Use your American Express award points in Zynga games?!

What is this world coming to? In the old days (like last week) you could use your credit card reward points to do things like get discounts on dinners or earn airline mileage. Now, through a new deal between American Express and game maker Zynga, you can use Membership Rewards to pay for virtual goods in games. 

Amex users can use their rewards to pay for not-real things in games like FarmVille and  Café World now. Points can also be used for game cards. Typing “Zynga” in the keyword search on www.membershiprewards.com brings up all virtual goods for use in Zynga’s games. Here’s a sampling of what your hard-earned points gets you in Zynga games:

• FarmVille Purple Cow (540 MR points) 
• FarmVille Manx Cat (435 MR points) 
• Café World Amex Lightning Stove (1945 points) 
• Café World Amex Outdoor Fountain (1080 points) • 
• $25 and $50 physical game cards (starting at 2500 and 5000 points)
• $2, $10 and $25 virtual game cards (starting at 200, 1000 and 2500 points).

This is history in the making, folks. This is the first time a financial services provider has partnered up with a social game company. It’s also the first for being able to redeem rewards in a game. If you thought gaming wasn’t really mainstream, I think it’s safe to say that it is now!