There’s a certain segment of the population, of which I am not a member, that is completely and utterly obsessed with Farmville. We’re talking over 70m people actively playing Farmville around the world.
As an entirely disinterested party, I can only describe the game as a cross between a tamagotchi and The Sims. I recall it invading my Facebook personal space until I got around to hiding all the guilty parties and their stupid crops and whatever from my news feed. Since then I have lived in a blissful, Farmville-free world.
So the news announced at last night’s WWDC keynote that there is to be a Farmville iPhone app leaves me non-plussed, if a little curious as to why it’s taken them so long. Surely, what started life as a Facebook application would have translated almost seamlessly into an iPhone app?
Still, whatever the hold up, it’s finally on its way to iPhone-owning Farmville fans. The app will sync your iPhone farm with your Facebook farm, so you’ve just got the one agricultural project on the go. As Zynga rep Mark Pincus said, “Say goodbye to withering crops, we now have push notifications!” – presumably these will let you know when your crops need attention without you needing to go into the, er, farm to check.
You’ll also be able to make in-app marketplace purchases if you’ve nothing better to spend your money on, and there’s even an iPhone exclusive – a snow leopard. Now, I’ll grant you that I don’t know too much about farming, but I’m pretty sure a snow leopard would not be a welcome addition to that particular ecosystem.
“But,” gushes Pincus, “I’m most excited about how good tractoring just got.” We’ll have to take your word for that for the time being, Mark. Farmville is set to descend on the App Store later this month, marking the game’s first anniversary.
[Image credit: Engadget]
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