EA releases first details, screens of Sims 3

by Justin McElroy { Mar 19th 2008 at 10:15AM }

click to enlarge

If you're a Sims fan you've probably been obsessively counting down the days until March 19 when EA would reveal more details on the next iteration of their ~~profit center~~ popular series: Sims 3. The official site ~~seems to be down at the moment~~ [update: it's back up!], but we received some details from EA in a written statement we can pass on.

Expect a new engine with a new, much more detailed Create-a-Sim feature. There are more physical and personality options for Sims, in fact, the release boasts over 700 million combinations. All of the objects in the world are going to be more customizable too. Also, as we already knew, your neighborhood is going to be a bigger factor in your gameplay. It all sounds promising, but don't get too excited just yet: There's no specific date, but EA says the game won't drop until 2009.

Gallery: The Sims 3

Tags: breakingnews, ea, sims, sims-3, the-sims, will-wright

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Bleu @ Mar 19th 2008 10:22AM

Maybe EA wont screw with this franchise and tarnish it....nonetheless my hatred for EA is high but even I love the sims so I dont know about this one.

Zertoss @ Mar 19th 2008 10:44AM

It seems like EA has mostly let Maxis do things the way they want to, probably due to The Sims and The Sims 2 printing money for them, as well as not being able to roll high enough to beat Will Wright's charisma (though I guess sometimes they do manage to get a shot or two in, as evidenced by those Sims Carnival games or whatever they are).

I mean, if EA had THAT much control over them, we'd have Spore with 4 expansions and a sequel by now.

Bleu @ Mar 19th 2008 10:59AM

touche Zertoss Touche!

Ritz @ Mar 19th 2008 10:42AM

Releases*

Also, I would like me some Sims 3.

Justin McElroy @ Mar 19th 2008 10:53AM

Hmm ... I don't see it.

samfish @ Mar 19th 2008 10:56AM

Headline's right, but it's wrong WRONG WRONG in the header...and the URL.

releses

Justin McElroy @ Mar 19th 2008 11:11AM

yeah, i know Sam. I was kidding because I fixed it. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about the header/URL. But thanks for the heads, Ritz.

SoxFan13 @ Mar 19th 2008 10:56AM

This game will release after Spore so you can use your f'ed up creature to go date and sit in hot tubs.

mynameisprimus @ Mar 25th 2008 12:11AM

yeah i'm waiting for them to say you'll be able to integrate your sims into spore...

d-pad @ Mar 19th 2008 11:03AM

Save the Clock Tower!!!!

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 19th 2008 11:05AM

holy shit thats totally what I'm looking at!

riggs @ Mar 19th 2008 11:48AM

oh no! doc!

Mr.ESC @ Mar 19th 2008 1:07PM

Last night, Darth Vader came down from the planet Vulcan and said that if I didn't buy the Sims 3 and Spore, that he'd melt my brain.

d-pad @ Mar 19th 2008 1:31PM

Apparently your PC needs a 1.21 Giggawatt processor to play this game.

Mr.ESC @ Mar 19th 2008 2:48PM

D-pad I'm sure that in 2038, plutonium is available in every corner Best buy or Circuit city, but in 2008 it's a little hard to come by.D-pad, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you can't play this game!

Mills and Boom @ Mar 19th 2008 11:08AM

My sister and her school friends will be pleased!

Phranctoast @ Mar 19th 2008 11:13AM

Is it compatible with Home? ;)

Maverick Saturn @ Mar 19th 2008 11:25AM

Might be on to something there :O

I'll report this to Sony right away...on second thought, the woohoo option won't be taken very lightly :S

Maverick Saturn @ Mar 19th 2008 11:27AM

Looks meh, I just want the exploration option, don't need the rest, the sims themselves don't look that much better then Sims 2 sims, in fact, the sims 2 sims look better, these just look more glossy and smooth.

Not much of an improvement though.

Joe P @ Mar 19th 2008 1:21PM

Generally speaking this game is still probably more then a year away from release, which means that the graphics could improve by a lot in that time. Additionally very little information has been released about the game, so I feel that unless you're a hardcore fan of the series and would buy it if all Will Wright did was take a dump in the box it's a little early to determine whether or not it's worth a buy.

Dahk @ Mar 19th 2008 11:45AM

Actually if all people were taken out of the picture except the guy in the blue jeans, it'd look like another screenshot of Home lol - with different types of buildings.

They just need to tilt that camera angle up, and it'd just like all the Home screenshots =P.

Robobagins @ Mar 19th 2008 11:57AM

Eh, I'm all for sims3, but the "screens" look more like 'shopped shots of the sims2. Eh, I'm gonna buy it anyway, can't wait to see what the modders do with it.

stewis @ Mar 19th 2008 12:46PM

I wonder if you will still beable to de-blur out when people use the shower :D

Jonah Falcon @ Mar 19th 2008 12:47PM

The site is HEAVILY trafficked right now.

"I wonder if you will still beable to de-blur out when people use the shower :D"

You always could. What you see is smooth, mannequin, genital-less bodies.

Quentin @ Mar 19th 2008 3:22PM

No kidding dude. I think I will wait a bit until the rush dies down. This reminds me of the GTA IV trailer rush a year ago.

Mr.ESC @ Mar 19th 2008 1:11PM

I hope the final game doesn't look like that I mean for a 2009 title that wouldn't be half good.

Not to mention most of the characters seem taken out from Poser.

Eell I'm happy this game will be finally released but um where is my new Urbz game?

David J @ Mar 19th 2008 1:13PM

great, a third iteration of a game where i spend 2 hours cleaning my sims' house rather than cleaning my own.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 19th 2008 1:53PM

Actually, they're taking alot of the little bullshit like that out.

Kewlrats @ Mar 19th 2008 1:30PM

Yay! Home is finally coming out!

Oh, wait...

Mr.ESC @ Mar 19th 2008 1:43PM

I lol'd

Ethan @ Mar 19th 2008 2:26PM

Yay, now I can make normal-looking people rather than sticks and token fatties!

jvmaxwell @ Mar 19th 2008 4:02PM

Does this mean that the improved character creation will enable you to make more common body types and realistic looking ethnic people?

I know my fiance is a huge fan of the game, but being black, she finds it hard to make a character that looks like her. There is a dearth of skin tones and good looking hair (Dear Maxis, not all black people have dreadlocks and afros, nor do they all straighten their hair.)

octoberasian @ Mar 19th 2008 4:06PM

Sims 3!!

YES!!

I loved the first two, and I'm a pretty much Sims addict. ^^;;;

Sims 2 was really good, and I can't wait for this and Spore to come out now.

Now, only if they can make Sim City 5 with Sims 3 connectivity, then I'll be a happy person. :D