We spotted a survey about a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event on the game's official Facebook page, asking fans if they would travel to Sin City to attend a big launch event for the upcoming expansion. The survey says the launch event will be "at the end of Summer 2010" which means that we will see MWLV this summer, but probably not until sometime around August. And, it will apparently roll out with some mild fanfare. Depending how you answer the first survey question, you get a different set of follow up questions, which gives a little more insight to what this launch event might entail. If you answered 'Yes,' then you're asked if what kind of treatment you prefer -- VIP, All-Access Pass or Day Pass to a 'conference.' (A Mafia Wars conference? Interesting.) If you answered "Maybe," then you're given multiple choice about what would keep you from attending and then what city would be most convenient for you to attend an event. (Maybe there will be launch events in several cities) If you answered 'No,' then you are given a blank form as to why you wouldn't attend and, again, asked which city you might consider visiting for an event of this sort. mafia wars las vegas launch party survey yesmafia wars las vegas launch party maybemafia wars las vegas launch party no 'Fess up: Would you attend a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event? How much would you be willing to pay to get there?

We spotted a survey about a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event on the game's official Facebook page, asking fans if they would travel to Sin City to attend a big launch event for the upcoming expansion. The survey says the launch event will be "at the end of Summer 2010" which means that we will see MWLV this summer, but probably not until sometime around August. And, it will apparently roll out with some mild fanfare.

Depending how you answer the first survey question, you get a different set of follow up questions, which gives a little more insight to what this launch event might entail.

If you answered 'Yes,' then you're asked if what kind of treatment you prefer -- VIP, All-Access Pass or Day Pass to a 'conference.' (A Mafia Wars conference? Interesting.)

If you answered "Maybe," then you're given multiple choice about what would keep you from attending and then what city would be most convenient for you to attend an event. (Maybe there will be launch events in several cities)

If you answered 'No,' then you are given a blank form as to why you wouldn't attend and, again, asked which city you might consider visiting for an event of this sort.

mafia wars las vegas launch party survey yesmafia wars las vegas launch party maybemafia wars las vegas launch party no

'Fess up: Would you attend a Mafia Wars Las Vegas launch event? How much would you be willing to pay to get there?

Mafia Wars Fourth of July Sale includes five limited edition items

Mafia Wars is kicking off the holiday weekend with a special Fourth of July Sale, that includes five exclusive new items that, frankly, have decent stats that make it worth the Reward Points.

The five limited edition items will be available in the Marketplace from July 2-7 and can be purchased for 35 RP each or 148 RP all of them. These special items include the following:

Grand Finale
A 60 D25

Lady Liberty
A 33 D 59

Parade Stallion
A 60 D 28

Uncle Sam
A 34 D 61

Washington's Sword
A 24 D 61

Since my mafia is a little low on defense, I'm considering spending my hard-earned Reward Points on Uncle Sam. The Grand Finale looks pretty appealing too, though. Decisions, decisions.

Which Fourth of July item did you/would you consider buying?

'Social games are designed to be addictive,' says internet rehab founder

Mafia Wars addicted mothers speak out
Millions of Americans play social games daily because, according to Dr. Hilarie Cash, "these games are designed to be extremely addictive." Cash, founder of Fall City, Wash.-based Internet addiction program reSTART, spoke with The Daily Beast about the dangers of social gaming addiction and how studios like Zynga intentionally design social games with addictive elements like points, levels and gifts.

"That's absolutely consciously built into the games," Cash said, "I've talked to video-games developers who acknowledge this."

Ya don't say? When a game that's free to play relies on players' PayPal accounts attention span to stay afloat, that seems like a no-brainer. However, when certain studios appear to enable the behavior, it becomes much tougher to sympathize.

According to the Daily Beast, unlike addictions to drugs and alcohol that can tear families apart, some Mafia Wars-addicted mothers have brought the whole family into the gang busting glee. This is much unlike last month's case of the game-addled mother of three who shut her children out of her Internet life. It's all in the approach, I guess.

MySpace game developers shutter games amidst plummeting traffic

Byespace?
Let's not beat around the bush here: MySpace is hurtin'. Overall traffic is down, while the company lays off unfortunate employees and considers a sale, according to Inside Social Games. As a result, games are doing so hot on MySpace--at least when compared to the Facebook. That said, developers like Playdom, RockYou and Zynga have shut down many of their MySpace offerings in favor of focusing their full attention on Facebook and mobile.

ISG reports that Playdom, one of the most dominant MySpace developers, has shuttered Overdrive and Bloodlines, two text-based role-playing games. The company will still run Mobsters, Sorority Life and World Series of Poker, but who knows for how long is MySpace keeps sinking. RockYou, the folks behind games like Gourmet Ranch, has essentially boarded up shop on MySpace in closing RockYou Pets, Speed Racing and a few more social applications.

Oddly enough, Zynga hasn't completely given up on Tom yet. According to Inside Social Games, it seems as if Zynga has only shut down Street Racing on MySpace (and Facebook), a role-playing game. At the moment, the company still dominates the MySpace Top 25 with seven games: Mafia Wars, YoVille, Zynga Poker, Vampires, Fashion Wars, Special Forces, and Friend Factory. How long these games will be around is entirely up to Zynga, but gaging the MySpace situation overall doesn't bode well for games on the platform.