Mafia Wars Fourth of July Sale kicks off Friday

In honor of Fourth of July, Mafia Wars will be holding a sale that promises saving of "up to 50% in the Marketplace." Though detailed information hasn't been spilled just yet, an email blast from Zynga says that the special holiday event will include hourly sales, new items, reward point discounts and 'exclusive prizes.'

If you've had your eye on some super fancy item that costs lots of Reward Points, this might be your big chance to buy and call it your own. (Or not, if you're a no-spend player like me).

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For 'Zynga to become the Google of games,' it will take more than good timing

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus
Earlier this summer, The New York Times spoke with Zynga CEO Mark Pincus about his rise to social gaming domination and came to the conclusion that the Facebook gaming mogul, who is expected to take in as much as $500 million this year alone, could "become the Google of games." And they just might be right, but it's going to take Pincus to execute a lot more creative energy and finesse than those before him.

Pincus said to the New York Times that his chance to capitalize on social gaming was "like search before Google came along."

The creator of FarmVille is actually following Google's path pretty closely, coming into the social games market in the middle of its Wild West phase and taking a stranglehold of the market much like how Google blazed the trail for search back in the late 1990s. However, there is one key difference in Zynga's empire than those of the internet titans like Google, eBay, Yahoo, Amazon and Facebook: Zynga depends more heavily on those before it than any successful internet start-up has to date.

Find more on how similar Zynga's path to greatness is to Google's and how it is to stay on top after the break.

Zynga
While Pincus was right in thinking in 2007, "There has to be more than "a garage sale, a bookstore, a search engine and a portal," where would social gaming be without Facebook, Google or even Yahoo? All three of these companies have contributed such a great deal to Zynga's success to the point now that the company owes much of its reign over social games to them. Which is exactly why Pincus has made good friends with all three to stay in the game.

It's been rumored that Google has invested a considerable amount of cash in Zynga, while in return the company is helping them along in developing its imminent games initiative fittingly-named Google Games. Recently Zynga and Facebook came to end a squabble--one that could have easily ended in Zynga saying goodbye to its primary platform--that resulted in the gaming giant cosigning to the social network's new, regularized currency, Facebook Credits, for five years with Facebook seeing a portion of the profits. Yahoo just signed a deal with Zynga to host its lot of social games as well, which will surely boost the company's monthly user base by a considerable margin.

Much like Google, Zynga has also drawn the ire of the public recently with the "ScamVille" incident covered by TechCrunch and the San Francisco Chronicle revealing some of Pincus' harsher words to his former employees. While Pincus is experiencing the usual highs and lows of an uber-successful internet start up, he will soon--if he hasn't already--reach the point where the only room for growth is innovation. Google could have never been the top search engine in the world if it didn't tweak its game with Google Apps, a movement that has earned the company some of the most used web applications around like Google Mail, Blogger, Picasa and Google Docs.

It was these applications that put the Google name on nearly everything users touched daily, something Zynga should consider as it reaches that point in its life where traffic is dipping due to its platforms and users catching on. With the recent changes to Facebook, Pincus will have to do more than just expand to another platform to remain relevant.

FarmVilleLet's face it: Zynga's recent loss of 21 million players, wasn't solely due to Facebook cutting the amount of stories users posted to their feeds from social gaming. Part of the decline was because, quite frankly, at least some of Zynga's players realized that the company's current design philosophy has become a bit stale. FrontierVille has innovated on some levels of action-oriented gameplay, but we've yet to see an honest-to-goodness new design philosophy behind one of the company's games since its rise to power.

Every major company needs to bring about something new at some point to stick in the minds of the public (just look at Apple's product line). Look at Facebook, for example. There is no way the social network could ever become as massive as it is today without first opening its gates to more than just college students, then structuring itself to support games and apps and finally invading opening its arms to the internet completely with the Open Graph-- you can thank the Open Graph for the "Like" button underneath the headline of this very article.

Does Zynga have the potential to become the "Google of games?" Well, it's most definitely in that position, but it is up to Pincus to decide whether he wants Zynga to be more than just FarmVille and Mafia Wars and truly move the industry forward. Could Zynga's newest game coming this year be their answer?

Zynga's RewardVille Now Available: Everything you need to know

Yesterday, we told you there was a way to force RewardVille to spawn on your Facebook account, but what if you didn't have any friends that had posted a link to their prizes that would allow you to join Zynga's rewards program? FarmVillePro has discovered that there is a single, universal, link that you can click on the activate the program on your account, and we can confirm that it does indeed work.

Want the magical link? Here it is! CLICK ME TO GET REWARDVILLE

Note: As of this writing, this link does work to activate RewardVille on your account, but as it appears to be universal, there is a chance that Zynga may shut it off if too many people use it. We apologize if that happens to be the case when you try it, but as you can see from my screenshots - it is legit.

You'll have to connect your Facebook account to RewardVille, and then "install" RewardVille (the toolbar portion you'll see above all Zynga games from here on in) on your account by accepting its terms, just as you would install any other Facebook app. That out of the way, you'll now have access to the entire program, including the ability to earn zCoins, redeem them for prizes across all of Zynga's major games (FarmVille, CityVille, Zynga Poker, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars, Cafe World, Treasure Isle, YoVille, PetVille and Vampire Wars), and send your friends free RewardVille gifts every day, among other features.

Meet us behind the break for a look on what to expect after you join. If you play FarmVille, the first thing you should do after activating RewardVille would be to claim your free Porch Home item. Simply click on the "Get It" button underneath any prize that you like, and if you have the zCoins necessary, they will be traded in for that item. In the case of the Porch Home, however, this is a free prize, so you really have no reason not to claim it. In fact, there is a free item for each and every one of the games in the rewards program, so make sure to claim the free items in all of the games you play.

How do you earn more zCoins? It's simple really - you can earn a maximum of 80 zPoints per game per day, up to your first 300 zPoints earned across all Zynga games each day. You'll earn zPoints simply by playing Zynga games as you would normally. As an example, as you play games like FarmVille, as you harvest, plow and plant new crops, you'll see the XP meter (representing your RewardVille level) increasing automatically. Once you level up your overall RewardVille level, you'll earn zCoins. Right now, it appears that only activities in games that earn you XP count towards earning zPoints, but we'll make sure to let you know if that changes. Either way, you'll know you've earned zPoints and zCoins when you see notices like these, that appear automatically at the top of your gameplay area.


As you browse through RewardVille's website, you'll notice that some items in games are locked to you currently. Just like purchasing items in many in-game stores, some items in RewardVille are locked to you until you have earned a certain level. If there has ever been incentive to play Zynga games more often, the promise of free exclusive, even limited edition prizes, will probably be it. In the case of FarmVille, as one example, you'll even notice items like the Giant Snowflake or Mandarin Tree that were available in the game in the past, but are no longer - if you missed out on these limited edition items the first time, you now have a chance to earn them again for free. We can't complain about that.

One final thing to note is the ability to send your friends free, exclusive RewardVille mystery gifts from the RewardVille website. These mystery boxes can contain up to 100 zCoins each, or "other bonuses" that will help them earn free items in the program.

And there you have it - a fairly simple setup, once you browse around for a bit and become used to the new terminology, and how the bar looks above your gameplay area. Be sure to play Zynga games often to earn the most zCoins, and then remember to turn them in for prizes that may only be available for a limited time. The bragging rights will almost certainly be worth it.

Have you activated RewardVille on your account? What do you think of the prizes that are available in each game?

CityZen on Facebook struggles to stand outside CityVille's shadow

CityZen in action
Look, Metamoki, we know you felt burned when Zynga took Mob Wars and spun it into Mafia Wars, one of the most successful social games to date. (And rightfully so.) And now they've done it again with CityVille, which released months after CityZen. CityZen is the second and latest game to come from Metamoki, and while it appeared long before CityVille, it cannot be helped but to look at the game from underneath Zynga's shadow. However, CityZen does introduce some interesting features like commute proximity when building homes and businesses, things CityVille would do well to learn from it. Unfortunately, its lack of conveniences and heavy polish that are easily found in CityVille only emphasize the shadow cast.
CityZen building proximity
Aside from the omission of Goods and focus on even distribution of homes and businesses, CityZen doesn't do much else to stand out from its better established ... inspiration. If you've played CityVille, this game will come as second nature. Players must build businesses and homes in conjunction to create a thriving city. However, every business is directly employed by the population that each home provides--a business will generate money automatically after its employees are assigned. Each business covers an area in which, if homes are placed there, employees from those homes will provide a production bonus. This is the most interesting mechanic in CityZen because it adds a thin layer of realism, and it's something Zynga can learn a great deal from. In fact, the company is probably working on an "adaptation" of it as we speak.

Of course, players are governed by Energy and can visit their friends to provide bonuses. You can even build Landmarks inspired by real-life monuments--another feature snagged by CityVille. But instead of requiring players to fill the staff of their buildings with friends, CityZen gives you the option of introducing players into your city through hiring them as managers. This will increase your business's productivity by a whopping 25 percent and score both of you $5 thousand. Yet there is always a catch: If your friend doesn't visit your city every day, they'll be fired immediately. Although it's not as expansive as even the broken Franchise system in CityVille, it is unique and perhaps more user-friendly than constructing buildings in other city-building games.

CityZen upgrading
Despite the few attempts that Metamoki makes to stand CityZen outside of its competitor's shadow, this game can't help but be darkened by it. It's a shame too, because if not for Zynga, CityZen could grow beyond its limitations and become popular. If you're interested in seeing one of CityVille's many "inspirations" on its road to glory, give the game a shot and decide for yourself which is better.


Click here to try CityZen on Facebook Now>

Have you played CityZen yet? What are your thoughts on games that appear to be clones of others?