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AMEX and Zynga team up for themed card, replace cash back with FarmVille rewards
Have you ever judged a friend's financial savvy based on the rewards yield of the cards in their wallet? Now you won't have a choice. For those of you that abhor free flights, detest comped hotel rooms and net severe displeasure from earning cash back, AMEX may finally have your plastic match. It's called the Zynga Serve Rewards card -- yes, the same Zynga that's behind time-sink cash cows like FarmVille, CityVille and CastleVille (?!) -- and it enables you to accrue "Zynga Farm Cash," which as you might imagine provides no financial gratification in the physical world. "FarmVille players now have the ability to plant an interactive Serve Money Tree in their Farms which will give them the ability to level up in game and earn Zynga Farm Cash for virtual awards redemption." We can't make this stuff up. The co-branded prepaid card is tied to a US currency-filled bank account, debit or credit card, and rewards will be assigned for your first five purchases of $25 -- at launch, with further incentives to come later this year. On top of that limitation, there's also a fairly outrageous fee structure (which effectively translates to 2.9 percent of each transaction when the account is funded with another credit card), detailed in full at the source link. Well, at least the card is colorful. Go tell that "Serve Money Tree" that water's on the way!
KingsIsle brings Wizard101 goodies to Canada
KingsIsle Entertainment, maker of the very popular card-based freemium title Wizard101, announced today that it will be releasing a brand-new mega-bundle pre-paid card to stores across the country. Here's how the cards work: Players pay a set amount and receive a card with a code that, once redeemed in-game, can add all sorts of gold, goodies, and other options. The new card features a new flying carpet mount, a massive sultan's palace complete with a mirage, 5000 crowns to be used in the cash shop, and several other fun items. It's no wonder the cards have become one of the best-selling cards at Gamestop -- they offer an all-in-one package that is easy to pick up. Canadians worried about getting their hands on these cards can rest easy -- KingsIsle is pushing the cards into major Canadian retailers this fall. Concerned players who have been "surprisingly vocal" about the lack of card access will also get the chance to own exclusive pets available only in their area. This move will bring Wizard101's combined retail presence to over 50,000 stores. Not bad -- not bad at all. So, what's next for the freemium giant? Well, KingsIsle just partnered with Gameforge to bring the game overseas. Interesting things happen when you have to port a fully voice-acted game like Wizard101 to a place like Germany. The UI and map has to be tweaked to allow room for the longer written language, and everything needs to be localized. There are also cultural differences to consider, and the cash shop can be received differently than here in the U.S. The new game cards will be offered for $39, but the items included are valued at over $100.
Nexon's Daniel Kim talks demographics, pre-paid gaming cards
Our friends at Joystiq recently spoke with Nexon CEO Daniel Kim about the runaway success that is the company's pre-paid gaming card program. While Nexon is a well-established gaming powerhouse outside of the U.S., the company's American market is nothing to sneeze at either, with 12 million users spread across its portfolio (7.6 million of them in MapleStory alone). A big part of Nexon's American success is the pre-paid gaming card, an ubiquitous fixture at retail outlets including Target and 7-11. Kim tells Joystiq that a key factor in raising pre-paid card awareness among consumers was the implementation of an in-game quest designed to train users to head for the music section of their local Target superstore. "So three months leading up to the actual release of the card, we actually had a quest in-game to go get allowance from an NPC, go to the Target store, go to the music section, go find a CD card," he says. Kim also provides a bit of insight into Nexon's customer demographics, stating that "our median age is really 17, 18, 19." Many of the company's users weren't previously online gamers, and Kim says the microtransaction model is the key to customer attraction and retention. "There's no barrier to entry. If they have a computer and an internet connection, they can download the game and play for as long as they want," he says.
