Blog Posts by Chris Morris

The farm goes public - Zynga FarmVille is headed to Wall Street.

Zynga, the maker of that massively popular Facebook game -- and several others -- has filed the paperwork for an Initial Public Offering. The four-year old firm says it expects to raise $1 billion in the process, though it's possible (and, in fact, expected) that it could offer more shares and raise more money when the stock eventually begins trading.

Because the amount a company says it plans to raise in its initial IPO filing is used to calculate registration fees, the final size of the IPO could be different. Many media outlets had previously quoted sources saying the IPO was expected to raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

If it does, that

Call of Duty XP World of Warcraft fans have an annual get-together. So do EverQuest players, and Quake aficionados.

Now the biggest game in the industry is launching its own shindig -- and you're invited.

Call of Duty XP, a convention for fans of the wildly popular shooter series, will have its inaugural gathering this September 2 and 3 in Los Angeles. Roughly 6,000 fans are expected to pay $150 per ticket to attend the event. Tickets go on sale July 19.

And, in a nice surprise, all of the money raised in ticket sales will be donated to the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit charitable program run by Activision that helps veterans land jobs after returning from overseas missions.

"I've been here for

Lv 20 Paladin If we've learned anything about addiction, it's that the easiest way to get someone hooked on something is to offer it for free for a while. Once they can't live without it - bam! Charge 'em.

Given how many people need their daily fix of World of Warcraft, we have to wonder why it took Blizzard so long to figure this out.

The world's biggest MMO has shifted business models, ditching the previous 14-day free trial in favor of a new system that lets players play for free until their character reaches level 20.

Available through Blizzard's site, the so-called "Starter edition" gets people well on their way into the game (which currently has a level cap of 85). No credit card -- or other

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D - Capcom Like to try before you buy? Hope to save a few bucks by purchasing your games used? Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D may not be the game for you.

Saved games in the Nintendo 3DS title, which hits shelves Tuesday, can't be erased. In other words, when your progress is saved, it's there forever -- even if you loan it to a friend or sell it to someone else. If you manage to beat the game, there is no way to get rid of your save file and play it again from scratch.

And that's prompting game rental giant GameFly to remove it from its inventory -- and has GameStop, the leader in used game sales, doing some serious soul searching.

Since the game is so new, there are mixed reports about whether

California Supreme Court Justices - Getty Images In a landmark ruling, the U. S. Supreme Court Monday declared video games are protected forms of free speech, striking down a controversial California law that that attempted to restrict the sale of some titles to minors.

The state argued that violent games are harmful to children and, as such, their sale should be restricted. California took a slightly different approach than other states who have attempted to pass similiar laws, though, by including violent games in the same category as cigarettes and adult magazines.

The Court strongly rejected the argument.

"Video games qualify for First Amendment protection," the Court said in its ruling, written by Justice Scalia. "Like protected

The Mario Marathon brothers It might not be as famous as the Boston Marathon, but a marathon taking place in the Mushroom Kingdom sounds like a lot more fun.

A group of civic-minded -- and seriously dedicated -- Nintendo fans have kicked off Mario Marathon 4, a fund-raising effort for the Child's Play Charity, which provides hospitalized children with toys and games.

Started in 2008, the annual event (which is broadcast live online) features a group of gamers who attempt to complete a series of levels from Nintendo's popular Super Mario games.

Sounds easy, right? Of course, there's a twist: As donations increase, so do the number of levels the group has to complete -- and they don't stop until all of the levels are

Quoth the muggle, "Pottermore." Harry Potter is going digital, but he's bypassing the gaming world for the literary one.

Despite early reports - and an alleged leaked memo - that indicated Pottermore would be an online game with real world prizes, author J.K. Rowling announced a different sort of experience Thursday morning with the formal unveiling of the site.

Pottermore will be the digital home to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other characters from the hit book and film series - and the only place you'll be able to buy an eBook
version of the tomes, but it will offer plenty of extras for readers.

And while it won't be a Potterized "World of Warcraft," it will have some gaming elements.

Described as a series of

Harry Potter - Warner Bros./EA

For the past few weeks, the Web has been buzzing about J. K. Rowling's mysterious Pottermore project. And while details won't be officially unveiled until Thursday, all signs are pointing to it being an online game revolving around the Harry Potter universe.

A leaked memo has revealed Pottermore to be a persistent world that blends World of Warcraft with real world treasure hunts. Users will dig up
clues, which will let them find prizes in the real world.

The memo says Thursday's announcement, which will come via YouTube, will
discuss the project's partners and focus on what people can find - particularly
quills and wands hidden around the U.S. and U.K.

As often happens with leaks of major