Slaying demons with a whip and weaving through rush hour traffic? Mere child's play. Esteemed developer Konami has already broken into Facebook with games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge, but its newest game, Viva! Mall, marks a milestone for the company. This will be the first original (and complete) social game developed by Konami.

"With the release of Frogger and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge already gaining traction among the Facebook community, we felt like we were ready to make another contribution to the social networking site with the release of Viva! Mall," Konami president Shinji Hirano says. "This title is our first major attempt in bringing a full featured Facebook game to market and consumers can expect to hear more announcements on our next Facebook game soon."

Set to release Jan. 14, Viva! Mall will put players in the role of running their own shopping center. Mall owners will take care of every responsibility from cleaning it to maintaining inventory. In other words, Viva! Mall is expected to play a lot like games such as CityVille and FarmVille. Said by Konami to give players a glimpse of what it's like to run a real mall, players will be able to hire friends to manage stores. The developer also promises weekly content updates as well as gifting and daily lottery bonuses. Expect more details when our checks clear the game is released this Friday.

[Image Credit: David MacDonald]

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