Oktoberfest is marching on in FarmVille, and tonight we're seeing two new buildings and four new decorations. These items are all available for another 12 days, and four of them are for Farm Cash and three are for coins. Some of these pieces are really quite unique, unlike anything we have seen in FarmVille. This means that they might not fit in with your overall cohesive vision for your farm. Without further ado, here are the new items:
Ruins - 200,000 coins
Lamp Post - 5,500 coins
Castle Fence - 5,000 coins
Swan Lake - 30 Farm Cash
Falcon - 18 Farm Cash
German Castle - 50 Farm Cash
Monopteros - 30 Farm Cash
The Falcon is not an animal in that it gives out coins for harvesting it. It is simply a decorative item. What do you think of these new Oktoberfest items? Do any of them appeal to you? Let us know in the comments!
Thứ Bảy, 4 tháng 2, 2012
Zynga was responsible for 12% of Facebook's revenue in 2011
While it's no secret that Zynga pulls in quite a bit of cash for Facebook, we now know exactly what those figures look like for the year 2011. As reported by VentureBeat, Facebook's IPO filing has revealed that Zynga accounted for 12% of the company's revenue in 2011, or $445 million.
That number comes from both the 30% transaction fee Facebook takes for all Facebook Credit purchases, and also from the direct purchase of advertising on the site by Zynga itself. According to the filing, this number is up from both 2010 and 2009, where Zynga accounted for 10% and 9% of Facebook's total revenue, respectively.
Where Facebook is dependent on Zynga for profits, so too is Zynga dependent on Facebook for its established user base and therefore possibilities for viral growth. However, with the continued development of Zynga Direct (the company's attempt at an "instant social" platform outside of Facebook), we could finally see the Big Z pull farther away from the social network, even to the point of freedom. Will we ever get to that point, where we can play Zynga's games without Facebook? Only time will tell.
That number comes from both the 30% transaction fee Facebook takes for all Facebook Credit purchases, and also from the direct purchase of advertising on the site by Zynga itself. According to the filing, this number is up from both 2010 and 2009, where Zynga accounted for 10% and 9% of Facebook's total revenue, respectively.
Where Facebook is dependent on Zynga for profits, so too is Zynga dependent on Facebook for its established user base and therefore possibilities for viral growth. However, with the continued development of Zynga Direct (the company's attempt at an "instant social" platform outside of Facebook), we could finally see the Big Z pull farther away from the social network, even to the point of freedom. Will we ever get to that point, where we can play Zynga's games without Facebook? Only time will tell.
FrontierVille maker joins AIAS, or 'People Who Make Cool Things', board
Even if you've no idea what the word "Civilization" capitalized implies, you probably know Brian Reynolds. The lot of you have played one of his more recent games, FrontierVille by Zynga. Now, the iconic game designer has joined the board overseeing The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), an organization seeking to advance the artistic value of interactive entertainment (i.e. video games).
Reynolds is chief game designer at Zynga, and was key to the creation of FrontierVille, now known as Pioneer Trail to its 4.5 million monthly players. "Their awards program has always been a gold standard of recognition and career advancement for game makers and I'm honored to have a chance to help advance it," Reynolds said in a statement. "Likewise, the D.I.C.E. Summit blows me away every year with the quality and caliber of developers they bring together. I believe this opportunity is an important step in the continuing assimilation of social games into the broader game community."
AIAS, which represents over 22,000 members of the largest game creators from Nintendo to EA, Sony and Microsoft, hosts the D.I.C.E. Summit annually. This conference honoring all things high brow in gaming culminates with the Interactive Achievement Awards, recognizing the past year's gaming achievements. This year, Zynga's CastleVille is up for the "Social Networking Game of the Year" award, along with The Sims Social, Triple Town, Army Attack and Gardens of Time.
This is quite an achievement for Reynolds, whose history in the games goes far beyond Facebook's Wild West to genre-defining games like Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations. Alas, the FrontierVille maker did have to weather the recent storm of copycat claims lobbied against Zynga, to which he denied it was an issue. In the grand scheme of things, we seriously doubt that's going to change his image as one of the greats in gaming.
Reynolds is chief game designer at Zynga, and was key to the creation of FrontierVille, now known as Pioneer Trail to its 4.5 million monthly players. "Their awards program has always been a gold standard of recognition and career advancement for game makers and I'm honored to have a chance to help advance it," Reynolds said in a statement. "Likewise, the D.I.C.E. Summit blows me away every year with the quality and caliber of developers they bring together. I believe this opportunity is an important step in the continuing assimilation of social games into the broader game community."
AIAS, which represents over 22,000 members of the largest game creators from Nintendo to EA, Sony and Microsoft, hosts the D.I.C.E. Summit annually. This conference honoring all things high brow in gaming culminates with the Interactive Achievement Awards, recognizing the past year's gaming achievements. This year, Zynga's CastleVille is up for the "Social Networking Game of the Year" award, along with The Sims Social, Triple Town, Army Attack and Gardens of Time.
This is quite an achievement for Reynolds, whose history in the games goes far beyond Facebook's Wild West to genre-defining games like Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations. Alas, the FrontierVille maker did have to weather the recent storm of copycat claims lobbied against Zynga, to which he denied it was an issue. In the grand scheme of things, we seriously doubt that's going to change his image as one of the greats in gaming.
Monstermind maker: Facebook games 'will be like the Atari Eighties crash'
If you have agreed to receive the occasional email from Zynga, you might have received a new survey in your inbox this week, asking for your opinions on a few Zynga games, and also giving you a chance to rate the potential of some new game ideas. While the majority of the questions are fairly basic (how often do you play a specific game, etc.), the survey quickly turns to the heart of the matter, detailing what could possibly be a new game in the company's lineup. Of course, Zynga wants to know what you think of the game concept first.
"Cook delicious food! Craft over 200 recipes in your world-class kitchen using fresh, exotic ingredients collected from local merchants, your garden, and your friends. Use top appliances to whip up amazing dishes that delight your customers and friends, and build the restaurant of your dreams."
From there, we're allowed to rate various features that could potentially be in this as-of-now unconfirmed game. We might be able to visit restaurants owned by real world celebrity chefs (Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, etc.), cook dishes using ingredients from real world brands, or cook dishes on state of the art kitchen equipment. All in all, there are tons of options here surrounding the use of real world brands or celebrities in this game concept. Could Zynga be planning to create a cooking game with direct involvement from some of these chefs, or even the Food Network as a whole? Or, is this all really just a large brain-storming session looking for fan feedback?
Either way, it's definitely easy to say that this game concept is incredibly familiar to Cafe World (in fact, the ingredient collection feature was already released in the game's Signature Dish event), so it will be interesting to see if anything actually comes from it (perhaps this could be Cafe World 2?). If you wish to take the survey yourself, you can do so by clicking right here.
If you're lucky enough to get FarmVille to work this evening, and have 10 Farm Cash or more to spend, you can now make one of your neighbors' day, week or even month by purchasing them a Mini Rose Horse as part of the Valentine's Presents event.
Similar to the Holiday Presents event that allowed us to give our friends Present Trees, this Valentine's Present event gives you a chance to send Mini Rose Horses to up to six friends at a time, from a fairly random selection of your neighbors. For sending a single Mini Rose Horse, you'll be charged 10 Farm Cash, but will receive an exclusive Romeo Bear for being so generous.
If you don't find the friend you'd like to send a gift to the first time you load this window, simply close it and open it back up by clicking on the box of candy in the top right corner of the FarmVille gameplay area. This will, in theory, show you six new friends. If you still can't find the person you're looking for, post a few item requests on your wall and then make sure they come and respond to them. This, according to the game, will make them a more "helpful" neighbor, and will likely make them show up.
Remember, if you want a horse for yourself, and you have a trustworthy friend, you can always swap items with each other. That is, you purchase a horse for them, and they purchase a horse for you. In that way, you'll both receive horses and bears for the equivalent of 5 Farm Cash each. Just remember to do that soon, as this feature won't be around forever.
Check out the rest of our Valentine's Day coverage right here.
Now, this is just getting out of hand. Bossa Studios co-founder Henrique Olifiers seems to think that, if the copycatting practices in social games persist, then the industry is doomed. In so many words, that's what Olifiers told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview. The Monstermind creator likened the path social games are headed down to the Atari crash in the '80s, when several blatantly similar iterations of the same games flooded the console.
"Social games for me were always on the cutting-edge until they became copycat, and after they became copycat I said, 'Well, this is not going anywhere,'" Olifiers told GI.biz. "This will be like the Atari Eighties crash. Everybody and their grandmother had a version of Space Invaders, and these guys are going to do the same thing."
The issue of copycatting, from accusations thrown at Zynga to lawsuits flung 6waves Lolapps' way, has come to a head in early 2012. While this issue isn't necessarily unique to social or mobile games--it's plagued the game industry for years--it's nevertheless an issue. That said, it's unlikely that copycatting will drive social games into the ground, given their instantly-global distribution and rapid release schedule.
But that's not to say game makers and gamers should be any less wary of it. And Bossa seems to have the right idea for how to make sure, regardless of whether it's likely, stop the social games world from crumbling. "[Our games] should look and feel like nothing else on Facebook," Bossa lead designer Mike Bithell said. "We're working really hard top use these amazing tools, because there are so many things in Facebook that, if used right, make it better than Xbox Live."
"Cook delicious food! Craft over 200 recipes in your world-class kitchen using fresh, exotic ingredients collected from local merchants, your garden, and your friends. Use top appliances to whip up amazing dishes that delight your customers and friends, and build the restaurant of your dreams."
From there, we're allowed to rate various features that could potentially be in this as-of-now unconfirmed game. We might be able to visit restaurants owned by real world celebrity chefs (Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, etc.), cook dishes using ingredients from real world brands, or cook dishes on state of the art kitchen equipment. All in all, there are tons of options here surrounding the use of real world brands or celebrities in this game concept. Could Zynga be planning to create a cooking game with direct involvement from some of these chefs, or even the Food Network as a whole? Or, is this all really just a large brain-storming session looking for fan feedback?
Either way, it's definitely easy to say that this game concept is incredibly familiar to Cafe World (in fact, the ingredient collection feature was already released in the game's Signature Dish event), so it will be interesting to see if anything actually comes from it (perhaps this could be Cafe World 2?). If you wish to take the survey yourself, you can do so by clicking right here.
If you're lucky enough to get FarmVille to work this evening, and have 10 Farm Cash or more to spend, you can now make one of your neighbors' day, week or even month by purchasing them a Mini Rose Horse as part of the Valentine's Presents event.
Similar to the Holiday Presents event that allowed us to give our friends Present Trees, this Valentine's Present event gives you a chance to send Mini Rose Horses to up to six friends at a time, from a fairly random selection of your neighbors. For sending a single Mini Rose Horse, you'll be charged 10 Farm Cash, but will receive an exclusive Romeo Bear for being so generous.
If you don't find the friend you'd like to send a gift to the first time you load this window, simply close it and open it back up by clicking on the box of candy in the top right corner of the FarmVille gameplay area. This will, in theory, show you six new friends. If you still can't find the person you're looking for, post a few item requests on your wall and then make sure they come and respond to them. This, according to the game, will make them a more "helpful" neighbor, and will likely make them show up.
Remember, if you want a horse for yourself, and you have a trustworthy friend, you can always swap items with each other. That is, you purchase a horse for them, and they purchase a horse for you. In that way, you'll both receive horses and bears for the equivalent of 5 Farm Cash each. Just remember to do that soon, as this feature won't be around forever.
Check out the rest of our Valentine's Day coverage right here.
Now, this is just getting out of hand. Bossa Studios co-founder Henrique Olifiers seems to think that, if the copycatting practices in social games persist, then the industry is doomed. In so many words, that's what Olifiers told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview. The Monstermind creator likened the path social games are headed down to the Atari crash in the '80s, when several blatantly similar iterations of the same games flooded the console.
"Social games for me were always on the cutting-edge until they became copycat, and after they became copycat I said, 'Well, this is not going anywhere,'" Olifiers told GI.biz. "This will be like the Atari Eighties crash. Everybody and their grandmother had a version of Space Invaders, and these guys are going to do the same thing."
The issue of copycatting, from accusations thrown at Zynga to lawsuits flung 6waves Lolapps' way, has come to a head in early 2012. While this issue isn't necessarily unique to social or mobile games--it's plagued the game industry for years--it's nevertheless an issue. That said, it's unlikely that copycatting will drive social games into the ground, given their instantly-global distribution and rapid release schedule.
But that's not to say game makers and gamers should be any less wary of it. And Bossa seems to have the right idea for how to make sure, regardless of whether it's likely, stop the social games world from crumbling. "[Our games] should look and feel like nothing else on Facebook," Bossa lead designer Mike Bithell said. "We're working really hard top use these amazing tools, because there are so many things in Facebook that, if used right, make it better than Xbox Live."
Zynga under fire (again) for copycatting: This time, it's Bingo Blitz
January has been a rather warm month in Zynga HQ. Between living with the doubts and expectations of analysts (and investors) and now the second copycatting allegation this month alone, the multibillion dollar social maker is in the hot seat. This time, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Buffalo Studios has lashed out at Zynga for allegedly copying its first social game, Bingo Blitz, one of Facebook's most recommended games of 2011.
The developer sent Zynga a letter in the same vein of NimbleBit's address regarding Tiny Tower, pointing out clear similarities between its game and Zynga Bingo, which currently is in a closed beta test. In fact, the letter is near identical to NimbleBit's, which Buffalo Studios does point out. (Though, we're not sure whether that exactly helps the developer's case. Just sayin'.)
The letter positions pictures of Bingo Blitz, which has garnered nearly 1 million daily players in the past year, according to AppData, next to Zynga Bingo. While it's admittedly tough to call Zynga out on its use of a Bingo board, the similarities between both games' mechanics like keys to open chests and boxes for power-ups as well as collection items are clear.
"We are moved that your new game was so inspired by our innovative product, Bingo Blitz," the snark-filled letter reads. "You've obviously played our game Bingo Blitz ... along with over 1 million other daily active users. Please tell your thousands of employees and shareholders that we hope they enjoy the games we're cooking up next." Ouch, and what if we told you that this is far from the first time?
The developer sent Zynga a letter in the same vein of NimbleBit's address regarding Tiny Tower, pointing out clear similarities between its game and Zynga Bingo, which currently is in a closed beta test. In fact, the letter is near identical to NimbleBit's, which Buffalo Studios does point out. (Though, we're not sure whether that exactly helps the developer's case. Just sayin'.)
The letter positions pictures of Bingo Blitz, which has garnered nearly 1 million daily players in the past year, according to AppData, next to Zynga Bingo. While it's admittedly tough to call Zynga out on its use of a Bingo board, the similarities between both games' mechanics like keys to open chests and boxes for power-ups as well as collection items are clear.
"We are moved that your new game was so inspired by our innovative product, Bingo Blitz," the snark-filled letter reads. "You've obviously played our game Bingo Blitz ... along with over 1 million other daily active users. Please tell your thousands of employees and shareholders that we hope they enjoy the games we're cooking up next." Ouch, and what if we told you that this is far from the first time?
Pioneer Trail Monumental Homestead Goals: Everything you need to know
Let's face it: with all of the goals, buildings, crops, animals, trees and more available in Pioneer Trail, there just isn't enough land space to go around. If your Homestead is feeling a little cramped, you'll be happy to know that you can now finish a series of goals to unlock the 43 x 43 Monumental Homestead expansion for your game (before now, this was only available via a Horseshoe purchase).
Note: if you purchased the Homestead Expansion with Horseshoes and still receive these goals in your game, you'll need to contact Zynga Customer Support to have them removed, since you obviously can't expand to the same size twice.
Frontier Mint
The School Rucksacks are crafted using 16 Wax Canvases and nine Leather Straps each. These two items can be earned by asking your friends to send them to you. For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 250 XP, 250 coins and 50 Super Potato Seeds.
Warm up the Clobberin Arm
Rewards: 500 XP, 500 coins, two Plum Trees
Get Frontier Tough
A Loyal Pioneer is crafted using 10 Fire Water and 10 Fruit Punch. You can ask your friends to send you both of these, but of course, you'll need 70 of each to actually craft seven Loyal Pioneers in all. When you finish this goal, you'll receive 750 XP, 750 coins and a Crazy Cake.
Monumental Snakes
Trees can be purchased from the store, and while you'll only get one chop out of a single sapling, it will still help you in the likely event that you don't have enough trees just sitting on your Homestead waiting to be chopped down. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 1,000 XP, 1,000 coins and three Cocoa Trees.
Savor the Moment
Ganache is crafted using eight Garnishes and seven Cocoa Powders each. Both of these items can be earned by asking your friends to send them to you. When you finish this final mission, you'll receive 1,500 XP, 1,500 coins and a Cream Cow. You'll also be able to go into the Land Office and purchase the Monumental Homestead expansion. It costs seven Land Grants to unlock, but those can be crafted inside the Land Office using coins and Cloth.
As usual, when you expand, you'll find that the outskirts of your Homestead are now filled with debris and mystery crates for you to open, so get right on it to claim your rewards as quickly as possible!
Note: if you purchased the Homestead Expansion with Horseshoes and still receive these goals in your game, you'll need to contact Zynga Customer Support to have them removed, since you obviously can't expand to the same size twice.
Frontier Mint
- Collect 20 Frontier Mint from Peppermint
- Craft 5 School Rucksacks in the Upgraded School House
- Collect 15 Expansion Permits
The School Rucksacks are crafted using 16 Wax Canvases and nine Leather Straps each. These two items can be earned by asking your friends to send them to you. For finishing this first goal, you'll receive 250 XP, 250 coins and 50 Super Potato Seeds.
Warm up the Clobberin Arm
- Clobber 10 Groundhogs
- Harvest 150 Vanilla Orchids
- Collect 15 Snares
Rewards: 500 XP, 500 coins, two Plum Trees
Get Frontier Tough
- Harvest 40 Melons
- Sell 35 Adult Moose
- Craft 7 Loyal Pioneers in the Saloon
A Loyal Pioneer is crafted using 10 Fire Water and 10 Fruit Punch. You can ask your friends to send you both of these, but of course, you'll need 70 of each to actually craft seven Loyal Pioneers in all. When you finish this goal, you'll receive 750 XP, 750 coins and a Crazy Cake.
Monumental Snakes
- Fire the Snake Cannon 10 Times
- Chop Lumber Trees 200 times on your homestead
- Collect 20 Neighbor Signatures
Trees can be purchased from the store, and while you'll only get one chop out of a single sapling, it will still help you in the likely event that you don't have enough trees just sitting on your Homestead waiting to be chopped down. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 1,000 XP, 1,000 coins and three Cocoa Trees.
Savor the Moment
- Craft 7 Ganache in the Brick Oven
- Collect 4 Daily Bonuses in the Land Office
- Collect 125 Sweet Cabbage by harvesting Cabbage
Ganache is crafted using eight Garnishes and seven Cocoa Powders each. Both of these items can be earned by asking your friends to send them to you. When you finish this final mission, you'll receive 1,500 XP, 1,500 coins and a Cream Cow. You'll also be able to go into the Land Office and purchase the Monumental Homestead expansion. It costs seven Land Grants to unlock, but those can be crafted inside the Land Office using coins and Cloth.
As usual, when you expand, you'll find that the outskirts of your Homestead are now filled with debris and mystery crates for you to open, so get right on it to claim your rewards as quickly as possible!
Pioneer Trail: Horseshoe bundles offer free prizes with each purchase
One look at the monthly active users in Pioneer Trail shows that the game isn't doing so hot (at least when compared to Zynga's other major Facebook properties). Currently sitting at 4.2 million monthly active users (1.4 million of those being daily users), the game has been losing users pretty consistently over the past few months, but if you're a loyal veteran, you can now receive some free items by pouring some real world cash back into the game.
There are three bundles that are now available via a in-game pop-up that will likely appear the next few times you login to the game. Ranging in price from $20 to $100, these bundles come with bulk Horseshoe bundles, along with various other prizes. Here's a complete rundown, so that you can decide if any of them are actually worth your hard-earned cash.
$20 Bundle - 170 Horseshoes and five Poker Cards
$50 Bundle - 465 Horseshoes, 10 Speedy Hands Boosts, Green Lightning Drink
$100 Bundle - 1,000 Horseshoes, 12 Hour Triple Mastery Boost, Beef Jerky, Polar Bear
Like many Horses, your avatar can ride this Polar Bear, which was originally released back during the Christmas holiday season. Personally, I'm not sure $100 is worth it, even if you do receive 1,000 Horseshoes in the process, but that will ultimately be up to each user to decide.
This promotion doesn't come clearly marked with any sort of expiration date, but wouldn't expect it to last forever. Make sure to check out the game sooner, rather than later, if you're interested in taking advantage of any of these bundle offers.
There are three bundles that are now available via a in-game pop-up that will likely appear the next few times you login to the game. Ranging in price from $20 to $100, these bundles come with bulk Horseshoe bundles, along with various other prizes. Here's a complete rundown, so that you can decide if any of them are actually worth your hard-earned cash.
$20 Bundle - 170 Horseshoes and five Poker Cards
$50 Bundle - 465 Horseshoes, 10 Speedy Hands Boosts, Green Lightning Drink
$100 Bundle - 1,000 Horseshoes, 12 Hour Triple Mastery Boost, Beef Jerky, Polar Bear
Like many Horses, your avatar can ride this Polar Bear, which was originally released back during the Christmas holiday season. Personally, I'm not sure $100 is worth it, even if you do receive 1,000 Horseshoes in the process, but that will ultimately be up to each user to decide.
This promotion doesn't come clearly marked with any sort of expiration date, but wouldn't expect it to last forever. Make sure to check out the game sooner, rather than later, if you're interested in taking advantage of any of these bundle offers.
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