First and foremost of the changes will be the complete revamping of the look and feel of the A game. Our design team has worked from the ground up to ensure that the new A game will look great, and be easy to navigate and play. We think you’ll love the slick new design!

The current A game has 8 categories visible from the main screen. The new and improved version will have a whole slew of categories available to play directly from the main screen, making it no longer necessary to navigate to a separate URL to play specialty games like Harry Potter, Queen, or Tim McGraw!

Users of the new A game will start off in the Lobby area. Here they will be able to view their current rank, and start one of the three game modes: Single Player, Random Challenge, or Live Challenge. Also visible in the lobby will be the brand-new chat room, where players will have the ability to heckle each other over their respective scores or just chat about the cool new features. By clicking on an individual user, a private chat can also be started.

Another cool addition to the new game will be trophies! Players can unlock a series of trophies by gaining rank on the leaderboard. These will be visible in the lobby next to the player’s name, will be able to be published to the player’s Facebook wall.

At NTB Games, we are constantly striving to give our players the most entertaining and enjoyable experience in playing the A game. It is our hope that the new features and design will make the A game more engaging and fun than ever, and we think you are going to love it too!

The first multiplayer mode of the A game is called Random Challenger (RC). Just like it sounds, the A game will match you up against another user that the system picks at random to really test your skills! To start, click on the Random Challenger button at the bottom right of the screen.

Now’s the time to get in your last practice before getting into the ring with another user! Click on the category of your choice and select okay when asked if you want to play a round while you wait. Don’t worry, the system will notify you when an opponent is available to play.

While you’re playing, a timer on the top right will indicate that you are waiting for an opponent to play. In the meantime, hone your skills for the upcoming match!

When a challenger is found, you’ll hear a “ding” and a pop-up will display informing you that your opponent is ready. It”s time to see if you”ve got what it takes to beat a human opponent! Click okay to begin.

You”ll notice that the RC session is very similar to that of the regular A game. The only difference is that in the RC session there is an information area under the questions. This tells you how far into the round you and your opponent are, your respective answer speeds, and how many questions each player has answered correctly.

There are three possible ways a session can end: You can win, lose, or the match can be a draw. Whichever it is, you”ll take home double the points for all your correct answers!

Once the session ends, there are three ways to go: You can play the same random challenger again for another double points session, you can return to single player mode, or hit “Challenge a Different Friend” to enter Live Challenge (LC) mode against one of your own friends! Not only can you now can show off your skills to your friends, you can earn triple points for it too!

Here”s where things get really cool: The A game will bring up a list of your online friends for you to invite. Select one and an invite message will appear in the chat field ready to send. Hit enter, and it will pop-up on your friend”s screen like a regular Facebook chat message! They will then be able to follow the link and join up to start an LC session against you.

When your opponent clicks on the link, a popup will appear on your page informing you that they”ve accepted. Press okay to get started! Your opponent will choose the category, and once they have done so the session will begin.

The LC session looks just like the RC session. Notice that for every question you answer correctly you are awarded 300 points –that’s triple the usual! When you win, as you surely will, post your achievement to your wall to further humiliate your losing friend!

You can also start an LC session from the main A game screen by clicking on the Challenge a Friend button in the lower left area. Play as many RC’s and LC’s as you want to boost your rank in the leaderboard and increase your chances of winning some cold, hard cash! (well, a cold, hard Amazon Gift Card anyway…) Have fun, and start multiplying your points now!

Search for the A game in Facebook, and make sure you like their fan page so you can be updated on new prizes and game rollouts! Then click on the link to the game from the “About” frame on the left hand side of the page.

This will open the permissions page. Don’t be alarmed by this; it just enables us to keep track of user info for the prize contests and multiplayer sessions. The A game isbcommitted to your privacy, and we promise to never spam you or give out your email! Once you’ve cleared the permissions page, you’ll arrive at the landing page for the A game. Here you’ll see a list of eight main categories to choose from: Movies, Television, Animation, Games, Mainstream Music, Hip Hop, Country, and Anime. Each of these categories opens up a series of game sessions containing content related to that category. Select whichever one catches your interest to start playing!

The question will appear on the upper right area next to the clip playing. Underneath it will be fur answers to choose from. Simply choose whichever answer you believe is correct before the green time meter below runs out! The system will let you know immediately whether your answer was true or false, and show you a backplate related to the question just answered with the opportunity to click to learn more. Throughout the round, the game will also show you your current score above the questions.

If you’re like many of the users that who play the A game, you’ll love the “Boss” button. This nifty feature enables you to avoid uncomfortable moments with superiors who may be lurking nearby while you are playing the A game at the office. When you click the Boss button, a new screen will open up, giving your boss a view of how productive you”ve been! It will also pause the game so you won”t run out of time to answer the current question.

When you finish your first round, a prompt will flash offering you to post your achievement to your wall. Go ahead, brag to your friends, you”re entitled!

After you”ve gotten familiar with the game and started racking up points, remember to check the Leaderboard to see where you rank against other players. The default screen shows the top 15 players, and the scroll button on the right allows you to see up to 45. At the beginning of each week, cash prizes are awarded to the top three players, so this is definitely something you”re going to want to keep track of! You can see the full Terms and Conditions of the contest by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.

The final step to take is to invite your friends to play the A game by –you guessed it, hitting the “Invite” button on the bar above the game. Besides for sharing a great game with your buddies, you’ll be giving yourself and them the opportunity to earn triple points by playing Live Challenge rounds against each other! We”ll discuss this more in the next blog post.

You’ve played your first round, checked your position on the leaderboard, and invited your friends! Now stop reading and start brushing up on your trivia, winning great prizes, and have a blast playing the A game! And remember, the A game is a user-centered application, so we look forward to your feedback to help us customize the game to your preferences!

The patents at issue involve the process for credit-based gaming along with prize redemption. Agincourt currently operates only one game called Pantheon, not having remotely the same influence as Zynga does  in the marketplace.

Zynga is not new to these sorts of allegations, having faced Priceline.com’s founder Jay Walker for copying his patent on a tournament-based game. Interestingly, within Zynga’s IPO filings it appears they anticipated these hiccups. “[D]uring our earlier history our practices relating to intellectual property¦may not have been as robust as they are now, and there may be unasserted claims arising from this period that we are not able to anticipate,” it said.

Over here at NTB we’ll be keeping tabs on this story as further developments unfold.

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Facebook’s news feed is one place where games and quizzes can become a nuisance for your friends. Much of your activity on the site can be “published.” One post every now and then usually isn’t an issue, but if you publish more than one or two a day, your friends may choose to hide all your posts or even de-friend you entirely.

Quizzes also ask you if you want to publish your results. Again, one or two a day isn’t excessive, but more than that, especially if you choose to select friends to invite each time, can quickly become an annoyance. More experienced users may know how to block all posts from applications, but there are many users who do not, so it is necessary to be prudent when the box pops up with the options “publish” or “skip.” Invitations to games can also be an annoyance for your online friends. One invitation to a game is generally okay, but more than one from the same person is excessive.

These games may also have a negative effect on you if you are looking for a job. If your profile is public and an employer sees that you post excessively about online games or quizzes that you’ve taken, they may not take you quite as seriously as a candidate. You may want to adjust your privacy settings and also not add your bosses and co-workers as friends; you may even want to make a separate Facebook page for professional connections.

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It’s important to remember that you probably aren’t the only person that your friends and family members know who play online games. Even if you don’t feel that you are publishing too much from the game or asking too often for help in the game, there are others who are also posting the same things. Being prudent with what you “publish” is simply common courtesy.

However, there are games on social sites,such as Facebook, that try and limit the amount of information that does get published about your gaming activity. The A game is a new, interactive, pop culture game that you can play right on Facebook or on an independent site.  The cool thing about The A game is that it features numerous categories that cater to everyone. You can play by yourself, challenge a friend, or even challenge a random player online.   It’s really quite addicting.  Not only is it a fun game, but it also doesn’t publish every detail of your gaming experience to bother all of your “friends” so you don’t have to be ‘That Guy.’  And trust us, nobody wants to be ‘That Guy.’

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The A Game has more categories than ever and we are excited to share all the new features with our devoted gamers. We will be hanging out with Dell March 14 from 5-7 at the Moon Shine Grill if you would like to chat about the A Game and meet our interactive crew. If you’d like to meet up with us or schedule a demo, contact us! We hope to see you there!

Here is a list of our Top 23 Finishers:

Rank Name Total Score

1. Armand Augstroze 90650
2. Craig Lewis 62500
3. Sean Kearns 50350
4. Mike McCormick 46050
5. Maria Stevenson 42650
6. Melissa Cleary 37000
7. Dennis Burrows 35150
8. Robert Tyson 27400
9. Becky Brock 26400
10. Kim Duran 26050
11. Tammi Jackson 20150
12. Charles Brown 19100
13. Jessica Michelle 18300
14. Gloria Herrera 18250
15. Wayne Piersall 18050
16. Matthew Winckel 17200
17. Andrea Heady 17050
18. Joseph Herrera 16900
19. Jamie Eller 16700
20. Erika Ford 16300
21. Theresa Avila 15850
22. Rhonda Rios 13800
23. John Epling 12300

Lets see who can top these scores next week!!

Here is a list of our Top 23 Finishers:

Rank       Name         Total Score

1. Jennifer Tiana     427200
2. Elizabeth Long     47600
3. Jennifer Shantell     35000
4. John Long     34050
5. Jennifer Morgan     33300
6. Leander Carter     22600
7. Jake Herberger     18650
8. Kodey Tyler     12900
9. Karen Parker Davis     12300
10. Barbara Power     9000
11. Arlene Fulton     8150
12. Marvin Radtke     7750
13. Melissa Weston     7300
14. Robin Coleman     7250
15. Melissa Bennett     7100
16. Jones-Young Jones     6300
17. Danielle Hamm     6100
18. Abhishek Arora     6050
19. Ben Rutherford     5700
20. Julie Brunner     4550
21. Traci Wills Margulin     4400
22. Amber Benson     4000
23. Amber Passal     3800

Lets see who can top these scores next week!!

Here is a list of our Top 23 Finishers:

Rank Name Total Score

1. Loann Bates 276900
2. Jennifer Sue 251000
3. Vernon Bates 198800
4. Emily Clark 84400
5. Mason Coy 84000
6. David Coy 77100
7. Cassandra Coy 55800
8. Kevin Mason 51600
9. Kandis Hooper 45500
10. Kelly Brown 40800
11. Cole Brown 38600
12. Harley Kraehnke 38100
13. Becky Smock 36950
14. Jennifer Davis 24250
15. Jennifer Sepessy 23850
16. Jennifer Oneill 22800
17. Lisa Fitzpatrick 21900
18. Karen Parker Davis 17950
19. Brandy Barrientes 13250
20. Brittany Moore 13100
21. Herman Kraehnke 12900
22. Donnie Presswood 12750
23. Rae Herndon 11650

Good job everyone!! Lets see who can top these scores next week!

Here is a list of our Top 23 Finishers:

Rank       Name       Total Score

1. Jeff Daniel     87500
2. Shanda Hill     79350
3. Phillip Berger     70000
4. Shannon Johnston     67700
5. Randy Settle     60240
6. Cheryl Chambers     38560
7. Bonnie Bates     38520
8. Vernon Bates     29900
9. Loann Bates     28800
10. Diana Delnero     28100
11. Robert Tyson     27600
12. Ray MacLeod     24000
13. Karen Healey Welter     22800
14. Patricia Runteldathomeboy     22200
15. Louise Rubenstein Mann     21650
16. Diane Ryti     19670
17. Taylor Lynn     19600
18. Lisa Hartley     19600
19. Mark Kruzinski     19500
20. Kevin Mize     18320
21. Cindy Roberts-Thomas     17900
22. Kelly Johnston     17500
23. Mary Louise Manning     16100

Great job all!  Let’s see who can top these scores next week!