EA
EA Stealing Designs From Another Game?
Apr 12th
Some EA news this morning via Kotaku. This time EA is accused of ripping off tank and other designs from Warhammer for an upcoming game.
In question are two unit designs for the game’s “Forgotten” faction, the Bombard and Grinder tanks. Eagle-eyed Warhammer fans have noticed that they’re not just similar to vehicles introduced to the tabletop series over fifteen years ago (and to which rival publishers THQ own the video game rights). They’re almost identical.
Below are the units compared with their Warhammer counterparts, the relatively obscure Ork Bonecruncha and the not-at-all obscure Imperial Guard Baneblade.
SimGuruGraham on The Sims 3 – Part 2
Apr 11th
SimsVIP has reported about another big post from SimGuruGraham where he speaks more about modding, and also mentions about the people who want Maxis back.
I don’t want to get in a tit for tat exchange; but I will talk about some of the broader topics that people have brought up in response to my post.
Perhaps most importantly is this perception that we pay more attention to the people on Twitter and Facebook than those of you on the forums. That simply isn’t true. Twitter is a great tool for quick communication and interaction with fans; it lets me chat with people and get immediate feedback, even have a real time conversation at times. What Twitter isn’t good for is getting in-depth information – for that I come to the forums. If I tried to talk to people on the forums the same way I do on Twitter, I simply wouldn’t get any work done. The talk about Facebook is intriguing as well; I have absolutely no idea where the perception comes from that we value our fans on there more than the ones here. Do people assume we implemented the new My Page and the in-game social stuff due to requests from Sims fans on Facebook? Realistically it’s something that EA is interested in implementing across all of our games. There’s stuff like Autolog in Need for Speed, Battlelog in Battlefield, and the new social features that got introduced in Showtime are part of that whole movement. It’s an effort to emphasize and build communities, connect people with their friends, and ultimately provide deeper game play experiences. Outside of our main Sims 3 Facebook page, there isn’t any direct developer interaction there that I know of, in contrast with how we have our own individual Twitter accounts. On another note, I don’t point out that it isn’t my job to be on the forums with the idea that people should be grateful that I post here, I just want people to see that those of us who get involved with the community do so because it’s something we genuinely want to do.
SimGuruGraham on The Sims 3 Community, Feedback, Games and More…
Apr 9th
I do love it when the Gurus answer our questions on Twitter and the occasional post on the forums. That’s where we find Graham today. You can find his entire post below, just click more!
Hey everyone,
Some interesting posts in this thread… I thought I’d jump in and give my own personal perspective on a few things, although I can’t respond to everything for what I hope are obvious reasons. The other challenging thing to address is that people always want answers about why certain things are the way they are, and there’s no all encompassing answer I can give you; for every compliment or complaint you can levy at the game, there’s a unique reason why each aspect of it is the way it is.
First off, people shouldn’t think of the Ideas & Feedback section as some corner of our forum that never gets read. It’s one of my favorite places to check, the name alone is indicative of exactly the type of posts I find helpful to read around here. Just to give people a general idea of what I personally do, I browse through the forums at least once a day. I like to read this board, the board of the most recently announced product to see people’s reactions (aka Sweet Treats), and the board of the most recently released product to see what parts of it people enjoy or what they’re struggling with(aka Showtime). On a less frequent basis I also check out the General board, the Technical Discussion board, and the boards that focus on player creations.
More >
SimPrograms Contest – MadCatz Sims 3 Illuminated Mouse giveaway!
Apr 6th
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! Please give me an hour or so to where I can gather up all of the entries, put them into a randomizer and draw out the 3 winners! Will be announcing them shortly! Whew, that took a lot longer then expected….I need to find a better way of doing drawings, lol. Anyhow, the three randomly picked winners are: hlchlebik, Raphael Gious and Amber (aka Queenblood_Imp). Thank you so much for playing guys, I’ll get ahold of the winners to get the details and ship em’ out! And if you’re able to purchase one yourself – do so, these are awesome 
Talk about an awesome company! I don’t tend to get a hold of gaming companies to check in about giving away items, so it was a huge shock when I heard from MadCatz over the fact that they wanted to send me three Sims 3 Illuminated Mice to give away to our readers. Of course, how could I pass up an opportunity like that? I love giving things away to the readers and it’s not often I get to do it! So with that being said (thank you, MadCatz!), 3 lucky readers will be randomly selected (because that’s easier for me to deal with) to take home one a brand new mouse!
Origin Loves Easter
Apr 6th
If you like using Origin, then here is a little deal for you.
For a limited time only, you can buy any of the games on their “Origin Loves Easter” page and get a 30% voucher code for your next purchase. Hey, it’s a little something.
Thanks to Łosiek for letting us know!
EA Not Bothered by Win as “Worst Company in America”
Apr 4th
Made a joke about big tobacco companies and more when they talked with Kotaku.
We’re sure that British Petroleum, AIG, Philip Morris, and Halliburton are all relieved they weren’t nominated this year. We’re going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide.
Reseburg also said the Human Rights Campaign is currently circulating a position to support the publisher’s “decision to have developers include same-sex relationships in recent games including Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3.” He also brought up the fact that EA-owned studio BioWare made it to the finals of the ‘Best Developer’ contest run by gaming site The Escapist.
Congrats EA – you are the worst company in America for 2012
Apr 4th
I’ve been watching this contest since Day 1, hoping EA would take home the golden prize, and guess what? They did just that! Congratulations, EA – you were voted as the Worst Company in America for 2012 by The Consumerist! It had quiet a challenge too. Paypal, Bank of America, AT&T, Comcast…While all of those have perfectly good reasons on why they should be the worst company in America, the gamers united and gave this worth title to Electronic Arts. While most Americans know the other companies are complete crap, I hope this will be publicized amongst many sites and uncover EA’s tactics when it comes to screwing over it’s consumers.
Anyhow, enough ranting – check it out for yourself! I can’t wait to hear John Riccitiello’s acceptance speech!
Sims 3 Katy Perry Sweet Treats Live Chat – 4/12
Apr 3rd
Join The Sims 3 Producer Jennifer Lane as she introduces The Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treatson April 12, 2012 at 10:00AM PDT. This is your chance to take a sneak peak at the vast range of décor items, furniture, and, of course, fabulous fashions and hairstyles, all inspired by Katy’s real-life clothing and props, plus a look at one of the three new spectacular venues. Don’t want to forget? Sign up for a reminder by entering your e-mail in the “Cover It Live” box to your right.
But that’s not all! Looking to get some cool swag from The Sims team? Tune in live and Tweet with #TS3KPsSweetTreats for your chance to be selected for random giveaways.
And remember, The Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats is available June 5, 2012, so pre-order your copy on Origin today.
Thanks to SimsVIP for the reminder!
SimPrograms Contest – The Sims 3 Showtime Katy Perry Edition (Mac)
Apr 3rd
CONTEST CLOSED and the random winner for this contest is Sarah! Congratulations, I’ll be sending out your code in a few moments! Thanks to all that participated! Hopefully there will be more chances in the future to win other cool things!
Mac fans, we have a special contest just for you (sorry, PC guys). GameTree Mac was extremely kind enough to send me a coupon code to redeem for a digital download version of The Sims 3 Showtime Katy Perry Edition. So if you don’t mind using their service, and want the digital version, then all you need to do is leave a comment in this post letting me know, and come next Tuesday (April 3), a winner will be randomly picked! Just a few sidenotes from the website itself:
$49.99 value
Only applies to TS3 Showtime Katy Perry
Code has to be redeemed by June 1, 2012
NOTE: Customers may still need to pay tax if applicable to their country
What are you waiting for – leave a comment and good luck! Please only enter once – and of course, have a legit email address so I can contact you! As far as I know, I believe it’s accessible for all countries 
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KP Sweet Treats
Diesel Stuff
SimCity 5
