Inspired by scenes and locations from the Disney Animal Kingdom theme park, Disney Animal Kingdom Explorers was created by Playdom in partnership with the park’s scientists to ensure environmentally correct game play. Players will have the opportunity to become part of the Global Wildlife Research team, learn about rare and endangered species and build their own virtual preserves to house and protect hundreds of animals and plants from around the globe.  Players are even encouraged to be conscious of the needs of animals and their habitats - placing animals who cohabitate well next to each other will earn the player extra points.

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.

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.

EA Sports is connecting with gamers in a new way with its FIFA Street arcade soccer game. The Street Network will encourage social competition among players when the game launches at retail worldwide on March 13, 2012 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Through the Street Network, players will be able to capture video of their best tricks and share them in-game with friends, showing off their personal favorites and embarrassing their opponents.  In addition, friends will be able to track and compare each other’s progress throughout the game, including World Tour story mode and Head-to-Head Online Seasons, and follow each other’s status in EA Sports Football Club.

Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure adds yet another imaginative dimension to kids’ social play with the beta launch of Skylanders Spyro’s Universe, a vast virtual world for kids to engage with Skylanders characters and their fellow players. Activision, which has had tremendous success with its Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game’s $1 billion haul this fall, is investing in its E-rated family game.

Some might say that the arcade is dead...and some of you would definitely be right.  When the home video game business boomed in the 90's, it pretty much spelled doom for the old mom and pop arcades that flourished in the 80's, as well as the arcade game business in general.  But some folks never gave up on the form, and today they have found a sudden resurgence in the nightlife market, living on as "barcades", drinking establishments mixed in with classic gaming.  And they've been quite successful.

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.

Social games company RockYou enlisted market research firm Interpret to conduct a Social Gamer Thought Leadership study to explore who’s playing games in the booming marketplace that Facebook has created. Key findings provide valuable insights for advertisers and marketers, game developers, and industry thought leaders looking to understand the rapidly-evolving social game space. The study explores attitudes, behaviors, motivations, psychographics, and purchase intent among the current US social gaming population. It also categorizes social gamers—based on their gaming behaviors and attitudes—into four consumer segments. The results both confirm existing assumptions and provide unexpected, surprising information about players.

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.

Mobile game publisher Beeline Interactive, a division of Capcom, has licensed the Peanuts to develop a new freemium game for smartphones based on Charles Schulz’s beloved characters. The game, which will be available this fall, will feature fan favorites Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, Lucy, Linus and other classic characters.

Showtime is gearing up for the sixth season of its hit show, “Dexter,” starring Michael C. Hall. And for the second consecutive Comic-Con, “Dexter” is getting a new video game. This year, the world’s favorite serial killer is going social. Marc Ecko Entertainment has created Dexter Slice of Life, a brand new Facebook game that will launch in tandem with the first episode of Season 6 this September. Showtime is debuting the new video game at a Comic-Con 2011 party at Wired Cafe on July 21. “Dexter” star David Zayas, who plays Angel, talks about video games in the exclusive video interview below.

Bungie is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Halo with a new venture. The independent game studio has launched the first phase of a new venture, Bungie Aerospace, created to help independent developers create brilliant mobile and social games. Bungie Aerospace will give studios the creative freedom and the resources they need, like access to the Bungie.net platform and an audience with the incredible Bungie community, to launch their entertainment experiences into orbit.