Showing posts with label Playfish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playfish. Show all posts

Monday, February 6, 2012

Restaurant City: Paris items complete your Parisian bistro

New Paris Items
After adding the Coffee Bar to Restaurant City, Playfish decided to help finish out the Parisian theme with these new decorations. The first thing that comes to mind when I think "coffee bar" is expensive European espressos, so these new items couldn't be more fitting!

Continue reading for the full list plus a surprise.
Paris Items and free Chocolate
Here's a full list of the new items:

Chairs


    Red Bistro Chair (1500 coins)
    Silver Bistro Chair (1500 coins)



Tables


    Black Bistro Table (2000 coins)
    Silver Bistro Table (2000 coins)



Decorations


    Post Impressionist Painting (12 Playfish Cash, adds one second waiting time)
    Bistro Chalkboard (1800 coins)
    Hanging Pans (2500 coins, unlocks with e-mail permission)Eiffel Tower
    Bistro Clock (6500 coins)
    Flowered Trellis (6500 coins)
    Impressionist Print (12,000 coins)
    Red Deco Vase (4 Playfish Cash)
    Large Suave Lamp (5 Playfish Cash)
    Bicycle (5 Playfish Cash)
    Bistro Waiter (6 Playfish Cash)
    Bistro Flowers (600 coins, free gift item)
    Bistro Condiments (1000 coins, free gift item)
    Magazine Rack (1100 coins, free gift item)
    Blue Deco Vase (1600 coins)
    Suave Table Lamp (1900 coins)
    Bistro Column (several colors, 2800 coins)
    Delicatessen Shelves (8500 coins)
    Eiffel Tower (1,000,000 coins, +2 to max popularity, unlocks at 85)



Floors

    Paris Pathway (60 coins, Cobblestone and Pavement)
    Paris Pathway Corners (65 coins)


Wallpapers

    Bistro Wallpaper (2700 coins, White and Ochre)
    Parisian Wallpaper (3400 coins, Red and Cream)
    Cafe Wallpaper (4100 coins)


There you have, just about everything you'll need to complete your Parisian Bistro. Thankfully most of the items are only asking for coins (we'd all be broke if a fraction of these cost Playfish Cash). Oh, did we mention that you'll get a free piece of chocolate for logging in today? Yeah, they're cool like that.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Hotel City gets ready for its first Halloween with new location and decor

It's hard to believe that Playfish's Hotel City is less than a year old (it launched in March), so this will be its first time trick-or-treating players with new Halloween goods.

Let's see what the game has lined up... for starters, the Locations feature has been updated with "Creepy Valley", a chilling, full moon background that will also allow you to purchase the Dracula room (costs 60,000 coins, grants 195 coins per hour) when unlocked. Unlocking the background requires you to collect the following: 3 Broadway Theater Tickets (found in lobbies), 4 Silver skulls (found on gifts page), and 4 Vampire grills (also on gifts page).

The Haunted Carriage (costs 75,000 coins, grants 240 coins per hour) looks like an outdoors decor piece, but it's actually sold at the in-game store under "Commercial rooms". For actual outdoors decor, there's four new pieces in "Ground decorations" -- Vagabond ghost (3 Playfish Cash), Witch tree (4 PFC), Happy Jack 'O' lantern (5 PFC), and Talking door (10,000 coins).

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Madden NFL Superstars Daily Bonuses coming soon, log in daily for coins and cards

Daily Bonus
But wait, there's more. That's right, Madden NFL Superstars might be the current football hotshot on Facebook, but that doesn't mean it isn't missing a few nuts and bolts. Playfish will soon be plugging one of the game's holes with Daily Bonuses. Something that's become somewhat of a staple in the social gaming world, players will be rewarded with increasingly better gifts for more consecutive log-ins.

Despite whether when compared to something as massive as Collections and Elite Cards that Daily Bonuses seem minuscule, the feature is not live yet. Though, we imagine that it will play out a lot like the Daily Take in Mafia Wars, which rewards players for consecutive log-ins with better rewards. However, collecting your reward early will reduce its strength or value, thereby giving players incentive not to collect immediately. With items like free matches and Ultimate Cards (both pictured) on the line, we can only imagine a system at least close to this. Stay tuned for when you'll be handsomely rewarded for your endless devotion to football of the pixelated variety.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Zynga dominates social games market with 38 percent share

Surprised? If Zynga were a person, he'd probably be Daddy Warbucks, or maybe even Uncle Pennybags. IHS Screen Digest reports that Zynga, who brought in $554 million in revenue in 2010, now holds 38.1 percent of the overall social games market share. That's almost a 5 percent increase from the previous year's 33.9 percent. This means that not only is the creator of FarmVille and CityVille filthy rich (it's estimated to be worth $9 to $10 billion), it's also very, very powerful. At least when it comes to social games, anyway.

According to PCMag, the report goes on to reveal that EA, the second place social game publisher and owner of Playfish, recorded a mere estimated $90 million in revenue, or 6.5 percent of the market. And the third place publisher and developer team, Disney and Playdom, hold just 5.5 percent of the market with an estimated $77 million in revenue.

But Zynga's power isn't just it's money, but what that money allows it to do. When it wants to enter a new market, create a game with a new feature or on a new platform, it just buys companies with an existing presence or expertise there. Regardless of whether its methods are 'borrowed' from weaker companies, when Zynga introduces a relatively new feature to its games, the entire industry takes notes.

Just look at the questing system first released by Zynga through FrontierVille. Sure, it could have been picked up from another company, but look at every single social game you play now. (Does it have quests? We thought so.) While we're all looking for innovation from these smaller, more fearless social game companies, it's Zynga that will bring that innovation to the forefront regardless of where it comes from, legitimate or not.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Sims Social: Country meets chic with Country Kitchen items

Is it just me, or is decorating our houses one of the best things to do in the Sims Social? I know I could personally spend plenty of time rearranging furniture in each room, only to ripe it all out and start over again, and to help us do that with even more themes is a new Country Kitchen theme that has launched in the game this week. These country kitchen items bring in all sorts of shades of brown and ivory, and it's one of the most complete themes we've seen released in the game yet. Here's a rundown of what to look out for in the store to make this theme complete in your own home.

Plate Collection

    * Costs: 4 SimCash
    * Value: $600


Perfecto Fruitbowl

    * Costs: 4 SimCash
    * Value $600


Vintage Wines

    * Costs: 6 SimCash
    * Value: $900


RuralU Deluxe C (Kitchen Counter Piece)

    * Costs: 10 SimCash
    * Value: $1500


RuralU Deluxe (Kitchen Counter Piece)

    * Costs: 12 SimCash
    * Value: $1750


Antiquitate Deco (Wall Sconce)

    * Costs: 3 SimCash
    * Value: $450


19th Century Lamp

    * Costs: 10 SimCash
    * Value: $1500


19th Century Pot (Flowers)

    * Costs: 19 SimCash
    * Value: $2800


Antiquitate Oil

    * Costs: 325 Social Points
    * Value: $700


Basinuate Marble (Sink)

    * Costs: 12 SimCash
    * Value: 1750
    * Clean Stat: 5



FrancoFaux Chaise (Buildable item)

    * Costs: 225 Social Points
    * Value: $500


Cereal Shelf

    * Costs: 250 Social Points
    * Value: $550


19th Century Mat

    * Costs: 19 SimCash
    * Value: $2800


Clox Fruitful

    * Costs: 350 Social Points
    * Value: $800


RuralU Trove (Wall Cabinet Piece)

    * Costs: 600 Social Points
    * Value: $1450


RuralU Charm (Wall Cabinet Piece)

    * Costs: 800 Social Points
    * Value: $2050


FrancoFaux Tableau (Buildable item)

    * Costs: 800 Social Points
    * Value: $2050


RuralU Latch (Hutch - Buildable item)

    * Costs: 1100 Social Points
    * Value: $3100


G King Counter (Center Island - Buildable item)

    * Costs: 15,000 Social Points
    * Value: $21,250
    * Happiness Stat: 3


Normanity Chair (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

    * Costs: 450 Social Points
    * Value: $1050


FrancoFaux Cafe (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

    * Costs: 650 Social Points
    * Value: $1600


Normanity Sofa (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

    * Costs: 700 Social Points
    * Value: $1750
    * Sleep Stat: 3



In addition to all of these items, there's also a Cooking Skill vent hood called the SuxDelux that's available to users that have reached a Cooking Skill of 40 or higher. This item has a value of $3650.

In the Build Menu, you can also find a selection of new windows in the same matching dark wood color, ranging in price from 750 coins for the RealOak 2 Pane to 6,000 coins for the RealOak 5 Pane. If you want the window in the picture above, with the quaint ivory curtains, that will set you back a whopping 39 SimCash. Along with this, there are five new wallpapers and three new floor tiles to round out the theme.

There's no listed time limit on any of these items, so if you don't have enough Social Points or SimCash available to buy them now, you should be able to save up and purchase them well into the future. Still, if you want to get your hands on these items while they're fresh, I really couldn't blame you. I just hope your kitchen is big enough to hold them all!

[Final Image Credit: Playfish/EA]

What do you think of these Country Kitchen items? Are you more of a modern fan, or do you like country / southwestern items? Sound off in the comments.

The Sims Social: Claim your free Pogo Arcade Machine

While you may already be the proud owner of one or two Arcade Machines in the Sims Social, if you're like me, you'll always be ready for one more - especially if it's free. Such is the case with this new goodie, a Pogo branded Arcade Machine, spotted by BadgeHungry. The single link to claim your reward has apparently been going around for about a week, but hasn't been heavily advertised. It does, however, still work (as of this writing).

To claim your free Pogo Arcade Machine in the Sims Social just make sure you're logged into your Facebook account and click on this link right here. This will take you to Facebook, where you'll be told whether or not your claim attempt was successful. Once in your house, the Pogo Arcade Machine will go into your storage, where you can then freely place it anywhere in your house (or even outside).

As for interactivity, the machine allows you to do two things: Play Games (no energy required), and "Redeem Tokens at Pogo." This link will let you earn 25,000 free tokens on the site, but unfortunately, doesn't come with any free Simoleons back in the Sims Social. But hey, we've walked away with a free Arcade Machine; it's that all we could really ask for?

Have you already claimed your free Pogo Arcade Machine? What other sorts of goodies do you hope come to the Sims Social? Sound off in the comments.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Top 25 Facebook Games - September 2011: Rise of The Sims Social

Will Zynga finally be dethroned? August saw one of the biggest upsets in Facebook gaming history, as EA and Playfish released The Sims Social. Short after its shoddy release in the middle of the month, the game has skyrocketed to third place this month with over 7.5 million daily players and fifth place on the monthly player charts with over 24 million players. While CityVille, Empires & Allies, Zynga Poker and FarmVille are on top of the charts yet again, all four games have suffered declines.

If this doesn't stir the pot a bit in the Facebook gaming world, nothing will. But The Sims Social isn't the only new game to upset the charts and displace a few hit games. Zynga's The Pioneer Trail expansion hit the monthly chart just under The Sims Social in sixth place at a healthy 19.7 million players. Words with Friends, the Facebook version of the popular mobile game, released in August to over 11.5 million monthly players, while Ubisoft set The Smurfs and Co. loose to over 8.6 million rabid fans and hit 16th place.

The casualties for this month include August's last five spot holders: Treasure Isle, Zombie Lane, Happy Aquarium, Mall World and Crime City. These games weren't just displaced because of the influx of new games hitting top spots, but all five were already on a decline. This allowed new additions like the Bubble and Ninja Sagas in the 21 and 22 spots at 6.6 million and 6.2 million monthly players, respectively.

Top 25 Facebook Games September
But look more closely at this month's chart, and you'll notice that each and every one of these brand new games to upset the charts is backed by a massive, recognizable brand. Perhaps this is what it takes to disrupt the status quo in Facebook games. And with ambitious branded games like Dexter Slice of Life on the way, our guess is that you'll be seeing a lot more from where The Sims Social and The Smurfs and Co. came from.

[Source and Image Credit: Inside Social Games]

What do you think of the charts this month? Do you think these branded games will continue to upset the Facebook games world? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.