“2.5 million sales! That’s as much as Diablo 1 and FarCry, according to Wikipedia,” said Markus “Notch” Persson in a tweet heralding the success of the game Minecraft. There will be versions for Xperia Play and xBox live Arcade as part of their expansion but Persson said he will not have his hand on any programming like he did on the PC version.

The company’s putting a hold on Minecraft’s official release, which is supposed to be on November 11, 2011, due to venue issues, thus, consequently overlapping with the first ever MinecraftCon.

Speaking of Xperia Play, reviews reveal that the new device has got a lot of potential, and a few problems, which is good. But perhaps the most awesome part about it is its price, diving to $0.01. You can purchase it off Amazon for only one cent for new customers, and $49.99 for upgrades. Sounds unreal, aye? Better check it out for yourself. You can also buy the device for 99 cents and get $25 Android Market gift card.  Amazon’s quick to compete on prices, especially when it comes to Android-related products.

But all in all, games are serious business. Angry Birds is an epic example of how a popular game can invade every aspect of profitability; turning into t-shirts, stuffed toys, card games, movies, and now, cook book and live action? I’m not sure what recipes are they going to put in the book though. Perhaps eggs, but that would be peculiar, or maybe ham (because of their pig enemies), or maybe both. It’s a little too far fetched, but I must admit that I find it kinda cute. As to the live action, all I can say is that I can’t imagine a real bird banging its head on structures of wood and bricks, unless it’s a woodpecker.

Most browser-based games these days are played on Facebook, and Facebook games are dominated by Zynga. The company yet again demonstrates its potency when its new title Empire and Allies skyrockets to 10 million users in just 9 days, making it one of the fastest-growing games in Zynga’s history. The figures are impressive but this might come off as nothing special, considering that we’re talking about the creator of the CityVille and FarmVille. Of course, the game bears the trademark animation of Zynga, that which is light-hearted, cartoonish, and casual.

However, Zynga’s social media reign might one day come to an end. At the Electronic Arts Entertainment Expo, the Sims creator announced that they will be launching a social network version of Sims, to be called Sims Social. The roll out data is yet to be announced, though there are already over 84,000 people who liked the Sims Social Facebook fan page, with a rating of 4.8 stars out 5. That being said, Zynga has every reason to be threatened.