Games.com Blog: “Happy Aquarium embraces the Twilight craze” plus 15 more

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• Happy Aquarium embraces the Twilight craze
• Ponzi, Inc. is now permanently closed for business
• Kingdoms of Camelot hoists flags in the shop
• Zoo World celebrates 4th of July with collection game
• Playdom launches Pet Resort alongside Purina
• Restaurant City parodies celebrities in upcoming 'Almost Famous' theme
• Mafia Wars Fourth of July Sale kicks off Friday
• FarmVille: Mozilla Developers Thank Zynga for Firefox Fix
• PetVille: Watch Kia's hip-hop Soul Hamsters and get 4 free Pet Cash
• Games.com 10K Fan Giveaway: Win 2 FarmVille Cash Cards
• Mafia Wars: Get 2 free Reward Points with 'The Expendables'
• Mafia Wars going Hollywood? Rumors say a movie is in the works
• FarmVille unreleased items: Lederhose Gnome & Heidi Gnome
• FarmVille unreleased item: Japanese Teahouse II
• FarmVille unreleased item: Small Japanese pond
• FarmVille Botanical Garden & Gift Box glitch

Happy Aquarium embraces the Twilight craze Posted: 29 Jun 2010 05:58 PM PDT Filed under: Happy Aquarium Did you think social games were safe from the teenage craze of Hollywood sensation, Twilight? Guess again, because Happy Aquarium is now allowing you to turn your fish tank into a Jacob vs. Edward showdown, and the poor fish are caught right in the middle of it. Of course, trademark requires Crowdstar to refer to their theme as "Twilit" but we all know exactly what they're talking about. We're no fools when it comes to vampires and werewolves! Available for a limited time in the Happy Aquarium store is a new background ambiance titled "Twilit Forest Scape". This forest scene costs either 36 Pearls or 30 Facebook Credits, and will really set the scene for your Twilit experience. Also, there is a new Tank Mate called "Werewolf" that looks like a young Jacob, and when clicked will become a werewolf. He does cost 48 Facebook Credits or 58 Pearls, so he isn't cheap. So far, we don't see an Edward yet, but we're sure that's coming soon. They wouldn't want to make all the Edward fans angry, would they? Log in to Happy Aquarium now to show your Twilit excitement.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ponzi, Inc. is now permanently closed for business Posted: 29 Jun 2010 05:42 PM PDT This hasn't been a good week for Facebook games staying open, and Ponzi, Inc. is the next one to be closed for good. Ponzi is the creation of Challenge Games, an Austin-based studio that was recently acquired by social gaming giant Zynga. Ponzi has been slowly trailing off in activity over the past few months, and as of yesterday had around 221,000 monthly players. The staff who worked on Ponzi had the following to say on the game's Facebook page: Dear Ponzi Players, In October 2009, Challenge Games launched Ponzi, Inc., a fast paced tycoon game that pokes fun at corporate life. Earlier this month, in real world corporate news, Challenge Games became part of the Zynga Game Network. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring our games to a wider audience, but we have had to make hard choices about where to focus our energies. As of June 29th, Ponzi, Inc. will lock the office doors for the final time and close up shop. During its peak over one million people logged in to play Ponzi, Inc., and built their home offices into global corporate empires complete with Unicorn Palaces and Death Rays. Players who have made purchases in Ponzi, Inc. within the past two months will have an equivalent value credited to them in FrontierVille, on or by July 31, 2010. We'd like to extend a special thanks to our community - players and friends - from all of us on the Ponzi, Inc. team. Your passion and commitment helped make the game great fun. We look forward to seeing you playing our other games. Sincerely, The Ponzi Inc. Team Earlier this month, we wrote up an article claiming that the best thing about Zynga's acquisition of Challenge Games was Ponzi. Unfortunately, the revenue must not have been high enough on the game to continue supporting it. What is even more scary is the fact that Challenge Games' other title, Warstorm, is doing equally as poor. It has been in a downward slide as well, and only has about 250,000 monthly actives. Will Warstorm weather the storm? What do you think about Ponzi closing? Will you miss playing the game?   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Kingdoms of Camelot hoists flags in the shop Posted: 29 Jun 2010 05:28 PM PDT We don't talk a lot about Kingdoms of Camelot here on the blog, but it isn't because it isn't popular. This fantasy/strategy game has just under 3 million monthly active players, which puts it up in the 40 Facebook games. In Kingdoms of Camelot, players have a Court that they can decorate any way they wish, and now there is the option to purchase flags. These flags will also display by your name in chat, so it is a good way to indicate where you're from when talking to complete strangers in the game. Each of the flags costs around 20 gems (or around $2.00 each) aside from a couple which are on sale for half price. Here is the list of new flags in Kingdoms of Camelot: USA United Kingdom England Scotland Wales Philippines Mexico Canada Australia Sweden Denmark Norway Italy Germany France Austria Greece Ireland Brazil Switzerland Finland Netherlands China Turkey Russia South Korea Pirate Taiwan Japan Spain Check out the Court section of the Kingdoms of Camelot shop to buy one (or more) of these flags to show your national pride!   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Zoo World celebrates 4th of July with collection game Posted: 29 Jun 2010 05:15 PM PDT Filed under: Zoo World Zoo World is celebrating Independence Day with a fun little game that has players collecting fireworks and sparklers. These items can be exchanged for limited edition animals that cannot be attained any other way. There are four rewards that can be received - a lobster, a white bird, a blue bird, and a red white and blue butterfly. To collect fireworks, you will need to ask friends to send them to you. This is a bit tricky, because all three fireworks are not immediately available. Right now, you can send and receive the Red Firework only. On the gift page, you can see that the White Firework will be giftable in 1 day, and the Blue Firework will not be giftable for 3 days. This stretches the game out a bit and makes it so you cannot possibly finish the game on the first day. Sparklers can only be received from wall posts, but anyone can go in and share sparklers. To access the 4th of July game in Zoo World, go to your home zoo and click on the red, white, and blue boat that is parked near the entrance to your Zoo.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Playdom launches Pet Resort alongside Purina Posted: 29 Jun 2010 04:09 PM PDT Yesterday, Playdom quietly launched their next title, called Pet Resort. This game is a branded game with Purina (the largest manufacturer of dog and cat food in the United States) and takes elements of pet raising games like Pet Society and tycoon/resort style social games such as Tiki Resort. Pet Resort puts you in charge of taking care of the dogs and cats who visit your resort. The main mechanic of the game is filling your dog and cat food bowls to make sure your guests are well fed. Of course, like most other games there is the element of decorating - you are given a large resort and tons of decorations to purchase for it. Pet Resort has a different art style than many of their games, and at this point it looks different enough that it could possibly have been the work of one of their recent acquisitions. It does have the familiar Playdom polished feel, however, and seems like it will be a fun game once more of my friends are playing it. It isn't immediately apparent if the game is ready for prime time, as Playdom are not yet cross-promoting the game to their other applications. It feels very feature complete however; it has snapshotting, achievements, gifting, many unlockable items going up to level 40+, and allows you to buy Pet Resort Cash. Give this new game a try and let us know what you think in the comments! Play Purina Pet Resort on Facebook >   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Restaurant City parodies celebrities in upcoming 'Almost Famous' theme Posted: 29 Jun 2010 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Restaurant City This Thursday, Restaurant City is giving players everything they need to roll out the red carpet for a parade of Hollywood stars. And here's a twist -- all your celebrities are going to sport food monikers that are playful puns of their original names. Angelina Jelly, Bread Pot, and Julienne Morsel are obviously Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Julianne Moore. And boy, Johnny Dough certainly resembles Johnny Depp. But Robert Pancakes has me completely stumped. (Any takers?) All five of them count as outdoors decor though, so they'll only be available outside your restaurant. Indoors, we've got Brittany Spearmint and Lady Cocoa, an obvious rip on Brittany Spears and Lady Gaga. But there's one more -- Greg The Tasteful Dancer. Someone more celebrity-savvy is going to have to figure out Greg for me -- the only Greg I know is the Games.com - The Blog's über boss. Anyway, prices for this new decor set won't be announced until the set's release, which is less than two days away.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Mafia Wars Fourth of July Sale kicks off Friday Posted: 29 Jun 2010 09:58 AM PDT Filed under: Mafia Wars In honor of Fourth of July, Mafia Wars will be holding a sale that promises saving of "up to 50% in the Marketplace." Though detailed information hasn't been spilled just yet, an email blast from Zynga says that the special holiday event will include hourly sales, new items, reward point discounts and 'exclusive prizes.' If you've had your eye on some super fancy item that costs lots of Reward Points, this might be your big chance to buy and call it your own. (Or not, if you're a no-spend player like me). Developing...   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

FarmVille: Mozilla Developers Thank Zynga for Firefox Fix Posted: 29 Jun 2010 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Farmville Mozilla's Firefox 3.6.4 came out last week on June 25th, with the team excited about a new crash protection feature meant to "reduce the number of Firefox crashes experienced by users who are watching online videos or playing games." Ironically, this crash protection ended up crashing most of Zynga's games (including FrontierVille), leaving a gray error screen, and the message, "The Adobe Flash plugin has crashed." FarmVille Freak published a help guide for its community yesterday, shortly after the problem was officially recognized by Zynga. Players who hadn't updated their Firefox browsers, or who use Internet Explorer were unaffected and unaware of the issue. But the multitudes who had to deal with the downtime made their voices heard, and Mozilla itself has recognized Zynga's help in getting the Firefox browser speedily updated. We would like to thank vendors, such as Zynga, for working with us to ensure that Firefox continues to provide the best user experience for our shared users. [Source: The Mozilla Blog] Mozilla developers reported that the crash protection feature was tested on "a beta audience of close to one million users." But it seems the browser's true testing ground was FarmVille's nearly 64 million monthly active users. Although complaints about Firefox's quick killing of hung plug-ins were not limited to Farmville, that game was the squeaky wheel that got the update grease. "A lot of people play Farmville. To ignore those people for any length of time could have a significant effect on Firefox's share of browser users," said Firefox user Jeff Rivett on Bugzilla Sunday. "The problem already existed, but the perceived impact suddenly changed, giving it a much higher priority." [Source: Computer World] Speaking of which, one of those 64 million MAUs is gonna go chase some 'real' foxes off her FrontierVille homestead now. :)   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

PetVille: Watch Kia's hip-hop Soul Hamsters and get 4 free Pet Cash Posted: 29 Jun 2010 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: PetVille When you see a motor vehicle... do you see a car, or do you see a car-sized toaster with two hamsters riding on top of it? It's an absurd question, but that's what the famous "Kia Hamsters" are asking viewers in their newest music video, featuring the song "The Choice is Yours", by the NY hip-hop group, Black Sheep. Why should you care? Well, if you're a PetVille player, Kia Motors America (KMA) is offering you 4 free Pet Cash to mix clips of their vid to share on your Facebook profile. KMA is the US division of South Korea's second largest auto maker. And SocialVibe, whom most Facebook gamers know as the company which brings us freebies for surveys, is the one distributing this offer in PetVille. You'll find the offer as an ad on the bottom of the game window. All you've gotta do is move 6 clips around in the 6 film editing slots on the timeline. You could use the same clip over and over again. You don't have to share the vid when you're done. And you don't have to join the Kia Facebook fanpage. To launch PetVille, log into Facebook and click here.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Games.com 10K Fan Giveaway: Win 2 FarmVille Cash Cards Posted: 29 Jun 2010 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Farmville, Cafe World, Mafia Wars We promised that when our Facebook Fan Page reached 10,000 Fans, we would give away all kinds of goodies for FarmVille, Mafia Wars and more. Thanks to you, we reached our goal!! Now we're ready to make good on our promise. Today's giveaway: TWO FarmVille cash cards, each worth $10 How do you enter? Step 1: Join the Games.com Facebook fan page! If you haven't joined our Facebook fan page yet, now's your chance! Go to facebook.com/gamescom, and hit the "Like" button at the top. Step 2: Leave us a Wall Post or Comment with a tip on how to layout your farm and make it look nice. (If you can't think of tips on your own, search the Web). By midnight EST, we will randomly select two people who submitted tips, and if you're one of the lucky ones -- we'll get in touch with you via Facebook messaging. Any questions or comments? Post them in the comments area here and we'll do our best to answer them! Good luck! Giveaway Week Details: We're giving away items all week! We will pick winners at random and will contact you via Facebook message (please make sure you give us permission to contact you via your Facebook page) to let you know if you won.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Mafia Wars: Get 2 free Reward Points with 'The Expendables' Posted: 29 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Filed under: Mafia Wars Oh, you action film fans are going to love this! And if you're a player who just wants your free Mafia Wars Reward Points, then this will be a walk in the park for you too. Just head to the Marketplace (note: you need to be at Level 7 to access that page) and scroll down until you see "The Expendables" offer, click on that, and you'll be shuffled through three questions while the rockin' trailer plays. The first question is there to see if you know how to read. But if you must know, the answer is Van Damme. And there's no wrong answers for the second and third questions, cause it's all about what you like. The best part is that you get a brief glimpse as to who and what everyone else voted for. The voting results are below this post. Don't look if you don't want to be spoiled! (There's no movie spoilers, though.) Above is Question 2. I voted for Statham. Why? He was outrageously awesome in Crank 1 and 2, and isn't as well-known as the others. Space Marines all the way, baby. ;) Everyone wants Stallone and Willis. Why are we not surprised? And it looks like I voted for the underdog here. But Die Hard appears to be winning! You guys deserve this awesome Yippee Ki-Ay fan-made music video to celebrate. Don't crank it up too loud though, as you know what the last word of John McClane's classic catchphrase is.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Mafia Wars going Hollywood? Rumors say a movie is in the works Posted: 29 Jun 2010 04:00 AM PDT Filed under: Mafia Wars The Internet rumormill says that Mafia Wars, Zynga's popular Facebook game, is going to be made into a movie. Zynga has not confirmed that this is true, and there are no additional details on the film, except that it's a "crime thriller based on the popular video game" and that Radar Pictures and producer Ted Field are developing the project. At first, Mafia Wars: The Movie sounds like a crazy notion, but considering the fact that the game doesn't really have a set storyline other than the fact that it involves running a mob in different cities, creating a film that would tie into the game doesn't seem impossible. Of course, the real challenge will be creating a film that people actually want to see. Given the track record with game-to-big-screen-translations (the majority of which are box office poison), it's hard to imagine that this movie would be anything other than a morbid curiosity for the Mafia Wars superfan. Developing... [Via Pajiba] Mafia Wars: The Movie -- do you think the rumor is true? Now what? Become a Fan of Games.com to get game updates, win free stuff and more. Just 'Like' us below.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

FarmVille unreleased items: Lederhose Gnome & Heidi Gnome Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:46 AM PDT Filed under: Farmville Check out these adorable new unreleased FarmVille Gnomes! Thank you to FarmVille Freak Shiori for finding these unreleased FarmVille Lederhose Gnome and Heidi Gnome. Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market. What is your guess as to what FarmVille theme these Gnomes will be part of? This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

FarmVille unreleased item: Japanese Teahouse II Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:42 AM PDT Filed under: Farmville Thank you to FarmVille Freak Farhan for finding this unreleased FarmVille Japanese Teahouse II! This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

FarmVille unreleased item: Small Japanese pond Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:34 AM PDT Filed under: Farmville Thank you to FarmVille Freak Shiori for finding this unreleased FarmVille Japanese Small Pond! We can probably expect to see this unreleased item as part of the limited edition Japanese theme in FarmVillle. Note: Unreleased items have no official release date or guarantee that they will make it to the FarmVille Market. This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

FarmVille Botanical Garden & Gift Box glitch Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:30 AM PDT Filed under: Farmville In a new FarmVille glitch, FarmVille Freaks are reporting that their Gift Box is doing some strange and unusual things. The most common report is that farmers FarmVille Gift Boxes are being found filled with Botanical Garden building supplies. The Botanical Garden was a past limited edition building, now retired, that required you to have the help of your neighbors to build. It is not a building with purpose and does not provide storage. As reported by FarmVille Freak OctaviousOrion, I got a glitch somehow in Farmville and I posted about it myself and had others say they got the same thing. I opened up my FarmVille page and noticed I had nearly 70 gifts....and 49 of those were the materials needed to build the Botanical Gardens previously released by FarmVille. In no way did i have any part in receiving these, they just showed up. I'll include the screenshot of what i received. (See Picture below)" - FarmVille Freak OctaviousOrion Similarly FarmVille Freak Dustin experienced this as well, "I logged into my farm this afternoon and found something weird in my Gift Box. Before I signed off last night I knew I didn't have over 70 items.. so I checked and found all of the Botanical Garden items in there. I already completed the Botanical Garden when it came out, and it's in my storage. I don't know where all these items came from, and I didn't accept any old requests. Anyone else have the same thing happen to them? You can see all the items in this screen shot, and there are 9 Glass Tiles on the first page of my Gift Box, not included in the screen shot." - FarmVille Freak Dustin This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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