One in nine Facebook users play music games; Guitar Hero finds a new home?

Has Guitar Hero found a new home on Facebook? According to data presented by MXP4, a social game developer based in Paris, it very well could be in the future. Of course, keep in mind that the survey was conducted by folks who have a vested interest in music games on Facebook. MXP4 found that one in nine Facebook users play music games, but more importantly that one in three Facebookers play social games. This is the exact demographic that MPX4 hit with its Pump It series in 2010, and has enjoyed mild success.

Here's what else MXP4 found in its survey:

    96 percent would like more opportunities to compete against their friends when playing Facebook games;
    49 percent said the they would play games on Facebook for the chance to win exclusive tickets, merchandise or opportunities to meet their favorite artists;
    12 percent would pay extra to have access to their favorite artist's latest tarcks on interactive music games.


While it's important to know that most people would want a multiplayer experience on Facebook, it's far more vital to see the possibilities for future Facebook music games.

If this many Facebook users played music games, that's more than enough of a following for companies like Activision and EA to go after. Just think of it, one last triumphant push from the music games genre to reassert is relevance. It's almost cinematic, really. If you think about it, games from these companies would last about as long as their ancestors. And that amounts to about enough money to fly to Mars and back, so, sweet deal.

FarmVille English Countryside Sneak Peek: Downy Birch Tree & Silver Birch Tree

Two new trees will apparently be coming to the English Countryside theme in FarmVille in the very near future, or so say this newest set of unreleased images. We've found pictures of both a Downy Birch Tree (also called the European White Birch Tree) and the Silver Birch Tree (a European ornamental tree), along with their mastery signs.

These two trees have no office release date, although we expect them to show up in the game as early as Sunday evening, when FarmVille is expected to update in full next. As they are both Birch trees, it's likely that one will be the Mystery Seedling of the other, and if history tells us anything, they'll be priced at 5 and 10 Farm Cash, although we don't know which tree will be the more expensive one.

We'll make sure to give you all of the details about these trees as they officially become available in the game.

Which of these two trees do you hope is the cheaper of the two, or do you like them enough to buy both?

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! FrontierVille News Stand Collection now available!

Ok, forgive the slight journalism pun if you will, but it's a very exciting time to be a FrontierVille player, as we've discovered that a new collection has been added to the game in the form of the News Stand collection. At the time of this writing, we know that a News Stand building is coming to the game, but as usual, it seems to be on a slow rollout to users.

While the Beehive, which was released earlier this week, didn't have any missions to go along with it, we know that there will be News Stand goals released in the game, but to our understanding, they haven't been completed yet. Will the building roll out to users before the day is done, or will we have to wait until the weekend proper to start our own News Stands on our Homesteads? Only time will tell, but for now, check out the five new items in the News Stand collection as things to keep an eye out for:

Bundle Cord
Ink Roller
Newspaper
Newsie Hat
Press Pass
Once you complete this collection (likely via collecting the News Stand's daily bonus, or by simply whacking the building's frame during construction), you'll be able to turn it in for a Newspaper Stack, which is likely a new decorative item.

Remember, this collection (and this News Stand building) are incredibly new, so we'll continue to update you with everything you need to know about both as time rolls on and we know more. Keep checking back with us for the latest on this new feature.

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

Have you received the News Stand building / missions in your game?

FrontierVille News Stand Goals: Everything you need to know

As we told you earlier this afternoon, a News Stand collection has appeared in FrontierVille, and that can only mean one thing - the News Stand building will soon be rolling out to all users in the game. A lucky few of you have already received this building on your land, which lets you communicate with your friends, telling them the tasks that you'd like completed when they visit, or simply notifying them that you'd like to receive a certain item as a gift.

A series of missions goes along with this building, and we have all of the details about those missions right here. The first is fairly simple, and requires you to build a News Stand on your land, along with two other tasks.

Buy a News Stand
Visit 2 Neighbors
Chop Neighbors' Oak Trees 25 Times

Completing these simple goals rewards you with 100 XP and 100 coins. It also unlocks the second mission in this series, so make sure to meet us behind the break for all of the details you need about these other goals.
Part II of IV asks you collect items from the News Stand Collection, so make sure to check out our complete guide to that collection in order to learn how to find them on your own land.

Have 1 Bundle Cord
Have 10 Newsprints
Have Five Sets of Clothes

The Bundle Cord is the News Stand Collection item, while the Newsprints can be earned by posting a general news item to your feed asking your friends to send them to you. Clothes, meanwhile, are crafted inside your Cabin for 6 Cloth and 500 coins each. Finishing this quest gives you 150 XP, 150 coins, and a Stuffed Mailbox decoration. Unfortunately, this isn't a "stuffed animal" mailbox, but rather just a mailbox that's overflowing with mail (I know, I got excited about a Mailbox plushie decoration too).

For Part III of IV, you'll need to have finished building the News Stand, and you'll need to take advantage of its new functionality to complete two of the three required tasks.

Answer a Classified Ad
Publish a Classified Ad (also called a Daily Edition)
Chop Neighbors' Pine Trees 50 Times

The rewards for this quest are slightly increased over the last, giving you 150 XP and 200 coins. Unfortunately, you won't receive a new decorative item for this quest, but you will be able to move onto the finale, which might be a big enough prize in and of itself.

Finally, Part IV of IV requires more of the same tasks as above, although you're done with chopping trees, and will need to collect a set of items instead.

Collect 10 Photographs
Publish 10 Daily Editions
Answer 10 Classified Ads

You'll be able to collect the Photographs by sending out individual requests to those friends that you think can help you. For finishing this quest, you'll receive a Newspaper Hat clothing item for your avatar(s), 200 XP and 500 coins.

And there you have it! A goal series that is slightly shorter than most (as most goal series have five missions to complete), that also doesn't seem to be overly difficult. Of course, whether or not you'll have an easy time at answering classified ads really depends on how many active neighbors you have in your game. Either way, we wish you luck as you try to complete these goals for yourself!

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

What do you think of these News Stand missions? Are they too demanding for what they reward in the end, or will you do anything to receive new clothing items for your characters?

FrontierVille News Stand: Everything you need to know

Are you ready to make headlines on your FrontierVille Homestead? Did you take one look at the News Stand Collection and think "That's a building I simply must have on my land?"If so, this guide is for you, as we have all of the information you need to know about adding a News Stand to your Homestead, and how to use its many new features after its been built. For starters, know that this building is on a slow roll-out to users, so if you don't have the building in your game already, simply wait some time and it will show up.

Once the update has rolled around to your game, you'll be able to purchase the News Stand from the store for 1000 coins and 20 Wood. You'll then to whack the frame ten times, with each whack costing 10 additional Wood. That's 100 extra Wood, so if you're feeling a bit light on the brown stuff at the moment, simply visit a few friends and chop down some trees (how convenient, you need to do that for the News Stand goals anyway!), and you'll be good to go in no time flat.

Once the building's frame is complete on your land, you'll need to finish it off by collecting a slew of new items that work as building materials. These themed items are 10 each of Shocking Photos, Breaking News, and Weather Reports, along with 15 each of Puzzles, Editorials, and Ask Fanny columns. As you might have guessed, the Shocking Photo, Breaking News and Weather Report items are earned through general news feed posts asking all of your friends to help simultaneously, while the other three items are earned through individual gift requests to friends.

After you've completed the building's construction, you'll be introduced to a system known as "classifieds" or "daily headlines" that can be published as a way to tell your neighbors what you'd like them to do on your land. This is much more of an efficient method of communication than simply hoping "Tend Here" signs grab your neighbors' attention, so make sure to take advantage of this daily service once you can. You'll need to complete at least part II of the News Stand Goals to use this feature, so check out our complete guide to the News Stand Goals to get up to speed.

You'll be able to customize what you want to say to your neighbors via a large text box, and you'll then be able to choose which items you'd like your friends to leave you after they've completed their five tasks on your Homestead. While the image above shows Wood, Fire, and Mallets being available to request at one moment, these items will vary.

After you publish this request, your neighbors will see a similar window when they visit your Homestead. You can either leave a personalized response for your friend, or you can simply go about your activities as normal, and you don't have to send their requested item to them at the end, if you know you don't have the ability to post on a friend's wall, or simply don't want to take the time.

This feature is available to all users level 18 and above, so what are you waiting for? The quicker you finish your News Stand, the quicker you can start communicating with your neighbors in-game. Whether or not those neighbors listen to your pleas or not is another thing, but at least you have the chance to try, right?

[Top image credit: Yvonne]

[Second image credit: Zynga]

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

What do you think of this new building in FrontierVille? Do you think users will be willing to complete the tasks that their friends ask them to, or will everyone just continue to do their own thing when visiting?

FrontierVille: Make headlines with two News Stand Badges

What better way to ensure that users are excited about a new FrontierVille feature than to release a set of Badges along with it? Zynga seems to understand that perfectly, as they have done just that - releasing two new Badges that coincide with the game's newest building - the News Stand.

These two Badges reward you for taking advantage of the News Stand's two new functions - posting Classifieds (also referred to as Newspapers or Daily Editions), and responding to Classifieds. Of course, as it is much easier to post something in your own game than it is to find users that have done the same and then help them out (which is made incredibly difficult if you have few friends actually taking advantage of the feature), the Publishing Badge requires much more from you than the Response Badge.

Either way, we have all four levels to both of these Badges detailed for you behind the break, so won't you meet us there?

Publishing Classifieds Badge:

Level 1: Publish 10 Newspapers. Rewards: 250 coins and 50 XP
Level 2: Publish 100 Newspapers. Rewards: 500 coins and 200 XP
Level 3: Publish 500 Newspapers. Rewards: 1,000 coins and 500 XP
Level 4: Publish 1,000 Newspapers. Rewards: 5,000 coins, 1,000 XP, and a Rooster Mailbox decoration

Responding to Classifieds Badge:

Level 1: Respond to 10 Classifieds. Rewards: 250 coins and 50 XP
Level 2: Respond to 40 Classifieds. Rewards: 500 coins and 200 XP
Level 3: Respond to 100 Classifieds. Rewards: 1,000 coins and 500 XP
Level 4: Respond to 250 Classifieds. Rewards: 5,000 coins, 1,000 XP, and a Puddle Boat decoration

As I said, you'll need to publish 1,000 Classifieds before ever finishing that particular badge, so you'll need to be incredibly dedicated to the feature to make your way through. Still, I suppose some rewards are better than none, no matter how demanding their requirements might be.

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

Will earning these Badges keep you using the News Stand feature long after you would otherwise? What do you think of the decorative items being given away with these Badges?

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Mother's Day decorations coming soon

If we needed any more confirmation that a small Mother's Day theme will be coming to FarmVille, here it is. We've come across a small set of four new decorative items that will be launching in the game this year, with one being an absolutely adorable sign containing a mama and baby bird (get ready to say "awww").

That item looks to be called just the "Mother's Day Sign," although we imagine the name might be jazzed up before the item's official release (which could come as early as this Wednesday). The other three items are the Mother's Day Gnome (what mother wouldn't love breakfast in bed?), a lovely Flower Basket that looks to be filled with a wide variety of flowers like bright yellow daffodils, and the Dahlia Flowerbed. Personally, Dahlias are my favorite flower, so excuse me if I get a bit over excited about its release (you'll know when it launches, as you'll hear my excited "Yip" through your computer speakers... well, maybe not, but you get the idea).

If history tells us anything, for these sorts of smaller-holiday or event themes, the items don't really last that long in the store. That being the case, you'll want to keep an extra eye on your game's marketplace to know when these launch, or just keep checking back with us here, as we'll make sure you're the first to know. Just be prepared for the Mother's Day Sign to cost Farm Cash - that's the only way you'll be able to send it to your game-playing mom!

What do you think of these Mother's Day themed unreleased items? Will you send your mother a virtual Mother's Day gift in FarmVille?

FarmVille Sheep Breeding Update: Prepare to be disappointed (again)

Over the weekend, we brought you the news of a series of bugs, or (at the very least) unannounced design changes in FarmVille's Sheep Breeding feature. Since Zynga turned off (and then turned back on) breeding with dotted, chameleon, and otherwise previously "illegal" sheep patterns, things have gone from bad to worse, with users reporting a very (emphasis on very) low amount of pattern inheritance from Rams, and an overwhelming amount of plain white sheep being bred regardless of the colors of the mother and father.

Up until today, Zynga had been relatively quiet on the matter, with Community Manager Lexilicious only briefly reminding users that pattern inheritance is never guaranteed. This afternoon, however, Lexi spoke out again, giving us a detailed statement on the current state of affairs with Sheep Breeding, the white sheep "bug," and the lack of patterns being passed down from Rams. You can find the most important bits of her statement behind the break, but I warn you - it's not pretty.


First and foremost, Zynga has gone on record as apologizing for the lack of in-game communication about the lowered rate of pattern inheritance. They are accepting the fact that users might feel "confused" and "frustrated," and are offering full refunds of the Farm Cash purchase price of any Ram or Ewe that you purchased under the assumption that the color/pattern inheritance rate was 100%. They are urging users to contact Zynga Customer Support, which will take care of the refund process. Of course, you won't get to keep the Ewe/Rams that you purchased, but you will receive your purchase price back in full.

That being said, the high inheritance rate (80-100% success) that many of us experienced since the beginning of the Sheep Breeding feature has now officially been labeled as a "bug," and has been lowered accordingly. Since Zynga didn't release the actual percentage of success for sheep, and since many users are having very, very low success after multiple attempts, it really throws that explanation into question, at least in my book. Could Zynga really have intended for the inheritance rate to be so low, knowing that it would annoy players, perhaps to the point of never purchasing Ewes and Rams, thus defeating the purpose?

The same can be said for the multitude of White Sheep that are being bred. Lexi again tries to confirm that this is a normal possibility as "white is a color," and it is possible to produce white sheep "when the feature is operating normally." She throws in a kicker to this however, that Zynga is aware of the white sheep issue with Chameleon Ewes and Rainbow Rams, and will be fixing those two animals "sometime this week."

All in all, there's not a whole lot of good news here. If you're a fan of the Rainbow Ram and the Chameleon Ewe, know that your White Sheep problem will be fixed shortly. However, for the issue of pattern inheritance, our progress has basically been squashed, unless you are lucky enough to receive an actual patterned Lamb with these much lower success rates. Isn't the entire point of Sheep Breeding to produce Lambs of different patterns, and not different colors? If all we wanted was a yellow sheep, we've seen those released in past Spring events. If we wanted a gray sheep, we'd just turn in our Shovels in the Storage Cellar for a Miner Sheep, which is gray.

No, the entire point, at least in my mind, definitely is the fun patterns that can be bred. But with these new changes, that Zynga is seemingly adamant about not changing back, the entire feature loses its allure, and for me, doesn't warrant any further purchases. It will be interesting to see how many users agree with me (apparently, a lot).

What do you think of these apparently final changes to Sheep Breeding? Do you think public outcry will be enough to make Zynga reverse all of their recent changes (sans unblocking the "hackers")? Or, did Sheep Breeding just become a rather useless feature?

FrontierVille Horse Badges reward you for assigning Skill Points with the Updated Corral

If you don't care about the big hoopla concerning the Upgraded Horse Corral in FrontierVille, know that you now have extra incentive to care - or at least incentive to use the feature long enough to unlock the rewards. Once you've upgraded your Horse Corral, you can assign skill points to your Horse(s) in one of four major areas: Speed, Endurance, Spirit and Agility. Coincidentally enough, these four new FrontierVille Badges correspond with those four traits, and reward you for pouring skill points into each one.

To be specific, these four Badges start with a fairly simply requirement - simply assign 20 skill points each into Speed, Endurance, Spirit, and Agility. After you pass level one, you'll have to assign more and more skill points to each trait, which is where your own personal preference might come into play (as you'll likely choose one trait to be more important than the other three).

Either way, these Badges don't seem to have a time limit associated with them, so you've got plenty of time to assign points to any of these four Badges - it's all up to you.

Let us know which of these Badges you'll be going for first in the comments. Which is your favorite trait?

FarmVille Sneak Peek: New Collections system coming soon

Collections System
This is not your average FarmVille Sneak Peek. No sir, today we present to you a brand new feature that's headed to Zynga's cash crop (I know, brilliant): A new Collections system. FarmVIlle Feed has found some early images of the upgraded Collections feature, revealing that any partially-completed Collection will be finished off once this update lands. While no other significant details are provided, we can infer from the images that Collections will take on a sort of Mastery system.
FarmVille Collections Prizes
This means that players could be able to complete Collections more than once for even greater prizes than before. It looks as if players will "level up" their Collections to redeem huge rewards as levels increase. Now, as long as the game doesn't make Collection items requirements for future Goals, we'll be in the clear.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Feed]

Have you seen hints of this new feature appear in your game? What do you think of an improved, scalable Collections system?

FrontierVille Legends Paul Bunyan Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

Paul Bunyan's Blue Ox
Zynga will soon pay respect to the classics, the original pioneers of history and, in this case, folklore. A new Timed Goal is being prepared for FrontierVille as the first of a series titled "FrontierVille Legends." This one in particular is in honor of Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack, and his massive blue ox, which you'll win if you complete this Goal within 10 days.

Here are the requirements for the Paul Bunyan Timed Goal:

    Harvest 20 Wheat
    Collect 15 Maple Syrup
    Sell 20 Adult Oxen


To harvest the 20 Wheat, you'll need 7,300 coins and at least one day's time for them to ripen. The 15 Maple Syrup appear to be items requested from friends, so keep up on this while you wait for the Wheat and somehow raise and sell 20 Adult Oxen. If you were to do it all at once, 20 Oxen would cost you 18 thousand coins and take about 4.5 days to complete. Hopefully, you've saved your Boosts for just this occasion (an unlikely scenario for most). Thankfully, you have more than double that time to complete the Goal, though this Goal is still one of legendary proportions.

[Source and Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]

Have you seen this Goal appear in your game yet? How would you go about completing this Goal as quickly as possible?

FrontierVille Poker Table: Everything you need to know

Will you check and hope for the best, or bluff your hand to catch unsuspecting prey? If you've ever played Poker, these are questions that will run through your mind, and now, they can in FrontierVille as well via the addition of a Poker Table to the Saloon. The Poker Table will be added to your Saloon after you upgrade the building. After that point, you'll be introduced to the idea of card collecting.

No, this isn't card counting, it's card collecting. You'll be able to collect Poker Cards from collecting the Saloon's Daily Bonus and can then turn those cards in matching different poker hands and receiving various prizes based on the value of the hand you turned in. But first, you'll need to build the Poker Table, which requires you to collect the six items we'll reveal behind the break.

The six necessary Poker Table building ingredients are 10 each of I.O.U.s, Green Felts and Dealing Boxes, along with 15 each of Red Chips, White Chips and Blue Chips.

Once you finish building the Poker Table, you can either purchase card packs or hope to receive cards via the Saloon's Daily Bonus, as we mentioned before. From there, it's a matter of luck (and patience) before you can actually turn in a hand. The different hands are seen below, along with the prizes. You can win everything from concoctions (like a new option that allows you to do ten tends per neighbor for a limited time) to Horseshoes - 500 Horseshoes for a Royal Flush, as a matter of fact.

All told, this seems like an interesting new feature, but I wouldn't gamble too much on your receiving any great prizes anytime soon.

FrontierVille Poker Table Goals: Everything you need to know

Along with the release of the Poker Table in the Saloon in FrontierVille (you'll be able to upgrade when your Saloon looks as pictured with an arrow) this evening comes the launch of three new themed goals. The first is called Lend Hank a Hand, and it sees you performing three relatively simple tasks:

Collect one Saloon Daily Bonus
Mix one Concoction
Have 1 Fancy Clothing

Fancy Clothing are crafted in the General Store using Clothes that are crafted in the Cabin. The Concoction can be any of those currently available to craft inside the Saloon, so just pick the one that's easiest to complete (that is, if you have all of the ingredients for a particular concoction, pick it first), and then collect the building's Daily Bonus to finish this one off. You'll receive 250 coins, 250 XP and one Granny's No.5 for completing this first goal.

Meet us behind the break to see what's next.

Goal number two is Raising the Stakes! and it increases the difficulty a bit, but still isn't anything too overly outrageous.

Visit 5 Neighbors
Tend 20 Peppermint
Collect 10 Markers

It doesn't say you actually have to harvest Peppermint, so you should be able to buy new if you don't have that many on hand. Meanwhile, you'll need to ask your friends to send you the Markers. Finishing this second goal gives you 250 coins, 250 XP and 5 Poker Cards. Remember, you can use these cards to create hands inside the Saloon's Poker Table for prizes like concoctions or even Horseshoes (if you're lucky and draw a good hand).

Finally, the third of these three goals is called Ante Up! and it will do what you'd expect - requiring you to use those newly received Poker Cards, and even lay a bit of your own money on the line for a bet.

Play 1 Poker Hand
Have 10,000 coins
Collect 10 Gamblin' Cases

Again, Gamblin' Cases must be earned by asking your friends to send them to you, while the Poker Hand can be played using those five Poker Cards you just received. And yes, even if you don't have what would normally be a winning hand in poker (that is, a pair or better), you'll still be able to turn a "No Hand" in for 250 XP and 500 coins. In finishing this final goal, you will lose your 10,000 coins, but you'll also receive 250 coins, 250 XP and will unlock the Loyal Pioneer Drink to craft inside the Saloon. This drink allows you to complete ten different actions on a neighbors' Homestead, which will come in extremely handy when being forced to tend Horses or another rare animal for future goals.

FrontierVille Poker Badges reward you with more cards to keep playing

In what turns out to be a pretty appropriate cycle of gameplay, Frontierville's newest Poker Badges will reward you with extra playing cards for playing other cards on the Saloon's new Poker Table. To be specific, each time you play a hand of cards on the Poker Table (that is, each time you play five cards), you'll earn a point towards these four new Badges. Once you reach each milestone, you'll receive a bulk amount of cards as a reward, helping you continue the cycle of earning points for playing hands.

Here's the rundown of the four available Badges:

Poker Pioneer - Play 1 hand - Reward: 2 Cards, 250 XP
Poker Practitioner - Play 10 hands - Reward: 5 Cards, 500 XP
Poker Pro - Play 50 hands - Reward: 10 Cards, 1,000 XP
Poker Phenomenon - Play 100 hands - Reward: 25 Cards, 2,500 XP

As you can see, the higher Badges also reward you with some pretty killer experience point bundles, so they're worth earning even for those bonuses. The 2,500 XP could very well be enough to push you up another level, so won't it be satisfying to finally earn it? Just keep plugging away, collecting your Saloon's Daily Bonus to earn cards, and you'll eventually get there - I'd be willing to gamble on that.

What do you think of the rewards for these Poker Table Badges in FrontierVille? Will you become a card shark just to earn them?

Upgrading the CityVille Wedding Hall: Everything you need to know

CityVille Wedding Hall Upgrade
"You know, that Wedding Hall isn't big enough," the Zynga team agreed upon during a CityVille meeting. "Let's make into a wedding multiplex!" And thus, the Wedding Hall upgrades in CityVille were born. The steps for upgrading the Wedding Hall into a Wedding Skyscraper aren't much different from previous upgrades to CityVille community buildings like the Emergency Clinic and the Bank. However, Boosting your Wedding Hall to Level 3 will give it a new look, increase its Energy drops from collection and give it a chance to drop Sunglasses upon collection. (Isn't a church enough for you people?)


CityVille Wedding Hall Upgrade window

Wedding Hall readyBefore we get into what's required, here are some pointers on the new Wedding Hall. You are allowed more than one Wedding Hall in your city, though you can only upgrade one Wedding Hall at a time. Also, if you delete a Wedding Hall, that will restart the upgrade process should you ever want to get back into the matrimony business.

Once you reach 700 or more population in your city, you'll have the option to upgrade your Wedding Hall to Level 2. Just click on the ready Wedding Hall (as pictured) and select the relevant option.

Wedding Hall Level 2 (700 Population)

    Provides 200 Population
    More Energy when collecting
    Chance for Sunglasses when collecting


Once you do that, the above window will appear, requiring you to add six new crew members to your existing crew in the Wedding Hall. To bring in new friends, just click on the green "Hire Friends" button and you'll be whisked away to the familiar friend request screen. (Of course, you can always shell out City Cash.) Boosting the Wedding Hall to Level 2 gives you an extra 200 Population, increase the Energy you receive when collecting and adds a chance for Sunglasses to drop when you collect.

Wedding Hall Level 3Wedding Hall Level 3 (2,250 Population)

    Provides 520 Population
    Even more Energy when collecting
    Higher chance for Sunglasses when collecting


Upgrading the Wedding Hall to Level 3 is more of the same, though you won't be able to get that wedding multiplex until you reach 2,250 or more Population. Again, click the building to make the same window appear, but this time you'll need to recruit eight more friends. So, now it's time to say, "I do ... want to upgrade the Wedding Hall."

[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]

Have you boosted your Wedding Hall in CityVille yet? What do you think of these upgrades to community buildings?

FarmVille 2nd Birthday Countdown: Collect all 12 items to celebrate

    FarmVille Birthday Cake Crop Stage 2     FarmVille Birthday Cake Crop Stage 3
If you want to celebrate FarmVille's second year of birth, it's gonna' cost ya. The Birthday Cake Crop has been released to FarmVille, and it costs Farm Cash to plant it. In order to plant the five-stage crop, you will need to buy a week-long permit for 10 Farm Cash. Pay up the digital bills, and you can throw down as many cakes as your sweet little heart desires ... for a week. Hey, at least the crop has a Mastery rating and has Bushels, which leads us to believe Zynga has more in store for the crop.
FarmVille Birthday Cake Crop Stage 4     FarmVille Birthday Cake Crop Stage 5     FarmVille Birthday Cake Crop Withered
FarmVille Birthday Cake Crop

    Permit: 10 Farm Cash
    Growth Time: 12 Hours
    Sell: 200 Farm Coins
    XP: 4


[Source and Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Second Birthday coverage right here.

Have you bought the Birthday Cake Crop license yet? What do you think of Zynga charging for new, limited edition crops?

FarmVille Parisian Items: Fleur De Les Tree, French Mini Horse and more

Tonight's FarmVille update comes as a bit of a surprise. As last night's update already included items in the Parisian theme, it wasn't expected that another set (a larger set) of items would be released so soon, but we're not complaining. If you're keeping track, there are new items in the trees, animals, buildings and decorations categories, though some are re-releases from previous events. Here's a rundown so you can get straight to shopping.

Trees:

Fleur De Les Tree - 5 Farm Cash
Giant Fleur De Les Tree - 10 Farm Cash

Animals:

French Mini Horse - 26 Farm Cash

Buildings:

Parisian Cafe - 25 Farm Cash
Eiffel Tower - 150 Farm Cash

The Eiffel Tower has been seen - for free - in the past. If you don't have one, now is not the time to purchase one. If you can stand it, I'd suggest waiting until we see this again as a free item collection prize (perhaps around Valentine's Day).

Decorations:

Parisian Garden - 10 Farm Cash
Provencal Fence - 700 coins per piece
Bike with Basket - 2,000 coins
Provencal Pot - 2,200 coins
Romantic Fountain - 12 Farm Cash
Paris Patio - 7 Farm Cash

Keep a special eye on these items, farmers. Like the Eiffel Tower above, some of these items are re-releases, as the Provencal Pot, Bike with Basket and Provencal Fence items have been around this way before. Make sure to check your storage for these items if you've forgotten whether or not you purchased them. Sure, they're all cheap, but there's no reason to duplicate if you can help it.

Interestingly, these items will be available for the next 16-17 days, which is up from the normal solid two week time limit. This is presumably due to their skewed release date, as users may have not been expected another update until Sunday. Still, make sure you take advantage of this time while you have it. You wouldn't want to forget these items are available only to come back too late.

Are you excited about this set of Parisian-themed items? Do you already have an Eiffel Tower from a previous event or release? Would you ever pay 150 Farm Cash for something that others could have had for free, even if it does have limited availability?

FarmVille Mystery Game (07/14/11): Rainbow items show off their colors

While it may not be Sunday, a new round of the Mystery Game has launched in FarmVille this evening, bringing with it six rainbow-themed items. To be clear, most of these items have a base color of white, with rainbow accents in their coloring, rather than being an actual rainbow that you'd see in the sky. One final item is a decorative animal that breaks this rule.

This week's game costs 20 Farm Cash to play (which is higher than the "normal" 16 Farm Cash price), but comes with three different horse breeds, so if you're a collector, you have a lot to be excited about here. Here's what's available:

Rainbow Lorikeet
Rainbow Mini Horse
Rainbow Panda
Rainbow Pony
Rainbow Rabbit
Rainbow Stallion

The Rainbow Lorikeet is the odd-man-out here as the decorative bird looks normal, and doesn't scream of "rainbows." Still, it's a cute bird, for what it is. Also breaking with tradition this week is the game's expiration date, as you'll have ten days, rather than seven, to try your luck at throwing darts at the board. Presumably, this will all see us returning to a "normal" release schedule, but either way, we'll continue to stay on top of things and let you know what next week's game contains.

Which of these items are you hoping to receive from the Mystery Game? Which of the three horses/ponies do you think is cutest?

FrontierVille Packin' Bags and Pickin' Banjos Event: Everything you need to know

As if you weren't prepared enough for the Pioneer Trail in FrontierVille, creating a nearly endless amount of Golden Hammers. Zynga has released yet another series of Goals in preparation for what better be the biggest, baddest expansion we've ever seen in an overarching event: Packin' Bags and Pickin' Banjos.

The event is broken up into a series of three Goals, but each Goal contributes to the event, which will only be around until August 15. (Perhaps this is the cut-off date for the Billion Hammers event, but I wouldn't hold your breath.)

Within the Goals, players must collect Fingerpicks to unlock three brand new items, and the faces of one crazy banjo player. While these items aren't connected to the Pioneer Trail, you might want to do at least the first Goal to see a new music video that Zynga threw together with some telling imagery about the upcoming expansion. Let's get to pickin'.

FrontierVille Packin' Bags and Pickin' Banjos 2
1. Pickin' Banjos

    Collect 9 Fingerpicks
    Watch the Bluegrass Music Video for Pioneer Trail
    Collect 15 Bluegrass Songbooks


The nine Fingerpicks can be found by tending to Horses, Oxen, Cows and Mules, though the drop rate for the item appears to be random. Then, you'll be treated to a pretty hilarious music video teasing more features in the upcoming expansion--though, it's a requirement, so your tolerance for blue grass will be tested. The 15 Bluegrass Songbooks must be requested from your friends. Your reward for completing this Goal is a measly 750 Coins and 750 XP, but turning in those Fingerpicks to the event window earns you a Bundle of Sunflowers, a Pile 'o' Cooking Gear and a Hoe-Down Bear.

Pickin' Banjos
2. Packin' Bags

    Buy 2 Dinners from the Market
    Tend 50 Cows on your Homestead
    Request 20 Pieces of Cookin' Gear


The two Dinners from the Market will cost you a total of 640 Food. Each Cow can be tended to every 10 hours, so this is going to take a little while unless you shell out the whopping 38,250 Coins for all 50 Cows. The 20 Pieces of Cookin' Gear must be requested from friends, unfortunately. For completing this Goal, 1,000 Coins, 1,000 XP and a Toy Wagon are all yours.

Get Ready to Get Down
3. Gettin' Down

    Visit 20 Neighbor Homesteads
    Fulfill 5 Friend's Wish List Requests
    Collect 15 Hoedown Banjos


To visit your Neighbor's just click on their portraits on your Friend Bar, and select "Visit"--it's really that simple. But before you do, just hover over their portrait for a second longer to cause their Wish List to appear. If you have an item that they need, you will see the option to send them said item. All the while, ask your friends (again) for 15 Hoedown Banjos. Finish these three simple tasks, and you'll earn another 1,000 Coins, 1,000 XP and a White Rabbit. Now are you ready for the expansion? We thought so.

[Sources and Image Credits: Zynga, FrontierVille Info]

Have you started these timed Goals yet, or are you too busy collecting one billion Golden Hammers? Do you plan on completing these Goals at some point?

CityVille Race Invaders Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

It looks like CityVille will soon take a cue from its sister Zynga game, Cafe World, with this upcoming Timed Goal, Race Invaders. Unlike Timed Goals in games like FrontierVille, this unreleased Goal will reward you with better rewards the faster you complete it.

Thankfully, the Goal doesn't appear to be too difficult, and you might want to partake for the Gold level reward alone, a new Business called the Fitness House. However, I would strongly recommend putting the Goal off until you know you can sit down and hash it out within the 24 hour time limit. Now that we're through with disclaimers, here's how to complete this new Goal:

Race Invaders:

    Send 40 Tour Buses to Neighbor Business
    Ask friends for 12 Gel Packs
    Harvest 50 Watermelons


Alright, so this Goal might take a while, but here's a way to make it happen fast. First, you'll need at least eight friends to send those Tour Buses to, but you should have at least 20 active friends regardless to complete this and other Goals. Now that you have the resources, accept the Goal and plant those 50 Watermelons. This will cost a total of 1,800 Coins and take at least four hours to harvest--make space if you have to in order to plant them all at once.

Then, request the 12 Gel Packs from friends, and overshoot if you have to. Once you've requested the Gel Packs, go and visit your friends to send those 40 Tour Buses. Then, hopefully you will have your 12 Gel Packs, and all you need to do is wait for those Watermelons to ripen. Here are the rewards for finishing this Goal, broken down by time limit:

CityVille Karen     CityVille Fitness House

Gold (completed within 24 hours):

    Fitness House
    2200 Coins


Silver (completed in 24-48 hours):

    1500 Goods
    2200 Coins


Bronze (completed in 48-72 hours):

    2200 Coins


[Source and Image Credit: CityVille Wiki, CityVille Info]

Do you think that you'll be able to complete this Goal in the allotted time to get that new Business? What do you think of Timed Goals in CityVille?

Hardcore PC games become Facebook games in a cinch with Overwolf

Well, sans the Neighbor Bars and arguably incessant gift sharing. Overwolf, an Israeli start up company and service, adds a social layer to existing hardcore PC games like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. It does this through a free download that allows gamers to post their achievements and milestones in-game to social services like Facebook, Twitter and Skype without having to leave the game.

While GamePro notes that existing services like Steam and Raptr allow players to communicate in-game, Overwolf seemingly turns every hardcore game into, well, a social game. (Not to mention it has support for in-game email and web browsing as well.) But hardcore gamers have hardcore social tastes, so players can record video clips and post them to Facebook and other social channels, again, without leaving the game.

"Publishers are looking for ways to ignite the viral potential of online games, but integration has been difficult, especially with all of the demands of operating live titles," said Overwolf CEO Uri Marchand. "We're offering a way to add this functionality with zero effort required on the publisher's side. We've been getting amazing feedback from gamers telling us they love Overwolf, and it's a great way to engage friends and share their gaming life with their real lives, which has the effect of bringing more users into online games."

With major companies like Activision releasing social networks for their own games like Call of Duty Elite--and Xbox 360 having cross-game social features since its launch--the desire to share is certainly there. And as publishers and start ups alike begin to notice, the lines between Facebook game and hardcore game continue to blur. Services like Overwolf are only the beginning, so it might not be long before the word "social game" becomes moot.

Honor late, great Patrick Swayze in ... a Dirty Dancing Facebook game?

Remember, it's Sept. 9, not April 1, so this is for real. AllFacebook reports that a Facebook game surrounding the iconic 1987 film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing, is in development at Toronto-based studio Social Game Universe. The game will include the tunes you all know from the hit movie, like "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" and "Hungry Eyes," as players rehearse and perform dance numbers at the Kellerman's Resort to level up.

Presented in 8-bit style visuals like the video games of the time, Dirty Dancing on Facebook will have players dancing alongside retro, digitized versions of Baby and Johnny from the movie. (I'd rather think of them as Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in glorious 8-bit rendering, but to each his own.)

Players will then roam around the resort and drop "Romance Waves" to cause guests to fall in love and stay for awhile longer. Wait, that never happened in the movie!

Anyway, players will perform real dance moves that originated from the film, likely including Baby's infamous "maraca shaking." If any of this tickles your fancy, you can head over to the Facebook page right now and sign up for a chance at an exclusive preview of the game.

However, it looks like Social Game Universe is looking for super fans, here--you've been warned. Dirty Dancing is expected to make its Facebook game debut later this month.

Are you psyched that Dirty Dancing is getting its very own Facebook game? (Hey, anything beats that weird remake released in 2004.) What other nods to the classic movie do you hope to see in this game?

FarmVille Pic of the Day: Honoring 9/11 on barbs0803's memorial farm

Click the image to make it larger.

WTC The SphereLast month, FarmVille player barbs0803 submitted the above farm entry with the caption: "My tribute to 911 Never forget those we have lost". Now seems to be the appropriate time to share it. This 9/11 tribute farm shows the towers on the day of their collapse, complete with fire and smoke, made out of what appears to be Maple, Yellow Maple, and Rainbow Trees that aren't in bloom. The smaller explosions are Outdoor Torches from last June's Tiki theme set. But to the right, barbs0803 has also included two reflecting pools crafted with bales of hay, a design based on the real 9/11 memorial plans, which involves pools built into the footprints of the original towers and surrounded by oak trees. These two centerpieces tell a story of before and after.

On the top left corner, Fleur de lis Trees are made to resemble golden laurels bordering a flag of the Great Seal of the United States. The rest of the farm is filled in by Forget-Me-Nots, reinforcing the memorial theme. It also proves that barbs0803 is at least a Level 90 player, because those flowers can't be planted otherwise. For a final bit of detail, barbs0803 added a statue between the towers, to resemble The Sphere, a sculpture that resided beneath the WTC and was damaged beyond repair on the day of the attack. However, there's one mistake that's immediately noticeable -- the use of Light Poles as antennas on both towers, since only the north tower, Tower One, had that feature.

Here in New York, it's hard to hide from the memory of September 11th, especially with its 10th anniversary on this coming Sunday. Personally, I feel the absence of the towers most strongly when I'm riding west on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The twin towers were the most prominent and recognizable part of the lower Manhattan skyline. It's taken the city a decade to build a permanent memorial, which is finally opening to the public after this weekend. For those of you who can't make it, we'll always have barbs0803's farm.

Do you think a FarmVille farm is an appropriate way to memorialize September 11th? Can you identify the parts that barbs0803 used to create the towers?

The Sims Social beats FarmVille, attracts second most daily players

Boy, people sure do love to play god. According to Appdata, The Sims Social has surpassed Zynga's iconic FarmVille with the second most daily players of any Facebook game. Since its launch just a month ago today, EA and Playfish's ambitious social rendition of The Sims has amassed over 9.3 million daily players--that's over 1 million more than FarmVille's 8.1 million.

The Sims Social still has a way to go to the number one spot, which is, of course, held by Zynga's most popular game CityVille at just under 14 million daily players. Regardless, it's unprecedented for a game to grow this quickly in daily players, at least for a game that wasn't built by Zynga. Not to mention this is despite the hiccups the game faced along the way including days worth of downtime.

So, that's the power of The Sims, huh? Well, not so fast. While The Sims Social has certainly showed its might when it comes to gripping players (and keeping them there ... so far), the game is still in fourth place in terms of monthly players at just over 34.3 million. This number could grow in time naturally as daily players spread the word and through advertising, but it's nevertheless telling of the limits a Facebook game faces when it doesn't have a massive existing player base, like Zynga's games.

In other words, EA and Playfish have quite a lot of work ahead of them, if they want The Sims Social to be on top in all regards. But judging from the game's performance thus far despite its early setbacks--and in the face of the most popular Facebook games to date--perhaps Simlish could become the dominant language in Facebook gaming.

Have you been one of the over 9 million locked into The Sims Social? What do you think of the game so far

Zynga Mobile steals away Disney Interactive exec Adam Sussman

Just despicable: When Zynga isn't buying out companies, it's downright hiring buying out people. According to paidContent, Disney Games SVP Adam Sussman has left the company to join Zynga Mobile, which Disney confirmed to paidContent's Staci D. Kramer. Sussman joined Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) in January of this year, coming from EA's mobile division.

The former SVP was responsible for global publishing at Disney's games department, but paidContent believes Sussman will focus solely on mobile games while with Zynga Mobile, working under David Ko. In his move to Zynga Mobile, Sussman joins former Playdom VP of global distribution Paul LaFontaine as the second Disney Games executive to leave this week alone.

Companies like Disney, EA and similar major gaming companies have suffered several losses of high-level executives--including EA COO John Schappert (which has since been confirmed)--to Zynga and other competitors this year. Even a delayed IPO (initial public offering) can't scare high-level games industry execs away from the big red dog.

The continuous string of bad news already had analysts questioning whether Disney and Playdom could hang with its competitors months ago, and the fact that the company is having trouble holding onto its key players doesn't help today. Despite its losses, games like Gardens of Times do consistently well for Disney Playdom.

So, perhaps there is still hope for the company that it can squeeze out another hit and continue to hang with the top five Facebook game developers. You know, another hit like ... a Facebook game actually revolving around Disney characters? (Um ... duh?)

[Image Credit: Disney]

Do you think Disney Playdom can still compete with Zynga, EA and Wooga despite its losses and worried analysts? Why do you think the developer has yet to make a Facebook game using Disney characters?

Adventure World Jungle Run Expedition: Everything you need to know

Just yesterday, Zynga dropped their biggest Facebook game yet - Adventure World, which sees you tackling an adventure leading to the opening of the lost city of El Dorado through a main storyline and series of Expeditions. These expeditions are repeatable, and will see you tackling a series of specific quests on different maps. In our third Expedition, available at Level 5, we're asked to make our way through Jungle Run, which has a two day time limit. You'll need 150 Supplies, along with a single unit of Food, Fuel and Water to make your way through the Expedition, and your maximum final prizes are 880 coins and 1 Fuel (along with the XP and coins, etc. that you'll earn by simply making your way through the Expedition's quests).

Get to the Finish!

Get the First Champion's Sunstone
Get the Second Champion's Sunstone
Get the Third Champion's Sunstone
Get the Fourth Champion's Sunstone

In Jungle Run, you're presented with an ancient obstacle course, and must make your way to the finish line (the end of the map) while collecting four "Chamption Sunstones." If you can't see them on your own while traveling through the map (some blend in with their surroundings), then just enter into the Quest Menu above and click on the "Show Me" button to have the camera pan to the item's location.

Clear the Obstacles!

Clear 5 Sprung Spike Traps
Use 5 Banana Peels to Clean Up

As you go along the path, you'll find wooden spikes sticking up from the ground and must whack them with your Machete to clear them. They're fairly tall, so you should have no problem spotting them on the paths in front of you. As for the Banana Peels, these are rather small, and a very pale yellow, so you may need to really scan the landscape to find enough.

Take a Breather

Investigate 3 Hidden Rest Stops
Get 3 Azure Skulls
Get 5 Ruby Vases
Ask friends for 3 Fly Swatters

In this Expedition, we find our first friend request task, which should be taken incredibly seriously, as remember - you're on a time limit of two days to finish all three quests. Specifically, these Fly Swatters are earned by sending out individual gift requests to your friends. If you don't have very many friends that have jumped into Adventure World with you, this might be a bit difficult to complete, so make sure to check and see if your friends have started playing before panicking.

As for the hidden rest stops, they are hidden behind groups of clouds. Just click on the land next to the clouds and the clouds will clear automatically as you approach. From there, just click on the blue Azure Skull and you'll complete the "discovery" of that hidden rest stop.

Once you complete these three quests, you will have finished the ancient obstacle course and will be rewarded with your prizes. Remember, you can replay these Expeditions at any time (that is, if you have the Supplies necessary to leave Base Camp), so if you find one that you particularly like, keep playing it over and over to raise your level and become a better adventurer! Happy travels!

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

What do you think of this Jungle Run Expedition in Adventure World? Have you started or finished this Expedition yet?

FarmVille Upgrade window asks for permission to publish app activity to the ticker [UPDATE]

Many FarmVille players, myself included, were recently met with a new FarmVille Upgrade window upon entering their farms. We were asked to give Zynga (via the FarmVille app) our permission to publish games and app activity... but to where? According to the in-game pop-up, this all points to the new Facebook Games Ticker (which, as we reported earlier, can be considered a way for your friends to stalk you while online).

This ticker will show your friends when you've logged into a specific app, such as FarmVille, or can simply be used as a way to prove that you're online (and are capable of accepting their requests or messages) without you needing to be signed into Facebook Chat. Either way, the details about this FarmVille Upgrade were incredibly shaky when it comes to privacy, as are most other things when it comes to Facebook.

As usual, the general rule of thumb is to never store or publish information on Facebook that you wouldn't be comfortable with the entire world seeing, regardless of how locked down your profile may be to "strangers." For these specific options, though, you can see exactly what Zynga is asking for below. It all looks pretty straightforward, and looks like permissions we've given the developer before.

Since things are so cryptic, this also could be a precursor to the upcoming ability to add FarmVille neighbors that aren't your Facebook friends. Either way, your gameplay experience shouldn't change when allowing these "upgrades" to occur, so if you're confident about what you're sharing online, feel free to do just that.

UPDATE: Zynga has commented officially on the pop-up, since it caused confusion. Here's their statement:

    Hey Farmers! You may have seen our latest message 'FarmVille Upgrade', and we'd like to assure you it is not spam, nor will clicking "OK" affect what is posted on your Newsfeed. We're simply only collecting permissions to better enhance your game play, by allowing you to view your game achievements and other special events using some of Facebook's new channels. We will be slowly rolling out these features over the next several weeks, so please stay tuned for new enhancements!


What do you think these FarmVille Upgrades really stand for? Did you receive the pop-up on your farm? Did you allow or refuse Zynga's latest request for your information?

Pioneer Trail: Building Boosts now available for Horseshoes

Remember back in March/April, when Zynga partnered with Intuit to offer Intuit Business Boosts after completing themed goals in Pioneer Trail (then FrontierVille)? Those bonuses were some of the best things to happen to the game, as they allowed you to instantly recharge a building's Daily Bonus, allowing you to collect the Daily Bonus more than once in a 24 hour period. In terms of goals that ask you to collect three or four Daily Bonuses from a specific building, this meant tons of time saved, and more progress made. The only problem? They were one-time-use objects that eventually ran out.

Now, if you're willing to pay Horseshoes, you can return to the glory days of those Building Boosts, as they are now available to purchase from the store for Horseshoes (under the Special tab). For 15 Horseshoes, you'll purchase a single Business Boost, which is - again - a single-use object. That being said, the value here isn't that great, but if you're looking at spending three or four days waiting to complete a goal that you've otherwise completed, I can definitely see the draw in purchasing one to move on (and save your patience from being so tested).

There doesn't look to be an expiration date on these Building Boosts, so they should be available permanently in the store. Hopefully though, we'll see a return of the Intuit (or any free) Business Boosts in the future, so we can save our Horseshoes for another time.

What do you think of these Business Boosts? Will you purchase them to speed up your progress at completing specific goals?

Empires & Allies: Defense Tower II available for extra island protection

Zynga has updated Empires & Allies this afternoon, offering users a chance to purchase a second Defense Tower for their island(s). As we told you previously, the Defense Tower feature allows you to build a tower on your land, which will protect a nearby section of homes and items from Invasion from your enemies. If you were disappointed in the area of effect, you can now have two towers on your land, and the tower itself has an entirely new look (pictured).

While this second Defense Tower works the same as the first, and does not have a larger area of effect (that is, it protects the same sized area of land as your first tower), it does add another activation slot to the feature, allowing you to keep these towers active for up to 32 hours.

Remember, even though these Defense Towers protect some of your buildings (hopefully you've placed them near your most important structures that would give your enemies the most resources if stormed), you can still Invade other empires at will. You'll just need to keep supplying your towers with energy drinks to keep them moving.

If this feature goes over well, or as our empires continue to grow in terms of land size, it's presumable that Zynga will add more Defense Towers to the game's lineup, and we'll make sure to let you know if they do.

Are you a fan of the Defense Tower feature in Empires & Allies, or do you think it tips the "fairness" scale towards those who can afford to supply the energy drinks to keep the towers going?

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Sneak Peek: Restaurant Crafting Cottage revealed

Another day, another Lighthouse Cove teaser image in FarmVille. But I assure you farmers, this update isn't boring - it instead offers us as look at the new Crafting Cottage we'll be able to use once Lighthouse Cove opens up in full!

To be specific, the new Crafting Cottage comes in the form of a restaurant with lovely striped awnings and even seagulls hanging out on the roof. You might recognize this building from the Loading Screen image released just days ago, although this of course shows off much more of the building's detail.

In terms of new recipes, you'll be able to craft items like Cheddar Cheese and Clam Chowder. Here's the full scoop from Zynga:

    Harvest your new crops and collect new bushels because Lighthouse Cove has all new recipes. Craft and master new recipes like Farm House Cheddar Cheese and Clam Chowder in your very own restaurant!


Of course, we'll also likely be able to upgrade the restaurant to earn more recipes and crafting tables, although it hasn't been made clear yet whether this pictured Restaurant will be the permanent appearance for the building, or if it will change in shape or size as we upgrade it. We'll make sure to bring you those details, and more, as soon as Lighthouse Cove launches "soon."

What do you think of the Restaurant Crafting Cottage? Does this announcement raise your anticipation for Lighthouse Cove?

Pioneer Trail: Zynga offers a week of freebies in thank you letter to fans

Tonight, Zynga sent out an email to all Pioneer Trail players announcing a week-long, in-game giveaway to all its loyal fans. This email is signed by the John Osvald, the General Manager of FrontierVille, and carries the subject heading of "Been havin' trouble? Let us make it right as rain."

While he doesn't mention any specific performance issues with the game aside from success in being able to "cut the load times in half", he did very clearly acknowledge that "there have been more issues in the game than you're used to, and for that, I sincerely apologize." And just to show how sorry he is, players now have a week's worth of daily freebies to look forward to!

    From tomorrow, Saturday, September 10th through Saturday, September 17th, we'll be giving away a special present for every day you log into The Pioneer Trail, from horseshoes, to mystery crates... even the book of experience (which grants the holder a full level up!) We've also created a forum topic for discussion at forums.zynga.com. If you'd like to participate, I'll be reading! :)

You can see a copy of the official email for yourself below. (Click on the image if you need to make it bigger.)
FrontierVille Pioneer Trail Zynga fan letter from John Osvald
Will you be logging into Pioneer Trail daily next week for your free goodies?

PopCap feels the power of 'free,' more freemium games incoming

Perhaps "PopCap feels the power of Facebook" is more like it. During an interview with PocketGamer.biz, PopCap senior director of mobile product and business strategy Giordano Contestabile revealed that the Bejeweled Blitz creator has plenty more plans for freemium mobile games. That's especially since its recent Plants vs Zombies freemium-inspired update.

"While we typically don't disclose much about our future plans, I can say that you're in for a lot of surprises for us in the coming months, and that in-app transactions and the freemium model are going to feature prominently," Contestabile told PocketGamer.biz. The PopCap exec believes that the play first, (maybe) pay later model of mobile games will likely take over.

"I think that, one year from now, 95 percent or more of iOS game downloads might come from freemium games, and 80 percent or more of the revenue could be associated with them," Contestabile told the website. "The freemium model is extremely powerful because it allows developers to reach the biggest possible audience, and it allows players to choose if and how to pay for content, after having tried it out."

While Contestabile did say that there's still a place for premium game experiences, or pay-to-play games, that approach is losing its luster for most games. It wouldn't be terribly inaccurate to call this "The Facebook Effect." The fact that companies like Zynga and EA (which now owns PopCap) have made serious dough with free-to-play Facebook games has certainly had a visible impact on mobile gaming, which has a distribution model fairly similar to social networks. Almost Free is here to stay, and it looks like PopCap wants to lead the charge.

Are you excited to hear that more free-to-play games are coming from PopCap? Which property do you hope gets the free treatment next, or are you hoping for more original games?

Enrique Iglesias says, 'I Like How It Feels' in CityVille, visits next week

Man, why can't an act like Metallica crash CityVille? Oh, excuse my inner metal head, but you ladies out there are gonna' love this one: Zynga has announced that Grammy-winning pop star Enrique Iglesias is coming to its top Facebook game. Starting next week on Oct. 4, players will get the chance to help Mr. Iglesias kick off his recently-launched Euphoria Tour in-game.

Once Enrique lands in CityVille--and if you're over Level 6--you will be graced by his digitized presence in the game. But there' far more to this promotion than just clicking on the guy to hear witty sayings: Players will be able to collect various items fond to Enrique to score a thematic speed boat and Miami high-rise to place in their cities. The event will run through Oct. 10, and there is a grand finale in store for Enrique fans.
Enrique Iglesias in CityVille
Toward the end of the event, you will have the chance to build Enrique his very own Euphoria Arena in-game. Once you do, the guy will be so nice as to show you a sneak preview of his brand new music video, "I Like How It Feels" (featuring Pitbull and The WAVs). Of course, this is far from the first time a Zynga game has enjoyed celebrity exposure.

Just recently, the company announced that Indiana Jones will swoop into Adventure World through its work with Lucasfilm, and who can forget when Lady Gaga ran FarmVille for a few weeks earlier this spring? Even before that, both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg had their fun with Mafia Wars. Are you sensing a trend yet? Good, because we doubt this is the last time a celeb will hit Zynga with a touch of fame. In fact, if you ask Facebook's major game creators, branded games are on the up and up.

Are you psyched to see that Enrique will hit up CityVille on his Euphoria Tour? Which celebrity or artist do you hope makes their way into a Zynga game next?

Vostu goes for Goooaaal with GolMania on Facebook, Orkut [Video]

And boy, does it look intense. Vostu--you know, the Brazilian social game maker trading legal blows with Zynga--has released what is likely its most ambitious social game yet with GolMania. Available now on Facebook and Orkut in English, Portuguese and Spanish, this social soccer game touts real-time, directly-controlled soccer matches between friends in a cute art style.

And, according to a Vostu representative, "real-time" means live, arcade-style gameplay between two friends over Facebook or Orkut, Google's wildly popular social network in South America. The game pits players against one another on the field, but has friends cooperate off of the green to build up each other's stadiums and to gain energy and money for more matches.

As player progress in GolMania by mastering its keyboard controls and dominating opponents live, they will unlock special maneuvers. You will also be able to organize private tournaments between friends and participate in global cups amongst the game's top players--you can even play soccer in low gravity on the moon. And Vostu already has even bigger plans for its now flagship social soccer game.
Gallery: GolMania on Facebook
Vostu's Mystery Fantasy Game on Facebook
"GolMania brings Vostu's fun social experience to a casual sports game," Vostu Chief Scientist Mario Schlosser said in a release. "We look forward to our millions of users getting to play GolMania and like with all of our games, we will then quickly react to their feedback and our deep analytics about player behavior to unveil new features that take into account how users make the game their own."

The game was developed Vostu's recent acquisition MP Studio, and employs the publisher's Vostu Game Network, meaning friends can play with one another in real time across social networks. Vostu also teased to us an unnamed social game (found in the gallery above) with a deep, cartoonish fantasy setting that's set to launch this fall as well. But until then, check out GolMania below and see if it gives your fingers a real challenge.


Click here to play GolMania on Facebook Now >

What do you think of Vostu's first real-time action sports social game? Do you see these types of games taking off on Facebook?

Gree's OpenFeint hires ex-Glu Mobile exec, more social games coming?

by Joe Osborne, Posted Sep 29th 2011 4:30PM
Sarah Thomson OpenFeintThe mobile social game wars are heating up, as OpenFeint just took on former Glu Mobile executive Sarah Thompson (pictured) as its director of developer relations, SocialTimes reports. In other words, OpenFeint, owned by Japanese mobile social gaming powerhouse Gree, hired Thomson to strategically acquire build relationships with independent developers.

Namely, SocialTimes's Azam Khan guesses those developers will be primarily social and mobile social game creators, given Thomson's past exploits in the industry with Glu Mobile and IUGO Entertainment before that. And frankly, we couldn't agree more. Considering OpenFeint is a social network for mobile games at heart, and Gree's existing status, it simply makes sense.

"OpenFeint is going through an exciting phase of growth right now and Sarah is exactly the kind of person we need to keep up the momentum," OpenFeint SVP Marketing and Developer Relations Eros Resmini said in a release. "Sarah's deep history in mobile gaming paired with her connections to the developer community made her a great fit for OpenFeint."

We can't help but recall what just went down between OpenFeint and Gree: The former's co-founder and CEO Jason Citron resigned, and Gree CFO Naoki Aoyagi took his place. (Though, VentureBeat reckons the move was less ... cut-and-dry.) But back to Gree and OpenFeint's future plans, the simple fact is mobile social games are growing at an exponential rate on iOS and Android devices.

"I've always admired OpenFeint for its constant innovation in the mobile gaming space," Thomson said in a release. "As the company continues to change with the market, I'm excited to help OpenFeint continue growing." And we think we have an idea of just where Thomson would like to go. It starts with an "S" and--oh, forget it. You get the point already.

Do you think this puts OpenFeint in a better place to compete with opponents like DeNA and Zynga in mobile games? Don't you wish you could have rockin' tattoos and a big time exec gig?

Very sneaky, Zynga: Mafia Wars Shakedown revealed for iOS devices

Jeez, these guys are just terrible at keeping secrets, huh? (Alright, so this one looks like it was intentional, but nobody told us!) Zynga has announced yet another game, Mafia Wars Shakedown for iOS devices. However, the company went with a more low key approach for this announcement, which is far from its style. Exhibit A: Mafia Wars 2.

News of the game appeared when it replaced the Facebook page for Mafia Wars: Atlantic City, which was shuttered earlier this month in preparation for a "a much more exciting destination," the Mafia Wars Blog reads. What that implies to us is that Atlantic City may have been a failed experiment in HTML5 game creation, hence Shakedown. No other information about the game has been revealed other than it will first release for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.

Well, that and these tiny pieces of artwork. It's unknown whether this new iPhone game will come within a dedicated app like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown for iOS or through HTML5 like its predecessor. Frankly, HTML5--a web-based coding language capable of game development across multiple platforms simultaneously--is capable of more than Atlantic City.
Mafia Wars Shakedown Banner
Shakedown has all but replaced the web presence for Atlantic City (even the Twitter account has been taken over). My guess is that this new game will be a native iOS app like previous Zynga Mobile games, especially considering this news comes just as Zynga Mobile's David Ko told The Guardian he thinks HTML5 is still too early. We've reached out to Zynga for comment.

What are your guesses about this brand new Mafia Wars game for iOS devices? Are you bummed at all that Atlantic City has been closed down?

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? What did you think of it?

The Sims Social maker EA wants you ... to make it lots of ad money

And unfortunately, it doesn't sound like you'll have much of a choice. EA, co-creator of Playfish's The Sims Social on Facebook (and arch nemesis to Zynga at this point), has announced EA Legend.

This is the company's new platform to provide marketers and advertisers with "campaign and audience insights across mobile, social, online and console games reaching over 300 million people worldwide," a release reads.

In other words, you're more valuable to EA than you might already know. The publisher wants to use the information you provide them inadvertently through gameplay to rope in ad and marketing deals not just through its Facebook games but all of its games. More specifically, EA said it can provide advertisers with (prepare for buzzword overload):

    Key cross-platform campaign performance indicators such as impressions, clicks, unduplicated reach, demographic profiles, social media buzz, and ROI metrics.

    Segmented audience insights based on demographic, psychographic, and social data.

    Ability to drill down into the factors that impact campaign effectiveness including audience engagement, audience segmentation and type of creative all measured over time.

EA Legend
What's that again--psychographic data? This may all sound like something out of "1984," but it's nothing new. If you think other game creators don't do this type of stuff, then here's your wake-up call. We won't know exactly what information about us EA will provide to advertisers through Legend until it makes advertisers see green at this year's Advertising Week event in New York City on Oct. 4. And if EA keeps using words like psychographic, we may never know.

[Via All Facebook]

What do you think about this new EA Legend program? Do you think it's something worth worrying about, or is this just business as usual?

CrowdStar CEO: We want to create a game that reaches a billion people

The question is, however, can it be done? Speaking at this week's HTML5 Dev Conference in San Francisco, YouWeb chairman and CrowdStar--It Girl, anyone?--CEO Peter Relan (obviously not pictured) said, "We want to create the game that reaches a billion people." VentureBeat reports that the general consensus of the event was that HTML5 is the future of social and mobile gaming.

HTML5 is a web-based coding language that, in theory, will allow game creators to develop a single game that could be played across multiple devices through web browsers without a change in the experience. Currently, however, HTML5 isn't looking so hot as a gaming platform--HTML5 games aren't as sophisticated yet as even FarmVille on iPhone--but it's gaining steam.

"We sense that web 3.0 is here," Relan said during a panel at the conference. "Mobile devices will get to six billion people. They will become pervasive. We greatly overestimate what we can do with a technology in two years, and greatly underestimate what we can do in 10 years." Relan is confident that, from arcade-style games, HTML5 games will evolve into more complex experiences, citing games on the iPhone as an example.

And Relan shares this sentiment with a number of folks in the space. Rovio marketing exec Peter Vesterbacka has already mentioned his company's goals of reaching 1 billion players with the Angry Birds franchise. Even EA CEO John Riccitiello sees his company topping 1 billion players worldwide. And the mighty Zynga, despite being less than bullish on this whole dang-fangled HTML5 thing, is rumored to be working with Facebook on its not-so-secret Project Spartan.

But wait a tick--we're talking 1 billion players of a single game, no? To do that, it's going to take not only the right technology, but a game with enough widespread appeal to hit critical mass. If anything, the number one challenge game creators will face in this effort isn't whether it is possible, but whether they can craft characters that folks of any background can fall in love with.

Do you think any of these companies could create a game that will reach 1 billion players or downloads? What do you think it will take to accomplish such a feat.

Is there more to PS Vita's 'Near' social feature than we thought?

Catchphrases like "Social Gaming Revolution," have clouded what the device actually accomplishes with its social features somewhat. But now Sony has unveiled more than just cursory glances, and has detailed the PS Vita's Near feature in full.

Sure, we already knew that Near would allow players to gift one another based on location, but, according to the PlayStation Blog, it goes deeper than that. When PS Vita players press the "Update" button, it will send a ping in an outward radius to other potential Vita players with current, location-based information about you. From there, players can challenge those around them to competitive games or join forces in a co-op romp.

Of course, this is all assuming the games support said features, which we're sure at least some will. But how Sony is going to get you hooked on playing in public more often is the fact that players may have to share through Near in order unlock new content. Want that new multiplayer map for your Vita shooter of choice? Better head to the nearest library or airport to get it. You'll also be able to compare player stats like trophies through Near.

Wait a tick--that sounds a lot like how FarmVille players compare farms or Mastery achievements. Regardless of whether you're on board with Sony's PlayStation Vita handheld gaming console, it's undeniable that the device is a response to the social and mobile gaming scenes. We'll whether that response is strong enough in 2012.

[Via Kotaku]

What do you think of the PS Vita's social features? Do you think they're robust or slick enough to compete with what Facebook or mobile games are capable of already?

Dexter Slice of Life chops up Facebook after Season 6 debut

It's time to see the darker side of Facebook games ... much darker. Like, "a social game about serial killers" dark. Ecko|Code announced that Dexter Slice of Life is now available for play on Facebook, and just in time for the show's Season 6 debut last night. The game enlists players as Dexter, tasking them with the daunting mission of investigating big-time criminals and giving them the axe--literally.

It appears to be the first social game of its kind to employ real-time stealth gameplay that has players stalking Dexter's prey and lunging for the good old shot of tranquilizer. (We're sure you all know what happens afterward.) Of course, there's no escape yet from common Facebook game tropes like maintaining property--in this case, Dexter's apartment complex--but it's the Dark Passenger multiplayer system that Ecko|Code appeared most excited about when they told us all about the game last month.
Dexter Slice of Life kill room
Well, that and the fact that the game features full voiceover work from the show's star, Michael C. Hall. Not to mention that the Dexter screen writers worked with the developer to craft relevant missions that will explore the Season 6 plot in more detail every Monday, after the latest episode airs on Showtime. Slice of Life looks like it might tread new ground in the ever-growing branded games scene on Facebook, but don't take our word for it. See it for yourself, but beware: Spoiler Warning!

Click here to play Dexter Slice of Life on Facebook Now >

Are you psyched to see Dexter get his very own Facebook game? What do you think of branded games thus far on Facebook?

Frima Studio brings flatulence to Facebook in Pocket God Episode 9

Has Robot Unicorn Attack met its match? In the most recent update to Frima Studio's Facebook take on Pocket God, Episode 9: My Little Pygmy, the Canadian developer has introduced a new pygmy-pulverizing power to the game. We'll just come out and say it: The new power is a unicorn that, when clicked twice, farts rainbows that dissolve pygmies instantly.

If you're not laughing yet, then you have no soul. Come on, flatulent humor never gets old in small doses. Oh, and the gaseous mythical horse can also impale pygmies and send them flying with a rainbow flourish. The fart-filled unicorn is available to players Level 11 and above, and comes with a hidden quest that tasks them with defeating the Night Mare. Players that enlist the help of their friends in besting the beast will have a better shot at unlocking another god idol.

The update introduced a Daily Bonus mechanic to Pocket God, something that most Facebook games have enjoyed for some time now. But we're sure Frima Studio is far more excited at introducing such a chuckle-worthy character.

As of this writing, Pocket God enjoys just over 222,000 monthly players and over 27,000 daily players, according to AppData. Frankly, a game with this much humor (and this little shame) deserves far more players than that. Well, it at least deserves points for originality.

Have you played around with this gassy unicorn yet in Pocket God? What do you think of the game's Facebook rendition so far?

UK online safety expert proposes Pet Society feature as dangerous to children

Playfish might want to take a break from its London headquarters and head to Wrexham for a chat with Charles Conway. Conway, a self-touted "online safety expert," has been making rounds in North Wales and North West England telling people that Pet Society is encouraging "stranger danger" in kids.

He alleges that the game exposes them to real-world contact with "murderers, rapists and pedophiles." While those passionate about Facebook games might want to write off Conway as a professional fearmonger, Conway may have a point, because he's actually played the game.

A professional web designer by trade, Conway runs the Clear as Crystal web firm. He then started the Scam Detectives website with his wife Christine in Jan. 2010, claiming "over a quarter of a million visitors around the world" since its inception. In March 2011, he released an ebook titled, "Scammers, Spammers & Social Engineers: A Scam Detectives guide to keeping your business safe online", available on the Amazon Kindle for $9.99. A month later, he wrote a tech column in Euro Weekly News. Lastly, Scam Detectives was also shortlisted for the 2011 Nominet Internet Awards in the category of "Making the internet safer", although it didn't win.

While Conway also names FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and CityVille in his lecture on Facebook games, he uses Pet Society's social features to build his strongest case. We've all known about the "Cafe" in Pet Society, a location in the game where everyone can go to show off their pets and their pets' homes.
Charles Conway Pet Society BunnyPig
Pet Society Go to ProfileBy being in the Cafe, you're bound to meet strangers. Even though all you can do once you get to another pet's home is some pre-set actions (e.g. hug, kiss, dance, laugh, and punch), there's also the option to visit the real Facebook profile of a someone you might not know at all. Conway demonstrated this by creating an avatar named "BunnyPig" to demonstrate to a group of foster care and social workers.

Because Facebook games require players to have lots of friends to earn virtual money and goods, Conway concludes that kids will be tempted to friend strangers. And in turn, he estimates that malevolent strangers can scope out kids who play the game. This "Go to profile" option is clearly a valid concern and does exist in the game.

So far, I could find no options within Pet Society to turn off this feature. However, Pet Society players can secure their Facebook profiles within the "Privacy Settings" menu beneath the "Account" tab on the Facebook home page. Just because a stranger can visit a kid's profile, doesn't mean a stranger will see much if their profiles are locked in Friends Only mode.

It's also entirely possible that this feature is only available for the adults who play the game. But as we've proven before, even if that is the case, kids under 13 years-old could still lie to Facebook about their age just to have a Facebook account.

In an ironic twist, Conway actually hosts several online games on his Scam Detectives website. However, these are simple Flash-based web games designed to teach and quiz players about online security. So there are no social elements involved in these games and they could be played anonymously.

(Editor's Note: This article and its headline was edited for clarity, and now clarifies how users can secure their Facebook profiles.)

[Hat-tip: PR Fire]

Is Charles Conway just another fearmonger?

Facebook games move to Requests 2.0, or one-click requests, next year

The FarmVille fans are just gonna' love this one. Facebook announced that Requests 2.0, a feature that will allow users to opt into one-click requests in their favorite Facebook games with specific friends, will become the standard starting Jan. 1, 2012. The upcoming change was announced on the Facebook Developers Blog, but don't fret just yet, privacy watchdogs.

Actually, this feature already exists on Facebook in games like EA and Playfish's The Sims Social. We're all familiar with the pop-ups that require us to click "Share" in order to send direct requests to our friends, but you may have noticed some with a checked box and a message that reads, "Don't ask again before sending requests to Joe Shmoe from this app." While perhaps the box shouldn't already be checked, removing the check will force Facebook to continue requesting for your permission.

Honestly, after Facebooks' Mark Zuckerberg revealed at the annual f8 Conference that games will automatically post certain data to the new universal Ticker, it's hard not to wonder why players would be scared of a feature like this. This change is much different than Zynga's approach, which essentially makes all sharing automatic and barred players from choosing who to send what items. Requests 2.0 gives players to option to activate automatic sharing with whomever they want on an individual basis.

Facebook Games Platform developer Derek Brandao then revealed how this new change--that will remove support for the old requests model come Jan. 1, 2012--could make Facebook game requests much faster for players. Brandao then starts speaking developer, to which many of your eyes (including mine) will begin to glaze over.

This change doesn't seem to affect public game shares like "I need 17 pickles in FarmVille," but could make sharing between friends much smoother. Giving players the choice to opt out of the feature protects Facebook somewhat from anti-privacy claims, but there's still something about Facebook reporting on every game we play that's just a tiny bit disconcerting.

What do you think of this upcoming change to Facebook games? Do you think it somehow encroaches on players' privacy or complicates things like FarmVille One-Click Sharing did?

Kevin James visits the critters of Zoo World 2 in Zoo Keeper promotion

After watching Kevin James bumble around as a firefighter feigning a domestic partnership and later as a blundering mall cop, I wasn't so keen on watching him play a clumsy zoo keeper. But hey, maybe it'll make for a fun Facebook game event, and RockYou seems to agree, as it announced that Zoo World 2 will honor James's comedic, klutzy exploits in Zoo Keeper.

Zoo Keeper has come and gone in theaters, but picking up the Blu-ray or DVD release of James's summer comedy will score Zoo World fans 12,500 Zoo Bucks (normally $10) to blow in Zoo World 2. Of course, digital zoo keepers will be joined by characters from the movie including Griffin (Kevin James's character), Bernie the Gorilla, Joe the Lion, Mollie the Giraffe and Barry the Elephant.

Zoo World 2 will feature several goals involving the cast of the film, and players will net extra rewards when taking care of the critters from the movie. Leveling up during this promotion will produce customizable, Zoo Keeper-inspired notifications that players can share with each other. The original game gets some love, too, with four Zoo Keeper-themed animals.
Gallery: Zoo World 2 Zoo Keeper Promotion
RockYou has finally caught wind that, hey, branding is where it's at right now in Facebook games. (And perhaps a big name will give the game's 370,000 daily players a boost.) Not only has Enrique Iglesias landed in Zynga's CityVille, but studios like Ecko|Code have launched full-blown branded games like Dexter Slice of Life. And, if big time social game execs have anything to say about it, this trend isn't going anywhere. Let's just not make an entire game surrounding a Kevin James flick, kay?

Are you a Zoo World 2 fan already? Do you think this promotion is a good fit for the game, and does it make you want to play or try the game out any more than before?

Scott Steinberg: Facebook could be in music games' future [Interview]

"It was too many games in too short a time, playing to too niche of an audience at too high a price--in the middle of the worst recession possible." According to technology analyst and public speaker Scott Steinberg, this was what essentially killed the enormous music gaming franchises, Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The age of sitting around your living room with three friends, plucking and fiddling with plastic instruments to Rush's Tom Sawyer is all but over ... for now.

Well, at least those exorbitant pieces of plastic are through. Steinberg details the rise, fall, and imminent resurrection of music-based video games in his new novel, "Music Games Rock: Rhythm Gaming's Greatest Hits of All Time," which you can read for free right here. (If you're so inclined to support the guy, it's also available on iBooks, Kindle and in paperback.)

According to Steinberg, music games inspired by Guitar Hero and Rock Band's wild success will get their second shot in the limelight on Facebook and in your smartphones. We recently sat down with Steinberg to hear his thoughts on just how Facebook games can take advantage of this golden opportunity, why it hasn't happened just yet and what the killer Facebook music game might be like.

What advantages would you say social games have to capitalize on the downfall of music games?

There's a number of advantages, right? Free-to-play and incredibly low barriers to entry. You certainly don't have high-end system requirements, and you don't have to buy pricey plastic peripherals. They can tap into your existing music collection or stream it live, and you have millions of players connected to a platform that's uniform.

You don't have to worry, for the most part, about bugs or errors, because everybody is playing the same thing at the same time. So, what you have is a ready made audience, say, on Facebook alone of 800 million people who are incredibly connected. [They] used to playing with one another and are taking part in a platform that's uniquely tailor-made to take advantage of digital music--and oh, by the way, it's completely free to play.

When you take it in this context, coupled with the fact that every human being on this planet is hardwired to enjoy music, that really is the common unifier. Social games really are uniquely poised to take the genre to the next level.

Music Games RockIn your book, you mention that the music genre has enjoyed a revival on social networks through Facebook games like Nightclub City and Dirty Dancing--largely simulator games. But what about games that more closely resemble the now-defunct rhythm games like Pump It? Which of the two do you think has a better chance at thriving on Facebook?

Actually, I would argue that some of the better ones that have a chance of surviving may not even be traditional games at all. Look at a service like Turntable.fm: Wouldn't consider it a game per se, except it's powered completely by gamification elements. You're creating custom play lists, you're interacting with other players in a social environment and ultimately you're competing for the approval of other users by liking the songs.

Or, if you look at other games like YooStar Playground or apps like VidRhythm--these are the titles that are to do particularly well. That said, simulation titles [have a] strong audience for them and proven capability, and certainly because that's where so many games got their roots [on Facebook]. There's likely to be a lot of people interested. I've even seen a number of unreleased games that are in prototype that essentially allow you to take on the role of managing or performing in a rock band--I think they're uniquely well-suited.

I think what's not going to translate over well is simply the standard tap in time with the on-screen indicator type games. Though, these can continue to succeed on mobile platforms, because in the mobile context you're typically looking to play maybe with one hand in a span of five or six minutes. Whereas social games may only be a 15-minute spurt, you're sitting down in front of a PC and you're typically more engaged.

There are some music creation social games on the fringe already, like BreakOutBand, that rely on players to share content to succeed. How important would that be in a social game centered around music?

I think user-created content, as it relates to social games, is massively important, because at the end of the day the developers can only take a game so far. And it's the players' ability to interact with and reshape that music or related content that really creates a sense of community, and allows a title to constantly keep feeling fresh and people coming back for more.

It's essentially a win-win, because for the developer it's a very affordable way to keep adding content to the game and keep people talking about it, and coming back after weeks and weeks. Players aren't constrained by office politics, licensing issues, and--to be frank--everybody loves to mix and mash creations.

But how much of that is going to be super-high quality, or chart-topping hits shall we say, versus underground little diddies? This is social interaction at its core, right? So, if you don't have that level of user interactivity, at the end of the day what you have is essentially a game with a bunch of canned content. And not much reason--unless it's saying you need to recruit other players to earn money for your band or unlock new stuff--there's not much incentive to pass it along.

A good amount of music games already exist on Facebook, but none are taking off like music games did before the turn of the decade. What do you think it would take for a music-based social game to enjoy success and notoriety like Guitar Hero?

You need to have a concept with extremely wide appeal that allows players to enjoy rock star wish fulfillment in a matter of minutes without the painful side effects. What also is important is to have recognizable band scenarios, you know, licensed music. But also the ability for players to put their own spin on it and a reason for them to engage with one another.

The problem is, to succeed on social networks where you literally have thousands of titles competing, dozens of them coming out every single week--all of which are completely free to play versus Guitar Hero, which was completely brand new. To have that success on Facebook or another social network, I almost think what you're going to see is a title that's going to have to align itself with Spotify or another one of these streaming services to tap into a massive database of real-world artists and then finds new ways for you to interact with that music.
Dirty Dancing Facebook game
Back to the branded music games like Dirty Dancing (pictured). As you know, they're reaching critical mass, so what do you think is the likelihood of a monster brand like Guitar Hero or Rock Band appearing on Facebook?

Oh, it's a certainty. It's not a question of 'if,' but just a question of 'when.' I think a lot of that is because the game makers aren't unawares. Activision, Harmonix, Mad Catz: They understand the power of social networks as a platform. The problem is that their business has been thus far founded in either selling peripherals--good mark up on those plastic guitars--or selling software for 60 bucks a pop.

They haven't had as much incentive to scurry and think, 'How do we make a free-to-play platform where we're probably going to make a lot less money in the immediate?' But slowly and surely, as so many game players are migrating to these platforms, convenience is winning. It's almost as if they're being forced to acknowledge it. It's a completely new approach to game design--Wal-Mart's not going to order a million units. They'll embrace it; it's just a question of 'when.'

Try to describe your dream music-based Facebook game to me. In other words, what do you think would be the ultimate approach to a music game on Facebook?

The ultimate Facebook music game would not only be able to tap into your full library of digital music, but also stream millions of songs on demand. [It would] allow you to set up on stage custom concerts for your friends, featuring this music or original music you created. [You would] style your avatars, build your own bands, create your own followings, sell your own virtual merchandise and connect over shared love of music with millions of players across the world.

It would effectively recreate the rock and recording industry experience, only in a virtual setting. What I mean is a combo listening service, social network, slash simulation game that effectively allows you to build a rock band and recording industry career from the ground up. I don't see any reason why you couldn't create avatars for your band--it's own look, logo, virtual stickers, t-shirts. You could buy branded gear like Gibson's or Marshall's, earn cash from touring, build your own virtual labels. I don't see any reason why a platform wouldn't be able to break new artists.

Wow, I think it's time for you to call the patent office. Thanks for taking the time to chat, Scott.

What do you think of the prospects of a wildly successful music game hitting Facebook? Who do you think could be the first to create the ultimate music game on Facebook?