We have no idea how they're planning to do it, but 20th Century Fox looks set on bringing Electronic Arts' popular Sims franchise to the big screen. According to Variety, Fox has acquired the rights to The Sims and will be making a live-action movie based on it.

"The Sims has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it," said Sims Studio head Rod Humble. "Given that that's an old story, you can imagine how easily that would translate to traditional story telling."

Humble will be managing the creative property for Electronic Arts while Steve Asbell is overseeing the project for Fox. The script will reportedly be handled by Brian Lynch, who also penned Scary Movie 3 and the upcoming Big Helium Dog. The story is still under wraps and talents have yet to be associated with the project.

 

The popular Sims franchise has just began to expand outside the computer and other consoles' screens. If you're thinking that EA is dishing out a Sims action figure or Barbie edition, then you're mistaken. If you head on to The Sims website now (just click on the link below), you'll see that they're planning on coming up with a limited edition Sims credit card.

You could even vote for one of the four designs that they have. So far, design number three and four are going neck to neck (design three has 31% of votes while number four has around 27%). This offer is only for North America and EA promises that this limited plastic money will offer "exciting rewards and offers for The Sims player community".

Well, check it out for yourself by clicking on the link below.

What do you do when your cat or dog doesn't look so good? It can't tell you what's wrong so you take it to your vet because unlike Dr. Doolittle, people can't communicate with their furry bestfriends. Apparently, pet woes are not limited to the real world. Pet problems strike virtual pet lovers, too. Here's Pets 101 from tmrcx for The Sims 2 Pets so you can play Dr. Doolittle yourself:

• Flu - Use a Stethoscope when examining the pet and it tell you that it has a flu. Purchase some "Pet Medicine" from Vets B Us (catalog) and have the pet drink the meds for three days.
• Fleas - Brush the pet's coat to check for fleas. If the pet has them, buy some "Flea Shampoo" from Frugal Felines (catalog) and give the pet a bath. Repeat it for three days.
• Worms - Feed the pet a snack to check for worms. Buy some "Worm-b-gone" from catalogs Bone Cheap or Frugal Felines and have the pet drink this for three days.
• Filthy - The owner of the pet will tell you that his or her pet smells. Give the pet a bath with the shampoo specifically for it. Filthy pets are kept for one day and should be checked for fleas.
• Ugly - The owner of the pet will tell you that their pet is ugly. Keep the pet for a day and dress it up with pet clothes.
• Broken Bone/Limb - Use an X-ray to determine if the pet has broken bones. Buy bandages from the catalogs and a Neck Cone. The pet should be kept for five days to be sure that the fractures mend completely.
• Lodged Item - X-ray the pet to check if it has swallowed any foreign objects. An Extractor from Vets B Us would be just the thing to get the thing out of the pet. Be sure to get the lodged item within a day.

Aspiring vets can't be blamed for being forgetful at times, players can check the owner's instructions by pressing the R trigger. Also, owners might not pick up their pets first thing in the morning so you have time to finish some tasks you forgot.

The end of the month is coming up, and while you guys will be out there running around trick-or-treating, we thought we'd tickle your gaming sweet tooth by giving you a compilation list of the games coming out for the next few days. Once again, save
yourself the trouble of sweating out a long walk to you local retail store, and enjoy our Halloween treat for  'ya.

And while there's a lot of games to look forward to, we'll have to honestly say that our top picks would have to be The Sims 2: Pets (Sickeningly cute animals, go figure), and FEAR (This one just for this holiday's sake).

Nintendo DS

• 10/30/06 Children of Mana
• 10/30/06 Pokemon Ranger
• 10/31/06 Konductra
• 10/31/06 Nacho Libre
• 10/31/06 The Sims 2: Pets
• 10/31/06 Tom and Jerry Tales
• 10/31/06 Scurge: Hive
• 11/01/06 Chicken Little: Ace in Action

See the full list after the jump!

The Sims 2: Pets just launched today, and for those of you not in the loop, this is gonna be the latest installment for the award-winning game franchise, The Sims. Aside from your normal selection of Sim controls and features, this game adds a whole new element to your daily, mundane life as a sim: Cute furry animals.

Unlike normal characters, you can't directly control pets - the only way to do so is by interacting with them by your character, much like you would to a real pet; "Genius" pets respond to commands faster than normal (Play dead!), while untrained pets won't respond at all (word of the day: housetrained).

Interesting Features aside, the game will also include songs from famous groups, like "Don Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls, and "Chemicals React" by Aly and AJ - all conveniently translated into Simlish.

Well, we'll let you discover the other details as you move along in the game. Now, on to the game interface furry-furries!

Hollywood and gaming are two industries about to reach a crossroad. Take for example Director Peter Jackson on the Halo Project and Star Trek's five captains doing voice overs. Today, that relationship becomes even stronger as Electronic Arts announced the inclusion of Hilary Duff in the list.

The actress/fashion designer/recording artist will be appearing in the upcoming Sims title, The Sims 2: Pets for the DS and the PSP. This apparently is the video debut for Duff and her blue fawn teacup chihuahua. "I've logged hundreds of hours playing The Sims games, so I jumped at the chance to be in The Sims 2 Pets," happily shares Duff.

Furthermore, EA Executive Producer for the Sims division Rod Humble claims that Hilary Duff is the perfect partner in making the game. "Not only is she a huge animal lover, but she is also a Sims fan," says Humble. The Sims 2: Pets is scheduled for release at the end of this month.

Hey Rod Humble! Paris Hilton's got a chihuahua too, right?

It is easy to tell that Christmas is just around the corner do to the extreme attention that the gaming industry has been receiving.  More games are released in these few months than any other time of the year.  This goes for all systems.  The DS was sure not to be left out in the Christmas rush with these new games to be released. 

Take a look at the list below.

September:
22: FIFA 07
22: Guilty Gear Dust Strikers
25: Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
29: 42 All-Time Classics
29: Age of Empires: The Age of Kings
TBC Tenchu: Dark Secret

October:
6: Open Season
13: Crazy Frog Racer
13: English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills
20: The Sims 2: Pets
27: Actionloop
27: Sudoku Master (tentative title)

November:
3: Need For Speed: Carbon
3: Scooby Doo! Who's Watching Who
3: SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
10: Mario Slam Basketball
10: Point Blank
10: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
24: Hotel Dusk: Room 215
TBC Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
TBC Crash Boom Bang!
TBC Eragon
TBC Rayman Raving Rabbids
TBC SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters
TBC The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
TBC The Settlers

G'day, mates! Ol' St. Nicky will be coming around in a few short months, and if you're reading us from Oz, then we here at QJ will be glad to help you with your Chrissie wish lists! It's no big, as we say back here; we do this courtesy of your fellows over at PAL Gaming Network Australia who've compiled this list. After all, the Pacific should never be a barrier to people who share the passion for gaming.

All dates are subject to change if their respective game publishers decide to change them, though (it's happened before, right?). Stay tuned to QJ for any new updates to this list as we find them.

September 2006:
21: Starfox Command, Joytech Accessories
28: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team
30: Disney's Little Mermaid Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Age of Empires 2: The Age Of Kings

October 2006:
  5: FIFA 2007
19: Break'em All
22: Crazy Frog Racer
23: Top Gear Downforce
25: Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
26: Clubhouse Games, Mario Hoops 3 on 3, Ys Strategy, Surge Hive, New Zealand Story, The Sims 2: Pets
31: Lunar Knights, Eragon, Justice League Heroes, Tomb Raider: Legend, Arthur and the Minimoys, Bionicle: Heroes, Tom and Jerry Tales

November and onwards at the full article (click on the Full Article link below)!

Turn up the radio in the upcoming The Sims 2: Pets, and you just might hear familiar songs. Contemporary artists from around the world in rock, pop, hip-hop, and other music genres have rerecorded their songs in Simlish, the quirky who-said-what? language in The Sims and The Sims 2. So far, the 25 Simlish-translated songs EA has announced are present on the console and PC versions of the game, and they might just be included in the DS and PSP versions of the game. The Sims 2: Pets for the handhelds will be coming out late October (DS) and early November (PSP).

So take a look now at the list of songs and artists who will be included in The Sims 2: Pets soundtrack.

• "Chemicals React" (Aly & AJ)
• "Candles Cast Long Shadows" (Brazil)
• "I play Chicken with a Train" (Cowboy Troy)
• "Future" (Cut Copy)
• "Fortuzala" (Dena Deadly)
• "Free Radicals" (The Flaming Lips)
• "Colours" (Hot Chip)
• "So Glad To See You" (Hot Chip)
• "Hit It" (Isabelle Huang)
• "Topsy Turvy" (Jessi Malay)
• "Unthinkable" (Joanna J)
• "Come On Come On" (Kristen Dex)
• "Turn Out the Light" (New Amsterdams)
• "Dixie Dixie Where Have You Been All My Life" (Prescott)
• "Hurt Nobody" (Prescott)
• "Boombox Breakdown" (Ralph Myerz and The Jack Herren Band)
• "Girl Next Door" (Saving Jane)
• "Boyhunter" (Skye Sweetnam)
• "I Never Know" (Something for Rockets)
• "Wow Wow Wow" (Tanaila)
• "Black Shoes" (The Films)
• "The Compromise" (The Format)
• "Topy Apa Ty" (The Netw0rk)
• "Don't Cha" (Pussycat Dolls)
• "Simpatico" (Touchstone)
• "Aff Wubbas Doo" (W of P3)

Simlish first debuted in SimCopter, and Sims creator Will Wright brought it back for The Sims when he realized he needed some sort of dialogue in the game that wouldn't sound repetitive. Simlish is the result of the dev team playing around with Ukranian and Tagalog (a Philippine dialect). If you're wondering what a Simlish-translated song sounds like, below's the Sims 2 Pets video for Aly & AJ's "Chemicals React."

Adorable. That's what these screenshots are. Because The Sims 2: Pets looks as if you can't play through it without having a cuteness-seizure. Or maybe that's just us. But anyways, we're sure some of you readers could agree: our pets make our lives more meaningful. Sounds cliche, but it's true.

The Sims 2: Pets, developed by Maxis, is available in various consoles, mainly built for the PC and ported to the PS2, PSP, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, and Nintendo DS. "Ported," however, is a term taken loosely. Each console will have different features unique to their platform, but across the board, you'd still be able to care for your pet. You can choose what kind of pet you want and what breed (maybe even a mix). If you're not satisfied, there's even a Create-a-Pet option, which allows you to customize your perfect companion: what body type, fur type, unique markings, and temperment. You can also make them learn dog tricks and take them for a walk, or maybe even give them a career path.

Being a simulation, the game really captures the bond between pet and owner, as your sims (and sims pet) go through their virtual life together, through hardships and camaraderie, friendship and irritation; roll-overs, dress ups, Scooby Snacks, and all.