Oh Zynga, have you no shame? Just last week, Zynga was scrutinized over its game Dream Heights because it was obviously heavily inspired by NimbleBit’s Tiny Tower. This week, Buffalo Studios is calling out Zynga for borrowing a little too much from its Facebook game called Bingo Blitz.

Believe it or not, Zynga did not create the most popular Facebook game of the year. That feat goes to Playdom whose game Gardens of Time beat out all others. Zynga still occupies a lot of spaces on Facebook’s list of top games for 2011, so one could argue it still dominates the social gaming more »

Commercials in the 80s told us that if adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones. Zynga agrees, as its Indy-inspired Adventure World will now make the connection official. Zynga’s official blog announced the tie-in news. The game contains puzzle-solving and exploration, making it a perfect match for the iconic Harrison Ford character.

Google+ officially started supporting games on August 11 of this year. It didn’t have a particularly large selection of launch titles, but there were some highly popular selections such as Angry Birds and Bejeweled Blitz. Today, Zynga has added it’s immensely successful CityVille to Google+.

Crime doesn’t pay in real life, but in Zynga’s Facebook games it does. With Mafia Wars, Zynga had a hit game and earned lots of money, while Facebook users became virtual mafia big shots. Now, they’ll get to do it all over again in Mafia Wars 2, a new and improved sequel to the original game that will have 3D graphics instead of just relying on text menus to help people accomplish criminal objectives.

And, aside from the 3D graphics, that’s pretty much all we know right now…

Look, real politics can be boring. It’s hard to blame politicians if they’d like to spend a little more time in the virtual world of CityVille. There a town hall can be erected in seconds and nobody cares if you give all your friends cushy jobs. The New York Daily News reports that Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr, already under fire for alleged ethic violations and spotty attendance, spent much of his work time playing CityVille.

I’ve been seeing quite a few people on my Facebook News Feed talking about Words With Friends lately. Words With Friends is certainly nothing new, but it has been growing in popularity amongst my non-gaming Facebook friends. It’s such a coincidence that Zynga is bringing Words With Friends to Facebook very soon.

EA’s exodus of big name talent for the green pastures of social gaming shows no signs of slowing down.

Senior Creative Director Mark Turmell has departed EA to join Zynga, according to Kotaku. Turmell is best known for creating arcade basketball classic NBA Jam, and oversaw the development of its 2010 reboot. He joins three senior level Madden NFL staffers and the company’s former COO John Schappert in leaving the company. Schappert landed at Zynga as well, along with NBA Elite producer Jeremy Strauser.

CNBC is reporting that Zynga could file paperwork for an initial public offering of stock this week. The social media powerhouse hopes to raise as much as $2 billion from the IPO. Morgan Stanley will lead the deal.

According to the article, some industry estimates place Zynga’s value at between $15-20 million after the stock offering is done. That would make it even more valuable than Activision Blizzard, with an estimated value of $13 billion.

Zynga and AT&T announced a partnership today that will give AT&T customers exclusive access to Zynga content. Later this year, Zynga’s games such as FarmVille, Zynga Poker and Words with Friends will become more visible in AT&T’s place in the Android Market. This could help to make the already huge Zynga even bigger.