News EA announces The Sims 3

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/03...unces_sims_3/1

EA has just unveiled The Sims 3, which it is touting as its flagship next-gen PC title and projecting for a 2009 release.

[geekboyUK]

Oh great - that means I lose my wife for several months after its released then... better go dig out the take-away menus!

[Redbeaver]

dont eat too many chinese food. dont forget ur veggie. and drink some kind of juice for some vit C everday.

good luck. i'm in the same boat. my gf is a Sims fan as well. well... by "fan" i mean..... (sssssh, she reads bit-tech as well)

[steveo_mcg]

Please think of something new EA. I suppose it at least keeps the pc gaming numbers looking good while we ride out the current consoles.

[Jordan Wise]

hang on- 'next gen'? Aren't the majority of Sims players 14 yr old girls playing on integrated graphics? and they've got nothing 'next gen' about them. If they make the game even slightly demanding they're going to lose most of their players

[Jar of Almonds]

Great, now I'm going to have to find a way to stop the girlfriend from finding any news on this.... curse you EA and your never-ending stream of expansion packs!!!

She's already excited for Spore (.... me too.... kinda.... i'll give it whirl )

[rjkoneill]

i can see a line of 14 year olds with an overpriced copy of this and an over priced 8800gt in pc world

i might use sims3 to bench my rig if it is so 'next gen'

[badders]

Not the GF for me, but her mother. She'll disappear into her house for MONTHS.

I'm excited about spore though!

[Veles]

Meh, I don't really see the point from a gamers perspective, it's more of the same, and they'll release the same expansion packs all over again. Although admittedly, after playing the Sims 2, I wouldn't go back to 1 as 2 brought in some nice features that made life easier, will just have to see what new stuff it has.

Probably not going to bother, I liked the sims for a while, but it gets old quickly, another sims game doesn't really appeal to me.

Spore cheesecake!

[oasked]

I've never played the Sims and I'm proud. Spore will be good if it gets released.

[wuyanxu]

the graphics still sucks.

i know this game has to be able to play on below average computers. but wouldn't you think if EA used the CryEngine2, it would push the PC graphics market a LOT, thus making PC gaming more accepted rather than all developers going down the console route.

[Veles]

No, I imagine that would cause the same problems the Sims 2 caused. Too many people not knowing that their low end hardware isn't good enough, plus you have the issue that the majority of people with PCs capable of running CryEngine2 aren't interested in the sims at all. All you're going to get is a lot of angry people who will stick to the sims 2, rather than shelling out hundreds of pounds for a computer they're most likely only going to play the sims on. The PC graphics market doesn't need pushing anyway, IMO, it needs a push in the opposite direction.

[500mph]

Spore first, then Sims.
I want to give it a whirl. I never played Sims 2 though.

[wuyanxu]

Originally Posted by Veles

No, I imagine that would cause the same problems the Sims 2 caused. Too many people not knowing that their low end hardware isn't good enough, plus you have the issue that the majority of people with PCs capable of running CryEngine2 aren't interested in the sims at all. All you're going to get is a lot of angry people who will stick to the sims 2, rather than shelling out hundreds of pounds for a computer they're most likely only going to play the sims on. The PC graphics market doesn't need pushing anyway, IMO, it needs a push in the opposite direction.

remember, it's targeted at 2009! by then, Crysis should be easily maxed with cards like ATI 4 series or nVidia's rumoured GT200.

[Cobalt]

However integrated graphics will be at the same point they were 5 years ago.

[LordPyrinc]

CRAP!!!!! I can just see this one game causing me to buy a newer laptop. My girlfriend is a huge fan of The Sims and Sims2. My speedier laptop is about 4 years old now, so it will probably struggle with a 2009 released game. I guess things could be worse, at least she likes games and isn't bugging me about the countless hours I spend playing games on my desktop PC.

[mmorgue]

Heheh it's a running theme here!

I basically split up with my gf at the time because of that f**king game. She was a student, albeit a 'career student', who did nothing but sit in her room and play Sims 2 virtually ever waking hour. Time away from Sims 2 was unheard of and my "lack of understanding" was, of course, my fault, as it is for every other guy in this situation.

Sure, I like playing games too, and yes, back in the old FF days on PS1 I did have some 36 and even 48hr sessions... But even then I much preferred 'real life'.

I guess you can't fault EA for that reason -- they found a market and nailed it home. I simply cannot see what's so fun about playing in a fantasy world that a) you don't have super powers, b) you don't get to be the hero and finally c) have to actually 'play-clean' the kitchen and 'play-have-a-poo' and 'play-take-out-the-rubbish' ?? I mean, WTF?!

Am I missing something...?!

[DXR_13KE]

Originally Posted by mmorgue

I guess you can't fault EA for that reason -- they found a market and nailed it home. I simply cannot see what's so fun about playing in a fantasy world that a) you don't have super powers, b) you don't get to be the hero and finally c) have to actually 'play-clean' the kitchen and 'play-have-a-poo' and 'play-take-out-the-rubbish' ?? I mean, WTF?!

Am I missing something...?!

i agree completely with you!

[Jokkocze]

Stop whining. It's obvious that some people love the game, so if they want to spend their money on it, let them!

[metarinka]

highest selling pc game/franchise of all time. fun stuff, but I only dabbled briefly in sims 2 after playing sims1 for a decent amount of time.

I wonder what new they could offer