Wild Ones Weapon Mystery Packs deliver weapon bundles

There's a new way to load up on ammunition in Wild Ones and it comes in the form of Weapon Mystery Packs. For Wild Ones addicts who may have refrained from becoming members, these Weapon Mystery Packs may present a viable alternative.
wild ones weapon mystery packs
Weapon Mystery Packs can be purchased in the Wild Ones store for Facebook Credits. The contents are random but one thing can be certain: you'll definitely receive a good bang for your buck. In return for sacrificing the option to choose what weapons you purchase, you receive more ammunition.

The Wild Ones Weapon Mystery Packs can be found in the store at the bottom right under the "Combos" section (where the Maps - Coming soon section used to be):
wild ones mystery weapon packs

    $15 of Ammo for 99 Facebook Credits
    $30 of Ammo for 198 Facebook Credits
    $40 of Ammo for 198 Facebook Credits (requires membership)


So while the best deal requires that you be a Wild Ones Member, there are other options. Also worth mentioning is that only the membership Mystery Weapon Pack will include members-only weapons.

On the other hand, all the Mystery Weapon Packs will have a chance of including new weapons. The new weapons are the carp, mallet, harpoon and chainsaw! To the right you can see the chainsaw going about its business. Clearly, you do not want your Wild Ones pet to be on the receiving end of that nasty tool. You're probably also dying to get your mitts on one of your own.

Head to Wild Ones to check out the Mystery Weapon packs and if you're not stingy like me, maybe purchase one.

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Zynga lives up to Facebook deal, Facebook Credits now primary currency

Zynga has finally issued its paid currency change across most of its social games to Facebook Credits after a five-year agreement was settled in May between the two companies. While this has been done for some of its offerings over the past few months, Facebook Credits are now officially the primary form of paid currency in all Zynga games (except for Zynga Poker)
on Facebook. Direct money transfer via Pay Pal accounts and credit cards are still valid (phew!).

Keep in mind that this change only goes for Zynga's presence on Facebook. Other social platforms have not yet required Zynga to change its primary payment methods to their native payment methods.

In an official statement made today, Facebook and Zynga said, "The companies are committed to working together to provide the best possible customer experience during this transition."

Facebook has also signed similar five-year deals with social game developers Crowdstar and Playdom in an effort to make its digital dollars the primary virtual currency on the platform. With its Facebook Credits even in Target stores everywhere, it may truly be only a matter of time before total Facebook domination (well, in the social world at least).

Wild Ones Invisibility Potion: Unleash the art of deception

Wild Ones has released a new weapon. This weapon doesn't unleash destruction like the Wild Ones weapons of old. Nor does it melt faces like the recently unveiled Poison Gas. In fact, this weapon does no damage whatsoever. So how could this item possibly be useful to a Wild Ones battle pet?

The real power of the new Invisibility Potion becomes evident rather quickly. Invisibility allows a Wild Ones pet to be as sneaky as an unreleased hedgehog while remaining as powerful as a mighty dragon. It lets pets go on the offense while remaining holed up on the defensive. And best of all, it comes in a tasty purple grape flavor (pictured above).

Continue reading to learn more about the all new Invisibility Potion.
wild one invisibility potion
According to expert Wild Ones scientists, "This weapon will make you virtually invisible for about 60 seconds." Using it will not use up your turn and the effect will carry over into your opponents turns.

You may be baffled by how complicated this all sounds. Luckily, as a master Wild Ones tactician, I can offer an example of how the Invisibility Potion would be used:

You, the Samurai Ninja Rabbit, are one hit away from losing to a ruthless and unclothed panda (pictured above). As the game winds down, it becomes your turn. Realizing that it will take two attacks to finish off your opponent, you must maneuver the situation with up most care. The naked panda smirks at you, foolishly believing the battle is all but over. Fortunately, you still have a few tricks up your sleeves.

You move into position to deliver a devastating blow. Right before you attack, you produce from your cloak the new Wild Ones Invisibility Potion, and gulp it down, noting the delicious purple grape flavor. Then as soon as you begin going see-through you let the panda have it, then quickly scurry away to safety. Unaware of where you are, the panda can do nothing but fire blindly. It becomes your turn again, and with a more than lethal blow, you send that panda straight to oblivion.

That's just one example of how awesome the Invisibility Potion can potentially be. Sneaking around, blasting enemies, and being a general nuisance is what the Invisibility Potion is all about.

Fans of Wild Ones have already declared this a must-have weapon. Unfortunately, although you don't have to be a Wild Ones member, the Invisibility Potions still costs Facebook Credits. For 54 Facebook Credits you will receive 12 Invisibility Potions.

Head to Wild Ones to check it out for yourself. And if you think of a better use for the Invisibility Potions than the one I concocted above, please let me know.

Wooga surpasses Playdom, PopCap to become number four studio

Who saw this one coming? No one, that's who. Wooga announced on its company blog that it is officially the fourth most popular social game studio in the world, according to AppData. At 20.4 million monthly players, the Berlin-based developer is now more popular than both Playdom and PopCap of Social City and Bejeweled Blitz fame, respectively. And Wooga, who recently released a social puzzler called Diamond Dash, isn't stopping anytime soon.

"Capturing 20 million active Users in just 20 months and surpassing Playdom to become number four in the world is a stunning accomplishment," said Jens Begemann, Wooga founder & CEO. "We will remain focused on producing high quality games with a unique game experience for the future. With our ambitious team, we aim to become number two by the end of this year."

To add insult to injury put things into perspective, Wooga went to mention that it has just 70 employees compared to Playdom's 300 plus, not to mention that its owned by Disney. A little cocky, and rightfully so, Wooga is quickly becoming a powerful force in the social gaming industry. What's even more exciting is to see how PopCap and Playdom will respond. As the competition comes to a head, it's only a matter of time before one of these developers truly disrupts Zynga's choke hold on the market.

[Image Credit: Wooga]

Are you a fan of Wooga's games on Facebook? Do you think the company can take the number two spot by the end of 2011?

Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says

Can we all just say, "finally?" During a panel named "The Rise of Social Games" at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.

Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.

Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we've come to love.

Honestly, we're surprised this didn't happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn't get into why it's taken this long for Disney to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.

Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer--and we enjoyed quite a bit--peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company's name, according to Pleasants. "We think it's an advantage, if you put game play first," Pleasants said.

It's comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam's Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.

[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]

Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment