EA announces The Sims 3

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 20th March 2008
Comments (25) Stumble
The Sims 3 will feature an entirely new and next-gen engine from a dedicated Sims developer.

The Sims 3 will feature an entirely new and next-gen engine from a dedicated Sims developer.

Electronic Arts has just unveiled the latest game in The Sims franchise, imaginatively titled The Sims 3. EA is touting the game as it's new flagship next-gen PC game and is projecting a 2009 release.

Personally, we would have thought the flagship game would have been Spore - but it looks like there's enough Will Wright to spread around. Oh, ew.

The Sims 3 is being billed as featuring a wholly new and next-gen engine and a larger neighbourhood to play in. The game has been in development for three years now and is hoping to deliver "unlimited customisation" to players, as well as new realistic personalities.

The Sims franchise is now one of the biggest games out there and has sold a total of 98 million copies - impressive even if you can't stand the game.

The Sims 3 will also be categorised under the new studio label system EA is using and which was described to us by Matt Atwood of BioWare. All Sims games will now come from a dedicated studio under The Sims label.

What do you reckon to The Sims games? Are they any good, or are the just for those girly casual gamers? Let us know in the forums.
Win a Asus EeePC!
Quote geekboyUK 20th March 2008, 13:40
Oh great - that means I lose my wife for several months after its released then... better go dig out the take-away menus!
Quote Redbeaver 20th March 2008, 13:48
dont eat too many chinese food. dont forget ur veggie. and drink some kind of juice for some vit C everday.

good luck. i'm in the same boat. my gf is a Sims fan as well. well... by "fan" i mean..... (sssssh, she reads bit-tech as well)
Quote steveo_mcg 20th March 2008, 13:49
Please think of something new EA. I suppose it at least keeps the pc gaming numbers looking good while we ride out the current consoles.
Quote Jordan Wise 20th March 2008, 13:50
hang on- 'next gen'? Aren't the majority of Sims players 14 yr old girls playing on integrated graphics? and they've got nothing 'next gen' about them. If they make the game even slightly demanding they're going to lose most of their players
Quote Jar of Almonds 20th March 2008, 13:53
Great, now I'm going to have to find a way to stop the girlfriend from finding any news on this.... curse you EA and your never-ending stream of expansion packs!!!

She's already excited for Spore (.... me too.... kinda.... i'll give it whirl :D )
Quote rjkoneill 20th March 2008, 15:09
i can see a line of 14 year olds with an overpriced copy of this and an over priced 8800gt in pc world

i might use sims3 to bench my rig if it is so 'next gen'
Quote badders 20th March 2008, 15:16
Not the GF for me, but her mother. She'll disappear into her house for MONTHS.

I'm excited about spore though!
Quote Veles 20th March 2008, 15:27
Meh, I don't really see the point from a gamers perspective, it's more of the same, and they'll release the same expansion packs all over again. Although admittedly, after playing the Sims 2, I wouldn't go back to 1 as 2 brought in some nice features that made life easier, will just have to see what new stuff it has.

Probably not going to bother, I liked the sims for a while, but it gets old quickly, another sims game doesn't really appeal to me.

Spore FTW!
Quote oasked 20th March 2008, 15:52
I've never played the Sims and I'm proud. Spore will be good if it gets released.
Quote wuyanxu 20th March 2008, 16:28
the graphics still sucks.

i know this game has to be able to play on below average computers. but wouldn't you think if EA used the CryEngine2, it would push the PC graphics market a LOT, thus making PC gaming more accepted rather than all developers going down the console route.
Quote Veles 20th March 2008, 16:39
No, I imagine that would cause the same problems the Sims 2 caused. Too many people not knowing that their low end hardware isn't good enough, plus you have the issue that the majority of people with PCs capable of running CryEngine2 aren't interested in the sims at all. All you're going to get is a lot of angry people who will stick to the sims 2, rather than shelling out hundreds of pounds for a computer they're most likely only going to play the sims on. The PC graphics market doesn't need pushing anyway, IMO, it needs a push in the opposite direction.
Quote 500mph 20th March 2008, 18:01
Spore first, then Sims.
I want to give it a whirl. I never played Sims 2 though.
Quote wuyanxu 20th March 2008, 19:57
Quote:
Originally Posted by Veles
No, I imagine that would cause the same problems the Sims 2 caused. Too many people not knowing that their low end hardware isn't good enough, plus you have the issue that the majority of people with PCs capable of running CryEngine2 aren't interested in the sims at all. All you're going to get is a lot of angry people who will stick to the sims 2, rather than shelling out hundreds of pounds for a computer they're most likely only going to play the sims on. The PC graphics market doesn't need pushing anyway, IMO, it needs a push in the opposite direction.
remember, it's targeted at 2009! by then, Crysis should be easily maxed with cards like ATI 4 series or nVidia's rumoured GT200.
Quote Cobalt 21st March 2008, 00:20
However integrated graphics will be at the same point they were 5 years ago.
Quote LordPyrinc 21st March 2008, 00:27
CRAP!!!!! I can just see this one game causing me to buy a newer laptop. My girlfriend is a huge fan of The Sims and Sims2. My speedier laptop is about 4 years old now, so it will probably struggle with a 2009 released game. I guess things could be worse, at least she likes games and isn't bugging me about the countless hours I spend playing games on my desktop PC.
Quote Major 21st March 2008, 00:32
Sims = Crappest game ever.
Quote mmorgue 21st March 2008, 01:01
Heheh it's a running theme here!

I basically split up with my gf at the time because of that f**king game. She was a student, albeit a 'career student', who did nothing but sit in her room and play Sims 2 virtually ever waking hour. Time away from Sims 2 was unheard of and my "lack of understanding" was, of course, my fault, as it is for every other guy in this situation.

Sure, I like playing games too, and yes, back in the old FF days on PS1 I did have some 36 and even 48hr sessions... But even then I much preferred 'real life'.

I guess you can't fault EA for that reason -- they found a market and nailed it home. I simply cannot see what's so fun about playing in a fantasy world that a) you don't have super powers, b) you don't get to be the hero and finally c) have to actually 'play-clean' the kitchen and 'play-have-a-poo' and 'play-take-out-the-rubbish' ?? I mean, WTF?!

Am I missing something...?!
Quote DXR_13KE 21st March 2008, 02:33
Quote:
Originally Posted by mmorgue

I guess you can't fault EA for that reason -- they found a market and nailed it home. I simply cannot see what's so fun about playing in a fantasy world that a) you don't have super powers, b) you don't get to be the hero and finally c) have to actually 'play-clean' the kitchen and 'play-have-a-poo' and 'play-take-out-the-rubbish' ?? I mean, WTF?!

Am I missing something...?!

i agree completely with you!
Quote Jokkocze 21st March 2008, 11:48
Stop whining. It's obvious that some people love the game, so if they want to spend their money on it, let them!
Quote metarinka 21st March 2008, 18:12
highest selling pc game/franchise of all time. fun stuff, but I only dabbled briefly in sims 2 after playing sims1 for a decent amount of time.

I wonder what new they could offer
Quote lewchenko 21st March 2008, 19:53
Wish it was here sooner. Sims3 will occupy my wife for 100's of hours and in turn give me free time :-)

Then there are always the expansions that she will get for birthday, christmas, anniversary (for the next 10 years).

I told her that her sims could now walk about town outside the house and interact with neighbours etc. I think she nearly wet herself ! LOL!
Quote Cthippo 22nd March 2008, 03:09
Quote:
Originally Posted by lewchenko
I told her that her sims could now walk about town outside the house and interact with neighbours etc. I think she nearly wet herself ! LOL!

Amazing you're still alive and married!

Fundamentally, all gaming taps into the sort of life we want to live. For a brief period of time we get to be Gordon Freeman or Master Chief or Tony Hawk or whoever. We play Guitar Hero because we'll never be rock stars, PGR because we'll never be race car drivers, and FPS because the desire to kill is hardwired into our brains. In games we get to be the kind of people we don't get to be in our boring, mundane lives.

So given that, what does the success of the Sims say about the people who play it?
Quote Redbeaver 22nd March 2008, 03:40
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cthippo
Quote:
Originally Posted by lewchenko
I told her that her sims could now walk about town outside the house and interact with neighbours etc. I think she nearly wet herself ! LOL!

Amazing you're still alive and married!

Fundamentally, all gaming taps into the sort of life we want to live. For a brief period of time we get to be Gordon Freeman or Master Chief or Tony Hawk or whoever. We play Guitar Hero because we'll never be rock stars, PGR because we'll never be race car drivers, and FPS because the desire to kill is hardwired into our brains. In games we get to be the kind of people we don't get to be in our boring, mundane lives.

So given that, what does the success of the Sims say about the people who play it?

naturally, people that's still not fully satisfied with their own life.

and the fact that it's a huge success is really an alarming issue in the society.

lol
Quote konsta 22nd March 2008, 12:19
Whilst I have no desire to play the Sims at any point in my life, one should remember that it is the best selling game of all time by almost an order of magnitude.
Quote mrplow 22nd March 2008, 12:35
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jokkocze
Stop whining. It's obvious that some people love the game, so if they want to spend their money on it, let them!

Some people also like spending their money on heroin.. then again personally I think that's much healthier than playing The Sims.

I kinda feel sorry for all the poor dearies if it really is gonna need serious graphics grunt... these poor saps are gonna wheel their PCs into CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet, crying, and hand over all their milk tokens for a big noisy geforce of some description. It doesn't need to have next-gen graphics to do what it does.
Log in

You are not logged in, please login with your forum account below. If you don't already have an account please register to start contributing.





Apple Gear Now at Misco!
Stats: 0.095 seconds