1）据CE Gamers报道，Zynga游戏《FarmVille》最近首次出现了关于《FarmVille 2》的交叉推广图片，这一现象或许意味着这款新游戏即将上线。

farmville-2(from games)

farmville-2(from games)

从交叉推广内容来看，《FarmVille》将分别包含一男一女角色，以及其他各类动物和人物。但这个新版本的标志性角色是只可爱的小鸡，而非原版游戏中玩家所熟悉的野鸭。值得一提的是，这款游戏将呈现3D画面。

2）据gamasutra报道，游戏设计师Simon Strange（游戏邦注：其代表作包括雅达利的Godzilla战斗游戏系列，以及即将问世的《Kaiju Combat》）在最近采访中表示，他深信人们的意见很重要，但他们为自己的看法辩护的理由却基本上毫无用处。

Simon Strange(from youtube.com)

在他看来，玩家很清楚自己不喜欢游戏中的哪些内容，但他们解释的原因缺乏可靠的数据支持，因此并非可靠的信息。如果玩家说“我不喜欢这个”，那么设计师就该引起重视，但如果他们说“不喜欢这个是因为……”，那么设计师大可忽略其“原因”，因为他们并没有足够的数据来了解真实情况。

小型开发商或许应该注意听取测试者的反馈，但需更深入地追究原因，而不只是听取反馈者的一面之词。

3）据games.com报道，Frima Studio日前宣布将于今年秋季推出基于“石子、剪子、布”机制的原创Facebook游戏《Rock Paper Sumo》。

Rock Paper Sumo(from games)

该游戏在2010年时已是一个测试项目，支持玩家在游戏中让自己的相扑运动员与其他玩家过招，并可选择200多种饰品装扮自己的相扑手；该游戏将于9月13日进入内测阶段。

4）据serkantoto报道，日本社交游戏巨头GREE旗下子公司GREE International首席执行官Naoki Aoyagi在最近采访中指出，他的目标是让公司明年在日本海外市场收益比例达到10%。

如果根据该公司最近在美国运营表现情况分析，10%的目标意味着GREE International明年收益需达到2亿美元（游戏邦注：GREE在2012财年总收益达20亿美元），但实现这一目标只有两种方法，即收购更多初创公司或者推出更多杀手级热作。

gree-resident-evil-vs(from serkantoto)

Capcom日前宣布将于今年底向GREE平台推出新款社交游戏《Resident Evil Vs.》（基于《生化危机》IP），以及《Monster Hunter – Massive Hunting》（基于《怪物猎人》IP）。

monster-hunter-massive-hunting(from serkantoto)

5）在本周MAU增长最快的Facebook游戏榜单上，FreshPlanet作品《SongPop》再次登顶，新增MAU达40万，增幅为3%。

Top gainers this week-MAU(from AppData)

Zynga游戏《Bubble Safari》排名第二，新增MAU为30万，增幅达0.97%；《CastleVille》位居第三，新增30万MAU，增幅为2%；Social Point游戏《Dragon City》排名第四，新增20万MAU，增幅为2%；《Ruby Blast》位居第五，新增MAU达20万，增幅为7%。Zynga新游戏《ChefVille》新增10万MAU，增幅为19%。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）With this promotion art leak, is FarmVille 2 around the corner? [Rumor]

by Joe Osborne

It looks like the (hopeful) rebirth of FarmVille is just around the corner. CE Gamers has discovered these first-ever cross promotion images that will likely adorn the pop-ups of your favorite farming simulator in due time. Well, that and probably every other Zynga game ever–let’s be honest here, people.

Unfortunately, the artwork isn’t anything particularly telling. Yes, FarmVille 2 will include both a male and female farmer, and yes, the game will include all sorts of characters animal and human alike. However, it does look like FarmVille has received a new mascot: a cute little chick in replace of the mallard duck that players have come to know and love over the past three years.

Considering the FarmVille fan base (no offense), that could most definitely be a point of contention. Be on the lookout for the first details about FarmVille 2 right here. Spoiler: The game will be in 3D. Oh wait–you already knew that. No surprises here, then.（source:games）

2）When your player’s opinions are crap

by Frank Cifaldi

“I’m a big believer in the fact that opinions are really important, but people’s justifications for why they hold opinions are basically crap.”

- Game designer Simon Strange (from Atari’s series of Godzilla fighting games and the upcoming spiritual successor Kaiju Combat) explains in an upcoming Gamasutra interview that you should always listen to your players…to a point.

Your players are good at knowing when they don’t like something. That part comes naturally. But being able to explain exactly why they don’t like it is a really unreliable data point.

“When someone says ‘I don’t like this,’ that’s really important and you have to believe them. But when someone says ‘I don’t like this because-,’ you can often kind of ignore their ‘because,’ because they often don’t have the data to understand what’s going on,” he says.

This bit of wisdom seems especially apt for the smaller developers among you, who might rely on verbal feedback more than on hard data. Always, always listen to your playtesters when they don’t like something, but dig a little deeper than their own opinions to figure out why.（source:gamasutra）

3）Rock Paper Sumo looks to shake up Facebook in closed beta this fall

by Joe Osborne

How do you reinvent the age-old game of Rock Paper Scissors while avoiding the mind-boggling (and completely unnecessary) complexity of monstrosities like RPS-25? Oh, and how do you actually make it fun? Well, throwing in adorable, hilarious sumo wrestlers is a way to start. Feast your eyes on Rock Paper Sumo, Frima Studio’s original Facebook game coming this fall.

Originally released as a test project in 2010, Rock Paper Sumo follows a group of cutesy sumo wrestlers in a struggle to protect their land from the evil Sumo lord of Weevil, Skinny Shu.

His tyrannic rule has stretched so far as to forbid sushi from the land, and it’s up to you to make it so the people of Weevil can eat raw fish once again by defeating his evil minions in the ancient and honorable art of Rock Paper Scissors. The premise is about as silly as we should expect from Frima.（source:games）

4）Capcom Teases Resident Evil Vs. And Monster Hunter – Massive Hunting For GREE [Social Games]

by Dr. Serkan Toto

In a new interview with Pocketgamer.biz, GREE International CEO (and GREE proper’s CFO) Naoki Aoyagi gave out the goal to generate 10% of all of his company’s sales outside Japan next year.

Here is my recent analysis of GREE’s financial performance in the US so far. The 10% goal would mean that GREE International has to generate about US$200 million next fiscal (in FY2012, sales for GREE overall reached US$2 billion).

There are just two ways this can happen: “buy” revenue by acquiring more startups or getting killer titles on the global platform.

Capcom has announced their support for GREE’s offering outside Japan a long time ago, and now the company is “officially” teasing the first two games in more detail (both were already showcased during E3).

Resident Evil Vs. For GREE

This isn’t the first time Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan) gets the social treatment on GREE. But “Resident Evil Vs.” is different from Biohazard Outbreak Survive.

The new title looks much more like a typical Resident Evil game on consoles (plus previous mobile versions), and as the name suggests, it focuses on multiplayer gameplay. Capcom says GREE users can expect “Death Matches” (3 vs. 3) and King Of The Hill modes.

Players can choose between Jill, Claire, and Chris – the most famous characters from Capcom’s huge franchise:

Monster Hunter – Massive Hunting

A big IP in Japan, but not so big outside this country: just like with Resident Evil, Capcom has already used the Monster Hunter IP for a social game.

Details are still a bit scarce on Monster Hunter – Massive Hunting, but Capcom says players will be able to create armor and weapons from material they find in the game and team up with other players to hunt down monsters (not much news there so far):

Capcom plans to release both titles on GREE for iOS and Android by year-end.（source:serkantoto）

5）SongPop still topping the charts of the fastest-growing Facebook games by MAU

Mike Thompson

FreshPlanet’s SongPop once again topped this week’s list of fastest-growing Facebook games by monthly active users, taking the No. 1 spot with 400,000 MAU for a 3 percent gain.

Zynga’s Bubble Safari came in at No. 2 with 300,000 MAU, a 0.97 percent traffic increase. CastleVille, too, had a 2 percent gain with 300,000 MAU and took the No. 3 position. Social Point’s Dragon City took No. 4 with 200,000 MAU and a 2 percent gain. Finally, Ruby Blast placed at No. 5 with 200,000 MAU, a 7 percent gain.

The traffic percentage gains were relatively small this week, with no title showing an increase greater than 20 percent. Instead, the two biggest gains belonged to Zynga’s newly-launched ChefVille and THX Games’s Arabic-language trivia game Saif Almarifa. ChefVille was up by 100,000 MAU, a 19 percent gain. Meanwhile, Saif Almarifa took in 40,000 DAU for a 17 percent increase.（source:insidesocialgames）