Inside Social Games

Xbox Live Gets More Virtual Goods – Activision’s Transformers 2 game has some new virtual goods on Xbox Live. For 240 Microsoft Points, users can purchase the Transformer heads of Megatron, Optimus Prime, or Bumblebee, and for 80 they can sport one of three Transformer t-shirts.

Also available for Xbox Live avatars is a little reward from SquareEnix to those that participated in the “Register – Tweet – Win” Final Fantasy XIII event. It’s a free, baby chocobo!  Of course, if you didn’t participate, you can go to the FFXIII splash page and register to receive a code for one later this year.

Sometrics Improves ijji.com Revenue – Hardcore games portal ijji.com has worked with offer solutions company Sometrics to increase its offer-based revenue. As with many game portals in recent time, ijji allows users to earn virtual currency (G Coins) via offers. Now, with Sometrics, such offers are simplified by sending users directly to targeted offers as soon as they click “Get Free G Coin.” Currently, the new offer solutions have earned a 15% increase in offer completion and a 30% increase in revenue.

Star Fever Agency Launches – Social MMO, Star Fever Agency, has launched and developer, Sarbakan, will be giving away “15 million [worth of] Star Fever Agency Dollars, Privilege Points, Limited Edition and Unique items.” The event will last three weeks and be open to the 15,000 players who pre-registered for the game. Furthermore, players can invite up to two friends to also take part in the special.

Florida State University Studies Virtual Goods – According to Virtual Goods News, a Florida State University, College of Business doctoral student did a virtual goods study with the help of First Planet Company, developers of Planet Calypso. According to the company, it was meant to take a look at virtual goods buying habits and took place last weekend. The company states that the study “will help to determine if a player’s experience with a product in a virtual world influences their intention to purchase a product and how that experience can affect a brand.”

Ameba Pigg Coming to Facebook – A popular Japanese virtual world by the name of Ameba Pigg, developed by Cyberagent, is working its way to the United States according to Asiajin. The platform? Facebook. The company states that an English-language and Americanized rendition of the title will be available next spring. Such changes include more American-style avatar clothing, and new virtual areas such as Central Park.

Digital Zhu Zhu Pets – A popular toy line called Zhu Zhu Pets is taking a first step into casual games and quasi-virtual worlds. Creator Cepia is turning to toy industry veterans Marc Rosenberg and Bill Goodman, as well as game maker TiltnTwist to make their first iPhone rendition of the popular toy. The game will allow users, based on statements posted by Playthings.com, ”roll around Zhu Zhu-Ville with [their] favorite Zhu Zhu Pets, Mr. Squiggles and his Adventure Ball.”

FarmVille.com Offers Exclusive Gifts – Looks like Zynga is pushing users to utilize FarmVille.com by offering seven different giftable items exclusively for users of the site. The gifts are an orange, purple, or white flag, a log bench, a ladder and bucket, a barrel of grapes, and a wooden log. Luckily, users that prefer Facebook will still be able to receive the gifts, just not send them.

Playata Launches Facebook Databases – German company Playata is looking to make things easier for the FarmVille playerbase with a new database called FarmBook.  The new Facebook application features tables of in-game items that can be sorted by criteria such as time, experience, profitability, and so on. The app will also offer users close-up shots of the items as well as animation and sound previews.