Sims 3 First Expansion Pack Details

While The Sims 3 is getting ready to reproduce about a hundred million copies for retail, details about the first expansion pack have already been purportedly leaked.

There is yet a name for the expansion pack, but one of the alleged major points of the new expansion pack involves a 1st person perspective that can only be unlocked by those who pick the "Master Criminal" and/or "Evil" dreams and personalities respectively.

This enables those kinds of Sims to not only steal candy and other invaluable items in first person view, but to also be able to carjack ala Grand Theft Auto, kill other Sims and wield weapons in the first person view.

Other additions not relative to the first person view include the ability to create gangster mobs, hire hookers through the phone or through Craigslist in your computer, gain access to secret underground lots and hideouts (or create one yourself), and do drugs.

Those who pick the "Insane" personality have a bonus though: they can unlock doomsday machines!

These new additions will not only bring more realism to the simulation series, but also bring in a new slew of hardcore gamers because of the now dangerously jacked-up rating. As if sexual activities implied by the "Try for Baby" option wasn't thin a line enough!

Amazon reveals another new Kindle

Amazon just a while ago released its new 9-inch Amazon Kindle DX to American shores. Basically, it's just the Kindle 2 inflated to become much more viewable.

But what everyone didn't hear was a low-key introduction of another Kindle called the Kindle DIX- a smaller version of the Kindle 2. Nobody in the interwebs probably covered this, probably because they didn't want 12-year olds flooding the comment boards with immature jokes, so I'm biting the bullet and publishing this first.

Anyway, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had this to say about the Amazon DIX, "It's unbelievably small, but it's not as unwieldy as you'd think," True, the same e-ink screen, Whispernet connectivity, browser and annotation support are there, "the inspiration to our unbelievably small device is actually my d--k... It's small but it functions the same as all the others and just as well too!"

Now I understand why it sounds like a 12-year old's joke in and of itself.

More Details on LEGO Rock Band

You know about the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman, right?

Right?

Well, if you do know and love them, LEGO Rock Band might just be the thing for you. Taking a break from extremely famous movie franchises to extremely famous gaming franchises, Traveller's Tales' flagship (?) kiddie franchise does the unthinkable and goes on to blend both worlds.

You could always wait, but I got me some new juicy details, after the jump.

Staying true to the brand name, the two developers have decided upon a new gaming mechanic that would revolutionize all Rock Band and LEGO games forever.

Yes, you're gonna make your own instruments from LEGO blocks! Amazing!

True to the other games, the literally LEGO made instruments will also resonate on screen. If the Fender Stratocaster is the default guitar you first use in the real Rock Band games, then that LEGOcaster will be the default guitar in LEGO Rock Band. Just... wow. Not as cool as that literal axe, but still, awesome.

Just be careful with those fret buttons... perhaps LEGO Rock Band won't even have a Hard difficulty because of this thing.

Nokia and Microsoft sue each other

It may sound as if Nokia's defending a filed trademark of a phone that doesn't exist yet, but this case is a bit dumber than you'd typically expect.

Nokia has sued Microsoft for "copyright infringement" due to the widespread use of the code "E74" without consent of Nokia. Microsoft countersued Nokia because of this rather rash action.

"Like any company, we have to protect our intellectual property. Microsoft crossed the line when they illegally made possible the widespread use of the trademark," commented a Nokia representative who refused to be named, "our E75 phones are about to come out this month, and now Microsoft is capitalizing on our much-awaited phone by putting one number off the name! I dare say, this is even worse than China!"

Microsoft has yet to comment as of this writing. Meh, they're probably too busy.

Harmonix confirms "imaginative" DLC

There's nothing better in a plastic axe gamer's week than new songs to download. While we oversaw the release of Journey, Pat Benatar and Spongebob songs a couple days ago, a Harmonix insider has also confirmed a few more songs coming next week aside from Toby Keith.

I sat down with a friend of mine who worked at Harmonix, and he told me something more than I can swallow.

"We got such a warm reception over the Spongebob DLC, that we've decided to expand our horizons yet again," says the insider who wishes to remain anonymous. He showed (shoved?) a flyer "accidentally" on my face.

The Conficker worm got this for me.

Indeed, Harmonix wasn't kidding when it announced the kids' show Barney as part of the new downloadable content available for Rock Band and Rock Band 2. It features exclusive tracks made just for the game, meaning that the ever-famous "I Love You" song has been added in and reproduced for the game.

It doesn't stop there, all-new tracks for your toddlers have been added as well in this planned three-pack release. Aside from "I Love You", it also has "Let's Go BJ" and "Imagination in the House".

"These three songs will not only ease toddlers into the game, it will also let them learn about the facts of life," commented the insider. "In fact, 'Imagination' was so catchy, I'll sing a few lines for ya."

We can do it in the bedroom,

perhaps the bathroom,

maybe in the living room too.

Just remember that

your Uncle Barney loves you...

And that was when he got a call and said he had to leave. I had one last question for him, though: surely there was more than Barney coming?

"Well, we also had our share of hate when we revealed the Spongebob pack, so we had Journey to shut them up. Next week we release Toby Keith to shut them up as well."

YouTube presents New Viewing Experience

Google likes to give more options to fit more people, and that's why they've formed the YouTube New Viewing Experience to be tested in this day, April 1.

However, it's still in a closed beta, meaning that it is formally accessible to a small amount of users. A simple addition to the address bar will get you to the new viewing experience though. At the end of the video URL, just add "&flip=1" minus the quotation marks. Truly, it is awesome.

"We're giving people a new way to view their videos in that innovative Google fashion you expect. While the roll-out will take a while, we have received a daunting amount of great responses from our selective beta, and responses are what make YouTube and Google a lot better," said Chad Hurley, CEO of YouTube.

For more details on how to enjoy this experience better, click here.

Another New Shuffle design leaked?

Despite the fact that a new Shuffle was just released, it seems that Apple already has another one in the works!

While details are vague, it may seem that the earphones to be used are the In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic, but now the Remote may just be the iPod itself. Potentially, VoiceOver could be used to help in navigating the songs, and Shuffle or Repeat modes might just be activated through several clicks of the Remote's central button.

The use of in-ear headphones may signal a change to the entire iPod line, or maybe it's just because of the huge backlash due to the default headphones that come with the current generation 4GB shuffle.

The questions remain: how much capacity will it accommodate, and how much battery life it will have? Is it real at all? Will the remote have a 3.5" headphone jack (because it doesn't from the looks of it)?