Konami Launching First Original Social Game With Viva! Mall

Developer and publisher Konami announced the upcoming launch of Viva! Mall, its first "full-featured" social game based on a new and original property, on Facebook. Releasing on January 14, the game will allow players to build a virtual shopping mall according to their taste and style, choosing from over 100 different stores, decorations, inventory and accessories. The sim will also enable users to gift items to friends, interact with other payers, and try out other social features. Konami is best known for its home console and handheld video games, but it jumped into the social gaming space recently with Facebook titles like Frogger and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge. It has long-term plans for Viva! Mall, too, as it intends to release incremental content updates for the game each week. "With the release of Frogger and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge already gaining traction among the Facebook community, we felt like we were ready to make another contribution to the social networking site with the release of Viva! Mall," says Konami Digital Entertainment's president Shinji Hirano. Hirano adds, "Konami has always been at the forefront of interactive entertainment. ... This title is our first major attempt in bringing a full featured Facebook game to market and consumers can expect to hear more announcements on our next Facebook game soon."