Ann Asher

Microtransactions & Facebook Make Their Way into The Sims 3

2009-05-01T12:20:00.005-04:00

From Ars Technica, we learn that microtransactions and social networking will have their place in The Sims 3:

"Each copy of the game will come with $10 worth of SimsPoints—-the proprietary currency that will be used for The Sims 3—-while additional points can be bought in bundles of 500, 1000, or 2000. As of now we don't now how real world dollars convert into SimsPoints."

There'll also be a way to connect to Facebook:

"...it also appears as though the game will be incorporating existing social networks like Facebook as well."

This wasn't a huge surprise, considering that EA launched The Sims 2 Store only a few months ago. What kind of items can we buy with SimsPoints for The Sims 3? That remains to be seen.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T13:05:00.001-04:00

Frohe Ostern to everyone! :)

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

No Copy Protection for The Sims 3

2009-03-26T21:51:00.003-04:00

Good news for Sims fans: The Sims 3 will NOT have online authentication--just the old-fashioned serial code. According to Rod Humble at The Sims 3 site:

The game will have disc-based copy protection – there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed.

Hooray!

The Sims 3 - Release Date Pushed Out

2009-02-05T12:50:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great new year!

Sadly, I have some bad news: Maxis reports on The Sims 3 website that, "The Sims will launch across the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch and mobile devices summer 2009. The Sims 3 PC will ship to store shelves worldwide starting June 2, 2009."

Follow the link above for more details. I'm a little disappointed myself because I have some free time now, but I probably won't in June. However, this is probably a blessing for youngsters, who won't have to be distracted from school. And, in any case, I'm sure I'll find a way to make time to play!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T10:04:00.002-05:00

Have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year! See you next year.
Frohe Weihnachten und friedvolle Feiertage!

The Sims 3 - Evil Mastermind

2008-12-19T14:05:00.003-05:00

A cute new video on The Sims 3 website clues you in on just how evil some sims can be. Check it out!

Dragonhawks & Pack Mules

2008-12-11T13:39:00.003-05:00

I hope you like dragonhawks and pack mules! MMO Champion reports the Patch 3.0.8 PTR Notes and mentions 3 dragonhawk mounts and a summoned pack mule, which will give you access to bank items for 3 minutes. Follow the link to check out details!

The Sims 2 & Paysites -- Together at Last?

2008-11-28T13:30:00.004-05:00

If you celebrated it, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! And if you didn't (and even if you did), I hope this weekend is great! Here's some The Sims 2 news for you:

Poster Judhudson over at Urban Online Entertainment lets us know that the Maxoids are now defending the Paysites' rights to make money. He quotes a post made by MaxisDrea which forbids linking to PaySitesMustBeDestroyed on the official The Sims 2 Forums. That sounds fair enough, right? Until you hear her reasoning:

"This site often posts content that is either from our TS2 Store or from partner sites which are pay/subscription based. This is considered linking to pirated content." (emphasis mine)

Judhudson argues:

"As I recall, [PSMBD members] don’t post content from your store because it is official created by EA and technically is commercial content (even though it’s my opinion that it’s stupid to charge for such). PaySites Must Be Destroyed was setup to host content from fan-made paysites.

Speaking of which…since when did paysites become “Partner sites”?* Isn’t this breaking your own rules?"

So head on over to the Urban Entertainment Forums via the link above, grab some popcorn, and check out the sources he lists at the bottom. Once again, EA Maxis is providing us with a wild ride.

24 Spore Parts - Free!

2008-11-25T13:19:00.003-05:00

Last week, in honor of the new Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, Maxis released a patch that installs 24 new creature parts into your game. They're "exoskeleton limbs," and they're not available for the Creature Creator Trial Edition. You also have to have the EADM installed. The patch is for both PC and Mac. Enjoy!

Ozzy Osbourne and His Undead Warlock

2008-11-21T13:35:00.001-05:00

World of Warcraft 'Ozzy Osbourne' TV ad

There are naysayers who insist that Ozzy doesn't actually play World of Warcraft. But I choose to believe! You be the judge.

The Horde Goes to War!

2008-11-11T11:43:00.002-05:00

So, what was the deal with the frost wyrms in Orgrimmar yesterday? When did Lady Sylvanus decide a move to Durotar was in order? Why was Thrall battling beloved Grom Hellscream's only son, Garrosh? And, most importantly, why will millions of players pay an additional $40 this week to play World of Warcraft? This video, made by one of my guildmates, explains it all.

EA Teaches Customers How to Pirate Their Software

2008-11-04T15:55:00.007-05:00

If I hadn't read it on arstechnica, I wouldn't have believed it. Seems that EA distributed copies of Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 with incomplete CD keys. To correct the problem, they are teaching customers how to guess their CD key.

"There is currently a workaround that may allow you to bypass this issue," the entry reads. "Since you have the first 19 characters of the code already, you can basically try 'guessing' the last character. To do this, simply enter your existing code, and then for the last character, try the letters A-Z, and then the numbers 0-9. You should eventually get the right combination, and be able to play the game. If this does not work, you can follow the instructions below."

Isn't that encouraging--no, teaching--piracy? If so, then why even have a DRM at all?

Update: EA has updated the entry on their website to no longer include the quoted information.

Happy Halloweeen!

2008-10-31T16:29:00.002-04:00

more animals

Look Out - EA Forum Blacklisting Gets You Banned From All EA Games

2008-10-30T14:40:00.007-04:00

Kotaku points out a new policy at EA games: If you're banned from any EA forum, you're banned from all the EA games you own. It's explained in the quote below made by EA Community Manager Aaron Kaufman (aka APOC).

"Your forum account will be directly tied to your Master EA Account, so if we ban you on the forums, you would be banned from the game as well since the login process is the same. And you'd actually be banned from your other EA games as well since its all tied to your account. So if you have SPORE and Red Alert 3 and you get yourself banned on our forums or in-game, well, your SPORE account would be banned to. It's all one in the same, so I strongly recommend people play nice and act mature."

As with many things EA does, I can't figure out what their end goal is. Drive away customers? Anger as many gamers as possible? Maybe they are helping the average gamer to save money in these hard times by encouraging them not to buy their games.

Spore Halloween Wallpapers

2008-10-29T23:15:00.002-04:00

There are a couple of new Halloween wallpapers over at the Spore official website. Get them and enjoy your holiday!

The Sims 3 Screenshots

2008-10-24T16:40:00.002-04:00

There's a really nice collection of screenshots over at Urban Online Entertainment's gallery for The Sims 3. Enjoy & have a great weekend!

Spore DRM "A Corporate Decision" says Will Wright

2008-10-22T16:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a link to an interesting article on ars technica about Will Wright's thoughts on Spore's DRM.

"They had a plan and the parameters, but now we’re allowing more authentications and working with players to de-authenticate... For most players it’s not an issue—it’s a pretty small percentage—but some people do like wiping their hard disk and installing it 20 times, or they want to play it 10 years later."

Follow the link for more.

The Sims 3 Collector's Edition Available

2008-10-21T14:43:00.002-04:00

From The Sims 3 official website: The Sims 3 Collector's Edition is available for preorder. The Collector's Edition comes with:

2 GB THE SIMS PLUMBOB™ USB DRIVE
EUROPEAN STYLED SPORTS CAR DOWNLOAD
NEW THEME MUSIC FROM THE SIMS 3
AN EXCLUSIVE PRIMA TIPS & HINTS GUIDE

...and a bit more. This is the preorder I want to get. Yeah, I can't resist The Sims. I'm such a sucker!

Sims 2 Stuff Pack "Mansion & Garden"

2008-10-17T14:39:00.004-04:00

What's the next stuff pack to be released by EA for the Sims 2? Mansion & Garden. The focus seems to be on recreating historical homes with Moroccan, Art Deco, and retro-modern design elements. Looks like the release date is set for Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008, according to the direct download. Follow the link for screenshots and more info!

Spore Game Mods

2008-10-15T12:39:00.004-04:00

The Facepunch Studios forum has a great thread which lists a collection of mods for your Spore game. It explains how to install, troubleshoot, and disable mods, too. Worth checking out if you love to mod your games! I can't vouch for whether they work or not, though. Use at your own risk.

Spore Expansion Packs Announced

2008-10-13T13:29:00.004-04:00

Ars Technica tells us that EA has confirmed two new expansion packs for Spore will be sold, one of them as early as November. The Creepy & Cute Parts Pack will provide players of both Spore and the Creature Creator 100 new parts to their game, while the expansion coming out next spring (Spring 2009) will allow you to leave your spaceship and explore the surfaces of worlds. It will also allow players to build and share customized missions.

BlizzCon '08 Weekend Live Coverage

2008-10-10T15:22:00.003-04:00

Looks like you can watch a live stream of BlizzCon '08 on the Blizzard website. Catch the arena tournaments and other events live there if you--like me--don't have DIRECTV.

Have a great weekend!

How to Use the Spore Music Anthem Editor

2008-10-08T13:26:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the weekly Spore day over at Spore.com, and they celebrated by posting a tutorial video which teaches you how to use the Anthem Editor--the music editor that makes your city tune (I have embedded the video below).
I know I can sure use help with this!

Sims 3 Update! New Video and "Create a Style"

2008-10-07T13:10:00.004-04:00

On the front page of The Sims 3 website, there's a great new video of some (very attractive) men and women working on The Sims 3. Who knew Ben Bell was such a hottie? Anyway, the video explains features as well as character design and game play. It also shows a lot of crazy people pretending to be sims!

There's also a blog entry today by producer Jennifer Lane about the "Create a Style" feature that will be in The Sims 3.

Check it out!

Thorough and Simple Guide to Spore

2008-10-01T23:16:00.002-04:00

Happy October 1st!
Yeah so it's not really a holiday or whatever.
Anyway, doyoureadthis on the Spore forums has composed a fairly thorough guide to Spore. Best of all, it's FREE. It's constantly being updated and has lots of decent tips. Check it out!