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04.27.12
Editorial: Should We Let The Government Decide The Creative Future In Video Games?

Throughout the history of video games, the oldest stereotype surrounding the industry has always been do violent video games affect player behavior and personality. It is a known fact that people who play games are exposed to more violence than the average consumer. From nuking entire civilization to obliterating players online, it’s has become more and more common now that games are more focus on squarely providing violent action. For this reason alone, parents have long held an underlining negative attitude towards the industry and those who stand by it, but is this criticism injustice or have developers gone to far? Should government step in?

03.21.12
Zynga Bolsters Game Franchise Library with Acquisition of Draw Something Developer

Zynga has acquired New York-based social game developer OMGPOP, makers of the popular cultural hit mobile game, Draw Something, and over 35 additional social games. As a part of the Zynga family, OMGPOP will focus on building new mobile IP and strengthening its existing portfolio of fun and creative social games.

02.29.12
GDC 2012: American Gamers Spent Over $2.3 Billion on Virtual Goods in 2011

PlaySpan, a Visa company, has explored the online purchasing decisions of gamers in a new study on virtual goods.  Overall, the study showed more than $2.3 billion of virtual goods were purchased in 2011 in the U.S., with gamers spending an average of $64 each over the course of the year. The dollar amount per individual was up 28 percent over 2009, thanks in part to the influx of new social games from companies like Zynga, Electronic Arts and Rovio Entertainment.

02.29.12
Michael Pachter Used to Be an Underground Poker Player

Michael Pachter was the keynote speaker at the fourth annual Ayzenberg A-List Summit 2012 in San Francisco. The Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst talked about the social games landscape. During his speech, which can be seen in its entirety in four parts below, he revealed he used to be a professional underground poker player in college like the ones depicted in the movie Rounders. See what he had to say about social games in the videos below.

02.24.12
Video Game Analyst Michael Pachter Says Nintendo Is in Disarray

SAN FRANCISCO – Michael Pachter, video game analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities, delivered a keynote at the fourth annual Ayzenberg A-List Summit 2012, put on by the all-purpose game marketing, PR and publishing firm. With the conference focusing on “The Consumer Courtship,” Pachter focused his speech on how the social landscape is already affecting the gaming industry and how will it will trend.  

02.01.12
A Look Back at the Videogame Reviews of January

Consoles and PC's have had a slow month interms of new AAA quality games arriving for your respected platform. While January got off to a slow start, it quickly recovered to bring us high quality tittles through digital distribution. Plenty of great downloadable arcade tittles were made available through XBLA, PSN and Steam, giving us many hidden gems on the digital marketplace. Let's look back at the games we reviewed over the past month.  

01.04.12
Zynga Expands Casual Gaming Offerings with Hidden Chronicles Launch

Zynga, fresh off its IPO, is expanding into new territory on Facebook. The casual game maker has launched Hidden Chronicles, the company’s first-ever social hidden object game. Created by some of the most talented women in casual and social game design and entertainment, Hidden Chronicles invites players to find hidden objects, solve puzzles, and unlock mysteries. Marking an entrance into an entirely new game genre for Zynga, Hidden Chronicles combines memory, skill, and social interactions, making it the most social hidden object game available.

12.24.11
The Top 10 Christmas Mobile Games

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but gamers can enjoy the festive holiday all year long on their smartphone or tablet. Heyzap, a social network for mobile and online games, has compiled a list of the Top 10 Christmas-themed mobile games for gamers to play throughout the holiday season. The Heyzap app, which allows users to check into games, chat with other players, win badges, and more is available for free on Android and iOS.

12.02.11
Zynga Expands FarmVille with Branded Discover Winter Wonderland

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on Facebook. Credit card company Discover has partnered with Zynga to launch the first-ever brand-sponsored FarmVille expansion, Winter Wonderland. The new, customizable holiday farm is the third expansion to be released by the popular social games developer following English Countryside and Lighthouse Cove.

10.23.11
Zynga Brings Casual Hit Mafia Wars 2 Cross-Platform

Mafia Wars 2 is Zynga’s first official sequel, taking one of the company’s most successful franchises to a new level of wicked fun. With the game’s official launch on Facebook and Google+, players are already building their criminal empire. Zynga is bringing its most ruthless game to date to as many players as possible. Let’s face it – you can’t be a true franchise if you only own one turf.

10.22.11
Zynga Expands Its Facebook Kingdom with CastleVille

Created by Zynga Dallas, CastleVille is the next game in Zynga’s “Ville” franchise which includesFarmVille, FrontierVille, and CityVille. CastleVille is set in a medieval world, with an engaging story, a touch of fantasy and memorable, playful characters. A true manifestation of Zynga’s social magic, the game improves upon the best social and emotional elements from each of the “Ville” games that came before it. In CastleVille players will be able build and manage the kingdom of their dreams, explore the rich world and setting, and share it with their friends.

10.22.11
Zynga Shows Off New Gameplay Style with Hidden Chronicles

See what you’ve been missing with Hidden Chronicles– a new genre for Zynga – hidden object games. A combination of memory and skill, this casual social game is easy to learn, yet hard to master. Hidden Chronicles is a social scavenger hunt, including hidden object play, engaging puzzles and the mysterious Ramsey Manor, complete with unique characters who need your help to protect a closely guarded secret. 

10.12.11
Zynga Expands Its Offerings Beyond Facebook Social Games

In anticipation of its IPO, Zynga showcased new games at Zynga Unleashed, its first media event hosted by CEO and Founder Mark Pincus held at its new San Francisco headquarters. The company gave a sneak peek of several new social games, including the next chapter in its Ville franchise and teased its own new play service, code named Project Z. CastleVille is the newest game heading to Facebook. Cityville, the last title in the franchise, has over 74 million gamers. There’s also a new Zynga Casino that features Zynga Poker and the newly announced Zynga Bingo to create the world’s largest and most social casino. The company is also launching a new Hidden Objects genre with the social game, Hidden Chronicles.

09.09.11
Zynga Evolves Social Games with Tomb Raider-Inspired Adventure World

Zynga is pushing social games forward with its latest Facebook game, which draws inspiration from Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. Set during the golden age of exploration, Adventure World unlocks a new universe of exploration and puzzle-solving fun, where players battle nasty critters and trace clues to discover the lost secrets of El Dorado. In Adventure World, players explore a vast universe of five worlds – Deep Jungle, Mountain, Cavern, Volcano and El Dorado – including more than 30dynamic environments. The first game to be developed by the company’s Zynga Boston studio, Adventure World is the most feature-rich game Zynga has ever released at launch.

07.08.11
Global Video Game Industry Sales Expected to Top $112 Billion by 2015

Despite a recent string of down months in U.S. video game sales at retail this year, a new report from research firm Gartner paints a very rosy picture for the global video game industry. When adding in revenues from burgeoning online, mobile and digital gaming sectors, Gartner estimates that worldwide spending on the gaming ecosystem will exceed $74 billion in 2011, up 10.4 percent from the $67 billion spent last year. By 2015, spending is expected to reach $112 billion.

07.01.11
Zynga Celebrates 4th of July with $1 Billion IPO Filing

Zynga had a very good year last year, and now the company is offering you the opportunity to get in on the action. Zynga filed for a $1 billion IPO today with Morgan Stanley & Co. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. serving as book running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering. The game maker that has lured hundreds of millions of gamers with titles like Farmville, Cityville and Empires & Allies is going public.

06.29.11
AT&T Partners with Zynga to Bring Social Games to Android Devices

AT&T has signed a deal with social games developer Zynga, designed to bring the very latest in mobile social gaming to AT&T’s millions of wireless customers. Popular games such as Words with Friends and Zynga Poker, plus customized content, will be featured for download on AT&T’s shelf in Android Market later this year. The agreement is the first of its kind between Zynga and a U.S. wireless carrier.

06.21.11
Zynga’s Empires & Allies Engages Over 33 Million Strategy Gamers on Facebook

Zynga’s first strategy game has been an early hit with Facebook gamers. Empires & Allies has already topped 33 million players in less than three weeks. The game, which launched June 1, includes more social features than any Zynga game. It’s also the company’s first title to be launched out of Zynga's Los Angeles studio. Over 6.5 million active daily users are playing the game.

06.03.11
Gamerlive.tv and NVIDIA Partner to Bring E3 2011 to Gamers in Stereoscopic 3D

LOS ANGELES– For the first time ever, GamerLive.TV will broadcast 3D video coverage of the E3 Expo, the premier game trade show in the U.S., to gamers and tech enthusiasts around the world.  The high-quality, stereoscopic 3D video will be viewable via the YouTube video player for users with NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ PCs.

05.21.11
Jack Black Brings His Kung Fu Panda to Zynga’s CityVille
Zynga has officially gone Hollywood. The leading casual online game publisher continues to churn out deals with big Hollywood studios to connect its mainstream online gamers with big movie events. DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures have integrated the Jack Black Kung Fu Panda 2 movie into Zynga’s most recent game, CityVille. This is the first-ever in-game integration within CityVille, Facebook’s largest and most popular application.
05.16.11
New Research Shows Zynga Remains the Leader in Social Games
Amid booming consumer spending on PC social networking games in 2010, Zynga managed to pad its market share lead over the other top operators, based on the success of its CityVille and FarmVille offerings. New IHS Screen Digest research indicates shows that the social games giant remains at the top of its game.
05.10.11
Farmville Gamers Get Early Access to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way
Clear Channel Radio and Zynga have entered into a strategic partnership to promote the launch of Lady Gaga’s new album, Born This Way, within Farmville. Facebook gamers will be able to listen to select tracks from the album in-game using Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio starting on May 17 – six days before the new album drops. In addition, GagaVille will launch in the game on May 17, allowing the game’s 46 million players to checkout their new neighbor for a week. The singer has stayed in the headlines recently with her controversial video for Judas, which can be seen below.
04.29.11
New IHS Screen Digest Report Shows Increase in Video Game Acquisitions and Funding Deals in 2010
Funding and acquisition deals in 2010 for the global video game market rose a robust 36 percent to a total of 210, driven by developments in the online and social network gaming segments, according to new IHS Screen Digest research.With 123 funding rounds and 87 acquisitions closing in 2010, the volume of activity last year was up by more than a third from the 2009 total of 154 events.
04.04.11
Zynga Goes Hollywood by Adding Jeffrey Katzenberg to Its Board
Zynga is going Hollywood. The social gaming giant has added DreamWorks SKG co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg to its board of directors in an attempt to work more closely with Hollywood film and television properties. The San Francisco-based online game developer previously worked with DreamWorks on the 3D blockbuster Megamind, integrating the feature film into its Facebook hit FarmVille. Katzenberg talks about THQ’s Megamind video games in this exclusive video interview.
03.30.11
Zynga Herds Real Sheep Through the Streets of London and New York City to Promote FarmVille
Over 200 million people have played Zynga’s FarmVille game on Facebook. The casual game started a social gaming revolution that’s changed the face of the video game industry. To promote its new FarmVille English Countryside expansion, Zynga herded real sheep through the streets of New York City and London, leaving on-goers flabbergasted. FarmVille is currently available on Facebook, Yahoo!, iPhone, iPad and Android.