Games.com Blog: “Cafe World spices arrive today” plus 14 more |  |
- Cafe World spices arrive today
- Whimsical cat costume coming soon to YoVille
- Facebook Pic of the Day: Phineas and Ferb
- BREAKING NEWS - MySpace Founder Acquires Mindjolt.com
- Breaking News! Playdom launches Social City
- New Whimsical YoVille House Comes Out Early
- Whimsical Theme Arrives To YoVille
- Nintendo: Sorry, no Mario and Zelda on Facebook
- Xbox game, Facebook game link together
- Island Paradise Cheats & Tips: Five easy ways to get ahead
- PetVille FarmVille collectible of the day: FarmVille Mini-Silo
- FarmVille French Chateau decorations arrive - oh la la!
- FarmVille Hot Rod Seeder and Harvester now available for everyone
- FarmVille Wish List: Get gifts you want, when you want 'em
- FarmVille plans to let the dogs out 'soon'
| Cafe World spices arrive today Posted: 03 Mar 2010 10:00 PM PST  Things are about to get a little... spicier in Cafe World. For several weeks, we've been collecting different sized jars and lids from friends in order to complete the spice rack for our cafe. Starting today, the actual spices will start to arrive. Based on the image to the right, it looks like these flavor savers will serve as boost in the game, whether it's making a dish cook faster or possibly raising the price of a dish. Those are just guesses, of course, but we're slightly intrigued by the concept of using 'boosts' in Cafe World,' much like the ones that were added to Mafia Wars at the end of last year. It would add a new level of complexity to the game, which would be a nice change of pace. Just cross your fingers that the majority of these will be purchasable with coins vs. Cafe cash. Keep your eyes peeled for the first shipment of spices sometime today, and in the meantime, make sure your rack is ready for business. Related: Cafe World Spice Racks: Everything you need to know
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| Whimsical cat costume coming soon to YoVille Posted: 03 Mar 2010 03:29 PM PST Zynga released a sneak peak of a coming soon costume. The whimsical cat will soon be available at the clothing boutique. What other costumes do you want? Queen of hearts? Mad hatter? This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
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| Facebook Pic of the Day: Phineas and Ferb Posted: 03 Mar 2010 10:00 AM PST FarmVille is more than just an ultra-popular farming simulation -- it's a chance to express yourself artistically through unique and creative farm layouts. To that end, Games.com's FarmVille Picture of the Day features some of the most interesting and imaginative FarmVille layouts out there. Got a FarmVille pic you want to share? Send it to submit2gamescom@gmail.com. Today's pic: Phineas and Ferb (from PhotoBucket)  Look, as an old fogey with practically 28 years behind me, I only have the vaguest notion of who Phineas and Ferb actually are. So I really have no idea whether this Farmville rendition of the cartoon pair is any good, or whether or not their show is even good enough to warrant such lovingly crafted, Facebook-game-based fan art. Basically, I chose this picture today so I'd have an excuse to link to Topless Robot's excellent list of "10 modern cartoons that are making children dumber." I like this list because it makes me feel smug and superior to the youth of today who don't get to grow up with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Animaniacs or Dexter's Lab or the Powerpuff Girls. Instead, they get blocky Farmville art of Phineas and Ferb here... and so do you!
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| BREAKING NEWS - MySpace Founder Acquires Mindjolt.com Posted: 03 Mar 2010 08:50 AM PST  More big news coming out of the social games market - Mindjolt has been acquired by MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe's company, Platform G. MindJolt.com is not just a games website. Mindjolt was one of the first games portals to be on the Facebook application platform and has a huge audience. According to AppData.com, Mindjolt has over 19 million monthly active users with about 3.3 million daily users. Check out the official press released after the jump: PRESS RELEASE Today, MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe, Colin Digiaro, and Aber Whitcomb announced a partnership with Austin Ventures to acquire MindJolt, one of the fastest growing online social gaming platforms. As mentioned in the below release - MindJolt has more than 20 million monthly active unique users on Facebook, MindJolt.com and other social sites and aggregates 1,300 of the best casual games on the Web from developers worldwide. Building on MindJolt's expansive online footprint, the new team will extend the platform by focusing on three major initiatives including: (1) increased monetization through major brand partnerships and virtual good offerings, (2) expanding MindJolt's global presence to all relevant websites and smart phone platforms, and (3) working closer with game developers to create tools for single player and multiplayer social games. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Thanks, The MindJolt team MYSPACE FOUNDERS PARTNER WITH AUSTIN VENTURES TO ACQUIRE MINDJOLT Social Web Pioneers Building MindJolt Into Next Generation Platform for Game Developers SAN FRANCISCO -- March 3, 2010 -- MySpace Founders Chris DeWolfe, Colin Digiaro, and Aber Whitcomb today announced a partnership with Austin Ventures, to acquire MindJolt, one of the fastest growing online social gaming platforms. With more than 20 million monthly active unique users on Facebook, MindJolt.com and other social sites, the company aggregates 1,300 of the best casual games on the Web from developers worldwide. Building on MindJolt's expansive online footprint, the new team will extend the platform by focusing on three major initiatives including: (1) increased monetization through major brand partnerships and virtual good offerings, (2) expanding MindJolt's global presence to all relevant websites and smart phone platforms, and (3) working closer with game developers to create tools for single player and multiplayer social games. "MindJolt has quickly become an "onramp" to the Internet for the world's independent game developers," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MindJolt and former CEO of MySpace. "We're building out the company to become the next generation platform for game developers. Our goal is to make it even easier for developers to get their games noticed and make more money from their work. At the same time we will deliver the most social and viral gaming experiences to our millions of users everywhere" With over 20 million monthly active users across the Web, MindJolt provides game developers of any size a way to monetize their games, access to massive distribution on the world's most popular social platforms, and creates viral game play by injecting unique social layers into the casual and social game experience. More than 1,000 game developers use the company's application to reach audiences across the world's most popular social platforms. The sheer number of game players on MindJolt levels the playing field for indie game developers by giving them access to an engaged, highly social audience. "We've always backed great management teams and great companies," said Chris Pacitti, General Partner of Austin Ventures. "A partnership with the MySpace founders is a rare opportunity and MindJolt is a company with the right scale, momentum, and market position to succeed. We're thrilled to be a partner on this deal." Based in San Francisco, MindJolt's executive team includes Chief Executive Officer Chris DeWolfe (co-founder and former CEO of MySpace), Chief Operating Officer Colin Digiaro (MySpace's former head of Monetization and co-founder of SlingShot Labs), Chief Technology Officer Aber Whitcomb (MySpace's former Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of MySpace), SVP of Business and Corporate Development Josh Yguado (Former VP of Business Development at Fox Networks Group), and Richard Fields, the founder of MindJolt and head of product strategy. "Independent game developers have always been the lifeblood of MindJolt. We've done a great job of connecting with the independent casual game community and we're looking to expand our efforts to social game developers as well." said Richard Fields, Founder of MindJolt. "The new MindJolt team is united on its vision to empower game developers of every size to build their businesses. We now have the resources to extend our product vision and build what they're asking us for." ### About MindJolt MindJolt is a social gaming platform that provides game developers of all sizes a way to monetize their games, and access to a massive gaming audience on the world's most popular social platforms. With more than 20 million unique users across the Web, MindJolt makes it easy for casual and social game developers to bring their games to a massive audience of gamers. MindJolt's catalogue aggregates more than 1,300 of the most popular casual games on the Web making it simple for millions of users to discover and engage with entertaining content. About Austin Ventures Austin Ventures ("AV") has worked with talented entrepreneurs to build valuable companies for nearly twenty-five years. With $3.9 billion under management, AV is the most active venture capital and growth equity firm in Texas and one of the most established in the nation. With an investment focus on business services and supply chain, financial services, media and information services, software and Internet, and Texas special situations, AV invests at all stages of company development, from $100,000 in "planned experiments" in early stage ideas to $100+ million investments in expansion rounds, minority recapitalizations, and buyouts of lower middle market growth companies. AV's strategy is to partner with talented executives and entrepreneurs through its CEO-in-Residence and Entrepreneur-in-Residence programs. Visit austinventures.com for more information. Contact press@mindjolt.com
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| Breaking News! Playdom launches Social City Posted: 03 Mar 2010 05:54 AM PST  Playdom launches its own city-building game -- which seems to be a new theme for Facebook games. We'll have more in-depth details soon, but in the meantime, you can check out Inside Social Games' write-up. One quick thought -- How long until Zynga launches its own city building game? Play Social City on Facebook Now >
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| New Whimsical YoVille House Comes Out Early Posted: 03 Mar 2010 04:27 AM PST The whimsical theme has arrived and with it came a brand new house. Unlike past releases, the house came out early this time to give you the chance of decorating it with the latest whimsical items.   The new house has a big front yard and a high balcony from which you can see the clear YoVille Sky. Get your house for 38 YoCash. Will YoVille release a whimsical house for coins? Tell us what you think in comments. This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.
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| Whimsical Theme Arrives To YoVille Posted: 03 Mar 2010 04:27 AM PST Yoville and Alice in Wonderland have collided. The first of the " Whimsical Theme " items have hit the stores. The new items are definitely different than anything we have seen in Yoville thus far, with some oddly shaped windows, bookcases, fireflies in a jar and some awesome other furniture items.  There aren't any new clothing items yet, but be patient as we are sure they are on the way, along with the rest of this unique collection. Don't forget to stop by the realtor's office, there is also a new Whimsical Home to put all your great new furniture. It has all the space you will need to make this a great fantasy Yoville hangout. This article was originally posted by GeeGee on YoVille Lounge.
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| Nintendo: Sorry, no Mario and Zelda on Facebook Posted: 03 Mar 2010 03:00 AM PST  Game publishers from EA to Take Two to Ubisoft may be bringing their franchises over to Facebook, but there's at least one big-name publisher that isn't eager to make the jump to the social network. "I think we will continue to save Mario for our own platforms," Nintendo Executive vice President of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway told VentureBeat when asked about potentially bringing their Mario series over to Facebook. "It's one of the secret weapons we have. Mario and Zelda are intellectual property that is important to us and will only be seen on Nintendo platforms." It sounds like a pretty strong blanket denunciation of social gaming at first blush, but notice that Dunaway only explicitly wrote off Facebook versions of Mario and Zelda, and implicitly covered only "intellectual property that is important to us." That leaves the door open for Facebook versions of franchises that are not important to Nintendo, meaning we should expect ports of Clu Clu Land and Earthbound any day now. Huzzah!
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| Xbox game, Facebook game link together Posted: 03 Mar 2010 02:30 AM PST  The link between the games is pretty tenuous at this point, actually. Players of both the Xbox and Facebook games can choose to represent either the Allied or Central powers in World War I, and their performance in either game contributes money and control of territory to their side in an hours-long real-time war. Players will soon be able to link their Xbox Live accounts to the Facebook version of the game, receiving a point-multiplying bonus for doing so. It's an interesting concept, but one I'd like to see taken a bit further. Why not link Xbox Live board games like Uno Rush or Carcassone to compatible Facebook versions, so people can join in from their computers or their TVs. Or have your Xbox Live achievements automatically post to your Facebook wall. The possibilities are endless, and just beginning to be explored this week.
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| Island Paradise Cheats & Tips: Five easy ways to get ahead Posted: 03 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST  If there's one thing we've learned from the TV show 'Lost' -- never get stuck on a island. Then we started to play Island Paradise, by Meteor Games, and changed our minds. At its core, this is a farming game, but instead of the back forty, this takes place on a deserted island. Not a creepy, mystical island with a bunch of plane crash survivors, but a relaxing, tropical spot, complete with the sound of gentle waves loopinh in the background. Close your eyes, and take a listen -- you just might start to think you're there. At the start of the game, players are given a small island with a few farmable plots of land, as well as extra space to place trees and animals. Out of all the farming games on Facebook, Island Paradise is easily one of the best. The game loads quickly, is simple to navigate and, of course, it's fun to play. If you're just getting started in the game, here are a few tips to help you level up quickly: 1) Grow the right crops To earn coins and XP quickly, be sure to choose crops that take longer to grow -- they are worth more than the crops that grow within a few hours. We recommend the pineapple plant, which is available after you level up a few times. Beginners should stick with the bean plant, which takes 24 hours to grow, or the corn plant, which takes 48 hours to grow.  2) Only grow crops you can keep up with 3) Trees and animals don't expire When you visit your friends' islands, you can steal up to three things from their island per day. Yes, we said 'steal.' Everybody does it in this game, so you'll just have to get used to the concept. Stealing works like this: If your friend has an apple tree, a goat, and a pineapple plant, you can take an apple, goat milk and a pineapple. That way, you gain coins and XP and at the same time, your friend doesn't lose out because they're not losing an entire crop, tree or animal. Friends can visit your island and steal up to three items from you as well. 5) Keep your island clean - pick up miscellaneous items You will find, on your island and your friends' islands, items that you can pick up and sell. These items can be sea shells, jewels, an old boot, a piece of driftwood, an empty bottle and a treasure chest. Be sure to keep an eye out for them. Each item is worth a different amount -- the old boot and driftwood is worth the least, and the treasure chest is worth the most. So the question remains, will you ever get off this island? Looks like you'll be stuck here for good, so it's best to just create your own version of tropical paradise, then kick back and listen to the waves. Play Island Paradise on Facebook now >
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| PetVille FarmVille collectible of the day: FarmVille Mini-Silo Posted: 03 Mar 2010 01:30 AM PST  Only a few days left of limited edition FarmVille collectibles in PetVile. Today's must-have item - the FarmVille mini-silo, the perfect compliment to the FarmVille Mini-Barn, FarmVille Mini-Horsey and others. As usual, the only way to collect these items is begging your friends to send one as a gift. C'mon, there's no shame! Everybody's doing it. How may PetVille FarmVille collectibles have you gathered so far?
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| FarmVille French Chateau decorations arrive - oh la la! Posted: 03 Mar 2010 01:00 AM PST FarmVille released a new limited edition set of French Chateau themed decorations on 03.02.10. The French Chateau decorations can be purchased in the FarmVille Market for a limited amount of time. Some require farm cash to purchase, while others can be purchased with coins. - Lavender Knoll - 4 FV$ (available for 7 days)
French Chateau Decorations - Coins:
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| FarmVille Hot Rod Seeder and Harvester now available for everyone Posted: 03 Mar 2010 12:00 AM PST Along with Tuesday night's other updates to FarmVille, Zynga has announced that all Hot Rods including Hot Rod Seeder and Hot Rod Harvester should be available for all farmers, depending on if you meet the requirements determines if you can actually purchase. Previously the newest Hot Rods were only available to a limited amount of farmers. If you were experiencing difficulty accessing these Hot Rods, but met the requirements to fulfill the access, please try again now. Official word from FarmVille via Zynga forums: "Bug preventing players that began playing Mafia Wars at less than level 10 from unlocking Hot Rod Seeder fixed. Hot Rod Harvester now available to unlock for all FarmVille players. " This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
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| FarmVille Wish List: Get gifts you want, when you want 'em Posted: 02 Mar 2010 11:30 PM PST  FarmVille Make a Wish Announcement The FarmVille wish list has arrived! You can now post a Facebook Notification of your wish list item to notify all of your FarmVille neighbors.  FarmVille Make a Wish Button You can select any item available in the free Gifting page and let your friends know that you would like one. This should solve problems for all those unwanted gifts, like white fences or regular chickens. I like this new option, what do you think?
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| FarmVille plans to let the dogs out 'soon' Posted: 02 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PST  FarmVille has given us a new teaser of the much anticipated FarmVille Dog! One of the new FarmVille loading screens gives us tiny sneak peek of the FarmVille Dog we've all been waiting for with the simple message that says, "Coming Soon..." This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
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