Club Penguin
| Club Penguin | |
|---|---|
| File:ClubPenguin.png | |
| Developer(s) | The Walt Disney Company and Club Penguin Entertainment Inc |
| Publisher(s) | Disney (Originally published by Club Penguin Entertainment Inc) |
| Engine | Adobe Flash |
| Platform(s) | Online |
| Release | October 24th, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Online Game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Club Penguin is an online game developed by Club Penguin Entertainment Inc which was bought by the Disney company. Using cartoon penguin as avatars, players can waddle around, chat, play minigames, and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world. After beta-testing, Club Penguin was made available to the general public on October 24, 2005[1] and has since expanded into a large online community.Club Penguin is now making a branch in the UK and has job openings there.[2]
Merchandise
An online merchandise shop opened on the Club Penguin website in August 2006,[3] selling stuffed Puffles and T-shirts. Keychains, gift cards, and more shirts were added on November 7, 2006.[4]
Memberships
Subscribed memberships
Players may become subscribed members and doing so grants them additional benefits. They may buy clothing and furniture, own up to fourteen puffles, enjoy early access to new parts of the game, buy furniture for their puffles, and have access to all puffle breeds. A brand new catalogue only for members contains hairstyles. Members also have access to Members-only parties hosted by Club Penguin.[5] Members may also open their igloo to visits by other players.
Club Penguin recently released game cards available for retail purchase, initially at Target stores in the United States, enabling players to buy their own membership.[6]
Should a subscribed membership lapse or become canceled, that player's members-only clothes will become translucent and an upgraded igloo will be removed. These items will return if the membership is renewed.
Non-memberships
Club Penguin provides a non-membership option. Although such play is free, it does not include all of the benefits of being a member. Non-members may still buy different colors for their penguins, buy player-card backgrounds, travel to any place in the Club Penguin world (except during members-only parties), and play games. Non-members may also receive and use items given out at parties that are held monthly for all players. Non-members are restricted to only two red or blue puffles. If a former member once owned puffles, they may be kept, although no new member-only puffles may be bought. Non-members can not purchase clothes, furniture, wigs, hats, or igloo upgrades. Non-Members also may collect 'pins' to put on their backgrounds, but may not buy them in a catalog.
Gameplay
Environment
Club Penguin is divided into various rooms and distinct areas. Each player is provided with an igloo for a home. Members have the option of opening their igloo so other penguins can access it via the map. Members may also purchase larger igloos and decorate their igloos with items bought with virtual coins earned by playing mini-games.
Many game locations can be accessed by clicking on the Club Penguin map. Some places, such as the Attic, are reached by clicking their general area on the map then walking the penguin to the specific location. Other places, such as Rockhopper's Ship, The Migrator, are only available on certain days. Penguins with secret agent status can also teleport to any location (other than isolated areas and players' igloos) using their spy phone. There are 3 isolated areas: the Dojo which is located in the mountains, the Ice Berg which is located in the northeast part of the water, and the Mine which is located south of the Dojo.
Chat
Club Penguin provides two options for inter-player communication. The Ultimate-Safe Chat mode allows players to select phrases from a list. The other mode, "Open Chat", allows players to enter their own custom messages.[7] Each game server offers a particular type of chat — the majority allowing either chat mode, but some servers allow only the Ultimate-Safe Chat mode.
Players who use profanity are often punished by an automatic 24-hour ban, although not all vulgar language results in an immediate ban. After being caught using profane language on a second or third occasion, players may be banned for 72 hours. Players caught hacking Club Penguin are banned for a much longer time period. After 3 to 5 bans, a player is banned indefinitely from the game.[8]
Players can also express their feelings with emoticons (emotes). There are lots of emotes, such as a happy face, a sad face, angry, winking, pizza and many more. The emotes appear above the avatar's head in a speech bubble. There are secret emotes that can be unlocked by holding down letters on the keyboard (e.g. E then I = igloo emote). On December 5th 2007, the heart and skull emote were removed because players found these offensive, and were replaced with the flower emote. On January 9th 2008 the heart emote was brought back because players complained that they used it to express their love for friends and puffles.
Cheating
According to Chicago Tribune, on 2007 cheating was a significant problem in Club Penguin, with programs such as Winsock packet editor and club penguin trainer 1 and 2 being used by players to gain additional game coins and members only items without paying. These players have since been banned[9].
Locations on Club Penguin
The Stage
The Stage was released in November 2007, located between the Pizza Parlor and the Pet Shop. In the stage, penguins can act out plays. Members can buy costumes for the play, which is an option that non-members don't have. The script for the play is located at the bottom right corner of the screen. When clicked, a list of lines will be brought up for the penguin to say. Each month, there is a new play. Here are the list of all the plays.
| Month | Play |
|---|---|
| November 2007 | Space Adventure |
| December 2007 | Twelth Fish |
| January 2008 | Squidzoid vs. Shadow Guy and Gamma Gal |
| February 2008 | Blue Team's Rally Debut |
| March 2008 | Space Adventure (Back by Penguin Demand) |
| April 2008 | Quest for the Golden Puffle |
Items
Players may use gas sounds (which pops up as a green music note), the virtual coins that they collect from play mini games to purchase various items from a wide variety of shops. Shop types include clothing, wigs, stage costumes, igloos, furnitures, sports, and pirates. The pirate shop is only available when Rockhopper's ship has docked in Club Penguin. Players are allowed to purchase many colors for their penguins. Each color bought is saved into the penguin's card, allowing the player access and change colors as often as they wish. Backgrounds are also available for players to purchase. Backgrounds are placed behind the penguin's picture on their card and can also be switched with other backgrounds freely. Every month, up to two to four backgrounds are released. Backgrounds and colors can be bought by non-members.
Pins appear every second week and display in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup card. A special Christmas Tree Pin was made available for 50 coins in a late 2006 issue of the Penguin Times newspaper. Pins are currently free but have to be found from around Club Penguin. On January 4, 2008, Club Penguin hid their 50th pin, which was a snow shovel located in the Boiler Room. Flags are similar to pins; they also appear in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup card. They can only be worn one at a time and can only be bought by Members.
Clothes are worn by penguins, which can either be bought or is given out during parties. Only members can buy clothes, but those given out at parties are wearable by all penguins.
Members' igloos can be upgraded into many different styles. Some igloo styles are themed for recent parties, such as the Bamboo Hut or Log Cabin. Igloo upgrades range from 1000 (Basic Snow Igloo) to 5100 (Ice Castle) coins depending on the style. Furniture is for member-only igloos and can be used to design and decorate an igloo. Flooring for the an igloo (introduced January 19, 2007) is also members only. There are currently nine different floors to choose from.
The Penguin Times
Club Penguin has a free virtual weekly newspaper delivered every Thursday. It contains news about Club Penguin and features games, comics, polls, and more. It also has an advice column where a player can write to Aunt Arctic and ask questions about Club Penguin. Any penguin can submit questions, comics, jokes, and riddles to The Penguin Times, which will be chosen and displayed in the next issue. The Boiler Room under the Night Club contains an archive of newspapers from the last six weeks.[10]
Calendar dates
Each newspaper edition includes a list of dates that summarize when the next pin will be hidden, upcoming parties and other Club Penguin events such as the next party, the pin or other special things.
Submissions
Players are able to submit jokes, riddles, poems, comics, Fan Art and questions to Aunt Arctic. Each week, a few submissions are picked and displayed. On April 3rd, 2008, Aunt Artic let players submit articles to the Penguin Times.
Puffles
Puffles are small, fluffy creatures that players may have as pets. They are available from the Pet Shop in blue, green, pink, black, purple, red, and newly released yellow. Non-members have access to the blue and red puffles only, and may have no more than two; members may adopt up to fourteen puffles. Puffles have health, rest, and energy bar charts to indicate their status. Members whose membership has expired may still keep the puffles, unless they run away.
There are seven official breeds of puffles, each with a different personality.
- Blue Puffles are mild tempered and content. Their favorite toy is a ball. Blue Puffles can be adopted by anyone in Club Penguin. Blue Puffles were the first puffle breed in Club Penguin and are loyal, making them very popular.
- Green Puffles are very energetic and playful. They like to clown around on their unicycles or play with their propeller caps.
- Purple Puffles are lots of fun to have around. They enjoy blowing bubbles and are terrific dancers, but they can be a bit fussy, especially at meal time.
- Red Puffles are adventurous and enthusiastic. They are fearless when attempting daring tricks (except in the survival mode of Catchin' Waves) and spend a lot of their playful energy on a surf board. They shoot themselves out of a cannon or bowl when playing. Rockhopper brought these puffles to Club Penguin on his ship from Rockhopper Island. These, like the Blue Puffles can be adopted by anyone on Club Penguin.
- Pink Puffles are very active and cheery. They love to exercise by jumping rope or playing on their trampolines.
- Black Puffles are known to be mischievous and short-tempered. However, they love to play and make a great pet for anyone who likes a little bit of personality. They sometimes catch on fire and will turn red for a short period of time.
- Yellow Puffles were added November 30, 2007. They love art and are very active. When playing, Yellow Puffles either will choose between going to paint or film a movie. They sculpt food into book room ornaments before eating it, add color to the water when they bath, and dream of being a super hero when sleeping. If a player take Yellow Puffles for a walk and begins dancing, the puffle will sing.
According to the book Truth or Dare found in the Book Room, the green puffle dancing on the speaker in the Night Club was the rumored "Keeper of the Boiler Room".
Famous penguins
Captain Rockhopper
Rockhopper is a pirate who arrives at Club Penguin aboard a pirate ship named The Migrator. Introduced on October 14 2006, he arrives in the game approximately every two to three months. During a Rockhopper visit, all players (including non-members) may explore his ship, which offers exclusive 'rare' items for purchase, and a fictional diary of the character's adventures. Rockhopper's items can be found no where else besides his ship. When among game players, Rockhopper appears as most others except that he wears a pirate hat, and a beard which are not available to others. Players who find Rockhopper and click on him receive exclusive items such as a background for their player card. If you click "Visit igloo" it will take you to his ship but when his ship broke down in his most recent visit, it took you to the beach. You cannot be Rockhopper's buddy or report him. Rockhopper has a red puffle named Yarr. In the month of February Rockhopper's ship crashed. This opened a chance for a new game called Aqua Grabber. The game is completed when all missing items from Rockhopper's ship have been found and placed into a net. With the help of G, penguins began rebuilding the Migrator. The Migrator has been completed now and G has found a way to contact Rockhopper. He is using flares which can be shot up at the beach to call Rockhopper. But... Will it really work?
G (Gary the Gadget Guy)
G is an agent who appears in missions. G is a blue penguin with a lab coat and glasses, and is founder of the Club Penguin HQ. His lab is in the Club Penguin HQ and players may only visit the lab within missions. G has created lots of inventions – including the Prototype Sled, the Spy Phone, AC 1000, and Spy Goggles – which help players complete their missions. Outside of the agency, G invented a machine that helps make pizzas for the pizza parlor, penguin jetpacks, a invention that creates special effects for the stage, an air conditioner to keep the snow that was stored in the lodge attic from melting, a snowball powered clock tower to help penguins tell time, and has invented a submarine to recover the scatered pieces of the Migrator. [11]
Aunt Arctic
Aunt Arctic is a reporter featured in the Penguin Times Newspaper and has given advice ever since the first issue of the Penguin Times was released. Aunt Artic's role is very quite similar to that of a real life advice columnist, giving advice – in this case, regarding game queries and etiquette. Club Penguin players cannot physically meet her (though she is a part of the first Secret Agent Mission). Players can send questions to Aunt Arctic using an in-game form, and she may respond to them. On April 3, 2008, she got promoted to Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper. She is a green penguin who wears glasses and a pink hat.
Walt Disney Company
On August 1 2007, Club Penguin announced that it was partnering up with The Walt Disney Company. New Horizon Interactive claimed that players will not notice a difference. Disney offered a deal of $350 million. The headquarters will remain in Kelowna, British Columbia and there are plans to add multiple languages. No external ads will be introduced on the game website. Disney is advertising the game on disney.com and other sites.
According to the Walt Disney Company, an additional $350 million could be added to the initial $350 million offering (for a potential total of $700 million) if the Club Penguin founders can reach profit targets through 2009 with its more than 700,000 paid subscribers and 12 million registered users.[12]
Coins For Change
Coins For Change was an in-game donation available from December 14 to December 24, 2007, in which players could donate their virtual coins to any of three charitable issues: Kids who are sick, The Environment, and Kids in Developing Countries. Players could donate in increments of 50, 250, or 500 virtual coins. At the end of the campaign, the New Horizon Foundation donated a total of $1 million to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Free The Children. The proportion of the 1 million dollars that each organization received depended on how many virtual coins were donated by players toward each issue. For example, if most players donated their virtual coins to the environment, the environmental organization got a higher percentage than the others. Issue #115 of The Penguin Times stated that the standings were:
- Kid's Health: 39.4%, $394,000 went to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- Environment: 33%, $330,000 went to World Wide Fund for Nature
- Kids in Developing Countries: 27.6%, $276,000 went to Free the Children
A total of over 1 million coins were donated. Penguins who donated received a postcard thanking them for donating. Every donation station had a box of bells next to it. Penguins, both members and non-members could take a bell at no cost.
The Coins for Change program was announced on Disney Channel's Disney 365.[13]
See also
References
- ^ Billybob (2005-10-24). "Club Penguin - It's Launched!". Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
- ^ "Club Penguin about company".
- ^ Billybob (2006-08-31). ""NOW OPEN!!!"". Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ Billybob (2006-11-07). ""Lots of New Stuff!!"". Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ "Club Penguin Become a Member". Retrieved 2007-01-01.
- ^ Jasper1357 (2007-12-17). ""Club Penguin Game Cards Coming Soon!!!"". Club Penguin Developer Blog. Club Penguin. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ ""Is It Safe?"". Club Penguin Q&A for Parents. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
- ^ ""Breaking the Rules" and "How a Penguin is Banned"". Club Penguin Communicating. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- ^ Benderoff, Eric (2007-03-08). "Cheating a real problem in Club Penguin's virtual world". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- ^ ""Newspaper"". Club Penguin Help. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ Characters
- ^ Friedman, Josh (2007-08-02), "Disney buying Club Penguin website: Deal for Club Penguin, geared to children and young teens, could be worth $700 million", Los Angeles Times
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Coins for Change: Waddle around and make a difference" (PDF). ClubPenguin.com. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
External links
- Club Penguin Sites
- External Sites