user: Input: Zynga Rolls Out New Facebook Game: 'Ruby Blast'
Zynga released its newest arcade title for Facebook Tuesday. Ruby Blast is a match-three game that invites players to excavate a gem mine to beat their friends’ high scores.

This is Zynga’s third foray into the arcade genre, and it helps them broaden their reach beyond the popular Ville games that are their bread and butter. Their first arcade release, Bubble Safari, is now the top game on Facebook’s App Store with 100 million installs.

Ruby Blast is the first game from the Zynga Seattle studios, and their take on the oft-reinvented match-three subgenre of puzzle games. Notable examples already exist, such as Bejeweled (and Ruby Blast feels similar to that title’s “Diamond Mine” mode on iOS devices), Meteos and Puzzle Quest. Players not only have to match groups of three or more like colors, but use them to dig deeper into a mine, extending the game clock and finding gems that boost their level.

But Jonathan Grant, design director at Zynga Seattle, said they wanted “an experience that was familiar to players but also redefined it.”

“We wanted it playable by as many people as possible,” Grant said. “My grandma can play. As she improves and gains experience, she still has new wrinkles to master.”

Grant said Ruby Blast also differentiates itself by bringing high-level graphics to Facebook. The game uses Adobe’s Flash 11 player to bring an extra visual pop to the game’s variety of power ups.

There is also a unique social hook to Ruby Blast: Photos of friends also playing the game appear in the stacks of gems. Blow them up for a bonus in the game. Players also get bonuses for beating the high scores of their friends, and appearing at the top of their social leaderboard.

The game still has touches of Zynga’s freemium backbone. If you’re running low on gems, which power special moves, more can be purchased from the app.

What do you think of Zynga’s new expansions into the arcade category? Let us know in the comments.
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It's about: Zynga has released Ruby Blast, a match-three game and the third in their Facebook arcade lineup.


Problem: ‘Frozen’ Performs for Disney

A year after it was caught flat-footed by the massive consumer demand for anything and everything “Frozen,” Walt Disney Co.’s consumer-products division is reaping the rewards of the blockbuster animated hit.

Revenue at Disney Consumer Products rose 22% to $1.4 billion during the quarter ended Dec. 27 and operating income surged 46% to $626...

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Summary: A year after it was caught flat-footed by the massive consumer demand for anything and everything “Frozen,” Walt Disney’s consumer-products division is reaping the rewards of the blockbuster animated hit.


Q: Billionaire David Rubenstein raps and it’s as terrible as you’d expect

We sincerely doubt the following was Dr. Dre approved.

David Rubenstein, billionaire co-founder of the Carlyle Group, which invested in Dre’s Beats Electronics in 2013, recently added amateur rapper to his list of C-suite accomplishments. Just wait for it.

The scene: Starring in his company’s annual holiday video, MC Rubenstein heads to the studio rocking a pair of red Beats by Dre headphones to match his corporate tie.

“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? You know, Dr. Dre is an incredible businessman and artist, and he even inspired me to write my own rap,” says Rubenstein before going full on “Boss, you’re embarrassing” mode. The rest of his rhymes go a little something like this:

It takes a lot of brains to do what we do, Looking for a way to make some dough for you. Energy, commodity, we do it all, So pick up the phone and give us a call. Corporate mezzanine, private equity, Carlyle Group is the place to be. We’re global, we’re mobile, we’re aiming to please. Only goal in mind: serve the LPs.

LPs, LPs, serve the LPs LPs, LPs, serve the LPs. LPs, LPs, serve the LPs…

Ah, rap, the only musical genre that can bring together first ladies, CEOs and any other old person trying (and failing) to up their cool quotient.

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Helena Andrews is the co-author of The Reliable Source. Follow her on Twitter @helena_andrews, and send your hot tips, sightings, and gossip to reliablesource@washpost.com.

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assistant: The billionaire co-founder of the Carlyle Group just added amateur rapper to his list of C-suite accomplishments.