They're back, pioneers. Care Packages, your most favorite (or most hated depending on your situation) item, has returned to FrontierVille. Much like Special Deliveries in FarmVille, Care Packages will always contain an item you need (either for a building or Goal) once opened. FrontierVille Info reports that the smart boxes have returned to the game, but they're not exactly a free gift like they were before.
Only after visiting a friend and completing all five daily tasks there will you be prompted to send that friend a Care Package. However, I've yet to see the items in my game, so we imagine that Zynga is slowly rolling them back out to players. The idea behind this system appears to be to entice more players to visit one another more often. And with an item you'll always be guaranteed to need at stake, Zynga might be onto something.
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Sunday, January 8, 2012
FarmVille possibly hacked, Facebook responds to other security issues
Hacker
For those who aren't normally lurking the FarmVille forums, they've been in an uproar over a FarmVille player known as Ekşın Man. According to several forum users, this player has been posting messages on their Walls via the FarmVille app, but none of them are actually friends with him. Most of his posts read, "Can you hear me again? FarmVille players? Yeees, greetingz from Turkey to you too. Farmville oyuncuları çileklerinizi toplayın low."
That last bit translates roughly to "Farmville players gather strawberries low URLs." Unfortunately, we haven't an idea in the slightest as to what Ekşın Man is referring to. FarmVille Freak questions whether the game has been hacked by this presumably Turkish player. In a poll conducted by the site, over 51 percent of readers suspect FarmVille has been hacked. It appears that Zynga has yet to comment on the issue.
Elsewhere, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's page on the website was also hacked yesterday. After promptly taking the page down, the security team at Facebook has added some enhanced security measures to the platform including social captchas and the option to run access Facebook through HTTPS at all times. First, these social captchas will replace the usual warped-letter prompts seen when posting on forums or submitting payment information to websites.
Instead, you will now be asked to identify friends in a series of photos in order to log in when Facebook detects suspicious account activity. Second, HTTPS is a more secure version of the normal "HTTP" connection at the beginning of most web addresses. Soon, users will have the option of always connecting to Facebook this way, TechCrunch reports. Until we hear word from Zynga concerning this potential hack, our best advice is to block posts coming from Ekşın Man if he has appeared on your Wall.
For those who aren't normally lurking the FarmVille forums, they've been in an uproar over a FarmVille player known as Ekşın Man. According to several forum users, this player has been posting messages on their Walls via the FarmVille app, but none of them are actually friends with him. Most of his posts read, "Can you hear me again? FarmVille players? Yeees, greetingz from Turkey to you too. Farmville oyuncuları çileklerinizi toplayın low."
That last bit translates roughly to "Farmville players gather strawberries low URLs." Unfortunately, we haven't an idea in the slightest as to what Ekşın Man is referring to. FarmVille Freak questions whether the game has been hacked by this presumably Turkish player. In a poll conducted by the site, over 51 percent of readers suspect FarmVille has been hacked. It appears that Zynga has yet to comment on the issue.
Elsewhere, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's page on the website was also hacked yesterday. After promptly taking the page down, the security team at Facebook has added some enhanced security measures to the platform including social captchas and the option to run access Facebook through HTTPS at all times. First, these social captchas will replace the usual warped-letter prompts seen when posting on forums or submitting payment information to websites.
Instead, you will now be asked to identify friends in a series of photos in order to log in when Facebook detects suspicious account activity. Second, HTTPS is a more secure version of the normal "HTTP" connection at the beginning of most web addresses. Soon, users will have the option of always connecting to Facebook this way, TechCrunch reports. Until we hear word from Zynga concerning this potential hack, our best advice is to block posts coming from Ekşın Man if he has appeared on your Wall.
Angry Birds on Facebook 'wouldn't make a lot of sense'
Angry Birds
Well, at least it wouldn't according to Facebook's brand new director of gaming partnerships Sean Ryan. During a panel at the Inside Social Apps conference in San Francisco, Calif., the new hire made some bold statements about what works on Facebook just three weeks into his new gig, according to TechCrunch. When asked to elaborate on why the ubiquitous Angry Birds wouldn't work on the platform in comparison to CityVille, Ryan said:
We don't bring anything to the table but it's still a great game. If you have a social game, we believe you should build it for us, that's what we do. If you have a single player game, it's not clear why you should build it for us, you should probably build it for other people. Folks like PopCap have been able to brilliantly take a downloadable game, which was Bejeweled and after a lot of work turned it into a social game. So you can do it, but there's not much point.
Plainly speaking, developers probably shouldn't bother porting single-player games to Facebook, but nothing is stopping them. I'm sure Angry Birds developer Rovio could figure something out. (Just look at what Frima did with Pocket God.)
When asked during the panel about what game he'd most like to see ported to Facebook, Ryan replied, "Civilization ... it's one of the best multiplayer games ever, and it's not yet on Facebook. Whenever there's a true multiplayer game that involves a lot of social interaction it arguably should be on our platform, because that's what we do." Mr. Ryan, we're happy to inform you that your dreams have already come true! In fact, they did almost a month ago. Come to think of it, you should probably give Sid Meier a ring.
[Image Credit: Video Games Blogger]
How do you think Angry Birds would do on Facebook? What single-player game do you want to see most on Facebook?
Well, at least it wouldn't according to Facebook's brand new director of gaming partnerships Sean Ryan. During a panel at the Inside Social Apps conference in San Francisco, Calif., the new hire made some bold statements about what works on Facebook just three weeks into his new gig, according to TechCrunch. When asked to elaborate on why the ubiquitous Angry Birds wouldn't work on the platform in comparison to CityVille, Ryan said:
We don't bring anything to the table but it's still a great game. If you have a social game, we believe you should build it for us, that's what we do. If you have a single player game, it's not clear why you should build it for us, you should probably build it for other people. Folks like PopCap have been able to brilliantly take a downloadable game, which was Bejeweled and after a lot of work turned it into a social game. So you can do it, but there's not much point.
Plainly speaking, developers probably shouldn't bother porting single-player games to Facebook, but nothing is stopping them. I'm sure Angry Birds developer Rovio could figure something out. (Just look at what Frima did with Pocket God.)
When asked during the panel about what game he'd most like to see ported to Facebook, Ryan replied, "Civilization ... it's one of the best multiplayer games ever, and it's not yet on Facebook. Whenever there's a true multiplayer game that involves a lot of social interaction it arguably should be on our platform, because that's what we do." Mr. Ryan, we're happy to inform you that your dreams have already come true! In fact, they did almost a month ago. Come to think of it, you should probably give Sid Meier a ring.
[Image Credit: Video Games Blogger]
How do you think Angry Birds would do on Facebook? What single-player game do you want to see most on Facebook?
Friday, January 6, 2012
Game of the Day: TextTwist
The Game of the Day is going to test those old spelling skills . TextTwist: Are you word wise? Do you love SCRABBLE? Take the Text Twist challenge! Win points when you unscramble the letters to make new words. TextTwist a classic on Games.com and people play it for hours. Join the craze.
Click --> play TextTwist
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.
Click --> play TextTwist
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.
FrontierVille Update: Visit Neighbors who visit you the easy way
A new feature has launched in FrontierVille. Hold you horses--it's nothing huge. When a friend visits you in the game and their avatar appears on your homestead, you now have the option to visit them right back before accepting the help. It's no big deal, but it's a much welcomed change over here. Come to think of it, Zynga probably should have included this a long time ago. It seems only natural that we'd want to return the favor, right? Well, be thankful now that it's easier than ever to do just that.
[Via FrontierVille Info]
Have you seen this brand new feature yet? What other optimizations are you waiting for in FrontierVille?
[Via FrontierVille Info]
Have you seen this brand new feature yet? What other optimizations are you waiting for in FrontierVille?
Saints Row on Facebook: Beating Mafia Wars at a different game
When I noticed that Saints Row, the Grand Theft Auto-inspired gang busters game for consoles, was on Facebook, assumptions ran wild. Though, the one rang most loudly was, "Here comes another Mafia Wars." THQ and Punch Entertainment threw us a curve ball with Saints Row: Total Control on Facebook. Admittedly, it looks strikingly similar to Crime City, but what's more surprising the developer didn't play it safe and copy the most popular mobster social game out there. And it makes for a refreshing and mildly fun experience, even if the graphics look like something out of a late '90s flash game.
Let's just address the elephant in the room right away: This game does not look good. The artwork lacks detail much less style and the animations are far from smooth. In fact, there is little motion in this social edition of Saints Row to begin with. Worse off, the music becomes a bother minutes after logging in. Shoddy graphics and animations? Check. Annoying sounds and music? Check. That leaves one hopefully redeeming quality: gameplay.
Saints Row map
Redemption is yours, THQ and Punch Entertainment. Players assume the role of a gang leader in the miscellaneous city of Stilwater. It's your role to dominate neighborhoods by force and assert your ... badassery? Look, I can't say I understand gang mentality, but I can say that, somehow, this game is fun. Perhaps it's the fact that clicking on drive-by shooters to shoot them dead is mindlessly enjoyable. Tuning down your mind is something you'll probably need to do to draw some enjoyment from Saints Row, which can be difficult at times.
Back to the clicking. The majority of your actions boil down to either Thugs, another word for Energy, or weapons. Thugs are spent doing nearly every task and replenish over time, but weapons are required to attack and take over increasingly tougher territories on the isometrically displayed map. Of course, taking down wandering enemy gang members and taking over buildings awards you coins, yet spends Thugs. In other words, Saints Row embodies the eternal balance of risk versus reward--the more you do, the more you spend--of nearly every social game in existence.
Shooting things rules
Players will eventually need to protect and maintain the neighborhoods they control and can hire friends to do it for them. This is the only social feature that's immediately noticeable. There doesn't seem to be any persistent competition between gangs of friends like in Mafia Wars, which is a severe oversight. Shouldn't a game about gangs embody and facilitate gang mentality? Regardless of whether you agree with gang mentality much less understand it, it's safe to assume that this is a feeling players want to experience vicariously when playing a gang game.
Frankly, Saints Row has plenty of shortcomings. While it's certainly differentiated itself from the industry leaders, it misses the point of gang games: competition. Sure, there's a sense of camaraderie in helping friends out. But where are the cutthroat rivalry and ruthless attempts at domination amongst players? Not to mention the presumably unintentional hilarity of your thugs aimlessly shooting at things, which counts as "taking over the neighborhood." There's no reason that a flash game in 2011 shouldn't look better than the first Grand Theft Auto. Despite all this, it'd be lying if I said that aimlessly shooting down passers by and slowly watching the neighborhood map turn purple wasn't fun.
Let's just address the elephant in the room right away: This game does not look good. The artwork lacks detail much less style and the animations are far from smooth. In fact, there is little motion in this social edition of Saints Row to begin with. Worse off, the music becomes a bother minutes after logging in. Shoddy graphics and animations? Check. Annoying sounds and music? Check. That leaves one hopefully redeeming quality: gameplay.
Saints Row map
Redemption is yours, THQ and Punch Entertainment. Players assume the role of a gang leader in the miscellaneous city of Stilwater. It's your role to dominate neighborhoods by force and assert your ... badassery? Look, I can't say I understand gang mentality, but I can say that, somehow, this game is fun. Perhaps it's the fact that clicking on drive-by shooters to shoot them dead is mindlessly enjoyable. Tuning down your mind is something you'll probably need to do to draw some enjoyment from Saints Row, which can be difficult at times.
Back to the clicking. The majority of your actions boil down to either Thugs, another word for Energy, or weapons. Thugs are spent doing nearly every task and replenish over time, but weapons are required to attack and take over increasingly tougher territories on the isometrically displayed map. Of course, taking down wandering enemy gang members and taking over buildings awards you coins, yet spends Thugs. In other words, Saints Row embodies the eternal balance of risk versus reward--the more you do, the more you spend--of nearly every social game in existence.
Shooting things rules
Players will eventually need to protect and maintain the neighborhoods they control and can hire friends to do it for them. This is the only social feature that's immediately noticeable. There doesn't seem to be any persistent competition between gangs of friends like in Mafia Wars, which is a severe oversight. Shouldn't a game about gangs embody and facilitate gang mentality? Regardless of whether you agree with gang mentality much less understand it, it's safe to assume that this is a feeling players want to experience vicariously when playing a gang game.
Frankly, Saints Row has plenty of shortcomings. While it's certainly differentiated itself from the industry leaders, it misses the point of gang games: competition. Sure, there's a sense of camaraderie in helping friends out. But where are the cutthroat rivalry and ruthless attempts at domination amongst players? Not to mention the presumably unintentional hilarity of your thugs aimlessly shooting at things, which counts as "taking over the neighborhood." There's no reason that a flash game in 2011 shouldn't look better than the first Grand Theft Auto. Despite all this, it'd be lying if I said that aimlessly shooting down passers by and slowly watching the neighborhood map turn purple wasn't fun.
Zynga to shut down Mafia Wars: Cuba on March 3 in new story arc
No, we didn't stutter. Mafia Wars: Cuba is going for good in less than a week, so clear out everything you can from there now before it's all gone. According to Zynga, the game's storyline is headed in a new direction and its oldest locale will be the center of it all ... sort of. It's where a new global criminal organization will begin its conquest to become to world's largest drug trafficker, and no one will be safe come March 3.
In fact, you'll be downright kicked out. There is a new set of missions for players Level 18 and above available now with Cuba that involve combating this threat, but we doubt your mobs will succeed. If you need a hint, here is one wearing a chicken suit painted in red:
"A shadowy organization called the Neo-Imperium is secretly working to destabilize the current world order and control all criminal activities throughout the planet. The Neo-Imperium are attempting to overthrow the government and install a puppet leader to establish one of the biggest drug trafficking centers in the world. This is a warning to all Mafia crime bosses that Cuba is no longer safe."
You hear that? That means have fun with these missions now, but come March 2 you better collect from every property and empty your vaults and banks before the Neo-Imperium takes over. In fact, Zynga is hosting 5x Job Mastery right up until the city becomes grayed out in the travel options.
Not to mention a new loot item will drop from now through March 2 that might come in handy against these bullies. Oh, and you'll get an extra 10 percent cash payout if you complete the missions on time. Is that enough of a kick in the butt for you? Before you jump the gun, check out Zynga's full FAQ.
In fact, you'll be downright kicked out. There is a new set of missions for players Level 18 and above available now with Cuba that involve combating this threat, but we doubt your mobs will succeed. If you need a hint, here is one wearing a chicken suit painted in red:
"A shadowy organization called the Neo-Imperium is secretly working to destabilize the current world order and control all criminal activities throughout the planet. The Neo-Imperium are attempting to overthrow the government and install a puppet leader to establish one of the biggest drug trafficking centers in the world. This is a warning to all Mafia crime bosses that Cuba is no longer safe."
You hear that? That means have fun with these missions now, but come March 2 you better collect from every property and empty your vaults and banks before the Neo-Imperium takes over. In fact, Zynga is hosting 5x Job Mastery right up until the city becomes grayed out in the travel options.
Not to mention a new loot item will drop from now through March 2 that might come in handy against these bullies. Oh, and you'll get an extra 10 percent cash payout if you complete the missions on time. Is that enough of a kick in the butt for you? Before you jump the gun, check out Zynga's full FAQ.
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