Hilary Duff Heading to The Sims: Pets: Sadistic Men Start Pre-orders By LostToys @ 05:23 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

Coming from the "Why the hell are you wasting my time?" department comes word that the one, and only, Hilary Duff will be heading to a copy of The Sims: Pets near you. Electronic Arts today announced that Hilary Duff will appear in The Sims 2 Pets along with her Chihuahua Lola. This will apparently be the videogame debut for the "recording artist, actress, fashion designer and philanthropist." The Sims 2 Pets will release for PS2, GCN and PC in October 2006, with a DS version following in November 2006. This would normally be the place where I would say how I can't wait to lure Hilary into a room with a removable door, so i can laugh at her when she pees herself, but I am much too good for that. Much too good.

Sony Denies PLAYSTATION 3 Overheating Issues: No One Surprised By LostToys @ 05:18 PM :: Sony Playstation :: Comment Now

GameIndustry has an exclusive statement about overheating concerns which came to light due to crashing PS3 hardware on the Tokyo Game Show floor this past September. "SCE can categorically deny that there's any problems with PS3 units overheating," said the company in a statement issued to GI.biz. "As could be seen on the TGS floor by the tens of thousands of media and public attendees, both the hardware and software worked flawlessly," the statement concludes. Yeah, cause you know, nothing builds customer confidence like admitting you have a mistake.

The Next Generation Developement is Expensive: Mark Rein says Budget Sucka! By LostToys @ 05:12 PM :: Xbox 360: Action :: Comment Now

Mark Rein is bitchslapping developers clamouring about the high cost of game developement. EA and other publishing companies are claiming that next generation gaming budgets are around 20~30 million dollars. Mark Rein says hogwash. Speaking at the London Games Summit, Rein said that it's taken a team of 20 - 30 people around two years to complete work on GOW - arguing that despite claims by some industry figures, it's still possible to create next-gen titles using medium sized teams and without gigantic budgets. When asked by an audience member how much GOW had cost to produce, Rein replied, "So far, around $10 million, maybe a little less.

EA Already Cuts DICE By LostToys @ 05:08 PM :: No Subject :: Comment Now

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz EA's communications boss Tiffany Steckler confirmed the closure, and that staff from the studio were currently being considered for other positions within Electronic Arts. "In Canada we have three locations - Burnaby, Vancouver and Montreal - so we didn't need a development studio in Ontario," she revealed. "Many of the staff from that office are now being interviewed for positions at either EA Canada or elsewhere and the work that was being undertaken at Ontario will now be transferred to Stockholm, back to the Digital Illusions team in Sweden," she added.

Dear EA, You Suck By LostToys @ 05:03 PM :: General Gaming :: Comment Now

So it seems that not everyone is in love with Electronic Arts. It seems that NBA Live 2007 has broke the preverbal camel's back, and the basketball interweb community has created an Open Letter to Electronic Arts. Whether EA does or does not care about its fans, the bigger issue is perception, and the image that EA presents is that they don't care. Every year, we as a community submit one or more wishlists, often with the same wishes from year to year. A lack of implementation of the wishes sows seeds of belief that EA isn't paying attention. When EA releases a game in which the CPU won't even use its bench, and overrides user substitutions, it sows seeds that EA doesn't care and just wanted to cash in. When major online media do not recieve review copies, it leads to the belief that EA knew the product was defective but proceeded anyway. When community members contact EA and receive a response that seems to imply EA isn't too interested in fixing the problems, and telling us to wait until the next game, it does quite a bit of harm to our faith in the company. You may own the NFL, but you do not own NBA. See you again next year, EA.

Site Update - Kickin' The Tires By Kyle 'Pezman' Peschel @ 11:27 AM :: In-House: Announcement :: Comment Now

I'm back in the US after my extended travels. Upon returning I went surfing through the site and discovered that most of our images seem to be mysteriously missing. I was able to replace about 90% of them from backups. Feel free to ICQ me: 15037690 or AIM: ataripezman if you know of any additional holes in the site. If you are wanting to show off your mad writing skills, or your graphic skills, or any skills for that matter; contact me via ICQ or AIM.

	Morning Brief - Wednesday on Thursday Edition By LostToys @ 12:00 AM :: In-House: Morning Brief :: Comment Now
Sorry for not posting a MB yesterday, I was at a business meeting in Seattle, WA and didn't feel like lugging my PC downstairs to post a MB. So I played more Yakuza tonight. At first I hated the dubs with a passion, but they soon grow on you. Well, they never grow enough to the level of "I like this" but it does get to the "I can live with this" level of acceptability.