Club Penguin Summit – LOADS of sneak peeks!
Greetings Penguins!
Firstly, apologies for the delay (school work yet again). Anyway, CP recently held a real life event called Club Penguin Summit where they invited magazine writers and editors to visit the CP HQ in British Columbia, as well as showing them several presentations and sneak peeks!
First of all, a complete list of parties/events for the entire year was shown. As we can see, there are some old favourites returning and even some brand new parties!
You will notice that one of the monthly parties will be a Card-Jitsu Snow party! This will be held in May and will feature the release of the long awaited game. CP even showed how two rooms will look during the party.
Ski Mountain
Ski Village (notice that the EPF construction is complete?)
The completed Snow Dojo (I wish they put this version in the Beta test)
CP also showed a few sneak peeks from the upcoming Marvel Superhero Takeover. First up is a pic of the Cove during the party. The crane seen below will be used to pick up junk found in the polluted water.
It seems the Forest will be decorated with an Earth Day theme – it seriously wouldn’t surprise me if this version of the Forest will replace the current Forest.
The Plaza during the party.
Three superhero hoodies that will be available during the party. The white hoodie will apparently be a secret item.
There will be some sort of game during the party too – it is called Robot Factory. Here’s a sketch.
A sneak peek of a room that is believed to be called the School was also shown. Little is known about the School other than the sketch shown below. Will it be permanent? I don’t see the purpose of a school to be honest. What are penguins going to learn about, the anatomy of a puffle?
And so concludes the sneak peeks. Except for a couple more. Recently, Spike Hike has been posting on Twitter from his iPad and is believed to be testing an app called My Penguin. Here’s a sneak peek.
The board of Sushi is currently a mystery. Spike says we can collect pieces of Sushi, presumably by using this app in some way or another. I hope we can go on the full CP on mobile devices soon.
And so concludes the sneak peeks for today. In my opinion, the Card-Jitsu Snow party sounds like the highlight of the year as it’s new and the decorated rooms look great.
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
So, where did Businesmoose go?
Greetings Penguins!
A few weeks ago I posted that Businesmoose would be leaving CP. He stated he would be looking for new adventures and would leave after the first week in April (so he’s officially now gone). We all wondered what Moose would be doing after his departure and now we officially know! He now works at Rocketsnail (HyperHippo Productions) with Rsnail and Screenhog!
(If anyone wants to follow me on Twitter my username is @JimbobsonCP, thanks!)
I guess he’s now known as Mech Moose! He’ll be working on Mech Mice from now on (so no more Moose Monday). This comes as a pretty big surprise for everyone, I wonder who’ll leave CP for Hyper Hippo next?
In other news: CP just released a sneak peek of a new costume members will be able to buy during the Superhero Takeover. Say hi to Sif!
For those who don’t know, Sif is from the film Thor and acts as his companion/supposed “lover” (this isn’t really acted on much). I wonder what other characters CP will introduce for the second takeover?
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
Card Jitsu Snow: Beta Hat!
Greetings Penguins!
As many will already know, the Card Jitsu beta test has being happening for a while now and it has become fairly successful in terms of players online. Well, as of today, you can now earn the official Card Jitsu Snow BETA HAT!
BUT, how do you get it? Those who have tested before (Beta testing CP, CPIP testing etc) should know that items were automatically added to the penguin’s accounts after testing was over. However, this times different. To earn the hat now, you must log into the beta test (beta.clubpenguin.com) and play the game. The more you play, the more % you will gain to receiving the item. If you get to the bonus round, you will instantly receive the item on your real penguin (not your beta test penguin that has no clothes/name etc).
Once you log into your normal penguin account, simply search through your inventory until you find the Card Jitsu Snow beta hat! It’s as simple as that! (hah, a rhyme). Here is how it looks on Jimbobson:
This is one of my personal fave items CP has ever released. I love the party hats already, but with the snowflakes CP added it makes it even more interesting; definitely a soon-to-be-VERY-rare item! I may even wear it instead of my CPIP red hard hat…for a while.
UPDATE: The Snow Beta Hat and Card-Jitsu Snow beta test are both now unavailable. The game will be released in May during a special Card-Jitsu Snow party.
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
Puffle Party 2013: Critical Review
Greetings Penguins!
The Puffle Party started yesterday and is possibly the biggest one yet. This doesn’t mean it’s without its’ faults however – and there are quite a few.
Decorations
First of all, you’ll notice that the majority of the island is decorated. The only problem with this is that CP has combined old and new decorations. Doesn’t sound bad? Well, you’ll notice that CP has kept the original puffle sprites from the older decorations and added the new sprites for new decorations. This is inconsistent and just looks weird, sort it out!
Puffle Hotel and Party Tasks
Next up you’ll notice that the Puffle Hotel is finally available for access. I do like these new rooms (it has 3 floors) but the sound effects get annoying (and you can’t even turn them off..). Surely if this is a Hotel, why can’t we leave our Puffles here? Speaking of puffles, you’ll need one to complete the activities. Each activity is simple, take your Puffle to the room the task asks (and then click on whatever, for example, if you need to exercise your puffle walk over to the treadmill). Once you’ve completed a task, you need to wait 18 hours until you can do the next (how annoying). For completing a task, you earn a pathetic 150 coins and part of the Puffle Expert outfit (members only). Once you have completed all the tasks, you will receive a bag of Puffle O’s and the ability to adopt a Rainbow Puffle (MEMBERS ONLY!).
Other stuff of note
Members can also turn into puffles like previous years, non-members cannot. PH is also visiting and has a brand new background with that freakish design CP insists on using lately. Other than that it pretty much wraps up the Puffle Party for this year!
Success or Fail?
There’s no doubt CP has worked quite hard for this party, but we knew exactly what we were getting weeks before the party (we saw the Rainbow Puffle, Puffle Hotel, task items etc). There is little to excite players who have attended previous Puffle parties and the 18 hour waiting time is simply annoying. The member benefits are great, if you’re a member. If not, the party is pretty dull. Not one of my favourites but at least it isn’t worse than the Fashion Show last year (and at least non-members get a nice hand item). Overall I think this was a good attempt from CP, but it was completely ruined by the sneak peeks, amount of members-only features and lack of creativity. Lets hope the Superhero Takeover next month will be better!
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
Bye Bye Businesmoose!
Greetings Penguins!
Today Businesmoose announced that he will be leaving CP ‘for new adventures’. He will remain helping the team until the first week of April. Although Businesmoose has only recently become a blogger on the What’s New blog, he actually started working for CP in 2007! (Though has the Shamrock and other rare pins).
However, not all is lost! There are 4 other moderators/staff members up for the job as blogger, and we can decide who it will be! The candidates are; Tour Guide, Ninja, Smulley or Robo Bird. Personally I think Ninja sounds like a pretty amazing name for a blogger.
Anyways, Businesmoose’s departure has got me wondering – why are all the old workers leaving lately? I expected Moose to stay for several years but obviously not. Why would he want to leave one the biggest virtual worlds on the web? I wonder if he doesn’t agree with Disney/CP anymore..or perhaps he actually does want to move on to new things. Who knows.
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
CPF in focus: Parties – Then and Now
Greetings Penguins!
Time for yet another CPF in focus. This time, I will be discussing the parties on CP and how they have changed throughout the years.
2005 – 2007
Parties throughout this period were original, creative and simple. There were much fewer decorations in comparison to today’s parties (such as the Halloween party 2005). CP was more generous to non-members back then, giving several free items out per party! The average party only lasted for around 3 days.
Late 2008 – 2011(ish)
Parties started to become more complex, with many returning each year (Music Jam..). Throughout 2009-2011 especially, CP started to add more features for members at parties and the duration of ‘em began to last longer. Items were often returned from older parties, with most of the non-member items being hats. Lots and lots of hats.
2012
Many new parties such as the Marvel Superhero Takeover and Fashion Show were added. From June to August, CP held parties that involved some kind of promotion offline (Marvel, Shake it Up and Innocent Smoothes respectively). Many penguins disliked this due to them believing it was an annoying attempt by Disney to make more money. The parties lasted longer, the member benefits remained (such as the ability to transform during some parties) and non-members got a lot of hats and backgrounds. The remaining original co-founders also left, taking the “old” CP with them.
2013 (Now!)
Although we have only had 2 (very soon to be 3) parties this year, we can see a pattern of what’s happening. CP has now given each party an average duration of about 2 weeks (which is far too long in my opinion). The items take much longer to obtain (I’m looking at you, Dino Dig. Grr) and CP releases a ridiculous amount of sneak peeks before the party has began; making each one very predictable and often boring.
I mean, c’mon. 2013′s parties have not been the best. First was the Prehistoric Party, not bad but, just, slow. Transforming was perhaps the highlight, where’s the excitement or creativity? Then we had the Hollywood party. This one annoyed me, why did CP remove the St. Patrick’s Day party? To make everyone feel welcome by not having location-based holidays. So what do they do instead? Make a party devoted to a specific place in the USA?
My opinion?
I hope CP becomes more original and creative with their ideas. I want parties like we had in 2007 (Summer kick off and the Water party were brilliant), or at least a party that we don’t have 10 sneak peeks of, showing every single room and item before its actually released (Puffle Party 2013..we know what the Rainbow puffle looks like, we know what the room looks like, we know what the items look like. How is that fun?!).
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
CPF In focus: BETA Hype!
Greetings Penguins!
With the release of Card Jitsu Snow: Beta, there has been a lot of excitement and talk about beta testing. But who remembers the beta testers that tested CP back in 2005? It came across my mind today that I have been playing CP for almost 6 years (yes, 6 years!). I understand it may not be as long as some bloggers out there, but it’s definitley longer than the average player.
Anyway, my point is how much CP has changed since I first started playing. I began just before CP signed a contract with Disney, and so have witnessed everything that has happened since. Now, there’s no doubt that new players are signing up all the time. Some people even give rarer penguins to their younger siblings. So, what’s the problem?
Imagine what will happen in about 5 years from now. CP will be about 13 years old, that’s 13 years since the Beta Test 2005. This means that almost all of the older players will have stopped playing and moved on with their lives. What does that leave CP with? A virtual society of new players who have little to no idea about the older days of CP.
I’ve recently noticed that fewer and fewer older penguins/beta testers are coming online. What’s stranger is that even fewer penguins acknowledge betas at all anymore. It sounds like nothing, but it’s a big difference to the 2007/8 days when a beta would get a huge crowd that rivals today’s mascots. I guess fewer penguins are aware of what the beta hat even is anymore.
I hope you enjoyed this relatively short discussion post (if you managed to read it). Just think, several years from now we could find ourselves in a completely different version of CP where betas are never even seen anymore! (though won’t get crowds anyway as fewer penguins will have any idea about them..).
P.S I have no obsession with beta testers. They are just the most popular example I can think of. If you would like to learn more, feel free to visit the page on this site. If you would like the chance to meet a beta for yourself, log in on the server Sleet and go to the Dock (this is where they rarely appear..).
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
Card Jitsu Snow Beta Test to be released today!
Greetings Penguins!
UPDATE: The link is now LIVE! Though at the moment all I’m getting is the “Download Flash Player” screen. Try for yourself!!
Possibly the biggest even in years is soon to take place on CP. That’s right, the Card Jitsu Snow game will be available to beta test; TODAY! Spike Hike has recently posted a link on Twitter and basically told us to check it later today (or tomorrow if you’re like me and in the UK). The link can be found below.
Currently the link doesn’t work and simply loads for a while until the problem loading page appears (depending on your web browser). As soon as CP launches the beta test live, the website will work and we will be able to register for testing. Simple as that!
Now lets see what other updates CP has added today:
- Comic Relief event: Go to the Coffee Shop to pick up a free Red Nose for your penguin – they can be found at the recently built jokes corner (I wonder if this will be a permanent addition?
- Construction for the re-building of the EPF has begun! Grab a orange mining helmet (if you haven’t got one from the Mine Cave, or the other construction events CP has held throughout the years) and get helping!
- Hollywood party has ended (finally), yay.
- Puffle Party coming soon: A Puffle Hotel will be built for the party, along with a cannon that will fire penguins from the Hotel roof to a cloud inhabited by Rainbow Puffles! (Note: The Puffle Hotel will be a permanent addition to CP).
- Quest for the Golden Puffle has returned to the Stage: Possibly due to the Puffle-themed month coming up.
Anyway, be sure to keep checking the beta link I posted earlier! And if you haven’t already, check all of the updates CP has added today. They will also be releasing a Red Nose Day themed pin and background soon. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s a charity based here in the UK. Why is CP focusing on it and not other events such as St. Patrick’s Day you may ask? This is a charity, CP gets media attention if they donate to charity (meaning money).
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
New CP Video: ????
Greetings Penguins!
CP recently released a new video on their Youtube channel. Entitled ‘????’, it sounds very mysterious. Lets take a look.
So, this very short video shows us a nameless ninja wandering around, what looks to be a mountain area which the Snow Dojo will be. However, this area is obviously in very early stages of planning (hence the green arrows to indicate a link to a new area and the fact the whole room is a handrawn sketch). Does this mean we will be beta testing a game that is in the very early stages of development? Or will CP have developed this idea by then..
In other news: I have gone and added a BRAND NEW page to CPF (something I haven’t done since 2007/8)! That’s right, a brand new page! (and all the others have been updated in some way). So what is this page? Well, as promised, I have created a page about memes (Club Penguin Memes). Be sure to check it out and perhaps even submit your own.
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
Sunshine, lollipops and Rainbow Puffles
Greetings Penguins!
As promised, I shall be doing a post about CP’s latest puffle arrival. I say latest, it hasn’t actually being confirmed or released yet. But CP has definitley hinted strongly at it. In their latest video, CP is advertising their new song, something about a wingman, whatever the hell that is. Anyway, at the end of the video, the Rainbow puffle is shown. It winks, then farts (yeah, smooth CP, smooth).
Aww ain’t he cute? Seem fimilar? Aye, that is exactly the same puffle that is shown in the new header! The personality, likes/dislikes about this puffle is currently unknown. However, it could possibly be a colour changing chameleon puffle (as PH discussed in one of the CP Magazine issues). We won’t know for sure until the Puffle Party in March.
Until next time, Waddle on!
-Jimbobson
