Rapper Dr. Dre has teamed up with leading social game developer Zynga to promote his latest album Detox, in the latter’s crime-based Facebook game, Mafia Wars.

The game boasting around 19 million players every months is featuring various Dr. Dre inspired game experiences including limited edition virtual goods within a “Hustlin’ wit Dre” section of the game.

The video from Dre’s latest single, Kush, began streaming within the game on Friday.

This is not the first time Zynga has partnered with high-profile hip hop artist to promote Mafia wars. Earlier this year, Snoop Dogg and Zynga got together in a Mafia Wars promotional video, where Snoop Dogg blows up a 4-ton armored truck in the middle of the desert in Nevada, with very successful result.

It is also not the first time either for artist and game developers to work together. Earlier Bon Jovi partnered with CrowdStar to distribute digital Music through games CrowdStar’s popular gamed like Happy Aquarium and It Girl.

Many of you might have read about it, but I thought this news also deserve to be shared

John Sweeney and Joanne Doane, found love in the most unexpected place – Zynga’s Mafia Wars.

Sweeney and Doane, the godfather and godmother of the Mafia Wars True Alliance clan, reportedly met playing the game in March 2009 and bonded over the clan warfare and discussing strategy for hours on the phone.

They tied the knot on September 17 at Central Station in Treasure Isle, Florida. Apart from meeting on Zynga’s game, a mob-themed wedding cake, the couple is also said to be going on their honeymoon for free – courtesy of Zynga .

Click here for more on the story and interview with the couple.

One of the fastest growing games on Facebook is World at War. It is one of the top gainers this year with now over 1 million monthly active users! This is despite the fact that its developer, Treyarch, is quite unknown.

The game is patterned after Zynga’s Mafia Wars. The difference is that it involves modern militia instead of 1930s mobsters. In the game, a nuclear bomb explodes in New York City starts war. The player is a commanding officer in the armed forces of his or her chosen country. The player may choose to fight for the US (with a bonus on planes), the UK (with a bonus on ships), Germany (with a bonus on tanks), Russia (to increase loot rate), China (to create buildings faster), and Iran (to recover energy quicker). The goal of the game, of course, is to have the best army and emerge victorious.

To increase one’s level, honor, money, items, and units, the player can complete missions or fight other players. To do these successfully, he or she must use up energy as well as have alliance members (friends) and units (over land, sea, or air). His or her defense and attack points must also be high enough. Having a developed base allows the player to increase his or her defense and attack points plus gain more financial support.

Game enhancements (like indestructible units, cash, and energy refill) may be bought using Reward Points. In the beginning, each player has 10 of these. However, more may be bought by using PayPal, credit cards, Amazon Payments, and by completing surveys, installing games, etc. through Offerpal.

Though World at War’s game features may be a bit common for Facebook users, it still offers the excitement that can gain more users in the coming days. (Click HERE to play.)

Mafia Wars is one of the biggest games on Facebook. In fact, it is the People’s Voice Winner at the 2009 Webby Awards. Currently, it has over 24 million monthly active users. Many of these users have reached very high levels and have already mastered the game. So today is just the right time for Zynga to have launched Mafia Wars Bangkok.

The Bangkok expansion is available to players, level 18 and above. However, before a player can get into the expansion, he or she must first collect 3 items in New York: a Triad coin, Yakuza Sake, and a Thai note. These three items will allow the player to get a Thai passport and enter the Bangkok expansion.

Once in, the player must choose between 2 factions: the Triads and the Yakuza. To get into either group, he or she must complete missions for that chosen faction. Once the player becomes a trusted member, he or she gains access to weapons and items only available to that group. However, if the player loses the trust of the group, access to the weapons gets denied.

The game is divided into several episodes. Each ends with a boss battle to unlock the next Episode. When missions are completed, the player receives money in the form of Thai Baht, and loot like weapons and collectibles. Collectibles in Mafia Wars Bangkok are:

• Episode 1 – chess pieces
• Episode 2 – a series of masks
• Episode 3 – spices
• Episode 4 – carvings
• Episode 5 – orchids

Complete collections can be exchanged for bonuses lime more energy.

All these new missions, loot, and weapons are sure exciting. However, there is a rumor of a new expansion coming out later this year: Mafia Wars Las Vegas. So keep playing, virtual mobsters!