While Playfish might have initially claimed that the new Harry Potter "Magic, Mystery & Mayhem" items would be launching in Restaurant City on Thursday, it appears that some lucky chefs are already getting their hands on the items in the theme, as the game updated just a few minutes ago to launch them in the store.
The theme contains all of the items you'll need to create both a magically themed restaurant, but also give off the feeling of walking into Hogwarts, with wooden school benches and desks, a blackboard, globe, and a school dining table, along with all sorts of decorative items, like giant spiders, potion bottles and racks, castle pillars, arches, and other architectural details. You can even purchase a Floating Car or a quartet of Floating Candles to really add the feeling of magical amazement to your restaurant.
What makes the theme so blatantly Harry Potter-oriented are the two figures available to purchase from the Decorations portion of the store - Ham-oniony and Harry Butter, who are clearly molded after Hermione and Harry from the insanely popular series. It makes sense that Playfish would go down this route, especially right now, as the newest film in the series will be released later this month in the US.
For now, if you'd like to add a magical flair to your restaurant, be sure to pick up these items while they are easily available in the game's store. Also, for a larger look at all of the available items, check out the official Restaurant City blog.
Thứ Năm, 2 tháng 2, 2012
Thứ Tư, 1 tháng 2, 2012
FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Lighted Train, Candy Gate, Arch & Fence
What better way to begin the winter holiday celebration than to purchase some new decorative items in FarmVille? There are four new decorations, to be exact, with most of these items allowing you to create a completely separated, yet themed area on your farm this winter.
First, though, there is the Lighted Train, a individual item that costs 22 Farm Cash. If you have the Lighted Gift Box from last year's celebration, you'll recognize the design of the train (which comes with the engine, one car and a caboose connected), as it is bright blue, with animated flashing lights that make it appear as though the train is moving, just as the Lighted Gift Box flashes lights on its ribbon.
The other items are those I spoke of earlier - those items that will help you truly set your other Winter Holiday items apart, in the form of fences and other dividers. It should be noted, though, that these items will be familiar to those who were playing FarmVille at this time last year, as they were available then as well. The items are the Candy Gate, which costs 7 Farm Cash, the Candy Arch, priced at 2,000 coins, and a single piece of Candy Fencing, which costs just 800 coins.
Take special note of the Candy Fencing price - normally, themed pieces of fencing cost at least 5,000 coins per square, so this is a definite bonus for those who want to create an expansive Winter / Christmas themed area on their farms this winter.
First, though, there is the Lighted Train, a individual item that costs 22 Farm Cash. If you have the Lighted Gift Box from last year's celebration, you'll recognize the design of the train (which comes with the engine, one car and a caboose connected), as it is bright blue, with animated flashing lights that make it appear as though the train is moving, just as the Lighted Gift Box flashes lights on its ribbon.
The other items are those I spoke of earlier - those items that will help you truly set your other Winter Holiday items apart, in the form of fences and other dividers. It should be noted, though, that these items will be familiar to those who were playing FarmVille at this time last year, as they were available then as well. The items are the Candy Gate, which costs 7 Farm Cash, the Candy Arch, priced at 2,000 coins, and a single piece of Candy Fencing, which costs just 800 coins.
Take special note of the Candy Fencing price - normally, themed pieces of fencing cost at least 5,000 coins per square, so this is a definite bonus for those who want to create an expansive Winter / Christmas themed area on their farms this winter.
Mafia Wars Don's Dinner - Invite your friends for a "wild" good time
While Thanksgiving may be over in the real world, it is still days from completion in the world of Mafia Wars, as Zynga has announced the launch of a small feature in Mafia Wars entitled "Don's Dinner."
This feature will pop up the next time you log into the game, and will be available to complete for almost the next four days (give or take a few minutes). The event is simple - your task is to invite nine of your friends to join you at Don's Dinner. This is done by posting invites directly to your mafia members' Facebook profile walls. You can do so by clicking on the Post Invite buttons you see under the "Pick Mafia to Invite" section. For a bit of clarity, our screenshot above has been altered to protect our neighbors' privacy, but in your own game, there will be a friend's name and profile picture above each "Post Invite" button.
Once you successfully invite nine friends (that is, once nine friends click on the invite on their walls), you'll receive a free "Wild Turkey" animal item. This Wild Turkey has some really impressive stats, especially when considering how little you actually need to do to receive it. If you have lots of active mafia members, you'll receive this 79 Attack and 65 Defense point animal in no time flat - it's a good thing too, as there are only a few days left before this bird, and the event, fly away for good.
This feature will pop up the next time you log into the game, and will be available to complete for almost the next four days (give or take a few minutes). The event is simple - your task is to invite nine of your friends to join you at Don's Dinner. This is done by posting invites directly to your mafia members' Facebook profile walls. You can do so by clicking on the Post Invite buttons you see under the "Pick Mafia to Invite" section. For a bit of clarity, our screenshot above has been altered to protect our neighbors' privacy, but in your own game, there will be a friend's name and profile picture above each "Post Invite" button.
Once you successfully invite nine friends (that is, once nine friends click on the invite on their walls), you'll receive a free "Wild Turkey" animal item. This Wild Turkey has some really impressive stats, especially when considering how little you actually need to do to receive it. If you have lots of active mafia members, you'll receive this 79 Attack and 65 Defense point animal in no time flat - it's a good thing too, as there are only a few days left before this bird, and the event, fly away for good.
RockYou CEO steps down as part of company restructuring
TechCrunch has reported that Lance Tokuda, CEO of RockYou, has stepped down from his role in the company. RockYou are best known for their Birthday Cards application and social game Zoo World, but also have several other successful applications on Facebook such as Hug Me and Pieces of Flair.
Tokuda will be staying with the company, but is changing to a new role in which he is working on 'innovation and strategic initiatives'. This is all part of the corporate restructuring that has taken place after the company laid off around 30% of their staff in mid-October. Tokuda bas been a CEO and founder of RockYou since January of 2006 and clearly has played a big role in the company's success up until now.
RockYou are now going to be focusing heavily on their social game strategy, however their latest title Toy Land doesn't look like it's doing so hot.
Tokuda will be staying with the company, but is changing to a new role in which he is working on 'innovation and strategic initiatives'. This is all part of the corporate restructuring that has taken place after the company laid off around 30% of their staff in mid-October. Tokuda bas been a CEO and founder of RockYou since January of 2006 and clearly has played a big role in the company's success up until now.
RockYou are now going to be focusing heavily on their social game strategy, however their latest title Toy Land doesn't look like it's doing so hot.
Unseating FarmVille: Have social games seen better days?
We reported earlier this week that FarmVille has been ousted as the top Facebook application, with the Phrases application coming out on top as of this week. For those of us who work with these games day after day, we know that FarmVille falling to 54 million players from 84 million players isn't the end of the world. An article posted today in PC World claims that this is a sign of general social gaming woes:
It's like Zynga is scrambling to add more sources of air to a deflating bubble. The fact that a random quiz app could unseat Farmville from its top spot, even temporarily, shows that social games have seen better days.
[Source: PCWorld]
We think that this article was a bit sensational and overblowing the situation. Many articles on the web talk about social games as if there is only one game (FarmVille) or only one company (Zynga) who are playing a part in the massively popular gaming trend. What these articles fail to mention is that smaller developers are now showing huge successes, and that there are many more companies out there making social games. There are currently 10 social game developers with over 10 million monthly active users across their games. Another 12 with over 5 million MAU. And over 75 other lesser-known social game developers who have games with over 1 million players combined. This is no easy feat, and nothing to sneeze at.
Social games are diversifying. The days of Zynga not only ruling the roost but also being the only major player are dead. There are up-and-coming developers such as Digital Chocolate that are pumping out high quality games at an unbelievable pace. Massive brands such as Google (who purchased Slide), EA (who purchased Playfish), and Disney (who purchased Playdom) are coming in and putting existing IP and familiar faces into new and existing games.
Social games aren't dying, by any means. The loss in numbers of FarmVille is an indicator of the game's age and lifecycle, and the vast number of new games by new companies that are being released weekly. It's never looked better for social game players, nor social game developers. Using FarmVIlle as an indicator of social game health as a whole is a rookie mistake that many journalists are making, but at Games.com - The Blog, we know better because we are completely immersed in Facebook games.
It's like Zynga is scrambling to add more sources of air to a deflating bubble. The fact that a random quiz app could unseat Farmville from its top spot, even temporarily, shows that social games have seen better days.
[Source: PCWorld]
We think that this article was a bit sensational and overblowing the situation. Many articles on the web talk about social games as if there is only one game (FarmVille) or only one company (Zynga) who are playing a part in the massively popular gaming trend. What these articles fail to mention is that smaller developers are now showing huge successes, and that there are many more companies out there making social games. There are currently 10 social game developers with over 10 million monthly active users across their games. Another 12 with over 5 million MAU. And over 75 other lesser-known social game developers who have games with over 1 million players combined. This is no easy feat, and nothing to sneeze at.
Social games are diversifying. The days of Zynga not only ruling the roost but also being the only major player are dead. There are up-and-coming developers such as Digital Chocolate that are pumping out high quality games at an unbelievable pace. Massive brands such as Google (who purchased Slide), EA (who purchased Playfish), and Disney (who purchased Playdom) are coming in and putting existing IP and familiar faces into new and existing games.
Social games aren't dying, by any means. The loss in numbers of FarmVille is an indicator of the game's age and lifecycle, and the vast number of new games by new companies that are being released weekly. It's never looked better for social game players, nor social game developers. Using FarmVIlle as an indicator of social game health as a whole is a rookie mistake that many journalists are making, but at Games.com - The Blog, we know better because we are completely immersed in Facebook games.
CausePlay aims to create games for good causes with Hospitopia
Hospitopia
One of the more interesting ideas coming out of the social gaming space is the idea of using games to raise money for real life charities. We've seen Zynga do quite a bit of this with their Sweet Seeds for Haiti FarmVille partnership, or their new Candy Cane campaign to donate 100% of their proceeds to the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. Sony Online's latest game, Wildlife Refuge, is donating profits from cheetah sales to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Now, a new company aims to create social games for social good on a regular basis.
CausePlay is a new social games developer founded by Jonas Hudson that aims to create games that benefit a worthy nonprofit organization. They clearly see the potential due to millions of players enjoying social games, and want to revolutionize the way that people donate to their favorite causes. The company aims to create a marketing tool within their games called Cause Integration, which allows brands to plug in their promotions easily within their social game titles.
The first game by CausePlay will be released in January 2011, and is titled Hospitopia. The game sounds similar to Simply Hospital, in which players will manage their own hospital and take care of patients. The big difference is that 10% of all game revenue will be going to the Children's Miracle Network hospitals to care for children in need. You can become a fan of the game's Facebook page for more news as the game gets closer to its release date.
CausePlay, based out of Manhattan Beach, CA, aims to release at least three more social game titles in 2011, and also will be holding a vote on Facebook to have people choose which cause their next game will be developed to support. As of right now, the company appears to only have a Facebook page set up. We'll be keeping our eyes closely on Hospitopia and can't wait to see how CausePlay raises money through social gaming.
One of the more interesting ideas coming out of the social gaming space is the idea of using games to raise money for real life charities. We've seen Zynga do quite a bit of this with their Sweet Seeds for Haiti FarmVille partnership, or their new Candy Cane campaign to donate 100% of their proceeds to the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. Sony Online's latest game, Wildlife Refuge, is donating profits from cheetah sales to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Now, a new company aims to create social games for social good on a regular basis.
CausePlay is a new social games developer founded by Jonas Hudson that aims to create games that benefit a worthy nonprofit organization. They clearly see the potential due to millions of players enjoying social games, and want to revolutionize the way that people donate to their favorite causes. The company aims to create a marketing tool within their games called Cause Integration, which allows brands to plug in their promotions easily within their social game titles.
The first game by CausePlay will be released in January 2011, and is titled Hospitopia. The game sounds similar to Simply Hospital, in which players will manage their own hospital and take care of patients. The big difference is that 10% of all game revenue will be going to the Children's Miracle Network hospitals to care for children in need. You can become a fan of the game's Facebook page for more news as the game gets closer to its release date.
CausePlay, based out of Manhattan Beach, CA, aims to release at least three more social game titles in 2011, and also will be holding a vote on Facebook to have people choose which cause their next game will be developed to support. As of right now, the company appears to only have a Facebook page set up. We'll be keeping our eyes closely on Hospitopia and can't wait to see how CausePlay raises money through social gaming.
Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 1, 2012
Zynga's CityVille could overthrow FarmVille tomorrow, reporter claims
Remember when we mentioned that CityVille was dangerously close to beating FarmVille as the top Zynga Facebook game? Well, it could happen as early as tomorrow, according to a speculative report by Social Times. If true, this could drastically change the playing field, with FarmVille living in the shadow of a far more current social game with enhanced visuals and more streamlined progression.
Social Times cites AllFacebook's recent findings that CityVille is, as of this writing, sitting at 54.7 million monthly players while FarmVille waits for what seems to be inevitable at 56.6 million. With Zynga's other games below second place trailing behind by as much as 20 and 30 million fewer players (Zynga Poker, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars, respectively), CityVille could be number one for a long time. We'll see if Zynga, and the CityVille team especially, get their early Christmas gift tomorrow.
While this news is huge, here's the next $1 million question: what new game could beat CityVille? Could the rumored sequel to Mafia Wars do the trick?
Social Times cites AllFacebook's recent findings that CityVille is, as of this writing, sitting at 54.7 million monthly players while FarmVille waits for what seems to be inevitable at 56.6 million. With Zynga's other games below second place trailing behind by as much as 20 and 30 million fewer players (Zynga Poker, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars, respectively), CityVille could be number one for a long time. We'll see if Zynga, and the CityVille team especially, get their early Christmas gift tomorrow.
While this news is huge, here's the next $1 million question: what new game could beat CityVille? Could the rumored sequel to Mafia Wars do the trick?
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