FishVille's Gulf Coast Turtle helps Audubon raise awareness and funds in oil spill

FishVille Audubon Society Gulf Coast Turtle
Images of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continue to inspire a great deal of anger and heartbreak, but many people also offer hope by helping clean up the mess left by the spill. Zynga's FishVille and the Audubon Society have paired up this week to raise funds and awareness with their new Gulf Coast Turtle.

The Turtle came out last week and can be found under the "Creatures" tab at the in-game store. This Turtle is only available for the next 4 days. Zynga is promising to relinquish 50% of the Turtle's sales to the Audubon Society and players have the option to pay either 25 or 200 Sand Dollars for it. Sand Dollars can be bought from the "+ Add Sand Dollars" tab on the top of the game window. A set of 25 Sand Dollars cost $5 USD, and while there's no set of 200, you can buy a set of 240 Sand Dollars for $40 USD.
Adopt the FishVille Baby Gulf Coast Turtle
A new Baby Gulf Coast Turtle has also shown up in the game, which can be adopted via Facebook Wall posts, to help spread the word.

FarmVille Beehives: Everything you need to know

Do you hear that buzzing sound? It might just be in your head OR maybe it's the new beehives that just launched in FarmVille (Let's hope for the latter). The goal is the build out your beehive, grow a swarm of bees and, in turn, the busy bugs will pollinate your crops so you have a better chance of finding bushels that can be sold in the Farmer's Market.

First thing's first, however. Beehives, like Horse Stables, etc, requires enlisting generous neighbors to send you building materials to build your hive. You'll need a total of 50 items to complete your house of bees, which breaks down into 10 of each of the the following:


farmville beehive

    Smokers
    Beeswax
    Wooden Boards
    Nails
    Bricks

I had a few nails, boards and bricks leftover from previous building construction, and was glad to learn that I could use these on the beehive as well. Then it was down to getting my awesome neighbors to send smokers and beeswax (which, of course, they did). ALSO SEE OUR FARMVILLE BEEHIVE MATERIALS QUICK LINKS.

farmville beehive materials
beeswax

If you don't want to rely on friends to get the job done, there's an option to buy all of these materials in the Market (go to the in-game Market and look under Buildings > For Animals). Each items costs 1 Farm Cash, so if you buy everything you'll spend a total of 50 Farm Cash or roughly $10.

farmvilel queen bee, 5 honeybees

Once Beehive construction is complete, you'll need to find a Queen Bee by scouting the flower crops on you or a neighbor's farm. Or, if you want to take the easier route, you can buy one for 10 Farm Cash.

farmville beehives now available

Once the Queen Bee is seated on her honeycomb throne, you can start to add Honeybees, which are available as a Free Gift or available in the FarmVille market for Farm Cash. Like other special events -- the most recent being the Tuscan Wedding -- there is a progress meter, so you will be able to see how your bee collection stacks up against your fellow farmers.

Your hive will start to grow and take on different appearances once you have 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 Honeybees. Also note, after collection 50, 100 and 150 Honeybees, the beehive multiplies, with means you'll eventually have four working Beehives to add to your virtual farm, and they can each be harvested once a day, and bees mean that your crops will be pollinated, yielding extra bushels to sell in your Farmer's Market for cash (or more importantly, extra gas). So what are you waiting for? Make like a busy bee and start building your own hive post haste.

Zynga's 7-Eleven Promotion Ends July 15th

Zynga's FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and YoVille cross-promotion event with 7-Eleven ends July 15th!

Be sure to purchase your 7-Eleven codes while you still have a chance. Codes can be redeemed on BuyEarnPlay.com

Redeeming up to 9 codes will qualify you to earn the Uber prize which is 200 FV$ farm cash.

From FarmVille via FaceBook newsfeed:

    "Don't miss your chance to get exclusive virtual items from Game Cards bought at 7-Eleven®! The promotion ends on July 15th, so head to your local 7-Eleven® and get yours today!http://www.buyearnplay.com/"

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Cafe World goes back to the future with 1950s drive-in theme

Cafe World Drive In Theme
Cafe World is rocking it '50s style with a new drive-in decor set for your outdoor area! There are a ton of new items now available in the Outdoor store. To access it, simply go outside of your Cafe and and then "Decorate Your Block." You will then see a huge variety of new rockabilly 1950's themed stuff. Here is the list of items that are now available for a limited time:

Flying Fin Car - 12 Cafe Cash
Drive in Sign - 14 Cafe Cash
Rocket Red Car - 14 Cafe Cash
Drive-In Bay - 16 Cafe Cash
Diner Sign - 16 Cafe Cash
Hot Rod - 18 Cafe Cash
Drive-In Movie - 26 Cafe Cash
Ice Cream Shoppe - 35 Cafe Cash
Classic Gazebo - 45 Cafe Cash
Turquoise Fin Car - 750,000 coins
Roller Waitress - 50,000 coins
Burger Girl Sign - 150,000 coins
Doggie Coffee Sign - 450,000 coins

What do you think of these new Cafe World items? We think they're quite a bit expensive, especially for new players. All of the best items require Cafe Cash, and the coins items will break the bank! If you're a fan of the Rockabilly style, you will enjoy this theme at a hefty cost.

FarmVille's new theme song: Here comes the money!

FarmVille has a new theme song -- "Here comes the money!" The fine folks over at FarmVille Freak posted this satirical video that was made in protest of how much FarmVille charges for premium items in the game.

Even though I agree that Zynga charges more than some other games for the cash items, at least 90% of people who play still play for free. FarmVille, in particular, has done a decent job of not forcing people to pay real-life cash to get the most out of their virtual farming experience.

The video, which pairs game images with the Naughty by Nature tune 'Here Comes the Money!' (also known as former WWE wrestler's Shane McMahon's entrance song), is still a riot. Even if I don't totally agree with the sentiment, it's hard to resist someone sticking it to The Man.

FarmVille upgrades Crafting Building user interface

farmville crafting building user interface upgrade
Although it is currently "Disabled" status for the moment, tonight FarmVille improved the Crafting Building feature by upgrading its user interface (UI).

Lots of farmers will be excited to know that this will make their crafting profession run much smoother with easier to navigate functionality.

As mentioned, this new upgraded feature is currently disabled and will probably be rolled out in phases.

Here are some screenshots we grabbed from the new UI.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

FarmVille Neighbor Stats button improves neighbor Competition!

farmville stat button
For those of you farmers that like to compete with your neighbors, you will like this new upgraded feature, what we like to call the FarmVille Neighbor "Spy Button".

You can now view your FarmVille neighbors' stats by simply hovering over their icon on your Neighbors' list. To help you keep track or for comparison purposes you will be able to see their number of Ribbon Achievements, Masteries, Level among other stats.

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

What do you think of the new FarmVille neighbor stats button?

FarmVille Cheats & Tips: Nursery Barn links

farmville nail     farmville brick
The FarmVille Nursery Barn has received an expansion. The Nursery Barn can be expanded twice, each expansion requiring ten of each of the items above to complete. Obviously you don't want to use costly FarmVille Farm Cash to complete your project, so the next option is to receive help from your friends. Fortunately, I'm making this easy for you with my FarmVIlle Cheats & Tips: Nursery Barn links above. Use this page by clicking the items above then selecting the freinds you wish to send the Nursery Barn materials to. Then send my FarmVille Cheats & Tips: Nursery Barn links to your friends so they can easily return the favor.

Using the links above you'll be nursing 40 animals in your Nursery Barn in no time with the 20 extra storage slots.

Post any Nursery Barn tips or gift requests in the comments below!

Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.

Cafe World Mexican decorations spice up your restaurant

New Mexican-themed items have made their way into Cafe World and they're sure to give your cafe that extra kick it needs. Most of the items on this long list (they even included Day of the Dead Skulls!) are going to cost you Cafe Cash, so get to reaching into those pockets.

Continue reading for a full list of items and the grand total.
Mexican Items

Here's a list of what you'll find in the Mexican theme:


    Hot Pepper (15 Cafe Cash)
    Mariachi Guitarron (16 Cafe Cash)
    Mexican Fountain (16 Cafe Cash)
    Luchador (17 Cafe Cash)
    Mexican Divider (12,000 coins)
    Mexican Table (2 Cafe Cash)
    Equipale Chair (2 Cafe Cash)
    Mexican Archway (2 Cafe Cash)
    Desert Day View (15 Cafe Cash)
    Desert Night View (15 Cafe Cash)
    Landscape Mural (100,000 coins)
    Frida Portrait (8 Cafe Cash)
    Neon Fiesta Sign (20,000 coins)
    Hanging Sombrero (22,000 coins)
    Adobe Window (25,000 coins)
    Day of the Dead Skulls (30,000 coins)
    Mexican Floor Tile (1 Cafe Cash)
    Adobe Wall (2 Cafe Cash)
    Adobe Stove (6 Cafe Cash)
    Mexican Counter (5 Cafe Cash)
    Pinata Tree (8 Cafe Cash)
    Aguas Frescas (25 Cafe Cash)
    Hot Tamale Sign (15 Cafe Cash)






Wow, they really went all out with this one. If you're looking to turn your cafe into a traditional Mexican Taqueria, this set will cost you a grand total of 154 Cafe Cash and 363,000 coins. If only these item sets all came out closer to Tax Return time.

'HTML5 is the future of social game development,' Moblyng CEO claims

In a recent guest post on Inside Social, Stewart Putney, CEO of HTML5 social game developer Moblyng, said, "HTML5 is the future of social game development," especially on smartphones. Because just about every phone and browser out there supports--or will soon hop on--the web development platform, Putney believes that HTML5 will beat out Flash as the primary way to create social games in both your browser and on your phone. Putney goes on to speculate that Zynga's recent expansion into Germany may have more to do with creating games that are truly cross platform than making them look prettier.

And he raises a good point. HTML5, or the newest way to program websites and web programs, will be available on nearly every device you use to access the internet. Not to mention that if a game is developed with HTML5 on one platform, developers can take that game almost anywhere that supports the language.

"The advantage for developers in using HTML5 is the ability to leverage their code across multiple platforms. All major smartphone platforms support a different type of native code, but the one commonality is HTML5," Putney said. "The iPhone, Android, WebOS, Backberry 6.0, Bada and Nokia's Symbian and Meego all support HTML5 apps. Even Windows Phone 7 will roll out support in the next year."

In other words, HTML5 will allow us to find our favorite social games in more places that are all connected while actually looking and feeling similar. I'm looking at you, FarmVille for iPhone. (Though, Mafia Wars: Atlantic City could be a step forward.) HTML5 becoming the primary social game creation tool will also mean no more annoying Flash updates and scary security issues. If Putney is right in saying that HTML5 will take over in the social gaming space, then social games can only improve from here for all of us.

YoVille Fall Forest Home - the perfect way to celebrate the season

With Summer now firmly in the past, and Fall in full swing, it's about time that Zynga added a new Fall-themed home to the YoVille real estate office. They've done just that this week, with the release of the Fall Forest Home, which costs 32 YoCash.

The home has two floors. On the first floor, you can find the Front Yard, Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, Garden and Gazebo rooms, while the second floor has a Landing, or bonus space, a Master Bedroom, and a Master Bathroom.

The outdoor portions of the home are accentuated by animated falling leaves, that really add to the ambience of the entire property. Once you guy inside, you're greeted with lots of light and wood tones, with cream colored walls and light wood flooring, along with some pretty brown wooden doors.

With three different outdoor spaces to decorate, this home is perfect for those that have a lot of trees, topiaries and the like, while the interior portions of the home are neutral enough to fit most any theme (aside from perhaps ultra-modern-contemporary).

Remember, one of the great things about YoVille is that you can tour a home before you buy it, so take advantage of that feature if you'd like to see more.

Cafe World: No Clean Fairy gone for good today

Cafe World players who have not yet completed their No Clean Fairy have only one more day to do it before she's gone permanently. The ability to complete her will be taken away today but we're not sure exactly what time. You can't say you weren't given fair warning though (or should we say, fair-y warning) because not only have we posted about this, but because the Cafe World fan page has warned you several times as well.

If you want to simply purchase the No Clean Fairy outright, it will cost you 2 Cafe Cash per material that you need. This means that if you haven't completed ANY of it, you'll have to pay 80 Cafe Cash. As of right now, if you log in you can still complete your fairy and request parts from friends - but if they don't respond to your pleas for help by the time the feature is moved, then you will be without your fairy. If you don't finish the No Clean Fairy, well, it's time to move on to the Queen Deep Freeze anyway.

Do you think the No Clean Fairy is really gone for good, or do you think she'll be back to make a surprise appearance again in the future?

Happy Birthday FishVille: Celebrate 1 year anniversary with month-long celebration

FishVille Anniversary
Today, Zynga have announced that it is FishVille's one year anniversary! This is a pretty big reason to celebrate, because most social games haven't been around quite that long. Zynga is celebrating this exciting event with an entire month full of surprises and parties. We're not sure exactly what to expect yet, but when Cafe World turned 1 they had all sorts of excitement including new catering missions and a sweepstakes with a New York vacation prize.

So far, we know that we're going to get a new mini-game next week called Aqua Hoops. We're not sure exactly what this is, but it could be a version of underwater basketball. We do know that this won't be all that we see this month, so expect a ton of coverage of the FishVille one year anniversary event. We can't wait to see what Zynga pull out of their fishtank for this one!

Japanese FarmVille shall now be known as FarmVillage

Known around the world for their hit social game FarmVille, Zynga's flagship property has made the journey across the Pacific to Japan. The second Zynga game to be localized for a foreign audience and a first for FarmVille, FarmVillage was developed specifically for mobile devices backed by Mixi, Japan's most popular social network. Players will be able to do all the things we can in the states, but in a hopefully improved version of the mobile FarmVille experience.

"We are excited to bring FarmVillage to Japan to create a better playing experience for all the players who have already become avid fans of FarmVille,”" says Zynga Japan CEO Robert Goldberg.

FarmVillage is the fruit of a recent partnership between Zynga and Japanese mobile phone provider Softbank, but Zynga is already experienced in launching games internationally. Earlier this year, Zynga released Zynga Poker in China and just recently announced that its newest game, CityVille, will release in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

According to Zynga, FarmVillage features opportunities for players to expand their farm, enjoy more artwork and improved Flash performance. The beta version of the game will launch early this month and more details can be found at Zynga Japan's website for those who are fluent (lucky bastards).

FrontierVille 'Mutton Bustin' Timed Mission: Everything you need to know

Mutton Bustin'
Still working on preparing for the holidays? Well--think fast--Zynga is about to throw us another fastball in FrontierVille with the new "Mutton Bustin'!" Timed Mission. According to Frontier Jack, mutton bustin' is rodeo for kids... only it's done on sheep. And what do you know, it checks out!

Once accepted, you'll only have three days to prepare for the runts' rodeo, but the requirements are simple enough:

    Tend to 40 of your neighbors' sheep
    Collect 5 Rodeo Vests
    Collect 10 Rodeo Gloves



Again, this isn't anything you haven't done before, you just might want to find some more friends to visit to get this done in three days considering every requirement calls for friends. Better yet, gifting just got a whole lot easier thanks to the Zynga Message Center finally being introduced to FrontierVille. Complete the mission in time to win a Hitchin' Post decoration, one Dinner and 1,000 XP. Now, get out there and let those kids live out their dreams of riding war sheep onto the battlefield. At least that's what rodeo should be like.

New FrontierVille Mystery Animal Crates ready to butt heads (literally)

Mystery Animals
If you were at all worried about your options when it came to adorable animals to collect, have no fear. Zynga just added yet another set of Mystery Animals to FrontierVille. Coming in a barrel rather than a crate, actually, you can have one of three varieties of Ram, Chipmunk and Armadillo for 50 Horseshoes. Here are all nine animals you might find inside:

    White, Black or Pink Ram
    Brown, Beige or Blue Chipmunk
    Tan, White or Prismatic Armadillo



Honestly, I don't think any Mystery Animal ever will be able to beat the Prismatic Armadillo. It's one step away from Happy Pets' psychedelic pets. Unfortunately, there are no special versions of these Mystery Animals to be found in Goals, but any one of these critters would make for an awww-inducing addition to the homestead. The question is are you willing to risk $6 on getting an animal you might not want?

FrontierVille 12 Days of Christmas Goals: Everything you need to know for Day 4

On the Foruth Day O' Christmas
As the 12 Days of Christmas wind down in FrontierVille, it appears that things are getting slightly simpler. In "On the Fourth Day O' Christmas," it's all about those pink, corkscrew-tailed bacon machines: Pigs. In this Goal, all you need to do is tend to four Neighbor Pigs, sell four Adult Pigs and buy one Lunch from the Market. If you haven't four Adult Pigs to sell, this Goal will cost you a total of 1,460 coins and 165 Energy.

Though, if your friends are cool, Pigs are available as a free Gift, so feel free to ask around and save some dough. However, this Goal will take much longer if you're starting with baby Pigs--54 hours longer, to be exact. When you visit Neighbors, just remember to resist the temptation of harvesting their crops for extra Food. Pigs are your number one objective. Complete this Goal and you'll be 400 XP and one Pig richer.

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

CityVille Sneak Peek: DVD Shop, Jeans Shop and Lamp Shop

    Lamp Shop     Jeans Shop
CityVille's rise to Zynga stardom has already garnered the game scrutiny of several blogs (including the one you're reading right now), which has lead to the inevitable item leaks. So, thanks to CityVille Info, we bring you a CityVille sneak peek of a few Businesses that may or may not make it into the game.

First is the DVD Shop, a building adorned by a massive DVD that looks to be CityVille's rendition of Blockbuster (we'll see how long that business will last). Next up is the Jeans Shop, which looks exactly as it sounds: a shop with a massive pair of jeans in the window. And lastly we have the Lamp Shop that, in CityVille fashion, is signified by a giant Lamp on its roof. Doesn't anyone believe in signs anymore? Not every business is the Hard Rock Cafe. Don't be alarmed if these items don't end up in the game as they are unreleased.

CityVille Sneak Peek: Skyscraper Residences are massively mysterious

Skyscraper
Believe it or not, but there are more unreleased CityVille items where today's first batch came from. CityVille Info recently found three gargantuan skyscrapers that it believes will serve as new Residences. It's unknown how much it will take to build these items or how we'll get a hold of them, but a bit of speculation never hurt anyone, right?

Skyscraper 2     Skyscraper 3
If you look closely, the two largest Buildings have rooftop access, meaning that they're almost surely apartments. But the smallest Building has no glaring indicators that it is, in fact, a Residence, so we'll just have to wait and see. As more people nab that Skyscraper gift in the Daily Bonus, it could very well be updated to offer one of these three new Buildings. But perhaps that's wishful thinking as I'd rather not see these gems be offered for City Cash. Though, upwards 500 thousand coins isn't necessarily ideal either, if the current Skyscraper Condos is any indication of what's to come of these items.

What do you think will come of these three unreleased Skyscrapers?

CityVille Sneak Peek: CityVille Billboard, Water Tower and lots more

Recently, CityVille Info found even more unreleased items in CityVille. All of these items appear to be decorations of sorts, though none of their names or payout percentages are known at this point. Though, we can likely deduce that the Christmas-themed decorations probably won't be making it in this year.

However, there are plenty more opportunities for potentially cool new items like the clock tower, water tower and CityVille billboard. We'll soon also have new walls, panda-shaped bushes and unfinished houses to enjoy. (Who thinks this stuff up?) Rounding out the list of hopefully incoming items are what appear to be a pretzel cart, a palm tree, a black cat, spotted cow, news stand, lamp posts and a modern-looking sculpture. However, it's the water tower and clock tower that are most interesting to us--they're simply too big for decorations. Perhaps they'll be new community Buildings? Who knows, but we hope to find out soon enough.