Google+ Games sidebar rips another note from Facebook's playbook

Imitation is the finest form of flattery, but this is just getting ridiculous. Google has updated the home page of its Google+ social network with a sidebar that allows users to jump into the games they've played recently. In other words, Google+ has ripped Facebook once again. (But don't think you're off the hook either, Facebook.) Granted, this is a fundamental change.

But that still doesn't explain why, after months of Google+ Games existing, that these incremental changes are introduced to the platform. Of course, it's not as if Facebook had its "Apps" sidebar trademarked or patented, but these updates only serve to make it looks as if Google+ biting off of its number one competitor chunk by chunk. The comparisons are simply unavoidable.

However, the Google+ Games sidebar does have a one-up over its Facebook counterpart: You can actually remove it. We do have to admire Google+ for how it much it allows users to change about what's displayed. That said, getting the Games sidebar back after removing it--aside from those fleeting moments in which you can click "Undo"--is currently unknown. Commenters are also clamoring for more games, which is something Google is taking very seriously ... almost too seriously.
Google+ Games sidebar
As Google continues to rip pages from Facebooks' playbook (and Facebook does the same), it'll be interesting to see how the company takes advantage of its unique position. Google has the chance to change how a social games platform is done. But not if it continues to entertain this slap fight with the gorilla.

[Via The Next Web]

[Image Credit: Vermont Lasmarias]

Are you playing games on Google+ still? What do you think of the experience, and what can Google do to improve it?

Mafia Wars Shakedown holds up the App Store for absolutely free

Well, that's not much of a holdup, now is it? Regardless, Mafia Wars Shakedown--or, as we like to call it: Mafia Wars Mobile: Take Three--is now available on the U.S. App Store for the cool price of "free". This next attempt at a suitable Mafia Wars game for mobile devices marks the first time Zynga has launched a full HTML5 game through the App Store.

And frankly, it looks downright slick when you consider it was built using HTML5, the web-based coding platform that Zynga has been less than bullish on before. Now, Mafia Wars Shakedown is the fourth HTML5-based game released by the developer, so we're going to guess Zynga is whistling a different tune by this point. According to a release, "Players are challenged to steal collection pieces from friends and strangers in order to earn powerful items and defeat bosses to level up from chump to Don."

But our very own in-depth preview can already tell you what the game is like. Based on that, it sounds like a fairly bare bones release that works well technically, but more importantly a number of features are already teased as "coming soon." The game's App Store page claims that players can steal from their friends live. So, we'd say Mafia Wars Shakedown is worth at least a try, if only to see what a Mafia Wars game looks like in real time.

Click here to download Mafia Wars Shakedown on iOS devices for Free Now >

Have you tried the previous Mafia Wars games on your smartphone? What do you hope has changed in Shakedown in comparison to those older releases?

Lunchtime Poll: Would you skip work to play a new Zynga game?

Right now is the best time to be a video game aficionado, especially if you own Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PlayStation 3 systems. Highly anticipated games, such as the new Gears of War, Batman and Call of Duty are hitting the shelves, and fans will do whatever it takes to get their hands on a copy ASAP -- including waiting in long lines at special midnight launch events held at various retail stores.

A new survey also says that lots of people are willing to skip work so they can spend hours sniping at enemies in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 without interruption. CouponCodes4u asked 2,312 people if they were planning to take time off work to play the action-packed game and 19% said yes. Which made me wonder, would you consider skipping work to play CastleVille? What about another Zynga game? Sound off in today's Lunchtime Poll.
Would you skip work to play a new Zynga game?
Heck yeahCastleVille? Yes!Really depends on the gameNo way, I'll just play at workNo, never
VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

Zynga says 'gimme back' to early employees awarded company stocks

Or you're fired. No, seriously. That's essentially how a recent report by The Wall Street Journal reads, citing anonymous sources. According to the report, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus (pictured) and a number of his fellow higher-ups decided that it had awarded employees with too much stock while planning its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) last year. Zynga wasn't very happy with the situation that put it in.

With this hindsight, Zynga decided to offer said employees an ultimatum: Either return your not-yet-vested stock or pack up your things. (According to CNET, it's common for tech startups to dole out stock packages to desired prospects to make seemingly-low salaries more attractive on the outset.) WSJ reports that Pincus and crew tried to offer the take-it-or-leave-it to employees they felt whose contributions to Zynga didn't reflect the potential windfall they could come into once the IPO hit. According to WSJ, the execs hoped to lure in future employees with the promise of stock.

To put things into perspective, Zynga is expected to clear $1 billion with its IPO, which could make some of said employees very, very rich. Once Pincus and other execs approached their target employees with the demand, they were unsurprisingly met with resistance. WSJ cites two anonymous employees that hired attorneys to settle with Zynga, giving up only a portion of their shares.

One of those employees has since left the FarmVille maker. Of course, this is far from the first time nameless Zynga employees have spoke out regarding the company's practices. We've reached out to Zynga for comment.

What do you think of how Zynga handled the situation, based on the WSJ report? How would you have reacted to such an ultimatum?

Angry Birds looks to make angry bucks, flocks to overseas retail stores

We know what you're thinking: "But wait, isn't Angry Birds absolutely free to play on Google+ and in the Chrome Web Store?" Why yes, it is. MCV reports that Rovio's flagship mobile-turned-everywhere game will hit retailers in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for £10.20. That amounts to about $16.25 USD. A majority of which we gather is for the disc.

If you want to nitpick, that's three copies of each of the Angry Birds games released for iOS and enough for yet another. As irony would have it, the publishing deal Finland-based Rovio signed with Focus Multimedia covers PC versions of all three Angry Birds games. The first game to be released under the deal is none other than the original game on Nov. 25. The game has already reached 500 million downloads across all the platforms it exists on, so why now go the brick and mortar route?

"Boxed retail is another way to reach more audience," Rovio spokesperson Ville Heijari told MCV. "Digital and mobile are still at the core of our business, but boxed retail is a good addition for taking the brand forward." The guy has a point: If Rovio is serious about hitting the 1 billion fan mark, the company must consider those unfortunately without Internet access. However, we doubt charging them ten times as much for the game will have them running to the nearest GameStop.

[Via Pocket Gamer]

What do you think of how much Rovio is charging for the PC retail version of Angry Birds? Should Rovio be focused on the Internet-less crowd in its quest for 1 billion players?

FarmVille, Angry Birds double the number of gamers in three years

Games -- everybody loves 'em. Or, at least, more people love them than ever before. A new Parks Associates study shows that the number of gamers have doubled in the past three years thanks to games like FarmVille and Angry Birds.

The study surveyed people who play at least one hour of games every month, and that number increased from 56 million in 2008 to 135 million in 2011. The majority of the new gamers are so-called 'casual gamers,' many of whom play quick-hit games on social networks and mobile devices.

"These changes have significant implications for the gaming industry," Parks Associates analyst Pietro Macchiarella says. "This new majority of casual gamers is looking for games with low entry barriers, with limited investments required in terms of dollars and time necessary to learn the game.

gaming doubles in three years

"The ubiquity of portable devices and Internet access allows more people to play on-the-go, putting pressure on the gaming industry to design games that can deliver a satisfactory experience within these specific conditions," he adds.

Macchiarella predicts that with the rapid consumer adoption of tablets, such as the not-yet-released Amazon Kindle Fire, Americans will spend more time than gaming before as well. More people spending more time playing accessible games on even more accessible devices? Yep, sounds about right to us.

Could Disney's Playdom be in worse shape than previously thought?

That's what a report by Business Insider looks to get to the bottom of, citing several anonymous sources. The report lists several bulleted claims by unnamed folks close to Playdom that range from a handful of high level execs have left the company recently to Playdom was forced to relinquish control over what games it made to Disney. And the House of Mouse is unsurprisingly reportedly not very happy about it.

"Six top executives at the VP level or above have moved on in the last three months including Playdom's Co-COO," one nameless source told Business Insider. Another source told the website that soon after Disney's $400 million plus acquisition of Playdom, the new parent company quickly "started to come in and ask Playdom to work on certain games and drop others," according to Business Insider.

Another notable takeaway from the report states that "voices within Playdom" said that they didn't see a value in pursuing Disney's lucrative brands within social games, because kids--Disney's target audience--doesn't pay up on Facebook. Other anonymous sources came to Playdom's defense, claiming that the company "is making three or four times as much money off its users as other social gaming companies," Business Insider reports.

Disney issued a response to Business Insider, reminding readers that Gardens of Time has been the company's most successful Facebook game, reaching top five status at one point. More importantly, the company was keen on letting players know that the first social game based on a Disney brand is coming. (We guess this one doesn't count then?)