White Kitten scam
The FarmVille scammers have to be turning some type of profit to brew up a new scam almost daily. This time, FarmVille Freak reports that News Feed posts offering a free "White Kitten" are circulating through Facebook. Like all other scam posts, this is not an official offer from Zynga, thereby making it fake and a potential source for nasty malware. So, should you and yours fall for one of these scams, we recommend changing your password and running a virus scanner. Also, please do spread the word, because we're kind of getting sick of writing these up. However, we really should turn this into a game show, no? Sure, you could just take every relatively new item or animal in FarmVille, place them on a wheel, and spin it to predict which one becomes the next scam. Throw in some social features and--boom--Zynga's got their next big game.
[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]
Have you fallen victim to this or a previous scam before? What steps do you take to avoid getting tricked or brought down by malware?
Thứ Sáu, 6 tháng 1, 2012
Thứ Tư, 4 tháng 1, 2012
Go fish with Yeti Zombie for a free iPad 2 and cool PopCap swag
PopCap Games has some of the best gaming merchandise around. Its most exclusive stuff are usually put up at charity auctions. But right now, the company is promising fans the chance at over six hundred prizes over the next four weeks, offering everything from figurines to t-shirts to plushies, and even PopCap.com games. But we know most folks are just drooling over the chance at an iPad 2. So how do we get it?
For starters, you'd need to 'like' PopCap's page, followed by allowing the PopCap Prize Plunger Instant Win Game to your Facebook account. This "Game" takes you ice fishing with Yeti Zombie (of Plants vs Zombies fame), but honestly, it's got all the sophistication of a scratch-and-match lotto ticket.
You'll find Yeti Zombie standing in the middle of four ice holes. Click on any of those holes and Yeti Zombie will randomly suck out something from them with his plunger. If you get lucky, you should find one of this week's prize offerings: an iPad 2, one of fifty Conehead Zombie figures, or one of a hundred Zuma's Revenge! downloads for PC or Mac.
If you're not lucky, the game will tell you you're "ALL FISHED OUT" and when you can return for another round of fishing. Those who played today should get a sign telling them to come back next Tuesday, December 20th.
Did you get lucky with the Yeti? What prizes are you after? And what do you think of PopCap's so-called 'game'?
For starters, you'd need to 'like' PopCap's page, followed by allowing the PopCap Prize Plunger Instant Win Game to your Facebook account. This "Game" takes you ice fishing with Yeti Zombie (of Plants vs Zombies fame), but honestly, it's got all the sophistication of a scratch-and-match lotto ticket.
You'll find Yeti Zombie standing in the middle of four ice holes. Click on any of those holes and Yeti Zombie will randomly suck out something from them with his plunger. If you get lucky, you should find one of this week's prize offerings: an iPad 2, one of fifty Conehead Zombie figures, or one of a hundred Zuma's Revenge! downloads for PC or Mac.
If you're not lucky, the game will tell you you're "ALL FISHED OUT" and when you can return for another round of fishing. Those who played today should get a sign telling them to come back next Tuesday, December 20th.
Did you get lucky with the Yeti? What prizes are you after? And what do you think of PopCap's so-called 'game'?
Say goodbye to your productivity: Bloons Tower Defense 5 is here
Do you have about an hour of time to play games at work? No? Then you should probably refrain from reading this post until you're in front of your home computer. New Zealand-based Flash game developer Ninja Kiwi has released the newest iteration of the mega popular Bloons franchise, Bloons Tower Defense 5. Much like the original, this tower defense game could suck precious life minutes away from you.
In the best way possible. Sure, it's like nearly every tower defense game out there, but Bloons Tower Defense 5 has a certain charm to it. Not to mention the game does a fine job of explaining the intricacies of all the new balloons and monkeys that appear in the game. When you get into the thick of it, setting and forgetting it never felt so good. And when it comes to Flash graphics, this brand new take on Bloons delivers.
"With more than 650 million plays of the Bloons Tower Defense flash game series to date, we knew we needed to deliver a whole new level of awesome–amazing graphics, brand new features, unique tower upgrades, and some big surprises," Ninja Kiwi managing director and co-founder Chris Harris said in a release. "We are really excited to finally launch BTD 5 and encourage all fans to play the biggest, most innovative, and straight out best Bloons game to date."
Bloons Tower Defense 5 in action
This version of Bloons Tower Defense packs a slew of new towers and upgrades with which to defend your territory. Speaking of territory, there are several tracks to choose from across three difficulties. In short, you could end up playing Bloons Tower Defense 5 for a dangerously long time.
Click here to play Bloons Tower Defense 5 Now >
Are you a Bloons fan? Which variety of Bloons do you prefer: tower defense or classic?
In the best way possible. Sure, it's like nearly every tower defense game out there, but Bloons Tower Defense 5 has a certain charm to it. Not to mention the game does a fine job of explaining the intricacies of all the new balloons and monkeys that appear in the game. When you get into the thick of it, setting and forgetting it never felt so good. And when it comes to Flash graphics, this brand new take on Bloons delivers.
"With more than 650 million plays of the Bloons Tower Defense flash game series to date, we knew we needed to deliver a whole new level of awesome–amazing graphics, brand new features, unique tower upgrades, and some big surprises," Ninja Kiwi managing director and co-founder Chris Harris said in a release. "We are really excited to finally launch BTD 5 and encourage all fans to play the biggest, most innovative, and straight out best Bloons game to date."
Bloons Tower Defense 5 in action
This version of Bloons Tower Defense packs a slew of new towers and upgrades with which to defend your territory. Speaking of territory, there are several tracks to choose from across three difficulties. In short, you could end up playing Bloons Tower Defense 5 for a dangerously long time.
Click here to play Bloons Tower Defense 5 Now >
Are you a Bloons fan? Which variety of Bloons do you prefer: tower defense or classic?
Pocket God: The Runs scurries to (the loo?) iPhone, iPad this spring
Pocket God The Runs
We're thinking that the pygmies of Pocket God might have more a personal problem this spring. San Francisco-based Bolt Creative announced that its net major release in its acclaimed Pocket God series will be almost a completely different game. Titled Pocket God: The Runs, this relatively fresh take on the franchise will turn the iconic game into an endless runner.
No clue what an "endless runner" is? Do us a favor and go play something like Canabalt or Halfbrick's new Jetpack Joyride, then come back and finish reading this. The team at Bolt Creative have essentially taken the mini game featured in Episode 32 of Pocket God and fleshed it out into a completely new game. And based on these early screen shots, it looks like quite a lot is in the works to give players their money's worth come spring 2012.
Pocket God The Runs in action
"Over the past few years we have explored many different ways to annihilate those poor little islanders, many of the suggestions coming from our own community of devoted followers, and the original The Runs mini game was definitely one of the more entertaining ways to dispatch Pygmies, " Bolt Creative co-founder Dave Castelnuovo said in a release. "As anticipated, The Runs proved to be quite popular and we really felt that it deserved to become its own full featured game, we're not releasing all the details on it yet but be assured that it'll fit nicely within the Pocket God universe."
Players--or pygmies--will have to run across 13 different tropical landscapes to gather the shards of an idol that will restore their immortality. Based on the creator's love of killing these little guys and gals, you can probably expect plenty of fun ways to send them on their way to pygmy purgatory. (Maybe you can break the record of 129,770,223 pygmies killed in a year.) Pocket God: The Runs hits iPhone and iPad this spring.
Are you psyched to hear about a new Pocket God game? What do you think of how the franchise has been holding up so far both on mobile and Facebook?
We're thinking that the pygmies of Pocket God might have more a personal problem this spring. San Francisco-based Bolt Creative announced that its net major release in its acclaimed Pocket God series will be almost a completely different game. Titled Pocket God: The Runs, this relatively fresh take on the franchise will turn the iconic game into an endless runner.
No clue what an "endless runner" is? Do us a favor and go play something like Canabalt or Halfbrick's new Jetpack Joyride, then come back and finish reading this. The team at Bolt Creative have essentially taken the mini game featured in Episode 32 of Pocket God and fleshed it out into a completely new game. And based on these early screen shots, it looks like quite a lot is in the works to give players their money's worth come spring 2012.
Pocket God The Runs in action
"Over the past few years we have explored many different ways to annihilate those poor little islanders, many of the suggestions coming from our own community of devoted followers, and the original The Runs mini game was definitely one of the more entertaining ways to dispatch Pygmies, " Bolt Creative co-founder Dave Castelnuovo said in a release. "As anticipated, The Runs proved to be quite popular and we really felt that it deserved to become its own full featured game, we're not releasing all the details on it yet but be assured that it'll fit nicely within the Pocket God universe."
Players--or pygmies--will have to run across 13 different tropical landscapes to gather the shards of an idol that will restore their immortality. Based on the creator's love of killing these little guys and gals, you can probably expect plenty of fun ways to send them on their way to pygmy purgatory. (Maybe you can break the record of 129,770,223 pygmies killed in a year.) Pocket God: The Runs hits iPhone and iPad this spring.
Are you psyched to hear about a new Pocket God game? What do you think of how the franchise has been holding up so far both on mobile and Facebook?
Zynga IPO is a go-go: Shares to hit the market tomorrow at $10 a pop
Zynga, the ginormous developer behind FarmVille and CityVille, is looking to make serious bank on its initial public offering (IPO). For real this time, people. Bloomberg reports that the San Francisco-based company will hit the Nasdaq Dec. 16 at $10 a share. That price is at the high end of its reported $8.50 to $10 range. And at 100 million shares, the company looks to raise $1 billion.
You can cue the Dr. Evil-esque laughter now--we bet Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and crew already have. The company's final valuation, according to TechCrunch, is $7 billion. That's a bit on the low side of what many outlets estimated: between $6 and $9 billion. This market cap would put Zynga right in line with EA, which currently has a market cap of $6.93 billion, and way under Activision Blizzard's (the most valuable company in the industry) $13.57 billion.
Those comparisons are important: Zynga was founded in 2007, while EA and Activision Blizzard were originally created in 1982 and 1979, respectively. That means the creator of Flash games like CastleVille could end up being worth more than a 29-year-old company after just four years. What does this mean?
Well, we're either looking at the biggest bubble in the tech world since Google went public in 2004, or free-to-play, easily accessible and low-impact efforts will truly drive the future of video games. Of course, Zynga still has to worry if investors will look past the recent torrent of bad press and poor estimations by analysts. Successful IPO or not, something tells us Zynga will face an uphill battle in 2012.
What do you think of what Zynga expects in its IPO? What does this mean for the game industry as a whole?
You can cue the Dr. Evil-esque laughter now--we bet Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and crew already have. The company's final valuation, according to TechCrunch, is $7 billion. That's a bit on the low side of what many outlets estimated: between $6 and $9 billion. This market cap would put Zynga right in line with EA, which currently has a market cap of $6.93 billion, and way under Activision Blizzard's (the most valuable company in the industry) $13.57 billion.
Those comparisons are important: Zynga was founded in 2007, while EA and Activision Blizzard were originally created in 1982 and 1979, respectively. That means the creator of Flash games like CastleVille could end up being worth more than a 29-year-old company after just four years. What does this mean?
Well, we're either looking at the biggest bubble in the tech world since Google went public in 2004, or free-to-play, easily accessible and low-impact efforts will truly drive the future of video games. Of course, Zynga still has to worry if investors will look past the recent torrent of bad press and poor estimations by analysts. Successful IPO or not, something tells us Zynga will face an uphill battle in 2012.
What do you think of what Zynga expects in its IPO? What does this mean for the game industry as a whole?
Zynga's competitors welcome the IPO with open arms ... right
Come on, these guys have to be just a little jelly, right? (It's kinda' hard not to feel a bit green when a guy can sell a home that he's never lived in for $8 million.) VentureBeat reports that a number of Zynga's rivals have congratulated the 4-year-old company on its initial public offering, which is trading right now for 10 bucks a share. The general consensus? This is good for everyone.
"Zynga's IPO is great for the industry, providing a focal point for many to learn and get more involved in important industry trends," Digital Chocolate CEO Trip Hawkins told VentureBeat. "The IPO should also prove to be a catalyst for many future transactions that will help the industry." (Note: Hawkins founded EA in 1982, which Zynga could very well outpace today after four short years.)
Other industry higher-ups not only applaud the FarmVille maker's debut on the Nasdaq, but are confident that it can perform in the long run."Could 30 percent [of Facebook users] play Zynga games over time? Yeah," CrowdStar CEO Peter Relan told us recently. But reading Kabam CEO Kevin Chou's words, makes it crystal clear as to why exactly these folks are psyched.
"It's the most important event in the gaming industry in the last decade, and Zynga didn't even exist five years ago," Chou told VentureBeat. Ah-ha! We get it now. You see, if Zynga does well on the stock market into 2012, it essentially validates what its competitors have been trying to do, too, inspiring more investors--both public and private--to get in on social gaming. In other words, Zynga could make it rain on everybody.
[Image Credit: AppyHourTV]
What do you think the Zynga IPO could mean for the rest of the industry?
"Zynga's IPO is great for the industry, providing a focal point for many to learn and get more involved in important industry trends," Digital Chocolate CEO Trip Hawkins told VentureBeat. "The IPO should also prove to be a catalyst for many future transactions that will help the industry." (Note: Hawkins founded EA in 1982, which Zynga could very well outpace today after four short years.)
Other industry higher-ups not only applaud the FarmVille maker's debut on the Nasdaq, but are confident that it can perform in the long run."Could 30 percent [of Facebook users] play Zynga games over time? Yeah," CrowdStar CEO Peter Relan told us recently. But reading Kabam CEO Kevin Chou's words, makes it crystal clear as to why exactly these folks are psyched.
"It's the most important event in the gaming industry in the last decade, and Zynga didn't even exist five years ago," Chou told VentureBeat. Ah-ha! We get it now. You see, if Zynga does well on the stock market into 2012, it essentially validates what its competitors have been trying to do, too, inspiring more investors--both public and private--to get in on social gaming. In other words, Zynga could make it rain on everybody.
[Image Credit: AppyHourTV]
What do you think the Zynga IPO could mean for the rest of the industry?
CastleVille beats CityVille as Zynga's fastest growing Facebook game
It's a good day to be the king. Zynga tells us that CastleVille has amassed over 5 million daily players in just six days. (However, AppData tells a different story, though we're told it will reflect this number in a few days.) That's leaps and bounds beyond how quickly the developer's top Facebook game, CityVille, grew. The city-builder took on just 3.2 million daily players in the same time frame when it launched in December 2010. Zynga provided more fun facts.
The San Francisco-based social games giant says that 68 percent of CastleVille fans are logging in twice daily, and that 135,176,035 quests have been completed. Players have expanded their kingdoms in the Gloom 4,594,750 times, all the while bashing 23,845,983 beasties with their bare hands. If anything, that's one helluva lot of clicks.
CastleVille launched just last week to fanfare, but likely exploded over the weekend thanks to cross-promotions in FarmVille and CityVille--two of the developer's most popular games. In CityVille, players can earn 20 free Zoning Permits for reaching Level 5 in its medieval counterpart, while FarmVillers will score five Instant Grows for doing the same.
These rewards are far more substantial than usual cross-promotions, and we bet there will be more where that came from. Adventure World failed to grow on its own for its first few weeks of existence, but Zynga stepped in with liberal use of cross-promotions to skyrocket its player base to over 16 million monthly. While the big Z might be more reliant on its existing players than it would like, this growth is nevertheless ... insane? Yeah, we think that's the word.
Are you enjoying CastleVille so far? What do you think Zynga will need to put out in order to top this potential milestone?
The San Francisco-based social games giant says that 68 percent of CastleVille fans are logging in twice daily, and that 135,176,035 quests have been completed. Players have expanded their kingdoms in the Gloom 4,594,750 times, all the while bashing 23,845,983 beasties with their bare hands. If anything, that's one helluva lot of clicks.
CastleVille launched just last week to fanfare, but likely exploded over the weekend thanks to cross-promotions in FarmVille and CityVille--two of the developer's most popular games. In CityVille, players can earn 20 free Zoning Permits for reaching Level 5 in its medieval counterpart, while FarmVillers will score five Instant Grows for doing the same.
These rewards are far more substantial than usual cross-promotions, and we bet there will be more where that came from. Adventure World failed to grow on its own for its first few weeks of existence, but Zynga stepped in with liberal use of cross-promotions to skyrocket its player base to over 16 million monthly. While the big Z might be more reliant on its existing players than it would like, this growth is nevertheless ... insane? Yeah, we think that's the word.
Are you enjoying CastleVille so far? What do you think Zynga will need to put out in order to top this potential milestone?
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