Happy Birthday, Mafia Wars - Zynga's Facebook game turns two

Hard to believe that it was only two years ago that Mafia Wars launched on Facebook, and over that time the game has seen many incremental changes, which has both pleased and teed off devoted fans.

To celebrate this 24-month milestone, the mafioso game's offering double the loot for fighting for the next two days, plus a five free Throwing Knives (+65 attack skill) to help you hit rivals where it hurts. We're not exactly sure why this 'celebration' is focused fighting, though we suspect it might have something to do with the recent announcement that, in Mafia Wars Las Vegas, fighting will be "integral to conquering your enemies and completing your ultimate goal as the lord of the Las Vegas Underworld."

Same-sex marriage available in Frontierville

Zynga's new Farmville-meets-Oregon-Trail simulation Frontierville is so new that we're still wading in to reveal all the game's deepest secrets. That's all by way of explanation as to why we're just now learning that the game apparently allows characters to enter into same sex marriage.

As a blogger over at outsider gamer site Border House notes, marriage in Frontierville comes after a series of letter-delivered quests where the future love of your life demands certain chores be performed in preparation for their arrival. Only after these prerequisites are met do you get to meet and customize your spouse, setting their appearance and gender to your liking.

At first glance the option for same sex marriage seems like a big step forward in open-mindedness and acceptance of alternative lifestyles in the world of social games. Then you realize that the wall post that accompanies your Frontierville marriages still mentions a bride and groom alongside a smiling, heteronormative picture. It's quite possible Zynga just didn't think to go to the trouble of forcing spouses to be different genders, and so this feature is a nod to laziness rather than inclusion.

Either way, that sound you hear is probably an army of culture warriors revving up their outrage engines over the idea of Zynga exposing children to such "controversial" content.

Source

YoVille: New Collectibles and Hollywood sets arrive

Three new YoVille collectibles have hit the furniture store, Animated Gorilla and Planes costing 32 YoCash, Rideable Camera Dolly 32 YoCash and YoWood Sign 16,995 Coins. Also the last set of the Hollywood themed items, these items range from carpets, curtains, ropes and many more items including The World Cup Plushies. Happy Shopping.

This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

Report: Japanese bank invests $147M in Zynga

We can't imagine Farmville-maker Zynga is having any cash problems, what with its myriad sources of revenue and individual players dropping upwards of $25,000 on social games as a whole. But the company is nonetheless continuing to take on cash infusions from willing investors.

The latest investment comes in the form of 13.5 billion yen (about $147 million) invested by Japan's Softbank Corp., according to two anonymous sources who talked to Bloomberg Businessweek. You may remember Softbank as the ones that invested $17 million in social game ad network RockYou back in 2008.

Along with the $180 million invested by a Russian firm late last year, this latest investment would go a small way towards making Zynga's theoretical $5 billion market cap a reality rather than a suppostion. Frankly, we're wondering why the company doesn't just pull a Google and cash in with a public-auction style initial public offering while the iron is still hot.

FarmVille Official Podcast June 14th - 'coming soon' announcements

This week's Official FarmVille Podcast announced a couple of exciting updates that are coming soon:

- Changes to Wheat
Because of the important role wheat will play in the Cottage Crafting feature, it has been changed so that it's no longer an epic multi-day crop. It sports a new grow time, cost, yield, and mastery characteristics.

Click here to learn more.

- Dairy barn expansions are coming soon!

- Bees are coming to FarmVille
Coming sometime in the next few weeks, bees are coming to FarmVille. Not only will they be available in the game, but FarmVille is building an entire feature around them. More info on the bee section will be posted soon.

Pet Society Chocolate Boxes Glow in the Dark

Pet Society Glow in the Dark Box
Whee! What a nice surprise to see that the new chocolate boxes glow in the dark! They're even brighter than the skyscrapers in the window.

These boxes cost 550 apiece and give you a different piece of chocolate for the rest of this week. The chocolates themselves are nice, but we really like these beautiful boxes which can be used as decoration long after they've become empty.

We're not sure if the glow-in-the-dark feature was intentional or a mistake. The official Pet Society blog made no mention of it. Either way, we think it's fun, and the boxes get our highest rating of 5 paws. Here they are in the light:
Pet Society Chocolate Box
Which chocolate box is your favorite?

This article originally appeared on Pet Society Anonymous.

Games.com blog takes on Casual Connect in Seattle

I'm feeling a little giddy this morning. Why? It's the first day of Casual Connect in Seattle. For those of you who aren't in the know, Casual Connect is a three-day conference where the who's who of casual games get together and, well, talk about casual games. That also includes social games, which is what we cover religiously on the Games.com blog.

This week, our crew will be meeting with people who make your favorite casual/social games and pick their brains about big trends and, hopefully, get a sneak peek at upcoming games. I'm especially looking forward to the always outspoken Hi5 CTO Alex St. John's Facebook Smackdown event, Playdom's John Pleasant's talk about the future of social games, hearing Ohai's Susan Wu's thoughts on what's next for social games after FrontierVille and World of Warcraft and learning more about the upcoming Google Games.

casual connect in seattle

And, like all trade shows, there will be lots of after-hours socializing. Why should you care? That means we'll get a chance to squeeze out more information on what games will be headed your way this year. If you want to stay abreast what's happening at Casual Connect, bookmark http://blog.games.com/tag/casualconnect/and follow us on Twitter.

Big Fish Games pens exclusive deal with Woman's Day

Big Fish Games, the casual game company behind those insanely addictive Mystery Case Files games, has signed an exclusive deal with Woman's Day. Starting Tuesday, July 20, head to WomansDay.com to check out 2,500 games from Big Fish, which include hidden object games to puzzle games and time management games.

mystery case files women's day

"Our games are a great fit for Woman's Day readers ... Casual games are relaxing, mentally stimulating, and fun," says Big Fish CEO Jeremy Lewis in a press release.

Woman's Day has an audience of 24 million women ages 25 to 65 -- so that means we can expect more ladies to learn that hidden object and time management games (which sound like a chore) are more addictive than a frosty pint of Haagen Daas' Caramel Cone.

mystery case files ravenhearst

Woman's Day and Big Fish Games will also include "a special offer" for readers in the September issue of the magazine, available on stands in August. The details on that have not been disclosed yet, but we know that more of these offers -- like this free version of Mystery Case Files Ravenhurst -- will be rolling out during the partnership.

Job posting points to Facebook videoconference Charades game

My usual daily Google crawl of social-gaming-related terms turns up an awful lot of job postings looking for "social game programmers." These posts are usually extremely vague or, alternatively, all-too-clear about wanting to copy the hot social gaming trend-of-the-moment. But sometimes, all that searching hits upon a genuinely unique and exciting social gaming idea well before it officially hits.

Such is the case with this here posting for a "videoconference social game" from a mysterious outfit called PoserGames.com. Basically, the game described in the attached documents is an online, multiplayer version of charades (or "celebrities") where players take turns acting out silent clues to get their teammates to guess a secret term or person. Up to eight people will be able to play at once through video conference windows that shift around and change sizes as new players come up for their three minute rounds.

After reading through the description, this seems like a no-brainer idea for online social networks, and with the mass availability of webcams and high bandwidth connections capable of handling multiple streaming video, it seems like it might finally be technically feasible. It also got us wondering what other dinner-party-style games could make the transition online. Pictionary is already well represented, as are most card and board games, but with maybe this video conferencing idea could be put towards something like Truth or Dare or Spin the Bottle next, eh?

Virtual Villagers: Facebook's 'first true God game' debuts

Virtual Villagers
Launched today, Virtual Villagers for Facebook is the latest addition to a well-received series of desktop games, the oldest hailing from 2006, released by the San Francisco indy games developer, Last Day of Work (LDW). LDW has partnered with the Australia-based casual games developer, 3 Blokes Studios to bring a version of their title onto Facebook that incorporates social gaming elements.

At first glance, this game has a ton of similarities to Zynga's immensely popular FrontierVille, sporting a "persistent game world" that changes over time. But it also vows to provide "real, dynamic multiplayer storytelling that unfolds according to the actions of all the players together." Like FrontierVille, your characters can get hitched. But not only can you have kids in this game, they will also inherit some of the skills from their parents. Your characters will have stats pages. They can acquire special skills over time. They can also grow old, get sick, and be nursed back to health.

Basically, this game is promising to do everything that FrontierVille does, and more. We'll be providing additional coverage on this soon. For now, everyone can play god by logging into Facebook and giving the game a spin here.

YoVille: Camp Yo Fishing Clothes and Gear now at the Fashion Store

The Camp Yo Clothes we told you about have arrived at YoVille. You will find everything you need to go fishing from vest for 850 coins to fishing poles for 11 YoCash. While your there check out the Yo Scout Uniforms available for 1300 coins and Badges for 7 Yo cash. Accessories include a hand held s'more, insect repellent, and a hatchet.

Prices and photos after the link.
YoVille Fishing Rod, Fishing Hat
YoVille Camp Yo: Fishing Boots, S'more, Scout Uniforms
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

FarmVille Prohibition! Farm game's virtual winery banned from making wine

Update (4 p.m.):FarmVille Prohibition will only apply to certain players; read more details here.

In the United States, Prohibition ended 1933, but it looks like it's just getting started in FarmVille. Zynga has pulled alcoholic beverages from the game, because they don't want "to promote alcohol consumption among the underage," says a customer service rep.

    "Recently, FarmVille decided to change the products that are produced in the Winery Cottage. The change was from alcoholic products to, well, Non-alcoholic beverages. The reason behind this change is that since FarmVille is a game, we have a lot of underage players. In connection with this, FarmVille does not want to promote alcohol consumption among the underage."

So, if you decided to place a winery crafting building on your farm, your days of being able to produce virtual bottles of sake, wine and white sangria may soon be coming to an end. Some players have already noticed that their wineries have started pumping out fruit-based alternatives instead, such as Rich Grape Juice and White Grape Cooler.



Below is a list of Prohibition friendly drinks that the FarmVille winery will produce going forward:

* Sweet Energy Drink (previously Sweet Sake)
* White Grape Cooler (previously White Sangria)
* Rich Grape Juice
* Fruit Punch
* Spicy Tomato Juice (*No Change)
* Spiced Lilac Tea
* Blackberry Explosion
* Strawberry Cranberry Juice (*No Change)
* Raspberry Energy Drink

While it's understandable why Farmville maker Zynga doesn't want to promote alcohol to minors, this change is annoying for those of us who are 'of age,' and chose the winery as our crafting building for one reason, and one reason only: We wanted to make wine on our farm.

This, of course, leads to the bigger question that we've touched on before -- how do social games deal with mature content? Will more social games restrict certain content for people under a certain age, or will these games eventually employ some kind of rating system?

Well, now there's an alternative use for that new storage cellar we've been busy digging on the Back Forty. Maybe we can carve out some space for a moonshine-fueled speakeasy to help keep our virtual farmers in top spirits.

FarmVille hits the beach with limited edition items

FarmVille Volleyball, boardwalk, surfer gnome, toucan
Tonight new decorations were added to the market as part of the LE Summer theme on August 20th, 2010. These decorations will be available for the next 7 days and can be purchased for both FarmVille coins and cash.

Coin items:
* Boardwalk 20,000 coins
* Sandcastle 50,000 coins

Available for FarmVille Cash:
* Toucan 16 $FV
* Surfer Gnome 18 $FV
* Beach Volleyball 30 $FV

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Beach Game Stand and Lemonade here for a limited time only

FarmVille Beach Game Stand and Lemonade Stand
FarmVille introduced two additional Limited Edition Summer buildings that includes a Beach Game Stand and a Lemonade Stand.

You can purchase both of these buildings in the FarmVille Market during the next 7 days only.

FarmVille Summer Buildings (Released August 18, 2010):
* Beach Game Stand – 24 FV$
* Lemonade Stand – 140,000 Coins

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Unreleased: Horse Harvester, Pumpkin Cannon, Pig on a Trampoline and more

Thank you to FarmVille Freak Teresa for finding these FarmVille unreleased Horse Harvester, Rocking Chair, Snowball Cannon, Pig Trampoline, Pumpkin Cannon, Tiki Shower, & Project Truck!
FarmVille Unreleased: Horse Harvester, Rocking Chair, Snowball Cannon, Pig Trampoline, Pumpkin Cannon, Tiki Shower, & Project Truck
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

KISS makes its Facebook game debut in Nightclub City

Even if you weren't born when the band KISS was still rocking the charts with songs like 'Rock and Roll All Nite,' you're probably vaguely aware of the '70s band with painted faces and its enterprising front man Gene Simmons, who currently stars in his own reality show on A&E.

This Saturday, KISS will make Facebook gaming history by hosting its first live show Booyah's Nightclub City -- a club simulation game where you keep your customers happy by keeping the drinks and music flowing. Nightclub City is one of the first social games to integrate music from real-life artists -- so when you play a DJ set, you're actually able to listen to tracks from indie artists.

If you tune into Nightclub City for the live KISS event on Saturday, you will be rewarded with special KISS items, including face paint that you can use on your in-game avatar.





Image credit: Getty Images kiss in nightclub city
kiss in nightclub city
Getty Images

Cafe World "Sunday Brunch" Catering Order: Everything you need to know

The sixth catering order teased yesterday by the Zynga team is finally live in Cafe World. Titled "Sunday Brunch," this catering gig requires that you complete the previous "Dinner Party" order in less than 10 days.

Again, the rewards from this job will depend on how long it takes you. However, only completing the job within seven days will allow you to move on to the next catering order when it goes live. No pressure, right? Don't worry, with our help behind the break you'll have this order done in no time at all. Cafe World Sunday Brunch LadyThis order does require a lot, but if you fail to complete the order after starting it or you're not satisfied with the results, you can always do it over. Here are the dishes you'll need to make to complete the order and how long they'll take:

    195 Eggs Benedict: 6 hours per 190 servings, 16 Cafe Cash to unlock*
    195 Lox Bagel: 3 hours per 135 servings, 14 Cafe Cash to unlock
    120 Belgian Waffles: 2 hours per 150 servings, 12 Cafe Cash to unlock
    120 Powdered French Toast: 20 minutes per 37 servings, 8 Cafe Cash to unlock


*If you're feeling lazy stretched for time, each of these requirements can be bypassed by paying a certain amount of Cafe Cash.

Unfortunately for the newbies, you'll need to be at least Level 43 before you can complete this order as the Powdered French Toast recipe doesn't unlock until then. Also, you'll need to spend Cafe Cash regardless on this order, since you'll need 10 Bottles of Maple Syrup and 15 Serving Baskets for this order, which cost 2 and 1 Cafe Cash a piece respectively. So, a minimum of 35 Cafe Cash (about $7) and 21 hours later, you'll have completed the sixth catering order in Cafe World!

Those numbers sound daunting, we know. But when you enlist the help of up to 21 friends whose work will count for their own "Sunday Brunch" catering orders, you shouldn't worry too much about getting this done on time. Here's what's in it for you should you complete the gig:

    Within three days: 4,158 Cafe Points, 62,370 coins and the Banana Nut recipe
    Within seven days: 2,970 Cafe Points and 44,450 coins
    More than seven days: 1,782 Cafe Points and 26,730 coins


Keep in mind that you'll need to complete the order within seven days to gain access to the next order whenever it's released. Here's a hot tip: you can load up your stoves with as many of the required dishes as possible before starting the order. Accept the order just before the first of those dishes is complete and you just bought yourself some serious time.

Just remember to plan out with your friends who will cook what. If you have enough friends working together to follow this strategy all at the same time, you can have this order done in minutes, but you didn't hear that from us.

Survey: Two out of every three Americans plays games

PlayFirst, publisher of ubiquitous time-management game Diner Dash, has teamed up with Frank Magid Associates, a research-based consulting firm, to find out more on the state of causal gaming. Casual gaming is -- no surprise -- still growing on almost every possible platform, according to the survey of 2,075 Americans. However, the study also suggests that 80 percent of those 18 to 34-years-old play casual games regularly. That's quite a lot of gamers (and quite a lot of money).

"Casual digital game play has truly become a pervasive part of the American lifestyle now that we can take our games with us anywhere and play them anytime," says Mari Baker, president and CEO of PlayFirst. "The popularity of emotionally engaging casual games is exploding due to the convenience factor mobile and social platforms bring to game players of both genders and all ages."

How pervasive has gaming become in America, exactly? The survey says 80 percent of gamers enjoy playing games more than watching movies, listening to music and reading books, newspapers or magazines. Now, that is huge. Diner Dash
"The face of gaming is evolving to a broader group more representative of the overall population," said president of Magid Advisors Mike Vorhaus. "Gaming is a cross-generational, cross-platform activity that's ubiquitous, yet requires unique and targeted experiences to be successful."

The study suggests that nearly two-thirds (87 percent) of casual gamers play on their PC or Mac computer (what, no love for Linux?). Breaking it down further, half of those surveyed play games on Facebook and only 28 percent play on their smart phones. With most smartphone games being free or just $0.99, it's surprising that this percentage isn't higher.

There also is some considerable overlap between those who play casual games on their computer and on Facebook (since one requires the other to play), but only 14 percent play casual games on all three platforms. Clearly, the push for cross-platform connectivity between Facebook and smartphones isn't unwarranted.

Lastly, preferences in gameplay differ between men and women, according to Frank Magid Associates. The study shows that 90 percent of women rank "entertaining" as the primary consideration when choosing a game while 77 percent look for games that are "easy to understand and play." On the other hand, 79 percent of men seek out games that are "challenging to finish" whereas three in four say that they prefer games that make them feel accomplished.

What happens you combine all of these elements into one game? You get Angry Birds, that's what.

FarmVille shows the first signs of Oktoberfest

FarmVille Oktoberfest Tent and German Clock Tower
Nothing says beer like Oktoberfest, and FarmVille's newest unreleased items -- Oktoberfest Tent and German Clock Tower -- show that the game is ready to jump into the festival's 200th year.

Since their launch of Limited Edition Germany items earlier this month, we knew this was bound to happen. But Oktoberfest isn't all about booze. It used to involve horse races, an agricultural show and carnival booths in its first century. So don't expect mountains of beer mugs just yet. Given Facebook policy, FarmVille will have to be family-friendly in what it decides to roll out for celebration on the farm.

PetVille: 5 free Pet Cash link good until midnight

We thought you guys wouldn't want to miss this -- 5 free Pet Cash from PetVille, and all you've gotta do is click here. For the curious, this was announced on the game's official Facebook fanpage, so we recommend making yourself a fan of the page for more offers. This is probably what Zynga wants, since there's no special reason attached to the giveaway.

One thing's for sure, you can't ever accuse PetVille of being stingy. Of all the Zynga games, and even Facebook games, that I've tried, PetVille has the most opportunities for players to earn premium game currency through just playing.

FarmVille: Free Tuscan Cow with Facebook Credit Redemption

FarmVille Free Tuscan Cow Gift
As a new promotion for using your Facebook Credits, FarmVille is offering a free Tuscan Cow! The Tuscan Cow was a past Farm Cash-only item that you can no longer purchase in the game. Previously, the Appaloosa Horse was offered. What do you think they'll use next?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

THQ working on two UFC social games thanks to extended contract

Ultimate Fighting Championship
The San Fernando Valley Business Journal reports that THQ, the folks behind the Red Faction franchise and the recent Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) games, has signed an extended agreement through 2018 with American sports promoter Zuffa LLC. While that's fine and dandy for all parties involved, what's most important is THQ's vice president of Core Games Danny Bilson's official statement:

    "We're very excited to extend our relationship with Zuffa and the Ultimate Fighting Championship." "Working closely together with Dana White and the incredible team at UFC, we plan to continue to deliver outstanding interactive UFC experiences to gamers around the world in all new ways, including social, mobile and brand extensions."

This must mean that Digital Chocolate's MMA Pro Fighter will finally have a worthy combatant to face in the octagon. While details on the upcoming social games are scarce, THQ also mentions that it now has the rights to bring UFC games to iPhone and iPad as well (so, no WWE for Facebook?). Soon you'll finally be able to beat up your bullies on even ground. Unless they all have this puppy; then you're probably out of luck.

Zynga faces class-action lawsuit for recent Facebook privacy breach

Remember that little problem the Wall Street Journal stumbled upon in several of Zynga's top ranking Facebook games like FarmVille? Well, the social gaming giant could very well pay the price... to over 200 million players as the company faces a class-action lawsuit brought by Nancy Graf of St. Paul, Minn., according to an Edelson McGuire LLC press release.

Backed by Michael Aschenbrener of Edelson McGuire and Kassra Nassiri of Nassiri & Jung LLP, Graf filed suit in San Francisco Federal Court yesterday under the claim that Zynga "collected the Facebook data of its 218 million users and shared it with advertisers and data brokers in violation of federal law and Zynga's contract with Facebook," according to Edelson McGuire.

Graf expects Zynga to provide both monetary relief and further protection from abuses of privacy to the company's loyal players, Edelson McGuire says. Aschenbrener adds, "This appears to be another example of an online company failing the American public with empty promises to respect individual privacy rights."

When Facebook completely shut down some Lolapps games, a smaller studio by comparison, for the entire weekend in response to the news, it was only a matter of time before somebody targeted the biggest potential offender. We've contacted Zynga for comment, so stay tuned for potential updates.

Update: Zynga replied with this official statement: "We believe that the complaint is without merit and we intend to defend against it vigorously."

Microsoft could be preparing for social games with Xbox.com update

Xbox.com update coming tomorrow
The Xbox Team's Major Nelson revealed that Xbox.com will undergo a massive overhaul tomorrow that includes a brand new design, an Avatar editor (finally!), a new message and request center and most importantly, brand new games to play right on the website. According to Major Nelson, these new, unannounced web games can be played over Xbox Live on either the new website or on Windows Phone 7.

Since this is Xbox Live, we'll make an educated guess that these games will have more use to you than just a few minutes of play time. It wouldn't make much sense for achievements and Gamerscore tracking not to find their way into these new games. And if FarmVille has already been confirmed for Windows Phone 7, who's to say other social games won't their way onto either platform? If you were in any doubt that Microsoft was serious about making Xbox Live a fully-featured social ecosystem for their devices, then we'll see tomorrow just what these "web games" will mean for the network.

Liberty Mutual promotes 'senior driving simulator' through Zynga's PetVille

PetVille: Liberty Mutual: Free Pet Cash
When I first opened up the Liberty Mutual promotion in the Get Pet Coins & Cash section of PetVille today, I expected 5 free Pet Cash (which I totally got, and you guys should grab it too) and some lazy mini-game on par with FarmVille's free Farm Cash Secretariat promo.
Liberty Mutual Driver Seat promo in PetVille
So imagine my surprise when I was treated to a competently done Flash game that (after I had run over a pedestrian and dented my front fender three times) led me to an even bigger, nicer Flash game -- nice enough to warrant a name, Driver Seat, and big enough to declare itself as "the world's first senior driving simulator." Say, what?
Liberty Mutual Driver Seat
It seems the whole point of Driver Seat is to set you up as the most terrible driver possible, then have you struggle with being a terrible driver. This is done so you'll develop sympathy for the plight of senior drivers and how old age makes driving suck, not just for the folks who share the road with them, but for them too, personally. When you start the full version of the game, which is available for free on the Liberty Mutual website here, the game asks you to choose an "impairment level".
Liberty Mutual asks for your impairment level
After you do that, you get to choose what location you wish to inflict your impaired driving skills on -- the Wilderness, Urban, Suburban, or the Outskirts. There's something quaint, and oddly humorous about this game. In the time I took to write this, I had left my 'impaired' vehicle unattended, thereby causing a long wall of cars to become stuck behind me. But they're all just politely waiting for me to move. I mean, where's the screaming, honking, cursing, and the death threats?

So yeah, it's cute and I got my free Pet Cash, but I don't really get the point. The game just isn't distinctive or realistic enough. It looks sleek, but feels gimmicky and runs (metaphorically) bloodless scenarios. In fact, Driver Seat can probably be repackaged to raise social awareness on the dangers of drunken driving with better results. You just have to slip in some factoids on Blood Alcohol Content. But with senior citizens, you can't get any more specific than "impairment levels".

Restaurant City's Tiffin Take Away will be going away in three days

Playfish seems to have caught onto the success of limited edition items in other games, as they have created a similar system in Restaurant City, where each new theme contains at least one especially limited (but arguably very worthwhile) item.

For this week's Bollywood theme, we see the release of the Tiffin Take Away, a small counter where customers can come in and purchase small containers of food, earning you a continuous profit over time. The machine functions as an arcade machine does - all you'll need to do is place the item in your restaurant, and then check back often to collect your profits. All of the work of actually collecting said profits is automated. That being said, this item seems to have great money-making potential for those that have the time to frequently play the game, as you can earn 850 coins every 2 hours. For a comparison, items like a soda vending machine only earn 300 coins, in double the time.

That being said, such convenience doesn't come cheap, as the Tiffin Take Away stand costs 40 Playfish Cash. In addition, the item will only be available in the store for 3 days (as of this writing), so you won't have forever to earn up the required premium currency. The moral of this story is that interested users should shop now, and shop fast.

Restaurant City: Three Bollywood-inspired meals will tantalize your taste buds

As we've told you earlier this evening, this week's item theme in Restaurant City is Bollywood, and with that comes the addition of new Indian themed dishes in the game. There are three new dishes to serve to your guests, including two entrees and one drink.

The first entree is the Chicken Korma, which can be learned with four ingredients: Chicken, Coconut, Chili, and Onion. Fortunately, this isn't a limited time recipe, so luckily, tracking down a coconut (or ten, if you'd like to master the dish) can be done at your leisure.

The other available entree is the Lamb Biryani. It also takes four ingredients to learn, but they are very different from that of the other dish: Rice, Raisins, Saffron, and Lamb. Again, this seems to be a permanent addition to the game, so you can search for the missing ingredients (where applicable) whenever you want.

Finally, the drink is the Mango Lassi, a tropical new offering that takes just three ingredients to learn: Milk, Cream, and Mango. Like the other two recipes, this one isn't limited, so take your time in learning it.

All told, it's nice to see Playfish releasing standard recipes into the game's menu that don't require users to panic and rush to collect the ingredients necessary to learn them. We'll be sure to let you know if that continues to be the case in the future.

Social City: Sign up for Disney's Movie Club to receive 175 City Bucks

Disney is looking to make more of their acquisition of Playdom this week, by launching a new promotion (via Playdom's partnership with Trial Pay) in Social City, offering users a chance to receive a whopping gift of 175 City Bucks, just for signing up for Disney's Movie Club. This is an absolutely massive amount of City Bucks, as anyone who's played the game can attest to (the game tends to offer less free points than others). However, there's a catch.

For those that are unfamiliar, this won't be a free deal, and it will cost you real-world money in the long run. Disney's Movie Club allows you to purchase Disney DVDs, sometimes at discounted prices, but you'll need to sign up for a long term commitment with the service in order to be eligible. At this time, the club is offering 4 DVD's for $1.99 each, but you'll need to purchase at least 5 more movies within the next 24 months, presumably at full price, to be eligible.

It's a hassle many players may not be willing to put up with, but with the chance of earning 175 City Bucks, if you're already a fan of Disney, or had been toying with the idea of joining the movie club in the past, this might be something to look into.

Happy Pets Monkey Nanny will take care of your Baby Baskets for you

First there was the Monkey Butler, and now, CrowdStar has released the Monkey Nanny in Happy Pets. This Monkey Nanny is a limited edition item, being available in a quantity of almost 1500 units as of this writing.

If you are willing to shell out the insane price of 348 Facebook Credits (that's a whopping $34.80 US), you can use the Monkey Nanny to permanently cut all of your baby baskets' "hatching times" by half. That is, if you'd normally wait two days for a baby pet to appear, the time would be cut to a single day, as an example.

In addition, the Monkey Nanny will feed all of your Baby Baskets that reside in a single room with one click - simply click o the Feed Baskets button from within the Monkey Nanny menu. Finally, the Monkey Nanny is breedable, but unfortunately will only produce a regular monkey (no mass production of little nannies).

Even though the Monkey Nanny has a real function, it still is an actual pet, and will require feeding and proper care. It will grow to an adult after four days, so long as it has been fed regularly at a rate of at least once every 12 hours.

Just as with the Monkey Butler, this pet is a serious investment, and we question how many people will actually shell out almost $35 to purchase a virtual animal, especially with the Christmas season rapidly approaching. Perhaps we're wrong, but I suppose only time will tell.

Happy Pets Camouflage Pets: Can you spot 'em?

We've seen some pretty interesting themed pets released in Happy Pets over the months, and this newest theme is no exception. CrowdStar has released a series of six G.I. pets, and we can only assume that these pets-in-military-colors have been added to the game in anticipation of the upcoming Veterans Day holiday (either that, or it's an incredible coincidence).

Either way, you won't have to be a military veteran to purchase these pets. As of this writing, there are still six pets to choose from - G.I. versions of (brown and green camouflaged) Pandas, Dogs, Kitties, Monkeys, Warrior Dragons, and Pegacorns (Unicorn/Pegasus combos).

Depending on the pet you choose, you'll find yourself spending anywhere from 48 to 70 Facebook Credits ($4.80 - $7.00 US). Also, since these are all different species of pets, they all come with their own needs in terms of proper care and upbringing, so keep their growth and feeding times in mind when deciding which pet to purchase.

As you might expect, these pets are limited edition, and are currently available in quantities ranging from just over 500 units (Panda and Dog) to over 1,100 (the Pegacorn). That being said, once you've made up your mind about which pet (if any) you want to purchase, shop fast so you don't miss your chance at them!

Zynga and American Express team up for virtual Membership Rewards

    AMEX Lightning Stove     Ridable Roadster
American Express wants to be in your virtual wallet and it's joined forces with the king of social gaming to make it happen. FarmVille creator Zynga announced today that it has made an industry first in teaming up with American Express to provide virtual goods through the credit card provider's Membership Rewards Program. Card members can now use their Membership Reward Points toward buying goods in Zynga's Facebook games as well as toward physical and virtual Zynga Game Cards.

"Our partnership with American Express marks the first time that virtual goods are available for purchase with rewards points and reinforces our commitment to offer consumers meaningful experiences that enhance their game play,”" says Vishal Makhijani, Zynga's SVP of Business Operations.

Take a look at some of the items you can buy with points after the break.
Purple Cow     Robot Boy     Outdoor Fountain
The games included in the deal are FarmVille, FrontierVille, PetVille, YoVille, Treasure Isle and Café World with items available for FarmVille, Cafe World and YoVille immediately. All you need to do type "Zynga" into the keyword search box on the Membership Rewards website to find all of the exclusive items available through points, some of which include:

FarmVille:
-Manx Cat (435 points)
-Purple Cow (540 points)

Cafe World:
-Outdoor Fountain (1,080 points)
-AMEX Lightning Stove (1,945 points)

YoVille:
-Ridable Import Roadster (755 points)
-Animated Robot Boy and Girl (325 points each)

While there isn't exactly a wide selection right now, 20 more items are on the way Dec. 6 including FrontierVille (including those golden items, so no Gold Rush just yet) and Treasure Isle items, according to Zynga and American Express. Finally, a way to justify buying virtual goods without actually spending money has arrived. Just don't go overboard, OK?

The next Facebook MMO will take social gamers to 'A Mystical Land'

A Mysitcal Land gameplay
And like brave adventurers to yet another randomly placed, dark and dank dungeon, here come the MMOs. Oregon-based developer Mad Otter Games and Berlin games publishers Neonga announced today the fruit of their recent partnership is a 3D Facebook MMO. Titled "A Mystical Land", the game is a traditional fantasy-MMO through and through, but with a social twist. For instance, it will include several common class archetypes like Wizards, Warriors and Healers while infusing social and sharing mechanics throughout. And what would a traditional fantasy MMO be without monsters to slay, quests to complete and loot to collect? Well, Mad Otter claims to have that and more in spades.

However, Neonga claims that the game will be much more approachable than traditional MMOs have been in the past with casual gaming elements like crafting, fishing and gardening. (They had to fit it in somewhere, didn't they?) "Mad Otter has strived to keep 'A Mystical Land' easy to play and understand for players, while layering the deeper gameplay so that players discover it as they become familiar with the game," Mad Otter CEO Damon Slye says.

While the game will be playable on multiple platforms aside from Facebook including mobile devices, players will be able to publish their achievements and find their Facebook friends through Facebook Connect. And although this certainly isn't the first 3D MMO announced for Facebook, it could very well be the first designed specifically around the platform from scratch. Mad Otter is accepting beta test applications right now for next year, so trek on over if you want to journey to A Mystical Land in 2011.

The FrontierVille Christmas Items shopping spree begins today

Be ready to whip out those virtual shopping carts as Zynga has finally released a long list of Christmas decorations in FrontierVille. Hinted at earlier this week, there are items available that go for both coins and Horseshoes. Here's a full list of what you'll find in the Market:

- Snow Fox: 2375 coins
- Pile o' Snowballs: 5130 coins
- Candy Cane Fence: 475 coins, 50 wood
- Luminaire: 1805 coins
- Lawn buck: 2565 coins, 50 wood
- Yellow Snow: 2280 coins, 20 wood
- Tangled Lights: 3230 coins
- Lighted Sign: 2280 coins, 20 wood
- Mistletoe: 40 Horseshoes
- Santa's Chair: 25 Horseshoes
- Lawn Rudolph: 6 Horseshoes
- Train Set: 23 Horseshoes
- Red Luminaire: 5 Horseshoes
- Green Luminaire: 5 Horseshoes
- Red Nutcracker: 18 Horseshoes
- Green Nutcracker: 18 Horseshoes
- Sack o' Gifts: 22 Horseshoes
- Lawn Deer: 40 Horseshoes
- Snow Jack: 40 Horseshoes

These items will be here well past the holidays and into next year (38 days, to be exact), so that should give you some time to recover after this year's shopping season. Well, we mean financially--if you end up drinking a tad too much eggnog, not much we can do for you there.

FrontierVille Holiday Mystery Animals adorably appear on the scene

    Antlers Penguin     Santa Hat Sugar Glider
While we discovered them last week, the Holiday Mystery Animals in FrontierVille have been MIA until now. Thankfully, Zynga just introduced the three brand new varieties of Mystery Animals: Penguins, Polar Bears and Sugar Gliders (Brandy hit that one right on the nose). Each Mystery Animal Crate will cost 50 Horseshoes, or around $6, and will have a chance of containing one of nine animals:

    Pink, White or Yellow Polar Bear
    Black, Blue or White Penguin
    Black, Brown or White Sugar Glider


While it appears that you can't buy some of these Mystery Animals individually like before, there are three much more festive Mystery Animals available as reward from Part III of the recently released Winter's a Comin' Goals. They include the Antlers Penguin, Bow Polar Bear and Santa Hat Sugar Glider. Although it's far more work to get to that point repeatedly, at least these special Mystery Animals only cost a few thousand coins. Like the rest of the FrontierVille Christmas Item collection, these cutesy critters will be on the homestead for another 37 days. So, feel free to take your time collecting these, but make sure you have cash leftover to buy your loved ones a little somethin', will ya?

FrontierVille's Snowy Land: Cover your homestead in frosty flakes

Fortunately, Zynga is not referring to the bladed cereal of death that plagues children around the globe. What it does mean, however, is the opportunity to transform your homestead into a winter wonderland thanks to the Snowy Land option in the FrontierVille Market. This new item requires you to either invite 10 new friends or unlock it early with a fat 30 Horseshoes.

Snowy Land includes the option to "Skip" the friend requirement, but we imagine this will lock you out of adding friends to make this item available. If you're going the traditional route, FrontierVille Info recommends you add friends through the option in the Market to make sure they count toward unlocking the item. With the amount of Holiday-themed content that's been added over the past few days, it's only fitting that you do it up in wintry style.

Facebook Friend Guide: How to find neighbors to play games with

Playing Facebook games is a lot more fun when you have friends who are playing alongside you. Couple this with the fact that many games incentivize you for having more neighbors, and it can make for a pretty terrible gaming experience if none of your friends want to play. Facebook isn't really designed to allow you to meet new people; Facebook's core intentions were to connect you with the people and acquaintances that you already know. This can make it challenging to find new friends to game with on Facebook, so we have a few tips that will help you get more friends on Facebook to play games with you.

Official game message boards

One of the best places to find other people to game with is on the game's official message boards which are maintained by the developer. On these forums, you can register and post in "add me" threads where other players will find them. If you go this route, remember to include a link to your Facebook profile otherwise they will not be able to add you as a friend. You also should ask them to put in the friend request what game(s) they play, so that you know who they are when they add you as a friend. You should be able to look through the threads and find friends to add as well.

On the wall of the game's fan page

If you go to the fan page for the game that you wish to find friends for, you can comment on the status messages, wall, and review page with "add me". You will see many other people doing this as well, so you can feel free to add them as friends. This is probably the fastest way to find friends. Sometimes, simply clicking "like" on a game's wall post is enough to cause a barrage of friend requests to fly in from all angles.

In "Add Me" groups

Most games (at least the popular ones) on Facebook have various "Add Me" groups that you can join to find other people to play that game with. You will have to join the group, but once you have joined you have unlocked a ton of people who play the game game as you. It's a nice way to exchange tips and tricks on the games too. See FarmVilleAddMe for an example of this.

On Games.com!

Another perfect way to find friends to game with is by commenting on this post! Leave a comment with your Facebook profile link and tell others what games you play. There's a good chance you'll find plenty of friends this way!

General Tips and Warnings:

    Remember that if you post on forums and external sites, you will have to delete your posts in the future if you want people to stop adding you as a friend.
    When you're adding strangers, it's best to make a special Facebook list/group for them and do not share any personal information or non-gaming status messages with them.
    It is possible that spammers will add you, so use careful consideration when accepting friend requests.

Do you have any other tips for finding friends on Facebook?

FarmVille Animals: Ornament Reindeer & a Partridge in a pear tree (sort of)

Ok, so maybe not IN a Pear Tree exactly, but a Partridge nonetheless... Wait, where was I? That's right - It's a Wednesday, and in the Holiday season in FarmVille, that means we've seen a new update hit the game, which has brought with it a couple of new animals!

The new animals are the Ornament Reindeer and the aforementioned Partridge. Unfortunately, both cost Farm Cash, so I hope you've been saving up for some new items, or that you aren't opposed to simply purchasing Cash outright so that you can enjoy their holiday festiveness on your own farm.

The Ornament Reindeer costs 16 Farm Cash, while the Partridge costs 12 Farm Cash. Both animals can be harvested from once every two days, and you'll receive 80 and 92 coins, respectively, every time you collect. If you're looking for a quick and easy boost to your experience point total in the game, you should also look into these two new animals, as the Reindeer rewards 1600 bonus XP while the Partridge offers 1200.

Both of these animals will be available in the game for the next nine days, at which point they will expire, and likely won't be seen again until the Winter Holiday celebration in 2011, if at all. Shop fast if you want to collect these new animals before it's too late!

FarmVille Icicle Cottage is hot and cold at the same time

If you've gotten into the recent Icy theme in FarmVille, that has been released as a sort of sub-theme in the Winter Holiday set of limited edition items (see our Holiday Tree coverage for more items made out of ice), you'll be happy to know that a new building has been released in tonight's FarmVille update that fits in with this chilly theme.

The building is the Icicle Cottage, but unfortunately for those users unwilling to purchase premium currency, the Icicle Cottage is premium, and will set you back 25 Farm Cash. For that price, you'll receive the fairly large house (much larger than your avatar), and 2,500 free experience points as a bonus.

For those users that have are interested in decorating all of their items with Lights and Snow (either by purchasing the decorations from the market, or earning them through the Winter Wonderland Quest Set), the Icicle Cottage has been programmed to allow for these extra decorations. Sure, it won't entirely cover up the fact that the cottage is made out of ice, but it will make things look a bit more festive, and we can't argue with that.

Interestingly, this item has an 18 day time limit in the store, while the other Winter Holiday buildings are down to just nine. This is presumably due to the fact that the building doesn't necessary scream "Holiday," so Zynga would want to allow users a longer time to purchase it for general Winter decorating. That's our theory anyway.

FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Gingerbread Gnome, Tinsel Arch, Polar Bear Cave & More

In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the massive Winter Holiday theme growing by six new items, at least in terms of decorations. Most of these decorations are brand new to the game, for this year's celebration, but there is one that is a re-release from last year. We'll get to that in a minute.

First, let's take a look at the new items, shall we? First is the Gingerbread Gnomes, a premium item available for 18 Farm Cash. Is it just me, or does this guy look more creepy than cute? Perhaps if his eyes were more realistic, rather than just being hollow white dots I wouldn't get such a ghostly feeling from the Gnome, but alas. This gnome will provide you with 1800 experience points if you choose to splurge on him.

Other premium items are the Polar Bear Cave and White Animals statue, which cost 25 and 12 Farm Cash, respectively. The Polar Bear Cave seems to deserve its high price, as it is a highly detailed item, with trees and snowbanks and an animated bear that appears at the mouth of the cave. Meanwhile, the White Animals statue has a Polar Bear and two Penguins posed ever so cheerfully.

For the standard items, you can now pick up individual pieces of Tinsel Fencing (plain white fencing with tinsel garland draped on each piece) for 5,000 coins, or a full Tinsel Arch (what looks to be the Holly Arch with tinsel added) for 10,000 coins. As for the item that has made a return from the Winter Holiday celebration in 2009, it is the Happy Holidays sign, a very large sign that will be available seven days longer than these other new additions, at a full 16 days. In that time, you can purchase the sign for the interesting price of 4,800 coins, and we have to say that's definitely worth it.

Aside from the Happy Holiday sign, the rest of these decorations will only be around for the next nine days, which makes this farmer just a bit sad. I know I'm not alone when I say that I wouldn't mind if this theme went on longer than that, but I suppose we'll just have to enjoy the true Holiday time in FarmVille while we can.

FrontierVille and Water.org: Donate $5 and wrangle a Water Bison

Did you know that just $25 can bring one person on the planet clean water for a lifetime? Now, multiply that (roughly) by the 30.5 million FrontierVille players and we could provide fresh, clean water to millions. Zynga is teaming up with Water.org, an international non-profit founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, this Christmas to remind us spoiled Americans that a horribly large portion of the world's population doesn't have the same access to amenities we consider commonplace.

And to feel a little less like spoiled brats, you can donate $5 in the form of 50 Facebook Credits to Water.org to introduce an adorable, doe-eyed Water Bison to your stable on the homestead. And take comfort in knowing that 100 percent of all proceeds from this charity event will go directly to Water.org. That is, the nearly 1 billion people that lack what should be a birthright: clean water. And besides, how can you resist those big ole eyes and pink nose?

MapleStory Adventures hits over 3M players, new classes coming soon

You'd think an astronomical divorce rate would scare players away, but nay. Nexon announced today that its first crack at Facebook games, MapleStory Adventures, has touched the chibi-loving hearts of over 3.2 million monthly players. While this number pales in comparison to the 100 million players that have jumped into the original game, it's impressive considering.

But not necessarily surprising. First of all, have you ever met a MapleStory fan ... or should I say fanatic? Second, the "click things and cute things happen" approach could certainly keep players hooked. Now that the Facebook version has roped in a few million, we imagine the Korean studio looks to bring its 414,000 daily players, according to AppData, up closer to six digits.

And what do you know, the company just announced that new classes are coming to MapleStory Adventures to give players more variety to work with than merely "Magician" and "Warrior." (Admittedly, classes are a bit lean at the moment.) While Nexon didn't reveal any specifics, we hope the new classes somehow involve adorable dragons ... somehow.

In addition to the recently-introduced Sky Scraper area, Nexon plans to add multi-character slots, personal spaces that players can customize and to localize MapleStory Adventures in Spanish, French, German, Chinese and more. In short, this is Nexon's way of saying: Stay tuned, because there is plenty more to come. We guess some 400,000 of you have no issue with that.

New study finds Facebook games might do the economy good

The Facebook Economy
The success of Facebook gaming goes beyond Facebook. Based on an economic impact study released today (courtesy of the University of Maryland), Facebook games, applications, and social plugins (e.g. "Like" buttons, fan pages, Facebook Connect, etc.) are responsible for adding somewhere from 182,744 to 235,644 full-time jobs, and $12.19 billion to $15.71 billion into the US economy.

Seeing that the Facebook platform has only been around since May 2007, the growth has been tremendous. The study cites Zynga as an example as the most successful venture on the Facebook platform, primarily thanks to hits like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Words With Friends. Zynga itself has 2,000 employees with the company valued at $15 to $20 billion. Whereas, Playfish was bought by EA for $300 million, and Playdom was bought by Disney for $763.2 million.

The study, created by professors of the Center for Digital Innovation, Technology, and Strategy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, moves on from counting the numbers of direct employment to uncovering jobs indirectly created by Facebook apps. It then estimates the economic value of all those jobs, which means analyzing salaries and benefits. Still skeptical? They're calling it the "Facebook App Economy" and you can read all about it here.

DC Universe Online: Pound on bad guys for free starting next month

If you've always wanted to try out Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe online (on either PS3 or PC), but didn't want to pay actual money to do so, you'll be happy to know that you'll soon be able to access "the entire game" for free starting next month. As reported by PCWorld, this switch to a freemium pricing plan will still allow users to purchase premium content, but all of the open world gameplay, missions, game updates and patches will be free.

To be specific, DC Universe Online will have three different levels of access. The first and completely free level, gives players access to create just two characters and join a league with other players. From there, the Premium level of users requires that a player spend at least $5 in real money in the game's store to be given that Premium player status for life. This gives them access to larger inventory space, the ability to create more characters and the ability to trade items with others. Finally, if you still want the subscription plan, you can be a Legendary player, paying around $15 a month for access to even more character and inventory slots, along with access to the game's DLC packages at no additional cost. There are plenty of other differences between the three gameplay levels; head over here to check them out.

DC Universe Online is just the latest of many once entirely paid-sub games to go free-to-play in some form. While the most noteworthy case has arguably been World of Warcraft's free-to-play setup for users up to level 20, this is just another case where social and casual players are given an opportunity to break away from Facebook simulators and jump into the world of true MMOs. While the two worlds are (for the most part) entirely different, a bigger selection is definitely not a bad thing.

Zynga gives free rides to FarmVille Lighthouse Cove starting today

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove screen
Oh, you patient ones. Now is finally the time to see if waiting in the freebie line was worth it. For those FarmVille players that declined to fork up 55 Farm Cash ($10 USD, to be exact), the Lighthouse Cove expansion will be available to all starting today. We assume, as with all changes or major releases by Zynga, that this release will be a slow roll-out.

Just like players did early last week, they will hop on a sail boat to a New England-esque coastal farming village. Unfortunately, the area has been ravaged by a brutal storm, and Brenda--the town's resident widow--has enlisted you to help restore it. You'll slowly level up your Lighthouse by repairing the lighthouse, dock and more through quests.

However, free players will not receive the exclusive quests and items given to those who put up the dough. Regardless there looks to be a ton of content here with a larger focus on building a village than simply farming crops. For instance, you'll have fewer plots to farm on that unlock over time in Lighthouse Cove, though those crops yield far more coins, XP and Mastery.

In addition to farming, you can harvest the Cove once its restored for ingredients to use in Restaurant recipes like clams and lobster for dishes like New England Clam Chowder and Lobster Rolls. Another interesting change with FarmVille LC in comparison to its first expansion, English Countryside, is that all quests will be timed this time around.

Gallery: FarmVille Lighthouse Cove
And that includes the bonus quests, courtesy of Brenda. Because quests were persistent throughout FarmVille EC, it was easy for friends to speed ahead or slip behind one another in their progress. "It was harder for players to work on the same thing in English Countryside," FarmVille GM Nate Etter explains.

FarmVille Sailor CalfDuring an early look of the game, Etter told us that the team was going for "a FarmVille meets Martha's Vineyard style." "Players seem to love water, which was a major source of inspiration for Lighthouse Cove," Etter recalls. "I think we're constantly listening to players, [and] that will govern where FarmVille will go."

So, while you're enjoying the serene orange glow and brisk autumn breeze of Lighthouse Cove (imagination, people), try to think up where you would like to go next, and take it to the Facebook page or forums--they're all ears. As for why the second expansion was released early to players who paid Farm Cash, a Zynga representative told us, "We have so many passionate players, that we wanted to offer them a first look at the game."

Well, patience has its payoffs, my friends. Namely, it saves you money. So, enjoy that peace of mind, and increase that peace in FarmVille's Lighthouse Cove. Good things come to those who (choose to) wait--that's especially because we have a bevy of content to get you through your first several hours in FarmVille LC. Enjoy.

Baseball Superstars: The League goes for a grand slam on Facebook

Just in time for the playoff season in the states (Philadelphia NL East Champs! ... sorry), Gamevil has released its very own baseball simulator on Facebook, Baseball Superstars: The League. The Korean and Los Angeles-based developer best known for the Zenonia series of RPGs (role-playing games) on the iPhone released this social version of its hit baseball sims on iOS.

Of course, EA Sports and Playfish have already staked their claim to the sub genre on Facebook with World Series Superstars, but already Gamevil has one thing going for it: global multiplayer. That's right, once you choose your team's name, logo and specialty between Power, Accuracy and Speed, you can jump into games immediately with anyone playing the game.

While you will certainly need Facebook friends to play in Exhibition games, those looking for a fast and easy Quick Play game, the world's digital baseball managers await you. There's also a Home Run Derby mode as well as full-blown tournaments, which are coming soon. And the gameplay is surprisingly interactive, having players actually swing at pitches with clicks.
Baseball Superstars Logo
Baseball Superstars features a full-blown pitching system as well, in which players select from a variety of pitches and choose exactly where they land in or around the strike zone. There are also a number of commands you can give to base runners to attempt to steal bases. All in all, this looks like an impressively full-featured baseball game on Facebook at launch.
While much of the game has players tweaking their stadiums like most sports games on Facebook, it's the actually Quick Plays and Exhibition games that are the meat and potatoes of Baseball Superstars, and what could make this game a competitor to existing social sports games. "It builds upon our years of strategic advances in the global games market, and shows that we can adapt and offer a unique yet competitive social games experience," VP and head of Gamevil USA Kyu Lee said in a release.
Baseball Superstars gameplay
Baseball Superstars is just Gamevil's second release on Facebook after Train City, which didn't do so hot, according to AppData. Considering the hype train that is US baseball in September and October, baseball fans (the closet Facebook game-loving ones, at least) are going to be on the hunt for a new experience on Facebook.

And it looks like Gamevil will be there to meet them with a Facebook game that actually focuses on, you know, the baseball? Hey, the second time can still be a charm, too, right?

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in AT&T U-verse promotion

A new free Farm Cash promotion has started appearing on some farms of US-based FarmVille players today, with this newest promotion being from AT&T U-verse. As usual, you'll be able to activate this activity by clicking on the Sponsored Link [pictured] that will appear below your FarmVille gameplay area. Note: if you don't see the promotion, it's likely that it is not live on your own account yet, so keep checking back.

The promotion itself will launch in a new window, where you'll be asked what your favorite AT&T U-verse feature is (from a selection of five choices). As usual, answer any way you'd like and hit the "Next" button to complete the activity and be given your 2 free Farm Cash.

After earning your reward and closing this window, you should see your Farm Cash total automatically increase by two, but if not, a simple refresh of the game should force the new Farm Cash to load into your game.

The Iced Cliff released yesterday costs only 2 Farm Cash - will you use this prize to purchase that item, or do you have something else in mind for your free premium currency?

Cafe World Honors Goals: Everything you need to know

While we knew that a new set of Graduation goals had been released in Cafe World at the end of last week, apparently a set of two more goals also slipped into the "active" category as well. With all of the missions one user could currently have going on their account, it's easy for even us to get overwhelmed (my cafe is a mess, let me tell you).

Regardless, we now know that the "Graduate With Honors" goal released last week, upon completion, spawns two new "Honors" goals for you to complete. We have all of the information about how you'll be able to finish these goals (and perhaps even why you would want to) behind the break, so meet us there to get started.

The first of these two goals is the Teacher's Pet goal. It requires you to complete three tasks:

Serve 75 dishes
Earn 250,000 coins
Visit 10 friends

Depending on your level in the game, this mission could be either incredibly easy or incredibly difficult. Over time though, all of these tasks are completable, with unfortunate no real work-arounds being available. Once you complete this mission, you'll earn 500 Cafe Points and 1,000 coins.

This unlocks the second and final task in the Honor goal series, which is called "Honors Pastry Practice." This mission requires you to do just two things. I feel now would be a good time to remind you guys that I'm just the messenger.

Ask for 20 Puff Pastries
Serve 200 Puff Pastries from the Gift Box

Yes, you read that right - ask for 20 Puff Pastries - another item in the game that you must ask your friends for. Whether you're sick of bugging your friends for items, or whether you have tons of active neighbors that you can easily ask, this isn't so much the issue here. As we've spoke of in the past, the new issue with Cafe World goals seems to be the fact that there are simply so darn many of them to complete, that it's almost impossible to ask for these items, as you can't get the goal menu to appear in the first place!

If you're suffering from this problem (it's not a glitch; rather a design choice that is now catching up with Zynga), the only real suggestion we can offer is to clear out other missions that are "covering" this one up, so that you can get to the "ask" button to ask for those Puff Pastries.

Mission completed, you'll receive the Honors Diploma, another decorative item that will show off your now honors-graduate status to your friends.

We'll make sure you're the first to know complete details about the Specialty Cookbook (available after completing the entirety of the Cooking Academy goals) once it has been opened in full. In the meantime, let us know what you think of these new missions in Cafe World? Have you given up on the Cooking Academy until you can clear out other goals?

Wishful Features: A mission select screen in Cafe World

We've done quite a few Wishful Features now, and even a few in Cafe World, but perhaps no feature is more wanted - nay, necessary - in the game at this point than a mission / goal selection menu.

With new goals launching in the game on a weekly, or even daily basis in some instances, along with new Catering Jobs, building projects, decorations and the like - well, it can get pretty hectic in the kitchen, trying to keep track of which mission to complete next, or even what tasks are required for those goals.

This problem really comes about by the fact that you can have a slew of missions active on your account at once (that is, goals that you have yet to complete), but can only see the icons for three or four of them along the right-hand side of your screen. What if you have more than five goals, or what if you wanted to complete the game's newest goals, but literally couldn't see them because they were covered up by the set of goals that the game automatically displays to you.

Sure, there is a bit of a workaround for this in some cases - if the mission that is hidden contains a portion that you can complete in your own cafe, you can quickly click on the black box that appears in the top left corner of the screen, showing you your progress in that mission, which will effectively force the quest window to pop up for you to view, but if the goal in question contains nothing but collection events, where you'll need to collect items from friends, there is no way currently to make that window pop up. That being the case, there is then no way to complete that mission, as you'll never get to the "ask" button to be able to ask for the items that you need. It's a vicious cycle, as I hope I've made clear.

This entire situation screams for a solution from Zynga, in the form of a mission select screen - a screen that would show you the icons for every single goal you have active on your game, allowing you to click on a particular icon and see that quest's goals. FrontierVille suffered from the same sort of issue earlier this year, and the developer launched a mission select screen in that game, so why can't they add one here? Users have been voicing their opinions on the game's fan page, on the official Cafe World forums, and even right here on Games.com - The Blog! Has all of this attention finally caused Zynga to give us something that is so desperately wanted, and in fact needed in the game? Only time will tell, but we hope that that's the case.

Facebook gives game developers your home address and phone number

No, this isn't a scam - yes, this is something that might seem relatively bizzarre and completely fake, but is unfortunately 100% true. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in a recent Facebook update (revealed on the official Facebook Developer Blog), all app developers (that's every single developer - not just a few) now have the ability to access your current address and mobile phone number when you add a new third-party application to your account on Facebook.

This situation is actually a bit complicated, so bear with us. From now on, the "Request for Permission" box that all users see when adding new third-party applications will have a new section entitled "Access my contact information," which lists specifically your current address and mobile phone number. Not every game will have this information being requested - the change here is that application developers can now add that stipulation in. That being the case, when you click "Allow," you are actually giving the developer the right to have this information, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Currently, there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid granting this permission to developers, as Facebook has been the one to grant them access in the first place, however, if you remove this personally identifiable information from your account, then all these developers will have access to is a blank line.

If you're worried that you have this sort of information on your account, which is now free for the taking (who knows what kind of sinister things they could do?), meet us behind the break for a guide on how to find it, and remove it.
First, let's tackle the phone number, as it's likely the one that most users would have. The biggest area of concern will be on your Facebook Account Settings. You can browse there by clicking on Account in the top right corner of the screen and then clicking on "Account Settings" from the drop down menu.

From there, click on the "Mobile" tab at the top of the screen.

Whether or not you have your phone number activated will be pretty obvious, as you will see your phone number, and your cell phone provider listed at the top of this tab. If you've activated this service (receiving text messages when you receive friend requests, wall posts, and the like), removing this phone number will unfortunately remove those text messages as well, but in the interest of your privacy, this is probably a good idea to do. Simply click to remove the number from your account. It would also be smart to refresh the page, just to make sure it saved.

However, if you've never activated a cell phone on your Facebook account, you'll see a line saying "Activate a Phone." You're good to go to the next step.

Your phone number can also be displayed on your public profile, if you've chosen to add it there for your friends to see. Sure, this is convenient for your friends to be able to contact you easily, even outside of Facebook, but again, privacy should come first, should it not?

This phone number and your address can be found and removed in the same location. First, click on the Facebook logo in the top left corner of any screen on Facebook to be taken to the home page (where you read your News Feed). Click on "Edit My Profile," which is underneath your name and beside your small profile picture in the top left corner of the screen.

From there, click on Contact information in the side-menu.

Your home address and mobile phone number (along with any other number) would be shown here, if you have added it to your profile. Simply clear these fields completely, and click "Save Changes" to remove them from your account entirely.

And there you have it! A few simple steps that will remove you from this new threat to your privacy on Facebook. With the backlash that is sure to erupt from this change, we're hoping Facebook will reconsider offering up such important and personal information to developers, but for now, make sure to keep your account safe by following the steps we outlined above.

Do you think it's acceptable for Facebook to be offering this personal information to app developers? Will you stop adding new games to avoid it?

Train City: It's like CityVille ... with more trains

Train City. The name basically sums up the entirety of what you'll find in LIFO Interactive and Gamevil's Facebook game Train City. The title is your run-of-the-mill city-building simulator, but with a major focus on the train track that runs through the center of your town.

Building the city itself is your basic arrangement - you'll purchase homes, offices, community buildings and the like to give your citizens a place to eat, sleep and have fun. Your businesses will earn "taxes" for your city overtime, which must be collected by clicking on the building when it has a symbol of coins above it. As you level up, you'll unlock new items to add to your town, with larger houses adding more population to your town, and more expensive businesses offering up more tax over time.

Where the gameplay tries to be unique is in the inclusion of your city's train. Your train track can be customized in any way you'd like, to take either a completely scenic route around your businesses and homes, or to take a direct, square root around the city - the choice is yours. Whatever the case, you'll need to set your train into motion by hiring a conductor, with conductors lasting different amounts of time (ranging from three minutes to two days), depending on how long you'd like to leave the game before coming back to collect the profits from your train's many passengers.

Other in-game elements are fairly light (as is the whole game, really), and include a quest system that sees you collecting taxes from specific businesses, purchasing particular buildings before others, and so on, as well as both collection and achievement features. Collection items appear when collecting taxes from your businesses, while achievements are earned based on your overall activities in the game - complete any one task enough times, and you're likely to earn them all.

For social features, you can visit your friends' cities as a "Tourist," allowing you to choose from earning either bonus happiness for the citizens of your town, or bonus population for your town. The opposite of your choice is what your friend will receive in return. You can also send your friends free gifts, like new businesses, homes, and decorative items.

All in all, Train City isthe kind of li ght game that might suit someone who is fine with only playing a game for one or two minutes at a time.

FarmVille Sneak Peek: Unreleased Dexter Cow and Dexter Calf

Tonight's FarmVille update brought along another unreleased animal, and we have the exclusive information for you about this adorable little critter. The Dexter Cow and Dexter Calf are the latest two breeds of cow to be eventually coming to FarmVille. Dexter Cattle are a real breed, they are a small European breed of cow. They originated in Ireland, and were considered a rare breed of cow until recently.


The Dexter Cow and Dexter Calf are not guaranteed to make it into FarmVille, however there is a pretty good chance we'll be seeing them wander into the game within the next week or so.

What other breeds of cattle would you like to see in FarmVille? What do you think happens when they run out of cows to add?

Game of the Day: Sudoku Mega

The game of the day wants to help keep your gray matter mutting along. Sudoku Mega is sudoku on steroids! The popular puzzle gets an exciting twist that ups the challenge ante. Complete the grid so that each column, row, and 4x4 square contains the numbers 1-9 and the letters A-G. Featuring a new puzzle every day, in-game hints, and the ability to save your progress, Sudoku Mega is the biggest, baddest Sudoku of them all! Come back everyday for a new puzzle!
Click--> play Sudoku Mega

Important side note: Just by playing The Game of the Day you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a FlipCam HD. You don't need to do anything else, just play! The more you play, the more chances you have to win. For more information on the Game of Day check out the official Game of the Day hub.

Zynga is the second most valuable game company in the world

Big Money
OK, Zynga, we get it. You're insanely huge and popular and worth (wait ... seriously?) $10 billion. All Things Digital reports that as it ends a $500 million funding spree, sources claim that the mastermind behind CityVille is worth way more than the ubiquitous EA. You know, the guys who own Playfish and created Madden? They're only worth $6.2 billion, according to TechCrunch. Valuation is nothing more than an educated guessing game by big name investors as to how profitable a company is. Regardless, this number makes Zynga only second to Activision Blizzard as the most valuable games company in the world. You can cue the maniacal laughter now, thanks.

Gaming's current monolith, Activision Blizzard, is worth somewhere around $13 billion according to several news outlets. So, you can bet the traditional gaming industry is losing its mind at this point. It looks like the age of blockbuster triple-A games that cost tens of millions of dollars to develop--much less market--is coming to a close. Sure, games like Call of Duty and World of WarCraft can rake in billions, but look at the costs.

Especially when a seemingly unassuming game like FarmVille can bring in the same cash and cost a fraction of what a WoW expansion does to develop, market and release. It's only a matter of time before Zynga becomes the most valuable game company on the planet. It's sad to say, but the traditional gaming companies will likely adapt rather than stand and fight. This means even more designers like Brian Reynolds, John Romero and Richard Garriott will rush onto the scene. While there will always be room for Azeroth and the Mushroom Kingdom, you can bet that these types of games slow down in favor of cheaper, more profitable social games. Regardless of whether you're in agreement, social gaming is taking over in more ways than one.

[Image Credit: The Equity Kicker]

How long do you think before Zynga reaches the top? How do you think traditional game companies will respond?

Why Facebook games don't look like Call of Duty

This very article was going to be a preview of Konami's new Viva! Mall social game (pictured above). That was before it was revealed that the Facebook game did not support Mac OS yet. As a new Mac user, this writer is willing to put up with most traditional computer games being exclusive to Windows, but social games? Upon further inspection of the game's FAQ, you'll notice that Viva! Mall has system requirements. And lofty requirements at that for a game on Facebook. Social games don't look like your Call of Duty's or Final Fantasy's because the technology isn't there yet, but there are far more important reasons for this.

These are the system requirements for Konami's Viva! Mall, according to its FAQ:

    Minimum specs for Viva! Mall are:
    OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
    CPU: Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz or higher
    RAM: 1 GB or higher
    Video Card: GeForce 4 Ti 4200/Radeon 9000 or higher
    DirectX: DirectX 9.0c or higher

    Recommended specs are:
    OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
    CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 Ghz or higher
    RAM: 2 GB or higher
    Video Card: GeForce 7950GT/Radeon X1800 or higher
    DirectX: DirectX 9.0c or higher

    Viva! Mall is compatible with Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and higher, and Google Chrome Stable.

While there aren't hard numbers on this, we're willing to bet that the majority of social gamers--middle-aged mothers as many studies have shown--run Facebook games on computers that don't even come close to this. Hell, there is probably a huge portion of gamers that play FarmVille on netbooks. The processor in this MacBook Pro just sneaks over the recommended level for Viva! Mall. Regardless of how amazing your Facebook game is, social gamers do not care (and shouldn't have to) enough to check whether their computer is compatible.

Viva Mall Customization
It's tough enough for many Facebook gamers to keep up with updates to the Flash player much less see if their 3-year-old Dell PC has at least a "GeForce 4 Ti 4200/Radeon 9000 or higher." Nor do many of you care, and rightfully so. Konami is approaching the social game audience as if it's comprised of seasoned PC gamers. If most hardcore PC players resonate with John Blow, then they generally stay away from Facebook games.

Getting into a Facebook game is supposed to be simple. Most developers have it down to one click before you're into a new game and it loads (preferably) seconds later. But that doesn't mean the play hook has to be terribly simplistic--just look at games like Zuma Blitz. Loading Zuma Blitz takes mere seconds and the core mechanic is as elementary as it gets. But take a look at the amount of strategy and technique players employ to master it. Complex or deep play in Facebook games does not have to mean complex or deep technology.

Viva Mall graphics
What's even more baffling is that Konami expects the audience who digs mall simulators to be the same people that rock even remotely up-to-date PCs. (Not to mention that Viva! Mall isn't compatible with a growing operating system.) Why waste this beautiful tech on an audience that, frankly, doesn't give a hoot about it? I'm sure there is a dedicated niche out there just waiting for a truly awesome 3D game on Facebook. And if Konami requires these kind of computers just to run a damned mall, surely it could deliver to those players.

We're all patiently waiting for social games to evolve into deeper and more rewarding experiences, but this is most definitely not the road to take. Your thousands of players have to get into your revolutionary game before they decide whether they like it.

Click here to see how well Viva! Mall runs on your PC >

[Image Credits: Super Cheats, Latest Screens and Mena Gamer]

What do you think of Konami's approach to social games? Do you think there will ever be an audience for social games that include system requirements?

FrontierVille Fanny 'n Bess mission turns up the heat on same sex romance

FrontierVille made history as one of the first Facebook games that offered players the option of having same-sex marriages. And now, in a series of missions that were released for Valentine's Day, players have the option of igniting the flames between two lady characters -- Fanny the sassy schoolmarm and Bess the friendly farmhand.


frontierville kissing treeThis Fanny n' Bess match-up is part of a series of Kissing Tree missions, where you have the option of pairing Fanny and/or Bess with Hank, or just take Hank out the equation and bring these two gals together. We have extensive coverage on these missions here, if you're interested.

It's refreshing to see that FrontierVille is giving players a variety of options (even though there was no option to pair Hank with another male character from the game), and I'm surprised that this, frankly, groundbreaking mission didn't elicit more attention when it rolled out about a week ago.

I remember people raising a fuss about the ability to have same-sex partners (and relations) in the popular PC game The Sims way back when, and in later versions of the game, Sims of the same sex could get married and have babies. More recently, eyebrows were raised by the girl-on-girl action in the hit game Mass Effect as well as the girl/girl and boy/boy action in Dragon Age. Maybe there's been no real buzz about this FrontierVille pairing because it's completely G-rated. There's no action to see here other than the implied: Fanny 'n Bess, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

I've reached out to Zynga for additional comment. Stay tuned.

FrontierVille Fanny versus Bess decorations appear; the heat is on

So, which team are you on? In an obvious (and almost painful) nod to Twilight, Zynga has released both the two Mystery Crates found yesterday and a slew of decorations to FrontierVille in honor of a mini-event of sorts. Except instead of sparkly vampires against eternally shirtless werewolves, it's Fanny versus Bess. It's your job to take a side--if you're willing to put some Horseshoes behind your decision.

Here are all the decorations that were added in light of this strange event:

    Bess' Lasso – 4 Horseshoes
    Bess' Diorama – 3,800 coins
    Bess' Flower – 2,850 coins
    Fanny's Desk – 4 Horseshoes
    Fanny's books – 3,800 coins
    Fanny's flowers – 2,850 coins


Luckily, only two of these items cost Horseshoes. While there isn't any major event tied to these decorations, I'd imagine that something much bigger is cooking. A cage fight? A triathlon, perhaps? Well, whatever is, we'll be all over it.

[Source and Image Credit: FrontierVille Info]

Have you picked any of these decorations in the game yet? Which side are you on--Fanny or Bess?

FarmVille English Countryside hits Times Square, nowhere near a farm

We already know that Zynga is taking its FarmVille expansion, English Countryside, seriously, but this is just hardcore. FarmVille Feed has found a 50-foot tall poster promoting the imminent game smack in the middle of Times Square in New York City. In fact, they seem to capture images as it was still being put up. Zynga might have its lips sealed on a release date, but we can't be far off when the company is advertising with posters bigger than some houses.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Feed]

Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.

Do you live in NYC and have seen this poster? What do you think of Zynga's rigorous ad campaign for English Countryside?

Zynga, Britney Spears tweet for Japan relief with more celebrities

In just 36 hours, Zynga raised $1 million in its partnership with Save the Children, and has used its mighty PR skills to spread the word. The creator of FarmVille has several promotions across six of its games, and looks to Twitter to get that number to $2 million in donations. More specifically, the company has projected a single tweet through celebrities' Twitter feeds including Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Nicki Minaj, Enrique Iglesias, John Legend, Questlove and Matisyahu. With these Twitter stars alone, the company has reached tens of millions of players and, more importantly, the uninitiated. With massive celebrity support like this, Zynga will nab $2 million in donations in no time at all.

What other celebrities have you seen tweeting on Zynga's behalf? How well do you think Zynga is handling its contributions to the Japan relief effort?

Ultima creator Richard Garriott announces Lord British social game

Richard Garriott, game designer by day and astronaut by night, has revealed his first two social games: Lord British's New Britannia (working title) and Ultimate Collector, Gamasutra reports. Garriott recently called out Zynga, claiming that it should watch out for Portalarium, his new social game development company. The mind behind the Ultima series unveiled the two games at South by Southwest in Austin, Tx.

The first game will obviously revolve around Garriott's famous alter-ego, Lord British, but he said that the game will be more than simply a lighter MMO on Facebook. "The virtual world game is not just an ultra-light MMO shopped on social media," Garriott said to a room of potential investors and fans. "I think that would be a failure."

The eminent game designer and his team at Portalarium are participating in Accelerator, a SXSW competition for technology start-ups that has served as a launchpad for services like Foursquare in the past. Through this, the company is looking for $3.8 million in funding for both its Lord British game and Ultimate Collector. The latter is set to release first in the second quarter.

This first game out of gate is an ambitious effort, combining social gameplay with a TV game show. Surprisingly, Garriott himself is hosting the show, whose pilot has already been filmed. Other than these slivers, details are scarce on the two games. It's comforting to see that Garriott is taking this seriously, but whether Portalarium can reach an audience suitable for the big leagues will likely be its greatest challenge.

[Image Credit: Giant Bomb]

Which of Garriott's games are you more excited about? Do you think Portalarium has a chance to become notable among companies like Zynga?

FrontierVille Leprechaun Hunt Goals: Everything you need to know

Leprechaun
Finally, FrontierVille is ready to spread the green fever rather than the girl fever. Leprechauns are coming to your homestead in two new Goals that task you with trapping these little gnomes. Why we're even hunting the Leprechauns is beyond me, but first you'll have to lure them in and, in the second Goal, go for the capture. Keep in mind that this is all early information, so images are unavailable at the moment and specifics are subject to change.

Leprechaun Hunt (Part 1):

    Plant 10 Clover (5 Horseshoes to unlock)
    Plant 15 Potatoes (5 Horseshoes to unlock)
    Plant 20 Cabbages (5 Horseshoes to unlock)


This Goal is as straightforward as they come. Clovers cost 10 coins a piece and are ready for harvest in just five minutes. However, Potatoes grow in four hours and cost 90 coins, while Cabbages cost 265 coins each and take a long 16 hours to harvest. You can plant all of them at the same time to minimize the total time this Goal will take, but it'll still put you 6,750 coins in the hole. You'll at least be rewarded with 75 XP and 100 coins, but do not, under any circumstances, harvest them yet.

Leprechaun Hunt (Part 2):

    Find 4 Leprechauns
    Collect 10 Leprechaun Traps


Now, it's time to hunt them! The purpose for planting all those crops is these are the exact crops that attract Leprechauns (how cute). Like Groundhogs, Leprechauns will appear when crops are harvested, but only these specific crops. That said, you'll need Leprechaun Traps to catch them, which you can ask your friends for the old fashioned way. You'll have to use these traps to catch four Leprechauns, but we doubt this will be the end for the Leprechauns. Complete this Goal and you'll be rewarded with 200 XP and 200 coins. If you want to catch more Leprechauns than the Goal requires, just plant a field of Clovers!

[Source: FrontierVille Info]

[Image Credit: Lionsgate Films]

Check out the rest of our St. Patrick's Day 2011 coverage right here.

Have you seen Leprechauns in your homestead yet? Can you think of a faster way to trap these Leprechauns?

The Sims Social: Grab your free Plumbob Hoodies while you still can!

While we knew that the Sims Social would be celebrating fans this week with a series of freebies (including Simoleons, collectibles and the like), here's a gift that tops them all - a free Plumbob Hoodie for both girl and boy Sims! For those that don't know, the Plumbob is the name of the Gem that appears over each Sims' head, and lets the owner know of their status based on its color. This particular Hoodie displays a bright green Plumbob, and it's yours for the taking, but only for a limited time.

To be clear, there are two links available to claim this Hoodie, and therefore two Hoodies available for all users: one for male Sims and one for female Sims. Even if you are fairly certain you'll never change the gender of your Sim, why not grab both? They're both absolutely free, after all. Here are the links to claim both (found on the game's Facebook fan page):

Female Sim Plumbob Hoodie
Male Sim Plumbob Hoodie

While you're on the game's fan page, make sure to grab the extra Simoleons and Hope items that are also being given away. Now's a great time to be a fan of the game, with daily giveaways like these, but we'll make sure to let you know when the more noteworthy prizes come along if you don't want to fan the page yourself.

What do you think of these Sims Plumbob Hoodies? Did you claim both, or just the one for your Sim's current gender?

The Sims Social celebrates Halloween with Werewolves vs Vampires week

Halloween has finally come to the Sims Social, but it comes with both good and bad news, all revolving around a single word: Twilight. If you love the Twilight series, vampires or werewolves in general, you'll probably love these new items. However, if you'd prefer more traditional Halloween decorations, like cute pumpkins, mummies or Frankenstein monsters, you'll be left hoping that EA/Playfish will add more items before Halloween comes and goes.

As for those items that are currently available, they come in a "Werewolves vs Vampires" theme. To start, you can choose from various clothing items to make your avatar look like one of the three main characters from the Twilight films, or you can stick to decorating your home. Here's a complete rundown of the new items in the game's store - I hope you've saved your Simoleons and SimCash for the occasion!

Note: These basic furniture items (tables, cabinets, chairs, etc.) are available in two color themes, but the items' designs and prices are the same. We'll only list one of each pair of items for your reference.

Trans-Van Lucy (Chair - Buildable)

    Costs: 500 Simoleons
    House Value: $350


UndyingClassics BC (Bookshelf)

    Costs: 19 SimCash
    House Value: $2800
    Fun Stat: 3


UndyingClassics Bl (Chair)

    Costs: 19 SimCash
    House Value: $2800


UndyingClassics BT (Side-table)

    Costs: 25 SimCash
    House Value: $3700


Trans-Van Banquet (Dinner Table - Buildable)

    Costs: 700 Social Points
    House Value: $1900


Trans-Van Fang (Armchair - Buildable)

    Costs: 1650 Simoleons
    House Value: $1600


Trans-Van Type O (Sofa - Buildable)

    Costs: 900 Social Points
    House Value: $2650
    Sleep Stat: 3


Trans-Van Rest (Nightstand - Buildable)

    Costs: 200 Social Points
    House Value: $450



Trans-Van Vlad (Round Table - Buildable)

    Costs: 600 Simoleons
    House Value: $450


Cthulu's Mirror (Buildable)

    Costs: 900 Simoleons
    House Value: $800


Trans-Van Harker (Armoire - Buildable)

    Costs: 850 Social Points
    House Value: $2450



AfterLifestyle (Coffin Bed - Buildable)

    Costs: 1750 Simoleons
    House Value: $1650
    Sleep Stat: 11


AfterLifestyle +1 (Coffin Double Bed)

    Costs: 79 SimCash
    House Value: $11,700
    Sleep Stat: 11


Wallpaper Tear

    Costs: 75 Social Points
    House Value: $150


Bloody Bouquet

    Costs: 175 Simoleons
    House Value: $100


Deathly Bouquet

    Costs: 175 Simoleons
    House Value: $100


Trans-Van Lamp

    Costs: 6 SimCash
    House Value: $900


Vampire Ward 1/2

    Costs: 166 Social Points
    House Value: $350


Vampire Ward 2/2

    Costs: 125 Social Points
    House Value: $250


Bottle O' Blood

    Costs: 175 Social Points
    House Value: $400


Ancient Tomes

    Costs: 175 Social Points
    House Value: $400


Garlic Still Life (Painting)

    Costs: 1,250 Simoleons
    House Value: $1350


Blood-Soaked Rug

    Costs: 675 Social Points
    House Value: $1850


AfterLifestyle Ember (Fireplace)

    Costs: 49 SimCash
    House Value: $7250


Trans-Van Desklamp (Buildable)

    Costs: 1,900 Simoleons
    House Value: $1700


The Poison Thorn (Painting)

    Costs: 1,150 Social Points
    House Value: $3,300


Trans-Van Standing (Floor Lamp - Buildable)

    Costs: 2,900 Simoleons
    House Value: $2,300


Numica RIP C (Kitchen Counter - Buildable)

    Costs: 350 Simoeons
    House Value: $250


Numica Stake (Kitchen Counter - Buildable)

    Costs: 350 Simoleons
    House Value: $250


It's For Awoooo (Phone)

    Costs: 9 SimCash
    House Value: $1350
    Fun Stat: 3
    Social Stat: 3


In addition to all of these items, there's also a Haunted Easel that costs 750 Social Points and must be built with friends. This particular item does allow you to raise a Haunted Easel painting skill, and as you earn more and more Skill Points, you'll unlock access to various themed paintings in the store.

What's more, the outdoor section of this theme is absolutely massive, containing various sections of metal fencing, shrubs, broken wooden fences, gargoyles, tombstones, dead trees and more. Items go for Social Points, Simoleons or even SimCash, so make sure to browse through this lengthy selection of items to find things you might enjoy having outside.

Finally, remember to look in the Build menu as well, as this theme contains a few window and door items, plus four wallpaper tiles and a treasure trove of floor tiles. Again, there are items there for any budget, so keep browsing long enough and you'll likely find something that will interest you.

Unfortunately, that's the entirety of the Halloween-themed items in the Sims Social thus far. I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed we're not seeing Jack-O'-Lanterns, cute flying ghosts or anything else that might be considered happier than scary, but hopefully, with a few weeks left before Halloween, we'll receive that sort of a theme as well. You can be sure we'll let you know if we do.

Check out the rest of our Halloween coverage right here.

What do you think of these Twilight-inspired Werewolves vs. Vampires items? Would you be satisfied if this was all of the Halloween items we see released, or do you want more classic items as well?