(PC) The Sims 3
Life Drama Without End; Chatting with Sims 3 Producer MJ Chun
Jun 2nd
Janet Hetherington from Animation World chatted with MJ Chun, producer of The Sims 3. During her conversation, MJ brought up details on the Sims traits, their facial animations, the game’s music score and much, much more.
“We have an amazing team of talented, passionate, and patient artists and engineers as they worked together to make it the best-looking game as possible,” Chun suggests. “There was a lot of concept and modeling art work that went into making sure that the Sims were alive and based on reality, but not creepy.
“There were a lot of sketches and prototypes to hit the right visual target. Then all the pieces had to come together, and there were a lot of iterations.”
The Sims 3 team used different programs to achieve the facial and body visualizations. “We primarily use Maya to deliver on animations that are realistic but also humorous,” Chun offers, adding, “we also create a lot of internal tools for our artists, and for our animators, they had jazz.”
In addition to people in The Sims 3 game, there are ambient birds, insects and fish, but no pets.
While the customized Sims humans are unique, there is a structure upon which the game play is based. “Each family in Sunset Valley and in Riverview (the free downloadable town) has their own back stories for the players to discover,” Chun adds.
“The future of Sunset Valley is in the hands of the players, as The Sims 3 does not have a linear plot. Each decision and action of the player can change the town.”
The Sims game runs on an agent-based artificial life program. The presentation of the game’s artificial intelligence is advanced, and the Sims respond to outside conditions on their own — although often with the player’s intervention to keep them on the right track.
As for The Sims 3, Chun notes, “The Sims 3 engine is new and created by our internal team. The town is simulating in realtime. “
MTV Multiplayer: The Sims 3 final look
Jun 2nd
“The Sims 3” remains the unique experience it has always been, albeit with some welcome streamlining. The changes aren’t enough to make the game completely accessible to all, but mass appeal really isn’t what a proper “Sims” game has ever been about. Fans will certainly appreciate the more focused approach on simulated living, but newcomers will similarly be just as mystified as they’ve always been. Although it remains a “Sims” game through and through, “The Sims 3” is without question the best in the series so far.
Speaking of final look…I hope this is the final review! I bet you’re sick that I’m flooding the sites with them! 
4 Ways to Make the Most of Sims 3’s Massive Upgrades
Jun 2nd
Wired published an article listing 4 ways your sim characters can make the most of their life with tips like keeping your sims happy, skipping some days of work, and even exploring.
The title has received a graphical face-lift and more new features than you can shake a stick at, including an open world, personalities for your characters and enough customization options to make the hardiest of creative types light-headed. And if you never saw much point to carrying out mundane tasks virtually, a new goal-oriented structure means there’s likely to be something here for you, too.
io9 – Win The Sims 3 and $250 dollars in a Sims Sci-Fi Contest
Jun 2nd
I know you’re just getting the game (others may be waiting a few days) but there is still time for the following contest – it ends June 9th. io9 is holding a sci-fi Sims contest. They want you to use The Sims 3 and put your characters in a sci-fi setting. The winner with the best design will be awarded with The Sims 3 (why?) as well as $250 dollars to spend in an online store of your choice (this is worth it).
Here are the rules:
- Create a scifi scenario in The Sims, and take screengrabs (no more than
or movies (no more than 2) from it to show us your scene or story. - Include a written description explaining the story and how you made it happen.
- Submit your screengrabs and description to scifisimscontest@io9.com by midnight PST on June 9.
Anyone use IGN’s Direct2Drive? TS3 is now available!
Jun 2nd
PC’s Most Popular Game Franchise Goes Digital at Direct2Drive.com
BRISBANE, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ — Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment’s digital download store, today announced that The Sims(TM) 3 from Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS) is now available for download in North America on Direct2Drive (http://www.direct2drive.com) and will soon be available for download in Europe on Direct2Drive UK (http://www.direct2drive.co.uk). The Sims 3 joins a broad range of other Electronic Arts titles such as Spore(TM), Warhammer(R) Online: Age of Reckoning(R), Command & Conquer(TM) Red Alert(TM) 3, Mirror’s Edge(TM) and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest(TM), which are already available for purchase and download on the site.
Making its long-awaited debut today both in stores and online, The Sims 3 is the highly-anticipated third installment of the #1 best selling PC franchise in the world. In The Sims 3 players will be able to create more than a million completely unique Sims personalities, influence characters’ behaviors, alter their body shapes and immerse them in a thriving, seamless neighborhood just outside their door. With all-new quick challenges and rewarding game play, The Sims 3 will inspire players with endless creative possibilities and unexpected moments of mischief and surprise.
“More and more consumers are starting to adopt digital distribution for purchasing games, and many of our fans have shared with us that they appreciate the accessibility of having EA’s games on Direct2Drive,” said Tom Cipolla, EA’s General Manager of North American Publishing. “The remarkable success of The Sims franchise is poised to reach new heights with the release of its third installment, and we believe that it’s availability on D2D will help expand the fan base for this franchise even further.”
“EA is a great partner and we’re excited to add the highly-anticipated The Sims 3 to Direct2Drive’s growing library of leading PC game titles,” said Sutton Trout, VP of Digital Content for IGN Entertainment. “With Direct2Dirve, we’re offering gamers an easy and safe way to find and buy many of the most popular PC games from the world’s leading publishers – and when it comes to popular PC titles, nobody beats The Sims.”
Since the site’s launch in October 2004, more than one million games have been downloaded on Direct2Drive, and the site enables gamers to conveniently purchase, download and play the latest PC games and expansion packs from the world’s top publishers. The site features titles from the industry’s top publishers including EA, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, Rockstar Games and THQ, underscoring the growing investment the industry’s top publishers are making in digital delivery.
ABOUT DIRECT2DRIVE
Direct2Drive (D2D) is IGN Entertainment’s digital download store (http://www.direct2drive.com and http://www.direct2drive.co.uk). Launched in October 2004, D2D allows consumers to conveniently purchase and download the latest premium PC games, comics and anime titles directly from the Web to their desktops. D2D’s AAA roster of leading game publishers includes Atari, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, NCsoft, Rockstar Games, SEGA, Sony Online Entertainment, THQ, 2K Games, Ubisoft and Vivendi Universal Games.
ABOUT ELECTRONIC ARTSElectronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA(TM), EA SPORTS(TM), EA Mobile(TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 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 Mobile and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The Sims 3 Prima Games Guide sample
Jun 2nd
Want a sneak peek of The Sims 3 Prima Guide? PrimaGames uploaded a 24 page pdf sample that you can download at the official order page for the guide!
Source: Sims 3 Nieuws
Singapore loves The Sims 3!
Jun 2nd
EA brought in 5,000 copies of the Collector’s Edition and 10,000 copies of the standard version to Iluma mall where many Sim fans showed their support waiting to grab their copies! A report from Straits Times writes that over 3,000 copies of the Collector’s Edition and are expecting to sell a total of 15,000 copies of both versions combined by the end of this month. Nice going, Singapore fans – thanks for supporting the game!
Europe: The Sims 3 available for pre-release download
Jun 2nd
Paris, 02 June 2009, Metaboli, Europe’s leading digital distributor of PC videogames, today announces that the much anticipated Sims 3 will be available for pre-release download through its download-to-own service, Gamesplanet.com. Gamers are guaranteed to be among the first to play the game, which is available for download at 9.00pm on June 4th 2009 – 3 hours before its official release.
In order to meet high demand for the Sims series, Metaboli has launched a dedicated e-store for the title and will also offer several exclusive bonuses:• £12 worth of SimPoints in the Sims 3 Store
• Tracks from the game’s soundtrack, by Datarock
• An exclusive Datarock poster
• Access to the other half of the Sims world
• A unique cover“The Sims 3 has been the subject of numerous pre-orders on our platforms and this is undoubtedly one of the most attractive packages we’ve ever offered” comments Jérôme Gayet, VP Marketing and Product of Metaboli.
About MetaboliCreated in 2001, Metaboli, a French company, is currently the European leader in digital distribution of PC games, and aims at worldwide leadership with the acquisition of www.gametap.com in September 2008, the American leader in video games subscription.
Thanks to its publishing partners such as Atari, Codemaster, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Rockstar, Sega, THQ, Take 2 or Ubisoft, Metaboli makes the best video games catalogue available for download in Europe. More than 600 PC games are distributed through unlimited subscription plans on www.metaboli.com, and a system of download to own unit sales on www.gamesplanet.com.
Metaboli also developed the Digital Tycoon business-to-business platform, which allows publishers and distributors of video games to design, deploy and run their online digital distribution strategy on a global scale. Today, more than 50 partners in Europe use this ecosystem to simplify and streamline their business, including Atari, THQ, MSN, T-Online, Orange, Virgin Media, FNAC, Pixmania, Micromania, Rue du Commerce…
Finally, capitalizing on its success in online marketing, Metaboli created in late 2008 its own agency: Metagency, which offers varied benefits such as listing, membership, CRM and viral buzz to its partners in order to optimize their performance and increase their visibility on the Internet in Europe.
More information on www.metaboli.co.uk
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