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Katy Perry has become a virtual cartoon character in a video game thanks to her collaboration with Electronic Arts, the makers of the virtual game Sims. The California Gurl says of the very appropriate collaboration:

'I love how you're able to play out different stories through your Sims characters – giving them different careers and watching them succeed. It's cool to see the Sims' stage performances in The Sims 3 Showtime decked out just like my California Dreams Tour – even my cotton candy video screens are in there! 

'I always like to think of myself as a cartoon, and now I'm a Sim!'

For those of you unfamiliar with Sims (such as myself) apparently it simulates families and real life. The game will also feature virtual clothes, furniture, etc. and Katy will be very hands on with future developments of the game.  I'm not a gamer so I have no idea how any of this works. I have started playing Diamond Dash on my iPhone. Is that anything similar?

Steve Schnur, the executive of music for Electronic Arts says:

'Today marks the start of the most integrated and exciting collaboration with any artist in the history of The Sims,' said Schnur.

'Katy Perry has been a fan of The Sims for several years, and her Simlish recording of her hit Hot and Cold featured in The Sims 2 series quickly became the most popular Simlish music video to date…No performer could better represent the humor and fun of The Sims brand.'

She is a very animated type girl isn't she? A special Collector's Edition will be available for purchase in March and you will be seeing the live version of Katy promoting it in ad campaigns.

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“Excellent work gentlemen, excellent.”

I made a list today of the ‘big’ end of the year film’s I have yet to see. There are twelve, so I can’t say this definitively, but as of right now, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo is my favorite film of the year. I am not alone by any means. It’s even made a convert out of me in terms of 3D technology. (At least for this particular film.) The MPAS short list came out today for Achievement in Visual Effects . Hugo is, of course, on it. The film is a feast for the senses, including spectacular visuals. Dick George Creatives played a big part in that, especially in creating the Automaton at the heart of the film. Below is a short video on the people and the process responsible for creating that special piece of the movie. It’s a fascinating look behind-the-scenes.

The Automaton – Behind the Scenes from Sociates on Vimeo.

Dick George Creatives is a company based in Surrey, England who have been working in Film and Television  for more than thirty years. It’s obvious that they love their jobs.

Hugo is out now. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Pure movie magic.

I just want to let you all know that tonight the site can and will be down temporarily as we work to bring you a much better experience on the site.

The better experience will be much faster loading times when you are navigating about on the site.  I Need My Fix has grown by leaps and bounds and I want to thank all of you for that.  That also explains the problems you have no doubt had on the site:  slow loading times, 504 errors, etc. because of major traffic spikes.

I apologize for any frustrations you may have experienced, but sometimes with growth comes pain.  But it’s all good and starting tomorrow things will be much better.

Once again, thank you all for your viewership!  It’s always appreciated.

Anne

One year ago this very day I Need My Fix was born!  I can not believe a year has already passed!

In this last year I have learned SO much, cried a lot (lol), pulled my hair out a bit, lost a ton of sleep but the most important thing in all of this is I met so many new, wonderful friends.

I am so pleased by how well the site is doing, and of course that is because of the viewers (I totally have the best) and also my fellow bloggers who link, blogroll me, encourage me and help me.

To all of you thank you, thank you, thank you for making INMF a success and a joy.

And to my friends and family, and in particular my husband thank you for cheering me on and believing in me (this so sounds like an award acceptance speech, yes?) 

Anne xo

I’m a little pissed Ineedmyfix.com is not on the list, but WHATEVER (okay I could not say that with a straight face).   24/7 Wall Street  came up with the 25 most valuable blogs:

1. Gawker Properties — $170 million.
2. Huffington Post — $90 million.
3. The Drudge Report — $48 million.
4. Perez Hilton — $32 million.
5. Sugar, Inc — $27 million.
6. TechCrunch — $25 million.
7. MacRumors — $21 million.
8. SeekingAlpha — $11 million.
9. GigaOm — $9.5 million.
10. Politico — $8.7 million.
11. SmashingMagazine — $7.7 million.
12. SearchEngineLand — $4.5 million.
13. Boing Boing — $3.6 million.
14. ReadWriteWeb — $3.4 million.
15. SB Nation — $2.7 million.
16. Destructoid — $2.5 million.
17. Mashable — $2.5 million.
18. Alley Insider sites — $2.25 million.
19. /film — $2.1 million.
20. The Superficial Network — $2 million
21. Neatorama — $1.5 million.
22. Daily Kos — $2 million.
23. Talking Points Memo — $1.2 million.
24. VentureBeat — $1 million.
25. Wowowow.com — $1 million

To determine how they arrived at those figures, and other interesting things they have to say about each blog click here.