From the monthly archives:

January 2010

Yesterday, a new Facebook app was launched: Gangster City (http://apps.facebook.com/gangstercity/). This flash-based app is a role playing mafia game produced by Playfish.

Ganster City Play Now 300x93 Gangster City: New Facebook App from Playfish

The game starts with a comic book style storytelling, where the player’s character just discovered that his father was part of the mob and was killed. The police didn’t really touch the case, so the killer is still on the loose. So the player must then find out what happened and avenge his dad.

The character will be aided, initially, by Mickey. He will be providing missions to complete. Missions require energy and sometimes equipment (1 unit of energy is replenished every minute). During a mission, there is a single panel, comic book style fight that will let the player know how many points he or she has lost. If the mission is to steal a car, the user will see his or her character hotwiring the ignition. If the player is successful, he or she receives money, experience points, and occasionally items for future use.

When the character levels up, the player receives skill points. These points may be used to improve attack and defense ratings, as well as maximum energy. Leveling up also unlocks new missions and items.

Characters are also allowed to purchase properties that will allow them to earn money. Users will be able to see these in the game’s city map.

Players can also add friends to join their mob as Associates or Family Members. Doing this gives the players better stats and Family Jobs become available to complete.

Although new, the game now has over 500 monthly active users, of which 455 are fans, and an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5!

The game definitely has a good start. Hopefully, Playfish will keep the momentum going.

Gangster City Beta 300x296 Gangster City: New Facebook App from Playfish

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Facebook is so popular and its gaming scene is so profitable that even known video game publishers are now releasing applications in the Social Networking site.

Namco Bandai is a Japan-based developer and publisher of arcade and home video games. Its most popular games include Pac-Man™, Tekken, Dragon Ball, Time Crisis, and Naruto.

Namco Bandai Games Namco Arcade: Mobile Games on Facebook

With social networking discovery experts, Mplayit, Namco Bandai Networks Europe recently released a new Facebook app called Namco Arcade (http://apps.facebook.com/namcoarcade/). Mainly for mobile phone users, this app allows the user to play for 5 minutes. Eventually, players can decide to purchase the game and have it sent to their mobile phones through Facebook. It also lets users write mini-reviews, become a fan of their favorite games, and share these through Facebook, Twitter, Digg and email.

Available games in Namco Arcade are Pac-Man™ CE, Rolling with Katamari, Namco Arcade Golf, Pac-Man Pinball 2, and Time Crisis Elite. Pac-Man™ CE has six games modes and different mazes for the character to run around in. Unfortunately, the Namco Arcade application is currently available only to Facebook users in Europe.

According to Barry O’Neill, president of Namco Bandai Networks Europe, including Facebook in their distribution channel is an excellent move for the company because it will allow them to gradually reach the social networking site’s 350 million users.

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Habbo Hotel and Facebook recently announced its partnership. This partnership means that Facebook users can go to the Habbo Hotel Facebook application without the need to register and that Habbo Hotel users can mingle with Facebook friends through Facebook Connect.

This integration also allows Facebook friends to know what your Habbo avatar’s name is. So for those teens who don’t want their avatar’s name to be known to friends, this connection is not such a good idea.

Habbo users can dress, style, and name their Habbo avatar. They can also share their experiences with friends as they check into the Habbo Hotel, build rooms, train pets, and send gifts. In addition, they can play games in the site such as BattleBall, SnowStorm, Wobble Squabble, as well as social games they created themselves!

Habbo Hotel (http://www.habbo.com) is owned and operated by the Sulake Corporation of Finland, which began this service in 2000. In June 2008, its 1 millionth avatar was created in Habbo UK.

Currently, there are 31 international online communities or Habbo Hotels including

  • Habbo Hotel UK with 95,316 monthly active Facebook users
  • Habbo Hotel España with 38,658 monthly active Facebook users
  • Habbo Hotel Italia with 18,096 monthly active Facebook users, etc.

Since the launching of the Habbo Hotel app in Facebook, the teen social networking site has gained over 100 thousand new users. The Habbo community is obviously growing and discovering the fun in Habbo Hotel. When are you going to check in?

Facebook Habbo frontpage 300x137 Habbo Hotel and Facebook Connects

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Ever wondered if there are any Facebook friends who have removed you from their list of Facebook friends? Want to know who? Last week, i-Doodz released the iPhone app, Defriended (http://www.appstorehq.com/defriended-iphone-124040/app), just to do that. Although the app is still present in the App store, Facebook immediately blocked that app only days after its release. So downloading it will just be a waste of money.

Defriended is a 99-cent iPhone app that scans your Facebook list of friends each time the program is run. It then compares your current list of friends to the most recent list stored in its memory. If there is a missing name, it then alerts you about it. However, any missing Facebook friends before the first run of the program, will not be known.

defriended 200x300 Defriended: iPhone App Blocked by Facebook

To some people, finding out who removed them from their friend list is. However, to social networking sites, this knowledge can cause a lot of drama and negative emotions associated with their service. So it is better to be kept under wraps.

Despite this drawback, there are other ways of getting the information needed. For example there are some browser scripts that Facebook cannot block, like the Unfriend Finder script (http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/58852) and Facebook Friends Checker (http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/40027).

For those who think finding out who unfriended you is not very important although you are curious, my advice is spare yourself the misery and stay in blissful ignorance.

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12 January 2010, Tuesday, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck a small country south-east of the US called Haiti. The quake destroyed almost every building, left thousands homeless, and killed an estimate of 50 to 200 thousand people.

Thankfully, many people rushed to help, including those who seem they wouldn’t bother: the Facebook gamers and developers.

To help raise funds, Zynga created the Zynga Haiti Relief Fund. All profits will go to the United Nations World Food Programme (www.wfp.org) to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. To raise funds they are offering limited edition items in their top games:

  • In FarmVille, virtual farmers can buy white corn for 25 Farm Cash ($5). This corn will not wither even if it is not harvested for a week.
  • In Mafia Wars, there is the Haitian Drum
  • In Zynga Poker, there is a special chip package that gives the user a premium rare item

FarmVille Relief Fund for Haiti 300x237 Facebook and Zynga to Haiti’s Rescue

People can also donate directly to the Zynga Haiti Relief Fund by going to Zynga’s website (http://one.wfp.org/donate-haiti/index.html). Presently, the Facebook game developer has already collected over 900 thousand dollars for the Haiti earthquake victims!

With Facebook’s 350 million users, alone, the appeal for help for the Haitians has intensified. Even though it is not known how much was donated by Facebook users, what is known is that within just 24 hours, the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) raised £8 million; while the Red Cross, in just 48 hours, received $35 million worth of donations! The pouring of donations for Haiti is clearly greater than in any previous disasters that happened before the popularity of social networking sites.

This just proves that social networking sites and online games help the world, too!

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Fearing for your computer’s and your information’s safety whenever you go online, especially when you visit Facebook? Fear no more! Last week, Facebook and McAfee, an Antivirus Software and Intrusion Prevention Solutions provider, announced their collaboration.

Facebook and McAfee Facebook and McAfee: Making the Web Safer

First of all, McAfee and Facebook join forces to secure Facebook accounts that get hacked (Mind you, this is a rarity). After the incident, the real owner of the account will be required to re-secure his or her account and learn best practices in internet security. In addition, the user’s computer will also be cleaned by McAfee for free.

Second and best of all, every one of the 350 million users of Facebook has the chance to get free McAfee Internet Security Suite for six whole months! The Suite protects users from viruses, spyware as well as online threats and cybercriminals like scammers, hackers, and identity thieves. The software allows the user to custom scan or to choose which part of his or her computer should be scanned. It also includes a repair tool and education materials that Facebook users can use to learn more about internet dangers and how to protect themselves.

To get the software, you must receive the software as a gift from a friend. They can send it to you by going to McAfee’s page in the social networking site (http://www.facebook.com/McAfee).

Give the Gift of McAfee 300x255 Facebook and McAfee: Making the Web Safer

After this six-month period, users have the option to purchase the product from McAfee at a special discounted price. Facebook will not be taking any profit from this sale. Its profit will only come from ads that McAfee are posting on the social networking site.

Initially, this software will only be available to users in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The companies will gradually include other countries throughout the first quarter of 2010.

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Role Playing Games (RPGs) are really invading Facebook! Other than being a warlord or part of the mafia, now users can also raise an army of knights, elves and other mythical beings. Castle Age (www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=46755028429) may be an old chip of the block. However, there is more to this game than meets the eye.

Castle Age1 Castle Age: Exquisite Artistry and Interface on Facebook Games

Even with copyright issues last year, this has not hindered the developers from bouncing back and providing beautiful fantasy art and interface. Currently, in fact, it has almost 3 million monthly active users and a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

For this game, of course there is always the stamina, attack, defense, and energy to maintain and develop. Also the main goal, just like other war RPGs (like The Warlords), is to conquer by doing quests, obtaining allies, and points. The points are then used to purchase equipment to gain experience.

The story starts with a burning village. The player is prompted to choose whom to save. The character then will be the first hero to do quests. Different heroes provide unique bonuses to the player. As the game progresses, the player can unlock heroes by undergoing quests or purchasing them. When the player attains the level 10 status, he then can upgrade his units. Every now and then, the player will come across a “boss” character. A story will introduce that character and the player must defeat the boss in order for him to progress.

Other than the great storyline and art work, players can invite their friends to upgrade the size of their army and to be included in the “Elite Guard” as well.

With all the upheavals the developers encountered, Castle Age still remains strong. Hopefully, we will see more RPGs on Facebook, giving more depth to social gaming.

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This week, Island Paradise (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=94483022361), gained its 1 millionth fan! Although it was only launched in Facebook in August 2009, it now boasts almost 7 million monthly active users. Because of this wonderful news its developer, Meteor Games, will be giving away 200 Meteor Credits, the game’s currency, to all its players. (Meteor Games is more known as the creator of the virtual world, (http://www.neopets.com/), which was eventually bought by Viacom in 2005 for $160 million.)

The game is similar to farming games like Zynga’s FarmVille, however, it is set in an island, where the user’s character had been washed ashore. To survive, the character must plant crops, trees, and flowers. He or she must also take care of animals for wool, milk, and eggs.

Island Paradise 300x227 Island Paradise Gains 1 Millionth Fan

There are common animals in the game, such as chickens, cows, and sheep; common plants including beans, eggplants, corn, roses, apples, lemons, and oranges. However, there are also unusual creatures such as cassowaries, llamas, peacocks, alpacas, yams, taros, macadamias, durians, sugar canes, rubber trees, orchids, and anthuriums.

Unlike FarmVille, in Island Paradise, you can steal from your neighbor’s crops up to a limit. The stolen harvest is enough to gain a few coins (or a lot of money if you have many friends playing the game) but not enough to cause hunger to your friend. In addition, since Island Paradise and Little Rock Pool are both created by Meteor Games, both use Meteor Credits as currency and players can draw from either account if they need it.

So what are you waiting for? This may be the game you’ll come to enjoy.

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The Warlords game is quite an addicting Facebook game (www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=75621092614). Basically, a card game, it was developed by BitRhymes with over 900 thousand monthly active users.

The Warlords 300x110 The Warlords on Facebook: A Strategy Game

The main goal of the game is to be the best warlord. To become the best, the player can do several things to increase his experience and level. One way is to go on quests. There are four categories: The Chronicles of Fergon (which is the core of the storyline), Treasure Quests, The Oracle’s Temple, and The Monster Quest.

Another means of leveling up is by fighting other users. When a user clicks on the “Battles” link, he or she will be taken to a page with a table showing different users, their levels, and if they have allies. The player can also choose to challenge his or her friends or choose to take revenge on those who defeated the player or his or her allies.

To win a battle or a quest, the player must choose the right cards. Each card indicates the life, hit points, and the readiness of the card to enter the fight.

Other features of the game include buying cards, managing squads, buying or selling treasures, checking out the player’s properties (wherein the player can purchase a gold mine to get regular cash flow), and visiting the Oracle (allowing the player to refill his hero’s stamina, energy, and buy coins in exchange of favor points).

The Facebook Warlords game is a lot of fun. The only bummer here is that you need to wait for several minutes to refill your energy and stamina. Hence, it would then take quite some time to level up. For impatient players, they end up buying energy and stamina with real money.

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