Play Money

I was in the middle of my weekly trek through the bully of the chain stores, Walmart, when my eyes spied the ultimate in ethereal gifts.  The reason I referred to it as an ethereal gift was there was nothing tangible to it.  It was a gift card in the midst of all the other gift cards.  You know the ones.  They allow the receiver to get free food, music or items at a chain store. They are my stand-by for last minute gifts. (I know, I know, I should be more organized).  This one though did not allow the receiver to redeem the card for anything they can actually touch.  The only cost incurred by the company sponsoring the gift card was in the cost of the card.  There is no food to purchase, no royalties to pay, or manufacturing costs.  Yet they were being sold for $20.00 each.

Who was this company, you ask?  It is Zynga, the maker of such great games as Farmville, CafeWorld and Frontierville.  Yes, I can buy all my facebook friends $20.00 worth of farmville cash at Walmart.  Or in other words...I could buy Brad a barn for Christmas.  Mary a pig for her birthday.  My nephew would love a dog and I would not get in trouble for buying it.  It was a fun idea.

I must admit though, I would have a really hard time spending my hard earned money on something so unreal.  You know the money I actually had to sit 9 hours a day in an office to earn?  Hmmm, work 2 hours (roughly)  and I can buy play money for someone to buy a play house.  A little difficult to do.  Of course Zynga must make money somehow.  So, even though it is not for me, if you have a friend that is a hard core gamer then go for it.

Let me know your opinion.  Please.