Games.com Blog: “FarmVille dogs finally arrive (warning: they don't come cheap)” plus 9 more |  |
- FarmVille dogs finally arrive (warning: they don't come cheap)
- New South Park episode roasts Facebook and FarmVille
- Quote of the Moment: The Drug Pusher
- FarmVille tee party: New shirts spread anti-farming sentiments (or do they?)
- Twelve-year-old runs up £900 debt in Farmville
- iPad Games: Geometry Wars Touch Quick Review
- iPad Games: Mirror's Edge Review
- iPad Games: Magic Piano Quick Review
- Report: Zynga could be worth $5 billion on the public market
- FarmVille Green & Gold Mystery Box appears, then disappears
| FarmVille dogs finally arrive (warning: they don't come cheap) Posted: 07 Apr 2010 10:00 PM PDT  During this week's Wednesday night update, FarmVille dogs (or puppies rather) make an appearance in the in-game market. There's good news and bad news about the FarmVille puppies -- the good news first:  1. The dogs can be customized (to a degree), you can pick the breed, gender, color and name them as well. 2. Once they grow up to be adults, the dogs each have their own special skills 3. One of the dogs can be purchased using coins 4. The dogs are really adorable, maybe (and I mean, maybe) enough to justify the bad news that follows...  Now, the bad news 1. The majority of the dogs cost 65 FarmVille cash (roughly $12) 2. Dogs must be fed Kibble every day for 14 days to grow 3. Extra kibble costs 5 FV cash 4. If the common Border Collie (that one costs 300K coins) isn't fed kibble, it will run away 5. The common Border Collie only comes with one day's worth of kibble  As for the Kibble, there's actually a little more good-ish news. If you decide to shell out the 65 FV cash for a puppy, it comes with 14 servings of kibble, enough to turn then into dogs that will actually help out on the farm. If you spend the 300K coins for a Border Collie and use up its one-day's worth of kibble, you can ask friends to send you additional dog food as a free gift or by posting a message on your Facebook wall.  What do you think -- do the FarmVile puppies cost too much?
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| New South Park episode roasts Facebook and FarmVille Posted: 07 Apr 2010 08:00 PM PDT FarmVille's officially entered the American cultural zeitgeist. Need proof? Look no further than last night's South Park, which starred Cartman, Kyle and crew's newfound obsession with Facebook, and included several nods to FarmVille (and Cafe World) throughout the episode. 'FarmVille' wasn't mentioned by name, but Zynga's hit game makes an appearance on Kyle's computer as well as several references to virtual farming and starting a farm on Facebook. (Starting at 00:23) "Stan you don't know how cool Facebook has come. You can message your friends, play Yahtzee with your friends and even start a virtual farm and your friends can visit it."
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| Quote of the Moment: The Drug Pusher Posted: 07 Apr 2010 10:30 AM PDT  "Tuesday 23rd MarchHaving made the decision not to get involved with micro-transactions, which would feel like cheating, I have realied I need to maximise revenue opportunities elsewhere. So far this has involved fertilising the crops of every FarmVille player on my Friends list, and asking virtually all of them to be my Neighbour. Having Neighbours is like having a Friends list within FarmVille. You need a certain number of them to get access to certain items. Even after I'd sent Neighbour requests to all the FarmVille players, I still didn't have enough to qualify for a Dairy Farm. I asked my friend Kim, who doesn't currently play, to join the game. She was reluctant but agreed after I explained it'll only take a few minutes to sign up, and she doesn't have to keep playing the game once she's accepted my Neighbour invitation. Wednesday 24th March Email from Kim: "I hate FarmVille. It has taken over my every waking moment. WHY?" I have become a drug pusher." -An excerpt from Ellie Gibson's excellent, extensive diary of her first couple of weeks playing Farmville over at Eurogamer
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| FarmVille tee party: New shirts spread anti-farming sentiments (or do they?) Posted: 07 Apr 2010 10:00 AM PDT  The FarmVille backlash continues, this time in the form of a $20 T-shirt that says "No-one cares about your stupid farm." These shirts, created by designer TweetTees, are designed to let everyone know -- in a big, bold font -- exactly how you feel about FarmVille and the spam it breeds on friends' Facebook news feeds. Or, if you're like a big FarmVille fan like me, you'll buy one of these for the opposite reason -- to use it as a way to spread the word about your favorite pastime. Here's a possible scenario: "What does your shirt say?" "No one cares about your stupid farm." "Huh? What's that' mean?" "You know the game FarmVille? It's about that." "FarmVille? What's that?" "Well, it's this fun farming game on Facebook ..." "Wait, you think FarmVille is fun?' "Yeah, it's awesome, sit down and let me tell you more... " Then, five minutes later, another FarmVille convert enters the fold. The power of reverse psychology wins again. *Cue evil laughter* But seriously, whether you love or hate FarmVille -- this is easily one of the coolest social gaming wearables we've seen yet. Get your own at MySoti.com. [Via GameSetWatch]
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| Twelve-year-old runs up £900 debt in Farmville Posted: 07 Apr 2010 10:00 AM PDT  The headline really tells you everything you need to know about this story, but we'll bet that these carefully selected quotes from the child's mother (who wisely chose to remain anonymous when speaking for this Guardian article) will probably make you feel better about your parenting skills -- even if you aren't a parent! * "The first use of my card was on 14 March. I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point" * "Facebook has disabled his account and Zynga has unhelpfully suggested I use password protection on computers in the future." * "Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider" * "When I asked him why he did it he said that they had brought out 'good stuff that I wanted'" * "We sound terribly technologically unaware don't we?" £900 is roughly $1,372.
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| iPad Games: Geometry Wars Touch Quick Review Posted: 07 Apr 2010 09:45 AM PDT  In Geometry Wars: Touch, you blast away at a variety of aliens as techno music pumps in the background and bright, trippy colors fill the screen. It's sort of like Asteroids meets the cast of the Jersey Shore. In other words, it's awesome!The game looks amazing, with vibrant colors really popping on the iPad and cool special effects making for a heart-pounding, seizure-inducing good time! The further you get in a level, the more baddies come at you, making it impossible for you to survive. The overall point of the game is to get as many points as possible, and there are online leaderboards so you can stack yourself up against the rest of the world. While the controls start out a bit funky (you have to hold the iPad in landscape mode and place your thumbs on either side of the screen), it gets better with some practice. Anyone familiar with the two-joystick layout of an Xbox 360 controller should feel right at home, but it can take some getting used to. After a good five minutes in one of the game's many modes, you'll be racking up millions of points in no time... as long as your brain doesn't meltdown in the process. Good: looks awesome, has lots of modes Bad: control takes some getting used to, no multiplayer mode Quick score (and corny pun): 4 out of 5 aliens agree, Geometry Wars: Touch is out of this world!
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| iPad Games: Mirror's Edge Review Posted: 07 Apr 2010 09:30 AM PDT  In Mirror's Edge on iPad, you're on the run. Constantly on the run. Running on rooftops, running through warehouses and office buildings, jumping from skyscrapers and fighting baddies out to get you. Why are they going after you? Who cares, this game is awesome!Controls are pretty simple, with gestures to the left and right making you run, a gesture up making you jump, and a gesture down making you slide. The point of each stage of the game is to get to the other end of the level as fast as possible, but beware: armed guards are on the lookout on some levels. Thankfully, a swift jump kick to the head easily dispatches them, and they're not your biggest worry. Instead, boxes, pipes and gaps are ready to slow you down, so be prepared to either leap or slide right past them to keep your run going. Animations are crisp and the action is intense, with just the right amount of tension between jumps to make for an awesome feeling when you're able to string together a bunch of moves. There's also a fun multiplayer mode that uses the same iPad for two players. The game splits in two, with one of you on the top half and the other on the bottom half of the screen. First one to the finish line wins the world, and there's nothing like gloating right in your opponent's face after crushing them. Great single player mode with fun multiplayer options makes this one a definite pickup. Good: great looking, nice style, lots of modes, and multiplayer on one screen Bad: the price is way north of what we like to see Quick score (and corny pun): 5 out of 5 couriers agree, run to the app store and pick this up!
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| iPad Games: Magic Piano Quick Review Posted: 07 Apr 2010 09:00 AM PDT  Smule is an independent developer that made its mark with an iPhone launch title Ocarina. More of a music toy than an actual game, Ocarina gained interest because of its ability to out users at ease and play around making some melodies. Magic Piano is largely the same thing, but this time with a piano and a much-improved interface.You start off in freestyle mode with a black canvas in front of you, and as you tap on the screen, piano notes play in a random sequence. Hit the icon on the upper right and the piano becomes visible in a spiral form. Now it's time to recreate that Chopsticks scene from the movie Big! A song book helps turn your random mashings into beautiful music, but this is by no means any way to learn the piano! Click on World and you'll see why, as Smule allows you to eavesdrop on the terrible music being created by others from around the world. Fur Elise has never been so abused! Magic Piano is definitely a curiosity, but a cool one at that. Don't expect a piano teacher, don't expect a music game, just expect to have a bit of fun while trying to make some music. Good: nice interface, fun to listen to your music and others Bad: would have been nice to have more songs, more connection to the piano Quick score (and corny pun): 4 out of 5 conductors agree, you should probably spend some time learning the actual piano, (but it's still fun)!
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| Report: Zynga could be worth $5 billion on the public market Posted: 07 Apr 2010 08:30 AM PDT  The theoretical amount of imaginary money that Zynga could potentially be worth if it possibly became a publicly traded company has been going up steadily for a while now. It was already at a healthy $1 billion back in November. That jumped to $1.5 to $3 billion after a Russian investment in December. By February, Sharespost put the company at a healthy $3.3 billion. Now, Zynga could be worth as much as $5 billion in theoretical money, according to a new report from the analysts over at SecondShares.The report is relatively bullish on the social gaming market leader, estimating the company is already making more than $500 million in revenues annually off its over 237 million monthly active users. And that healthy number could go go up significantly if Zynga starts to monetize its users as well as the best Chinese social games already do. By 2015, the report estimates Zynga could be worth a staggering $10 billion, which would put it toe to toe with the smallest companies on today's Financial Times Global 500. But the report is not overly optimistic. For one, it warns that Zynga is highly dependent on the continued success of Farmville, which the report ominously warns "appears to have peaked in terms of its popularity." For another, the company faces a lot of competitors, any of which could create the next revenue-attracting it in what is a very hit-driven business. [Via GigaOm]
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| FarmVille Green & Gold Mystery Box appears, then disappears Posted: 07 Apr 2010 04:00 AM PDT  Seems like FarmVille Updated for a moment and then disappeared. We were lucky enough to catch a sneak peek of the newest Mystery Box. FarmVille debuted a new Green and Gold ribbon Mystery Box on April 6, 2010. This box promises to offer never before seen new exclusive prizes that you cannot purchase elsewhere. This Mystery Box costs 16 FV$ and will be available in the FarmVille Market during the next 7 days.  :::SPOILER ALERT::: The following are confirmed Green & Gold Mystery Box Prizes: More info coming soon! This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.
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