantage of the different viewpoints, different ways of navigating to fight Bowser and save the princess.
From a non-Nintendo standpoint this holiday, I think what Activision has done with Skylanders is really innovative. And that's a game that plays extremely well--the 3DS version plays well, the Wii version plays well. So, I'm looking forward to playing Call of Duty. I play all the games, [and] I make sure that I spend time on competitive systems as well.
What are you playing on the competitive systems?
So, I've played Battlefield [3] on the home consoles, I've played it on PC. I've played some Gears of War to see how that played, I played a little Resistance [3]. You know, I think it's important for me to have knowledge, insight on everything that's coming out. I got to see Skyrim at E3, and I'm looking forward to seeing that. But I try to get my hands on everything.
Reggie Fils-AimeHow is Nintendo catering to the casual gamers this holiday? It seems like a lot of the releases of the past few months have been for the hardcore Nintendo fan.
In terms of the more casual gamer, I would highlight a number of things that we're doing. First, from a third party perspective you've got Just Dance 3, Zumba Fitness, so there continues to be new, fresh content for the more casual user. Second thing I would highlight is we recently introduced the line of Nintendo Selects, so these are highest quality, strong selling games now being made available for $19.99. Included in that lineup is the original Wii Sports, so for consumers that bought hardware over the last year or so that didn't come included with Wii Sports, that product is available. But also Super Paper Mario, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy--I mean, some great, high quality titles that for maybe a new-to-the-Wii buyer, those products are available.
The last thing I would highlight, in terms of content for the more casual consumer, would be the new Kirby game that just came out last month. Classic Kirby: inhaling enemies, picking up new abilities, so I think there's great content out there for the casual gamer. In fact, I think that's what makes Nintendo different, if you will, is this holiday, we've got content for every type of gamer. If you're more active, great. You've got Zelda, Call of Duty on our platform, there's great content for you. But if you're wanting more casual content, great: Just Dance 3, Zumba Fitness, you know, even Black Eye Peas: The Experience.
Speaking of casual, since the 3DS has released it's been largely a system that seems to attract the, like I said, hardcore Nintendo fan. What would you say are Nintendo's plans to increase the appeal to casual gamers for the 3DS?
Well, our two big holiday titles for this year will certainly broaden the audience. Everyone loves Mario, [and] everyone loves to play Mario Kart [pictured below]. And the way those experiences are tailor-made for the 3DS certainly will continue expanding the base. As we look to next year, Mario & Sonic at the London Olympic Games is coming out on 3DS early next year--that's gonna' continue to broaden. But my expectation is that, come E3, I think we'll be showcasing a range of different titles that, for a more casual consumer, they'll see reasons to jump on board with the Nintendo 3DS.
We've heard that digital transactions are coming to the 3DS, which is pretty big news. How those transactions will work exactly?
In terms of what the next system update will allow, it will allow developers to sell add-on content, and whether that's for a physical game or a digitally released game. In terms of how it will work, it's up to the developer whether they want to make it to buy new levels, new items--all of that is up to their imagination. Essentially, what we're doing is creating the framework for those transactions to happen.
The digital business on the 3DS is very strong, and it's not only the gaming content we're making available through the eShop, but the video content we're making available through Nintendo Video. So, it's already a robust environment and the Nintendo 3DS is our most connected device ever, which is great.
Will Nintendo ever release digital upgrades or add-ons to its games?
We're interested in it to the extent that it makes sense to the consumer. And it's interesting: I've had this conversation with a number of our key developers, and their mentality is, "Reggie, when we sell a game, we want the consumer to feel that they've had a complete experience." Now, in addition, if we want to make other things available, great, and we'll look at that. But what we're unwilling to sell a piece of a game upfront and, if you will, force a consumer to buy more later. That's what they don't want to do, and I completely agree. I think the consumer wants to get, for their money, a complete experience, and then we have opportunities to provide more on top of that.
So, are we speaking to the free-to-play space, in terms of you download the game and pay a dollar for in-game items?
All I'm saying is--your question was--will Nintendo participate in this additional digital content? And the answer is yes, but the way that we'll do it is that whatever we sell initially, we will feel that that is a complete experience. And if that's all the consumer wants to do, that they'd be satisfied.
Mario Kart 7
While we're on the 3DS, it's tough to ignore the launch and the price cut that happened over the summer. What is the number one thing that the 3DS needs to succeed on the same level as the DS Lite?
Content. It's all about the content, and we're gratified when we see reviews for Super Mario 3D Land, for example, giving it a perfect score. We are gratified when we saw that with the launch of Ocarina of Time in 3D. It's those types of games that make the 3DS a must-have piece of hardware. It reaffirmed for us that lesson that software drives hardware, and that the launch and ongoing for the system to be effective, you need to have titles to drive the install base.
President Iwata says Nintendo will be exploring new types of games with the 3DS. Can you tell me more about that?
For all of the success we've had with DS, 50 million units here in the U.S., content with a bit more of an edge from key third party publishers really never came to the platform--handful of exceptions. So, one of the first things that will differentiate the 3DS is that we are getting that type of content. And probably the best example of that is the Resident Evil game that will come out next year from Capcom. Beautiful game, and if you love Resident Evil, it's everything that you want.
In terms of other genres, absolutely we will continue to push the envelope with new, unique, differentiated experiences that you can only get on the Nintendo 3DS and that widen the consumer demographic. So, will there be content to appeal to consumers 50 plus the way Brain Age did? Absolutely. Will there be content that's going to appeal to women the way we are able to do with the DS? Absolutely. I can't go into the details of what exactly those titles will be, but stay tuned. There is information that we'll be sharing prior to E3, plus a lot of information at E3 as well.
Pokemon Say TapA recent Bloomberg report says investors want Nintendo to make mobile games. When Pokémon Say Tap was announced for iPhone, Nintendo stock prices spiked. Then, when people learned the game was not from Nintendo, the stock fell back to normal numbers. What do you think about that investor feedback?
First, we're an entertainment company. We don't make devices for the sake of making devices. We make our hardware in order to bring great entertainment experiences to life. Whether that's the DS, the Wii or the 3DS--or even back to the NES and the SNES--that's our philosophy. Therefore, the concept of having our core franchises on other systems really flies in the face of what we believe in, and that's because by understanding the hardware, that's how we're able to bring these great experiences forward.
The two great examples of this, coming this holiday, are Skyward Sword for Wii and Super Mario 3D Land for 3DS. You know, we've made the same development tools available to everybody else creating content for the platforms. But no one has created a game like Skyward Sword that fully leverages the Wii Motion Plus technology in a traditional gamer experience. It hasn't been done before, and this is going to be [the Wii's] sixth holiday.
For the 3DS, people are saying that [Super Mario 3D Land] is the game that the system was built for. And it's because we understand how to maximize the experience. So, I think those are great examples of why we believe that our content can best be brought to life on our hardware. And by following that strategy, in the end, it's the best for our investors.
Companion apps are huge, and Nintendo just announced that the 3DS eShop is coming to iOS and web. Have there been talks about expanding that approach of companion apps to games?
We consider a lot of things, and we'll continue to drive a lot of experimentation not just with Facebook or things that we do from a PC website standpoint. We want to make it easy for all of our fans to be connected to the key franchises they love and the experiences they love. So, we're constantly looking at everything. But in the end, the full game experiences will be brought to life, at least from a first party perspective, on our hardware.
A recent Flurry study says iOS and Android have taken 58 percent of the portable gaming market. So if Nintendo isn't interested in entering that space how does the company plan to keep up with this new competition?
First, I haven't seen the study, and Flurry is a company that consults app developers. So, as we look at our range of companies where we trust their data, and they have a methodology that makes sense--I just can't speak to the data. And I can't speak to the motivations of the company, as they are not a pure research firm. Having said that, the way that we compete is that we compete with our franchises, we compete with our differentiated experiences and we compete by giving the consumer the best value for their money. Nintendo has always been a mass market company. Even from back in the days of the NES, we always want as many consumers to jump into this industry that we love called video games, and to maximize the breadth of our reach. And the only way we can do that is great games, great experiences, differentiated experiences at a great value.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Nintendo President Iwata says every measure will be taken to ensure that the Wii U is a success. What does the Wii U need to succeed when it arrives in 2012?
The Wii U has to deliver a differentiated experience that can only be brought to bear through the use of these two screens. If all we do is a beautiful game in HD, it's been done before. We have to take advantage of the second screen, we need to take advantage of the connectivity that the system will offer and, if we do that, we believe that we will yet again disrupt the market the same way we with DS and Wii.
We've heard murmurs that people are calling Zelda: Skyward Sword the swan song for the Wii. Is there any truth to that?
Well, it is certainly true that the Wii is not over. I was the one who was asked the question originally, and I think some comments were taken out of context. So, what I can say is that there certainly will be more games launched for the Wii. And what I can say is that we believe there are still millions more systems to be sold. And I can say that the Wii will coexist side by side beside the Wii U for some period of time.
I think for any game to compare to Skyward Sword, I think is gonna be a tough challenge. All the reviews aren't out yet, but I counted this morning there are eight perfect scores. I don't know if there's going to be a video game in history that's going to be able to compare to Skyward Sword. So, to clarify my comments on this, there will be more games for the Wii, we'll sell more hardware for the Wii and it will coexist side by side to the Wii U. All those things I can commit to, but I can't commit that there's going to be another game that will score and be of the caliber of Skyward Sword. I don't think there's been one to date.
What are you most excited about in Nintendo's holiday lineup? What do you think of Reggie's opinions on the prospect of Nintendo entering new platforms like mobile?
To get a better sense of what to expect from Nintendo this holiday and why the company refuses to dabble in mobile or social games, we sit down with Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime (pictured below). Spoiler: He's excited, like, really, really excited about the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Let's talk holiday releases. We all know what's coming out with Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Mario Kart 7. What game are you most excited about?
Me personally? It's like asking me which of my children do I love the most. I'm a huge Zelda fan -- my favorite game of all time is Zelda: Link to the Past. One of the benefits of my job is that I get to play games in development. I have a special Wii in my office, and I've been playing Skyward Sword since E3 [in June]. I'm very much looking forward to that game.
As I practiced and got ready to play at Jimmy [Fallon] last night, it rekindled all of the things I love about Zelda. It's puzzle solving, it's the battles, but now with the Wii Motion Plus, every battle is a puzzle to solve. And it's such a big game. The development team said that this is the largest Zelda game that they've ever created.
Super Mario 3D Land
Now, what other parts of the holiday lineup--maybe not necessarily Nintendo releases--are you excited about?
Let's talk a little bit about 3DS. So, I've been playing Super Mario 3D Land [picture above]--another one of my advantages: I get the games early. And that game is fantastic. That is a game that the 3DS was built for. [That's] in terms of taking advantage of the different viewpoints, different ways of navigating to fight Bowser and save the princess.
From a non-Nintendo standpoint this holiday, I think what Activision has done with Skylanders is really innovative. And that's a game that plays extremely well--the 3DS version plays well, the Wii version plays well. So, I'm looking forward to playing Call of Duty. I play all the games, [and] I make sure that I spend time on competitive systems as well.
What are you playing on the competitive systems?
So, I've played Battlefield [3] on the home consoles, I've played it on PC. I've played some Gears of War to see how that played, I played a little Resistance [3]. You know, I think it's important for me to have knowledge, insight on everything that's coming out. I got to see Skyrim at E3, and I'm looking forward to seeing that. But I try to get my hands on everything.
Reggie Fils-AimeHow is Nintendo catering to the casual gamers this holiday? It seems like a lot of the releases of the past few months have been for the hardcore Nintendo fan.
In terms of the more casual gamer, I would highlight a number of things that we're doing. First, from a third party perspective you've got Just Dance 3, Zumba Fitness, so there continues to be new, fresh content for the more casual user. Second thing I would highlight is we recently introduced the line of Nintendo Selects, so these are highest quality, strong selling games now being made available for $19.99. Included in that lineup is the original Wii Sports, so for consumers that bought hardware over the last year or so that didn't come included with Wii Sports, that product is available. But also Super Paper Mario, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy--I mean, some great, high quality titles that for maybe a new-to-the-Wii buyer, those products are available.
The last thing I would highlight, in terms of content for the more casual consumer, would be the new Kirby game that just came out last month. Classic Kirby: inhaling enemies, picking up new abilities, so I think there's great content out there for the casual gamer. In fact, I think that's what makes Nintendo different, if you will, is this holiday, we've got content for every type of gamer. If you're more active, great. You've got Zelda, Call of Duty on our platform, there's great content for you. But if you're wanting more casual content, great: Just Dance 3, Zumba Fitness, you know, even Black Eye Peas: The Experience.
Speaking of casual, since the 3DS has released it's been largely a system that seems to attract the, like I said, hardcore Nintendo fan. What would you say are Nintendo's plans to increase the appeal to casual gamers for the 3DS?
Well, our two big holiday titles for this year will certainly broaden the audience. Everyone loves Mario, [and] everyone loves to play Mario Kart [pictured below]. And the way those experiences are tailor-made for the 3DS certainly will continue expanding the base. As we look to next year, Mario & Sonic at the London Olympic Games is coming out on 3DS early next year--that's gonna' continue to broaden. But my expectation is that, come E3, I think we'll be showcasing a range of different titles that, for a more casual consumer, they'll see reasons to jump on board with the Nintendo 3DS.
We've heard that digital transactions are coming to the 3DS, which is pretty big news. How those transactions will work exactly?
In terms of what the next system update will allow, it will allow developers to sell add-on content, and whether that's for a physical game or a digitally released game. In terms of how it will work, it's up to the developer whether they want to make it to buy new levels, new items--all of that is up to their imagination. Essentially, what we're doing is creating the framework for those transactions to happen.
The digital business on the 3DS is very strong, and it's not only the gaming content we're making available through the eShop, but the video content we're making available through Nintendo Video. So, it's already a robust environment and the Nintendo 3DS is our most connected device ever, which is great.
Will Nintendo ever release digital upgrades or add-ons to its games?
We're interested in it to the extent that it makes sense to the consumer. And it's interesting: I've had this conversation with a number of our key developers, and their mentality is, "Reggie, when we sell a game, we want the consumer to feel that they've had a complete experience." Now, in addition, if we want to make other things available, great, and we'll look at that. But what we're unwilling to sell a piece of a game upfront and, if you will, force a consumer to buy more later. That's what they don't want to do, and I completely agree. I think the consumer wants to get, for their money, a complete experience, and then we have opportunities to provide more on top of that.
So, are we speaking to the free-to-play space, in terms of you download the game and pay a dollar for in-game items?
All I'm saying is--your question was--will Nintendo participate in this additional digital content? And the answer is yes, but the way that we'll do it is that whatever we sell initially, we will feel that that is a complete experience. And if that's all the consumer wants to do, that they'd be satisfied.
Mario Kart 7
While we're on the 3DS, it's tough to ignore the launch and the price cut that happened over the summer. What is the number one thing that the 3DS needs to succeed on the same level as the DS Lite?
Content. It's all about the content, and we're gratified when we see reviews for Super Mario 3D Land, for example, giving it a perfect score. We are gratified when we saw that with the launch of Ocarina of Time in 3D. It's those types of games that make the 3DS a must-have piece of hardware. It reaffirmed for us that lesson that software drives hardware, and that the launch and ongoing for the system to be effective, you need to have titles to drive the install base.
President Iwata says Nintendo will be exploring new types of games with the 3DS. Can you tell me more about that?
For all of the success we've had with DS, 50 million units here in the U.S., content with a bit more of an edge from key third party publishers really never came to the platform--handful of exceptions. So, one of the first things that will differentiate the 3DS is that we are getting that type of content. And probably the best example of that is the Resident Evil game that will come out next year from Capcom. Beautiful game, and if you love Resident Evil, it's everything that you want.
In terms of other genres, absolutely we will continue to push the envelope with new, unique, differentiated experiences that you can only get on the Nintendo 3DS and that widen the consumer demographic. So, will there be content to appeal to consumers 50 plus the way Brain Age did? Absolutely. Will there be content that's going to appeal to women the way we are able to do with the DS? Absolutely. I can't go into the details of what exactly those titles will be, but stay tuned. There is information that we'll be sharing prior to E3, plus a lot of information at E3 as well.
Pokemon Say TapA recent Bloomberg report says investors want Nintendo to make mobile games. When Pokémon Say Tap was announced for iPhone, Nintendo stock prices spiked. Then, when people learned the game was not from Nintendo, the stock fell back to normal numbers. What do you think about that investor feedback?
First, we're an entertainment company. We don't make devices for the sake of making devices. We make our hardware in order to bring great entertainment experiences to life. Whether that's the DS, the Wii or the 3DS--or even back to the NES and the SNES--that's our philosophy. Therefore, the concept of having our core franchises on other systems really flies in the face of what we believe in, and that's because by understanding the hardware, that's how we're able to bring these great experiences forward.
The two great examples of this, coming this holiday, are Skyward Sword for Wii and Super Mario 3D Land for 3DS. You know, we've made the same development tools available to everybody else creating content for the platforms. But no one has created a game like Skyward Sword that fully leverages the Wii Motion Plus technology in a traditional gamer experience. It hasn't been done before, and this is going to be [the Wii's] sixth holiday.
For the 3DS, people are saying that [Super Mario 3D Land] is the game that the system was built for. And it's because we understand how to maximize the experience. So, I think those are great examples of why we believe that our content can best be brought to life on our hardware. And by following that strategy, in the end, it's the best for our investors.
Companion apps are huge, and Nintendo just announced that the 3DS eShop is coming to iOS and web. Have there been talks about expanding that approach of companion apps to games?
We consider a lot of things, and we'll continue to drive a lot of experimentation not just with Facebook or things that we do from a PC website standpoint. We want to make it easy for all of our fans to be connected to the key franchises they love and the experiences they love. So, we're constantly looking at everything. But in the end, the full game experiences will be brought to life, at least from a first party perspective, on our hardware.
A recent Flurry study says iOS and Android have taken 58 percent of the portable gaming market. So if Nintendo isn't interested in entering that space how does the company plan to keep up with this new competition?
First, I haven't seen the study, and Flurry is a company that consults app developers. So, as we look at our range of companies where we trust their data, and they have a methodology that makes sense--I just can't speak to the data. And I can't speak to the motivations of the company, as they are not a pure research firm. Having said that, the way that we compete is that we compete with our franchises, we compete with our differentiated experiences and we compete by giving the consumer the best value for their money. Nintendo has always been a mass market company. Even from back in the days of the NES, we always want as many consumers to jump into this industry that we love called video games, and to maximize the breadth of our reach. And the only way we can do that is great games, great experiences, differentiated experiences at a great value.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Nintendo President Iwata says every measure will be taken to ensure that the Wii U is a success. What does the Wii U need to succeed when it arrives in 2012?
The Wii U has to deliver a differentiated experience that can only be brought to bear through the use of these two screens. If all we do is a beautiful game in HD, it's been done before. We have to take advantage of the second screen, we need to take advantage of the connectivity that the system will offer and, if we do that, we believe that we will yet again disrupt the market the same way we with DS and Wii.
We've heard murmurs that people are calling Zelda: Skyward Sword the swan song for the Wii. Is there any truth to that?
Well, it is certainly true that the Wii is not over. I was the one who was asked the question originally, and I think some comments were taken out of context. So, what I can say is that there certainly will be more games launched for the Wii. And what I can say is that we believe there are still millions more systems to be sold. And I can say that the Wii will coexist side by side beside the Wii U for some period of time.
I think for any game to compare to Skyward Sword, I think is gonna be a tough challenge. All the reviews aren't out yet, but I counted this morning there are eight perfect scores. I don't know if there's going to be a video game in history that's going to be able to compare to Skyward Sword. So, to clarify my comments on this, there will be more games for the Wii, we'll sell more hardware for the Wii and it will coexist side by side to the Wii U. All those things I can commit to, but I can't commit that there's going to be another game that will score and be of the caliber of Skyward Sword. I don't think there's been one to date.
What are you most excited about in Nintendo's holiday lineup? What do you think of Reggie's opinions on the prospect of Nintendo entering new platforms like mobile?
The Sims creator reveals HiveMind, and we'll have what he's having
Seriously, you'll want to know what he's eating (or otherwise) after reading this VentureBeat exclusive. Will Wright, the man behind both classic city-builder SimCity and family-builder The Sims has revealed HiveMind. Also the name of Wright's new startup, the game designer calls HiveMind a new evolution in games: "personal gaming," according to VentureBeat.
From what's gathered in the terribly cryptic, nebulous announcement, HiveMind will be a mobile social game that will possibly launch on Facebook as well. The point of the game, in theory, is to further connect gamers to reality and enhance their experience by personalizing game play. But don't call it an augmented reality app.
"Rather than craft a game like FarmVille for players to learn and play, we learn about you and your routines and incorporate that into a form of game play," Wright said to VentureBeat. Later Wright said, "If we can learn enough about the player, we can create games about their real life. How do we get you more engaged in reality rather than distract you from it?"
Alright, so that sounds a lot like augmented reality (and nothing like what we first heard about). But services like Foursquare largely serve to distract players from the world around them. According to Wright's vague description of HiveMind, the game will actually help players be a part of interesting happenings around them.
"This has to do with where gaming is going," Wright told the website. "We had our eras in console gaming and social gaming. A lot of this personal gaming will happen on mobile devices. The question here is how can we learn enough about the player to create games about his or her real life." Alright Will, time to give us the hook up.
What do you think the SimCity maker is even talking about? Do you think he could herald yet another new genre in gaming?
From what's gathered in the terribly cryptic, nebulous announcement, HiveMind will be a mobile social game that will possibly launch on Facebook as well. The point of the game, in theory, is to further connect gamers to reality and enhance their experience by personalizing game play. But don't call it an augmented reality app.
"Rather than craft a game like FarmVille for players to learn and play, we learn about you and your routines and incorporate that into a form of game play," Wright said to VentureBeat. Later Wright said, "If we can learn enough about the player, we can create games about their real life. How do we get you more engaged in reality rather than distract you from it?"
Alright, so that sounds a lot like augmented reality (and nothing like what we first heard about). But services like Foursquare largely serve to distract players from the world around them. According to Wright's vague description of HiveMind, the game will actually help players be a part of interesting happenings around them.
"This has to do with where gaming is going," Wright told the website. "We had our eras in console gaming and social gaming. A lot of this personal gaming will happen on mobile devices. The question here is how can we learn enough about the player to create games about his or her real life." Alright Will, time to give us the hook up.
What do you think the SimCity maker is even talking about? Do you think he could herald yet another new genre in gaming?
Sony shows off social savvy with Japanese PlayStation social network
But we doubt it's as fly as our mad alliteration skillz. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has revealed a web-based social network for its players. Andriasang reports that the new section of the Japanese PlayStation website is called "Play Community," and it serves as a social network for fans. Players can make friends, form groups and send messages to others through the new PlayStation-centric social network.
Most importantly, however, is that users can seek out other players for game sessions and create a "My Page" with a list of the games they play. This all sounds vaguely familiar--wait, didn't Microsoft just update its Xbox website with a social network of sorts? Why yes, yes it did. Just as Google+ and Facebook have started a duel when it comes to games, could it be that Sony and Microsoft have walked their paces?
It certainly seems that way. (Gentlemen, prepare your slapping gloves!) To jump start use of the new website, Sony has offered PlayStation Vita systems to three people--Japanese, we assume--who register with the network, make three friends and submit a comment to this blog post. Unfortunately, there's no word of Play Community hitting Western shores. But considering Sony looks to take the "social gaming revolution" worldwide with the Vita, we can't imagine this portion not following suit.
[Via IndustryGamers]
Could Play Community be a response to the recent changes to Xbox.com? Do you hope this network comes to Western PlayStation players? What's up with all the console-based social networks.
Most importantly, however, is that users can seek out other players for game sessions and create a "My Page" with a list of the games they play. This all sounds vaguely familiar--wait, didn't Microsoft just update its Xbox website with a social network of sorts? Why yes, yes it did. Just as Google+ and Facebook have started a duel when it comes to games, could it be that Sony and Microsoft have walked their paces?
It certainly seems that way. (Gentlemen, prepare your slapping gloves!) To jump start use of the new website, Sony has offered PlayStation Vita systems to three people--Japanese, we assume--who register with the network, make three friends and submit a comment to this blog post. Unfortunately, there's no word of Play Community hitting Western shores. But considering Sony looks to take the "social gaming revolution" worldwide with the Vita, we can't imagine this portion not following suit.
[Via IndustryGamers]
Could Play Community be a response to the recent changes to Xbox.com? Do you hope this network comes to Western PlayStation players? What's up with all the console-based social networks.
Zynga temp worker accused of $100K theft, caught on security camera
Surprise--you're on candid security camera. At least that's what FarmVille maker Zynga seems to think of 21-year-old Keith Brown, a temp worker in the developer's San Francisco headquarters. Brown is accused of stealing $100,000 worth in desktops, laptops and software from the building between Oct. 31 and Nov. 15, the date of his arrest.
According to The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco District Attorney's Office spokesman Omid Talai said that Brown's alleged theft was caught on security camera footage. Brown was escorted from Zynga HQ by security and handed off into police custody. "At this point, he's the only Zynga employee arrested for doing this," Talai told the San Francisco Examiner.
Since Zynga is a multibillion dollar company (with likely very, very strong security) expected to make even more billions in its imminent initial public offering, we're not surprised. Still in custody and said to have been arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday, Brown faces four felony counts of commercial burglary, one of receiving stolen property, one of grand theft and one of embezzlement.
We've certainly heard of theft surrounding Zynga's games and other social games. (We've even heard Zynga itself be accused of theft in a way.) But allegations of physical property stolen directly from the company is a first. We've reached out to Zynga for comment.
[Via Kotaku]
What are your thoughts on the possibility that a Zynga temp worker might have stolen from the company? How would you have handled the same situation?
According to The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco District Attorney's Office spokesman Omid Talai said that Brown's alleged theft was caught on security camera footage. Brown was escorted from Zynga HQ by security and handed off into police custody. "At this point, he's the only Zynga employee arrested for doing this," Talai told the San Francisco Examiner.
Since Zynga is a multibillion dollar company (with likely very, very strong security) expected to make even more billions in its imminent initial public offering, we're not surprised. Still in custody and said to have been arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday, Brown faces four felony counts of commercial burglary, one of receiving stolen property, one of grand theft and one of embezzlement.
We've certainly heard of theft surrounding Zynga's games and other social games. (We've even heard Zynga itself be accused of theft in a way.) But allegations of physical property stolen directly from the company is a first. We've reached out to Zynga for comment.
[Via Kotaku]
What are your thoughts on the possibility that a Zynga temp worker might have stolen from the company? How would you have handled the same situation?
Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter goes live on Facebook
Released previously only in a private beta, Dungeons & Dragons Heroes of Neverwinter has now officially gone live on Facebook. Developed by Atari and set in the Neverwinter realm, the game already has 166,000 monthly players from its time in beta, but if you'd like to join them, here's a taste of what you can expect.
When first starting Heroes of Neverwinter, you'll be allowed to create a character using either set templates of a Fighter, Wizard, Cleric or Rogue (each with their own stats and specialties), or can create a custom character to customize your gender, stats, class, race and more. In this, the game can immediately start out being as complex or as straightforward as you like.
Upon launching into the game proper, you're met with a story of amnesia and will be introduced to Edrick, a scout that was guiding you on your way to Neverwinter before a pack of Goblins knocked you unconscious. Through this introduction, you're told of Neverwinter, a place of hope and civilization that has survived the Ruining, and that you had originally wanted to travel there to purchase a home and earn your fortune. With this as a base, you're sent on your way.
Movement is achieved on a grid, with this turn-based game automatically allowing you to move at the beginning of each turn. When commanding a party, you'll be able to complete multiple actions, including attacking or opening your inventory with each character before needing to manually end their turn and start over with the next character. Once each "adventure" in the game is complete, you'll receive experience points for the battles you won and the tasks you completed in the process. For immediate prizes, you'll sometimes be able to loot your fallen enemies, selecting a prize from a list of ten. You can choose randomly from ten cards, or can use a potion to reveal items before you choose.
In terms of actual combat, you'll have a wide variety of options, depending on the classes of characters in your party. You might be able to attack an enemy from far away, eliminating them before they ever become a threat, or surround an enemy with multiple characters, giving everyone a combat advantage. There's enough strategy here to keep more hardcore players satisfied, but the initial sections of gameplay are incredibly simple and work well to help an unfamiliar player get up to speed.
Gallery: Dungeons & Dragons Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook
Back in Neverwinter proper, you can access a variety of buildings including the Adventure Board where you'll accept new Adventures (Adventures require energy and have multiple difficulty levels), the Tavern where you can purchase energy potions or Adventure boosts to your stats, the Trade house where you'll purchase similar potions or new equipment items, and even your own home, which you'll be able to fill with treasures as you complete different achievements or tasks within the game (collecting a certain amount of gold, for instance).
That being said, the main focus here (understandably) is in the Adventures themselves. There are plenty of them to undertake, each with an additional focus on bringing your friends in to help you (early on, it's entirely possible to fail even the most basic of Adventures by simply going it alone). The lore within the game is presented through text boxes at the beginning and end of most scenes and encounters, and will likely satisfy current D&D fans. Still, this isn't the first game of its kind of Facebook, so hopefully the D&D name alone will help draw more followers into the fray.
Will D&D Heroes of Neverwinter win over the "Zynga" crowd with its fairly in-depth, and somewhat slow-going gameplay? Likely not, but there's plenty of content here for fans who go out specifically in search for it.
Play Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook -->
Have you tried Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook?
When first starting Heroes of Neverwinter, you'll be allowed to create a character using either set templates of a Fighter, Wizard, Cleric or Rogue (each with their own stats and specialties), or can create a custom character to customize your gender, stats, class, race and more. In this, the game can immediately start out being as complex or as straightforward as you like.
Upon launching into the game proper, you're met with a story of amnesia and will be introduced to Edrick, a scout that was guiding you on your way to Neverwinter before a pack of Goblins knocked you unconscious. Through this introduction, you're told of Neverwinter, a place of hope and civilization that has survived the Ruining, and that you had originally wanted to travel there to purchase a home and earn your fortune. With this as a base, you're sent on your way.
Movement is achieved on a grid, with this turn-based game automatically allowing you to move at the beginning of each turn. When commanding a party, you'll be able to complete multiple actions, including attacking or opening your inventory with each character before needing to manually end their turn and start over with the next character. Once each "adventure" in the game is complete, you'll receive experience points for the battles you won and the tasks you completed in the process. For immediate prizes, you'll sometimes be able to loot your fallen enemies, selecting a prize from a list of ten. You can choose randomly from ten cards, or can use a potion to reveal items before you choose.
In terms of actual combat, you'll have a wide variety of options, depending on the classes of characters in your party. You might be able to attack an enemy from far away, eliminating them before they ever become a threat, or surround an enemy with multiple characters, giving everyone a combat advantage. There's enough strategy here to keep more hardcore players satisfied, but the initial sections of gameplay are incredibly simple and work well to help an unfamiliar player get up to speed.
Gallery: Dungeons & Dragons Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook
Back in Neverwinter proper, you can access a variety of buildings including the Adventure Board where you'll accept new Adventures (Adventures require energy and have multiple difficulty levels), the Tavern where you can purchase energy potions or Adventure boosts to your stats, the Trade house where you'll purchase similar potions or new equipment items, and even your own home, which you'll be able to fill with treasures as you complete different achievements or tasks within the game (collecting a certain amount of gold, for instance).
That being said, the main focus here (understandably) is in the Adventures themselves. There are plenty of them to undertake, each with an additional focus on bringing your friends in to help you (early on, it's entirely possible to fail even the most basic of Adventures by simply going it alone). The lore within the game is presented through text boxes at the beginning and end of most scenes and encounters, and will likely satisfy current D&D fans. Still, this isn't the first game of its kind of Facebook, so hopefully the D&D name alone will help draw more followers into the fray.
Will D&D Heroes of Neverwinter win over the "Zynga" crowd with its fairly in-depth, and somewhat slow-going gameplay? Likely not, but there's plenty of content here for fans who go out specifically in search for it.
Play Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook -->
Have you tried Heroes of Neverwinter on Facebook?
Call of Duty veterans set crosshairs for 'first-person social game'
That sounds a helluva lot like "first-person shooter game," no? Well, these folks are best known for their contributions to hardcore games like Call of Duty. VentureBeat reports that Activision veterans Dusty Welch and Chris Archer have founded their own social game studio, U4iA. Pronounced "euphoria" (that's cute), the Bellevue, Wash.-based studio aims to bring core games to Facebook in a big way.
Welch (CEO) and Archer (CCO) aim to set the quality bar even higher on Facebook and mobile with a "first-person social game" that matches the caliber of recent free-to-play games like League of Legends, according to VentureBeat. At least from what the U4iA heads see, the future of social games is the arrival of traditional gamers.
"We're making core games for a social audience." Welch told VentureBeat, "We think the hardcore gamers are going to start looking for the core games on the social and mobile networks now." Well, with companies like Kixeye and Kabam gunning for the same audience, at least they're not alone.
"We think we're at the spearhead of a lot of cool things," Welch said to VentureBeat. Since the guy is credited with creating the Call of Duty series--the best-selling game franchise ever--we can't really contest that. This first-person shooter social game will be created for both Facebook and mobile devices using the Unity Player. With expertise like that, we're sure the game will be a technological marvel, but will the audience be there to bear witness?
Would you ever play a hardcore first-person game on Facebook? Do you think shooters could perform well on social networks?
Welch (CEO) and Archer (CCO) aim to set the quality bar even higher on Facebook and mobile with a "first-person social game" that matches the caliber of recent free-to-play games like League of Legends, according to VentureBeat. At least from what the U4iA heads see, the future of social games is the arrival of traditional gamers.
"We're making core games for a social audience." Welch told VentureBeat, "We think the hardcore gamers are going to start looking for the core games on the social and mobile networks now." Well, with companies like Kixeye and Kabam gunning for the same audience, at least they're not alone.
"We think we're at the spearhead of a lot of cool things," Welch said to VentureBeat. Since the guy is credited with creating the Call of Duty series--the best-selling game franchise ever--we can't really contest that. This first-person shooter social game will be created for both Facebook and mobile devices using the Unity Player. With expertise like that, we're sure the game will be a technological marvel, but will the audience be there to bear witness?
Would you ever play a hardcore first-person game on Facebook? Do you think shooters could perform well on social networks?
Social UPs games lure in Facebook fans for small businesses with big prizes
Have you been seeing Facebook wall posts from your friends with the dubious offer of big prizes for high-scoring a game? I encountered one last night that promised a free iPad 2 from a Toyota dealer by playing "Bouncing Balls". Google searches revealed no official announcements about this promotion and I worried it was a scam, but the offer was legit after all. Other games and prizes -- such as Sony HDTVs, iPhone 4S, and even an Xbox 360 with Kinect -- are being offered on the Facebook pages of various businesses. All of them are coming from a San Diego-based, social media marketing company called Social UPs, best described as what you'd get if Games And Prizes crossed paths with GamesThatGive.
Games And Prizes is a generic games hub on Facebook that lets players bet on sponsored prizes with currency they earned through gaming. GamesThatGive pairs up socially conscious companies and fundraising organizations with their games, putting a game on the Facebook fan page of a company. But instead of player giveaways, money goes to a charity based on the number of people playing. Companies that have games on their Facebook pages have proven quite successful in driving up their number of fans. After all, fans have to 'Like' a Facebook page to access the goods.
Social Up Tara Gray
A Facebook game that offers big, real-world prizes for play isn't new. PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz used to do weekly drawings, and even handed out a Mazda once. But Social UPs capitalizes this practice by matchmaking businesses to its games, while offering prizes to players. Social UPs' customers currently include RoomStore, The Safe Cig, Vitalyte, Raging Bid, Tara Gray, Casey Jamerson, many local car dealerships and more. Social UPs' game stable includes generic knock-offs of Tetris (they call theirs,"Montris"), Bejeweled ("Gems Swap 2"), and even Pac-Man ("Ghost Man Advanced"). According to AppData, these games are delivered through the company's following Facebook apps: Games and Play & Win.
Tara Gray, who "was formerly Miss Alabama and is currently a host on the Direct Shopping Network", was prominently featured in a video on the Social UPs website promoting their services. She's seen with the Gems Swap 2 game in the background (pictured above). Currently, the prize on her page is an opal pendant and the winner is selected via random drawing, but the contest methods of each company vary across the board.
Gallery: SocialUPs
For example, the Gem Swap 2 game on Dave White Acura's Facebook page will end when it reaches 200,000 "Likes". Only one person will get to nab "a 42 inch Flat Screen TV", but winning is determined via a random drawing of the top 50 scorers left at the end of the promotional period. Moreover, you've got to be at the dealership building in Sylvania, OH to pick it up.
In contrast, Raging Bid is running their contest until November 21st. They're offering a Sony Bravia 3D HDTV or a $150.00 USD Shell gas gift card. There will be two winners out of the 25 top players. The drawing will not be random, but determined by votes on the company's official fan page. Because of these differences, I recommend that interested players read all the rules very carefully.
Have you come across any of Social UPs games yet? Do you think Social UPs is a boon for small businesses?
Games And Prizes is a generic games hub on Facebook that lets players bet on sponsored prizes with currency they earned through gaming. GamesThatGive pairs up socially conscious companies and fundraising organizations with their games, putting a game on the Facebook fan page of a company. But instead of player giveaways, money goes to a charity based on the number of people playing. Companies that have games on their Facebook pages have proven quite successful in driving up their number of fans. After all, fans have to 'Like' a Facebook page to access the goods.
Social Up Tara Gray
A Facebook game that offers big, real-world prizes for play isn't new. PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz used to do weekly drawings, and even handed out a Mazda once. But Social UPs capitalizes this practice by matchmaking businesses to its games, while offering prizes to players. Social UPs' customers currently include RoomStore, The Safe Cig, Vitalyte, Raging Bid, Tara Gray, Casey Jamerson, many local car dealerships and more. Social UPs' game stable includes generic knock-offs of Tetris (they call theirs,"Montris"), Bejeweled ("Gems Swap 2"), and even Pac-Man ("Ghost Man Advanced"). According to AppData, these games are delivered through the company's following Facebook apps: Games and Play & Win.
Tara Gray, who "was formerly Miss Alabama and is currently a host on the Direct Shopping Network", was prominently featured in a video on the Social UPs website promoting their services. She's seen with the Gems Swap 2 game in the background (pictured above). Currently, the prize on her page is an opal pendant and the winner is selected via random drawing, but the contest methods of each company vary across the board.
Gallery: SocialUPs
For example, the Gem Swap 2 game on Dave White Acura's Facebook page will end when it reaches 200,000 "Likes". Only one person will get to nab "a 42 inch Flat Screen TV", but winning is determined via a random drawing of the top 50 scorers left at the end of the promotional period. Moreover, you've got to be at the dealership building in Sylvania, OH to pick it up.
In contrast, Raging Bid is running their contest until November 21st. They're offering a Sony Bravia 3D HDTV or a $150.00 USD Shell gas gift card. There will be two winners out of the 25 top players. The drawing will not be random, but determined by votes on the company's official fan page. Because of these differences, I recommend that interested players read all the rules very carefully.
Have you come across any of Social UPs games yet? Do you think Social UPs is a boon for small businesses?
FarmVile maker Zynga CBO steps down, becomes adviser ahead of IPO
As it nears what's expected to be the initial public offering (IPO) of the year, people can't stop talking about Zynga. And with reports like these, we're sure the company wishes it would stop. Now, AllThingsD reports that Zynga chief business officer Owen Van Natta has stepped down from his executive role at the company to become a strategic adviser.
The website found out the news in Zynga's new filing with the Security and Exchanges Commission. According to AllThingsD, Van Natta came to Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus years ago to help him grow the company. Now, the former exec will relegate himself to the board and help the company with major partnerships. "Owen is a valuable business partner," Pincus confirmed to AllThingsD. "He's made great contributions to Zynga and continues to be an important part of our team."
However, Van Natta will have to surrender millions in pre-IPO shares as a result of the move. But AllThingsD reports that this move is not connected to the stock-related debacle reported by The Wall Street Journal recently. Recent hire and former EA exec John Schappert will now assume full command over the business end of Zynga, according to VentureBeat.
Our take on this news is that Zynga is simply getting its ducks in a row before supposedly going public after Thanksgiving, removing redundancies in its lineup of high-level execs. You know, the same IPO that AllThingsD guesses will bring Zynga close to $20 billion? Van Natta or not, it's going to be very merry Christmas.
Do you think Van Natta's shift will affect the company at all as it approaches its IPO? If given the opportunity, would you invest in Zynga?
The website found out the news in Zynga's new filing with the Security and Exchanges Commission. According to AllThingsD, Van Natta came to Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus years ago to help him grow the company. Now, the former exec will relegate himself to the board and help the company with major partnerships. "Owen is a valuable business partner," Pincus confirmed to AllThingsD. "He's made great contributions to Zynga and continues to be an important part of our team."
However, Van Natta will have to surrender millions in pre-IPO shares as a result of the move. But AllThingsD reports that this move is not connected to the stock-related debacle reported by The Wall Street Journal recently. Recent hire and former EA exec John Schappert will now assume full command over the business end of Zynga, according to VentureBeat.
Our take on this news is that Zynga is simply getting its ducks in a row before supposedly going public after Thanksgiving, removing redundancies in its lineup of high-level execs. You know, the same IPO that AllThingsD guesses will bring Zynga close to $20 billion? Van Natta or not, it's going to be very merry Christmas.
Do you think Van Natta's shift will affect the company at all as it approaches its IPO? If given the opportunity, would you invest in Zynga?
Monday, December 12, 2011
Lunchtime Poll: Is Zynga releasing too many games too quickly?
To channel our inner Christopher Walken: Zynga's got a fever, and the cure for it is ... more games. After releasing Empires & Allies, CityVille Hometown, Words with Friends on Android and Facebook, Pioneer Trail and Adventure World all this summer, the developer announced another eight games at its Unleashed press conference yesterday. (Are we missing any? Ah, yes, I forgot Mafia Wars 2, Hanging With Friends and a FarmVille expansion ... phew.)
Frankly, I haven't even had time to down the first boss in Mafia Wars 2 much less unravel the mysteries of El Dorado in Adventure World. And let's not forget about the seven Words With Friends matches we have running right now. Oh, and there's also--you get the idea. While release dates for CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles and Zynga Bingo have yet to be announced, you have to imagine that they're at least close to launch. Otherwise, we doubt Zynga would be in a position to reveal them.
The point is that, by year's end, Zynga will have launched at least 17 games this year alone. Sure, Facebook and mobile games are designed to be played in short bursts, but can we keep up with all of these games even in 15-minute spurts? Since we already know that a majority of Zynga's player base for new games comes from existing games, you can't help but imagine that at least some players feel as if they're being stretched too thin. With that, we ask you:
Is Zynga releasing too many games too quickly?
Yes! I literally cannot keep up with them all.New games? I'm still playing Vampire Wars.Of course not. Keep 'em coming!
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Have something unique to add to the discussion?
Frankly, I haven't even had time to down the first boss in Mafia Wars 2 much less unravel the mysteries of El Dorado in Adventure World. And let's not forget about the seven Words With Friends matches we have running right now. Oh, and there's also--you get the idea. While release dates for CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles and Zynga Bingo have yet to be announced, you have to imagine that they're at least close to launch. Otherwise, we doubt Zynga would be in a position to reveal them.
The point is that, by year's end, Zynga will have launched at least 17 games this year alone. Sure, Facebook and mobile games are designed to be played in short bursts, but can we keep up with all of these games even in 15-minute spurts? Since we already know that a majority of Zynga's player base for new games comes from existing games, you can't help but imagine that at least some players feel as if they're being stretched too thin. With that, we ask you:
Is Zynga releasing too many games too quickly?
Yes! I literally cannot keep up with them all.New games? I'm still playing Vampire Wars.Of course not. Keep 'em coming!
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com
Have something unique to add to the discussion?
The Sims Social yanked millions of Zynga players, Raptr report suggests
With over 66 million monthly players, we all know that The Sims Social is killing it. But EA and Playfish's flagship social game might be killing more than just it --the game is rapidly killing off Zynga's player base, if you ask Raptr. The 10 million-strong social network for gamers has issued another report based on the data it gathers from its users, and it doesn't look pretty.
Well, it's not looking pretty for Zynga, at least. Raptr found that a whopping 50 percent of The Sims Social players are also playing Zynga's games. More importantly, play time for both FarmVille and Empires & Allies has dropped 25 percent since EA launched its secret weapon, while CityVille dipped just 10 percent in play time. The latter is thanks to a number of promotions and major content additions like the recent Enrique Iglesias event and the ongoing Governor's Run goals.
Still, that means 33 million Zynga fans are playing both The Sims Social and the top Zynga games. (Keep in mind, this study was conducted before Adventure World surpassed FarmVille.) So, how did EA do it? Well, aside from attracting a swath of Zynga game players, the company marketed heavily to its existing social game players and even the 10 million remaining The Sims 3 fans on the PC. As a result, The Sims Social has effectively cannibalized EA's own player base, according to Raptr.
Raptr Report The Sims Social
As for how EA can strike gold again on Facebook, Raptr suggests the company looks at its most recent buy: PopCap. According to the study, social versions of the publisher's core franchises like Dragon Age Legends didn't do so hot. (Who woulda' thunk it?) But the social network finds that anywhere from around 58 to 75 percent of those who enjoy PopCap casual games also play social games.
In other words, EA is sitting on the weapons cache of a lifetime, but after Zynga Unleashed, it's clear that Zynga plans to return fire. Find the full report from Raptr right here in PDF form.
Are you a Zynga game player that has also been sucked into The Sims Social? Do you think EA will attract even more Zynga fans through PopCap and Playfish?
Well, it's not looking pretty for Zynga, at least. Raptr found that a whopping 50 percent of The Sims Social players are also playing Zynga's games. More importantly, play time for both FarmVille and Empires & Allies has dropped 25 percent since EA launched its secret weapon, while CityVille dipped just 10 percent in play time. The latter is thanks to a number of promotions and major content additions like the recent Enrique Iglesias event and the ongoing Governor's Run goals.
Still, that means 33 million Zynga fans are playing both The Sims Social and the top Zynga games. (Keep in mind, this study was conducted before Adventure World surpassed FarmVille.) So, how did EA do it? Well, aside from attracting a swath of Zynga game players, the company marketed heavily to its existing social game players and even the 10 million remaining The Sims 3 fans on the PC. As a result, The Sims Social has effectively cannibalized EA's own player base, according to Raptr.
Raptr Report The Sims Social
As for how EA can strike gold again on Facebook, Raptr suggests the company looks at its most recent buy: PopCap. According to the study, social versions of the publisher's core franchises like Dragon Age Legends didn't do so hot. (Who woulda' thunk it?) But the social network finds that anywhere from around 58 to 75 percent of those who enjoy PopCap casual games also play social games.
In other words, EA is sitting on the weapons cache of a lifetime, but after Zynga Unleashed, it's clear that Zynga plans to return fire. Find the full report from Raptr right here in PDF form.
Are you a Zynga game player that has also been sucked into The Sims Social? Do you think EA will attract even more Zynga fans through PopCap and Playfish?
Google engineer rant suggests Google+ Games was an afterthought
Believe it or not, some people aren't very happy with Google+. Take Steve Yegge, a Google engineer who accidentally posted what was meant to be an internal rant to fellow Google employees to his over 2,000 followers on the new social network. Reposted by many of his followers, the 5,000 plus-word diatribe hits every gory to explain Yegge's beef with Google+.
And that includes Google+ Games. Frankly, Yegge seems to think that the games portion of Google's second attempt at a social network is, well, uninspired. "Our Google+ team took a look at the aftermarket and said: 'Gosh, it looks like we need some games. Let's go contract someone to, um, write some games for us,'" Yegge wrote. "Do you begin to see how incredibly wrong that thinking is now? The problem is that we are trying to predict what people want and deliver it for them."
While that last quip seems to contradict his previous comment on Google+ Games, his message is clear. Yegge thinks Games were an afterthought for Google, which he seems to think is why the search giant enlisted the help of major social game developers like Zynga, PopCap and Kabam to release their existing games on the platform. Yegge has since publicly apologized for accidentally posting the essay rant.
Most recently, Zynga launched its brand new Mafia Wars 2 on Google+ Games. And before that, Google updated the platform with features that, while impressive, have been considered fundamental to Facebook games for some time. Recent estimates put the number of Google+ users at around 43 million, but how many of those are playing games is still unknown. And with sentiments such as this flying around, we imagine much work needs to be done for Google+ Games to be considered a viable alternative to Facebook gaming. If you have about 30 minutes, you can read Yegge's rant in full right here.
[Via Mashable]
[Image Credit: Steve Yegge]
Are you a fan of Google+ Games? What do you think it's going to take for Google to become a true challenge for Facebook in the social games space?
And that includes Google+ Games. Frankly, Yegge seems to think that the games portion of Google's second attempt at a social network is, well, uninspired. "Our Google+ team took a look at the aftermarket and said: 'Gosh, it looks like we need some games. Let's go contract someone to, um, write some games for us,'" Yegge wrote. "Do you begin to see how incredibly wrong that thinking is now? The problem is that we are trying to predict what people want and deliver it for them."
While that last quip seems to contradict his previous comment on Google+ Games, his message is clear. Yegge thinks Games were an afterthought for Google, which he seems to think is why the search giant enlisted the help of major social game developers like Zynga, PopCap and Kabam to release their existing games on the platform. Yegge has since publicly apologized for accidentally posting the essay rant.
Most recently, Zynga launched its brand new Mafia Wars 2 on Google+ Games. And before that, Google updated the platform with features that, while impressive, have been considered fundamental to Facebook games for some time. Recent estimates put the number of Google+ users at around 43 million, but how many of those are playing games is still unknown. And with sentiments such as this flying around, we imagine much work needs to be done for Google+ Games to be considered a viable alternative to Facebook gaming. If you have about 30 minutes, you can read Yegge's rant in full right here.
[Via Mashable]
[Image Credit: Steve Yegge]
Are you a fan of Google+ Games? What do you think it's going to take for Google to become a true challenge for Facebook in the social games space?
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Azuca's farm kicks off the Halloween festivities
Folks, as we move closer to the end of October we're seeing more and more Halloween themed goodies appearing in all our favorite Facebook games. However, no Halloween would seem complete without a couple of awesome FarmVille Halloween farms. We've already seen a couple of Halloween designs, but I think Azuca's farm takes it to the next level.
This farm is absolutely covered with stuff. But I've always found farm clutter to be a double-edged sword. Sure you get to show off all the incredible stuff you've accumulated in FarmVille over the years, but your farm just looks too crowded and it detracts from the bigger picture. However, Azuca manages to keep it classy with some great item and crop layout.
One way of dealing with clutter is by creating patterns that are more visually appealing than just a big jumble. Azuca does this by first dividing the farm into four quadrants, and then adding borders to everything. Then in each quadrant, there is a slightly different theme.
So though the farm seems rather busy, I think Azuca did a pretty good job. Even though we're still a few weeks from the big night, this Halloween farm is going to be hard to beat.
Check out the rest of our Halloween 2011 coverage right here.
What do you think of Azuca's awesome Halloween-themed farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
This farm is absolutely covered with stuff. But I've always found farm clutter to be a double-edged sword. Sure you get to show off all the incredible stuff you've accumulated in FarmVille over the years, but your farm just looks too crowded and it detracts from the bigger picture. However, Azuca manages to keep it classy with some great item and crop layout.
One way of dealing with clutter is by creating patterns that are more visually appealing than just a big jumble. Azuca does this by first dividing the farm into four quadrants, and then adding borders to everything. Then in each quadrant, there is a slightly different theme.
So though the farm seems rather busy, I think Azuca did a pretty good job. Even though we're still a few weeks from the big night, this Halloween farm is going to be hard to beat.
Check out the rest of our Halloween 2011 coverage right here.
What do you think of Azuca's awesome Halloween-themed farm?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
PopCap to set fire to iPhone, iPad this winter with Popcorn Dragon
Popcorn Dragon gameplay
Look, PopCap, first you give us a lust for diamonds, and now you're just making us downright hungry. Bejeweled Blitz maker PopCap Games just announced Popcorn Dragon during an EA event in New York City. The game will have players shoot fireballs at flying popcorn kernels by touching the screen, and that adorable dragon will try to eat it all, according to Joystiq.
Popcorn Dragon has no specific release date nor were any other platforms mentioned during the game's reveal. Adding to the mystery, PopCap has yet to reveal a price, though we doubt it will stray far from the coveted $.99 price point. Actually, the EA-owned studio has become quite the fan of microtransactions as of late, so "free" is certainly a possibility.
Popcorn Dragon logo
But back to the game: It looks as if players will feed their miniature dragon across several movie scenes, earning stars and bumping up the infamous score multiplier for quick, accurate fireball shots. Players will be able to buy upgrades with "Tickets," reinforcing the assumption that microtransactions will be a major component to Popcorn. Well, that and growing that cute little whelp's tail. Now, where in the world is the Pop Secret?
Are you excited for PopCap's next big game? What do you think of the studio's next crack at an original idea?
Look, PopCap, first you give us a lust for diamonds, and now you're just making us downright hungry. Bejeweled Blitz maker PopCap Games just announced Popcorn Dragon during an EA event in New York City. The game will have players shoot fireballs at flying popcorn kernels by touching the screen, and that adorable dragon will try to eat it all, according to Joystiq.
Popcorn Dragon has no specific release date nor were any other platforms mentioned during the game's reveal. Adding to the mystery, PopCap has yet to reveal a price, though we doubt it will stray far from the coveted $.99 price point. Actually, the EA-owned studio has become quite the fan of microtransactions as of late, so "free" is certainly a possibility.
Popcorn Dragon logo
But back to the game: It looks as if players will feed their miniature dragon across several movie scenes, earning stars and bumping up the infamous score multiplier for quick, accurate fireball shots. Players will be able to buy upgrades with "Tickets," reinforcing the assumption that microtransactions will be a major component to Popcorn. Well, that and growing that cute little whelp's tail. Now, where in the world is the Pop Secret?
Are you excited for PopCap's next big game? What do you think of the studio's next crack at an original idea?
CityVille Sneak Peek: Halloween spooks up city with new characters
Seeing what Zynga did for Pioneer Trail with Ghost Town, we get the impression the developer really loves Halloween. (Like ... a lot.) And now we see that love spill over into the most popular Zynga game, CityVille, as the team has revealed how a number of the game's main characters plan to dress up for the way underrated holiday. And--what do you know--it's through a survey.
While CityVille's Sam will don a witch's outfit this year, she and Vlad (appearing as, well, himself) will be joined by Misty and Glinda, two ghosts that look straight out of Casper's world. Rounding out the new characters is Brenda(?) the Bellhop, a spooky version of the character you see in the hotels of CityVille. While we're sure Sam is simply dressing up to fit the part.
The last we heard of Halloween in CityVille was a list of items that will soon hit the game in time for the big event. But before that players were visited by a ghost ship, which has yet to be explained. We're sure more information will be slowly revealed, as Zynga is wont to do, at a later date. Don't worry, you're going to get your fix of all things creepy and crawly in CityVille soon enough. Until then, just enjoy the artwork.
CityVille Sam Glinda Vlad Misty Brenda
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you taken the seemingly pointless survey yet just to see the new characters? What do you think the developer plans for everyone's favorite fall holiday (forget Thanksgiving)?
While CityVille's Sam will don a witch's outfit this year, she and Vlad (appearing as, well, himself) will be joined by Misty and Glinda, two ghosts that look straight out of Casper's world. Rounding out the new characters is Brenda(?) the Bellhop, a spooky version of the character you see in the hotels of CityVille. While we're sure Sam is simply dressing up to fit the part.
The last we heard of Halloween in CityVille was a list of items that will soon hit the game in time for the big event. But before that players were visited by a ghost ship, which has yet to be explained. We're sure more information will be slowly revealed, as Zynga is wont to do, at a later date. Don't worry, you're going to get your fix of all things creepy and crawly in CityVille soon enough. Until then, just enjoy the artwork.
CityVille Sam Glinda Vlad Misty Brenda
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you taken the seemingly pointless survey yet just to see the new characters? What do you think the developer plans for everyone's favorite fall holiday (forget Thanksgiving)?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Thanksgiving Goals: Everything you need to know
I hope you're ready to jump into the next chapter of the FarmVille Lighthouse Cove saga, as Chapter 9's goals are beginning to roll out to users across the game with a Thanksgiving theme! If you don't have them yet, apparently some bugs have slowed down the release, but we're here with a guide either way to help you through, once the goals finally do launch! As usual, there are six goals in all for Chapter 9 - three regular, easier goals and three harder Bonus Challenges. Here's a complete look at finishing all six!
A Book for the Cook
Get 3 Cook Books
Harvest Lighthouse Cove
Harvest 110 Kennebec Potatoes
Kennebec Potatoes take a full day to harvest, so even if you don't have these goals yet in your game, it would be smart to plant some immediately, so that you can get through with this first goal as quickly as possible once it does launch. As for the Cook Books, you'll need to ask your friends to send them to you. For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 100 XP, a Pilgrim Cow (a cow wearing a traditional Pilgrim Hat) and 2,500 coins.
Boil Them, Mash Them...
Get 6 Potato Mashers
Harvest 110 Cove Cranberries
Harvest Livestock Pen 1 Time
You can't have Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, so these first two goals seem to cover those items perfectly. Like the Kennebec Potatoes, Cove Cranberries take a full day to harvest, so even if you haven't finished the first goal yet, but have finished planting potatoes, you'll want to immediately move onto cranberries to save time. Finish this goal and you'll receive 200 XP, 2,500 coins and a Bitter Nut Hickory Tree.
Bushel Bonanza
Get 3 Corn Baskets
Harvest 110 Butter and Sugar Corn
Get 15 Bushels from Friends
If you never craft anything, you'll likely have to manually clear out 15 bushels from your inventory, in order to have room to claim three each from five friends (at least). While you're trying to decide which bushels to claim from friends, you can be waiting for your Butter & Sugar Corn to grow, which takes 12 hours to do. For finishing this third and final goal in the easier section of Chapter 9, you'll receive 300 XP, 2,500 coins and a Chihuahua Turkey. This one is a little Chihuahua dressed as a turkey, and just might be one of the cutest animals I've seen in the game yet!
From here, you'll move onto the three Bonus Challenges in Chapter 9.
Bonus Challenge 1
Harvest 160 Tarragon
Harvest 1 Aviary
Harvest Lighthouse Cove
Here, you'll immediately see why these goals are called challenges, as you technically won't be able to plant 160 Tarragon at once if you've only expanded to the point allowed by using coins (as of this writing). That level grants you 115 plots, so you'll be left waiting 10 hours for the first batch of Tarragon to grow, only to have to do it again for the rest. For finishing this first Bonus Challenge, you'll receive 500 XP, 2,500 coins and a Shag Bark Tree.
Bonus Challenge 2
Harvest 160 Dill
Upgrade Cove to Stage 10
Make Clam Chowder 4 Times
Dill takes 12 hours to grow, making it an even worse setup than the Tarragon before, as it requires just as much to be grown. Either way, this at least means you won't be wasting time as you wait for the four batches of Clam Chowder to be crafted. A single batch can be made in your Restaurant using five Clam, two Kennebec Potato and two Leeks bushels. You'll receive 1,000 XP, 5,000 coins and a Fisherman Statue for finishing this goal.
Bonus Challenge 3
Harvest 1 Livestock Pen
Harvest 160 Ladyslipper
Make Boiled Dinner Twice
This is a similar setup to the previous goal, with Ladyslippers requiring eight hours to grow, and Boil Dinners requiring five Seafood, two Tarragon and one Cauliflower Bushels each. Keep in mind that you'll also need a 5-star Restaurant to even be able to access that recipe, so make sure to level up your dishes as early and as often as you can if you haven't reached Level 5. For completing this final goal, you'll receive 500 XP, a Lobster Gnome and 2,500 coins.
And there you have it! A set of goals ranging from simple to complicated, all with a single week time limit. If you've already hit your stride in previous goal sets, then you shouldn't have any trouble completing these goals either. For the rest of us, we're in for a challenge yet again, so I wish you good luck in finishing as many of these goals as possible in the time you have!
[Via FarmVille Freak]
Check out the rest of our Thanksgiving 2011 coverage right here.
What do you think of these Chapter 9 Thanksgiving goals in FarmVille's Lighthouse Cove? Are they easier than other Bonus Challenges that we've seen in the game, or are things just getting harder week after week?
A Book for the Cook
Get 3 Cook Books
Harvest Lighthouse Cove
Harvest 110 Kennebec Potatoes
Kennebec Potatoes take a full day to harvest, so even if you don't have these goals yet in your game, it would be smart to plant some immediately, so that you can get through with this first goal as quickly as possible once it does launch. As for the Cook Books, you'll need to ask your friends to send them to you. For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 100 XP, a Pilgrim Cow (a cow wearing a traditional Pilgrim Hat) and 2,500 coins.
Boil Them, Mash Them...
Get 6 Potato Mashers
Harvest 110 Cove Cranberries
Harvest Livestock Pen 1 Time
You can't have Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, so these first two goals seem to cover those items perfectly. Like the Kennebec Potatoes, Cove Cranberries take a full day to harvest, so even if you haven't finished the first goal yet, but have finished planting potatoes, you'll want to immediately move onto cranberries to save time. Finish this goal and you'll receive 200 XP, 2,500 coins and a Bitter Nut Hickory Tree.
Bushel Bonanza
Get 3 Corn Baskets
Harvest 110 Butter and Sugar Corn
Get 15 Bushels from Friends
If you never craft anything, you'll likely have to manually clear out 15 bushels from your inventory, in order to have room to claim three each from five friends (at least). While you're trying to decide which bushels to claim from friends, you can be waiting for your Butter & Sugar Corn to grow, which takes 12 hours to do. For finishing this third and final goal in the easier section of Chapter 9, you'll receive 300 XP, 2,500 coins and a Chihuahua Turkey. This one is a little Chihuahua dressed as a turkey, and just might be one of the cutest animals I've seen in the game yet!
From here, you'll move onto the three Bonus Challenges in Chapter 9.
Bonus Challenge 1
Harvest 160 Tarragon
Harvest 1 Aviary
Harvest Lighthouse Cove
Here, you'll immediately see why these goals are called challenges, as you technically won't be able to plant 160 Tarragon at once if you've only expanded to the point allowed by using coins (as of this writing). That level grants you 115 plots, so you'll be left waiting 10 hours for the first batch of Tarragon to grow, only to have to do it again for the rest. For finishing this first Bonus Challenge, you'll receive 500 XP, 2,500 coins and a Shag Bark Tree.
Bonus Challenge 2
Harvest 160 Dill
Upgrade Cove to Stage 10
Make Clam Chowder 4 Times
Dill takes 12 hours to grow, making it an even worse setup than the Tarragon before, as it requires just as much to be grown. Either way, this at least means you won't be wasting time as you wait for the four batches of Clam Chowder to be crafted. A single batch can be made in your Restaurant using five Clam, two Kennebec Potato and two Leeks bushels. You'll receive 1,000 XP, 5,000 coins and a Fisherman Statue for finishing this goal.
Bonus Challenge 3
Harvest 1 Livestock Pen
Harvest 160 Ladyslipper
Make Boiled Dinner Twice
This is a similar setup to the previous goal, with Ladyslippers requiring eight hours to grow, and Boil Dinners requiring five Seafood, two Tarragon and one Cauliflower Bushels each. Keep in mind that you'll also need a 5-star Restaurant to even be able to access that recipe, so make sure to level up your dishes as early and as often as you can if you haven't reached Level 5. For completing this final goal, you'll receive 500 XP, a Lobster Gnome and 2,500 coins.
And there you have it! A set of goals ranging from simple to complicated, all with a single week time limit. If you've already hit your stride in previous goal sets, then you shouldn't have any trouble completing these goals either. For the rest of us, we're in for a challenge yet again, so I wish you good luck in finishing as many of these goals as possible in the time you have!
[Via FarmVille Freak]
Check out the rest of our Thanksgiving 2011 coverage right here.
What do you think of these Chapter 9 Thanksgiving goals in FarmVille's Lighthouse Cove? Are they easier than other Bonus Challenges that we've seen in the game, or are things just getting harder week after week?
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