EA2D may not be a readily familiar name in the social gaming space, but I bet many of you have heard of their popular Facebook game - a tie-in to the popular console game Dragon Age called Dragon Age: Legends. This past week, EA underwent some corporate changes, and a very big change has occurred with EA2D in the process: They've been absorbed into the BioWare developer group, and will be renamed BioWare San Francisco.
While no other details about the company's future games have been released, let's speculate a bit. Since Dragon Age: Legends on Facebook launched at around the same time as Dragon Age 2 on consoles, does this transition to a true BioWare development studio mean that we'll see other Facebook games based on BioWare's hugely successful console properties? With Mass Effect 3 launching next year, will we see a Facebook game tie-in that will allow users to earn rewards for the console game by playing (as was the case with Dragon Age: Legends)? As a huge Mass Effect fan, my brain is drooling at the thought of free, exclusive goodies for my console character, so if this does turn out to be the start of another tie-in (or 12) with BioWare's games on Facebook, we'll make sure to let you know.
[Via ShackNews]
Would you play a Mass Effect game on Facebook, or do you prefer to interact with the franchise's characters on your consoles only? Sound off in the comments.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Domino's Noid triumphantly returns in ... a Facebook advergame
I've been waiting years, people, years for the Noid to return in something more than a t-shirt. And now, the infamous Domino's Pizza mascot has made his re-entry into the minds of children of the '80s and '90s with ... a Facebook advergame? You know what, after this long since a real Noid video game, I'll take it. Titled "Noid's Super Pizza Shootout," the game looks and plays just like the arcade light gun games of the '90s, and was released to honor the weird bunny suit-wearing toon's 25th anniversary.
The game essentially amounts to a shooting gallery of pizza, tomatoes and Noid. Lots of Noid, and I love it. (I know, I know, it's an advergame. But it's a dang fun one.) Players must use the mouse to aim and shoot at as many pizza pies as possible while Noid throws tomatoes at you for extra points. Shooting a sign with Noid's face on it--or Noid himself as he is so wont to swoop in unannounced--will deduct points from your score.
Perhaps it's an uncontrollable nostalgia for all things retro, or maybe I'm just craving pizza at 10 a.m., but Noid's Super Pizza Shootout is a fun distraction for a few minutes. It's certainly not something you'll revisit over and over again--unless, of course, you really want one of those free pizza coupons at stake. Of course, you need to "Like" the Domino's Facebook page to play, but you could always remove that from your profile later if you're not to keen on associating yourself with it since ... you know.
Domino's Noid Facebook game
[Via Mashable]
Click here to play Noid's Super Pizza Shootout on Facebook >
Do you remember Noid way back in the day? Do you think he deserves a real comeback this time, or are you done with this goofy character? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The game essentially amounts to a shooting gallery of pizza, tomatoes and Noid. Lots of Noid, and I love it. (I know, I know, it's an advergame. But it's a dang fun one.) Players must use the mouse to aim and shoot at as many pizza pies as possible while Noid throws tomatoes at you for extra points. Shooting a sign with Noid's face on it--or Noid himself as he is so wont to swoop in unannounced--will deduct points from your score.
Perhaps it's an uncontrollable nostalgia for all things retro, or maybe I'm just craving pizza at 10 a.m., but Noid's Super Pizza Shootout is a fun distraction for a few minutes. It's certainly not something you'll revisit over and over again--unless, of course, you really want one of those free pizza coupons at stake. Of course, you need to "Like" the Domino's Facebook page to play, but you could always remove that from your profile later if you're not to keen on associating yourself with it since ... you know.
Domino's Noid Facebook game
[Via Mashable]
Click here to play Noid's Super Pizza Shootout on Facebook >
Do you remember Noid way back in the day? Do you think he deserves a real comeback this time, or are you done with this goofy character? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Hone your karate chop in Fruit Ninja Kinect before it slices Facebook
Prepare for your arms to feel like jelly all week. As we patiently await the day when we can slice virtual fruit from the comfort of our Facebook, Halfbrick Studios has released the equally awesome Xbox version of its hit fruit-flaying mobile game, Fruit Ninja.
Titled simply "Fruit Ninja," the game is available now for the Xbox 360 Kinect for 800 Microsoft Points, or $10, in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The game features all the same modes of its mobile versions, meaning Classic, Arcade and Zen modes are all present and accounted for.
The latter two modes are timed affairs--the first of which has special fruit with super powers, while the other is a 90-second romp with no frills and no way to lose. Players can compare scores over Xbox Live, and whenever a friend bests one of your scores in either Classic or Arcade mode, you'll be sent a notification.
Fruit Ninja Kinect Frenzy
There are two new modes unique to Fruit Ninja for Kinect: a Challenge mode and a multiplayer component. We had an early look at Fruit Ninja Frenzy for Facebook at this year's E3, and are psyched to see how it takes advantage of the platform with its Bejeweled Blitz-like power-ups and competitive leaderboards. If anything, consider this a friendly reminder that you'll soon be able to slice fruit on screens that range from a mere four inches to those wider than you are tall. With all of this available training, you officially have no excuse to be anything less than a banana bushido blade.
[Source and Image Credit: Mashable]
Are you a Fruit Ninja fan ready to move on from strawberry slicing to coconut chopping (I could do this all day)? What other mobile or Facebook games do you think would translate well to motion gaming? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Titled simply "Fruit Ninja," the game is available now for the Xbox 360 Kinect for 800 Microsoft Points, or $10, in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The game features all the same modes of its mobile versions, meaning Classic, Arcade and Zen modes are all present and accounted for.
The latter two modes are timed affairs--the first of which has special fruit with super powers, while the other is a 90-second romp with no frills and no way to lose. Players can compare scores over Xbox Live, and whenever a friend bests one of your scores in either Classic or Arcade mode, you'll be sent a notification.
Fruit Ninja Kinect Frenzy
There are two new modes unique to Fruit Ninja for Kinect: a Challenge mode and a multiplayer component. We had an early look at Fruit Ninja Frenzy for Facebook at this year's E3, and are psyched to see how it takes advantage of the platform with its Bejeweled Blitz-like power-ups and competitive leaderboards. If anything, consider this a friendly reminder that you'll soon be able to slice fruit on screens that range from a mere four inches to those wider than you are tall. With all of this available training, you officially have no excuse to be anything less than a banana bushido blade.
[Source and Image Credit: Mashable]
Are you a Fruit Ninja fan ready to move on from strawberry slicing to coconut chopping (I could do this all day)? What other mobile or Facebook games do you think would translate well to motion gaming? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Facebook vs. Google+: Social game makers ready to hang hats on big G's network
Right now, Facebook is the place to be if you want to make social games for the Web. That's great if you're, say, a big fancy company like FarmVille-creator Zynga who has millions of dollars to spend on advertising and a cushy deal with the social network.
If you're a smaller game studio, Facebook has its severe limitations, which include making it next to impossible to getting the word out about a game (not to mention the hefty 30% cut that Facebook demands from all game developers.)
None of the other social gaming platforms -- MySpace, hi5 -- have managed to come close to mimicking Facebook's social gaming success, so many social game makers are looking to Google+ to, possibly, fill that void.
Pot Farm creator and East Side Games CEO Jason Bailey says in this Gamasutra article that that all social game makers are "crossing their fingers and bowing down to the almighty G and saying, 'Please, please let this work and give us a viable second platform where we can build our games.'"
A simple way that Google+ could become 'the' next hotspot for social gaming? Instead of requiring a 30% cut from game makers (like Facebook does), let companies host games on G+ for a lower fee (or the low, low price of free!). Facebook has also done a terrible job at surfacing new and interesting games to its users -- and recently made it more difficult by pulling its app directory from the service. If Google+ can support even the most bare bones recommendation system for games on the network, that could be a big win for people who make games and those of us who like to play them.
[Image credit: Infographicsblog]
If you're a smaller game studio, Facebook has its severe limitations, which include making it next to impossible to getting the word out about a game (not to mention the hefty 30% cut that Facebook demands from all game developers.)
None of the other social gaming platforms -- MySpace, hi5 -- have managed to come close to mimicking Facebook's social gaming success, so many social game makers are looking to Google+ to, possibly, fill that void.
Pot Farm creator and East Side Games CEO Jason Bailey says in this Gamasutra article that that all social game makers are "crossing their fingers and bowing down to the almighty G and saying, 'Please, please let this work and give us a viable second platform where we can build our games.'"
A simple way that Google+ could become 'the' next hotspot for social gaming? Instead of requiring a 30% cut from game makers (like Facebook does), let companies host games on G+ for a lower fee (or the low, low price of free!). Facebook has also done a terrible job at surfacing new and interesting games to its users -- and recently made it more difficult by pulling its app directory from the service. If Google+ can support even the most bare bones recommendation system for games on the network, that could be a big win for people who make games and those of us who like to play them.
[Image credit: Infographicsblog]
Facebook game aims to save gorillas, tigers and more through play
If Zynga's past donations to Haiti, Japan and other ailing nations have taught us anything, it's the enormous capacity for Facebook games to help others in need. But Good World Games has decided to extend that good will towards others in social gaming to animals, namely gorillas.
Its newest game is called My Conservation Park, and the developer has joined in partnerships with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, WildAid and three more organizations to donate 15 percent of the profits from all in-game purchases to helping those organizations save a wide variety of endangered wildlife.
Players connect to the game through Facebook, and must preserve and protect a series of parks for five different animal species: gorillas, tigers, whales, monkeys and sharks. Each park has its own native animals that players must care for in both its Protect and Erich modes.
In Protection Mode, players have to track down poachers and click them to rid the park of them. Once the nasty poachers are gone, you must clean up and preserve your parks by decorating them with items found in the shop in Enrich mode.
The game doesn't play much differently from standard social games other than the ability to turn the action on and off through Enrich mode and Protect modes. There are also a few mini games to play like Wildlife Tagging, which tasks you with tagging the animals you save, but not twice or you'll lose points. As you progress and successfully protect and preserve more animal habitats, you'll gain access to new parks, items and animals to save.
My Conservation Park gameplay
However, it's up to you to make donations through the game's primary currency, simply known as Gold. But we bet after one look at those adorable cartoon animals--or the extra information (and video courtesy of Sigourney Weaver) Good World Games provides--you'll start reaching for the old wallet. The only thing this game needs is a cameo from Alanis Morissette.
Click here to play My Conservation Park through Facebook Connect Now >
[Via Earth Techling]
What do you think of social games that aim to do good through donations and other methods? Have you ever donated to a cause through a Facebook game before? Share with us in the comments. 1 Comment
Its newest game is called My Conservation Park, and the developer has joined in partnerships with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, WildAid and three more organizations to donate 15 percent of the profits from all in-game purchases to helping those organizations save a wide variety of endangered wildlife.
Players connect to the game through Facebook, and must preserve and protect a series of parks for five different animal species: gorillas, tigers, whales, monkeys and sharks. Each park has its own native animals that players must care for in both its Protect and Erich modes.
In Protection Mode, players have to track down poachers and click them to rid the park of them. Once the nasty poachers are gone, you must clean up and preserve your parks by decorating them with items found in the shop in Enrich mode.
The game doesn't play much differently from standard social games other than the ability to turn the action on and off through Enrich mode and Protect modes. There are also a few mini games to play like Wildlife Tagging, which tasks you with tagging the animals you save, but not twice or you'll lose points. As you progress and successfully protect and preserve more animal habitats, you'll gain access to new parks, items and animals to save.
My Conservation Park gameplay
However, it's up to you to make donations through the game's primary currency, simply known as Gold. But we bet after one look at those adorable cartoon animals--or the extra information (and video courtesy of Sigourney Weaver) Good World Games provides--you'll start reaching for the old wallet. The only thing this game needs is a cameo from Alanis Morissette.
Click here to play My Conservation Park through Facebook Connect Now >
[Via Earth Techling]
What do you think of social games that aim to do good through donations and other methods? Have you ever donated to a cause through a Facebook game before? Share with us in the comments. 1 Comment
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski is awfully addicted to Angry Birds
Another falls to the power of casual games. Just as actress Emma Stone had to go cold turkey on FarmVille, Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski has admitted to Collider an acute Angry Birds addiction. The actress (and voice of Miranda Lawson in Bioware's Mass Effect series) told the website she's not just hopelessly addicted to the game, but has some serious bird-slinging game.
"I don't know if this classifies as a video game, but I have a terrible obsession with Angry Birds," Strahovski admitted to Collider. "I have 3 stared every single level that has ever come out ever except for this one in this moon thing that just came out." Well, she already has me beat, it seems, and likely many of you.
When asked whether she used YouTube or something else to cheat, the Australian starlet replied, "No. I am legitimate. The only thing I looked up is that I could't find the last two golden watermelons in the Rio version. I could't find them. I was like, 'Where are the watermelons?!' So I had to go online and find out where they were." Alright, we get it, so you know your stuff.
Her next mission? Clear every level in the game with 100 percent using the Mighty Eagle. Well, I guess that's about the only challenge she has left, considering she's obliterated every last level. After that, maybe she might consider voice over work for the upcoming Angry Birds movie when it goes into production in oh, I don't know, two years? And who knows, maybe you'll catch her in a Starbucks, flicking away to destroy your high score sometime soon.
[Via Kotaku]
[Image Credit: Collider]
Are you still addicted to Angry Birds after all this time? Have you accomplished more in the game than lovely Yvonne? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
"I don't know if this classifies as a video game, but I have a terrible obsession with Angry Birds," Strahovski admitted to Collider. "I have 3 stared every single level that has ever come out ever except for this one in this moon thing that just came out." Well, she already has me beat, it seems, and likely many of you.
When asked whether she used YouTube or something else to cheat, the Australian starlet replied, "No. I am legitimate. The only thing I looked up is that I could't find the last two golden watermelons in the Rio version. I could't find them. I was like, 'Where are the watermelons?!' So I had to go online and find out where they were." Alright, we get it, so you know your stuff.
Her next mission? Clear every level in the game with 100 percent using the Mighty Eagle. Well, I guess that's about the only challenge she has left, considering she's obliterated every last level. After that, maybe she might consider voice over work for the upcoming Angry Birds movie when it goes into production in oh, I don't know, two years? And who knows, maybe you'll catch her in a Starbucks, flicking away to destroy your high score sometime soon.
[Via Kotaku]
[Image Credit: Collider]
Are you still addicted to Angry Birds after all this time? Have you accomplished more in the game than lovely Yvonne? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
FarmVille Pic of the Day: AlexisSkrull's petting zoo
A few days ago, I featured a massive FarmVille zoo. However, plenty of folks complained that it was just too crowded and busy. While it was a super detailed zoo, the jumbled appearance diminished its aesthetic appeal. Today's featured zoo farm resolves many of the issues present in the old farm, by attempting a simpler approach to the FarmVille zoo.
Today's featured farm, created by AlexisSkrull, is in many ways quite humble. For instance, it doesn't even fill the whole farm plot and there are no fancy complex illusions to be found. However, the simplicity of the fenced in pens full of animals is charming. It reminds me of the early days of FarmVille and FrontierVille, when all I had was a few animals, crops, and some decorations that I was forced to buy in order to complete goals.
Of course, in reality this farm is far more detailed than my boring starter farm. There are unique habitats and exhibitions built for various animals. So make sure to look closely at the images below to get the full effect of AlexisSkrull's farm.
Click the images to make them larger.
farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm
farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm
What do you think of AlexisSkrull's zoo farm? Which zoo farm do you prefer?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Today's featured farm, created by AlexisSkrull, is in many ways quite humble. For instance, it doesn't even fill the whole farm plot and there are no fancy complex illusions to be found. However, the simplicity of the fenced in pens full of animals is charming. It reminds me of the early days of FarmVille and FrontierVille, when all I had was a few animals, crops, and some decorations that I was forced to buy in order to complete goals.
Of course, in reality this farm is far more detailed than my boring starter farm. There are unique habitats and exhibitions built for various animals. So make sure to look closely at the images below to get the full effect of AlexisSkrull's farm.
Click the images to make them larger.
farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm
farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm farmville featured alexisskrull zoo farm
What do you think of AlexisSkrull's zoo farm? Which zoo farm do you prefer?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
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