Pet Society 'Fashionista' contest is giving away a free iPad and 500 Playfish Cash

Pet Society Fashionista Competition
Pet Society's latest competition carries an iPad and 500 Playfish Cash (the game's premium currency) as the grand prize! To enter, entrants must design new outfits for the game in the following categories -- Formal, Leisure, Haute, and Nightwear. The winners will get their designs featured in the game for one month, starting September 13th, 2010.

Four fashion category winners will also be picked for a prize of 150 PFC each. And four more runners-up will win 100 PFC each.

Here's what you need to design for Pet Society:

    Guidelines template
    Pink Pet template
    Blue Pet template
    White Pet template
    Submission Form


The contest begins today and ends on August 24th, 11:59 pm (PDT). Click here for more details, such as eligibility rules and to view other people's entries.

Restaurant City: Free Colossal Coins Giveaway Links Round-Up

Restaurant City free coins and ingredients
Restaurant City's official Facebook fanpage has been handing out lots of freebies this week in celebration of their Transylvannia theme, so we've rounded up all the links to the free coins, goods, and ingredients in order of oldest to newest (because some of these links expire within 24 hours):

Oct. 13th - Goth Club Waiter: http://bit.ly/aUzpXi
Oct. 13th - FREE Almond: http://bit.ly/9Nbz45
Oct. 13th - 5,000 Coins: http://bit.ly/ae7vwY
Oct. 14th - FREE Chili: http://playfi.sh/b2wNaM
Oct. 14th - FREE Garlic: http://bit.ly/abYY71
Oct. 14th - 9,000 Coins: http://playfi.sh/cJYGkE
Oct. 14th - FREE Almond: http://bit.ly/cDJzoX

Note: All these links will launch the game, but you only need to keep the game window open for a few seconds to accept your free item.

Watch out, Zynga: EA's The Sims Social is gaining on you ... and fast

Is that a drop of sweat we see on Zynga's brow? EA and Playfish's The Sims Social is already growing faster than one of the FarmVille creator's most popular games, The Pioneer Trail. Since its "open beta" release a little over two weeks ago, the game has amassed over 6 million daily players, according to AppData. That's 2 million more than Zynga's aforementioned expansion to FrontierVille, and less than 900,000 below the company's fourth-largest game, Empires & Allies.

At this rate, The Sims Social could surpass the mighty CityVille in daily players sometime in September, according to Mashable. While the game didn't explode as quickly as, say, E&A did during its June launch, these numbers are unprecedented for a non-Zynga game. The Sims Social's astronomical growth is even more significant considering the game suffered performance and connection issues right out of the gate, which would spell death for any other Facebook game.

But it seems EA nailed the dismount, and is now poised to turn The Sims Social into Facebook's most popular game. Leave it to a property like The Sims to threaten Zynga's Facebook throne, as no other type of Facebook game has come as close.

Gallery: The Sims Social on Facebook
However, it looks like the social game behemoth might already have a retaliation in the works, as the company recently registered a domain with the word "FamilyVille" in it. But regardless of how popular this rumored game becomes, it's still not The Sims. In the Facebook Thunderdome, two developers enter, one developer leaves.

Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition whips up screenshots, but no release date

At the beginning of July, EA and Playfish quietly announced the existence of a Restaurant City iPhone game, now called Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition. While we plan on having a Q&A with the developer closer to the game's launch (the date is still unknown to even us), we have been given some screenshots, and even a logo, to help tide us over. Ok, so these will probably only make us more excited, rather than calming us down, but there you have it.

This first shot seems to show that we won't lose much of the "design-a-restaurant" gameplay found on the Facebook version, with its transition to the smartphone (although it does look like we may only be able to have one theme at a time, rather than swapping out on the fly). Also, it doesn't look like we'll be able to expand to an outdoor grassy area, as this particular screenshot seems to have decorated one of the four corners of its indoors to look that way instead. However, the basics are here: there are stoves with individual chefs, drink stations and all of the tables and chairs we'd expect, along with bathroom facilities at the far right. So far so good.

What does look to be a bit different is the design of our ingredients and cooking screen. This particular screenshot shows off the ingredient trading feature, which will again allow us to trade ingredients with friends to more easily complete recipes. It's presumable that the entirety of the cooking menu (including the recipe select screen) would have just as streamlined an appearance, in order to make browsing simple on the smaller screen.

I wish we had more information as to what to expect with Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition, as I'm just as excited about trying out this new game as you are, but I suppose for now, we'll have to simply scan and re-scan these pictures for any new details we may have missed while waiting for more news to be announced. You can be sure we'll let you know when there is.

Are you excited for Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition on iPhone? Which item themes are you hoping Playfish brings into the mobile version of the game? Do you want an entirely new decorative theme for your new restaurant, or will you try to duplicate your Facebook restaurant?

he Sims Social 4 Comments The Sims Social: Celebrate the last days of summer with new Summer House theme

With the mass popularity of the Sims Social on Facebook, it's no surprise that Playfish / EA are continually adding new decorative items to the game's store, allowing you to personalize your home in new ways. Specifically, this week sees the launch of a "Summer House" theme of items, with items being available for your living room, bedroom and even outdoor areas. There are also plenty of decorative items here to take a look at, so we'll do our best to give you a complete guide to these new items. Check them out!

SolTrain Cubic (Shelving Unit)

    Costs: 35 SimCash
    Value: $5,150


SolTrain Chair (Buildable item)

    Costs: 2,250 coins
    Value: $1,800


SolTrain Kingsize (Bed)

    Costs: 79 SimCash
    Value: $11,700
    Sleep Stat: 11


SolTrain Rays (Lamp)

    Costs: 3 SimCash
    Value: $450


BasketCase Travel (Requires Level 30)

    Value: $350


SolTrain UV Lite

    Costs: 12 SimCash
    Value: $1,750


BasketCase XL (Requires Level 30)

    Value: $600


SolTrain UV XL (Lamp)

    Costs: 22 SimCash
    Value: $3,250


Summer Tones (Painting - requires level 30)

    Value: $750


Woody Divider (Requires Level 24)

    Value: $1,300



SolTrain BagelUp

    Costs: 5 SimCash
    Value: $750


Woody Boxout B (Kitchen cabinet - requires Level 26 - Buildable item)

    Value: $1,650


Woody Boxout L (Kitchen Cabinet - requires Level 26 - Buildable item)

    Value: $1,650


SolTrain Panama (Outdoor Bed)

    Costs: 49 Sim Cash
    Value: $7,250


SolTrain Snug (Buildable item - requires Level 30)

    Value: $2,200


Palm Tree

    Costs: 1,750 coins
    Value: $1,650
    Happiness Stat: 3
    Social Stat: 3


SolTrain Parasol

    Costs: 59 SimCash
    Value: $8,700


SolTrain Swing (Buildable item - requires Level 30)

    Value: $4,850
    Sleep Stat: 3


UltiMax Top Deck (Stereo)

    Costs: 59 SimCash
    Value: $8,700
    Fun Stat: 5


In addition to all of these items, there's a full set of windows available in the Build menu is a new "Alpine" theme, which consists of a dark tan, almost orange colored frame. Four flooring options are available for either Social Points or (at most) a single SimCash per tile, and the theme is rounded out with a "SolTrain Beach" wallpaper that costs 55 Social Points per square.

As with previously released themes, these Summer House items don't appear to be limited edition; rather, they should be available permanently in the game's store. That being the case, you should be able to save up coins, or Social Points, or have time to purchase SimCash long into the future to create this theme in your home as far into the future as you like. If we see this change, we'll make sure to let you know.

What do you think of these Summer House items in Sims Social? What kinds of items would you like to see released next in the game?

EA, Playfish developing 'the hell out of SimCity' for Facebook [Report]

Hey, if The Sims Social struck gold, it only makes sense at this point. Business Insider reports, citing nameless sources, that a China-based Playfish team has suspended all other projects to "develop the hell out of SimCity" for Facebook. Of course, the idea is that the second place developer is doing so to go toe-to-toe directly with CityVille, the number one game on Facebook.

Zynga's city-builder has held the top spot on Facebook for over a year, and EA is reportedly doing everything in its power to dethrone the king of social games. According to Business Insider, multiple sources within the company say that SimCity has been in development for over a year, around the same time that Zynga started work on CityVile. But when the game broke every record in the book over the past year, EA had no choice but to ramp up work on SimCity.

At the time, Zynga had more time and resources to pour into CityVille than EA did with SimCity, which had "doubled down" on The Sims Social. Since the game has now proven itself, putting a dent into Zynga's then spotless lineup, the veteran games publisher has placed a laser focus on the social iteration of game designer Will Wright's masterpiece.

According to the news outlet, Playfish's Norway and San Francisco teams are working on entirely new games for EA. And yes, it's OK to be more excited by that rumor than yet another city-builder. This better be good.

[Via IndustryGamers]

Are you excited by the thought of SimCity hitting Facebook? Do you think it could give CityVille a run for its (boatloads of) money?

The Sims Social: Country meets chic with Country Kitchen items

Is it just me, or is decorating our houses one of the best things to do in the Sims Social? I know I could personally spend plenty of time rearranging furniture in each room, only to ripe it all out and start over again, and to help us do that with even more themes is a new Country Kitchen theme that has launched in the game this week. These country kitchen items bring in all sorts of shades of brown and ivory, and it's one of the most complete themes we've seen released in the game yet. Here's a rundown of what to look out for in the store to make this theme complete in your own home.

Plate Collection

• Costs: 4 SimCash
• Value: $600

Perfecto Fruitbowl

• Costs: 4 SimCash
• Value $600

Vintage Wines

• Costs: 6 SimCash
• Value: $900

RuralU Deluxe C (Kitchen Counter Piece)

• Costs: 10 SimCash
• Value: $1500

RuralU Deluxe (Kitchen Counter Piece)

• Costs: 12 SimCash
• Value: $1750

Antiquitate Deco (Wall Sconce)

• Costs: 3 SimCash
• Value: $450

19th Century Lamp

• Costs: 10 SimCash
• Value: $1500

19th Century Pot (Flowers)

• Costs: 19 SimCash
• Value: $2800

Antiquitate Oil

• Costs: 325 Social Points
• Value: $700

Basinuate Marble (Sink)

• Costs: 12 SimCash
• Value: 1750
• Clean Stat: 5

FrancoFaux Chaise (Buildable item)

• Costs: 225 Social Points
• Value: $500

Cereal Shelf

• Costs: 250 Social Points
• Value: $550

19th Century Mat

• Costs: 19 SimCash
• Value: $2800

Clox Fruitful

• Costs: 350 Social Points
• Value: $800

RuralU Trove (Wall Cabinet Piece)

• Costs: 600 Social Points
• Value: $1450

RuralU Charm (Wall Cabinet Piece)

• Costs: 800 Social Points
• Value: $2050

FrancoFaux Tableau (Buildable item)

• Costs: 800 Social Points
• Value: $2050

RuralU Latch (Hutch - Buildable item)

• Costs: 1100 Social Points
• Value: $3100

G King Counter (Center Island - Buildable item)

• Costs: 15,000 Social Points
• Value: $21,250
• Happiness Stat: 3

Normanity Chair (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

• Costs: 450 Social Points
• Value: $1050

FrancoFaux Cafe (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

• Costs: 650 Social Points
• Value: $1600

Normanity Sofa (Living Room Furniture - Buildable item)

• Costs: 700 Social Points
• Value: $1750
• Sleep Stat: 3

In addition to all of these items, there's also a Cooking Skill vent hood called the SuxDelux that's available to users that have reached a Cooking Skill of 40 or higher. This item has a value of $3650.

In the Build Menu, you can also find a selection of new windows in the same matching dark wood color, ranging in price from 750 coins for the RealOak 2 Pane to 6,000 coins for the RealOak 5 Pane. If you want the window in the picture above, with the quaint ivory curtains, that will set you back a whopping 39 SimCash. Along with this, there are five new wallpapers and three new floor tiles to round out the theme.

There's no listed time limit on any of these items, so if you don't have enough Social Points or SimCash available to buy them now, you should be able to save up and purchase them well into the future. Still, if you want to get your hands on these items while they're fresh, I really couldn't blame you. I just hope your kitchen is big enough to hold them all!

[Final Image Credit: Playfish/EA]

What do you think of these Country Kitchen items? Are you more of a modern fan, or do you like country / southwestern items? Sound off in the comments.

The Sims Social: Claim your free Pogo Arcade Machine

While you may already be the proud owner of one or two Arcade Machines in the Sims Social, if you're like me, you'll always be ready for one more - especially if it's free. Such is the case with this new goodie, a Pogo branded Arcade Machine, spotted by BadgeHungry. The single link to claim your reward has apparently been going around for about a week, but hasn't been heavily advertised. It does, however, still work (as of this writing).

To claim your free Pogo Arcade Machine in the Sims Social just make sure you're logged into your Facebook account and click on this link right here. This will take you to Facebook, where you'll be told whether or not your claim attempt was successful. Once in your house, the Pogo Arcade Machine will go into your storage, where you can then freely place it anywhere in your house (or even outside).

As for interactivity, the machine allows you to do two things: Play Games (no energy required), and "Redeem Tokens at Pogo." This link will let you earn 25,000 free tokens on the site, but unfortunately, doesn't come with any free Simoleons back in the Sims Social. But hey, we've walked away with a free Arcade Machine; it's that all we could really ask for?

Have you already claimed your free Pogo Arcade Machine? What other sorts of goodies do you hope come to the Sims Social? Sound off in the comments.