The Sims 3

This minor patch for The Sims 3 addresses an incompatibility issue with save game files that results in an Error Code 16 message with saving.

Download The Sims 3 v1.7.9 Patch (19 MB)
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You can try to avoid the whirlwind or hype surrounding the release of the newest Twilight film, but you'll have a tough time doing it. Even The Sims 3 world has fallen for Twilight with this little parody video made using the game. Our question is: Where's the actual vampirism? We want to see fangs! Couldn't they borrow the animations and effects from The Sims 2 Night Life expansion?

Download The Sims 3 'Twilight: New Moon' Parody Trailer (9 MB)
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This week we get a second Lego game version of a famous adventurer, the first expansion pack to one of the biggest PC games of the year, and a weird merge between a Japanese RPG maker and a casual games developer. Oh, and Left 4 Dead 2.

Left 4 Dead 2: Valve's 2008 zombie co-op shooter gets a quick sequel as we follow a new set of four characters as they try to avoid being part of the undead apocalypse in the New Orleans area. New weapons, new melee items, new zombie bosses and new gameplay modes are all a part of the sequel.

Just in case you don't want to shoot endless amounts of virtual zombies, Electronic Arts offers you another choice of game that will also come out on November 17. Today they announced that The Sims 3 World Adventures has gone gold and will ship the same day that Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 is released. Besides the US it will also ship to 60 other contries in 22 language that same week.

This is the first of what will likely mean many expansion packs for the latest version of the people sim game. As the title implies, World Adventures takes your Sims to fictional cities in France, Egypt and China. People who register their copy get some extra content including 1,000 "SimPoints" that can be used to download new in-game items from The Sims 3 store. In addition to the expansion a new version of The Sims 3 will ship to stores the same day with added "holiday" themed content.

[Via email press release]

Valve isn't the only company offering surprise sales of its games. For the past few days Valve has been offering Team Fortress 2 for just $2.50 or $2.49 for a couple of hours each day. Now Electronic Arts is offering a special Halloween themed sale (via it's own download store) for The Sims 3.

Yep, the best selling people sim game is available to purchase and download for today only for $29.99. That's a saving of $20 compared to its normal $49.99 price. Not quite as good as picking up Team Fortress 2 for almost nothing but it will save you some money when the first expansion pack, The Sims 3 World Adventures, is released later in November.

[Via Joystiq]

It's been a little while since we have seen any lists from the NPD Group on retail PC game sales. The organization decided to no longer release their weekly top 10 PC game sales lists to the media but today they did release their top 20 best selling PC games for the month of September in retail stores.

It's not a shock to learn that NCsoft's fantasy MMO Aion was the number one best selling PC game for the month as it was already selling well in pre-orders online. The Collectors Edition made it to number four for the month. EA's The Sims 3 continues to do well in the number two slot while Cryptic Studios' super hero MMO Champions Online made a strong debut at number 3. Blizzard's MMO expansion World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King made it at number four.

One interesting note before we get to the list itself. Phantom EFX has two of their popular casino PC games in the top 20 list but their hardcore PC FPS Darkest of Days, released in September, failed to make the top 20.

1. Aion - NCsoft
2. The Sims 3 - Electronic Arts
3. Champions Online - Cryptic Studios/Atari
4. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Blizzard
5. Aion Collector's Edition - NCsoft
6. Mumbo Jumbo Assortment - Mumbo Jumbo
7. The Sims 3 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts
8. World of Warcraft Battle Chest - Blizzard
9. Real Deal Slots Treasures of the Far East - Phantom EFX
10. World of Warcraft - Blizzard
11. Spore - Electronic Arts
12. Grand Theft Auto IV - Rockstar Games
13. StarCraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard
14. Zuma's Revenge - Popcap Games
15. World of Warcraft: the Burning Crusade - Blizzard
16. Batman: Arkham Asylum - Rocksteady/Eidos
17. Real Deal Slots Adventure - Phantom EFX
18. Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Seas - Her Interactive
19. Civilization IV: The Compete Edition - Firaxis/2K Games
20. The Sims 2 University Life Collection - Electronic Arts

Have you ever wanted to have lots of pop artists from around the world sing songs in the Sims "language" of Simlish? Yep, we haven't wanted that either. But we are apparently getting a whole lot of it in the upcoming expansion pack The Sims 3 World Adventures from EA's Maxis studio.

In addition to expanding the people sim game to other locations on the game's version of Earth, the expansion pack will also add a ton of pop stars and groups from around the world singing their song in Simlish. We've already reported on a few of these artists but the final list can be found after the jump:

The Sims and Spore creator Will Wright shocked many in the game industry earlier this year when he decided to leave his long time development team at Electronic Arts to start an all new company with the terrific name Stupid Fun Club. VentureBeat chatted with Wright this week to get an update on what he's been up to and what he has planned for his new company.

Wright says that Stupid Fun Club has three projects in the works right now including one that might be released in the next year. However not all of the projects involve video or PC games. Wright states, "One of them is toy related. The others aren't. We are looking at a lot of different industries. There's the web. Toys. We're not restricted to one type of entertainment. We're kind of looking for ideas that cross a lot of different boundaries." However games are not far from his mind with Wright saying, "We are taking the games industry into other areas. We are expanding what we call the 'play industry.' Games are limited in some ways. Play can be applied to so many different kinds of experiences."

The latest stop in the series of The Sims 3 World Adventures gameplay trailers takes to China, where the game combines a bit of mythology to go with the exotic location. It also looks like sims pick up a few extra moves with this expansion, so players can put together the martial arts fantasy they've always dreamed of. The Sims 3 World Adventures is expected to release in November.

Download HD The Sims 3 World Adventures 'China' Trailer (19 MB)
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Amazon.com usually doesn't have sales on PC games but for today only that changes as EA's latest people sim game The Sims 3 has been marked down to just $29.98 on the retail web site. Also on sale for this weekend only on Steam is Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Techland's Wild West shooter is available for 30 percent off its normal Steam price.
In related news the latest paid DLC for Railworks, the Stanier Jubilee Steam Locomotive, is now available to download from Steam for $19.99.

Finally the Impulse web site has several games on sale this weekend. It includes pre-orders for Cities XL for just $39.99 and Trine for just $22.49.

Update: Steam has put three games from Rebellion (Judge Dredd, Evil Genius and Sniper Elite) for 50 percent off from now until Tuesday.

News of even more mass layoffs are hitting the game industry today. Electronic Arts has announced that it has cut back its work force at its EA Maxis studio in Emeryville, California, home to its Sims and Spore game brands. This news comes even as EA announced earlier this month that The Sims 3 has sold 3.7 million copies since its launch last June.

EA would not give any specifics on how many people are being laid off at their Maxis studios, saying only, "EA has taken action to reduce the workforce at Maxis as we focus the business and focus Maxis." Maxis' founder Will Wright left EA earlier this year to form a new company called Stupid Fun Club. EA's next major PC game from their Maxis studio is the expansion pack The Sims 3 World Adventures. Earlier this year EA said it was planning to lay off about 1,100 people from its total work force.

The Sims 3's first expansion pack, World Adventures, is supposed to take people's Sims to locations around the world. Now Electronic Arts has announced that the expansion will also feature pop songs from artists like Nelly Furtado, German artist Stefanie Heinzmann and others.

But their songs won't be heard in English. The artists will be singing their tunes for the game in The Sims's odd "Simlish" language. This of course begs the question on how other songs could be converted into "Simlish." Could we see "Sexyback" or "Umbrella" or "Boom Boom Pow" turned into The Sims' gibberish? Come to think of it, "Boom Boom Pow" is almost a Simlish song already.

The Sims 3 fan can look forward to exploring a much bigger world this fall with the game's first expansion, The Sims 3 World Adventures. In it, players will be able to travel to different countries like Egypt, China and France to pursue exotic adventures like challenges, treasure and exploring hidden caves. Alternatively, players can be like tourists and take pictures to their hearts' content, since these areas are based on real-world counterparts. The Sims 3 World Adventures is scheduled to release on November 17th.

"Guide your Sims to acclaimed fortune-or potential doom. Take your Sims to exotic destinations to hunt for hidden treasures. From mastering martial arts in Shang Simla, China, discovering rich culture and famous landmarks on a romantic getaway to Champs Les Sims, France or exploring the depths of ancient tombs in Al Simhara, Egypt, take your Sims on a journey that will change their lives. Accept challenges to search for secret treasures, learn new skills and chase down new personal opportunities, meet new Sims with unique personalities, share their culture and bring them home, discover new styles on their travels, and share everything you encounter on your adventures with the world through personal photographs, movies, and stories."

Download The Sims 3 World Adventures Trailer (18 MB)
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Electronic Arts may still be losing money but at least it knows one division where it is assured of lots and lots of money coming in. That would be from the Sims division which launched The Sims 3 back in June. As part of their financial results today, EA said that 3.7 million copies of the people sim game have been sold worldwide since its launch.

That's a massive number for any game, PC or otherwise, and proves that folks around the world haven't gotten tired of making faux people and letting them chat in that weird language of theirs. With the announcement earlier this week about the first Sims 3 expansion pack is due out this fall, EA will certainly continue to depend on The Sims series to be a huge part of their overall business.

Howdy folks. Akela is taking a little vacation (he'll be back) but we didn't want to let the readers of our weekly Mac gaming article think we had forgotten them. Today we are doing something a little different for this week's installment. Instead of reviewing some new Mac games we are taking our crystal ball and checking out the prospects for future Mac games.

As you will see in our latest gallery feature Mac gamers will have a mix of older games that will finally make their debut on the platform alongside major PC game releases that will have a simultaneous release for the Mac.

Click on the image above to continue reading 10 Upcoming Mac Games