Farmville-maker worth more than EA - Report

@Muteki_X Maybe << LINK REMOVED >> is a poor phrase. After I looked it up, I find it really doesn't fit any of the descriptions that either of us has made. Consumers who chase casual games can hardly be said to have no personalities. As for not having "will" outside of a popular crowd, that may be called "chasing a fad". But the way I perceive the chasing of fads, it's just consumers chasing the next popular thing until they get tired - nothing more. I wouldn't be calling them "sheep" either. They are just indulging themselves in whatever amused or entertained them at the time. After all, you do eagerly follow and play some core games and get tired of them eventually, do you not? It is essentially the same kind of indulgence, only that you play games as a long-term hobby and perhaps most of those who jump into casual games don't. You having a hobby is part of your personality and them not having the same hobby is conversely part of their personality. I don't see this as a good reason to claim being "truer" to playing games.

silverdoe wrote: "so they suggest EA & everybody goes social now. That's the end of gaming ..." ----------------------- EA is already headed there. Game Over.

@ Gelugon_baat Drones chase fads and have no personaliity or will outside of the poplular crowd. How is being true to one's self being a drone? Are you suggesting a person who's will is at the mercy of their own will in essence has no will of their own?

Well some people play those games while they are at work, just because they can't bring their pc/xbox/ps/wii with them, so they turn to these type of games

BotZakafein wrote: "Zynga is smart. they get all these idiots to dish out on the simplest gave ever, and just piss away their time on it... i mean who cares if ur lvl 100 with more stuff than ur friends." ----------------- Yeah.... kinda sounds like World of Warcraft..... don't it?

@disposition000 [quote="disposition000"]Maybe not, but drones exist and Muteki_X gave a perfect example of them.[/quote]

And how exactly you and me are not drones if they are? They are chasing the fad that is casual gaming, while some of us are just entrenching ourselves as a reaction. Drones basing their actions on external stimuli, the way I see it.

@Gelugon_baat "Digging deep mental trenches and hurling insults like "horrific", "sheep", "idiots" and "drones" at them doesn't really put you on a high ground." Maybe not, but drones exist and Muteki_X gave a perfect example of them.

Perhaps I should have worded my post a little differently. I should have said "most casual gamers" rather than "casual gamers". I do suppose there are some casual gamers who are true gamers at heart, and I shouldn't have linked them all into the same category. That's my bad, but I still stand behind what I said and would like you to point out exactly how I am a hypocrite.

@Muteki_X Well said. @feryl06 Yeah, what the hell are you talking about?

@ feryl06 How so? Please enlighten me.

Muteki_X---I don't follow the masses? hahaha... your post is too funny. too bad you can't see the hypocrisy of your own post. :)

Real gamers have been there even before gaming was "popular". They loved to game even when the majority of people ridiculed them for it. The casual gamers of today's world are just fad chasers jumping on the bandwagon because it's the cool thing at the moment. They'll drop gaming and move on to the next thing just as soon as the currents of fashion take them elsewhere. I could go for hours counting the people I know who used to give me a hard time for playing games, calling them a waste of time and bad for you. Now those same people are jumping all over the Wii and Facebook games because everyone else is doing it. So yes, I see posers and flat-out hypocrites first hand, and no I don't think I'm better than them because I've been gaming for years. I just call it like I see it, and unlike them, I'm true to who I am and always have been. I don't follow the masses like the rest of the blind sheep.

Facebook and Zynga...will take over the world..Eventually. Why are people so much like sheep...it makes me sad.

I was wondering when there would be users bandying about the labels "true gamers" and "real gamers" to describe themselves - and there they are. Do core games really make sanctimonious dudes like you "truer" or "more real"? It's just a matter of preferences, the way I see it. A Cake-VS-Pie matter, if you want an analogy. Digging deep mental trenches and hurling insults like "horrific", "sheep", "idiots" and "drones" at them doesn't really put you on a high ground. Of course, there's the usual and very typical argument that "we played games first!", but this isn't the case of the early bird gets the worm. They can say things like casual gamers jumping on the bandwagon or chasing fads, but they forget that they jumped on the bandwagon and chased the fad that are digital games earlier. The way I see it, they just don't want to share the space. Accuse the casual game consumers about having short-attention spans with respect to game culture and the game industry all they like, but entertainment cultures and industries owe you NOTHING - both only want your time and money, respectively. Devotion and loyalty won't be keeping them alive.

Gamers have always been a select crowd. We were a relatively small group back in the day, and still are believe it or not. So it's no suprise that the casual "wanna-be" gamers are coming in, posing, and being a larger group are being catered to and make the caterer a ton of $. Those of us that are still true gamers at heart see how horrific this is, but we're drown out by the sea of drones. You can see the effects of it all over the place. This is just one example.

I would not be calling people who play Farmville or other Facebook games "idiots". To them, you are playing digital games and shelling out money for digital stuff like they happen to be - you just happen to be forking out dosh for insubstantial sources of entertainment in a different way than they are. Call these games "crap", "garbage" and "stupid", but the people who mainly play these games see the ones that you play as too complicated. The nastiest of them would even label you "anti-social", ESPECIALLY if you openly insult them and the games they like. To them, they are playing a (so-called) "social networking game" after all. For all they perceive of you, you may just be a sociopath who sits in front of a screen all day. You and they don't really need the antagonism.

Doesn't surprise me at all, casual gamers control the market, sad but true, I despise farmville personally but it seems everywhere i turn, i have a friend or sibling playing that garbage. While I disprove it, I give Zynga credit for exploiting people's need for entertainment, I can't exacly call someone an idiot for looking to play a simple addictive game when bored...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO This is not the truth!!!!!! THE CAKE IS A LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (goes into mental breakdown)

Haha, this makes me glad that I'm currently making an original facebook game.

1. Make idiotic games for FB newbies. 2. ??? 3. PROFIT!

Depressing indeed, but that's how capitalism works. Idiots form the largest possible audience you could target; create something that pleases them, and you're pretty much guaranteed to get very rich, very quickly.

Wow.. that's just scary

Zynga is a company I deeply hate; they are not game industry; they are untalented time wasters with a catalogue based on rip-offs. Just check Farmville... "Sim Farm" anyone?

Zynga is smart. they get all these idiots to dish out on the simplest gave ever, and just piss away their time on it... i mean who cares if ur lvl 100 with more stuff than ur friends.

Thats just depressing.

Zynga is bigger than EA???!!!! WOW

Thing is this game is probably popular because there isnt much difficulty in it? Gamers like us need more challange and depth but these social games are designed to be addictive and easy for people to be sucked into... I mean I couldnt see my mum jump into a game of killzone or something but yet she cant stop playing this game!!

Damn this is crazy..

Don't have a facebook account and I never will. I've only seen people "play" farmville and it looks like the pinnacle of pissing away time on something that takes no intelligence or talent to play. Just because it is the most played "videogame" in the world doesn't make it good. Justin Beiber has more views on Youtube than anything in history yet I don't hear comparisons to the Beatles except for maybe the stupid 1950's hair cut. It is easy, integrated on narcissistic facebook, and extremely cheap. Real games can be challenging, require a console, and cost 60 bucks a pop. This is yet more proof that civilization is becoming increasingly lamer.

@FarmFreshDX I agree that there isn't really anything special about Farmville's gameplay, but that doesn't mean that the populous of casual gamers just have bad taste. The key is how social this game is. I personally have no interest in playing it and apparently you don't either, but its numbers say the social aspect is important to casual gamers and Farmville must meet the need.

Are u seriously telling me that the company that made that piece of crap is now worth more than EA? So the world WILL end in 2012, if only we could stop these signs of the Apocalypse...

@xenogearz88 Sad, you missed a Lots of great deal on Steam..ah anyway. Everything is going digital better make the transit now (Game-Steam, Book-Kindle, Movies-Netflix).

While I agree that Farmville and games like it are dumb I can still see why some people who aren't big gamers like it. To all the people who are slamming Facebook for stealing everyone's information: "DON'T POST THINGS YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO SEE ON THE INTERNET." No one is pointing a gun at you saying gimme your credit card numbers. If you don't want people to read it don't freaking post it.

so they suggest EA & everybody goes social now. That's the end of gaming ...

Mine sweeper is better this is for casuals, facebook casuals

I'd like to know how much they are actually making, because I play Mafia Wars occasionally but have never spent a cent

Usually I'd say success is always earned by a company, no matter how lame a product it is. Farmville, though, feeds on the age-old Facebook dilemma that people simply have nothing better to do. If the people who liked these games realized there was actually depth and reason to real gamer games, we'd probably have a much better community.

...crap. If it's coming from Bloomburg, you can bet there's a lot of greedy CEO's out there right now who want a piece of that pie. If there were any publishers out there still holding out on casual gaming, this article will probably be the last straw that breaks their resolve.

Zynga need a golden cat, donate it to them. over 9000 killstreak mega fox sex tape standing by repeat megan fox sex tape standing by

How can one possibly like this style of gaming? They dole out more cash on something that isn't even worth a f***!

Yes, it's worth more. But no, this doesn't mean it profits more. The micro-transaction model can't possibly outprofit EA, even at a scale such as this.

Farmville isn't so bad, just really time consuming once you get a huge farm...and that's why I quit that..if I'm going to be using my gaming time, I'd rather be nuking some small country, or randomly stealing cars and headshotting the drivers rather than point and click farming.

FarmVille and all those other lame facebook games almost make the Wii look hardcore

fyi. this is one story I am not sharing on facebook. it will simply help spread this infection.

how?!?!?! from 1 game!!!???!?!?!?!?! thats 1 dollars per person on the planet. If you spent 1 dollar on a face book game, you are crazy.

@endocrine eh, no.while i do use the internet, i NEVER used my credit card to buy stuff when couldn't touch or feel it with my own hands...like the pointless crap Facebook has to offer.and no, i don't buy off ebay or amazon. and also, no.I don't give any of my information to any business whatsoever. non of that crap interests me.

I hate this. Casual gaming is on an incline because as we all get older and busier we don't have time to buy and play other games. Please don't say this is the end. 30 years from now, i still want to come home and play a nice, hardcore/core game.

Wow, this is actually pretty shocking. I guess this is the trend. I get the feeling that, as our society craves more fast paced, ADD-like entertainment, we'll be seeing these casual games become the norm. Their not quite there yet, but soon I bet. I still have no interest in any of this Zynga stuff, however.

My wife got addicted to some game on Facebook called Happy Pets. And to buy some pet they want 5890 Facebook credits valued at a dime a piece. That would come to a whopping $58.90 for this pet. She tried to get me to buy it for her, I told her she was (expletive deleted) nuts.