FarmVille Coming to TV

Zynga’s social game darling, FarmVille, has seen it’s fair share of cross-overs. Toys, plushies, boardgames, classic card games, a sequel spin-off social game (FarmVille 2), and it’s likely that a television show can be added to that list. A FarmVille television show? Yep. Games.com along with the rest of the Internet world report that a FarmVille television show is in fact in the works and even has named director Brett Ratner attached to the project.

Brett Ratner is most famous for directing the Rush Hour movie trilogy, X Men: The Last Stand and a slew of other projects.

“FarmVille is one of the most exciting brands out there today and its cross-platform opportunities are endless. I am thrilled to be expanding the brand with existing fans and also engaging a whole new audience,” Ratner told the WSJ.

So what exactly would a FarmVille television series be about? As a game, FarmVille is mostly about growing crops, working on quests and challenges, and of course interacting with neighbors as we (beg) and help each other reach goals. The game rolls by with thinly veiled plots and it doesn’t seem to make a huge difference anyways as players chug along maintaining their now nine different FarmVille farms.  Plots other than dirt ones never seemed to matter much because there’s always too much work to be done and nobody has time for long drawn out novels on the farm.

Who would be the targeted audience for a FarmVille television show? FarmVille players are mostly adults, but would a television series be aimed at the same group or maybe a new one to attract a different audience and interest new players?

There’s still a lot of questions FarmVille Freaks are asking, but for now we’ll have to wait until we learn more details about this new form of FarmVille entertainment “coming soon” to your television.

As of now, no network is associated with the FarmVille television project.

We will be sure to keep you up to date as this project unfolds. Stay tuned, FarmVille Freaks and be sure to tell us how you feel in the comments below!

What do you think, FarmVille Freaks? Is a FarmVille television show something that interests you? Would you watch a FarmVille television show?  

Hasbro Zynga FarmVille Go Fish Game (Hasbro.com)

Remember those upcoming Zynga FarmVille toys made by famous toymaker Hasbro that we told you about? Well, October is quickly approaching and Hasbro is already showing off some of the upcoming FarmVille toys from its collaboration with Zynga and FarmVille! Haven’t heard about this upcoming partnership? Click here for more details.

Here’s a sneak peek of the FarmVille Go Fish Game!

The Groovy Chicken plays the host of this FarmVille version of the classic Go Fish Game. Inside the Groovy Chicken pouch, you will find it filled with animal playing cards that feature some of your favorite familiar FarmVille characters. As a bonus, you will get 20 Farm Cash with your purchase of the game to use on your FarmVille farm.

• Price: $9.99
• 2-4 players
• Ages 4+
• Where to buy: Target, Walmart, Kmart & others (Click here for Store Locator in your area)

What do you think of this Groovy Chicken and a FarmVille Go Fish game? Will you be purchasing one for yourself or someone you know? Thoughts- FarmVille Freaks in the comments below. 

Hasbro Zynga FarmVille Go Fish Game in Box (Hasbro.com)

From Hasbro.com:

Product Description:

The classic card game, Go Fish, is here with a fun FARMVILLE twist! Check out the cute Groovy Chicken pouch filled with animal cards that feature some of your favorite FARMVILLE friends. Kids will love asking for and matching the silly animal picture cards. Game comes with 20 Farm Cash for use in the FARMVILLE online game.

Go Fish With FARMVILLE Animals

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Hey, FarmVille Freaks! 

My weekly column is up at AOL Games.com if you want to check it out there’s a preview below.

This week, I address a few of the top complaints from overworked farmers who are feeling overwhelmed on the farm. 

Check out the preview below and you can read the rest of the article here. 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend! 

-fg

__

Dear Zynga, FarmVille needs a Labor Day for overworked farmers 

This past Monday was Labor Day, and while I’m sure most of everyone enjoyed a relaxing day off from work, I can’t say the same for FarmVille players. Nope. In fact, I’m fairly positive you were working hard on the farm at some point over the holiday.

Let’s face it, FarmVille doesn’t believe in Labor Days, but it does believe in laboring, even on paid federal holidays. Can a FarmVille farmer catch a break?

Before I turn this into a column of complaints about how FarmVille is becoming WorkVille I want to remind you that last week I tried to find a bright side to virtual farming oversaturation and suggested that instead of letting yourself become overwhelmed by the onslaught of new content and features in FarmVille, just do what you enjoy.

Of course there’s always going to be complainers, people who simply ooze negativity. These folks are most often the ones who think I’m responsible for their missing Farm Cash or game freezing up. I’m here to help, but I can’t fix the game’s tech problems. There’s always been a fair share of FarmVille players who want everything to be free, and expect the game to run perfect at all times.

This is not about those people. This is about the people who’ve happily played FarmVille over the years despite its imperfections. These players have invested so much time toiling over freshly planted blueberry plots and breeding new baby animals to share with their neighbors. These are the same people who call their FarmVille neighbors friends even though they may have never met in real life. It’s the feedback from the daily players that I care about the most (and so should Zynga because it doesn’t seem like they are listening). Almost everyone is overwhelmed on the farm. In fact, I don’t think I’ve heard a single person disagree.

Am I a farmer or construction worker?

FarmVille Construction Project Manager Needed

Then, came the multiple construction projects that made begging for parts a second job. This turns a lot of players off because it means that they are forced to rely heavily on their neighbors for help. They have to “beg” them for parts and for help. Some people simply dislike begging, especially covert farmers who don’t want to annoy their non-farming friends on Facebook.

From my experience, it’s even difficult for players with awesome neighbors to complete all of the ongoing construction projects before the next one rolls in. Many of these constructible features and buildings are under time constraints as well. I mean, everyone loves a good barn raising, but when there are so many projects circulating that you forget a building’s purpose before moving on to the next? What’s the point in that? We need a virtual project manager to stay on point. Gilda, with her list of items that need to be mastered, should introduce us to her friend Project Manager Paula, with a list of construction projects we need to complete.

Continue reading by clicking here.

What do you think, FarmVille Freaks are you feeling a little overworked in FarmVille?

Zynga & Hasbro's FarmVille Hungry Hungry Herd Game. Image Credit: Hasbro

We finally have some news to share with you regarding the partnership and which games! The first set of Zynga games to get de-pixilated  include our beloved FarmVille, CityVille, and also Words With Friends. These popular Zynga games get the Hasbro treatment as they leave the confines of their social gaming existence and are recreated as popular Hasbro boardgames. Not really new games, but nonetheless lending their brand to famous Hasbro board games and toys and there’s something for everybody to enjoy.

FarmVille Freaks will be able to treat their farm-loving toddlers and preschoolers to the FarmVille Hungry Hungry Herd game, a re-inspired Hungry Hungry Hippo game with a FarmVille twist. The hippos get tossed out for familiar FarmVille favorites- a Cow, Horse, Pig, and Sheep are happy replacements, but the premise is the same. If you left your desire to fight over marbles with the hippos back in kindergarten and the FarmVille version isn’t enough nostalgia to open your wallet, then there’s also FarmVille Plushies packed with classic card games such as Go Fish, Old Maid, and Memory. They’ve been packaged in FarmVille cuteness and renamed Disco Sheep’s Memory, Rockstar Cow’s Old Maid, and Groovy Chicken’s Go Fish card games.

Now on to the cityfolk and word lovers. Monopoly lends its traditional board game to the CityVille name and this seems like an easy and expected fit. And what of Words With Friends? Scrabble, of course. There’s actually three Words With Friends games available just like Scrabble- a regular version, one made to travel when you’re on-the-go, and even a deluxe version with rotating game board if you’re feeling fancy. Before you yell out “copyright infringement” and think about suing them, remember, Hasbro owns the original game as well.

In addition to the board game itself, all of the games are expected to be packaged with Zynga virtual game bonuses like Farm Cash or City Cash currencies, or Words With Friends enhancements that you’ll be able to redeem online.

Take a look at the upcoming Zynga + Hasbro game descriptions as well as their projected price point below, courtesy of Hasbro via Wired.com.

FarmVille Hungry Hungry Herd Game

• A horse, pig, sheep, and cow will battle for whoever can catch the most marbles, in the spirit of Hasbro’s Hungry Hungry Hippos.
• MSRP of $22.99.
• Ages 4 years & up.

Farmville Animal Games

• Kids can choose from three plush animals, each containing a different card game inside: play Disco Sheep’s Memory card game, Rockstar Cow’s ‘Old Maid’ card game, or Groovy Chicken’s “Go Fish” game.
• MSRP of $9.99. Each sold separately.
• Ages 4 years & up.

Cityville Monopoly Game

• Combines classic Monopoly gameplay with Zynga’s Cityville.
• MSRP of $24.99.
• 2-4 players.
• Ages 8 years & up.

CityVille Monopoly Game

• The CityVille Skies game gives fans an interactive way to explore CityVille from the sky using an iPad app.
• Available December 2012.
• MSRP of $12.99.
• 1 player. Ages 8 years & up.
• Apple iPad® required, not included.

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FarmVille TheVille In-Game Promotion

The Ville is Zynga’s own version of The Sim’s Social , a Sims branded game with the social networking spin, but EA claims the similarities are too vast, and that it may even confuse unknowing gamers who mistake it for the exact same game. Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of Maxis (the subsidiary that produces Sims games) explains, “The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observeer, largely indistinguishable. Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements, and character motions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social.” Zynga’s general counsel Reggie Davis has since responded in a statement claiming, “It’s unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles,” and he continued stating that, “It’s also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga’s CityVille game.”

It isn’t the first time that Zynga’s been under fire for the same copycat scenario or been sued by other gaming studios. Zynga has been known to take existing competitor games, replicate the concept, and of course add their own Zynga touch (for a slideshow of similar games check out Mashable here). Many would be surprised to learn that FarmVille itself was not the very first virtual farming social networking game. The idea of FarmVille is said to be largely borrowed from predecessor virtual farming game Farm Town. However, it’s evident that Farm Town never had the same success as FarmVille. Despite copyright infringement allegations, still millions flock to Zynga’s games which almost always exceed their competitors’ games. There’s clearly something in the Zynga gaming recipe that appeals to a larger audience and helps contribute to the longevity of its gaming repertoire.

Appdata.com breaks the numbers down for top Facebook apps and you can see the shootout below in which The Ville is winning over gamers in just a short period of time since its release date on July 26, 2012. This is no real surprise as the enormous following of existing Zynga gamers are heavily marketed to try out new games in cross-promotions where they can earn free incentives in games they already play for trying out and leveling-up in new games such as The Ville.  For example, FarmVille Freaks can take advantage of an ongoing FarmVille & The Ville cross-promotion where they can earn free Unwithers and Instant Grow for FarmVille when they level-up in the The Ville.

Check out The Ville’s current users versus the The Sims Social below, and we’ve thrown in the numbers for FarmVille for fun so you can see where your favorite farming game currently ranks. We’ve seen it fluctuate on the App Leaderboards over the past three years, but it still maintains a stronghold as one of the top Facebook apps with the one of the highest DAU (Daily Active Users).

Facebook App Leaderboards (August 2012)

Top App (MAU Monthly Active Users)                    DAU (Daily Active Users)   
The Ville – 40.3 million                                               The Ville –  7.2 million
The Sims Social –  16.5 million                                   The Sims Social – 2.9
FarmVille – 27.5 million                                              FarmVille – 11.8 million

Release Dates

The Sims Social – August 9, 2011
The Ville – July 26, 2012

(Source: Appdata.com,  PcWorld.com, Mashable)

How many of you FarmVille Freaks are part-time The Ville or The Sim’s Social players and what do you think about this lawsuit?  

FarmVille 2 Coming Soon

Yesterday, June 26th 2012,  Zynga launched an official FarmVille 2 Facebook Fan Page and it is legit. The company released details on FarmVille 2 as “coming soon” along with the announcement of other new Zynga games including The Ville and ChefVille titles at a Zynga Unleashed event in San Francisco at Zynga’s headquarters. They also revealed plans for their new social gaming network, “Zynga With Friends”, which it describes as “a unified experience that will connect all players on any platform.” (Source: MSNBC)

FarmVille FarmVille 2 In-Game

The big Z confirmed that the sequel to FarmVille will officially be called FarmVille 2 with the launch of its official Facebook Fan Page. We’ve heard rumors of the FarmVille game spin-off under the names Big Harvest and FarmVille 2 and shared with you some substantial evidence (see article links below) about the upcoming game here on FarmVille Freak. Rather than being a FarmVille destination farm such as Jade Falls, Hawaiian Paradise, etc. this is a brand new game from Zynga. What can we expect? If you’ve missed the sneak peeks of the Big Harvest screenshots, you can check them out below. The first thing you’ll notice is a graphics upgrade with the more three-dimensional eye candy of some of Zynga’s newer games- think CastleVille, which FarmVille rightfully deserves.

FarmVille Big Harvest In-Game

You can visit FarmVille 2′s Facebook Fan Page here:

https://www.facebook.com/FarmVille2 

Their first status update reads:

“Welcome to the Official FarmVille 2 Fan Page! Stay tuned for the latest news and information about FarmVille 2 from Zynga.”

To read previous news about FarmVille 2 visit these FarmVille Freak articles:

FarmVille 2: “Big Harvest” on the Rise?

Is FarmVille 2 “Coming Soon”? 

As of now there is no official launch date for FarmVille 2. We know you must have tons of questions about this upcoming game and its connection to your favorite regular old virtual farmin’ game. Stay tuned to FarmVille Freak for all the coverage on FarmVille and FarmVille 2!

What do you think, FarmVille Freaks? Are you excited about a sequel to FarmVille? 

Zynga Zombie Blooddrive

Zynga Zombies made the rounds today in New York and also in the San Francisco area promoting Zynga’s upcoming social mobile game called Zombie Swipeout. The blood-drenched walking dead even visited our friends at AOL’s Games.com (You can read about that here).

Zynga Blooddrive Zombie Girl- Isn't her doll just adorable?

FarmVille Freak Tania's Zynga Zombie Swipeout Encounter

Don’t be fooled by their looks, instead of searching the streets for human brains, these zombies came bearing gifts. That’s right, the Zynga Zombie hoards were sent out with special “Blood Pops” (popsicles) to pass out to the living as part of a Zynga marketing stunt. We love Zynga’s marketing creativity and frankly who doesn’t love a good Zombie scare, especially one that involves ice cold “Blood Pops”? We can’t help but wonder if the Blood Pops are really specially packaged delicious Dreyer’s/Edy’s Fruit Bars- remember the Dreyer’s/Edy’s promotion in FarmVille?

Zynga's "Blood Pops" Promoting Zombie Swipeout

Did any FarmVille Freaks encounter any Zynga Zombies today? Send in your pictures to farmgoddess@farmvillefreak.com and we’ll publish them on FarmVilleFreak.com! 

FarmVille Freak

Rumors of a sequel to FarmVille, creatively called FarmVille 2, are circulating around the internet. Popular gaming site Kotaku as well as  as VG247 mention a Zynga sequel to FarmVille.

Surely inquiring FarmVille Freaks want to know what exactly is FarmVille 2 and what does a sequel to FarmVille actually mean? Before you start asking a gazillion questions, not much is known about the sequel to our favorite farming game. Speculation of a sequel was triggered by a copywriter’s online resume that sources his work on “pitching FarmVille 2″.

Wait…aren’t FarmVille’s destination farms (English Countryside, Lighthouse Cove, Winter Wonderland, and Hawaiian Paradise) considered expansions of FarmVille and thus a sequel too? Well, that’s what we thought, but we all know that FarmVille has been locked down to Facebook due to exclusivity issues. You won’t find FarmVille anywhere else other than Facebook. In other words, the only place that you can access your beloved FarmVille farm is via Facebook. Even though other Zynga games are featured on outlets besides Facebook (Google Games, Zynga.com) FarmVille’s absence is well noted. Perhaps, FarmVille 2 will be able to expand to greener pastures beyond the confines of Facebook and thus expand Zynga’s reach into the farming sector of the social gaming community as well.

Zynga is scheduled to make an appearance at E3 2012 for the first time and hopefully they are planning to announce big news or at least some new information concerning the development or existence of FarmVille 2.

More on this story as we know it, stay tuned to FarmVilleFreak.com for updates.

What are your thoughts on FarmVille 2, FarmVille Freaks? How do you feel about a sequel to FarmVille?

Happy March, FarmVille Freaks and happy news on some of your favorite Zynga games! Today, Zynga announced that they will finally launch their much anticipated Zynga Platform on a revamped Zynga.com later this month!

At its launch the Zynga Platform located on Zynga.com will provide a  new access point to play five of Zynga’s top games including: CastleVille, Words With Friends, CityVille, Hidden Chronicles, and Zynga Poker. Sadly, even though FarmVille remains one of Zynga’s most popular games, it isn’t part of the fun just yet, but we hope it will soon. You will still need your Facebook login to play on Zynga Platform, but prepare for some exciting and innovative new changes such as increased player interaction beyond that of your Facebook friends, more games including those of third party developers featured on the Zynga Platform, as well as new real time chat features and  live game feed catered to your social gaming profile.

Be sure to watch the video above for a quick recap and demonstration of the Zynga Platform and how it will work.

The beta release of Zynga Platform on Zynga.com features:

• zFriends – Connect and play with more people, beyond your Facebook friends, who love to play as much as you do.
• More Games – Five of Zynga’s top games – CastleVille, Words With Friends, CityVille, Hidden Chronicles and Zynga Poker – will be accessible on the site at launch, but soon you will be able to discover and play more social games by Zynga and third party game developers.
• Social Stream – Get real-time access to items needed to advance faster in games by posting to Zynga’s live social stream without ever leaving your game board.
• Player Profile – A profile that is all about the way you play, highlighting your favorite games, top zFriends, recent activity and your helpfulness score to see how you stack up against friends.
• Live Chat – Without leaving the game board, you can also chat with zFriends in real-time to send gifts, strategize, or just say ‘OMG, look at the size of that beastie!’

Zynga.com New Platform (Click to Enlarge)

Zynga.com Game Feeds (Click to Enlarge)

Zynga.com Friend Help (Click to Enlarge)

Zynga.com Player Profile (Click to Enlarge)

What do you think, FarmVille Freaks? Are you excited about playing games on the Zynga Platform? 

To read the entire press release from Zynga continue reading below.

Press Release:

ZYNGA UNVEILS NEW PLATFORM FOR PLAY

The Zynga Platform Delivers More Ways to Play and More People to Play with on Zynga.com

Zynga Welcomes Game Developers Mob Science, Row Sham Bow and Sava Transmedia as Inaugural Platform Partners

SAN FRANCISCO – March 1, 2012 – Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), the world’s leading provider of social game services, today announced the Zynga Platform, a new platform designed to bring players what they’ve asked for: new ways to play and more people to play with. As part of the initial roll out, Zynga will debut the beta release of Zynga.com, the company’s new destination for social games. In addition to serving up popular Zynga games, Zynga.com will let players discover and play social games created by third party game developers. These Platform partners will be able to reach new audiences and make their games even more social.
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FarmVille My Little PonyVille (Image Credit: Equestria Daily)

Zynga, the developers of FarmVille are teaming up with popular toy maker Hasbro!

This partnership is an interesting one that promises exciting new things for Zynga players and FarmVille lovers with pretty much endless possibilities. It seems as though this new partnership will focus on Hasbro making toys for popular Zynga games like FarmVille. What could this mean? Think real life collectibles of famous FarmVille characters with the Hasbro makeover of irresistible cuteness.

We can expect to see Zynga + Hasbro products available as early as Fall 2012.

We’d like to give a special thanks to FarmVille Freak Dark Farmer for sharing this news with us!

Check out the press release below for more details.

Industry Gaming Leaders Hasbro and Zynga Announce Global Partnership

Hasbro signs exclusive worldwide strategic alliance to develop wide range of products based on Zynga’s highly popular and iconic brands

SAN FRANCISCO & PAWTUCKET, R.I.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) and Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) announced today a comprehensive partnership that grants Hasbro the rights to develop a wide range of toy and gaming experiences based across Zynga’s popular social games and brands. As the world’s largest social game developer with more than 227 million monthly active users, Zynga has created some of the world’s most popular social game brands including FarmVille, CityVille and Words With Friends.

Through this agreement, Hasbro has obtained the license to develop and distribute wide ranging product lines based on Zynga’s game brands in a number of toy and game categories. This deal also creates an array of opportunities for co-branded merchandise featuring a combination of both Hasbro and Zynga brands.

“It’s exciting to partner with Hasbro as we share a common vision for play and a mission to connect the world through games,” said Mark Pincus, founder, CEO and chief product officer of Zynga. “This partnership is so special because it represents an exciting leap forward in enabling people to connect their virtual and real worlds. Hasbro has inspired play through their famous toys, games and action figures and we look forward to working with a company that continually creates meaningful and fun brands.”

“Hasbro is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Zynga’s immensely popular social games to life in a variety of creative and new expressions that reflect consumers’ growing desire to surround themselves with gaming brands they love anytime, anywhere together with their friends and family,” said Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro. “Zynga is bringing more games to mainstream culture and is redefining how people play. At Hasbro, we’re proud to help bring their games to even more people around the world. This strategic alliance plays off of both Hasbro’s and Zynga’s proven strengths and is emblematic of the new innovations and new platforms we are creating across our entire gaming portfolio.”

The two companies expect the first products to be available beginning Fall 2012.

About Hasbro

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company providing children and families around the world with a wide-range of immersive entertainment offerings based on the Company’s world class brand portfolio. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, video games and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its customers through the strategic leveraging of well-known and beloved brands such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, PLAYSKOOL, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY. The Hub, Hasbro’s multi-platform joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) launched on October 10, 2010. The online home of The Hub iswww.hubworld.com. The Hub logo and name are trademarks of Hub Television Networks, LLC. Come see how we inspire play through our brands athttp://www.hasbro.com. © 2012 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

About Zynga

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is the world’s largest social game developer with more than 227 million monthly active users playing its games, which include CityVille, FarmVille, Words With Friends, Scramble With Friends, CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles, Zynga Poker, Empires & Allies, Indiana Jones™Adventure World, The Pioneer Trail, Mafia Wars and Café World. Zynga’s games are available on a number of global platforms, including Facebook, Google+, Tencent, Apple iOS and Google Android. Through Zynga.org, Zynga players have raised more than $10 million for world social causes. Zynga is headquartered inSan Francisco.”(Source: Hasbro.com)

Are you excited to see real world FarmVille collectibles and products from the Zynga + Hasbro partnership?