The Sims 3 on Consoles
Electronic Arts (EA) will bring The Sims 3 -- the latest game in their bestselling and critically-acclaimed series -- to consoles (and the Nintendo DS) this fall. Since its initial PC release in 2009 console gamers have been waiting for news of a console release. We got a sneak peak at the console version of the game in a closed-door hands-off session at this year's E3 2010 (Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010).
The Sims franchise has always been centered around customizing your sim and his or her experience. In The Sims 3 that concept is taken further than ever. You'll get to customize your sims completely, including their appearance, personality traits, and lifetime goals. With a wide range of personality traits you can combine when creating your character, you are essentially building a unique personality for him or her. Your sim's lifetime goals will determine what their destinies are and as the one holding the controller it's up to you to decide if they will live out their dreams or not.
EA also explained in the demo that The Sims 3 will allow players to raise multiple generations of sims. So a sim family can include kids, parents and grandparents. As with past console Sims titles, players will again be able to build and design homes. What's new in The Sims 3 however is online content sharing. You can share your creations with friends online or download ones designed by other players.
You can unlock additional items and upgrades for your sim by completing challenges throughout the game. The Sims 3 will also feature a neighborhood that your sim can explore instead of just individual locations that they could only jump to which is a welcome addition to the series and creates a more cohesive sim world for your character.
EA also discussed "moodlets" in the presentation. Moodlets will be able to show players exactly why your sim is happy or unhappy. In the demo, one of the sims was unhappy, and upon taking a closer look at the moodlets, we were able to see why: He was tired, lonely, in addition to other reasons based on events that previously happened to him.
But by far the most hilarious and entertaining feature of The Sims 3 is the introduction of "karma powers". You can use karma powers to help your sims or make them miserable. Here are some of the karma powers we got to see in the demo:
• "Super Satisfied" -- Instantly make sim happy and content.
• "Cosmic Curse" -- Embarrass your sim in really funny ways by making it his or her worst day ever. (When this was used in the demo, the unlucky sim farted at a party in front of other sims he was trying to impress, causing him to run out of the room in shame!)
• "Firestorm" -- One of the crueler karma powers; you can cause fire to rain down from the sky on your sims, causing panic and chaos.
• "Earthquake" -- Shake things up, literally, by unleashing an earthquake on your sims.
In the game, players will be able to unlock additional karma powers by gaining "karma points" by satisfying the sims' wishes.
Since it was a hands-off demo, I can't really speak to the controls or playability of the game, but graphically the game is inline with the PC version. We also saw a tremendous amount of options available to players in terms of actions and interactions with other sims. Gamers won't have to wait too long to get their Sim fix. The Sims 3 will have its multi-platform release this fall.