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“Farmville Continues to Expand” or “Dear God, Make it Stop!”
Social gaming titan Farmville has enthralled the deep-seated farming urges of millions. 80+ millions to be exact! Understandably, it would only be a matter of time before develop Zynga decided it would be prudent to expand the game to other platforms, broadening its appeal and expanding its reach, specifically, the iPhone, iPad and Android.
Zynga had the following to in-depth and comprehensive statement to make: “Zynga plans to expand to various mobile platforms. We cannot provide additional information at this time.”
At the rate Farmville is taking over the world, I can imagine getting up at in the middle of the night for, well, a midnight snack, walking over to the microwave to warm a slice of mom’s homemade apple pie, only to be prompted by the microwave:
“Have you ever dreamed of selling crops so you can grow more crops in an incessant, self-perpetuating cycle for all eternity? If yes, try Farmville today!”
“Further Proof that Farmville is Evil!” or “No One Cares About Your Stupid Farm!”
This just keeps getting better and better. UK’s The Guardian reports the story of a 12-year old boy who first spent £288 of his own money, and then rang up £625 on his mother’s credit card to buy virtual equipment for his digital farm in Farmville. Despicable!
£288 + £625 = £913.
That’s almost $1,400, spent in under two weeks. Once again we have a blatant example before us, categorically proving that Farmville is corrupting our youth, emptying out bank accounts and one of the Prime Evils.
Jokes aside, Zynga, creators of Farmville of course offered the unimaginably original and helpful suggestion of “why don’t you password protect your computer?”What stood out to me was the mother’s insistence that Facebook and Zynga should shoulder some of the responsibility, that if Facebook notices a 12 year old spending close to $1,400 on a social game that Facebook facilitates, some red flag should go up somewhere. That sounds logical enough, coming from a mother who allowed her son unsupervised and complete access to her credit card! You go girl!
But the true tragedy of the story is that Facebook banned the boy’s account. Not that the boy’s splurge could be seen in any positive light, but at least he could use the virtual items and money he had invested in. Furthermore, not only will the kid be stripped of the slightest semblance of any social life during most of his adolescent years, now he also won’t be able to ogle at the cute chicks from his school through the relative safety and anonymity of Facebook. The humanity!
In related news, GameSetWatch now allows you to express your inner hatred for all things Farmville in style!
“Proof that Farmville is Evil” or “Got Virtual Milk?”
In the most ridiculous video game related piece of news I have come across all week, a Bulgarian official has been sacked, no I kid you not, for milking a virtual cow in Farmville. Of course the fact that he was filling his virtual bucket with milk during a government meeting probably didn’t help.
Dimitar Kerin, a city council member in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, had been warned three weeks prior for playing the game at work. In his defense, he said he was only level 40, whereas another colleague, who had gone unchecked, was level 46. What a douche!
Are We New At This? 