CES 2009 was the place to be this past weekend. Technology was at the center of attention during the show and the future of gaming was certainly not ignored. A company that took their representation at the convention very seriously was EA. One of the games that they were extremely excited to demo for us Game Girls was The Sims 3.
The Sims 3 will be one of many Sims games and expansions for the PC. The sequel to the widely popular Sims 2 is set to be released on February 20th of this year on the PC. A release date for a Mac version has not been announced yet.
There were several aspects of the demo that stood out to me more than anything else. The first was that going between houses, neighborhoods, and stores would not require any loading screens. Anyone who devoted as much time as I did to The Sims 2 knows that going to the market would always take a five plus minute load time. Now that traveling between locations is seamless there will be no reason to stay in your house all day.
Customization is definitely going to be a staple of The Sims 3. During the "Create a Sim" demo we saw that there was no limit to the amount of customization allowed. One coat could be split up into numerous parts, all of which can be individually patterned and colored. Tweaking the details of your Sims body has never been easier either. My favorite option was the addition of long hair. When I make a Sim, or a Mii/XBL avatar even, I look for any way I can make the avatar look like me, so the abundance of options is certainly appreciated. Also, all of your creations can be uploaded to the internet and be shared with TheSims3.com community.
The final aspect of game play that completely solidified my purchase of this game was that they upgraded the AI of the characters. The point of the game is no longer to feed them and bathe them but rather make them happy. If left alone your Sim is going to take care of itself completely, your main focus is to complete tasks to make your Sim feel fulfilled emotionally. In the Sims 2 I spent far too many hours repeatedly forcing my Sim to eat Chili con Carne for the hunger bar and then play video games for the fun bar, only to have them pee themselves and then have to force them to take a shower. It's going to be refreshing to play as God rather than Babysitter.
Overall, I am definitely anticipating the arrival of this game. I am fully prepared to sacrifice my IRL social life for my Sims social life. Is anyone else going to be getting this game too?
