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Zynga and 7-Eleven partner to bring game content to ice cream, Big Gulps
If the image above of FarmVille-themed ice cream wasn't telling enough, Zynga and 7-Eleven today announced a co-branding of various products in "nearly 7,000 7-Eleven stores in the US and Canada." In addition to the vanilla ice cream, Big Gulps and Slurpees featuring YoVille, FarmVille, and Mafia Wars are also available, all coming packed with redeemable codes for in-game items. We've already received a handful of tips of the ice cream being spotted in 7-Eleven outlets, but the announcement indicates customers should be able to find the products everywhere by June 1, through July 15. The ice cream runs $2.29 per pint, while the Big Gulps and Slurpees range in price depending on the contents -- the shame of purchasing said products, however, that's priceless. We've listed all the in-game items and how to get them in real life below the fold.
Zynga selling pre-paid cards for those who can't mainline
Zynga, casual freemium enabler of FarmVille, MafiaWars and YoVille!, announced that pre-paid game cards recently arrived at real-life retail. Available in $10 or $25 denominations, the cards "make it easy for consumers who don't have access to credit cards or bank accounts to buy in-game items." No bank account, really? Well, maybe if they weren't obsessively buying in-game spice racks they'd still have a bank account. The Zynga cards will be available at 12,800 locations, including 7-Eleven, Best Buy, GameStop, Target and doctors who deal in "prescription painkillers."
The big business of selling virtual goods
It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that the entire concept of people spending real money on virtual items and currency was just bizarre. The first mentions of such a thing this writer ever came across were back in 2003, when Julian Dibbell told the story of Black Snow Interactive, rumored to have been operating virtual sweatshops operating in Mexico. Fast forward to 2009 and the notion of shelling out real world cash for the ephemeral has become commonplace. Moreover, these formerly arcane business models centering around virtual trading have ballooned into a huge business, much to the chagrin of many game companies and their players. However, not all companies attempt to fight this ever-increasing gravity of real money trading (RMT) that now permeates the MMO and virtual worlds industry, and some seek to make it an aspect of their business that they control rather than something they need to curb. Indeed, the profits of many (legitimate) businesses are largely derived from sales of virtual goods, as Rory Maher explains at paidContent.org in his article titled "From Pet Penguins to Flame Throwers: The Biggest Sellers In The Virtual World".Maher looks at three companies doing well for themselves in the virtual goods game, and what they're selling that's proven so popular. He points out Tencent, a Chinese IM provider that incorporates microtransactions into the service, allowing users to spend their "QQ" currency to enhance and customize their IM interactions, even buying virtual pets that exist on their desktop and run around inside their instant messages.
