This actually popped up in my box a day or two ago, but it took
Joystiq to make me realize the possible implications of it. We may see some... interesting pony games on the horizon. For those that aren't too familiar with gaming companies, Zynga is the creator of Farmville, Mafia Wars, and a whole mess of others that cause even the most dedicated soccer moms to forget to pick up their kids from school. Seriously, these games are built from the ground up to hook you.
Combine that with pony... The human race is doomed.
This doesn't actually guarantee anything FiM related though. Zynga is also pretty well known for their scrabble knockoff, "Words with Friends". Hasbro owns an armada of board games that are just begging to invade mobile devices and facebook pages everywhere. My guess would be a focus on those, but maybe we will see the pegasus version of Battleships instead?
117 comments:
This could be really epic.
Read this on Joystiq yesterday.
About time it ended up on here :)
Not even pony can make me facehoof.... Err... I mean facebook
I'd actually give this one a spin, for once.
This is my face right now -.-
The only thing that would be more awesome is if Hasbro worked with Natsume to make an Harvest Moon with Ponies :D
Oh shit no...
This makes me really upset, Zynga are an utterly abhorrent company.
Wat. I don't trust Zynga. Remeber that security leak? I'm willing to bet they meant it to happen. They're probably still stealing your info but keeping it closer under wraps now...
NO
NO PLEASE GOD NO
NO NO NO
GOD PLEASE GOD NO
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
If that My Little Ponyville becomes an actual game on Facebook, I will play the shit out of it.
Zynga only makes terrible casual games that require you to have 500 random people friended on Facebook just for the sake of gifting junk, though...
Why not get Bethesda and make a truely epic (and buggy) Pony experience?
Likely just trying to legitimize their Words With Friends game, since Hasbro does own Scrabble.
I assume I'm one of the only people in the world without a Facebook?
Does that make me a Hipster?
This could prove lethal to my productivity. I may have to start making preparations right now.
Zynga is also known for some pretty egregious (lack of) privacy policies.
Play, but do so with a name and email you don't use elsewhere.
I do much of my freelance work on Zynga games. I would so love to be in on this.
Of course, if I were, I couldn't whisper a word of it to anyone here. I have a powerful need to eat, after all, and one doesn't bite the hand that feeds you.
But honestly, this is the first I've heard of it too.
They should let, like Ubisoft or some other awesome game developer make Pony games.
Probably the one only game I would play on Facebook. Only good can come out of this!
I'll make a FaceBook account only to play those games. I am gorram serious.
Not Zynga! D:
It's one of the most unmoralic but legal companies I know!
@Sgt. Grub does shutting down your Facebook count as not having one?
Now, Hasbro's definition of "games" is more board-oriented than Zynga's, and while the licensing arrangement allows for "co-branded merchandise," it doesn't allow Zynga to make games based on Hasbro brands.
Farmville with ponies...
God help us all.
...What ever Zynga makes it's going to be some cheap knock-off of an innovative indie game.
Oh god. Not Zynga. Anyone but Zynga.
No. Just no. This better not be pony related. Zynga is an evil company run by evil people, and should not touch MLP with a ten foot pole.
But I put my trust in the staff, and pray that this will not be about ponies, and that hasbro will butcher another franchise.
Ugh. As a person who prefers games we spend time on because we enjoy them as opposed to them tickling our sense of obligation, I would really not like to see games alike to farmville about ponies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/10/farmville-zygna-hasbro-deal-facebook?newsfeed=true
Zynga....ugh...I hate them sooooo much. They made me waste too much time in college on their products.
Grrrrrrr. love ponies but HATE the evilness of zynga
One word: Farmvile...
I hate Zynga too, and I'm not sure how to take this... they should have formed an alliance with Bungie, id or Valve
I hope Zynga isn't going anywhere near MLP.
Oh god, not Zynga. This is like Hitler and Batman teaming up to fight crime.
Reading that press release though, it seems that Hasbro has the rights to make Zynga-related merchandise...not the other way around.
Seriously though (as someone who is working on the said industry), I really can't see how a PonyVille game would even work. Take a brand aimed at little children, and then make it a... free-to-play game with micro-transactions?
As far as I know, little kids with credit cards are kind of a minority...
If this becomes a reality I will never be able to leave my dorm room again.
Ever.
The title image from Joystiq is misleading.
The article says:
"IT DOESN'T ALLOW ZYNGA TO MAKE GAMES BASED ON HASBRO BRANDS"
So, you might have a My Little Farmville toy line, but no Facebook Ponyville games yet.
Screw Zynga. Bad play, Hasbro.
Lets just hope they dont make a pony game that looks too girly or way to pink
Thankfully, it looks like they are referring to Hasbro's more traditional games, like Battleship and Monopoly.
To hell with Zynga; most despicable type of gaming company in existence.
@Sgt. Grub
Then I'm a hipster as well. Hey, at least I'm not alone.
I don't know how to feel about this, this could either be irrelevant, or spawn a hideous monstrosity.
And no, 'A good thing' is not on the list. Pony or not. It's great they didn't specifically state which series they'd disfigure, I can remain hopeful for now.
And no, making a Facebook 'Just for X' is not a good idea, all it takes is one reason to sign up, something addictive to keep you on their websites to fill you with trackers, and tadaah! Your browser is now used to funnel info to be sold to advertisement companies. There's a reason why it looks too good to be true; it is.
Anyways, maybe we'll be lucky and they'll skip over MLP.... sigh... one can hope.
If anyone were to make a commercial Pony game, it should be the TellTale guys. They're pretty much the only company I trust to make a decent effort at recreating the feel of the show rather than just vomit out a rushed bargain-bin title.
Don't want. I HATE Zynga.
They are underhanded backstabbers.
As LONG as I never see a My Little Ponyville, I'll be happy.
I'm curious if this affects the MLP: Online crew.
If Zynga gets the rights from Hasbro to create an MLP game, would they attempt to dominate the market through vicious tactics and drive the freely-created MLP: Online product out of circulation (either through legal measures or blatant market oversaturation)?
Whatever happens, and it's all hypothetical so we're still a few steps short of "legitimate freakout mode," I'm still eagerly awaiting to see MLP: Online's release.
Sorry guys. I made a sacred promise to myself to never get into any stupid facebook games. Not even ponies could make me change my mind.
...and so began the end of all productity forev- screw it I'm too lazy to finish that sentance.
Oh, dear. I hope not. I hate those "do something, then wait and come back later!" games. But ponies would make me want to play anyway! D:-
I don't have a Facebook.But when I did I tried to play Farmville and it was pretty boring in my opinion.Not even a Pony version of Farmville will make me go back to Facebook.
THIS DOES NOT ALLOW ZYNGA TO MAKE GAMES BASED ON HASBRO BRANDS (Aka: No 'My Little Ponyville')
Do research, and spread the word :D
@GreenGuy
Source? I've yet to see an article about this yet that doesn't mention the words "My Little Pony"
@Suilenroc
Yet, although the report at the Guardian says that the deal is "expected to be expanded to allow Zynga to create virtual versions of Hasbro's games, which also include Nerf guns and water pistols, My Little Pony and war board game Risk. At present Electronic Arts holds the digital rights to Zynga's games."
Sadly, the history of licensed games is that they're near universally horrible. As far as Hasbro ones go, there's the likes of "Barbie Horse Adventures"...
For my actual gaming hopes, I'm keeping my loyalty on various awesome looking fan-created projects. Here's hoping no new developments screw with those.
An official mlp game and it's made by Zynga.
mfw:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/bronibooru/68d5489e3754b85e3e2c62d928549c36.jpg
As much as I hate to say it, I would never play this. The 'ville games are complete and utter crap. It takes no skill to play them at all, and they're the Twilight of gaming, their designed to make you want to play more. I will never touch a 'ville game. Never have, never ville
@Reelix
Actually straight from the Guardian article about this
The Hasbro deal is expected to be expanded to allow Zynga to create virtual versions of Hasbro's games, which also include Nerf guns and water pistols, My Little Pony and war board game Risk. At present Electronic Arts holds the digital rights to Zynga's games.
FUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
Zynga is the worst game company I can think of. The only game they've ever made that's marginally entertaining is Words With Friends, and even that is just a crappy Scrabble knockoff with multiplayer support tacked on. That's their best game by far, and it's still a knockoff that's surpassed by all its competitors.
@Sgt. Grub
No. It means you don't want to have your personal information sold to the highest bidder.
I don't have a Facebook account because I value my privacy. I don't want to get doxxed, and it's a cakewalk to dox anyone with a Facebook account. Besides, I don't really care for having Mark Zuckerberg watching my every move.
OMFG Zynga that money monger whore house company. Why... WHY can't they leave a single dollar unturned!?
I've never played any of those games. lol Farmville... ugh. Mafia Wars... eh. Ponies and Farmville together though? Not my thing. Though I wouldn't mind seeing more pony-related games in the works. Just something... good. lol
I used to play Farmville. It gets pretty addictive. But you are seriously better off if you never ever have to touch it.
Dear god...Ponies cannot be put in the hands of the Zynga monster.
WHA
NOOOOOOOO
NO GOD PLEASE NO
ANYONE BUT ZYNGA
ZYNGA IS WORST COMPANY EVER
@David That would legitimately piss me off more than anything else. MLP online is going to be far superior game to any of the crap that Zynga can pump out. If Zynga is allowed to kill it, I will have lost a lot of respect for Hasbro
@etempco Bethesda making a pony game.. That would be hilarious. (and really fun)
I'm now conflicted. This is pretty sweet, but on the other hand, I've shorted a ton of Zynga stock, and really want their share values to plummet...
Facebook game? Meh, but if it has pony, then.... FOR PONY!!
Yeah, to repeat what many others have said.....Zynga is an *awful* game company.
That said, if they applied the Farmville/Mafia Wars "freemium" formula to MLP, IT WOULD RUIN SO MANY FUCKING LIVES AND MARRIAGES ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY, SRSLY
This is where the weirdness with Hasbro comes in. They seem to be doing everything right with MLP. It's only with their other franchises that they screw the pooch with. Michael Bay's Transformers? Battleship the Movie? Come on.
Combine that with Zynga, the most disgusting, exploitative, evil "game" company on Earth, and there's a bad moon on the rise.
To be fair, though, Zynga is one of the most successful gaming companies there is, because, as much as the vocal minority (AKA anyone actually considering themselves a 'gamer') tries to deny, most people don't care about quality in their game.
As long as it's cheap, addictive and easy to play, they'll be all over it. There's no use telling them they're brainwashed cattle, they'll just call you a conspiracy theorist or some other nonsense.
Look at it this way: Zynga is making millions and hilariously surpasses actual game publishers and developers for a reason. It caters to an undeniably -huge- market, and yelling in horror at how 'gaming is ruined' won't do anything, this -is- what gaming is becoming.
And who knows, if the pony game is actually good, maybe it'll turn out to be yet another way to spread the pony virus around.
Zynga is also currently making an independent gaming platform, meaning they'll separate themselves from Facebook, so... you know, it's not all that bad.
@etempco
If Bethesda would make a Pony game, I hope that they would focus on making a GOOD game, not just a big game...
@mycutiemarkisagun
"I'm leaving you Tom. And I'm taking the kids."
"Don't care. Go. Bout to level up my unicorn."
Oh god not Zynga...
I used to play Farmville to help my friends who played it seriously (and to test out my EVE manufacturing spreadhseets once for a laugh) and I can safely say its a nasty game. There's no substance, it tries to take over your Facebook wall and get you to pay money for stuff that is beyond worthless.
I hope they don't make a pony game- they'll probably shut down all of the independants unless Hasbro intervenes (unlikely) and make a horrific browser game of it.
@Sothalic
The problem I've got with calling them a successful gaming company is that it implies they make games.
I don't consider cow clickers to be games. And I'm not the whining self-proclaimed vocal minority hardcore gamer (although I do play a lot of games), I think there's place on the market for all sorts of games for all sorts of audiences, so don't take me for some "LOL IF IT'S NOT CoD IT'S NOT A GAME" dweeb.
It's just that accepting the idea that cow clickers are "games" would be an insult to real games. By which I mean all real games. It'd be an insult to Peggle to call Zynga developed software "games".
I don't want the definitive official FiM game to be developed by Zynga, because I want it to be a game. One that people can genuinely have fun playing. Not a virtual Skinner box void of all gameplay elements where the only player intervention other than doing your daily chores is the option to pay $599,99 to get all the stuff instantly.
@Sothalic
Wasn't their only real invention Farmville? Because I remember that they just bought Mafia Wars and cleaned up the presentation.
Also: How many of those "200 million daily users" ACTUALLY still play that crap daily, and how many just played for a while before finding something better to do with their lives and never bothered to uninstall the app? Yeah.
Zynga? That's no good. :-(
@Aceed
They don't make games. They sell crack.
@Sothalic
My problem with Zynga is that they actively steal products from other developers, their own CEO has been quoted as saying it's easier (and more preferable) to take a good idea from a small company, hi-res the graphics, change the name just enough to be legally alright, and in sue the original IP owners anyway than it is to actually devote time and money to making a game.
I don't care what kinds of games a company makes, or what kind of games a person likes. I care about the manner the company carries itself and every single time Zynga rears its ugly head it commits some kind of moral atrocity or another and that does not sit right with me.
Whatever the result of this, it will not see a penny nor a second of play-time from me.
I'd rather see a ponified Animal Crossing, a game which is closer in spirit to the show.
Reading from the press release, this looks more like Hasbro gaining rights to produce toys and games based on Zynga's products, not the other way around (hence this sentence; "Hasbro signs exclusive worldwide strategic alliance to develop wide range of products based on Zynga's highly popular and iconic brands". It doesn't even come close of MLP having a Farmville-styled game (and for those thinking about that, it's just the writer of the article saying that).
Nothing to worry about. But I gotta say, why was this submitted if it is not even remotely related to MLP:FiM? Did the image below the article tricked a bunch of us thinking Hasbro would ruin the MLP brand by giving rights to Zynga. This is coming from a person who doesn't even play those games.
Battleship Equestria?
i supose theres going to be some type of pony board game as well.
but ill say, many bronies wont be leaving their computers now. im no fan of the "ville" games, or games like those, but from what i heard, theyre fucking addicting, & its hard to not stop playing.
also, they might be more directed at children as well.
Any pony game would have to be made by Obsidian. I mean, they're already making a South Park RPG so why not a pony one? I'd love to see them write a morally grey, grim story about pastel ponies :P
With my experience with the game called Special Forces, I admit that Zynga is the MOST LAZIEST COMPANY IN THE WHOLE BUCKING WORLD!!!! I hope that Hasbro reconsiders their choice and leave their game plan to Atlus, Microsoft, Bioware, etc.
Okay. Umm... cool?
Meh; this is insipid in comparison to how awesome everything else that happened today was.
Still seems promising.
Hasbro should really pay attention to the brilliance of fan-made games like Equestria online, not money grubbers like Zynga.
Wat.
Look, I played Mafia Wars for more than a year. Here's the thing: If Zynga EVER releases MLPVille, I would reject it... initially. When MW mentions something along the lines of 'Get to Level 5 of our new game, get free item to use in the game you currently play', Then I'll play up to level 5. After I get said item (Which I think is an Armor-type Harmonic Elements), Then I'll block the game and no one will notice.
Never had a Facebook will never make one Even For Ponies!!! And especially not for some cheap gimmick like pony farmville. I will save my time and money for the people who put time and passion in their games not some lazy uninspired money grabbing screensaver. Like the Apple Cider episode you have to put time and passion in your product not rush it just to get lots of money that's no way to get loyal customers
I don't like this partnership, because of Zynga.
Hasbro must ally with Microsoft so xbox users can have some themes and stuff
I got mixed feelings about this one I've always been kind of anti zynga but if a pony game gets released and its fun I might not be able to help myself.
WAT
@SprintF
Yes! Ponified Animal Crossing! I only played it for a day but I only remember good things.
@Inconspicularity
This. Don't give Zynga money, they're plagiarists.
if this puts the production of my little pony: fighting is magic by mane6 in jeopardy ima make sure that everything zynga related never appears on my computer
If those Zynga fools have any sense of profiteering, they will make a Ponyville app that pleases the fans. But I doubt they're ability to be on Brony quality levels. Id love to be proven wrong.
I just think Equestriaa online will fill that void.
This could prove to be deadly, if we gain the ability to make ponies and recreate Sweet Apple Acres we may never leave the computer again.
Don't give Zynga credit for "Words with Friends"...they actually bought out a little indie studio called Newtoy (a team that included a lot of the talent behind Ensemble Studios, a.k.a. the Age of Empires people) that made that game.
Seriously, Zynga is the Carlos Mencia of video game companies. Their leaders will retire early on the backs of the brilliant developers and competitors who actually came up with their ideas. They are practically a perfect example of the evils capable in capitalism when it is taken to its logical extreme by people obsessed entirely with the bottom line.
Perhaps the only good news to be gained from this announcement is that Zynga's finally rich enough to start paying for some of the IP they've spent years copying or outright ripping off. Now that they don't have to worry about the legal and ethical quandary of their business model, they can apply their special brand of statistics-driven psychological abuse to a whole new line of products, and particularly to children. I can't wait.
not too wild about this.. i feel like zynga makes crappy games that are only popular just because they go through fads. i think zynga is kind of a crappy company and feel like they might ruin this project and only hurt the fandom.
@SprintF
That would be pure genius.
I knew Hasbro sucked with business but this?! Just... no. Someone please replace the Hasbro leadership and make stuff like Equestria Online and Fighting is Magic official.
Dammit, Hasbro. Why are you trying to make me not hate Zynga's unoriginal game development standards?
It's no My Little Tiny Tower.
I hope a real game company with MLP fans on board approches Hasbro to talk about making a MLP:FiM game.
I have no love for Zynga (only tolerance) but its a start I suppose. Like mentioned, I hope all the fan-made games would be left alone after their release!
I'm not familiar with Zynga. But what I'd like is for the people who created Epic Mickey to do a My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic game. Epic Mickey had awesome imagery, an involving and touching story, just the right balance of light and dark themes, and great sense of humor. MLP:FiM deserves no less. Well, maybe not the same wonky camera. But such a game could kick serious flank (I do brony speak, yay!)
For the love of Celestia don't let the first G4 MLP game, be a face book game. Not only that but it it will be made by Zynga.
I for one will not be playing this game. And i hope no one does. The less people ply it the faster it will go away.
Fuck everything about Zynga. I refuse to play another shitty ass Facebook game by them, hell, I don't even have a Facebook anymore. Thank Celestia for that. Anyone who thinks a MLP game made by them would have any potential is an idiot.
Uuuuuughghghgh, Zynga.
They should get Mojang to make an MLP game.
I wonder if we'll get to see "There's a pony for that" phone app. With actual themed weather, resturaunts and news updates from Hasbro in ponified text.
I may be biased here, I dislike facebook immensely but I really really don't like Zynga as a company (only have experience with the games themselves through friends and reputation)
I'd like it if whatever they make flies over fast. we have plenty of good quality games being made by bronies around the place and in multiple genres.
I do hope they leave the fan made games alone too.
I hate facebook. End of story. Zynga and Hasbro becoming buddies is not a good thing for me. Zynga going out of business though? Best thing that could ever happen to the human race.
Fuck. Why.
sorry, hasbro. you and i are okay, but i'm boycotting zynga until either i'm dead or they are. I'm waiting for Fighting is Magic, personally. Even if only to hear the rest of the soundtrack.
Not sure if I should jump for joy or go cry in a corner
@Kelleth Me gusta!
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