Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga

The New York Times featured an interesting article about the future of Zynga. The article questions if Zynga will become the next “Google” of Games. In other words, Zynga founders and current C.E.O, Mark Pincus, would like to see the future of Zynga Games become what Google is for searching.

Mark Pincus recently told Zynga employees in a pep talk earlier this month that, “he had set out to build an enduring Internet icon, one that was synonymous with fun.”

In 2007, Mr. Pincus was quoted as saying, “…this can’t be all that the Internet is meant to be,” there has to be more than a garage sale, a bookstore, a search engine and a portal,”  jokingly referring to internet giants, eBay, Amazon, Google, and Yahoo. It is very clear as to which company he would like to see Zynga match, as he said, “the opportunity to build an online entertainment empire was like search before Google came along.”

Whatever the case, the future for ZyngFor now, Zynga remains a privately owned company whose revenue for this year is estimated to be around the 500 million mark.

(Source: The New York Times)

What do you think? Is Zynga destined to become the “Google of Games”?

FarmVille Lighting Collections Explained

Note: Lightning Collections are not yet in full release. If you do receive a Gemstone, use it at your own risk it may be lost.

FarmVille Lightning Collection - Gemstone Collection

The Lightning Gemstone Collection has 6 components.

Free Gifables ( 3 Items ) or available for 1 $FV:

• Topaz – Common
• Amethyst – Common
• Turquoise – Common

The remaining 3 Gemstones can be found while planting crops or purchased for $FV:

• Ruby 2$FV – Uncommon
• Emerald 2$FV – Uncommon
• Diamond 3$FV -Rare

So you can be patient; accept gifts and try to find the Collectibles  OR purchase them for a total of 10$FV (the complete set).

When you complete the Gemstone collection you can share a few extras with neighbors:

FarmVille Gemstone Collection Sharing on FaceBook

But, currently you will not be able to complete this collection again, as the congratulations pop explains:

“You won’t be able to collect more Gemstone items, but you can still share extra Gemstone Collection items with your friends.”

FarmVille Gemstone Collection Completed

Upon completion players will recieve free Xp and an ‘awesome trophy’:

FarmVille Gemstone Collection Trophy in Giftbox

FarmVille Freak J-Chaves Gemstone Collection Trophy

What are your thoughts on the new Lightning Collection feature?

Cascadian Farm

FarmVille will be partnering with Cascadian Farm and, for the first time ever, will be introducing  a sponsored branded in-game crop that will also be available to all farmers.

Cascadian Farm, originating in 1972, is one of the country’s leading brands of organic foods, offering more than 80 products from ready-to-eat cereals and granola bars to frozen fruits and vegetables, juice concentrates and fruit spreads.  People have enjoyed our great-tasting and convenient organic foods for more than 35 years. The Cascadian Home Farm is nestled in the foothills of the breathtaking North Cascades mountain range in western Washington’s Upper Skagit Valley.

The upcoming FarmVille and Cascadian Farm cross promotional event will take place the week of

July 19th through July 26th

*Dates are subject to change without notice.

FarmVille Organic Cascadian Blueberries Promo

Cascadian Farm, “a pioneer in the organic food industry” teams up with FarmVille as a week-long integration, that “will offer players the chance to purchase Organic Blueberries for their farms.  In addition, players will receive a variety of other benefits, including coupon offers, organic and green living tips, and the opportunity to build their farm at a rapid speed.”

Key Features of the FarmVille & Cascadian Promotion:

• Organic Blueberries will be the highest Coin and Experience Point (XP) Crop of the Week- During this week-long integration, the Cascadian Farm branded crop will be the most profitable FarmVille crop offered in the game. It will also be available to purchase for all beginner (Level 1) and experienced players. Rumor has it that the Organic Blueberries crop will have Crop Mastery, as there are images of Organic Blueberries Crop Mastery signs.
• Real-Life Farm Goes Virtual- The brand will recreate the real Cascadian Farm, located in the Upper Skagit Valley of Washington’s North Cascade Mountains, as a virtual farm in FarmVille. Users can request to be the farm’s neighbor by “friend-ing” Farmer Joe Cascadian online at Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/farmerjoecascadian and by using the FarmVille application to become his neighbor in-game.

Marketing Manager of Cascadian Farm, Tim Goldsmid, explains “Given our heritage of engaging consumers to increase awareness and support for organic farming and the organic lifestyle, partnering with FarmVille was a natural fit for Cascadian Farm. We’re excited to have the opportunity to partner with a leader in the online gaming world and offer unique ways for new and existing consumers to become involved with the brand.”

Vish Makhijani, Zynga’s Senior Vice President of Business Operations said, “When deciding on our first branded crop integration, we wanted to offer our users a unique opportunity that would benefit their gaming experience and add value to their lives both on and offline. Cascadian Farm perfectly aligned with our vision and what the FarmVille game represents.”

As we learn more details about this upcoming promotion we will be sure to share with you on FarmVille Freak!

Are you excited about this FarmVille-Cascadian Farm collaboration? Will you participate?

FarmVille Freak Sponsered Link: The Sorcerer's Apprentice Notice

First you will be asked a question to which you can answer anything you like, “If you could have any magical power, what would it be?”

FarmVille Sponsered Link: The Sorcerer's Apprentice Video

You will then perform 3 magical tricks, which are quite hilarious, such as levitate a pig by using a plasma bolt.

Note: This is only in the mini game, not in your actual FarmVille game.

FarmVille Sponsered Link: The Sorcerer's Apprentice Farm

FarmVille Sponsered Link: The Sorcerer's Apprentice FarmVille Minigame

After completing three magical tasks in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice mini game, you are finished! You will have the option to find the closest screening to you and ‘Like’ the new Disney Movie on Facebook. The next time you reload your farm you should have 2 Free $FV

FarmVille Sponsered Link: The Sorcerer's Apprentice Finished

There have been quite a few promotions for 2 Free $FV over the past few months, will you be taking advantage of this new one? Are you going to see Disney’s new movie The Sorcerers Apprentice?

FarmVille Super Harvest Mystery

FarmVille Freak Moderator Kayyy was harvesting her fertilized Pasole Corn when she received the notices pictured above, letting her know that she had harvested a “Super Harvest”.

As of July 12th, “Super Crops” were introduced as a way to notify you when you gain extra XP for harvesting your crops. Previously, you just received a “+ 1  or + 2 XP” notice at the upper portion of the in-game screen.

You can harvest Super Crops in two ways:

1. You harvest a crop that has been fertilized by a FarmVille neighbor.
2. You harvest a crop that you have already Mastered and that you also have used a Bushel on.

Have you ever gotten a notice for a FarmVille Super Harvest? If so, when did you get it and what were you harvesting?

Google + Zynga = Google Games

According to TechCrunch, Google secretly invested more than 100 million dollars in Zynga. There is a larger partnership in the works that may secure Zynga as a prominent fixture with the release of Google Games.

A partnership with Google and Zynga would mean that Google Games would provide another alternative route to access Zynga games including FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars and other popular titles. Google Games would allow you to log into Google Games and gain access to play your favorite Zynga game. Google Games is expected to launch later this year.

Not only will Google provide another method for accessing FarmVille, it will also give Google the perk of players using Google Checkout instead of PayPal. Farm Cash and other Zynga virtual currency must be purchased with credit card or PayPal. Some sources such as TechCrunch say that Zynga is one of PayPal’s best customers, “Zynga is supposedly PayPal’s biggest single customer”. It is likely that we will see Google Checkout offered as another payment option, especially through the Google Games platform.

Zynga continues to gain massive monetary profit, so it is not surprising that huge companies such as MSN, Yahoo! and now Google become interested and seek partnerships. While Zynga benefits from the exposure and increase in accessibility that Google and Yahoo provide, their partners are able to secure a piece of the social network pie that is largely controlled by social network giant, FaceBook. A partnership with Zynga means that you have tapped into the market of the most popular social game developer and the millions of people that play their games. As TechCrunch explained, “For whatever reason people love to play these games and get passionately addicted to them, coming back day after day. That’s helped Facebook become what it is today. Google, Yahoo and others want some of that magic to rub off on them, too.”

Source: Tech Crunch

What do you think about this new partnership? Are you looking forward to farming via Google Games?

Lots of naysayers said it couldn’t be done with iPhone, Android, or any smart phone for that matter, yet the FarmVille application for iPhone was successfully released at the end of June.

So could FarmVille be coming soon to Android? Possibly! The URL www.farmvilleandroid.com was just recently registered by DNStination, which is the same registrant as FarmVille.com. As of yet there has been no official release made by Zynga or FarmVille, but this could be a good indicator of a future FarmVille and Android partnership. Worst case scenario, securing the FarmVilleAndroid.com domain name demonstrates FarmVille’s interest in Android, even if it is just a placeholder for now.

It seems like a wise decision as there are many farmers who are non-iPhone users who would also love to have other options to satisfy their farming needs.

Would you like to see FarmVille available for Android?

Zynga's FrontierVille Logo

If you are tired of farming life and treasure hunting or need something else to pass the time as you wait for your crops to grow, Zynga can provide you with a new adventure to take on and a new game to play- Frontierville!

FrontierVille went live today, June 9th 2010 and launched on FaceBook. Our friend at AOL’s Games.com, editor Libe Goad, covered the breaking news, read below for more details about FrontierVille.

Breaking News! Zynga’s FrontierVille arrives on FaceBook by Libe Goad, Posted Jun 9th 2010 11:00AM

“FrontierVille rides into town on today, courtesy of FarmVille creator Zynga. The new western themed Facebook game is best described by Zynga’s Chief Game Designer Brian Reynolds, who calls it “Oregon Trail meets Little House on the Prairie meets FarmVille.”

The goal of the game is to build your own frontier town, while growing your family and keeping the wilderness at bay. The game begins with a covered wagon and a plot of land, and from there you plant and harvest crops, custom create a log cabin, take on a spouse and make frontier babies (it’s all very G-rated, don’t worry). You’ll be able to put the entire family to work, taking on quests and keeping snakes, bears and groundhogs from treading on your property.

FrontierVille Family

FrontierVille’s social elements revolve around helping neighbors with their frontier towns, hiring friends to get jobs done quickly. The game also has a built-in reputation system — the more favors you do, the better your reputation — which in turn will make you more useful to friends who hire you for work.

Like other FarmVille and other Zynga games, FrontierVille will be updated with expansions and new items regularly and will be powered by a microtransaction system, which will allow you to use real-life cash to buy in-game currency which can then be used for special power-ups or premium virtual items.

Expectations at Zynga are big for this new game. Reynolds, who we interviewed about FrontierVille, wouldn’t give us any specific numbers they’re trying to meet, he says it would be a good thing if the game beat Zynga’s fastest-growing game, Treasure Isle, which attracted 5 million users in one week. Our full interview with Reynolds will be coming shortly.

FrontierVille is the first social game for the video game vet , best known for creating multi-million dollar strategy games such as Civilization II and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. Even though other Facebook games have been built by video game alums, it will be interesting to see how Reynold’s experience will make this wild west game stand out from the pack.” (Source: AOL Games )

FrontierVille On the Trail

TO PLAY FrontierVille, CLICK HERE: FarmVille Freak – Play FrontierVille on FaceBook

FarmVille on iPhone! Photo Credit: Kotaku.com

At Apple’s WWDC 2010 event, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus took the stage and announced that FarmVille would be introduced to iPhone very soon within the next month, just in time to commemorate FarmVille’s one year anniversary of the game’s release.

According to Kotaku the FarmVille iPhone application will significantly contribute to your farming addiction allowing you to be “even more obsessive about your farm, as the app will send you little reminders when your crops need tending, your cows milking, or someone sends you a gift,” there is also the introduction of a new iPhone application exclusive animal, “the Snow Leopard, exclusive to the iPhone version of the game.”

(Source: Kotaku)

Challenge Games Notice of Zynga Acquisition

Challenge Games, a social game company located in Austin, Texas has been acquired by Zynga.

Warstorm, a card collecting fantasy game and Ponzi, a tycoon game, are two of Challenge Games’ social games that are already featured on FaceBook. These two games will continue development with Zynga.

While terms of the agreement and acquisition were not disclosed, according to the Austinist, “Andrew Busey, the co-founder and CEO of Challenge Games, will become Zynga’s general manager and vice president of the Austin studio. The Challenge Games team of 35 employees will be integrated into Zynga’s workforce.” (Source: Austinist).