Earlier this month, there was discussion regarding the taxation of virtual assets in China. Unexpectedly, however, similar discussions have recently been happening in the US.

Apparently, there is a “gap” in the New York state budget, and in response to this, Governor David Patterson proposed a number of solutions. Most interesting of them all was the one dubbed the “iPod tax” that would impose both state and local taxes on “digitally delivered entertainment services.”

Essentially, this means that any and all downloadable content could be affected. This includes all major video game platforms, and could also possibly encompass virtual goods and currencies. It’s not clear what exactly will happen, but GamePolitics.com says:

“If you live in the state of New York, you could find yourself paying sales tax on downloadable content (DLC) for video games, beginning in 2009.

That’s because, much like the private sector, state and local governments have been hit hard by the current recession. In New York, Gov. David Paterson (D) has responded by proposing a budget that calls for layoffs, service cutbacks and new taxes, including one that will likely add to the cost of your DLC on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii or PC.”

Of course, this is all just speculation at the moment. The budget will still have to be approved by the legislature, but regardless of whether it passes or not, it is interesting to see this sort of suggestion appear at all.

[via Virtual Goods News]

The ongoing legal dispute between SGN and former Freewebs employee David Maestri over rights to the popular (and highly profitable) Facebook game Mob Wars has come to a conclusion.

The two sides are announcing today that they came to a settlement on December 16 in which Maestri’s firm Psycho Monkey will retain ownership of Mob Wars, but both SGN and Psycho Monkey have rights to “build future games using this gameplay template.” In addition, SGN also received an undisclosed cash settlement.

With over 2.4 million active users, Mob Wars is one of the most popular games on the Facebook Platform, and is widely regarded for spawning a cottage industry of knock-offs after rumors surfaced that the app was doing very well financially. In August, Inside Facebook interviewed the “Godfather” behind Mob Wars’ offer-based monetization efforts, Super Rewards.

AppData for Mob Wars:

We’ll continue to track both SGN’s and Psycho Monkey’s efforts to build on the success of Mob Wars now that the legal dispute has been resolved.

Earlier this month, PlaySpan announced the launch of its virtual goods marketplace. The site will be comprised of items from dozens of different online games, and bring them together all in one place instead of creating separate virtual marketplaces for each specific game.

This new “PlaySpan Virtual Goods Marketplace” will sell the items from games such as EVE Online, Saga, War Rock, Knight Online, and others. Players will be able to visit the new marketplace regardless of the game they play and purchase each game’s virtual currency or the items they desire directly.

PlaySpan also announced recently that it had raised a $16.8 million round of funding. According to PlaySpan chief executive, Karl Mehta, this new site will be simple, secure, and offer plenty of payment methods with a potential customer base of over 100 million users. Furthermore, since the site sells items and currency directly with the permission of the game developers it supports, they can avoid the much of fraud, scams, and theft that can come in ad-hoc secondary markets.

As it stands now, supporting publishers include Aeria, CCP, GamersFirst, InixSoft, NHN, Ntreev, and Saga. A number of these are based in Asia where the virtual goods movement is strongest and most mature, thus making up a large portion of an industry now worth approximately $1.5 billion (based on Strategy Analytics).

[via VentureBeat]

By now most people who have used Facebook applications for any reasonable amount of time knows that the RPG genre of games is very stagnant. Regardless of whether or not you are in a mob, an enchanted forest, or if you are an elf, vampire, or zombie, they all use, more or less, the exact same game play functionality.

1. Create Character
2. Do Quest
3. Use Energy
4. Buy New Gear
5. …..
6. Profit

It will be a red letter day when the core mechanic of these games begins to change from the norm, but until then, creators of these types of games must look for ways to appeal to the masses in a way that the other RPGs do not. The game of the day is Hammerfall, and while the basic functionality is the same, it does incorporate the element of story telling as well as some extras into its game that does make it interesting.

In a nut-shell, you start out on a little island known as Summervale, but strange happenings have been occurring in the Kalamar Empire. It is a typical “hero’s journey” type of story, but it’s interesting, nonetheless, to do the quests and watch it unfold. However, while a good story does not necessarily make a good game, for the type of casual game Hammerfall is, the story is quite compelling. Furthermore, while it contains typical Facebook RPG elements, it does have some very nice additions to it.

When you start out, you have health, energy, and stamina. Stamina is your typical limiter for doing quests, and you have to let it regenerate passively in order to do more. As you play, you have to balance your stats between said stamina as well as health, power, energy, and toughness. Game play also forces you to carefully budget your different stats in order to proceed, meaning you have to make sure you have not only enough stamina to complete an action, but enough energy to actually defend yourself should you find yourself in some hot water.

The first bonus that is great is that there is an actual map of the world. It seems so minor, but having one gives the player a sense of the overall environment and even though games like this are not highly visual it does help in invoking a user’s imagination and lets them better see the world they are delving into.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Facebook game without some social prerogative. Like any RPG, you can invite friends into a guild that can reach up to five members when you first start. When you make a guild, however, you have to ensure that everyone is well equipped and prepared for raids. This is where the biggest social aspect comes in as raiding allows you to compete with other guilds. Unfortunately, this is a double edged sword, because if you can’t get enough people, you can easily become stuck. Regardless, there is still more “toys” to behold.

The coolest part about Hammerfall is the bosses. Yes, bosses. Unlike other RPGs where the results are always automatically generated, you can actually influence the outcome of a battle like in a traditional platform RPG. In fact, there is even a leaderboard that shows who defeated what boss in how many turns.

While it does emulate your typical Facebook RPG core mechanic, Hammerfall is definitely a very captivating game. It does have some issues, but what game doesn’t? The new features based on the standard core mechanic are great additions and the story is quite compelling. That alone makes the app worth checking out. Furthermore, there is a great deal of chatter about the game going about on its front page, and if the developers are listening in, then if there is a Hammerfall II, it ought to be truly great.

Okay, this week, its all about Playfish’s latest title, Minigolf Party. This stellar little game lets you play rounds of miniature golf with your friends in some rather exotic and worldly locals. As with other Playfish games, players vie for the high score – but more than that, they also strive to unlock all the achievements and trophies they can. However, this task can be a lot more daunting than one might think – but don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for.

So it seems that a number of people struggle in finding what all of the trophies actually are. Well, here is a nice neat list for you:

• Welcome Badge – First full round of golf
• Lifetime Achievement – play more than 50 games of golf
• Hole In One! – Making a hole in one shot
• Coin Collector – collect more than 100 coins
• Coins? What Coins? – Five Coins or less collected on a full course
• Metal Detector – Collect all coins in a course
• Party Hat – Par on all holes in a course
• Professional – Under par on all holes in a course
• Birds Nest – Birdies or better on all holes in a course
• Where Eagles dare – Eagle or better in one hole
• Party Player – Have 20 friends playing
• Giving Golfer – Gift more than 20 items to friends
• Challenge Champ – Win more than 20 challenges against your friends
• Need A Towel? – Hit the ball in a pond 5 times
• Treasure Hunter – Find the secret treasure chest
• Enthusiast – Play more than 10 rounds of golf in 1 hour

Okay, now that you know what to look for, it’s time to get some tips on how to get those tougher ones.

Quite possibly, the two most asked about trophies are “Metal Detector” and “Treasure Hunter.” When going for these achievements, score can be of no concern to you, because you’re definitely not getting par while searching for these. Nevertheless, the Treasure Hunter trophy can be acquired on the Egypt course. If you look closely, you should notice a small, square block to the right of the Great Pyramid that is surrounded by four, orange flowers. That is your target. Beneath it is a hole that leads to the basement of the pyramid in which the treasure is hidden.

In order to access the hole, you first have to move the block. Notice how the Sphinx has a nose? Well, the real Sphinx’s nose is actually broken, as such, you will need to correct this “oversight.” Carefully line your ball up with the left foot of the Sphinx and launch the ball into its nose. This will open up the hole to the right of the pyramid. Now all you need to do is get the ball close enough to its base so you can ramp it into the hole. It is a tricky shot, but here is a video that should help you out.

Not only will finding this treasure get you the Treasure Hunter trophy, but it will put you one step closer to getting the Metal Detector trophy. That in mind, there are still a few hidden and tough coins to get. The most common ones that are missed come from Rome and France. In France, they aren’t hidden, just a pain to get because if you make one mistake, you will have to start over. The trouble spot is the last four coins by the Eiffel Tower. No real trick here except, play very soft positioning. If you hit the ball even the slightest bit too hard, the slope will slide the ball into the hole. This takes a very steady hand and patience as you will have to do it four times. Just gently nudge the ball to each coin and you will be fine.

Rome, on the other hand, requires less subtlety. In this course, the coins are hidden, so take a wild guess where. That’s right, they are in the Colosseum. If you notice, there are two collapsed columns in the middle of the course. The shorter one, is actually a ramp. Simply position the ball near it and give it a nice whack towards the roof of the Colosseum. Assuming you hit it hard enough, it should land right in the middle, collect the hidden coins and fly out onto the pizza at the end.

That should help you out in getting those trophies unlocked for yourself, but if you want to beat those high scores, you had better learn how to get coins in all the courses without sacrificing as many swings. It all comes down to practice and patience. Think about those shots, experiment with different methods, and slowly work your way up there. Good luck, and happy golfing.

Cellufun’s Call of the Pharaoh, the winner of the “Best Mobile Game” category at the Global Mobile Awards 2008, casts you as a Pharaoh trying to put a Pyramid up together and then collect riches and treasures.

We recently touched on Call of the Pharaoh in a review of Cellufun’s Facebook games, talking about its community based game play and came away impressed with its simple but addictive nature. When you start out you have nothing but a plot of land to work on and have to post notices asking for help from other players. As other players agree to help you, you slowly accumulate items such as rope and bricks and are able to make the next stage of your pyramid.

The game continues like this until you have a full Pyramid and are able interact with other peoples pyramids such as steal treasure from other people. For such a small and addictive game there are many stages to get through making it last a long time.

What else is there? Well in the same way other people help you, you can also answer ad’s posted. Simply clicking on ‘Go Work!’ next to someone’s name instantly gives them a hand, and gives you some Cellupoints which are used much later on in the game to buy items and make treasures or magic.

The game itself is quite simple and doesn’t mind being, but the actual content here is vast with hours being sucked away just by mouse clicks in a similar way people get addicted to Solitaire. There are some nice touches here making the community work together without every having to actually ask anyone for help. It’s the perfect game to leave open in a web browser and slowly build up your empire and racing a friend to see who can have the best pyramid.

While it doesn’t have the greatest graphics or animation the game fits well inside Cellufun’s Facebook app and with plenty of difficulty achievements this is the kind of game that looks dull but plays well. If you ask me its better than being the other way round.

Christmas is almost here: A time for cheer, a time for giving, a time for sharing, and a time for thanks.

In light of this holiday spirit, a new service called TouchLeagueSharp, is now available to both iPhone and web game developers. Sharp is a C# wrapper and a demo web site that can be utilized in order to build games on the TouchLeague.com Competition API. An example of this can be found here with some play-for-money poker.

This is where the real story comes into play, as the API provides a set of web-based services that are capable of supporting turn-based, asynchronous game play. This means it can support games such as chess, checkers, and other board games, but can also support core elements from other game genres such as the Final Fantasy battle system, Risk, or Civilization. It is simply up to the developer to determine a creative means of utilizing the concept of “turns.”

Time for creativity should not be an issue either, for as with other third party APIs, TouchLeague allows developers to focus more on game play and handles some of the more tedious, back end aspects of multiplayer game development.

Currently, the API provides developers with a number of supported functions listed in their development blog, that can be used based on their preferences. The site handles simple features such as user registration, and advertising revenue, but can also be used to set up ladder systems, rank-based matchmaking, as well as a web service that can retrieve and update game states without requiring the use of a database for your game.

According to the creators of TouchLeague, the features are far from done as well. The API is looking to encompass more features as well in the future such as a “play ad free revenue generation” as well as the hosting for tournaments and leagues.

The best part, however, is that a would-be developer does not require much in order to make their game. All that the API requires is a public web server that can execute your game code. The TouchLeagueSharp package easily implements the API through the use of an ASP.net web project.

In a market where social, casual, online games are becoming very widespread, it is certainly nice to have as many choices as possible when it comes to easing the development process. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see something that applies more specifically to the turn-based aspect of games when more and more live-multiplayer support has been showing up lately.

You are all probably aware by now of Playfish’s incorporation of in-game advertisement for their major titles when they starting working with Google back in April. You may also be aware of the integration with PayPal when they launched in-game transactions.

However, marking a new sponsorship model for the company, Playfish just announced the launch of a premium campaign with Procter & Gamble and Herbal Essences via Geo Challenge in the United Kingdom.

This new version of the game has introduced what Playfish dubs, “The Great Escape Edition” which provides players with a brand new source of game play and, as expected, advertises the new Herbal Essences range from Procter and Gamble in a rather unorthodox manner.

The game still utilizes the video ads at the end, but in addition the entire art style of the game has been changed to fully encompass the look and feel that is Herbal Essences. The new Great Escape version is full of different pinks, flowers, exotic plant life, and virtually anything else you might see in your standard Herbal Essences commercial. All of this, however, has been seamlessly integrated into the game play and art work and is 100% unintrusive to the player – unlike so many other forms of advertisement (i.e. flashing banners, pop ups, etc).

Unfortunately, those that are not in the UK are unable to play this version of the game at this time.

[via Playfish Blog]

Ho, ho, ho and a Merry Christmas to all. Okay, maybe it’s not Christmas yet, but the holidays are here and everyone is feeling the spirit. The MMOs are releasing holiday festivities in their worlds, Playfish is updating their titles with festive graphics, and other companies are releasing titles just for the season; which, as you can guess, is what Christmas Carnage is for.

Though the game doesn’t really support the title’s claim of “carnage” it is still quite entertaining to play. Santa’s sleigh has crash landed in Christmas Town and the presents and elves are scattered about everywhere. Playing as one of the reindeer, and armed with just a wooden mallet you are charged with rounding up all those mischievous little elves and collecting as many presents as possible in the time allotted (five minutes) in the hopes of saving Christmas (exactly how many times in December does this holiday get threatened?).

The game play is pretty simple, and at its most basic core, it sounds pretty boring (run around and collect stuff). However, keep in mind that games such as the legendary Mario series have a boring core mechanic too at first glance: Run around and jump on things.

However, what makes simple games like this successful is the style that is applied to it, and that is exactly what Christmas Carnage does. All you do is race the clock and pick up items, but some of the presents you unlock are so absolutely hilarious, such as fake reindeer poo and that ever coveted “brain training with Paris Hilton,” that playing is more than worth your while. In addition to these clever ideas, the sound effects are wonderful, as the game is littered with classic, slap-stick, cartoon sound effects as you whack those scurrying and suspiciously short elves with your trusty mallet.

The game also saves all of the unique presents you unlock and allows you to send them as virtual Christmas gifts to your Facebook buddies. Though this gift giving is nothing unusual, they will definitely get a laugh out of them. Unfortunately, after you have collected all of the unique gifts the game does get dull very quickly, but until then it is extremely entertaining.

Christmas Carnage also brings some new style to the social table as well. Unlike most Facebook titles, this game is fully 3D and looks fairly decent as compared to other apps. What is most curious though is that the developers, Caspian Learning, have created a platform that enables other developers to also create similar games very quickly and at minimal cost. Caspian also states that they are looking to hear from any interested parties in order to co-develop more titles like Christmas Carnage in 2009, especially those that focus on MMO and psychology based games.

The question to ask now, is will we begin to see more fully 3D games on Facebook next year? It is highly doubtful that this would not be the case, though the 2D RPG style applications are definitely going to remain the dominate “species” in the space since they are significantly easier for a wider range of developers to create. Regardless, as long as the games themselves are fun, it is unlikely that anyone will really care if they are 3D or 2D. As for Christmas Carnage itself, while the fun factor lasts only for a short time, it puts a smile on your face, thus making it worth the time invested. Consider it a virtual Christmas gift.

There’s always a distinct issue of concern for casual game players, and that is the amount of time they need to invest into a game in order to feel like they have accomplished something. It comes back to the whole core versus casual demographic battle, and how to please both. Casual gamers, however, have been more of a difficult market to please in the past, but in current time, the process has become rather formulaic. The biggest thing to remember is that they don’t want to invest a lot of time, they want to be rewarded, and they want a challenge of the mind as well as the body (twitch reaction).

The hardest part is always the time invested. How much is enough? How much is too little? It is a rather fine line and easy to take the wrong direction, and unfortunately, Fable Island takes it in the latter. Essentially, you pick a location to travel to (home, town, etc) and you either fish or explore.

….

….

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What, you were expecting more? Sorry, that’s about it. The game is almost completely passive. You set your state (fishing, exploring, or none) and come back an hour or so later to see what you caught or found. Okay, yes, you do have to manage your energy by stopping at some point so you don’t end up in the hospital, and you can buy new equipment (bait, etc) in order to fish and such better, but that’s all there is to the game play. Eventually, you will have to do this in order to catch everything in the game, but the amount of play is, at best, 30-60 seconds at a time and that includes shopping time for new bait.

As a straight-up game, Fable Island gets boring quickly, but giving the developers the benefit of the doubt, there is some merit in their creation. As far as any online game goes, they can consume vast amounts of time, but the way they see Fable Island, is as a quick app to check up on for a few minutes during a break, lunch, or during a commercial. If you think about it that way, and not as a game, the application isn’t quite so blase. People can log on, check out what they got, and move on with life.

Nevertheless, if this is the direction that the developers are going, then they will need to ad a lot more depth to the game. Currently, the it lets you compete with friends to see who can catch what, but this is no where near enough. The idea of the game seems to be the creation of a relaxing look and feel, but there’s not even that much to look at. The world needs to look, feel, and sound alive. Simply watch any of the Corona commercials, and you can get a solid idea of what relaxation truly encompasses with those calming waves, the sea gulls off in the distance, and the wind whistling through the palm fronds. That is what it means to be relaxed. That alone would create a calming sensation that would most likely entice people to leave the game running in the background just to listen to it. Furthermore, there should be active fishing and exploring of some sort. Granted, the game is meant to consume as little time as possible, but at least with the option, it wouldn’t get so boring so quickly.

At the moment, Fable Island is a good idea in theory, but not that strong in practice. The almost completely passive game play makes the game incredibly boring very quickly. Of course, if you’re not looking for a “game” and just something to look at now and again, then the light shines more favorably on the app. Nevertheless, the game does have a great deal of potential, because the idea is a good idea. It needs a lot of work, but it is not impossible to get there.