The Sims 3 (Windows)

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Description

The Sims 3 is, like its predecessors, a real-time simulation game where the player controls the lives of one or more people in a family including their work life and social activities. In order to do so, at the start of the game the player creates one or more characters on the character creation screen which has been even more expanded since The Sims 2. Besides more choices in terms of look, clothes, colors and such, the player also chooses five personality traits from a set of 63 sorted in four groups "Mental", "Physical", "Social" and "Lifestyle" as well as a lifetime-goal. The personality traits influence how the Sim reacts to each event in the game. The trait "work-a-holic" for example makes the Sim love to go to work and allows him to use a computer at home to put in additional hours.

The lifetime goal, on the other hand, is similar to wishes but requires a lot of work to get to. While granting wishes can be as simple as ordering a pizza, one lifetime goal requires the player to make his Sim a CEO of a big corporation which can't be done over night. As a compensation, the fulfilling of a lifetime goal grants the player a very large amount of lifetime points as opposed to the normal wishes. These lifetime points are used to buy numerous forms of relief including the ability to make the Sim immune to hunger. This allows the player to focus less on fulfilling the basic needs of a Sim but more on advancing his skills and socializing with neighbors, co-workers and other people in the city. The six needs themselves are the same as before including fun, hygiene and hunger.

As opposed to its predecessors, the game isn't limited to the property a Sim owns with loading times in-between traveling to other places like family retreats. Instead The Sims 3 now simulates a full city the player's Sim is free to move around in and do what he wants, including working and socializing, but also buying groceries or books and visiting classes to further advance his personal skills. However, not every house can be seen from the inside. While the gym functions like a normal house with the ability to remove the walls and look inside, other places including the workplace, book store and hospital the Sim just enters and vanishes until his duty has been fulfilled there. The only influence the player can make in case of the workplace is how his Sim should go about his work. Should he work through lunch, get friendly with the boss or talk to his co-workers and such. All this influences both his happiness and his job performance and once his job performance reaches a certain level, he get's promoted which includes a higher pay and sometimes different work hours. during his visits the Sim can also collect stones, gems, metals, bugs, butterflies and seeds to be used in his garden, as decoration or jewelery. If he is really bored he can even go fishing at one of the lakes and rivers.

With the money a Sim starts with and earns during the game, he either buys a pre-created lot or builds/expands his own house from ground up including all of the interior decoration. This time around stuff can even be placed in an 45° angle.

The console versions introduce karma powers where players receive godlike powers to influence the life of their sims for better or worse.

Screenshots

Promo Images

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Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "Los Sims 3" -- Spanish title
• "Les Sims 3" -- French title
• "Die Sims 3" -- German title
• "De Sims 3" -- Dutch title

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay feature: Aging
• Gameplay feature: Character development - Repetition
• Gameplay Feature: Having Children
• Gameplay feature: Interior decorating
• Genre: Simulation - Human life
• Maxis Sim series
• Portability Engine: Cider
• The Sims franchise

User Reviews

This game is not completely evil, it's only a little bit evil.

Pixelspeech (1006)

Critic Reviews

Armchair Empire, The	Aug 05, 2009	9.5 out of 10	95
GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Jun 08, 2009	87 out of 100	87
Absolute Games (AG.ru)	Jun 18, 2009	86 out of 100	86
Mana Pool	Dec 18, 2010	8.6 out of 10	86
Jeux Vidéo Network	Jun 04, 2009	17 out of 20	85
Game Observer	Jun 28, 2009	84 out of 100	84
Jeuxvideo.fr	Jun 04, 2009		80
Blend Games	Jun 06, 2009		80
JeuxActu	Jun 15, 2009	15 out of 20	75
2404.org PC Gaming	Jul 20, 2009	7.5 out of 10	75

Forums

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Sims 3 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Launch Party

There was a The Sims launch party in Singapore on June 2, 2009 that was open to anyone who had pre-ordered the game. There the coupons could be exchanged for the game itself and there were free T-shirts for the first 300 men and 300 women who attended.

Sales

The Sims 3 was the best-selling physical retail Mac/PC game in the United States in 2009, where it sold 1.4 million units in its first week of availability alone.

Soundtrack

Steve Jablonsky recorded his score for The Sims 3 with a 40-piece string and woodwind orchestra, as well as choir, at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox.

Awards

• 1UP
  • 2009 - Best Simulation in 2009 (Editor's Choice)
  • 2009 - Best Simulation in 2009 (Reader's Choice)
• 4Players
  • 2010 – Best Simulation of the Year
• Game Informer
  • June 2009 (issue 195) - PC Game of the Month
• Gamespot
  • 2009 - Best Strategy Game in 2009 (Editor's Choice)
  • 2009 - Best Strategy Game in 2009 (Reader's Choice)

Information also contributed by Big John WV and piltdown man.

Related Web Sites

• Carl's Sims 3 Walkthrough / Strategy Guide (A strategy guide for the Sims 3. Includes help for getting started gardening and fishing. You'll also find cheats, and tips to being a social prodigy.)
• Imagine the Possibilities (An Apple Games article about the Mac version of The Sims 3, including additional commentary by Executive Producer Ben Bell (June, 2009).)
• official website (The official website for The Sims 3.)
• Review: The Mac Gamer (A review of the Macintosh version of The Sims 3 by The Mac Gamer's Luis Sosa (October 18th, 2009).)
• SIMS 3 launch party info (This is the EA Singapore site which contains details of the SIMS 3 launch party)