What are you doing this weekend?

Want to bring this feature back to SN now that we're growing faster then ever before! I want to know what you're doing in TS3 (or TS2) this weekend. Leave your responces in teh comments section.

As for me, i won't be playing TS3 much as i am currently at the beach, and will be until next saturday. Hope everyone gets a chance to respond!

The Sims 3 Review: Revolutionizing a Virtual Dollhouse

To fans of The Sims, The Sims 3 has been a long time coming. Announced in back in 2005 we finally have our hands on the third true game of the series.
The Sims series has always been known as a jewel of the game industry. Originally created by legendary game designer Will Wright, The Sims took off selling over one million copies in less than ten years. Smashing records the game moves into its third evolution.

The Sims 2 expanded upon the original Sims by introducing a brand new 3D engine. The Sims 3 adds greatly to the 3D engine rendering an entire town all seamlessly. The visuals for The Sims 3 look fantastic. You will see many breathtaking vistas upon your tour of sunset valley. Many visual areas from The Sims 2 have been improved as well. The foliage has had an incredible amount of detail put into it, and it shows beautifully. The Sims themselves have also gotten a facelift making them more realistic looking then their Sims 2 counterparts.

The biggest new addition to The Sims 3, that sets it apart from previous entries in the series, is the new seamless neighborhood. Your Sims can walk around and talk to other Sims in the neighborhood, which was previously never possible. There are no loading screens to split up the action. If you want to go shopping all you have to do is click on the location, and the Sim will immediately go. No loading screen, no slowdown. The town works incredibly well and is a great addition to the franchise. It refreshes the way you play and feels like a living, breathing town.

Another big addition to the Sims 3 is a new way to characterize your Sim’s personalities. EA has gotten rid of the old personality points system in favor of traits. You no longer have an outgoing rating of 6. Instead you can pick the “Flirty” trait. The new traits feel much more personable and realistic. There are a lot of neat personality traits to explore ranging from things like “Good” or “Neat Freak” to straight up bizarre like “Kleptomaniac” or “Never Nude”. Some traits effect your Sim’s physical interactions with the world and are pretty obvious. “Athletic” or “Natural Cook” are good examples of traits that are pretty easy to figure out. Other traits require more playing to see how they affect your Sim’s behavior such as “Daredevil” or “Family Oriented”. You can mix and match any 5 traits to make your Sim different than any other Sim. The traits feel much less robotic then the personality points in previous games.

One of the big differences between The Sims and The Sims 2 was the introduction of aging. In the Sims 2 your family would age and move on as the game progressed. The Sims 3 expands on this premise by aging the entire town as you play. As your Sim’s life progresses so does the entire town. While playing your Sim’s boss may pass away, thus your job performance may suffer or improve depending on how well you know your co-workers. It’s this new take on an old trick that makes The Sims 3 a more dynamic game then its predecessors.

The Sims has always been about creating a community, and this continues with The Sims 3. The new “Create-a-style” feature lets users “recolor” in game objects however they like. This new tool allows you to create very consistent homes. This tool is also used on clothing. If there is any object in the game you don’t like the color of you can change it in just a few clicks. The create-a-style tool is very simple to use yet at the same time can be very deep.

The Sims 3 is much more impressive on the web then The Sims 2 ever was. The new website provides tools such as a movie mashup maker that allow for casual players to experience a whole new area of gameplay without requiring expensive tools and tutorials. Obviously the tools aren’t very expansive but they’re not there for experienced movie makers, but rather for aspiring new directors looking to get started.

The sound design is as always a subtle mix of ambient noises such as birds and crickets mixed with a peaceful soundtrack composed by Steve Jablonsky. It’s a very nice and upbeat soundtrack that nicely compliments the gameplay and never gets in your face. It’s just there to back up the atmosphere.

Overall The Sims 3 is a definite pickup for any Sims fan out there. All the basics have been covered and improved upon. You won’t find much from previous expansions to the game in The Sims 3 but I’m sure they’re not far behind. If you enjoyed playing with dollhouses before you’re sure to enjoy playing with an entire town. The Sims 3 is a game that appeals to everyone whether a casual player or a hardcore gamer. There is always something to do in The Sims 3. Now stop reading this review and go buy the game.

SimSocial and Sim Sidekick released

EA has released 2 new features for the Sims 3 website. Sim Friend will be launching shortly. After playing with SimSocial for a while (It forces you to go to sleep after 4 hours) it becomes kind of old, but i enjoyed my time with it. I might put up an impressions piece later on, but for now you can check them out at The Sims 3 site.

EA Unveils The Sims 3 Web Features

So it seems as Drea has an ever growing position in The Sims Division. The Sims 3 site seems to be making quite a leap from the Sims 2 site. The main feature at launc (to me anyway) is the addition of a 2nd town which is downloadable, named Riverview. The new hood is something i'm surprised to see EA doing. Does this mean EPs will expand on the main town, or add their own towns? If so how will the 2nd town integrate into the main experience?

Also on the site you can find the mashup-maker, an exchange (Similar to that of the TS2 Exchange), and the My Sim pages make a return (is that good?). The store also makes a re-appearance (which we had confirmed earlier).

Press Release:

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 30, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced the robust online and community offerings to The Sims™ 3 game, the highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise The Sims. In addition to the town included in the game, a second town, Riverview will be available for download from The Sims 3 product website at launch. TheSims3.com also will allow players to create and share their own movies, manage their online content and purchase additional in-game content. The game is set to launch worldwide on the PC, Mac, iPhone™, iPod® touch and mobile devices starting June 2, 2009.

“With such a vibrant and active community as The Sims has, we wanted to build even further on the already immense offline experience, by offering players additional functionality, content and tools available online through the game,” said Ben Bell, Executive Producer of The Sims 3. “One example of the many online tools we’ve added to the game is the Create a Movie tool. Within the game, players can easily set up the camera angle they want, capture in-game footage, play director and producer and then post their movies online to show off to the world.”

Key Online Elements Include:

The Sims 3 Store: Included with purchase of the game is $10 worth of SimPoints, which players receive when they first register their game online at TheSims3.com. They can use their SimPoints towards downloading exclusive in-game items from The Sims 3 Store, to customize their game. For additional items, players can purchase bundles of 500, 1000 and 2000 SimPoints in $USD, EUR, GBP and other major international currencies using a variety of payment methods including international and national credit cards, PayPal, and EA cash cards (in North America only). Whether it’s the must-have new outfit or the latest style of plaid furniture, players have the opportunity to further customize and populate their Sims world with additional items.

Game Launcher: The Game Launcher is the key entry point for players into TheSims3.com community. This hub page connects players to both the Store and the Exchange, and provides them with news and information about game updates. Players can keep track of their downloads, uploads, installs, game updates and their media portfolio that includes the videos and photos they can capture while playing the game. The Game Launcher also alerts players to new content in the store, localized game and store promotions along with relevant updates to the Store and cool new content from the community.

TheSims3.Com Site: With the launch of the game on June 2, the marketing website at TheSims3.com will be replaced with the full community and product site for the game. The site will not only connect players, encourage new ways to be creative in the game, and offer personally relevant information for each use, it also will serve as the hub site where players can share their content with other members, and embed them on social networking sites and blogs.

Key Site Features

The Exchange: Building off of The Sims 2 Exchange’s success of more than 100M downloads, The Sims 3 Exchange highlights featured items, most popular downloads, powerful search and browser capabilities, along with giving players the ability to see what other players are recommending.

Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible tools inspire creativity and allow players to create movies and stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Players can show off their Movies with the Create a Movie Tool by embedding them on external sites or with an email link back to their Movie on TheSims3.com.

My Page and My Studio: The Sims 3 product site will allow players to maintain their profile pages on their My Page section as well as offering them the new My Studio section to manage all their creations – Movies, stories, Exchange objects. My Page is also a blog space where players can post news, customize it with a personal avatar, track favorites and more. Users can make friends with other The Sims 3 players and share their content across a number of social network sites.

For more information about The Sims 3, go to www.TheSims3.com. The Sims 3, developed by The Sims Studio, is also in development for Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and mobile devices. To download artwork, visit www.info.ea.com. The Sims 3 will be available for purchase at retail and online through digital distribution starting June 2 at http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/ContentTheme/pbPage.the_sims3/ThemeID.718200.

* INTERNET CONNECTION required. See product pack or digital distribution rules for details.

About The Sims 3

Get inspired by the endless creative possibilities and unexpected moments of surprise and mischief in The Sims 3! Customize your Sims’ appearances and choose up to five traits to create individual personalities. From the “romantic” trait or “kleptomaniac” trait to “evil” trait, create millions of unique Sims from the vast amount of personalities. New goal-oriented game play enables you to choose which short or long-term objectives you want your Sims to pursue and even determine your Sims’ destinies in life. Create and edit your own movies by capturing your gameplay moments or select from a library of clips. Then join The Sims 3 online community where you can show off all of your creations, receive additional content, hear the latest news, and more! Download exclusive content and hear the latest news of The Sims 3 at www.TheSims3.com.

About The Sims

The Sims franchise celebrates an impressive over 100 million units sold since its launch in February 2000. Now translated into 22 different languages and available in 60 different countries, The Sims quickly has become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. For the latest information about The Sims and to check out the hottest creations for The Sims 2 made by our community members, please visit www.TheSims2.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS^TM, EA^TM, EA SPORTS Freestyle^TM and POGO^TM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Launcher Screenshot:

New Features!

I know, its not often i post about improvements to the site, but today i have added 2 big ones!

First off is the new Shoutbox! yes i have finally added a ways of communication between simmers! Hopefully this will be a feature that stays as long as it is not abused or spammed.

Second is the new scrolling TS3 Screenshots! I will update it every time there is a new screenshot released, obviously we have to do a little promotion so every 4 shots that go by you will see an SN logo.

Normally i would post these in the release notes section at the very bottom of the side-nav bar, but i felt these were cool new features!

Video of The Moment

Yet Another new Community Feature, simply click the Title to be taken to our Youtube Video of the Moment! This will be another weekly feature such as The Picture of the week, and others.

This weeks Video is by Megasolomaster and is a Music Video for "What I've Done" by Linkin Park

View It Here