You’ve already heard the rumors about a sequel to FarmVille, FarmVille 2, that’s been circulating the internet and also mentioned on FarmVille Freak. (Read that article by clicking here.)
Well, the story develops and more interesting pieces of farming goodness have been leaked at TechCrunch. Supposedly FarmVille version 2.0 is already being user tested in the Philippines under the name Big Harvest. A sequel to FarmVille may seem far-fetched, but Zynga has done it with some of its other games including the popular Mafia Wars. However, whether Mafia Wars sequels were successful remains questionable. For those of you naysayers and anti-FarmVille types that think everyone has already migrated off the farm and that a another farming game is so 2009, well here’s a fact for thought: In 2012 FarmVille still remains Zynga’s highest earning game earning nearly 30% of its online game revenue. Upsetting its dedicated players with a sequel could be risky business, but introducing a sequel the right way by keeping FarmVille Freaks happy could be both profitable and an enjoyable experience for players in the next chapter in virtual farming.
Even though Zynga remains mum on the sequel and declines to comment on the development of a sequel to FarmVille here’s some familiar FarmVille-esque screenshots of the beta version of Big Harvest. What do we see? Regarding graphics we see an upgraded FarmVille with the more three-dimensional eye candy of some of Zynga’s newer games- think CastleVille, which FarmVille rightfully deserves. But at what cost is still to be determined. Our farms are precious and the time (and money) spent toiling over every blade of grass and plot of dirt not to mention our collection of animals, buildings, decorations, and endless stuff collecting dust in our Storage Cellars is a very hard thing to leave behind indeed.
FarmVille Big Harvest In-Game
What do you think FarmVille Freaks, how do you feel about a sequel to FarmVille?
Zynga’s bingo-style game, Slingo, is offering FarmVille players 3 free FarmVille Unwithers when you try playing Slingo.
To access this offer, simply click on the Slingo Joker icon located on the right side of your in-game FarmVille play area. Then to get your free Unwithers all you have to do is play Slingo and complete 10 full boards. This is a fairly easy task to complete and of course every FarmVille Freak loves a free Unwither! Unwithers can be used to do just that- unwither any withered (dead) FarmVille crop by magically bringing it back to life and making it harvest-ready.
Will you play Slingo for free FarmVille Unwithers?
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. (more…)
Zynga and Frito Lay launched their “Snack & Play” promotion where players can receive free virtual items for purchasing specific Frito Lay snacks. The participating games include FarmVille, CityVille, and CastleVille.
Here’s how it works- when you purchase specially marked Frito Lay products (see list below) you will get a redemption code where you can then go online to redeem the code for an exclusive virtual item for the participating game of your choice. This offer is valid only in the United States.
FarmVille Exclusive Super Items
Which Frito Lay snacks qualify?
Funions
Ruffles
Doritos
Lays Classic
Cheetos
Zynga Game Cards (Purchased at Wal Mart)
Here is the breakdown on what snacks you can purchase to get each specific FarmVille virtual item. For example, if you purchase a bag of specially marked Funnions, you will get the redemption code for the FarmVille Spring Llama.
FarmVille Frito-Lay Promotion Prizes
FarmVille Spring Llama
FarmVille Chip To-go Bistro
FarmVille Nacho Garden
FarmVille Potato Chip Tree
FarmVille Spring Dragon
FarmVille Spring Apple Tree
Super Items
In addition to the regular redemption prizes there are also Super Items. You can receive a free Super Item, which is the Spring Pegacorn for FarmVille, whenever you redeem at least 4 codes and a Zynga Game Card purchased from Wal Mart for this promotion. Note, you will have to redeem the codes for the same game to qualify for that game’s Super Item.
FarmVille Spring Pegacorn (Super Item)
How to Redeem Codes
1. Log in to the participating game of your choice (FarmVille, CityVille, or CastleVille).
2. Click on the “Game Cards” tab on the in-game top menu.
3. Locate the redemption code on the back of your bag of chips or scratch off of your Zynga Game Card.
4. Enter the code to get your free in-game virtual item.
5. When you enter at least 4 codes from participating chips and at least one Zynga Game Card redeemed for the same game, you will qualify for a Super Item in that game.
Will you be participating in this Zynga + Frito Lay promotion? What do you think of the prizes?
Zynga Bingo is “coming soon” and so is this upcoming Zynga Bingo and FarmVille promotion.
Similar to other cross-game Zynga promotions, you’ll be able to score some FarmVille freebies when you try out Zynga Bingo. In this case, it says that reaching Level 6, will score you 10 free FarmVille Unwithers.
Please note, this promotion is still unreleased and subject to change without prior notice.
Tonight the Big Z finally confirmed the rumors about an upcoming fourth FarmVille Winter destination farm!
We also learn that at this new Winter Wonderland FarmVille farm we will help restore its Train Station, master new animals and crops, and likely complete new Winter Wonderland Quests in the snowy escape of a new winter farm!
Zynga sent out this message via the official FarmVille Facebook Fan Page:
“Oh no! Winter Wonderland is covered in Snow! Help restore this icy magical escape: Rebuild the train station, master new animals and crops, and complete the ultimate snowy farming experience in FarmVille’s Winter Wonderland! Coming soon!”
Are you excited about the FarmVille Winter Wonderland farm? What do you think of the sneak peek image?
The collectible FarmVille Plushies created by Kidrobot will be sold exclusively at Best Buy. The presale starts today online at BestBuy.com where you can beat the holiday traffic and preorder your FarmVille Plushies. There’s also a Zynga Game Card and FarmVille Plushie bundle available where you can get a $25 Zynga Game Card and a collectible plushie for an extra .99 cents with your game card purchase. The cost of one FarmVille collectible Plush toy will be $9.99 per plush.
Even though a few lucky FarmVille Freaks have already scored their plushies, the FarmVille Plush collectibles officially hit Best Buy stores nationwide starting November 25th 2011.
Each FarmVille Plush is foil-wrapped and then packaged in its own Barn blind-boxed style. This means that you don’t know what collectible is inside. It’s a Mystery, kinda like the FarmVille Mystery Game and we know FarmVille loves a mystery! Blind-Boxing is also done with similar collectible figures such as Disney Vinylmation.
There are a total of 8 collectible Winter FarmVille Plushies:
FarmVille Pig
FarmVille Goat
FarmVille Cow
FarmVille Sheep
FarmVille Chicken
FarmVille Duck
FarmVille Horse
FarmVille Rabbit
FarmVille Plush Cow
FarmVille Plush Calf
FarmVille Plush Horse
FarmVille Plush Foal
FarmVille Plush Rabbit
FarmVille Plush Duck
FarmVille Plush Goat
FarmVille Plush Pig
FarmVille Plush Sheep
FarmVille Plush Chicken
What’s included with each FarmVille plushie purchase?
1 Plush FarmVille collectible toy
10 Free Farm Cash
exclusive FarmVille Animal which is the in-game version of the plushie
There will also be some cool incentives such as a free in-game Super Orchard for those players that collect all 8 plushes and their in-game virtual counterparts.
FarmVilleFreak.com will also be doing some fun FarmVille Plushie giveaways for our readers so stay tuned!
Zynga released an official press release about the FarmVille Plushies today, which you can read below.
COPY FROM RELEASE:
“During the holiday hustle and bustle, why not treat yourself, your friends and family to some playtime down on the Farm…Ville, that is! For the first time ever, including this holiday season, Zynga, the world’s largest social game company, is introducing their favorite FarmVille game critters in collectible stuffed form with Zynga’s FarmVille Plush Toys. They’re cute enough for the kids, but we won’t tell if you keep them for yourself!
With more than 230 million people playing Zynga games each month, FarmVille has become a global hit. Created by designer toy maker Kidrobot, FarmVille plushes will be available in limited edition exclusively at Best Buy retail locations and they go on presale today at BestBuy.com. Available alone for $9.99 or for only 99 cents with purchase of $25 game card, each plush comes with:
Collectible “blind” barn-box, housing a surprise FarmVille animal —a pig, goat, cow, sheep, chicken, duck, horse or rabbit – decked in winter garb
An exclusive FarmVille in-game version of the plush toy
Players who fill their farm with all eight animals will receive a bonus in-game Super Orchard
These FarmVille plush toys will be in Best Buy stores nationwide beginning November 25th and will continue while these limited edition supplies last.”
FarmVille Plush Collectible Information
Are you as excited as we are to collect these FarmVille Plushies? What do you think, FarmVille Freaks, will you be gifting FarmVille Plushies to your farmin’ friends or stuffing them in your own stocking this Christmas?
As local elections come to a close tonight throughout the United States, we’d like to take a moment to revisit the idea of politics invading FarmVille’s virtual real estate and possibly your own farms.
Back in September, Bloomberg Businessweek first reported that some presidential hopefuls and their campaigns, specifically Rep. Michele Bachmann in this case, would like to target popular social games such as Zynga’s FarmVille in hopes of gaining virtual support and to pick up some key voters.
Michael Hendrix, a consultant for the firm working on Bachmann’s ad campaign dubs this idea the “gamification of politics”. One game in particular, FarmVille, he sees as an advantageous “demographic frontier for Republicans” with “the majority of social gamers [being] stay-at-home moms over 38″. Hendrix claims to have written software that will allow players to bring politics to the farm. We’ve all seen some of our fellow FarmVille Freaks flex their political affiliation on their farms via their hay bale constructed farm art of Democrat Donkeys or Republican Elephants, but Hendrix plans to take this a step further with a more real world borrowed concept- yard signs! He suggests that his software would allow FarmVille players to show support for their candidates by placing political yard signs on their virtual farms just as they would on their real world lawns.
Even though Zynga has not yet publically endorsed the notion of a political invasion of FarmVille and this article is written from a speculative perspective, it has us all wondering- do politics belong on the farm? Certainly, if politics did seep their way into FarmVille, it’d be an optional endorsement for players to decide and one with all parties represented. On the other hand,FarmVille is already becoming more like a full-time job, do we really need to corrupt it with politics, party lines, and the sometimes unwelcomed diversity it brings? We can see how happy neighbors and our shared love of toiling over our farms could quickly turn into heated arguments and broken farmer friendships.
What do you think, FarmVille Freaks? Does political representation belong on your farm? If it were possible, would you show support for your candidate or political affiliation with a yard sign display on your farm? Sound off in the comments below and be sure to take our FarmVille Freak Poll!
Zynga and four of its most popular games including FarmVille will be participating in a promotion along with Pizza Hut to support World Hunger Relief in their “Share a Slice of Hope” campaign.
Players will be able to donate $5 USD or more of course to World Hunger Relief and will be rewarded with an exclusive in-game Limited Edition item.
According to the Zynga website it says that the promotion kicks off on September 25th, which is tomorrow!
Other Zynga games that are participating besides FarmVille include Empires & Allies, CityVille, and Pioneer Trail.
Stay tuned to FarmVilleFreak.com for more info on this upcoming promotion.
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