Author: John Llewellyn Martin

The Sims Social goes live… while your actual social life dies

The Sims Social, a free-to-play browser game, has just gone live on Facebook and lovingly threatens to fill our news feeds with requests for odd objects and pleas for assistance with room-building. The Sims Studio and Playfish have combined their powers to create a game that has addictive life-simulation gameplay with social gaming aspects.

Players are able to create their Sims in any likeness they desire as well as customize their homes however they see fit, providing they have sufficient funds. After the initial tutorial, players are free to befriend or annoy any neighbors they add. The Sims Social enables users to share anything they do in-game and even request help from others in order to complete a task or build a piece of furniture. With the “replay” option, players will also be able to see what their friends or frenemies were doing in their homes while they were away.

If dressing up your Sim and fung shui-ing their stuff doesn’t satisfy your gamer instincts, The Sims Social provides you with quests and updates in order to keep you going with plenty of activities.

You might find yourself constantly sending requests to friends for Cheese, Love, or even Fury. Rome was not built in a day, but your new room could be if three or more of your friends answer the call! Sending out gifts is the perfect way to ensure that you’ll also receive Sims stuff.

Speaking of stuff, real life companies like Dunkin’ Donuts, Dr. Pepper and Toyota have teamed up with Electronic Arts to feature their products in The Sims Social as actual items. These products offer your characters boosts if used and can be gifted to others once per month.

All of these items and activities are waiting for you in The Sims Social. If you’re willing to forego sleep for just a few Simoleons more, check it out on Facebook!

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Fallout: New Vegas antes up Lonesome Road DLC on September 20

Fallout: New Vegas fans who are still looking for excuses to wander the wastes might be glad to know that the fourth (and final) DLC pack, Lonesome Road, will be dropping September 20th on Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, and Steam.

Lonesome Road will feature a quest in which your character is sent to the Divide, a place riddled with canyons, earthquakes, and hurricanes. The person who sends you into this brochure-worthy locale is a man named Ulysses, the original Courier Six. The Bethesda Blog says, “It’s up to you whether you take the job or not,” but if you’re already paying for the DLC, you might as well accept the quest.

If that wasn’t enough to sate your New Vegas thirst, Bethesda has also announced that two more DLC packs will be released on September 27th: Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners’ Arsenal. Both packs promise to boost your arsenal.

The Courier’s Stash bundles all of the game’s pre-order incentives (the Caravan Pack, Classic Pack, Mercenary Pack and Tribal Pack) together in order to augment your equipment while the Gun Runners’ Arsenal offers a bevy of new weapons, mods, ammo types, and recipes.

With these three DLC packs combined, you should be able to outfit your Courier well enough to make him or her the killing-est damn thing the west ever saw.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Super Mario Advance 4, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror join 3DS Ambassador lineup

The Nintendo faithful have two more games to add to the list of Nintendo Ambassador freebies. It has been revealed that Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror will be joining the list of GBA games included in this program, bringing the confirmed number of games to seven.

Early adopters who have purchased a 3DS, or plan to purchase one before the price drop on August 12, will receive 20 free downloadable games (10 NES games and 10 GBA games). This leaves three more GBA games and five more NES games to be confirmed before the NES titles become available for download on September 1. The GBA games will all be released before the end of 2011.

The current list of Virtual Console games confirmed to be part of the 3DS Ambassador program can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged

InFamous 2 Review: InFamous Harder!

It’s good to be bad. But sometimes, it can also be badass to be so good. Sucker Punch’s sequel to 2009’s InFamous delivers on all fronts with its spectacular graphics, gameplay, and story. Gone is the original voice actor for Cole, the one who eats gravel for breakfast, lunch, and presumably dinner. We have a new Cole who sounds closer to a gruff version of Jay from Kevin Smith’s Askewniverse. Perhaps coincidentally, Cole’s new character model also happens to look a lot like a battle-scarred Jason Mewes. Once you’ve taken in all of the graphical and audible changes, the game bounds through the introduction and pulls a Samus Aran, wiping you clean of all but your most rudimentary powers. While this was a big annoyance, regaining powers helped me make the push through the game, dangling a carrot of electro-destruction in front of my face. (more…)

Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story | Tagged

Soul Calibur V wants your name in the game

A tale of souls and swords… and you! Well, at least a name of your choosing. Namco Bandai Games America is holding a promotion that lets fans name a non-player character in Soul Calibur V, the next iteration in the weapons-based fighting series.

All you have to do is go to soularchive.jp/npc_recruitin, fill out a character name and fighting style, and answer a few questions related to Soul Calibur. Some of the questions include your favorite tactics, whether or not you prefer online play, and they even ask if you think the game’s director, Daishi Odashima, is annoying. So if you’ve ever wanted to fight a character named “FUZZYDEATHBUNNY” who wields a snake sword, you have until 11 PM on August 5, 2011 to make that dream a reality.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged