ESPNU College Town Update: New University Quads and buildings keep spirits high

While the star of yesterday's ESPNU College Town update was the new Halloween items, Playdom also added new university-affiliated items to the game that could improve the personal flair of your campus. A brand new type of item, University Logo Quads, has been introduced to the game. These glossy, massive slabs of pavement adorned with your college logo can be placed anywhere normal roads or crosswalks can and go for 9 Campus Cash each, or about $2.50. Each Quad also grants 650 Happiness and 200 XP, so it's not too bad of a deal.

The rest of the items included in the update are a slew of buildings, stadiums and mascots for those who were left out in previous updates. Take a look in the Affiliation section of the game (go to Campus Information and click "Change") to see if your university was lucky enough to be part of this pass through. Finally, Playdom also optimized ESPNU to use fewer resources, which should mean a faster game with less crashes... should. Thankfully, the team is open to feedback, so keep reporting those crashes.

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?

Playdom leads gamers into double life in Secret Agent X on Facebook

All Things Digital reports that the game is available in some international markets in a closed beta test. The Disney-owned developer released a teaser trailer that reveals next to nothing about its gameplay, but we can always image what it'll be like. Based on what Playdom has told ATD, the game will send players on adventures using high-tech gadgets only to have them return home to the normal duties of suburban life.

Playdom co-founder: Facebook farming games aren't social games

"I tend to think that those will not be very interesting in another two years, and they aren't social games," Thompson said to ATD, referring specifically to the myriad of Facebook games that insist on farming mechanics. "They are single-player games with the possibility of visiting your friend's aquarium – that's not social." (And you should already know just where Thompson is pointing.)