Thứ Tư, 26 tháng 10, 2011

Disney My Store: Gree gets a Disney-branded game before Playdom?

Earlier this year, Walt Disney Japan worked with DeNAto release Disney My Land on the Mobage mobile social game network, but now it's Gree's turn. Alright, so the game doesn't feature the characters in the flesh, so to speak, but it is a game centered around said characters. That's more than we can say for Disney in the U.S. and abroad when it comes to social games.

Kixeye's War Commander blasts onto Facebook for all to conquer

Players can finally control individual units on the battle field in real time as they slaughter enemy units and demolish buildings. Clearly inspired by traditional strategy staples like Command and Conquer on the PC, War Commander continues the developer's tradition of real time gameplay with asynchronous interaction between friends ... or enemies.

Internet safety expert accuses The Sims Social of promoting cybersex

While playing the game, players can build asynchronous relationships with one another that can quickly grow into romantic relationships. Ultimately, those relationships will draw the players' avatars closer and can result in them having Woo-Hoo. And like any social activity in the game, players are rewarded Social Points for this that they can use to buy new items.

DoubleDown Casino's Photo Booth Friends: Play slots with faces friends

Of course, matching your friends' faces nets you lots of chips to play more with, which you can brag about or share through Facebook News Feed posts. According to DoubleDown Interactive, this is the 18th game the developer has introduced to the DoubleDown Casino app, all of which we just recently had an in-depth peek at. The Seattle, Wash.-based studio also hinted that more games will be released within the overarching app later this year.

Toyota's Social Network Racer flaunts flashy concept car [Video]

Social Network Racer is said to run from Oct. 19 right up until Dec. 31, or the very day the Tokyo Motor Show opens to the public. If you hadn't guessed already from the game's brilliant title, players will race the concept car around a predetermined track in full 3D, thanks to Flash Player 11. Come to think of it, Toyota may be one of the first to use the new Flash Player's 3D capabilities commercially.

Thứ Ba, 25 tháng 10, 2011

New York Comic-Con Day 5 Delivers Adventure Time, Silent Hill And Cosplay With A Side Of Bacon?

New York Comic-Con wrapped up Sunday with a schedule geared slightly more towards children. Sure there were plenty of things for everyone to do at the show, but they also made sure to have special events, panels and screenings for those younger comic, anime and video game fans out there. I took the opportunity to bring Tristan to his first comic con ever.
He loved it. Did you make it out to the show this year?
Don’t forget to click on the bottom right corner of an image to enlarge it.

Remember This?

It’s box art Tuesday! Do you remember the game from this fragment of box art? Leave your answer in the comments! If no one gets the answer by 2pm I’ll put up a clue. If no one gets it after that I might put up another clue! Oh man, this is great.

The Best (Fake) Video Game Wedding Picture Ever?

I just went to a friend’s wedding this weekend and while it was a emotional, sincere and booze-filled good time, there was no roundhouse kicking at any point during the ceremonies.

As you can see by the pic above, that was a clear error. Especially when you consider that the groom is a games journalist in good standing. The pic’s from Reddit and commenter anyja postulates that it’s not actually a wedding, but most likely a staged shot on the Stanford University campus during one of the school’s dance competitions.

You know what that means. Some lucky unmarried couple can still make this happen.

Thứ Hai, 24 tháng 10, 2011

Vampire Diaries Star Joins Hendricks In Need For Speed: The Run

We already knew that Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks will be voicing the female lead in the upcoming Need For Speed: The Run. Electronic Arts is now saying that Sean Faris, star of The Vampire Diaries, will be assuming the role of the male lead, Jack Rourke.

EA’s Press Release describes Rourke as “one of the best drivers around,” but that his “cockiness and arrogance has led him into a debt he can’t repay.” Wow, both cockiness and arrogance? He must be a pain in the arse. Apparently “the mob has put a price on his head, and it’s a lofty one”. Hmm, a lofty price, you say? Good thing there’s Hendricks’ Sam Harper, “a woman with street smarts and a penchant for lightning fast cars.”

Wow, this whole thing really sounds so original and interesting! Star-crossed lovers! Street racing! OK fine, I guess we don’t really need a gripping narrative to have fun driving cars really really superfast. EA quotes Hendricks as saying “It’s very exciting to be part of Need for Speed The Run. I’ve never been a video game character before so this is definitely a first for me. It’s been fantastic fun to do something so different and to show a different side of myself as well.”

Faris is a fan of the series. “I got a kick out of seeing myself in the game,” he says in the press release, “it’s totally me!” As much as that sounds like a bland marketing pablum, I would imagine that it is pretty cool to see oneself recreated in-game.

Look At How Microsoft Wants To Transform Sesame Street. It’s The Future.

We’re not talking about Sesame Street video games (though they’re doing that too). They also want to make the show–filmed puppets and all–a TV show that a kid standing in front of their TV can interact with.

You don’t have to imagine what interactive Sesame Street would look like. Microsoft made a “vision” video of it. You can see that right here. But because it’s a “vision” video, it’s not really all there. We’re seeing Microsoft’s dream version of what this would look like, all dependent on a TV tethered to an Xbox 360 and a Kinect visual/motion/audio sensor.

Microsoft is trying to make this vision reality. If they nail it, well, I bet we’ll see plenty more TV shows that can react to us. Microsoft’s already getting the National Geographic in on this too.

I’m hoping they’ll make comedies that get funnier if the Kinect senses that I’m not laughing at the show’s jokes.

Angry Birds Is Still Going Strong With 30 Million Active Users Per Day

It’s been damned popular for a damned long time, but Angry Birds‘ numbers don’t appear to be dwindling at all. As Mashable reports, 30 million people play the portable game each day, logging over 300 million minutes of gameplay. Each day!

That’s 208,333.3 days of Angry Birds played for each day of real time (or, as the article points, out, 109.5 billion minutes per year). There is a lot of fun maths to be done here, but the upshot is that no one seems to have gotten sick of Angry Birds, and the game’s momentum doesn’t show signs of slowing down.

For my part, I haven’t played Angry Birds in months. But now I’m feeling like I’m left out of the zeitgeist.

Angry Birds: 30 Million Daily Active Users and 300 Million Minutes of Gameplay Per Day [Mashable]

Thứ Bảy, 22 tháng 10, 2011

Angry Birds for PC

Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.

Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.

Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.



Angry Birds for PC


Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.

In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.

Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.

You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.

This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.

Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.

Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7



Free Angry Birds for PC

Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer

Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.

Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.

During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.

Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made.  This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:

    angry birds for pc
    activate free angry birds for pc
    angry birds FLASH SCAM
    angry-birds-online scam
    free angry birds games full version for window xp
    - Angry Birds PC Updated

    The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!

    As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy  you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there  who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.

Story telling & concept design in games...so important yet so NOT in demand!

There are many games I have played which would be very boring slog fests if it wasn't for a great story. For example Persona 4 is a generic turn based rpg. If it took place within the typical anime inspired setting of dragons, evil empires, and hidden space ships I would have put it down in 5 seconds flat!

Instead, Persona 4 opted to establish an atmosphere of mystery in a modern day setting I can relate to. Even characters not within the immediate group of protagonists are important. Your relationships with your uncle, cousin, teachers, and fellow class mates reveal developments about their daily lives we can sympathize with on a human level. These social links even strengthen your arcana ratings so you can fuse & summon more powerful alter egos.

This is a positive step up from boring NPCs that exist in a vacuum of disinterest where their only purpose is to sell you better gear or reveal a hackneyed hint on how to defeat the next boss.

Every event is structured around a string of murders. There's constantly tension on account the killer has the power to pull people through their own televisions into a nightmare world that structures itself around their deep phobias, hidden lusts, and personal insecurities.

Eventually you and your friends can access the "TV nether realm" of your own accord and use your "personas" to fight shadows spawned from the darker natures of the human psyche.

If you're thinking this would make a great book up there with Stephen King's finest I wholeheartedly agree with you. The psychological symbolism and deep characterization of Persona 4 are its' strongest points.

All any game has to start with is a "genre'. Each of these conforms to it's own set of rules. For example a turn based rpg is structured around exploration, leveling up, random enemy encounters, figuring out the strength & weaknesses of each foe, and selecting from a series of commands before the next turn commences. Without mood, atmosphere, setting, and plot line Shadow Hearts Covenant, Final Fantasy 7, Xeno saga, and Persona 4 are the same exact product. Thus it is the unique spins on the delivery of each game's interactive world which makes all of them good in their own distinct ways.

So, are a game's artists, writers, and overall conceptual designers appreciated? Yes and no. For example if you go onto a forum many fans can tell you Igarashi was the person behind the metroid-vania styled castlevanias or that Kojima is the master brain that came up with Metal Gear. In Japan "Story Tellers" & "soundtrack musicians" often get more praise than programmers.

In America this is equally so. David Jaffe is the guy that brought us God of war. We may not know who rendered the 3d models, did the cgi, or put in the code for the actual game-play but we know who came up with the idea of Kratos & his tragic tale. Tim Schafer has a cult following on account he led the imaginative renaissance behind Psychonauts, Monkey Island, and Brutal Legend.

Perhaps then it is quite amusing to note how difficult it is to be an artist, writer, and game concept designer on your own. From personal experience I can attest it's not an easy walk in the park!

Go to any game developing site and they need programmers, editors, advertisement marketers, and graphic website designers. There's nary a mention of wanting creative visionaries. For something so detrimental to a game you would think their would be a higher demand for people that can devise innovative new ways to design games.

Before I get my face chewed on by angry coders and irate accountants let me be clear I believe everyone is invaluable when it comes to working on a game. The "Director" is no more essential than the guy that can do beautiful snow and water effects or the woman that has studied consumers all her life thus knows how to get a title out there to the masses while making them want it with every fiber of their beings! Game development is a group effort and there is no "I" in team.

Concluding this rant I'm left to ponder why "Creative Directors" get the lion's share of credit whilst I weigh the paradoxical fact their position is always filled or entirely unneeded.

Thứ Sáu, 21 tháng 10, 2011

A poor mans upgrade

Today I received my long awaited Gigabyte GTX 460 OC. I've wanted to buy a new graphics-card for quite some time now, but due to some "money-problems" (unemployed and on welfare) I couldn't afford it until now. I saved for months to be able to do this and it feels great to finally have it.

My old card was a 9800 gtx+ which I could still play most games on great graphics, but I wanted to start enjoying the dx11 unique features and my old card was a dx10 card. It also only had 512 Mb of memory which is kinda low with todays gaming-standards. Most cards are probably 1-2 GB. Hey there are even cards with 4GB, but I'm not a rich man :P

Why did I want to tell you about all this? Well for starters, I believe that there are many gamers out there who might not be able to afford expensive cards and all tests I've seen is almost only focused on new cards, and no comparison to older cards such as mine. So I just wanted to share the results. These numbers are only for the GPU, no CPU-score is included.

[PROTOTYPE 2] has [POTENTIAL]

-THIS POST WILL SHORTLY CONTAIN A LOT OF SPOILERS IN EXPERIENCING THE FIRST GAME-

As most people know, I really enjoyed Prototype when it came out, I will be no part in the pointless Prototype VS Infamous war. But both games had their merits and in the meantime, thanks to the let down that was Crackdown 2, Prototype is the superpower sandbox game franchise I'm looking forward to entertain me with ridiculous abilities and weapons.

Previously I published a blog looking at the differences between Infamous and Prototype. I concluded that while Prototype was a fun game it missed out because of it's lazy approach to storyline and how things were never cleaned up at the end. Infamous had a lot better story and satisfying story. BUT...I actually had more fun playing Prototype sometimes because of the crazy stuff I could do in the game like Crackdown once served.

Rockstar Games is evolving.

I want to take a break from my "top 10" blogs to discuss Rockstar games for a moment. Rockstar Games holds a lot of nostalgia for me. Their first big hit, GTA III, was the reason I bought a ps2 and I bought every GTA game since. Back then GTA was their ticket into fame, infamy, and fortune. But when this genration hit, Rockstar proved they were not a one trick pony.

Red Dead Redemption proved to me that Rockstar was past the childish elements of GTA. It had elements to it that screamed "Rockstar!" but without all the hookers and the innumerable innuendos of the GTA series. That is not to say I dislike those things, they are fun every once in a while but as I grew older I wanted something more than cheap laughs. Read Dead Redemption had more of a deeper story that said a lot about the earlier old west days; about how history back then is not so different from modern times. Red Dead Redemption was like a window into the past and since we don't have time machines, that is a good as it gets.

Im hoping Rockstar will continue this in their upcoming game, LA Noir. La Noir seems a lot like Red Dead Redemption, only set in the 1940s with a classic detective theme. From what I have seen in the trailers. this is a pretty classy game in many ways. The facial capture technology is not only very good but the story seems mature, gritty and engaging. Rockstar games is once again trying to show us a window into a different time. If Rockstar keeps uo this pace, GTA may have to share the fame with a few of its younger brothers.

Im impressed with how much Rockstar games has changed over the years. When you think they can't get any better, they push the boundaries even more by trying new approaches. Developers who try to copy them are always a step behind because no one knows what Rockstar will do next. They are not followers; they are one of the leaders of the industry. I am very excited for LA Noir, but I also want to hear a little bit about Agent pretty soon too. Maybe that will be the cream of the crop. Until then, kudos to you Rockstar, Keep on developing.

Aimless Podcasts End of the Year Nominees and Contest Details

It's that time again folks. Time to start talking about which game was better in its respective genre and which game ruled them all. This is a special one for us though since it'll be our first End of the Year podcast officially as Aimless Podcasts. So to commemorate the occasion, I'm running a little contest. I'll get to that later. First off, there will be a segment devoted to what you, the listener, has to say about the games that came out this year (Jan. 1st 2010-present). To do so, we're going to need some nominees from you. The 3-5 nominees (depending on how many different ones we get) in each category will make it to the final poll where you will get to vote on the best in each category before out End of the Year podcast on December 15! These are not limited by platform so any game you want across all the current platforms (PC, PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, and DS) apply. Feel free to write your reasoning should you feel the need. The categories include:

Angry Birds for PC

Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.

Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.

Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.



Angry Birds for PC


Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.

In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.

Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.

You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.

This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.

Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.

Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7



Free Angry Birds for PC

Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer

Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.

Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.

During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.

Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made.  This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:

    angry birds for pc
    activate free angry birds for pc
    angry birds FLASH SCAM
    angry-birds-online scam
    free angry birds games full version for window xp
    - Angry Birds PC Updated

    The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!

    As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy  you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there  who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.

BBCW launches CBeebies games app

Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.

CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.

Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.

Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.

She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”

More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.

Thứ Năm, 20 tháng 10, 2011

NPD: January Sales

January 2011 sales are down 5% from January 2010. Total US Games Sales reached $1.16B, versus 2010's 1.228B.

Video games sales totaled $1.18B in January 2010 and are down 4% for $1.14B.

Hardware sales: An 8% shift downward to $324.0MM.

Software sales: 5% decline to $576.0MM

Accessories saw a 6% rise to $235.1MM

That brings the total software sales down 6% from January 2010 to $603.1MM.

Top 10 Games, All platforms:

1 - Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC), Activision Blizzard
2 - Just Dance 2 (WII), Ubisoft
3 - Dead Space 2 (360, PS3, PC), Electronic Arts
4 - Little Big Planet 2 (PS3), Sony
5 - Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (WII, 360, PS3), Majesco
6 - NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC), Take 2 Interactive
7 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (360, PS3), Ubisoft
8 - Dance Central (360), MTV Games
9 - Michael Jackson The Experience (WII, DS, PSP), Ubisoft
10 - DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You (PS3, PC), Sony
__________________
Numbers unconfirmed by NPD:
3 - Dead Space 2 (360, PS3, PC), Electronic Arts, 452K
4 - Little Big Planet 2 (PS3), Sony, 353K
10 - DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You (PS3, PC), Sony, 195K

Xbox 360 - 381,000 (+15%)
Wii - 319,000 (-32%)
PS3 - 267,000 (-3.6%)

Happy N4G Sony Fanboy Day

My fellow Sony gamers, this coming February 19 is a date that needs to be commemorated, celebrated, and remembered. That date marks the end of the HD Format War between HD and Blu-Ray, with the Blu-Ray side winning the war. The date also marks the end of N4G’s Great Fanboy War of 2007, and the complete transition from a bleak landscape of Microsoft-propogated ignorance to a high-cultured website where true gamers, the Sony gamers, can discuss real gaming news.

To many of you new members of N4G who came to this after the first quarter of 2008, the Great Fanboy War of 2007 began at the beginning of this generation’s console war. The N4G that you now know of today was a wholly different place back in 2007. The cruel 360 fanboys led by the Mart and by his lieutenants Power of Green, RL Baker, and Bladestar ruled the N4G site with total tyranny and absolute power. News articles published in the mainsite were nothing more than propaganda articles made by Microsoft and its brainwashed supporters; articles proclaiming the “quick end” of Sony and the Dreamcast-like end for the newly-launched Playstation 3.

Your fellow Sony gamers that you now commonly see in this website, were far and few in between during those dark times. Some of them, like me, were “political refugees” from other 360 majority websites like Gamespot, IGN, Gamefaqs, and Gametrailers. We left those sites as being a Sony gamer meant enduring insults from the far less cultured 360 gamers. Initially, we saw N4G as a new place where we can voice our opinions as Sony gamers and our love for high quality Sony games without any trouble. Alas, much to our dismay, we were wrong. The tyrannical and gangster-like 360 fanboys were quick to lay down their iron fists by “reply spamming”, mass checking the “disagree”, and worst of all, the dreaded “bubble raping”. Innocent things such as simply liking PS3 game were just a good enough reason for the 360 gamers to openly insult and denigrate you. We, the small, minority band of Sony gamers, knew that we cannot keep leaving one site for another as it means dealing with a new group of deranged 360 fanatics. As a result, we decided to stand up and fight for our rights as Sony gamers. This, my friends, was the start of the N4G’s Great Fanboy War of 2007!

The first months of the Great Fanboy War were a difficult one. The 360 fanboys, led by the terrifying Mart, harassed the small minority group of Sony gamers. They tried to downplay PS3 exclusives, mocked the idea of calling PS3 owners as “gamers”. They also mass approved anti-PS3 articles all the while hypocritically reporting pro-PS3 articles as “lame”. Still, we held on despite the overwhelming odds. Even more amazing, our numbers began to grow, as more and more Sony gamers came to this site. Positive PS3 news started coming after E3 2007, and the 360 fanboys were hard at work trying to destroy the positive news by finding all anti-PS3 news/articles that they can find in the Internet. If there was one kind of news that both sides were eagerly awaiting, it would be the conclusion to the HD format war. You see, during 2007, most 360 fanboys were confident that the HD-DVD format was winning, and if Blu-Ray lost the format wars, it would spell an almost instant end to the Sony Playstation 3. The 360 fanboys were so confident that HD-DVD would win that they simply let the Sony gamers in this website grow, which turned out to be a big tactical mistake; they wanted to see the cry and agony in the comments of PS3 owners after knowing that the inevitable end of their beloved console would be next after the death of Blu-Ray. As we should all know by now, Toshiba made the decision of who won the format with the announcement that they will end all support for HD-DVD.

Toshiba’s announcement wasn’t without any profound and immediate effects on N4G. The 360 fanboys who were confidently waiting for the death of Blu-Ray quickly found themselves eating their words, with the Sony gamers now quickly returning (and rightfully so) back the cruel treatment that was unjustly given to them. Many of the same 360 fanboys found themselves terribly humiliated and left the site…never to return again. The Mart lost his prestige as the leader of the 360 group and ended up as Bloodmask’s personal slave. His lieutenants Power of Green and Bladestar gradually reduced to mere annoyance before they themselves became completely irrelevant. Other 360 fanboys banished themselves to rather unimportant place, the so-called N4G Chatroom where they sometimes reek havoc by “guerilla trolling” our beloved website.

I now want to honor a partial of a rather exhaustive list of honorable Sony gamers:

Bathj, Bill Gates (N4G member), Chubear, Crazyglues, Darkride66, Dark Sniper, eagle21, El Jugador, Heyheyhey, Holy Orange Cows, Hotshot27, Jinxstar, Jleack, Lord Marius, Maddens Raiders, Mandf, Mikeslemonade, Morganfell, Nix, Pennywise, Pirate Thom, Saga Kin, TheLastGuardian,Too Pawned, Ultimolu (Juuken), Whooop,

The names listed above have shown their unwavering dedication and exemplary duty in promoting and supporting only high-quality gaming. They believe in gaming originality, innovation, and uniqueness as found for example in the Little Big Planet games. They believe in constantly raising the standard in gaming quality like the Uncharted and Killzone franchises instead of rehashing year after year the “same old crap, different skin” mentality of a particular popular shooter. They believe, and appreciate, hardware quality and improvements found in the very own Playstation 3 and the soon-to-be Playstation Portable 2. They also don’t subscribe to the very idea of being raped for 60 USD a year just to act like a 10 to 12 year old douchebag with a headset!

With those admirable gamer principles, they have proven themselves to be true gamers who possess the values and qualities of classiness, maturity, and intelligence; qualities that 360 gamers don’t have since they have openly prostituted themselves, with their body, mind, and soul, to Microsoft. Such is the quality of the Sony gamers that they can see what Microsoft truly is: A company that doesn’t care, nor understand, the art and spirit of videogames but instead only about your money and expanding its monopolistic empire.

For the rest of you Sony gamers, you are still as important as ever before. I highly commend you for your daily actions here on N4G. Still, I highly encourage you to continue fighting the good fight in combating the 360 gamers’ misguided ideology of tasteless and mediocrity gaming; an ideology that only promotes stagnation and degradation in the videogame industry. The 360 fanboys love to mock us by calling our principles as a “blind sighted allegiance towards Sony” and being “faux gamers who only love to hate”. Such descriptions are just mere words maliciously twisted into a blatant propaganda used by 360 fanboys.

The truth of the matter is, we are not just simply supporting high-quality gaming, but we also fighting for the future of videogaming. Videogaming under the Microsoft’s twisted vision would be a bleak one, a world where there is no originality nor innovation in games, consisting of shoddy hardwares, generic (and endless) COD games, the continuation of a Power Ranger rip-off franchise, and the ever increasing price just to play an online game NOT including a possible “pay-to-play” plan in some games. My fellow Sony gamers, believe it or not, THAT is the future envisioned by the 360 gamers! It should be apparent to all of you right now that we are not simply saving the culture of videogaming for ourselves, but also for the future generation of videogame players! Every action that we do on N4G, no matter small, shows that we will not let the 360 gamers impose their twisted views on us and the world of videogaming.

Come this February 19, 2011, I highly encourage you to take a moment to remember the heroic and epic struggle of your Sony gaming brethren during the Great Fanboy War of 2007. On that day, I also encourage you to type down “Happy Sony Fanboy Day” in your comments. Even though we may have won N4G for ourselves, the battle is not yet over. The mods may ban us, the 360 fanboys may maliciously report our comments as “spam”, “personal attack”, or “off topic” but one thing is certain: They cannot stifle us nor stop us.

Thứ Hai, 17 tháng 10, 2011

Official Pokemon Game Coming To Smartphones

The Pokemon Company is set to bring an official Pokemon Online game to smartphone devices, marking the first time that an official Nintendo-copyrighted app will be available on the iOS and Android.

Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.

According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.

Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.

Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.

A release outside of Japan has not been announced.

Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia

Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.

Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.

Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.

TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.

The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.

I'm not Kevin Pereira, but I do wanna know...what do you want for nothing?

Oh hush. He was one of the ONLY decent things about AOTS. But that's besides the point. The main point of this short blog is addressing the current PSN downtime topic. Now, scanning some of the responses shows that there are some that get it. And there are a LOT that, well... don't. Yes it sucks for many that can't get online to play a lot of their favorite games. Then there are those like myself. I don't really care to play online, so this is basically meh. In addition, no Playstation Store access until this is resolved. Which I can kinda understand them being a little upset about.

But the idea of reimbursement? As I said, scanning comments on a lot of these stories will show you there ARE some who get it. PSN is a service. If service is interrupted, people complain and feel cheated. PSN is also a FREE service, so how is it you feel you should be reimbursed from a service that ultimately costs you NOTHING? That's not how it works.

PS Plus members are, in my opinion, the ONLY ones that deserve reimbursement, mainly because they, you know... PAID for the service. That's it. No one else. You may not like the sound of that, but come on. It's common sense. And I'm willing to bet they will be compensated in some way. But if for some reason they aren't, they will have every right to complain. No exceptions. That's just good customer service. As for the rest? Complain all you want, but if you're not paying for the service, they don't owe you a thing.

To add, this is not me saying that people shouldn't be upset about the current situation regarding the security breach, however. THAT I can completely understand people being angry about, but how about throwing some of that vile and anger the hacker's way, huh?

My E3 2011 Predictions

1. NGP will get a name, pricing and release date.
2. First Party Game Series such as Uncharted, WipeOut, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance, Killzone, Ratchet & Clank and 2 New IP's.
3.XMB 2.0 will be announced to launch in PS3 on release of NGP. New Features should include Cross Game Chat, NGP Connectivity and new applications taboo.
4. Uncharted 3, The Last Guardian, Adrift, Resistance 3 and Twisted Metal will be shown off.
5. Sony announces Playstation Move Games and shows off Socery. Playstation Move Heroes (Renamed Heroes on the Move) and Socery.
6. HD Classics confirmed include Ratchet and Clank, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy.
7. The Getaway 3 and Eight Days are taken off hold.
8. Starhawk will be Announced.

Microsoft

1. Kinect Games such as Haunt, Project Draco and Star Wars will be shown a given release dates.
2. Kate & Milo will get announced.
3. A Xbox Live Kinect Arcade will be shown along with Avatar Kinect.
4. Microsoft will show the new Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, Prototype, Prey and Saint's Row with Exclusive Content.
5. Halo Reach DLC, Gears of War 3, Forza Motorsport 4 and Codename: Kingdoms gets shown.
6. Banjo Kazooie Reboot and Black & White 3 get confirmed to be games put on hold due to Kinect.
7. Halo: Combat Evolved HD and Perfect Dark Reboot get Announced.

Nintendo

1.The New Nintendo Project Cafe is Announced for Early 2012. Console is Displayed with new Controllers and Built In Motion Camera + New Blu-Ray Drive 3D Capabilities.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii is shown off with a Special Edition for Project Cafe.
3. Wii Fit 2 Announced and Shown Off.
4. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Pokemon Game,
5. F-Zero 3D, Super Smash Bros 3D, Pikmin 3D, Star Fox 3D, WarioWare 3D, Metroid Prime Hunter 2 and Super Mario 3D get shown off for 3DS
6. Update on The Grinder and PS3 & 360 Versions cancelled.
7. Wii Play: Motion and Kirby Wii are Shown off for Wii
Pikmin 3, Luigi’s Mansion 2, Mario Kart Wii 2, Kid Icarus and Possibly new Ip's get announced for Project Cafe.

Thứ Sáu, 14 tháng 10, 2011

Here's 5 recession busting games!

In this ever growing climate of people becoming bankrupt and families scraping to make their next buck, the games industry seems to be ever growing. Call of Duty Black Ops appears in 1 out of 9 homes’ video games collections in the US, Nintendo have brought casual gaming to the masses with the Wii and more kids in American schools know a fat Italian plumber’s face, than they do a squeaky Disney mouse.

However, after all that, games are still one of the most expensive forms of home entertainment. You’ll find most DVDs now in BOGOF deals, Blu-Rays are approximately €20/30 and Sky TV, at its most expensive package, is over £60 in the UK and over €70 in Ireland for a month of 999 channels...or something like that.

Your average, new video game for the 360 or PS3 will set you back between €50 and €60. Downloadable games are an exception to the rule. But even the Limbo’s and Super Meat Boy’s of this world are constantly rising in price.

So, why pay money!?! Or at least, why pay a LOT of money. Free software is becoming a lot more readily available through the likes of Steam and word of mouth whilst mobile gaming has brought little nuggets of joy to iPhone & Android users around the world. The days of Snake being the biggest graphical advancement in your pocket have well and truly gone.

To those that are feeling the pinch, and let’s be honest, who isn’t, here are a few inexpensive morsels of joy to get your fix. Some of these games are on multiple platforms, some are browser games, but all in all, here’s 5 games to whet your whistle...a whistle you had to pawn off ‘cause you are one broke b@$+@&d.

Plants Vs Zombies

PopCap’s tower defence that spawned cosplayers around the world to wear traffic cones on their heads is a definite for casual and hardcore players of all kinds. PvZ came out in 2009 on PC & Mac but has since found its way onto nearly every platform imaginable. Also, on every platform, the price varies greatly, however, on iOS for the amount of levels, the great gameplay and the accessibility, €2.39 is a steal.

Doritos Crash Course

I didn’t expect to add product placement on here...so...for equality’s sake...Walkers Sensations are very tasty too. Anyway, this game is pretty much Total Wipeout in a 2D platformer. It’s fun and free! Released on XBLA in ’10, it encompasses pickup-and-playability. It isn’t the most diverse or deep game you’ll ever play but if you want to burn 15 minutes, this is it. Sadly, Top Gear’s Richard Hammond isn’t involved.

Tiny Wings

One of my favourite games of 2011 was developed by one German developer. Not a team, one man. It can be picked up on the iPhone for €0.79. It is THE best use of touchscreen controls on society’s must have gadget. There is no on-screen D-Pad, no virtual buttons, nothing. You just touch the screen to make your bird slide down hills and take it off to make him fly!

The Wiki Game

If you’re like me, you can spend hours staring at your computer screen, just browsing. Wikipedia, makes this even more interesting and you can find yourself looking up A Flock of Seagulls discography for no other reason than, “boredom”. Well, why not click onto thewikigame.com and make a game of it! Word of warning, don’t click if you’re planning to be somewhere in 10 minutes. You’ll be late.

Drop7

God, this is addictive. Like a mix between Tetris and maths class. If I tried to explain it, my head would explode...look, just play it. It’s free on iPhone (with ads, but I’m sure you’ll get over it). It’s great. Trust me.

And that’s just scratching the surface. There are plenty games out there to play that are inexpensive, even cheap. With the advent of Facebook games and now even Google+. Even though you’re wallet is empty, that doesn’t mean your game library has to be.

New Title from Fire Hose Games: Go Home Dinosaurs! Playable at PAX

Feisty indie developer Fire Hose Games will be introducing their brand new title, Go Home Dinosaurs!, at PAX this coming weekend.

Described as a fun, new take on tower defense players will piece together weapons shaped as puzzle pieces - all powered by tiny mammals - in an effort to defend against the invading menace: dinosaurs. Tower defense, gophers with lasers, dinosaurs and meteor showers - how can you resist when BBQs need saving from enemy pterodactyls? The cause is just, folks, time to wage war.

Your character and abilities can level up by collecting and trading cards, "This game has it all, blending short, simple, easy-to-get-into fun with deep mechanics that keep things exciting and new." While platforms are still up in the air, according to Eitan Glinert, Fire Hose Games' Fire Chief, they're hoping for "some combination of console, PC, mobile".

If you'll be at PAX you can check out the game at booth 6408, in Indie Alley and next to the PAX 10. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm more than a little fond of the TD genre, so I look forward to getting hands-on with the game and telling you all how it's shaping up!

Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia

Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.

Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.

Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.

TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.

The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.

Angry Birds for PC

Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.

Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.

Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.



Angry Birds for PC


Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.

In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.

Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.

You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.

This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.

Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.

Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7



Free Angry Birds for PC

Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer

Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.

Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.

During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.

Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made.  This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:

    * angry birds for pc
    * activate free angry birds for pc
    * angry birds FLASH SCAM
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      - Angry Birds PC Updated

      The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!

      As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy  you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there  who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.

Thứ Năm, 6 tháng 10, 2011

FarmVille Mystery Game (09/25/11): Dairy animals take the spotlight

Last week, the FarmVille Mystery Game contained Livestock animals to go along with the Livestock Pen animal habitat that had recently been released. Well, you might be able to guess what this week's game would contain then, in response. With the launch of the Cow Pasture last week, this week's Mystery Game is full of cows and bulls that will help you earn all sorts of calves.

This week's Mystery Game costs 20 Farm Cash per dart, but remember that you may end up with duplicates in the process of going for them all. There are six basic prizes available in this week's game, along with the expected bonus prize that we'll get to later. For now, here are the six animals you can win by popping balloons:

    * Ayrshire Cow
    * Black Angus Bull
    * Brown Swiss Cow
    * Canadienne Cow
    * Guernsey Cow
    * Norwegian Red Cow


If you can manage to win all six of these (through either luck or pure determination - and tons of Farm Cash), you'll receive a Randall Bull as a free gift. Although, when it really comes down to it, you will have spent so many Farm Cash on these first six animals, I'm not sure if "free" is the appropriate word here.

Either way, you'll have just a single week to earn these six (potentially seven dairy animals) before they go into retirement with no guarantee that they'll be re-released. Good luck if you're going for all seven!

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

Will you take a stab at this week's Mystery Game in FarmVille? Which of the six animals would you most hope to win? Which ones did you receive? Let us know in the comments!

FarmVille Raffle Booth (09/25/11): Win a Lily Pond or Summer House

The FarmVille Raffle Booth has been updated once again this evening, with three prizes being those you'd expect, and two that are far better, if not entirely original. Remember, if you don't see these items in your Raffle Booth right away, it's likely due to the fact that you haven't traded in last week's Raffle Tickets, so you'll need to do that (and see if you won any of last week's prizes) before you can see these new prizes and start gathering tickets all over again. Here's the set of prizes for this week's raffle, along with your odds of winning them.

10 Special Delivery Boxes - 1:5
3 Farmhands - 1:20
5 Love Potions - 1:50
Summer House - 1:200
Lily Pond - 1:500

Remember, these odds simply mean that you'll have a 1 in 500 chance of winning the Lily Pond, as a particular example. Of course, that means you'll have a far better chance of winning the first two prizes, or even the third prize (the Love Potions) before you'll walk away with the top two prizes for this week. Still, Raffle Tickets are free, so long as your friends send them to you (they can also be purchased with Farm Cash), so there's no harm in trying and hoping to win them all!

Which of this week's prizes are you most hoping to win with your Raffle Tickets? Did you walk away with the top prize last week? Share with us in the comments!

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Items: American Aspen Tree, Draft Horse, Anchor Statue and more

With tonight's FarmVille update, we see a continuation of the Lighthouse Cove limited edition item theme in the game's store. As a reminder, these items may be in the new Lighthouse Cove theme (corresponding with the game's newest farm), but they can be purchased and used on other farms. As of right now, however, there's no way to get items from the Lighthouse Cove and onto other farms, so you'll have to purchase more than one of each item for each farm until the FarmVille team fixes that issue. That all being said, here's a complete look at the newly available items!

Trees

American Aspen Tree - 8 Farm Cash
European Aspen Tree - 14 Farm Cash


Unfortunately, these items don't come with sale prices like those released in the last Lighthouse Cove release, so you'll be stuck paying the full (high) price for these trees. Of course, you only ever should purchase the Level 1 tree in these pairings, with this one being the American Aspen Tree. You'll be able to earn the European Aspen Tree for free (eventually) by growing Mystery Seedlings.

Animals

Draft Horse - 26 Farm Cash
American Buff - 8 Farm Cash

The American Buff is a kind of Goose, so you'll (in theory) be able to breed it inside your Aviary animal habitats. Either way, just purchasing a single American Buff gives you access to the animal's animal mastery sign, so you'll earn it eventually (if that's what you're interested in). As for the Draft Horse, this one rewards you with 2,600 experience points for purchasing it.

Buildings

Clock Tower - 20 Farm Cash

This Clock Tower is unfortunately the only new building released this week, but that just makes it all the more special. It's an incredibly tall building, so you'll likely want to place it on the outskirts of your farm (towards the top of the screen) so that it doesn't block your view of anything resting "behind" it.

Decorations

Pumpkin Gnome - 15 Farm Cash
Anchor Statue - 40,000 coins
Sunflower Pot - 8,000 coins
Autumn Fall - 30 Farm Cash
Trawler Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Hayride Wagon - 80,000 coins

As fall is now officially upon us, it's not surprising to see a return of items like the Autumn Fall and Hayride Wagon to the game. Just make sure to check your storage before purchasing these re-released items to make sure you're not needlessly purchasing duplicates.

While there's no word when this "theme" of items will officially end, I am starting to wonder when exactly we'll see the game switch from Lighthouse Cove to Halloween in overall theme. Regardless of when it happens, you can be sure we'll be there every step of the way to help you prepare for the beginning of FarmVille's lengthy in-game holiday season.

What do you think of this newest set of Lighthouse Cove items? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille farmers might endorse presidential candidates in-game

Soon, you might be able to show your red (or blue) colors on your digital lawn. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that social media consulting firm Campaign Solutions is working to bring political campaigns into Facebook games, namely Zynga's FarmVille. Michael Hendrix, a consultant for the firm working on Rep. Michele Bachmann's, R-Minn., presidential ad campaign, is at the helm.

"We'll throw out four or five different messages targeting different demographics," Hendrix told the San Francisco Chronicle. "You're trying to figure out which message will drive a higher response." After working with advertising tools created by Facebook to directly target Bachmann's (a Tea Party supporter) demographic, his next message is said to hit FarmVille later this year.

The consultant has "written software" that will allow players to campaign for their candidate of choice by visiting their friends' farms spreading the message. FarmVille players will also be able to place yard signs on their farms, showing support for their favorite candidate. "The majority of social gamers are stay-at-home moms over 38," said Hendrix to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The consultant hopes to use FarmVille "to target soccer moms again." According to the report, Hendrix is looking squarely at Republican supporters in his campaign. However, nothing is said of whether Campaign Solutions's efforts will include support for Democratic candidates.

We'd imagine that, if this campaign were to actually happen in FarmVille, it would have to appeal to both sides of the political spectrum. Otherwise, players might get the impression that Zynga itself is expressing its support one way or the other. Zynga has yet to mention any collaboration with this firm, so we've contacted the company for comment.

[Image Credit: Kevin Bondelli]

Would you campaign for your favorite presidential candidate in FarmVille? How do you feel about Zynga potentially allowing players to express their political opinions in-game? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Zynga looks to give CityVille a boost, launches on Google+ Games

CityVille might have just scored a much-needed shot in the arm, as Zynga's most popular Facebook game has launched on Google+. Zynga announced the move today, and the game is already playable on the platform. Unfortunately, folks who decide to take the plunge into CityVille on Google+ Games will have to start all over again.

But considering its top game has been in decline in both monthly and daily players for some time, it's clear that Zynga is looking for new users with this move. Before today, CityVille was exclusive to Facebook for Western audiences, though the developer will soon expand the game to Asian audiences on the Tencent social network.

It was previously understood that Zynga had an agreement with Facebook that prevented the company from launching its games on directly-competing platforms. It looks like there is some fine print in that exclusivity deal that allows Zynga to do just that. This is especially evident considering Zynga has already released Zynga Poker to Google+ Games. With the largest Facebook game now on Google+ Games, Facebook's competitor just received reinforcements in its battle for social gaming dominance. (Now, Google+ has a whopping 18 social games!)

However, this move also speaks to Zynga's growing understanding that it needs to expand to grow its thriving business. With games like EA's The Sims Social gaining fast on the red dog's top spot with now over 60 million monthly players, competition is growing for the developer on Facebook.

Zynga is also hopeful that diversification will help the company grow and increase revenues ahead of its planned $1 billion IPO (initial public offering), the prospects of which have become shaky lately. Hopefully for Google, the presence of a huge name like CityVille will instill confidence in developers to bring new game ideas to Google+.

[Via VentureBeat]

Do you plan to try out CityVille on Google+ Games? Do you think CityVille has seen its best days, or will this expansion help the game find its second wind? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Thứ Ba, 4 tháng 10, 2011

Zynga profits plummet 90 percent, raises questions about imminent IPO

Will the big show still go on? That's what many wonder, as Zynga just revealed in an updated regulatory filing that its profits dipped by 90 percent in the June quarter, thanks to increased spending and a lack of major game releases earlier this year, Reuters reports. According to the news service, this raises questions as to whether the company can sustain growth ahead of its long-awaited IPO (initial public offering).

Zynga's net income took a nose dive to $1.4 million from $14 million a year earlier, and its net profit plummeted over 90 percent in three months from $16.8 million in March of this year. Reuters chalks this up to the fact that the filing shows that the FarmVille maker's expenses rose $149 million compared to a year earlier, and $59 million alone from the previous financial quarter.

We'd imagine a major chunk of those expenses are thanks to the 14 companies Zynga gobbled up in the past year. It's also worth noting that the developer didn't really release any major Facebook games in 2011 prior to Empires & Allies. (And no, we're not counting FarmVille English Countryside.) Since then, however, the company has been on a frenzy, launching three more Facebook games this summer: Words With Friends, Pioneer Trail and recently Adventure World.

This news speaks volumes to the fact that Zynga has reached a point where it constantly needs to produce in order to sustain its meteoric growth, and more importantly for them right now, the faith of investors. Since the company's last filing, Zynga conducted a third-party analysis that estimated the probability of an IPO at 75 percent. This is down from the 80 percent probability reported in Zynga's previous filing.

In other words, it looks like the anticipated Zynga IPO could be delayed, just as previous reports suggested, to wait for improved market conditions. However, EA is gaining on the company with The Sims Social, and fast. According to AppData, EA and Playfish's game has just about 1.6 million fewer daily players than CityVille's 12.9 million.

Do you think Zynga has anything to worry about, given the news? Would you ever invest in Zynga if given the chance? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

FarmVille Cow Pasture Goals: Everything you need to know

Even though last night's FarmVille update brought with it the new Cow Pasture animal habitat, the corresponding goal series didn't appear for many users (myself included) until today. Luckily, we don't seem to have lost any time in the process, as these goals give us a full two weeks to complete them. Interestingly, with the launch of these goals, some users have lost access to previous habitat goal series, so we can only hope that Zynga will sort things out with time. In the meantime, however, here's a look at these Cow Pasture goals, so you'll know what to expect as you move through them.

Cow Cookies

    * Get 6 Cow Treats
    * Place 1 Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 100 Grain Crops


If you're having trouble deciding which crops fit the "Grain" distinction, just head into the store's crops section and click on the "Grains" tab to automatically sort the store to show you just grain crops. Pick the one you like most (perhaps one that takes the shortest time to grow) and plant away. Finishing this first goal gives you 50 XP, a Red Heart Cow and 2,500 coins.

The Tethered Heifer

    * Get 6 Cow Tethers
    * Buy 2 Cow Topiaries
    * Harvest 30 Plain Cows


Just ask your friends for these Cow Tethers and then buy two Cow Topiaries from the store - they cost just 300 coins each. After that, you'll need to harvest 30 original, regular cows (of the brown and white variety) to finish this last step. If you've long outgrown such "normal" animals and need to buy some in the store, you can also do that for 300 coins each. They can be harvested once per day, so make sure you have enough on hand to not slow yourself down too greatly while waiting for them to become ready to harvest. Finish this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Grey Yak.

Lickety Split!

    * Get 6 Salt Licks
    * Complete the Cow Pasture
    * Place 3 Green Hay Bales


To see what you'll need to complete the construction of a Cow Pasture, check out our guide. The Salt Licks can be earned by posting a general help request on your feed, while Green Hay Bales cost 125 coins each in the store. For making it past this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Black Shorthorn Cow.

Born and Grazed

    * Get 9 Cow Collars
    * Achieve Level 1 Mastery of Cow
    * Harvest 125 Strawberries


If you're into animal mastery, you'll likely already have the Cow mastered to this point, but if not, just keep those 30 cows you had (or purchased) earlier and harvest them until you reach that point. As for the Cow Collars, they are also earned via a general request posted on your news feed. As for the Strawberries, please note that Super Strawberries do not count, and you'll simply waste your time by planting them. These must be the original Strawberries only. After completing this goal, you will have cross the halfway mark and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and five units of Animal Feed.

Milk Master

    * Get 9 Milk Buckets
    * Harvest one Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 150 Vegetables


It doesn't matter which kind of vegetable you choose to harvest here, so feel free to plant something you need bushels for, or just something you've yet to master to complete two tasks in one. The Milk Bucket request is a general one to your news feed, while harvesting the Cow Pasture can happen once every day. Finish off this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, one Grey Jersey Cow and 2,500 coins.

Moovin' In

    * Get 9 Brass Cow Bells
    * Place 10 Cows in a Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 150 Fruit Crops


If you haven't removed your Dairy Barns from your farm (which is a voluntary process, mind you), you can simply pull cows out of them and place them into the Cow Pasture until you've reached ten (don't worry - you can always put them back later). Finally, to collect the Brass Cow Bells, you'll need to - you guessed it - post a general request on your news feed for all of your friends to help. Finishing this final goal in the series gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a B0v1n3-11 - a very pretty two-toned red alien cow.

Again, these goals, as so many others in the game, are time limited, so you'll have two weeks to finish them off and earn all of the prizes therein. Good luck completing everything in time!

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Have you received the Cow Pasture goals on your farm? Are you going to keep the Dairy Farms as normal, or are you going to swap them all out for Cow Pastures? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Dairy Mystery Box brings re-released Cows to pasture

Even if you're dissatisfied with the release of the Cow Pasture animal habitat in FarmVille, that has, more or less, replaced the Dairy Farm on our farms, you still might be interested in adding some previously released cows to your collection for the sake of Animal Mastery. You're now allowed to do just that with the release of the Dairy Mystery Box in the game's store. This box contains six different cows, but remember - the cow you receive upon opening each box is random, and very well could give you duplicates if you purchase more than one.

For 20 Farm Cash, you'll be able to purchase a single Dairy Mystery Box containing one of the following:

Black Yak
Jersey Cow
New Year Cow
Panda Cow
Vineyard Cow
Welsh Black Cow

While it's great to see these cows make a comeback, they won't be here forever; you'll have just a week to purchase as many of these boxes as you like before these cows go back into retirement. Then again, it's always possible these cows will release yet again sometime in the future, so you'll just have to decide for yourself how important it is to have each one right now. Good luck with receiving the cow(s) you want most!

Which of these cows do you hope to win from the Dairy Mystery Box? Do you already have enough of these cows that it would make purchasing one of these boxes too big of a risk? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille: 2x Mastery Statue comes back for 12 days only

While many users voiced their concerns upon the initial release of the 2x Mastery Statue in FarmVille (that Zynga had created the ultimate money-grabber), that didn't stop many other farmers from purchasing one for their farms. Apparently, the initial release was so successful that they've decided to bring the statue back around for another go. That's right, the 2x Mastery Statue is once again available to purchase in the store, but only for a limited time (12 days, to be exact).

As a reminder, this 2x Mastery Statue gives you double the amount of mastery points on all crops and trees harvested during a two-day period. A single statue costs 25 Farm Cash, and if you're already the owner of a Platinum Mastery Statue (which has the same effect, but permanently), you'll want to skip out on buying these re-released statues as the status effect doesn't stack.

Also, let me once again point out that this double mastery boost doesn't apply to animals, so if you've really taken to Animal Mastery, there's no reason to waste your Farm Cash on these statues either. Perhaps one day we'll see a double mastery statue released just for animals, but that still doesn't solve the conundrum of whether or not these items should exist to begin with. With enough hard work and some patience, you'll be able to earn dozens, if not hundreds of mastery signs for your farm. Do we really need to pay Farm Cash to speed up the process? We'll leave that up to you, farmers.

Will you purchase a 2x Mastery Statue? Did you purchase one of these statues upon their initial release, or did you splurge on the Platinum Mastery Statue instead? Sound off in the comments.

Cafe World 2 Year Anniversary Manny's Journey Goals: Everything you need to know

After spending a few days in Great Britain, the Cafe World two-year anniversary extravaganza has moved onto the Philippines, where we'll meet Master Chef Manny in a new set of goals called "Manny's Journey." Through these goals, we'll be introduced to four new dishes, but of course, they won't simply be handed to you. You'll need to finish the Manny's Journey goals multiple times in order to unlock all of the prizes, which include a 50% Lightning Stove (that would reduce the time it takes your dishes to cook by 50%). Here's a complete guide to these new goals.

As a note, we weren't told by Zynga whether or not these goals contain the same dishes for all users across the entire game, or if they vary as in past goal sets. If you notice any differences in your own game, this will likely be the cause.

Manny's Journey 1

    * Ask for 3 Old Filipino Recipe Cards
    * Place the Roasting Pit
    * Serve 20 Fish n Chips


You'll start this goal series out serving Fish n Chips which takes two hours to prepare. You can wait for those to cook while asking your friends to send you the Old Filipino Recipe Cards, and can finish off this goal by placing the base to your new Roasting Pit. Yes, there's a building project to go along with these goals, and we'll bring you a guide to building the Roasting Pit as soon as we can you can check out our guide to building the Roasting Pit right here. Finishing this first goal gives you 15 Travel Passes. As a reminder, these Travel Passes work as contest entries of sorts, giving you a chance to win in-game prizes, along with real world trips to exotic locations.

Manny's Journey 2

    * Ask for 6 Filipino Postcards
    * Spice 6 Neighbors Dishes
    * Serve 20 Gnocchi Gianna


The Gnocchi Gianna takes six hours to prepare, and is unlocked while completing the Pasta Maker goals. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 20 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 3

    * Ask for 10 New Filipino Recipe Cards
    * Collect 4 Anniversary Collection items
    * Serve 30 Broiled Rainbow Trout


Anniversary Collection items are earned by using spices on your dishes, while Broiled Rainbow Trout takes 12 hours to cook (at the very least, this gives you plenty of time to collect spices if you don't earn the four Anniversary Collection items after running through your supply). Finish this goal to receive 25 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 4

    * Ask for 8 Filipino Postcards
    * Serve 12 Cafe Bombon
    * Serve 30 Osso Bucco


Osso Bucco takes 18 hours to prepare, giving you plenty of time to collect these Postcards from friends. As for the Cafe Bombon, this is a Specialty Coffee Drink that can only be served after you've hired Becky the Barista to work in your cafe. It costs 55 Energy for 10 Servings, so you'll need to prepare it twice in order to reach the total required number of 12 servings. You've almost reached the finale at this point, and finishing this particular goal gives you 30 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 5

    * Ask for 12 Dirty Filipino Recipe Cards
    * Serve 18 Acai Blueberry Juice
    * Complete the Roasting Pit


Once again, the Acai Blueberry Juice must be served from a machine - this time the Drink Bar. It's not available until after you've hired Beverly Bartender. Once you finish this goal, you'll have finished off Manny's Journey, and will receive 500 Travel Passes. You'll also receive one of four new dishes, from a selection of Beef Mechado, Filipino Paella, Lechon and Sisig.

To be especially clear, completing this goal series the first time only gives you a single recipe, and it looks like you'll need to complete the entirety of these goals another three times to unlock the remaining three recipes. These goals (along with your chance to repeat the British goals) will expire in 10 days, so you'll want to make sure and complete as many goals as quickly as possible to stand the biggest chance of unlocking everything in time.

What do you think of these Manny's Journey goals? Do you think they're easier, or more difficult than Winston's Royals goals? Sound off in the comments.

Chủ Nhật, 2 tháng 10, 2011

FarmVille Cow Pasture Goals: Everything you need to know

Even though last night's FarmVille update brought with it the new Cow Pasture animal habitat, the corresponding goal series didn't appear for many users (myself included) until today. Luckily, we don't seem to have lost any time in the process, as these goals give us a full two weeks to complete them. Interestingly, with the launch of these goals, some users have lost access to previous habitat goal series, so we can only hope that Zynga will sort things out with time. In the meantime, however, here's a look at these Cow Pasture goals, so you'll know what to expect as you move through them.

Cow Cookies

    * Get 6 Cow Treats
    * Place 1 Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 100 Grain Crops


If you're having trouble deciding which crops fit the "Grain" distinction, just head into the store's crops section and click on the "Grains" tab to automatically sort the store to show you just grain crops. Pick the one you like most (perhaps one that takes the shortest time to grow) and plant away. Finishing this first goal gives you 50 XP, a Red Heart Cow and 2,500 coins.

The Tethered Heifer

    * Get 6 Cow Tethers
    * Buy 2 Cow Topiaries
    * Harvest 30 Plain Cows


Just ask your friends for these Cow Tethers and then buy two Cow Topiaries from the store - they cost just 300 coins each. After that, you'll need to harvest 30 original, regular cows (of the brown and white variety) to finish this last step. If you've long outgrown such "normal" animals and need to buy some in the store, you can also do that for 300 coins each. They can be harvested once per day, so make sure you have enough on hand to not slow yourself down too greatly while waiting for them to become ready to harvest. Finish this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Grey Yak.

Lickety Split!

    * Get 6 Salt Licks
    * Complete the Cow Pasture
    * Place 3 Green Hay Bales


To see what you'll need to complete the construction of a Cow Pasture, check out our guide. The Salt Licks can be earned by posting a general help request on your feed, while Green Hay Bales cost 125 coins each in the store. For making it past this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Black Shorthorn Cow.

Born and Grazed

    * Get 9 Cow Collars
    * Achieve Level 1 Mastery of Cow
    * Harvest 125 Strawberries


If you're into animal mastery, you'll likely already have the Cow mastered to this point, but if not, just keep those 30 cows you had (or purchased) earlier and harvest them until you reach that point. As for the Cow Collars, they are also earned via a general request posted on your news feed. As for the Strawberries, please note that Super Strawberries do not count, and you'll simply waste your time by planting them. These must be the original Strawberries only. After completing this goal, you will have cross the halfway mark and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and five units of Animal Feed.

Milk Master

    * Get 9 Milk Buckets
    * Harvest one Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 150 Vegetables


It doesn't matter which kind of vegetable you choose to harvest here, so feel free to plant something you need bushels for, or just something you've yet to master to complete two tasks in one. The Milk Bucket request is a general one to your news feed, while harvesting the Cow Pasture can happen once every day. Finish off this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, one Grey Jersey Cow and 2,500 coins.

Moovin' In

    * Get 9 Brass Cow Bells
    * Place 10 Cows in a Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 150 Fruit Crops


If you haven't removed your Dairy Barns from your farm (which is a voluntary process, mind you), you can simply pull cows out of them and place them into the Cow Pasture until you've reached ten (don't worry - you can always put them back later). Finally, to collect the Brass Cow Bells, you'll need to - you guessed it - post a general request on your news feed for all of your friends to help. Finishing this final goal in the series gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a B0v1n3-11 - a very pretty two-toned red alien cow.

Again, these goals, as so many others in the game, are time limited, so you'll have two weeks to finish them off and earn all of the prizes therein. Good luck completing everything in time!

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Have you received the Cow Pasture goals on your farm? Are you going to keep the Dairy Farms as normal, or are you going to swap them all out for Cow Pastures? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Dairy Mystery Box brings re-released Cows to pasture

Even if you're dissatisfied with the release of the Cow Pasture animal habitat in FarmVille, that has, more or less, replaced the Dairy Farm on our farms, you still might be interested in adding some previously released cows to your collection for the sake of Animal Mastery. You're now allowed to do just that with the release of the Dairy Mystery Box in the game's store. This box contains six different cows, but remember - the cow you receive upon opening each box is random, and very well could give you duplicates if you purchase more than one.

For 20 Farm Cash, you'll be able to purchase a single Dairy Mystery Box containing one of the following:

Black Yak
Jersey Cow
New Year Cow
Panda Cow
Vineyard Cow
Welsh Black Cow

While it's great to see these cows make a comeback, they won't be here forever; you'll have just a week to purchase as many of these boxes as you like before these cows go back into retirement. Then again, it's always possible these cows will release yet again sometime in the future, so you'll just have to decide for yourself how important it is to have each one right now. Good luck with receiving the cow(s) you want most!

Which of these cows do you hope to win from the Dairy Mystery Box? Do you already have enough of these cows that it would make purchasing one of these boxes too big of a risk? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille: 2x Mastery Statue comes back for 12 days only

While many users voiced their concerns upon the initial release of the 2x Mastery Statue in FarmVille (that Zynga had created the ultimate money-grabber), that didn't stop many other farmers from purchasing one for their farms. Apparently, the initial release was so successful that they've decided to bring the statue back around for another go. That's right, the 2x Mastery Statue is once again available to purchase in the store, but only for a limited time (12 days, to be exact).

As a reminder, this 2x Mastery Statue gives you double the amount of mastery points on all crops and trees harvested during a two-day period. A single statue costs 25 Farm Cash, and if you're already the owner of a Platinum Mastery Statue (which has the same effect, but permanently), you'll want to skip out on buying these re-released statues as the status effect doesn't stack.

Also, let me once again point out that this double mastery boost doesn't apply to animals, so if you've really taken to Animal Mastery, there's no reason to waste your Farm Cash on these statues either. Perhaps one day we'll see a double mastery statue released just for animals, but that still doesn't solve the conundrum of whether or not these items should exist to begin with. With enough hard work and some patience, you'll be able to earn dozens, if not hundreds of mastery signs for your farm. Do we really need to pay Farm Cash to speed up the process? We'll leave that up to you, farmers.

Will you purchase a 2x Mastery Statue? Did you purchase one of these statues upon their initial release, or did you splurge on the Platinum Mastery Statue instead? Sound off in the comments.

Cafe World 2 Year Anniversary Manny's Journey Goals: Everything you need to know

After spending a few days in Great Britain, the Cafe World two-year anniversary extravaganza has moved onto the Philippines, where we'll meet Master Chef Manny in a new set of goals called "Manny's Journey." Through these goals, we'll be introduced to four new dishes, but of course, they won't simply be handed to you. You'll need to finish the Manny's Journey goals multiple times in order to unlock all of the prizes, which include a 50% Lightning Stove (that would reduce the time it takes your dishes to cook by 50%). Here's a complete guide to these new goals.

As a note, we weren't told by Zynga whether or not these goals contain the same dishes for all users across the entire game, or if they vary as in past goal sets. If you notice any differences in your own game, this will likely be the cause.

Manny's Journey 1

    * Ask for 3 Old Filipino Recipe Cards
    * Place the Roasting Pit
    * Serve 20 Fish n Chips


You'll start this goal series out serving Fish n Chips which takes two hours to prepare. You can wait for those to cook while asking your friends to send you the Old Filipino Recipe Cards, and can finish off this goal by placing the base to your new Roasting Pit. Yes, there's a building project to go along with these goals, and we'll bring you a guide to building the Roasting Pit as soon as we can you can check out our guide to building the Roasting Pit right here. Finishing this first goal gives you 15 Travel Passes. As a reminder, these Travel Passes work as contest entries of sorts, giving you a chance to win in-game prizes, along with real world trips to exotic locations.

Manny's Journey 2

    * Ask for 6 Filipino Postcards
    * Spice 6 Neighbors Dishes
    * Serve 20 Gnocchi Gianna


The Gnocchi Gianna takes six hours to prepare, and is unlocked while completing the Pasta Maker goals. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 20 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 3

    * Ask for 10 New Filipino Recipe Cards
    * Collect 4 Anniversary Collection items
    * Serve 30 Broiled Rainbow Trout


Anniversary Collection items are earned by using spices on your dishes, while Broiled Rainbow Trout takes 12 hours to cook (at the very least, this gives you plenty of time to collect spices if you don't earn the four Anniversary Collection items after running through your supply). Finish this goal to receive 25 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 4

    * Ask for 8 Filipino Postcards
    * Serve 12 Cafe Bombon
    * Serve 30 Osso Bucco


Osso Bucco takes 18 hours to prepare, giving you plenty of time to collect these Postcards from friends. As for the Cafe Bombon, this is a Specialty Coffee Drink that can only be served after you've hired Becky the Barista to work in your cafe. It costs 55 Energy for 10 Servings, so you'll need to prepare it twice in order to reach the total required number of 12 servings. You've almost reached the finale at this point, and finishing this particular goal gives you 30 Travel Passes.

Manny's Journey 5

    * Ask for 12 Dirty Filipino Recipe Cards
    * Serve 18 Acai Blueberry Juice
    * Complete the Roasting Pit


Once again, the Acai Blueberry Juice must be served from a machine - this time the Drink Bar. It's not available until after you've hired Beverly Bartender. Once you finish this goal, you'll have finished off Manny's Journey, and will receive 500 Travel Passes. You'll also receive one of four new dishes, from a selection of Beef Mechado, Filipino Paella, Lechon and Sisig.

To be especially clear, completing this goal series the first time only gives you a single recipe, and it looks like you'll need to complete the entirety of these goals another three times to unlock the remaining three recipes. These goals (along with your chance to repeat the British goals) will expire in 10 days, so you'll want to make sure and complete as many goals as quickly as possible to stand the biggest chance of unlocking everything in time.

What do you think of these Manny's Journey goals? Do you think they're easier, or more difficult than Winston's Royals goals? Sound off in the comments.

Cafe World Roasting Pit: Everything you need to know

On top of being required to complete five new goals in Cafe World's Manny's Journey set, the game's two-year anniversary event has received another building project as well. This "buildable" is the Roasting Pit, the base of which will be given to you for free when you start these Manny's Journeys goals. While you may think you can simply place the base and then forget about it, if you're interested in completing these goals, and subsequently unlocking any of the four recipes associated with them, you'll be required to complete its construction.

Once you place the Roasting Pit, you'll be able to begin the process of asking your friends for building materials. You'll need to collect eight Bags of Coal, 10 Steel Plates, six Roasting Sticks and six Roasting Pit Stones. The Bags of Coal are the only items you'll be able to ask for via a general post to your news feed / wall, while the other three items are earned via individual gift requests sent to those friends that you think would be the most likely to help you.

Once you finish this Roasting Pit, you'll not only have a new "decorative" machine in your cafe, but you'll also be able to earn a single bonus mastery point for each Filipino dish you serve while the Roasting Pit is displayed and therefore "active" in your cafe. That is, instead of earning a single point for each Filipino dish, this Roasting Pit will cause you to earn two points with every serving, well, served. Also, even if you don't manage to unlock all four recipes in the Manny's Journey goal set, this Roasting Pit will still have a purpose, as a single, pre-existing dish falls under the Filipino heading: Chicken Adobo.

Again, this machine must be built in order to complete the Manny's Journey goal set in Cafe World, so check out our guide to doing just that to have the best shot of earning some new dishes - and fast!

What do you think of the Roasting Pit? Do you like items like this that allow you to earn bonus dish mastery points? Let us know in the comments.