Sims 3 Showtime, Expansion Pack Coming In March 2012

I like thousands of other Sims fans get giddy with excitement whenever we hear about the upcoming release of new expansion packs for our beloved games.

Sadly when it comes to this installment of the franchise- Sims 3, nearly every expansion pack has been a huge disappointing pitty party whenever we install the new expansions and have a gander at what each one has to offer....which is not much.

The very last expasion pack, which was Sims 3 Pets, was so horrendously dissapoinnting that I have not played the game since the release.

It is sad that it takes a new expansion pack to rekindle my love affair with this game.

I am not so sure my love affair will last that long when it comes to Showtime though.

This new expansion pack that is set for shelves this March 2012, just may be the ticket to getting me back into the game, and jazzed up again. This one is titled Sims 3 Showtime, and I feel like this one is more like an update to Ambitions, or a newer version of the original Sims Superstars.

With the not so unique vibe being present, I had to spy across the web for information on what this new expansion pack really would offer. Hopefully it was not just a re-make of what fans have already seen, unfortunatley EA is legendary for delivering the same crap, with an amped up look. Or not so amped up?

My Take:

So the game is pretty similar to the whole theme we saw in the original Sims 1- Superstars. However, with that being a reality, Showtime features an all new and interesting aspect to gameplay.

You have the option to travel to other Sims towns... thats right---- real life friends--- once in their town you can preform gigs, or just go on a tour.

I have to say this has to be one of the more attractive features about the new game...but what worries me is this:

Say I allow a friend of mine to visit my town, and they meet their actual character that I have created?

Yep, I am one of those players who create Sims based off of real life people. Like Facebook, I wonder if this new feature could actually ruin lives, or embarass the hell out of people.

At any rate, I feel that with this new 'visit your real life friends towns' feature, the game could be killer cool, or reallybad deoending on the situation.

Word to the wise, just don't be friends with your crush, and allow him into your town. God forbid you are married to him in your Sim Town. Haha.

I however pray that EA did not focus entirely on bringing us this new feature, and not adding much else besides that.

What I like though, is that EA seemed to have listened to my non-stop pleas to make the game more like Animal Crossing, where you could visit friends towns... they brought my lifelong want into a reality, and I am excited to see how it all works.

Americas Next Top Model All Stars- Episode 4 Recap

Now do not get me wrong, I love Angelea, she's sparky, spunky, and interesting, but in my humble opinion she definitely did not deserve last nights best photo of the week moment. Nor did I think the runner up... uhm...(was it Dominique?) deserved that spot either; especially...over Allison, whom delieved a gorgeous cameleon of a photograph. Everything about Allison in photographs excites me, from her doe eyes and dolly disposition, she's a true photogenic star. Now in person though, she is quite the polar opposite.

At any rate, last nights picks angered me so much that I had to cut to the chase from the get go.

During this weeks challenge the girls all had a few minutes to remember lines for a very popular TV show, CSI. The winner who recites their lines best will win a role on the show. The problem with the challenge however is that a lot of the words the girls must remember are long medical terms.

Here is where I think Angelea was shafted, as she seemed to me, to be the one to deliver the lines more flawlessly. Her on screen presence however is not as vibrant as Bre's and I think that may have been a possible influence as to why Bre took home the acting role, and not Angelea.

At any rate, this weeks photo-shoot sucks all around, and even though I feel Allison took the best shot, the entire 'point' of it all made no sense to me. I miss the creativity the photo-shoots used to include. I mean remember Allison as an owl in the woods? Or when we were all shocked with the grace and beauty of that mermaid shoot where that awkwardly tall girl (whatserface) won best shot?

All Stars has yet to deliver any clothing/shoots that have been really interesting to me as far as creativity goes.

I was hoping with this season, that Tyra would have each girl combat her worst photo-shoot from the past! It would have made more sense to me, so far the only one subjected to her worst fears was Joker smile face Bianca, with the 'stilts' photo-shoot.

I would have liked to see moments from the past, brought out in the present, in the actual photo-shoots, such as the models in diapers to represent Lisa's embarrassing moment, or blond evil women fighting to represent that mean one (who now looks like Cameron Diaz to me).

At any rate, I guess I just miss the past seasons creativity in shoots, and I hope that this will occur as the show goes on. We are still very early in to the cycle, so anything could happen, but right now it just seems like everything we loved about our All Stars has been striped. The mean girl is now the shy quiet one? The red head beauty Kayla is as boring as ever, and Allison's only camera time seems to be when she is on stage at the very end of the show, or during a shoot being praised.

Anyhow, with that being said the show ends with someone being kicked off... only she was so stiff and boring I do not recall her name. Sad.

Americas Next Top Model All Stars- Episode 5 Recap

Last night we were graced with episode 5 of Americas Next Top Model All Stars, and finally the show has delivered an interesting photo-shoot. I was truly getting bored with the lackluster themes.

Before getting into that though, let us cover the drama that has unfolded within the house.

We start off with some sort of argument regarding private telephone calls, and phone time use. Shannon set up some 20 minute rule, so that way everyone who needs to call home, gets their share of the phone. It seemed like a fine plan to me, but Bianca ends up confronting her about it. Instead of gunning for herself, Shannon buckles under pressure, and tells Bianca she can have her phone time. Tears swell, she looks like an idiot, and Lisa jumps in.

Lisa and Bianca end up yapping back and forth, but truly it was one of the shows most lackluster drama filled scenes.

Next we fast forward on to the episode challenge. This week the girls will be doing a catwalk wearing the Kardashians clothing line. The runway is a simple walkway, with a carousel to finish it off. The girls must walk the runway, and then gracefully make their way onto the spinning carnival ride. Take one cycle around on it while posing, and then exit.

Mind you, they must master this in heels.

Nothing stuck out as off or bad, except the judges found Bianca to have no energy at all, as if she was bothered to even be there. I did not get that impression, but apparently the arguing with Lisa and Shannon earlier got to her, making her look bored and slightly angry while doling the walk.

Lisa and Shannon win this weeks challenge and are awarded a head to toe outfit from the Kardashians collection.

Shortly after being somewhat scolded by Miss Jay, Bianca breaks down in a hissy fit about how she once again feels she is the best, and yadda- yadda- yadda. Point a finger, and blame the other girls, and that was that.

Back at the house the tension is still high for Bianca, and she mentions wanting to go home. Bre, her sister comforts her by telling her to come and play, seeing that all of the girls were downstairs talking badly about her. Bianca buckles up, and that scene is a wrap.

Next we have the photo-shoot, which is one of the funnest ones this cycle has done thus far.

All of the girls will be dressed up in a different period in Michael Jackson's lifetime. The fun part though is that his sister Latoya joins the cast to meet everyone.

Lisa stuck out as my favorite model during the shoot, with fun dance moves and sky high energy.

Unfortunately the judges later on think otherwise.

Nobody in particular stuck out as looking bad or doing a bad job. Allison had the most interesting costume though, which made her look more like a clown doll, than Michael, but nonetheless, her photo, as always was my favorite. Allison wore a costume from when Michael was a young boy, where the other girls were placed in costume more recognized from the 80's and early 90's.

On to the chopping block

The best photo of the week went to... the country girl. Sadly I still do not like her 'in person appearance', so I cannot recall her name. For the sake of the article, I had to google it. Laura. yeah.

In the bottom 2 we have Lisa and Angelea. Poor Angelea, I thought she did an awesome job on the set, and I thought Lisa had the funnest energy. I swear sometimes I think they pick their least favorites worst photos.

Regardless though, of the photo chosen, this weeks chop would be handed over to LaToya Jackson. I had a hunch LaToya would send no one home, and my hunch was right. LaToya mentions that her brother was about love, and therefore she would be sending no one home.

This week, everyone is safe...as Angelea would say, thank you Michael, or LaToya, or Jesus!

Top 8 Things I Hate About My HTC HD7 Windows Phone

I have had my HTC HD7 Windows phone for close to a year now, and over the course of that time I have created a list of the top 8 things that I hate about the HTC HD7.

If you are thinking about getting one, keep these this list in mind.

1. Volume Level-

I can have my phone at the highest volume setting, and still it is hard to hear it if it rings in my purse.

I miss 50% of all of my calls due to the volume. That's not the only rant I have about the volume though; you see, on the phone itself there is a touchscreen where a button pops up randomly to set the phone to vibrate mode. If you have your phone in your bag, it can cause the phone to shift around, and the phone will somehow magically set itself to vibrate mode, in turn again causing you to miss a call due to not being able to hear it.

However, it does not stop there.

At the highest volume setting, if there is any noise whatsoever in the room where you picked up your call, you will have a hard time hearing the person on the other line. You can forget about ever answering the phone in an area where there is even a small amount of noise.

2. Camera

When they built this one, they did it all wrong. The cameras eye sticks out apparently too far, and mine ended up getting scratched so severely that I cannot even use it. The cameras eye should not stick out of the back the way it does, it should have been built sunk in, so that way no dirt, debris, or scratches could have occurred. This one however is poorly designed.

When the camera did work, before getting scratched beyond use, it sucked anyway. The touchscreen on the camera mode was awkward to use, and it was easy to drop the phone due to their layout of what buttons you needed to press.

3. APP Store

I really do not even need to go into full details on this one. The APP store they have included, aka the marketplace is horrible. It is down and not even able to load nearly 75% of the time whenever I try to look or browse on it.

When it does allow me to get into it, it will randomly freeze up, and if I want to go back to the screen I was on previously while reading about a certain APP, it will take me back to page 1, just causing frustrations to the point where I do not even care to continue to browse or shop.

4. Battery Life

I have to leave this pile of garbage on it's charger all day long while in the office. It will fully charge, and be dead just 10 hours later and that is when it was not even in use. The battery just drains all on its own accord.

5. Ringtones

You cannot make any of your own, everything must be purchased, and even if you are a Tmobile customer, and you had purchased ringtones for a previous phone, they are gone. You will have to call to make a complaint to get credited for your past purchases.

6. Internet

It's slow, it drops signal, and browsing is a nightmare on it. I do not even bother going on, even though I pay for data.

7. Texting

Horrible.

The touch keys are too close to one another, which constantly results in errors, and longer amounts of time wasted fixing typos. I hate texting now. I used to love it on my old phone.

8. Random Black Screen

For no reason at all, there are times when this phone will literally just go black and reboot itself; it could be while trying to make a call, trying to text, or on call. It's frustrating, because you have to wait for it to re-boot.