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Carry a Tune or Trick for a Treat with The Sims 3 Showtime

Claire Phillips
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A new year, a new Sims expansion. The latest add on for the Sims 3 is Showtime, which will let your Sims pursue some glitzy, glamorous careers in various areas of showbiz . EA have just released some new screenshots for the magician and singer career paths, complete with some of the usual Sim humor.

Before hitting the big time with their own stage show, magically inclined Sims will be able to pull off little tricks to impress their friends and earn some experience, whilst singers can be recruited to perform musical telegrams for Sims who are down on their luck or celebrating an occasion. Acrobat and DJ careers will also be available, and for the first time ever players will be able to send their character over to another game using the SimPort feature – fancy getting a friend over to show you some magic tricks? Well now it’s possible…

Phantom Breaker to receive Special Edition release

Travis Bruno
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Late last night surprising news surfaced in the form of Phantom Breaker, 5pb’s nearly all female and anime themed fighting game, would be localized in North America and would be released in the coming months. The company who would be publishing the title is the newly formed publisher 7sixty. More information has now surfaced as Siliconera has learned through a Southpeak representative that 7sixty is still under the Southpeak umbrella and they would also have a hand in bringing the title to North America.

To make the news even better, when Phantom Breaker is released later this year on the Xbox 360 it will be released in a limited edition package which can be seen below.

As you can see, the package will come with a miniature strategy guide with tips for all of the playable characters in the game with artwork done by Hiro Suzuhira, the man behind the artwork of Phantom Breaker. Besides that, buyers will be receiving a desk calendar, two double sided posters and a fancy limited edition box. To kick off the news, 7sixty has also launched an official website for the title which can be found here, though at the moment it simply contains a link to pre-order the game through Amazon. The current Amazon listing shows the Special Edition at only $39.99 which is honestly quite a steal for a package with as many bonuses as this one contains.

Soul Calibur V Goes Gold

Claire Phillips
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Soul Calibur is back! Almost. Set seventeen years after the previous installment, the latest in Namco Bandai’s series of fighting games comes a mere four years after the release of the Darth Vader and Yoda starring Soul Calibur IV. This time around players will be able to get their hands on Ezio, Ubisoft’s star assassin from the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Series fanatics will also be able to grab a special Collector’s Edition at launch, which will include an art book, music CD, making of content and two sets of downloadable armor for the character creation mode.

The game has officially gone gold, which in game developer speak means that development has complete and the game has been released to manufacture. Soul Calibur V will hit the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 31 in North America. Australia will see the game on February 2, and the EU on February 3.

Microsoft Flight coming this Spring

Joshua Moris
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Microsoft announces today that Microsoft Flight is coming to Windows in this spring. And the best part about this game is that it will be FREE. It will be available as a free download with unlockable achievements.

After finishing the download, players will be able to jump into their plane and explore the grand island of Hawaii. Additional free content will be available to download once players access their Xbox Live accounts. Following the initial missions, users will be able to purchase new maps as well as new planes to traverse the skies. Different planes will offer a whole new customizable experience from looks to maneuverability.

If you don’t feel like waiting, Microsoft is opening their doors to beta testers. Here is the link for entering the Microsoft Flight Beta. Once you have opened the link, you will see the Microsoft Connect log-in. Log-in with your Live/Hotmail account and follow the directions on the page. Be sure to enter your Xbox Live Gamertag correctly.

Check out the Microsoft Flight trailer below, and sign up for the beta!

New Max Payne 3 Screenshots Bring Some Payne

Luke Halliday
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New Max Payne 3 Screenshots Bring Some Payne

Rockstar has today released three new screenshots as part of their mammoth Max Payne 3 promotional campaign throughout January, which they promise will bring more news for you to stay tuned for.

For now though they have released three glorious screenshots for your viewing pleasure below. Each screenshot show Max engaged in some killer action as he blasts his way through wherever the hell he wants.

Check the screenshots out below, or you could alternatively check out Rockstar’s splash site, whichever you’d prefer. Be sure to stay tuned for more news on Max Payne 3, as this game is on fire! Let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.

Phantom Breaker being released in North America by 7sixty

Travis Bruno
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2012 has barely even begun and we already have news of a huge piece of surprising news. The nearly all female fighting game, Phantom Breaker, which was developed by Japanese company 5pb is going to actually be localized and released in North America. The game features a full cast of anime styled character and has  a couple of guest characters. This includes Kurisu Makise from Steins;Gate and Rimi Sakihata from Chaos;Head.

As found on Amazon the company that is localizing the title is a little known publisher known as 7sixty, despite the listing showing SouthPeak as clarified by 7sixty’s Twitter. The company is based in Grapevine, Texas and is responsible for releasing the Stronghold 3 series on PC and this seems to be their first venture into the niche Japanese game market. 7sixty has not released any further information about Phantom Breaker at this time though they do expect to see the game released sometime this year.

Considering 5pb released the title on the Xbox 360 it will be interesting to see what platform the series will appear on in North America, although the current listing also shows Xbox 360. We have reached out to 7sixty to clarify this information. Until then, a trailer from 5pb for the Japanese version of the game can be seen below.

Katawa Shoujo available now!

Travis Bruno
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While a small group of people getting together to make a video game of some sort isn’t unheard of, the task undertaken by Four Leaf Studios was something never done by such a group. Five years ago a group of twenty one developers began making a visual novel titled Katawa Shoujo and all of these developers created the art, music, writing, programming as well as the storyline. Besides these 21 specific developers, multiple contributors aided in helping make the 18+ visual novel become a reality.

Now while a 18+ visual novel in English may not be anything new, Katawa Shoujo takes a step in an uncharted direction. While yes, the title should not be played by anyone under 18 years old and a few may find it uncomfortable, the title’s female cast all suffer from some physical disability. This includes a blind girl, one with no arms, one with burns all over her body and more, even the main character suffers from heart defects. Although the title may be adult in nature, it can also be seen as a way to enforce that even those with disabilities are still people with feelings and emotions the same as everyone else.

Now Four Leaf Studios chose not to charge even a penny for their hard work and has released the game free of charge for the PC, Mac and Linux systems. Of course the game is over 18 only and should not be accessed by anyone else, however it can be downloaded here.

Steam Hits over 5 Million Concurrent Users

Dustin Spencer
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If anyone thinks PC gaming is even close to dying, they should check the new numbers from Steam. With over 35 million users worldwide, the digital service recently reached a monumental 5 Million concurrent users. Given the huge amount of holiday sales and the mega successes of the Humble Bundles and Skyrim, it’s no wonder that so many users were seen online at one time.

Console wars are still as hot as ever, but if this recent number is any indication, then 2012 might just be a year that PC gaming as a whole makes a full fledged revival. Considering how cheap it is to produce a game on Steam, it’s honestly head scratching to think that Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony haven’t at least attempted to get a slice of the pie.

Green Technology “PumPing Tap” Saves Energy by Automatically Unplugging Unused Appliances

G Dino
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The PumPing Tap, a recent green technology innovation, is gaining popularity throughout the Web. In 2011, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany awarded the innovation with the Red Dot Award for design concept, an annual international product design award. The gadget unplugs appliances that are not being used after 10 minutes of inactivity.

The PumPing Tap ‘pops out’ a plug from a socket 10 minutes after it detects a drop in current going through the socket which indicates that the appliance is turned off. It uses a spring-loaded mechanism built into wall sockets to eject plugged power cables. When an appliance is turned off and is no longer in use, a bluish circle around the socket the device is plugged into turns to red, which signals the beginning of the 10 minute countdown. After the time has elapsed, the PumPing Tap device automatically pops the plug out.

Gadgets and appliances in standby mode use up energy while they’re still plugged in. The PumPing Tap endeavors to save the energy and money wasted on residual energy consumption. The design concept is not for public consumer markets, though green technology companies eager to develop more power and money saving gadgets might end up developing and marketing it sometime in the future.

Now what does this have to do with you as gamers? Quite a lot actually. Believe it or not, systems take up a good amount of energy when ran in long time spans. If you also account for the portables you charge and never unplug, that can certainly amount to a lot of wasted power. This device may be your ticket to saving some bucks and helping good ‘ol mother earth in the process…if it comes out that is.

3D Classics: Kid Icarus Launches on the eShop in Europe

Dustin Spencer
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Not too long ago, Nintendo announced plans to release the original Kid Icarus in 3D for the eShop service. Those in Europe can now celebrate, as Pit’s first journey is out now, so consider this a friendly reminder. As for a price, well…at the moment, there isn’t one. That is of course because the entire game is free to anyone who registered at least 2 Nintendo 3DS titles through Club Nintendo, you automatically can redeem your download as of now without hurting the wallet.

For those who have yet to snag up two or more qualifying titles, your time is coming soon and 3D Classics: Kid Icarus will be available for £5.40/€6 in the coming future. I would guess that this means that the U.S. will also receive the same kind of treatment, and if that does indeed go down this week, we will be sure to bring you an update.

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