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Copied largely from http://www.gamasutra.com
Social game developer Zynga announced that its prepaid game cards for titles like FarmVille and Mafia Wars are now available at several major U.S. retailers, including 7-Eleven, Inc., Best Buy, GameStop and Target.
The $10 and $25 cards, which offer an alternative way of buying in-game goods (e.g. virtual furniture, power-ups) to consumers who don’t have access to credit cards or bank accounts, will work with Zynga’s free-to-play titles on Facebook, as well as on standalone sites such as FarmVille.com, MafiaWars.com and YoVille.com.
Zynga’s titles attract over 235 million monthly active users and 67 million daily users. FarmVille alone, which is easily the most popular application on Facebook, has more than 82 million monthly active users on the social network. The company’s other well-known games include Cafe World, Texas HoldEm Poker, Fishville, and dozens of others.
The purpose of a game like FarmVille is to seed and harvest crops to make money to buy other gamecontent like a nice farm or lifestock. You can also invite vriends to become your neighbours and fertilize each others crops. Instead of having to wait weeks and weeks and harvest loads of crops you can also choose to buy extra content using Paypall, a credit card or… PRE PAID CARDS sold in retail (US Only for now).
“Social gaming is going mainstream and consumers around the world are connecting with people through games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars,” says Zynga’s senior vice president Vish Makhijani. “By partnering with 7-Eleven, Best Buy, GameStop and Target, our games can be accessed by a broader audience of new and existing players.”
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>Over hyped?
I watched the short film ‘I am here’ by Spike Jontze (sponsored by Absolut Wodka) yesterday evening and must say I was somewhat disappointed. Sure it’s a great and innovative way to show how consumers related to the internet might end up (uploading data in our heads through a socket in the wall) and of course there was the ‘love-story’ part between computer-people, but was it just that? A sort of Romeo and Juliet robotic love story?
I guess I expected more from the relations people would have with computers in the future and how much they already mean to us in our daily lives, since we have become so reliant on them (and our cell phones…).
If you want to form an opinion of your own (which you should) be sure to check it out here:
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A very true video by Dove, very confronting…
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A very cool minigame to promote the latest song ‘Machine Gun’ by Noisia. This electronic rock really gives a good pumping vibe that helps to play through the game.
Check it out here if your like.