It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since we discovered how hilarious it was to lock a Sim in a doorless room with nothing but ovens to keep him company, but there it is: The Sims franchise has turned 10 years old today. The press release announcing the series' first decade also reveals that the franchise has sold 125 million units lifetime-to-date, which is an impressive figure -- especially when you consider EA is only reporting the PC franchise numbers. That figure doesn't include console ports.

The Sims franchise has managed to generate $2.5 billion in revenue for EA. The latest iteration in the series, The Sims 3, was 2009's top-selling PC game and has sold 4.5 million copies so far worldwide. While one could argue the latest game's success is in large part due to the series' ability to appeal to just about every type of gamer, we'd argue that the inclusion of Ludwig Kietzmann really helped push it over the top.

The Sims franchise celebrates 10th anniversary today originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, Rock Band aficionados! Are you ready to spend your hard-earned Microsoft Points, Wii Points or good old-fashioned cash money on tracks which you'll never be able to play without injuring your tender, fragile metacarpals? Brace your bones -- the Music Store is about to get a healthy dose of Megadeth, in the form of the outfit's 1990 album "Rust in Peace." Or, as it's more commonly known, "The one with 'Hangar 18' on it."

The nine-track album will be available for $14.99 (1200, bundle not available on Wii), and can also be purchased piecemeal for $1.99 (160, 200 Wii Points) per track. In addition, the Who's "Super Bowl S-mashup" medley will be made available on Sunday after the big game for $1.99 (160, 200 Wii Points).

Check out all the songs included in next week's update after the jump.

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Megadeth's 'Rust in Peace,' The Who mashed-up

Rock Band Weekly: Megadeth's 'Rust in Peace,' The Who mashed-up originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite PopCap's claim to appeal the original ruling of the lawsuit between it and MumboJumbo, a judge has awarded another $2.7 million to MumboJumbo citing "legal fees," according to Develop. 193rd Civil District Court Judge Carl Ginsberg ruled earlier this week that PopCap would be burdened with the amount (which includes $525,000 in "post-verdict appeals"), making the total sum that MumboJumbo receives $7.3 million.

The case originally derived from an alleged breach of contract on PopCap's part regarding the right to sell its own games in North America -- in so many words, the lawsuit found that PopCap had illegally broken an agreement with MumboJumbo and sold/marketed said games in NA (those monsters!). That said, the agreement was for MumboJumbo to handle that sales/marketing, thus making PopCap in breach of contract in doing so. Sound confusing? It's business, folks. We're right there with you.

PopCap loses another $2.7m to MumboJumbo originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The bubbly Katee Sackhoff came to Attack of the Show today to talk about her new show, 24, and hang out with the Fax Bear during our 2010 Faxathon--so of course we were on hand to snap some behind the scenes photos! Check out our special photo gallery of Katee on set with Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn. Hmm, looks like that Fax Bear is getting a little too close to comfort with Starbuck.

Konami announced yesterday that Upper Deck had been forced to settle with the company after allegedly printing hundreds of thousands of faked Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in China and bringing them stateside. On any other day, this news would just be kind of funny, but it's elevated by attorney for Upper Deck Richard Howell who said "At this point, Upper Deck doesn't have a lot of Life Points. We're talking about behavior that, from a defense attorney's standpoint, I can't defend and I am not going to defend. I'm here defending a counterfeiter. And now I have to deal with that issue."

That's right: Life Points. Dude learned enough about Yu-Gi-Oh! to drop Yu-Gi-Oh! references. Man, that's the kind of lawyer you want to have. ... Unless, we guess, you're Upper Deck, in which case, it seems like you probably could have chosen a guy that didn't tell people how guilty you were.

Like a mean cousin, Upper Deck steals Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh! cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hori has finally revealed details about the mysterious giant arcade stick it had on display at Tokyo Game Show. The Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX series will be released in Japan this March in Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, for ¥30,000 ($330) -- a price that ensures that it's for fighting game nerds only.

But what do said nerds get for their money, besides obvious proof that they've spent a lot? An enormous controller patterned after the control panel in Taito's Vewlix arcade cabinet -- the cabinet used for Street Fighter IV machines. It comes equipped with arcade-standard Sanwa buttons and joystick, and features a flip-up panel for wiring access and extra button storage (in case you want to remove some to create an authentic button layout for a particular game).

Importer Play-Asia will carry both versions of the VLX, but currently has no pricing information. Expect to pay a lot for shipping, on account of the bigness.

New Hori arcade sticks are large originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK-based Kuju Entertainment has confirmed to Develop the closure of its Manila studio and the integration of another studio into its Zoë Mode brand. The studio in the Philippines had developed Circus Games for the Wii, but it appears the big top wasn't expected to make big money, as the publisher concluded that "prospects for further titles of this type are limited."

Kuju's kid-friendly studio, Nik Nak, which opened in late 2007, has been "integrated" into Zoë Mode, which has offices in Brighton, London and San Francisco. The Nik Nak studio had produced Dragonology, originally intended as a Wii title, which was then "remade as a DS title." Mega break-out studios these were not.

Source -- Kuju confirms Nik Nak studio merger [Develop]
Source -- Kuju to close Manila studio [Develop]

Kuju closes Manila branch, integrates kid-focused studio originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know Gamer, right? That movie with a pasty-faced kid controlling human prisoners in a future game? Well, it turns out that the film almost ended up as a Grand Theft Auto joint. According to a recent interview with co-writer/director Mark Neveldine, "We [Neveldine and co-writer Brian Taylor] actually were going to be hired to write GTA. I am sure that was part of it. That was after we wrote and directed Crank, so I got involved with GTA pretty heavily, I didn't grow up with it."

Neveldine claims that it was a "rights issue" that caused the silver screen adaptation of GTA to founder. "It was a movie originally directed by Ron Howard ... and because Rockstar Games made a video game, there is some battle of who can use the title ... you can't make it about the game." Back in 2008, Variety alleged that a GTA movie was on the precipice of production when the deal fell through, but we get the feeling that these folks are speaking about something completely different.

Why a Grand Theft Auto movie hasn't gotten off the ground (yet) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you want to play a bunch of songs by The Who in Rock Band in a manner that satisfies your minute attention span, and do so soon, MTV and Harmonix just made an announcement that will delight you (however briefly). Alternately, you're going to be thrilled if you want to capture some Super Bowl magic in your living room.

On Sunday, February 7, The Who will play a 15-song medley during the Super Bowl's halftime show, and Rock Band will feature that same medley as a $2 download the same day (on Xbox 360 and Wii, anyway -- the PS3 version will arrive later). Though the medley consists of songs that are already featured in the Rock Band games, this is a new recording of portions of all of those songs played together. The list of included songs is after the break.

Yeaahhhhhhhhh!

Continue reading Play The Who's Super Bowl halftime performance in Rock Band

Play The Who's Super Bowl halftime performance in Rock Band originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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