Social games may be free but the money comes in when people who have become hooked enough to the game spend real money on virtual goods to help them level up.

As the game never ends, and Zynga develops more features and levels to keep players on their toes, the possibilities to spend is also practically endless.

Zynga was founded by Mark Pincus in 2007 and if the business buzz is true, Zynga might be able to surpass its $100 million dollars this year.

Source: Brainstorm Tech

Playboy Chief Executive Scott Flanders, meanwhile, stated that the company will continue printing the famed magazine. Talks of possibly shifting the publication to digital media have been around since the recession took a big toll on print media.

Many magazines and newspapers have decided to shift to the Internet as revenues from subscriptions and advertisements shrank so much that printing became on non-viable business. In addition, many readers are preferring to get news and entertainment online.

Playboy was hit hard by these trends, seeing their circulation fall by 9% in June 2009 compared to the same month the previous year.

Glad to see that the company will be maintaining its printing runs. Many fans swear by the unique appeal of pictures on glossy pages.

Source: CNN Money

Now, Google seems to be keen on diversifying its offerings from video clips to whole movies. The company is reported to be in talks with major movie studios about the possibility of renting movies via video streaming.

There are several other web services that have made online video rental available such as Apple’s iTunes, Netflix and Amazon. Google intends to charge $3.99 for the rental. This is quite the shift since YouTube has always provided its service for free.

Among the studios approached by Google are Lions Gate Entertainment, Sony Pictures, and Warner Brothers.

The amount isn’t just play money either. Disney will be paying $4 billion in cash and stock for Marvel. Many peg the number as huge expense for Disney since the amount gives Marvel’s investors a four-fold return on investments.

If the sales pushes through, the sales will be a positive mark for the Marvel camp business-wise. The comic book industry crashed in the early 90s and Marvel, a industry leader in itself, twice filed for bankruptcy in the last decade.

Disney’s acquisition will be another reflection of the direction that Disney is going to. The company seemts to be intent on clinching a wider market in the entertainment industry. Just three years ago, Disney acquired Pixar and sustained Pixar’s strength as a brand.

Source: CNN

TicketsNow allegedly operated Web sites designed to deceive customers that the sites are affiliated with the concert organizers. Customers were misled in thinking that they were buying tickets from organizers. Instead, they were buying tickets of higher prices.

TicketsNow was ordered to close down the sites and is forced to pay a $50,000 fine. Resale tickets will also not be available until Ticketmaster makes available face-value tickets with correct pricing.

Buying Hannah Montana tickets at way above the real price? Now that’s really getting yourself screwed.

Source: MSNBC