因为《CityVille》、《FarmVille》和《Café World》等知名游戏的繁荣发展，社交游戏开发商Zynga已成长为身价达100亿美元的公司。当全球科技行业巨擘西门子决定发布自己的在线社交游戏《PlantVille》的时候，所有人都不禁好奇，这款游戏究竟与Zynga有何联系。

PlantVille

西门子公司代表Tom Varney协助开发了这款游戏，他对外界的回应是，“这最多只是一个偶然的巧合，《PlantVille》是一款基于现实世界体验的游戏。”但游戏邦获悉，该公司有一名代表已承认推出这款游戏的目的在于吸引《FarmVille》等热门社交游戏玩家。该名代表甚至混淆了《FarmVille》和《PlantVille》这两者的名称，误称西门子创建了《FarmVille》，随后立即改口纠正为《PlantVille》，西门子创建了《PlantVille》。

目前尚无人知晓这款游戏的灵感从何而来，只知道西门子打算将《PlantVille》作为一个创意游戏平台，向用户展示公司的科技和品牌。当玩家首次登录该服务时（它的注册流程很特殊，用户不可通过Facebook访问该游戏），他们可以访问《PlantVille》的三个核心构成要素：《PlantVille》游戏，它支持玩家经营管理一个瓶装厂，维他命药厂或制造工厂； PlantVille Café功能，它支持玩家聚集在一起分享游戏攻略；PlantVille Puzzler，它支持用户参加测试，检验自己的知识积累。

据西门子公司所称，他们希望这款游戏在发挥娱乐和教育功能的同时，能够提供公司的品牌知名度。例如，在《PlantVille》游戏中，玩家得“通过学习和运用西门子提供的基础设备产品或解决方案”，让一家濒于死亡的工厂恢复生机。

西门子首席执行官Daryl Dulaney表示，“我们认为通过这种有趣的方式，可以让人们了解如何运营一家制造工厂，同时让他们了解西门子在美国的运营情况。当你玩这款游戏遇到挑战时，系统会提供一些链接和提示，引导你制定决策和提高运营效率。多数链接会导向西门子的产品网站。”

Dulaney猜测这款游戏将会吸引有志于制造行业的高中和高校学生，不过西门子的用户，以及有可能使用西门子产品的潜在用户，也会是该游戏的目标用户。

Dulaney表示，“这是一款非常真实的游戏——它真的是很棒的游戏，有许多工程师等用户都很喜欢这种类型的游戏。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Siemens Taps Into Zynga’s Popularity, Launches PlantVille

Social gaming firm Zynga has blossomed into a billion-dollar company thanks to the popularity of games like CityVille, FarmVille, and Café World. So when global industrial behemoth Siemens decided to launch its own online social game today called PlantVille–which includes a feature called the PlantVille Café–one couldn’t help but wonder whether Siemens was taking its cues from Zynga.

“It’s coincidental, at best,” says Tom Varney, who helped design the game for Siemens. “PlantVille is based on real-world experience.” But at least one rep for the company explicitly acknowledged that the game was trying to capitalize on the popularity of social games like FarmVille and even made the mistake of saying Siemens invented FarmVille–though the rep immediately caught the slip. PlantVille. Siemens invented PlantVille.

Regardless of where the inspiration originated from, Siemens is promoting PlantVille as an innovative gaming platform designed to showcase Siemens’ technologies and brand. When players first join the service (Siemens’ has a unique registration process–you can’t login using Facebook), they’ll gain access to three key components of PlantVille: the PlantVille game, an online simulator allowing users to manage a bottling, vitamin, or manufacturing plant; the PlantVille Café, where Siemens can engages with players to discuss game solutions; and the PlantVille Puzzler, where users can test their knowledge with brain teasers.

Siemens hopes the game will not only be fun and educational but will drive awareness for the the company’s brand. In the PlantVille game, for example, players will work to nurse a plant back to health “by learning about and applying industrial and infrastructure products and solutions from Siemens,” according to a company statement.

“We think this will be a fun way for people to learn about what it means to operate a manufacturing plant, and at the same time, learn about what Siemens does here in the US,” says Daryl Dulaney, CEO of Siemens Industry. “When you play the game and meet the challanges the game presents, there are helpful links and hints to help you make a decision on how to improve the operation at your plant. Many of those links will take you to Siemens’ product websites.” Where the fun continues into oblivion.

Dulaney imagines the game will help engage with high school and college students, who might be considering a career in manufacturing, but also with the company’s customers or potential customers who work in the industry and utilize products that Siemens offers.

“It’s a very realistic game–it’s really an awesome game,” Dulaney says. “There are a lot of engineers and other people who enjoy this type of genre.”（source:fastcompany）