Bin Weevils

Bin Weevils
Developer(s) 55Pixels Ltd
Publisher(s) 55Pixels Ltd
Platform(s) Online
Release date(s) Online Website: 2007 (Advertisement released in 2003 on Nickelodeon Inc.)

Bin Weevils is a British children's online game. The website has been independent from Nickelodeon since 2010, after getting their own site in 2007. Bin Weevils have won the BAFTA Kids Vote 4 years in a row: in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Bin Weevils is set in a virtual world called a "Bin". Players can explore all sorts of different locations in this world. Players can also play many other mini-online games, chat, decorate their house called a "nest" with different items, grow plants in their gardens and other things such as buying a membership making them a "Bin Tycoon". Bin Weevils is the top website for kids in the UK and has over 25 million registered players, 100,000 joining daily.

History

Bin Weevils first appeared as a cartoon series on Nickelodeon in 2003. Following the success of the cartoons, an online virtual world was made on the Nickelodeon site called 'Bin Weevils'. In 2007, Bin Weevils launched their own separate site from Nickelodeon. Although still owned by Nick, the new website featured separate pages for parents, blogs, etc. In April 2010, it was announced that Bin Weevils would be going through a massive re-vamp. This occurred a few weeks later, and Bin Weevils re-did their whole site, the whole game, and was no longer owned by Nickelodeon, but became owned by its own company, Bin Weevils, Ltd. In Autumn 2014, following the imminent release of their new game Weevil World, they created a new company called 55Pixels, to house both the games.

Features

Bin Weevils is based around the theme of the real animals, 'Weevils'. The game is set in a bin, with numerous places being designed specifically for this theme 'e.g.: Flum's Fountain, Flem's Manor.

Users have their own nest (house), which they can customize by buying items from 'The Shopping Mall' and placing them in their nest accordingly. The user's nest can have up to 8 rooms, a private cinema, a garden, and a plaza. Most of these features can only be obtained by paying for a membership (referred to as a 'Bin Tycoon' membership) which offers other features for members, including the ability to purchase hats, exclusive items and other things like getting more rooms and a plaza.

All users have a garden in their nest, in which they can plant and harvest plants from 'The Garden Shop'. Harvesting a plant earns the user in-game Money and experience points ('Mulch and XP') which they can use to buy more items or contribute the points towards leveling up towards the next level. There are 70 levels in total, but more are often added. Moreover, players can buy a bin pet (using mulch), bed, clothes, and many other items by completing the missions or you can buy that by spending real money.

Another currency, Dosh, was added, and it replaced Bin Tycoon limits and high Mulch prices in many places, although it also requires payment. Users with a premium (Bin Tycoon) membership earn a monthly Dosh salary from an in-game ATM. With this Dosh they can purchase exclusive hats and nest items.

Merchandise

Bin Weevils entered into a license agreement with the toy company Character Options to create a line merchandise based off the game.[1] In February 2012, Bin Weevils launched a magazine to celebrate their 2011 BAFTA Award.[2] In June 2012, Bin Weevils launched a trading card game.[3] In some month in 2012, Bin Weevils started Dosh coins for Bin Tycoons to trade. In October 2012, Bin Weevils launched new toys including figurines and a Nest playset. They also launched plushes and backpack clips.[4] They also released clothes.[5] Bin Weevils also has a range of books. They announced in December 2012 that they teamed up with music label Sony to create a music album called Bin Tunes. In December 2012 until January 2013, a competition was held for four children to write song for the album. In February 2013, the winners came to London at the studios to hear and perform their song. The album was released on 29 July 2013 with 12 children songs included onto the album. It was considered one of the most popular merchandises.[6] A new series of the trading card series, Good vs WeEVIL, was released in late June 2013.[7] A new software for Bin Weevils is called Arty Arcade it will be available for PC and Mac it is set to be release in summer 2014.[8] Bin Weevils started a new era and a rebrand, the new Bin Weevils logo is now released. A brand new game called Weevil World is set to be released in 2016 [9] Bin Weevils won the BAFTA Kids' Vote category for Best Website 2014. The game has won the BAFTA Kids' Vote for Best Website 2011-2014.

Membership

Players are able to subscribe to extra features on the site by becoming a member, called Bin Tycoon. Paying this membership gives players extra features. It is currently £4.95 a month.

BAFTA Awards

Bin Weevils has won four consecutive BAFTA Awards for Best Children's Website, winning their first in 2011 and winning again in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

References

  1. ↑ "Web craze's toy story; Merchandising". The Independent. p. 56.
  2. ↑ Andrew Laughlin (16 February 2012). "Bin Weevils kids' social network launches magazine". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  3. ↑ dotAgency. "404 - Toys 'n' Playthings". toysnplaythings.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "BLE 2012: New Bin Weevils Toy Collection arrives". toynews-online.biz. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "BinWeevils clothing and bag ranges to launch this Autumn - Toy World Magazine". toyworldmag.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Could YOU write the next big hit tune? - Bin Weevils". binweevils.com. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Bin Weevils Good vs WeEvil Trading Cards Have Arrived! - Bin Weevils". binweevils.com. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "www.wiiplayxbox.co.uk - registered by Daily.co.uk". Daily Internet. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "55pixels - Multi award winning gaming studio". 55Pixels. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.