PetVille 3 Comments Which Glitch: The ghost of PetVille past?

Occasionally our favorite game may have some kind of strange glitch, be it a pricing inaccuracy, a loading issue with a funky error message, or just something downright funny to look at. Neverlandonearth77 recently uploaded the video above to YouTube showing an awfully suspicious looking glitch in PetVille. She claims that a ghost is randomly appearing in her house and her neighbor's pet's houses. We're not exactly sure if this is a bug with the game or just a silly trick she is playing on everyone, but it is still a creepy thought nonetheless!

What do you think? Is the video above showing a case of a creepy accidental glitch in PetVille, or are you not quite as gullible as we are? Have you seen this eerie PetVille ghost in your pet's home?


Which Glitch is a new regular feature in which Games.com - The Blog will highlight one unique glitch, bug, or error found in our favorite Facebook games. Have a screenshot or video of a strange glitch you've run into? Email us at editors@games.com to be featured!

Cafe World Spice Rack: Now requires less parts to complete

Cafe World Spice Rack now only requires 4 of each item
Just last week, Zynga released an update to Cafe World that allowed anyone who hasn't yet completed their Spice Rack to buy the entire thing at a 40% discount. Tonight, the Spice Rack has been made even easier to obtain for those who don't want to spend money to finish it. Instead of requiring 5 of each part (Shelves, Small/Medium/Large Jars, and Lids), players now only need 4 of each piece. This brings the total amount of required Spice Rack parts to 20, which is down from 25 previously.

With the major push to finish the Super Stove, perhaps Zynga are planning on removing the Spice Rack mechanic at some point? Perhaps they are wanting to move it to the next level and have players buy spices for their rack? Or maybe they're noticing that new players can be awfully overwhelmed by the amount of work they have ahead of them to finish all the game's buildables.

If you got a slow start on your Spice Rack, now is the time to complete it. Log in to Cafe World and request some Spice Rack parts from your friends.

FishVille: New Pearl Stash and more Atlantis decorations

FishVille Pearl Stash

Last week, FishVille debuted the first few items of a new theme, Atlantis. As expected, tonight they have added on to this theme with many more decoration items and a new minigame in the form of a Pearl Stash. If you have been playing FishVille, you are very familiar with the Pearl Stash concept, as FishVille have been reusing the same mechanic over and over for such themed events as the Gemstone Pouch and the Mushroom Mound. You simply need to collect Pearls from your friends (or purchase them at the price of 5 Sand Dollars for a 5 pack) and redeem them for different items.

In addition to the Pearl Stash collection, FishVille has given us a decent sized set of new mysterious Atlantis items. The new items are almost split completely in half between Sand Dollar items and coins items. Read on for the list of new Atlantis decor available in FishVille.

Dumbo Octopus - 14 Sand Dollars (Limited Time, 5.6 Days Left)
Crystal Armillary - 10 Sand Dollars
Divine Totem - 8 Sand Dollars
Vision Pendant - 4 Sand Dollars
Mystic Column - 2 Sand Dollars
Temple Steps - 150,000 coins
Green Temple Gem - 10,000 coins
Fallen Columns - 50,000 coins
Celestial Relic - 125,000 coins
Simple Pendant - 50,000 coins
Simple Totem - 75,000 coins

Like usual, the coins items are quite unattainable at the low levels. It's nice to see a low priced Sand Dollar item though such as the 2 Sand Dollars Mystic Column, because this means that those earning Sand Dollars at the snail pace that FishVille gives them out, will still have a chance to have an item from this Atlantis collection.
FishVille Atlantis Items
FishVille Atlantis Items
Play FishVille Now >

Treasure Isle: New map screen teases with unreleased maps

Treasure Isle released an update today that includes a new shiny map layout that we think is far superior to the last one. In the new map screen, you first choose the theme of islands that you want to visit. Instead of immediately having to page through the Tiki Isles, then the Mayan Isles, you will now open up to a map that shows the Tiki and Mayan Isles (and more) on a zoomed out overlook view. This not only is a better interface for navigating through your maps, but it also gave us a sneak peek into upcoming maps.

Previewed on the new map screen with a "Coming Soon" banner are the new Egyptian Isles, Pirate Cove, North Pole, Asian Isles, and Atlantis. We are personally thrilled with this, because if we have one major complaint with Treasure Isle it's the dreariness of each map looking like the last. Having some new and unique themes will bring a change of scenery that we've been waiting for.

In addition, the new Tiki Gold Rush maps were released, including Happy Seas, Rocky Waters, Eternal Estuary, Lava Chief, Longboard Land, Boogie Beach, and Sad Tiki Sands. Finally, a couple smaller changes were made such as the release of a smaller backpack that allows you to see your energy while eating fruit, some new pirate items, and the ability to plant limited time Dragonfruit that will give you Treasure Cash when harvested.

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).

Developing...

FrontierVille Hay Fever seizes the wild west with poopcarts and more

frontierville hay fever items
FrontierVille has unloaded a batch of new farm related tech with their new Hay Fever item update. In addition to the infamous Double Rainbow written about earlier, thirteen awesome items (some more awesome than others) were released.

These decorations, while lacking in function, certainly deliver in the form department. The three different colored poopcarts are quite exquisite. Not to mention, I know how badly some readers have desperately wanted their very own sleeping bear on a cart decoration for months! And rightly so I might add.

Continue reading to see all the new goods including the graceful yet poignant Bear Cart and Poopcarts.

So maybe you're looking to make your FrontierVille Facebook frontier town more realistic. Farms in real life are covered with manure (poop) of all shapes and sizes. Personally, I don't think three colors of poop is quite enough to portray the nuances of realistic manure. Another staple of every farm is hay. The Hay Fever items deliver in this department as well with the Hay Cart, which allows you to boast sneakily to all your friends your farm is a healthy and thriving one. Or if you're trying to depict the struggle of life in the west, the Empty Hay Cart may be more appropriate (for best results, use shanty decor on your buildings).

Also available are the elegant Buggys and the farming equipment. Needless to say there is something for everyone in the Hay Fever update.
frontierville hay fever items
Blonde Buggy - 20 Wood, 9,500 Coins, 100 XP
Brown Buggy - 20 Wood, 9,500 Coins, 100 XP
Mower - 25 Horseshoes, 150 XP
Farm Rake - 5 Wood, 1,900 Coins, 20 XP
Bear Cart - 39 Horseshoes, 234 XP
frontierville hay fever items
Seed Drill - 8 Wood, 3,200 Coins, 32 XP
Hay Cart - 16 Horseshoes, 96 XP
Empty Hay Cart - 16 Wood, 15,000 Coins, 150 XP
Brown Poopcart - 25 Horseshoes, 150 XP
frontierville hay fever items
Green Poopcart - 25 Horseshoes, 150 XP
Yellow Poopcart - 25 Horseshoes, 150 XP
Pink Buggy - 55 Horseshoes, 330 XP
Black Buggy - 55 Horseshoes, 330 XP

Click here to play FrontierVille>

Treasure Isle teases Ape of the Ages map

Treasure Isle is up to more monkey business -- teasing a new map called Ape of the Ages, which sounds like it will require several of those green and yellow wrenches shown in the picture above to enter.

From the Facebook fan page:

    "Coming soon to an island near you: Apes of the Ages Map. Check out how the primate is holding a monkey wrench. You might need one too or a few. What will it help unlock? Stay tuned."

Treasure Isle recently released another primate-themed island called Monkey Palace, where the goal is to find the treasure on every level with the fewest digs possible. We say this is a winner simply because it has monkeys -- lots of 'em. Who doesn't love monkeys?

FarmVille LE Wild West Buildings: Wild West Fort & Blacksmith

    farmville blacksmith
FarmVille introduced two new additional Limited Edition Wild West buildings tonight that includes a Wild West Fort and a Blacksmith. Still no Saloon.

You can purchase both of these buildings in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.

FarmVille LE Wild West Buildings (Released September 7, 2010):

    Wild West Fort – 50 FV$
    Blacksmith – 36 FV$


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Will you purchase any of these buildings for your farm?

FarmVille LE Wild West Animal: Western Longhorn

farmville western longhorn bull
Attention all Longhorn lovers, there is a new special Wild West Limited Edition Western Longhorn that FarmVille debuted tonight.

You can purchase the Western Longhorn for 20 farm cash in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only. The Western Longhorn can be placed in the Dairy Farm and there will also be a chance at yielding a Western Longhorn Calf.

FarmVille LE Wild West Animal (Released September 7, 2010):

    Western Longhorn – 20 FV$


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Will you purchase a Western Longhorn for your farm?

FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations: Stream, Gold Panning, Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush & Tumbleweed

    farmville wanted poster     farmville wild west well
Continuing with the Limited Edition Wild West theme, there are lots of new decorations that FarmVille released tonight.

You can buy a Wild West Stream, Gold Panning, Wild West Well, Wanted Sign, Mine Cart, Sagebrush and Tumbleweed in the FarmVille Market during the next 9 days only.

FarmVille LE Wild West Decorations (Released September 7, 2010):

    Wild West Stream – 22 FV$
    Gold Panning – 20 FV$
    Wild West Well – 8,000 Coins
    Wanted Sign – 6,000 Coins
    Mine Cart – 4,000 Coins
    Sagebrush – 1,000 Coins (decorative plant)
    Tumbleweed – 800 Coins (decorative)


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

What is your favorite Wild West decorations or item thus far?

Mafia Wars: The fight is on in San Juan for all, thanks to recent patch

Zynga has posted the release notes for today's Mafia Wars patch, and the results are mainly bug fixes and improvements to features that have already been implemented. Most importantly, the San Juan mission pack is finally available to all players!

As an apology, the Zynga team has awarded everyone a compensation package of 100 victory coins and one piece of Hazard Gear armor (35 Attack, 71 Defense). Could this be part of Zynga's promise to make Mafia Wars better? Find a full list of the changes after the break.
Mafia Wars Release Notes September 8 2010

Aside from the San Juan event being open to all, there are a slew of other changes and features added to this release of Mafia Wars. Take a look:


    New Underwater Crates Set
    Added loot drops and fight mastery to the Hit List
    Added loot and boosts to the Vegas Slot Machines
    An in-game fix making Mafia Wars compatible with Google Chrome
    Fixed an issue with populating list of people to fight in Vegas
    Beating a boss in Vegas finally masters a tier
    Players can help out their mob as many times as they want in the San Juan event
    There's now a two-second cooldown timer on attacking a San Juan boss



Finally (drum roll please), the San Juan event has been extended for another three days! While it's obvious this is to give those who couldn't access the event a chance at all the fun, at least those who have had the access but didn't get to do the event have a second chance.
Mafia Wars Reinstated San Juan gifts

In addition to these announced changes, the ability to send the San Juan event gifts has been reinstated as well to help out those who haven't completed the missions yet. So, get to helping your buddies out!

YoVille: New Romantic Bedroom Furniture has arrived

Yoville romantic bedroom furniture
YoVille armoires, stools, drawers and dividers, this release has it all to make a perfect bedroom in your romantic house! Over 50 new items including mirrors and paintings, potted ferns and nightlamps. Beds, dressers and other furniture available in 4 colours.

Check the full list and prices after the link.
Yoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furnitureYoville romantic bedroom furniture
This article originally appeared on YoVille Lounge.

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?

What will Zynga's new SVP of mobile mean for its future mobile games?

FarmVille creator Zynga announced today that it hired David Ko, formerly senior vice president of Yahoo!'s Audience, Mobile and Local divisions (all at different points in his time there), to lead Zynga's mobile division as senior vice president. According to All Things Digital, this move has been in the works for months, but it is unknown when Ko will officially start.

"We are thrilled that David Ko has joined the Zynga team as senior vice president, mobile," Zynga said in an official statement. "David's extensive experience will be instrumental in his leadership of the Zynga global mobile strategy. David will report to CEO and Founder Mark Pincus."

Zynga brought in Ko to spearhead the company's growth in a pivotal area for the company to conquer. However, as Zynga only hosts two mobile games surrounding its Facebook properties, FarmVille and Mafia Wars for iPhone, Ko has quite a lot on his plate.

What "Zynga global mobile strategy" means exactly is uncertain, but it's safe to assume that Ko's experience in the Asian-Pacific market with Yahoo! will come into play. We hope his focus won't be on foreign markets entirely as there is still a lot of work to be done here in the good ol' USA with Zynga's existing mobile games.

Not to mention we could use a few more games to play with on our phones from Zynga's library. Can someone say, "FrontierVille for iPhone?"

FarmVille Black Cat Now Giftable for a Limited Time

FarmVille Black Cat Limited Time Gift
FarmVille has given us the option of gifting a Black Cat just in time for Halloween. This new giftable animal is only available for a limited time! Head to "Free Gifts" to send one to your neighbors.
Black Cat available as a free gift for a limited time
This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Find more stories on our 2010 Halloween Guide for FarmVille, Mafia Wars & more.

FrontierVille Mystery Crates return with more illusive animals to collect

Got bored of your pink alpaca already? You're in luck as Zynga has introduced new Mystery Crates to FrontierVille containing brand new and mysterious animals in equally goofy colors. Until October 19, you can pay 30 Horseshoes, or around $3 USD, for a chance at one of these Mystery Animals:

    A white, brown or pink Deer (Harvest in 6 hours)
    A white, lilac or blue Quail (Harvest in 3 hours)
    A gray, red or white Squirrel (Harvest in 2 hours)


Three bills seems like a lot for a chance at a pink Deer (come on, it's as close FrontierVille will ever get to unicorns), but if you just want the animal in its normal variety for your collection right this instant, Zynga added the even more expensive option to buy a white Quail, a brown Deer or gray Squirrel outright for 65 Horseshoes (about $7 USD). For the same price, I'd rather take my chances at two different Mystery Animals to finish that Mystery Animals Collection I missed out on before that much quicker.

FarmVille Market update pretties things up, gets organized

Navigating the Market in FarmVille could take next to forever for high-level players searching for those crops tucked into the farthest reaches of the shop, but Zynga aims to change all that with a brand spanking new Market. While it may not be live for all players, this new Market looks much better and overall will hopefully simplify the shopping process for players.

The first thing you'll notice is the Specials tab, which highlights three of the current deals or themes occurring at the time. Beneath that is a new "Best Sellers," which expectantly displays the current most bought items. Then, items are separated like normal, but can easily be organized using the new "Sort By" feature. This is essentially a drop down list of several ways you can organize the items in front of you like Recently Planted, Shortest and Longest Harvest Time, Price, Most XP Gained and more. While this all sounds geared towards crops, the list of options adapts to the type of item your browsing.

For those who visit the Market frequently, it will always resurface displaying the item you last viewed or purchased. But possibly the best feature is the Preview option for many items like buildings and decorations to give players an idea of how the item would fit in their farm. Check out the forums for more details on the updated Market. As for us, we've gone shopping.

Treasure Isle Thanksgiving Campaign: Everything you need to know

Turkey Tots
And just when you thought Zynga was going to forget about Thanksgiving in Treasure Isle, the team has decided to honor the original island hoppers with new quests, maps to explore and limited edition items. Up first is the setting of these new events, the Gravy Isles. Expiring in 21 days, the Gravy Isles include Forest Friends and Cranberry Fields first available with Festive Feast, Seasonal Squash and Corn Cobb Hill becoming available as you train your Turkey--but more on that later.

In Cranberry Fields and Forest Friends, you'll be presented with your first quest, "Turkey Tots":

    Find and Disguise 10 Turkey Tots
    Collect 25 Cranberries
    Buy one Plough from the Market (500 coins)


Completing this mission within 12 hours will score players the Gold Prize of 600 coins and 40 XP. Return to your home island for yet another mission that you'll find more about behind the break.

Trained Turkey
Once you touch down on your home island, you'll find a nice and plump turkey either sitting on your beach or inside your backpack. While it certainly is tempting to just throw him on the spit and get to cooking, there's work to be done. Like the other pathetic animals that seem to gravitate towards your island, you'll have to bring him back to greatness by asking your friends for help or paying up in Island Cash. It's only then that you'll be to embark on the ultimate Thanksgiving quest, exploring the three remaining islands for more treasure. To help your friends in their exploration, Cranberry Sauce--a food good for 15 Energy--is giftable for free.

Banquet Table
Return home once more to prepare for the most amazing Thanksgiving feast ever seen. Operating much like the Pumpkin Basket during Halloween, buy or collect RSVPs by asking friends to fill your banquet table. The more RSVPs you collect, the better items you can buy to complete the meal. There is also a long list of Thanksgiving items available in the Market like Cranberry Truck, which for 40 Island Cash will give you 10 extra backpack spaces. For even more backpack space, the Big Barn will give the same as the truck for the same exact price. The rest of the items available include:

    Orange and Yellow Maple Trees: 250 coins each
    Cranberry Crate: 100 coins
    Plough: 500 coins
    Cornstalks: 200 coins
    Squirrel Table: 10,000 coins
    Small Squash: 100 coins
    Wooden Fence: 100 coins


With this many things to do in Treasure Isle, you might be island hopping right until it's time for dinner this Thursday. Check out the forums for more details on these events and do remember not to get too wrapped up in the islands. This is a holiday about eating, you know.

FarmVille Icicle Cottage is hot and cold at the same time

If you've gotten into the recent Icy theme in FarmVille, that has been released as a sort of sub-theme in the Winter Holiday set of limited edition items (see our Holiday Tree coverage for more items made out of ice), you'll be happy to know that a new building has been released in tonight's FarmVille update that fits in with this chilly theme.

The building is the Icicle Cottage, but unfortunately for those users unwilling to purchase premium currency, the Icicle Cottage is premium, and will set you back 25 Farm Cash. For that price, you'll receive the fairly large house (much larger than your avatar), and 2,500 free experience points as a bonus.

For those users that have are interested in decorating all of their items with Lights and Snow (either by purchasing the decorations from the market, or earning them through the Winter Wonderland Quest Set), the Icicle Cottage has been programmed to allow for these extra decorations. Sure, it won't entirely cover up the fact that the cottage is made out of ice, but it will make things look a bit more festive, and we can't argue with that.

Interestingly, this item has an 18 day time limit in the store, while the other Winter Holiday buildings are down to just nine. This is presumably due to the fact that the building doesn't necessary scream "Holiday," so Zynga would want to allow users a longer time to purchase it for general Winter decorating. That's our theory anyway.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

What do you think of the icy theme being released in FarmVille? Do you like more traditional winter and Holiday decorations, or are you excited about adding a frozen touch to your farm this winter?

FarmVille Winter Holiday Decorations: Gingerbread Gnome, Tinsel Arch, Polar Bear Cave & More

In tonight's FarmVille update, we see the massive Winter Holiday theme growing by six new items, at least in terms of decorations. Most of these decorations are brand new to the game, for this year's celebration, but there is one that is a re-release from last year. We'll get to that in a minute.

First, let's take a look at the new items, shall we? First is the Gingerbread Gnomes, a premium item available for 18 Farm Cash. Is it just me, or does this guy look more creepy than cute? Perhaps if his eyes were more realistic, rather than just being hollow white dots I wouldn't get such a ghostly feeling from the Gnome, but alas. This gnome will provide you with 1800 experience points if you choose to splurge on him.

Other premium items are the Polar Bear Cave and White Animals statue, which cost 25 and 12 Farm Cash, respectively. The Polar Bear Cave seems to deserve its high price, as it is a highly detailed item, with trees and snowbanks and an animated bear that appears at the mouth of the cave. Meanwhile, the White Animals statue has a Polar Bear and two Penguins posed ever so cheerfully.

For the standard items, you can now pick up individual pieces of Tinsel Fencing (plain white fencing with tinsel garland draped on each piece) for 5,000 coins, or a full Tinsel Arch (what looks to be the Holly Arch with tinsel added) for 10,000 coins. As for the item that has made a return from the Winter Holiday celebration in 2009, it is the Happy Holidays sign, a very large sign that will be available seven days longer than these other new additions, at a full 16 days. In that time, you can purchase the sign for the interesting price of 4,800 coins, and we have to say that's definitely worth it.

Aside from the Happy Holiday sign, the rest of these decorations will only be around for the next nine days, which makes this farmer just a bit sad. I know I'm not alone when I say that I wouldn't mind if this theme went on longer than that, but I suppose we'll just have to enjoy the true Holiday time in FarmVille while we can.