Bandai’s been busy in their genius labs brewing up some “high tech” amusement, and they have the newly announced Tamagotchi Music Stars to show for it. You’ve probably been dying to create a digital diva or virtuoso all your own, and now you can, with six different options such as Glam Rock, Techno Sound, and Rising Star to choose from. Your character gets to join a band, go through hours of practice, auditions and rehearsals before making it big. Sound exhausting? Well fame comes at a price, kid. No word yet on price or availability, but you can check out their site for lots of info and a few shots of the designs. Oh: and rock on.

Filed under: Gaming

Bandai rolls out new Tamagotchi Music Star designs, earplugs not included originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Expansions, RTS, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

In the “not a major shock but still cool” news department comes this bit of info from Eurogamer which reports via a French web site that a possible expansion for Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is coming sometime in 2009. Other than the title of the expansion, Uprising, no other info on the expansion was revealed.

Eurogamer was not able to get a confirmation from publisher Electronic Arts on this supposed expansion but EA did say more info would be revealed sometime in 2009. Most of the previous C&C RTS games have had at least one expansion pack released for them so the revelation of one for Red Alert 3 isn’t much of a surprise.

Rumor: Red Alert 3 expansion, Uprising, coming? originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sports/GTs, Green, Supercars

Nikolay Fomenko, who was probably busy enough being a popular singer, television new anchor and theater actor, also found time to become an FIA N-GT champion. And if that wasn’t enough to keep this Russian renaissance man busy, he has just launched his country’s first sportscar company, Marussia. To top it off, it’s a hybrid, just to make things more difficult. Make the jump for all the details.

[Sources: Russia Today, Luxury Version]

Continue reading Russian Marussia supercar unveiled

Russian Marussia supercar unveiled originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Nintendo DS, Action

Forget gold-plated Lancers and exclusive costumes – GameStop is offering guns and cash to those who pre-order Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars in advance of its March 17 release. Of course, they aren’t real guns and the dough is, sadly, digital.

Pre-order the game and you’ll start out with every weapon and $100,000 in your tiny little polygonal pockets. GameStop hasn’t said exactly how this will work (if it’s a code, it would be on the internets a nanosecond later) but we’re figuring it’ll involve one of those newfangled voucher codes or some such. Or, you could play the game and get the satisfaction of earning – nay, achieving – something all by yourself. A novel concept, we know.

GameStop: Pre-order GTA: Chinatown Wars, get (in-game) guns and money originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade

GamerBytes reports that an entry for a new Gastronaut Studios game has popped up on Australia’s OFLC website. Gastronaut, lest you’ve forgotten, most recently brought us Small Arms for Xbox Live Arcade. Entitled Gel: Set & Match, we know practically nothing about the game, other than the fact that the OFLC has dubbed the game suitable for general audiences. Looking at the title though, we have a sneaking suspicion we might be dealing with a buddy platformer. Then again, it might be a puzzle game. Whatever it is, it’s probably an XBLA game and it certainly sounds like there will be gel that will be set on fire. We must admit, the premise is sound.

OFLC: Small Arms dev working on Gel: Set & Match originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Coupes, Minivans/MPVs, Wagons/Estates, Kia

Just when we thought that we’d seen every possible variation of the Kia Soul that the Korean automaker could whip up, news comes from Kia that one more concept is on its way to the Detroit Auto Show in January. Kia’s not talking much about the car, but there is one early picture that’s actually quite revealing. Take a good look at the rear profile of the front driver’s side door. We think that the new concept could sport a new two-door take on the original boxy Soul theme. Could this be a panel van, like the one that Chevy introduced on its HHR retro-mobile? Could it be a sporty coupe alternative to the funky utilitarian nature of the standard Soul? How about a Soulamino? We have no idea, but it’s always fun to speculate. Feel free to do just that in the comments below.

Continue reading Detroit Preview: Kia bringing Soul Coupe to Detroit?

Detroit Preview: Kia bringing Soul Coupe to Detroit? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Dodge, Rendered Speculation

Swedish design firm Vizualtech wanted to showcase its 3D composition capabilities, so it decided to take the muscular lines of the 2009 Dodge Challenger and transform it into a touring car ready to tackle Le Mans. Each rendering features all the aerodynamic accoutrements required for a serious campaign abroad, including GT-style wings, massive splitters, blistered fenders and carbon fiber diffusers. We’re digging the Gulf liveried Challenger above (complete with Swedish flag), but you can find your own favorite in the gallery below.

[Source: Vizualtech via World Car Fans]

Rendered Speculation: LeMans-ready Dodge Challenger originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At $1,000, Fujitsu’s netbook-esque LifeBook U820 is nothing if not a tough sell, but NotebookReview.com seems to think that the category-defying device will appeal to at least a few folks out there, even if they are aware that they can get a similarly equipped netbook for less than half the price. As you might have guessed, they found the device’s form factor to be its biggest selling point, with them going so far as to describe it as “the smallest and most feature packed mini tablet” they’ve reviewed. They were also especially impressed with the device’s “incredible” battery life (over eight hours in “balanced” mode), and its overall build quality, which certainly seems to be a step above your average netbook or mini tablet. On the downside, it is still basically an average Atom-powered netbook on the inside, which is easy to accept at $300-$500, but a whole other matter when you hit four digits.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Fujitsu LifeBook U820 gets reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News

It’s a constant problem, really. You want to love your snazzy iPhone, but you just can’t live without the also snazzy NXE navigation on your Xbox. Never fear iPhone loving Xbox 360 fanboys, because (ahem) 1337pwn.com has you covered with their new iNXES Xbox Live Friends app. The application allows iPhone users to browse their Xbox Live friends lists just like they do on the Xbox 360. The app mimics the look of the new NXE interface and even supports Avatars. The app also lets you check out the top Xbox Live games too. Best of all, it’s free. iPhone users should definitely check it out (link goes directly to App Store).

[Via 360Sync]

Hey, you got NXE in my iPhone! originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Betas, Downloads, Mac, MMO

Macintosh owners just got another native MMO game to try out. Previously announced a few weeks ago, NCsoft has now launched an open beta test for the Mac version of their super hero MMO City of Heroes. The final version of the Mac port will be released as a digital download sometime in January.

As we have previously reported the Mac version will contain all of the content of the PC version and future updates for the PC port will also be made available to Mac owners. In addition, the Mac version contains the exclusive teleport feature that allows players to teleport directly into their current active mission. The Mac port will also have an exclusive Valkyrie costume set for your characters.

NCsoft launches Mac open beta test for City of Heroes originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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