Review: The Sims 3 Seasons brings good cheer

Matt Liebl
http://www.gamezone.com/products/the-sims-3-seasons/reviews/review-the-sims-3-seasons-brings-good-cheer

Since its release in 2009, The Sims 3 has seen a number of expansions and add-ons to enhance its core gameplay. Over its course, we've seen pets, new traits, items, clothing, careers, and even supernatural creatures all added to the game. In short, the game basically has it all. But until recently, The Sims 3 has lacked one vital feature: seasons.

The Sims 3, which prides itself on being the most in-depth simulator on the market, has missed out on the one key element of every day life: weather. Is it only me, or does it seem a bit strange that the game has received zombies and fairies before snow and rain?

Regardless of the reasoning behind the release timing, The Sims 3 Seasons and the weather patterns that accompany it are now here to stay. Well, that's if you don't turn the feature off. But having played The Sims 3 Seasons and experiencing weather in the game for the first time, I can't imagine this game existing without it anymore. It's quite amazing how the simple element of weather can change a gameplay experience, but that exactly what The Sims 3 Seasons has done.

I'll admit, the past few expansions have been somewhat disappointing for me. New clothing, new traits -- it all just seemed like extra stuff that didn't add any real value to the game. Sure, the same thing could be said for Seasons, but the simple fact is that the game has been totally revitalized with the addition of weather. It's not just random rain or snow; seasons in The Sims 3 has added a sense of purpose to time, aside from aging.

In its default, the seasons change every seven days. This can be easily adjusted in the options menu, but I found it to be a pretty reasonable amount to time. Everything relating to weather is fully customizable. You can adjust the amount of time each season lasts and even remove a season all together. Not a fan of the weather that accompanies the season? Rather than force you to sit through rain, you can turn it off.

Honestly though, after experiencing the weather effects, I wouldn't. The thunderstorms, though occurring more than I would like, are really fascinating to watch. EA has put an incredible amount of detail into the effects, to the point that you can see each drop of rain fall from the roof of the house. Though it looked great on my computer, I can see how those with an older PC might have trouble running some of the effects -- especially since The Sims 3 has been suffering from memory problems for the past few add-ons.

Aside from weather changes for each season, you now have a dedicated "Leisure" day. This is simply EA's politically correct way of representing the most recognized holiday for that season. For spring it's Easter, summer it's like the 4th of July, fall it's Halloween, and for winter it is Christmas/Hanukkah. During this day, which you are given off from work for, you can attend the season's festival.

Any world that you're playing in features a unique festival during each season filled with tons of new objects and events for you to experience. During the summer, you can compete in the annual hot dog eating contest, or you can carve a pumpkin during the fall. With it being the winter season now, you may find yourself skipping towards the snowball fight.

There are other activities you can perform during the seasons, as well. You can decorate your house with the appropriate seasonal decorations, go on an egg hunt, bob for apples, and -- for the first time ever -- swim in the ocean! There are plenty of new activities to keep you busy in The Sims 3 Seasons.

Of course, seasons do come with a price. New to the game are allergies and colds. In the spring, those who have allergies and spend their time outdoors risk the chance of getting the new Allergy Haze moodlet, causing them to sneeze and blow their nose. This is easily treatable with a quick visit to the hospital, but it's also a trip that's not really needed. Why can't I just enjoy the seasons without having to worry about the consequences that accompany them in real-life? The same is said for the chance Sims have of catching a cold. It's just a hassle.

Speaking of hassle, Seasons has added a brand new Blueprint Mode that lets you place fully furnished blueprints of a room on the ground to quickly build a brand new house. One of the best aspects of The Sims 3 is the house customization, but as everyone knows, this is also the most time consuming. The blueprint allows you to place the basic house foundation and then go back and tweak it to your liking. Needless to say, I still spent hours on my house. Hey, if I can't have it in real life, why not in a game?

As expected, The Sims 3 Seasons adds your accompanying furniture, songs (though there aren't holiday songs, there is are short 'musical phrases'), and clothing to let you dress for the occasion. I recommend an umbrella for when it rains and snow gear for the cold, or else you'll be stuck with a very unhappy Sim. I would have liked to see some more Create a Sim options, however.

Overall, The Sims 3 Seasons is one of the best expansions the game has received in quite a while. The simple addition of weather adds a breath of fresh air into the now three-year-old game. The only problem is now that we have seasons, where does EA go from here? I suppose that's part of the fun with The Sims 3; you never know what you're going to get next. Let's hope it's not a cold during the Holidays. Remember to bundle up!

The Sims Go New Age

The Sims 3 has released it's newest neighborhood, and Hidden Spring is a spa town for New Agers a la Calistoga. From The Sims Wikia:

Hidden Springs
http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Hidden_Springs

When you’re in Hidden Springs, you can explore a stunning lakefront, relax at a luxury spa or ski lodge, escape into the woods, or even uncover ancient mysteries at the Museum of Magic and Supernatural. What will you find in Hidden Springs?

Hidden Springs is a neighborhood that is available now. It was announced on August 4, 2011 and was released August 25, 2011. Sims can go to the Crystal Solarium Rejuvenating Waters and the Zephyr Health Spa or the Museum of Magic and Supernatural.

* A Whole New World Awaits - Meet new Sims, explore new locations, and become forever young when you discover the mysterious healing powers of Hidden Springs.

* Become Forever Young - Will your Sims uncover the curious magical properties of Hidden Springs? Explore the World and you might discover rejuvenating waters, drink from the Fountain of Youth and your Sims wishes just might come true.

* Explore New Locations - Hidden Springs is full of all-new locations, lots, and venues. Where will your adventures take you?

* Mingle with the social elites at the Redwood Heights Luxury Lodge.

* Experience true balance and well being as you bask in the ambiance of the Crystal Solarium Rejuvenating Waters.

* Take imagination to another dimension of fun and fairy mischief at Fairyfolk Park.

* Or, head to the Silver Zephyr Health Spa to discover world renowned techniques in the fields of health and beauty.

* All-New Sims and Stories - An exclusive retreat for the rich and the famous? Or a mysterious World with curious healing powers? Whatever the answer, one thing is certain: the Sims you meet in Hidden Springs will have all-new stories that are out of this World.

Create, play and share in 'The Sims 3'

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/marcsaltzman/2009-06-18-sims3_N.htm

Create, play and share in 'The Sims 3'
6/19/2009

'THE SIMS 3'
Rating: T for Teen
Platform: PC, Mac
Publisher: Electronic Arts

If your friends, family and co-workers have been walking around in a daze since June 2, maybe you can attribute it to multiple personality disorder brought on by The Sims 3.

You see, that's the date Electronic Arts' launched the hotly anticipated sequel, which has already sold more than 2 million units for the PC and Mac, making it the best-selling computer game launch in EA's 27-year history. The game lets you create virtual people, each with unique personalities, skills and desires.

But before we cover what's new, here's a quick primer on the 9-year-old The Sims series: These games challenge you to micromanage the lives of little simulated people, simply known as Sims. This includes nurturing their relationships, advancing their careers and buying items for their houses (with in-game currency known as "simoleons").

More so than with its popular predecessors, The Sims 3 pushes the boundaries of character customization, which then leads you down different game play paths — and ensures high replayability in the process.

For example, you start the game by creating a Sim from scratch, with seemingly endless physical choices including facial features, body types, hair color and style, skin color, clothing options, and so on. More importantly, you then select five character traits for this Sim, ranging from "ambitious" and "charismatic" to "mooch" and "kleptomaniac." Finally, you'll also choose a lifetime wish, which might be to have a large family, be a famous painter or master chef, soar into space or even become leader of the free world. The career path you choose will likely be necessary for you to reach this desired goal (for instance, you must reach level 10 in the law enforcement career to become an international super spy).

The game play begins when you move into a home in the neighborhood (one you can afford with the simoleons you start off with) or you might choose a lot and build it from scratch by choosing floors, walls, fences and trees, furniture and appliances, and so forth. Click on items in your home to interact with them and mingle with neighbors who drop by. And you never know what might happen: one of my Sims inadvertently started a kitchen fire and when the firefighter came, they hit it off and then became romantically involved.

Unlike past The Sims games, you're now encouraged to explore the town. You can visit stores, the park, the library, neighbors' homes, and even a graveyard — all without having to sit through any load screens. Hop into vehicles to expedite your travel, accept missions from townsfolk and use the computer or newspaper wanted ads to get a job.

Those who didn't like micromanaging every detail of their Sims in the past will be pleased to know you'll no longer have to visit the bathroom if their bladder is full (they'll find the toilet when they need to), plus they'll nap when they're fatigued and eat when they're hungry. In other words, you can now spend your time getting to know the city, its inhabitants, and work on your career, family and home decor.

Sharing is also a big part of The Sims 3 as players can create, edit and upload movies, trade neat items or download content to import into their games. Also, check out the many videos on YouTube including "machinima" creations, where gamers have made their own stories using the computer game characters and environments.

Between its unprecedented amount of character and home customization, myriad career and lifetime goal options and huge digital sandbox in which to play, there is enough engaging game play in The Sims 3 to keep you entertained for months.

Contact Saltzman at gnstech@gannett.com.

Sims' creator leaving Electronic Arts

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/08/BU9716VBNJ.DTL

Sims' creator leaving Electronic Arts
Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Will Wright, the acclaimed video game designer who created hits like the Sims titles, is leaving Electronic Arts to focus on his own entertainment company.

The departure, announced Wednesday, ends a 12-year career at Electronic Arts, during which Wright became one of the industry's most successful developers. The Sims franchise has sold more than 100 million copies, making it the best-selling video game series of all-time.

Wright, 49, plans to devote himself full time to Stupid Fun Club, a studio he founded in 2001 that develops ideas for film, television and video games. Electronic Arts said Wednesday that it has invested an undisclosed amount of money in the company and that it will have the right to license any video game themes that its new partner spawns.

Wright explained in an interview that his decision to leave EA was based on his desire to devote all his energy to his company, which he described as an outlet "for strange products and ideas." He said he has several concepts for television and toys and that the next step is to try to commercialize them.

Wright and EA own equal and controlling shares in Stupid Fun Club. A third, undisclosed investor holds a smaller stake.

Stupid Fun Club is operated from a warehouse in Berkeley and is home to several robots and milling machines. The team is assembled from people Wright met while participating in Robot Wars, a television series in which amateurs build remote-controlled robots and then pit them against one another in fights.

Some of the robots at the Berkeley facility, Wright said, have served the company by "sparking a lot of creative ideas that we realized would make interesting Lego blocks, or nuggets, that we could build entertainment experiences around."

Enlisting EA as an investor, Wright said, was a deliberate alternative to venture capital funding. A corporate investor can afford to be more patient and allow Wright, as he put it, to "keep things small, keep things focused on creative people," rather than having to meet financial goals and prepare for an eventual sale or initial public offering.

Holly Rockwood, a spokeswoman for EA, in Redwood City, said that EA "absolutely believes in Will's concept" for the company. Working outside of EA made sense, she said, because Wright's interests are broader than EA's video game business.

EA's sales have suffered in the slumping economy, prompting a wave of cost cuts including recent layoffs of 1,100 employees, or 11 percent of its workforce, along with delays in the release of several video games.

With partner Jeff Braun, Wright founded gamemaker Maxis in 1987, and scored a hit with their release of SimCity, the first in a series of popular titles. The games were considered groundbreaking because players simply managed their characters, as if playing in a digital doll house, rather than trying to beat opponents.

EA acquired Maxis, a public company, in 1997 for $125 million. Since then, Wright has been an important presence at EA, most recently playing a key role in designing Spore, in which players develop micro-organisms into creatures. The game has sold 2 million copies since its release last year, disappointing some analysts who expected a bigger success.

Todd Greenwald, an analyst with Signal Hill Group, called Wright's departure a big loss for EA but added that the company has several people to oversee existing video game franchises. Whether EA has someone else who can step in to develop blockbusters is another matter.

"Those big franchises will be fine," Greenwald said. "The big question is where will the next Spore come from? Where does the next Sims come from?"

Ted Pollak, a market analyst at Jon Peddie Research and portfolio manager for the Electronic Entertainment Fund, said he isn't concerned about Wright's departure having a business impact on EA.

"Will Wright is a brilliant game designer, but he's just one of hundreds," he said.

E-mail Verne Kopytoff at vkopytoff@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

The Sims 3

Robalini's Note: As early as 2004, I concluded the finest mass artistic creations of this decade were not in film, music, television or literature, but rather in video games via the two series Grand Theft Auto and The Sims. The Sims 3, due out next February, appears to only to confirm its elite status. The number one reason: the stunning neighborhood created for the game. Check the Website below for more details...

The Sims 3
http://thesims3.ea.com

What if you had to live your whole life in one location … and then one day, suddenly, you could step outside and go anywhere in the whole neighborhood?

The Sims 3 lets you immerse truly unique Sims in an open, living neighborhood just outside their door! The freedom of The Sims 3 will inspire you with endless possibilities and amuse you with unexpected moments of surprise and mischief.

Explore a Seamless, Living Neighborhood

Your Sims can roam throughout their neighborhood, visit neighbors’ homes, and explore the surroundings. They can stroll downtown to hang out with friends, meet someone new at the park, or run into colleagues on the street. If your Sims are in the right place at the right time, who knows what might happen?
Learn More about the Living Neighborhood

Create a Sim

New easy-to-use design tools allow for unlimited customization to make truly individual Sims. Determine your Sims’ shape and size, from thin to full-figured to muscular—and everything in between! Choose your Sims’ facial features, their skin tone, hair color and style, eye shape and color, and select their clothing and accessories.

Personality Traits System

Create realistic Sims with distinctive personalities. Select from dozens of personality traits and combine them in fun ways. The combination of traits you choose—brave, artistic, loner, perfectionist, klepto, romantic, clumsy, paranoid, and much, much more—help shape the behavior of your Sims and how they interact with other Sims. They are complex individuals with unique personalities who can now rise above their basic set of everyday needs.

New Customize Everything

Build your dream house and design the ultimate home. Customize everything from floors to décor, shirts to sofas, wallpaper to window shades. It’s fun and easy to change colors and patterns, giving you endless personalization options. Or you can choose to easily populate your Sims’ neighborhood with pre-designed buildings and furnishings. Which of your Sims will live in high-end mansions, cool bachelor pads, ultimate dream homes, or cozy cottages ?

Gameplay

The Sims 3 features new gameplay that’s rewarding and quick to play. There’s more to your Sims’ lives in The Sims 3. Enjoy the challenge of short-term and long-term goals and then reap the rewards!

Spore, Dividing Cells and Opinions

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/09/13/ST2008091302271.html

Spore, Dividing Cells and Opinions
By Mike Musgrove
Sunday, September 14, 2008; F01

The Turtok species is trying to kill me. The Katmondo are my allies. I'm trying to befriend the Wurbles, but it might not work out, due to some other interplanetary commitments I'm hoping to maintain. Probably none of these alien species would want anything to do with mine, if they knew we used nuclear weapons as a shortcut to world domination a while back on our home planet of Fiumincino.

The latest computer game from the creator of the Sims lets players design and manage a virtual species from its earliest moments as a cell, all the way up to the era when it builds rockets and begins to venture into space and encounter other virtual lifeforms. It's an ambitious adventure filled with humor and eye candy, but at the end of its first week of release, Spore has already been the subject of much grumbling among game fans.

What has mainly caused a stir -- and some cancelled game purchases, from the looks of it -- is the title's anti-piracy scheme, which publisher Electronic Arts says is designed to keep people from sharing the $50 game disc with all of their friends.

Spore is set up so that owners have to activate the software online to enjoy all of its features, such as access to the online content users can download to fill out the game's virtual universe. Under the terms of the game's built-in "digital rights management" software, one copy of the game can be installed on three computers.

But those who have had a bad experience with this sort of software say the system counts computer upgrades as separate installations. In essence, they argue, EA is making people rent rather than buy the game. Some of the title's potential customers are actively discouraging their friends and anyone who will listen not to buy the game or any game from EA until the company changes its policies.

At Amazon.com, some 2,000 or so people have logged on and given Spore the site's worst possible rating; nearly all cite the DRM software as the reason for their contempt. The game's average review at the site is now a lowly one, out of a possible five, stars.

"I have no interest in paying full price for a game that I will be severely restricted from being able to play at a later point," one commenter wrote. "Imagine applying this to other products. What if you could only watch purchased DVDs on one specific DVD player and once you've played it on that system, you could never play them on another one?"

EA, for its part, says that 90 percent of its customers install PC games on only one machine, and that people with special circumstances requiring additional installations can call the company's customer-support number to plead their case. The publisher defends its antipiracy scheme as "just like online music services that limit the number of machines you can play a song on."

It's too early to tell if this week's flap will have an impact on the game's long-term success. Spore started the week as the top-selling item in Amazon.com's video game store when it went on sale, but by the end of the week it had slipped a couple of notches. A bite-sized version of Spore released for the iPhone for $9.99 was the No. 1 selling application at iTunes last week.

Aside from the DRM complaints, the game's reviews have been generally positive, if not wildly enthusiastic. Many of Spore's early players have complained that the ambitious game that was pitched as "your universe in a box" isn't entirely satisfying.

I nudged three friends into playing it last week, and none of them fell entirely in love with the game. One found Spore's many parts to be all derivative of other games, one had complaints with the game's interface, and one said she simply found the Sims more addictive than the new title.

I've been managing the evolution of my species, a meat-eating-type creature I dubbed Humberticus, for about 9 billion years, according to the game's clock. In real-world time, that's somewhere north of a dozen hours, and I could probably pour another dozen hours traveling through virtual space in order to encounter more of the oddball creations people have designed with the game's nifty tools.

The game's chief designer, Will Wright, told me a couple of weeks ago that he always figured this would be a half-finished game at its launch. That's because the idea was to get users to create the content; the aim was to make the game "like browsing an endless art gallery," he said.

As I peruse the Sporepedia, an online roster that keeps track of what players have designed, I find a series of creatures that users have evolved to look like hamburgers. Another player has spent serious time building a collection of famous fictional spaceships from Star Wars and Star Trek. One of the most popular creatures right now is the Charles Darwin species, a pudgy, bearded bald guy dressed in caveman gear. Already, sort of like on Facebook, I've got my real-world friends and Spore-friends mixed together as I subscribe to content made by the game's early wave of players.

If Spore becomes wildly popular, like Wright's last game, I can only imagine that the game will follow the rest of the Web's development and we'll soon see a new equivalent of spam species, with creatures trying to sell Viagra or promote online dating sites.

Already, I'm a little tickled to see that people are using the game to poke fun at itself. Some joker, for example, has created a species named EA's DRM Policy. While I can't tell for sure what it's supposed to be, it looks kind of like a creature with its head parked up in its hindparts.

The Sims Goes to IKEA

The Sims Goes to IKEA

http://compsimgames.about.com/b/2008/05/20/the-sims-2-ikea-home-stuff-screenshots.htm

"The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff" Screenshots
Tuesday May 20, 2008

The announcement of "The Sims 3" hasn't slowed down the releases for "The Sims 2." We have new kitchen and bathroom furniture with "The Sims 2 Kitchen and Bath" stuff pack - now it is time to give our Sims' bedrooms, offices, and living rooms an updated look. June 23rd is the day "The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff" will ship. Ikea is known for their trendy designs. They use to be one of my favorite places to shop before to I moved to an area without an Ikea. The furniture we get with this pack should be good - and hopefully different from the furniture sets we already have (for those of us who haven't been downloading as much)!

http://thesims2.ea.com/about/sp8_index.php

The Sims™ 2 IKEA Home Stuff

Must-Have Stuff for Your Sims' Home from IKEA!

Give your Sims' home a makeover with new furniture and décor items based on stylish designs by IKEA!

Whether you want to create a trendy, spacious office, a chic living room, or a cozy and inviting bedroom, you can make your Sims' dream house into something even better-a home. Design your Sims' rooms to fit their personalities with all-new sofas, beds, tables, TV units, shelving, and more, in a variety of colors and patterns for a truly unique look. Add the finishing touches with popular IKEA wall art, mirrors, lighting, and vases. Be your Sims' personal interior designer with inspiring, contemporary styles from IKEA!

The Sims Sells 100 Million Units

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3167413

The Sims Sells 100 Million Units
In the land of games, Will Wright's interactive dollhouse reigns supreme.
By Mark Whiting, 04/16/2008

In the world of gaming there are smash hits and superstar successes... and then there's The Sims: a game so unbelievably popular, so cyclopean, that it defies all sane and rational attempts to classify it according to any conventionally understood game metric.

Let's be clear here. The Sims is so huge and influential that fully one fourth of EA's massive corporate structure is dedicated to its care and upkeep, placing the games corporate division separately alongside entities like EA Sports, EA Casual and... uh... everything else that EA makes. And why all the fuss, you might ask? Because, as of today, Will Wright's dollhouse brainchild has officially sold over 100 million copies -- putting its total units sold at a figure roughly 10 times that of contemporary PC behemoth World of Warcraft. The mind reels.

EA's Rod Humble was extremely chuffed to announce his company's historic milestone in a letter distributed today to Sims fans worldwide.

"This is an exciting time for the Sims," said Humble. "From teenage first kisses to stormy relationships, naming new babies to death by kitchen fire -- and even alien abductions, we've told a lot of stories together. [...] With the Sims we know that our players are truly unique. Players of the Sims see our games as a place to create characters, tell stories, explore relationships, live through generations design fashions and build homes and design their interiors."

Eat your heart out, Gears of War: Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Edition.

Over the years, The Sims has broken plenty of ground as a business paradigm along with its sales records -- proving once and for all that players' insatiable desire to dress pugs up in funny outfits can be fused with savvy product placement and corporate co-branding in order to produce bags of money seemingly out of thin air (example: a Ford Edge is available for download right now for your Sims off the company's website). With the release of the Sims 3 just around the corner, it's totally within reason to believe that that the Sims franchise could very well keep the merchandising streak, going on to sell 100 million more copies (and then some) at some point down the line.

To commemorate the big event, EA encourages you to head over to The Sims 2 official website right now to download a special "complimentary party skin" so that your your little peoples can celebrate the company's sweet, sweet fortune all night long.