Simmers News

Want a free copy of Spore and Galactic Adventures?

2009-07-06T16:40:00.001-04:00

Last week Spores first Expansion "Galactic Adventures" hit shelves to decent reviews. Now EA's Twitter is giving you a chance not only to win a copy of Galactic Adventures but Spore to boot. I already own Spore but i entered the contest regardless. Check out the details here

It ends around 7:15 PM EST, or 4:15 PST.

The Sims 3 Sells 1.4 Million

2009-06-09T19:00:00.003-04:00

EA has announced that The Sims 3 has now sold a whopping 1.4 million units. That's in 1 week.

Some Stats:
200,000 A Day
8,333 an Hour
138 A Minute
2.3 A Second

If it continues at this pace it will sell 72.8 Million copies by a year from now.

The Sims 3 Sells 1.4 Million in Week 1 [Kotaku]

The Sims 3 Store Set Prices

2009-05-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

Get ready to charge that credit card of yours (or, you can buy SimPoints in a major retailer near you!) as EA Unveils The Sims 3 Store Prices (well, we found them anyway). The Riverview town is free ofcourse, and will take up 98mbs of space to download. There are also a plethora of items to buy. There are 4 sets, each with discounts if you buy the entire set. Now keep in mind you get 1000 ($10) Simpoints when you pick up TS3 on launch Day.

Rounding out the low end of the chart at 575 Points ($5.75) is the Tiki Set. Thsi set includes a whopping 15 items. 5 Chairs, 4 Tables/counters, a Bar, and 5 Decorative items.

The Storybook Set will run you a whopping 1900 Points ($19). It includes 45 Items. Among those are 5 Chairs/Sofas, 1 Bed, 3 Plumbing Items (A Sink, Tub, and Toilet), 10 Tables/Counters, 6 Build Mode Items (Doors, Windows, and Pillars). And a whole lot of Decorative items and Lights.

The Hewnsman Set will run you 2000 Points ($20) and will include 47 new items. 2 New Beds, 5 Chairs, 5 Tables, 14 New Build Items, and a ton of Decorative Items and Lights.

The final set at launch will be the bayside set runs at 1450 Points ($14.50) and includes a fair 35 Items in it. 1 Chair, 6 Plum

bing Objects, 6 Appliances, 5 Tables, a TV, and a bunch of decorative objects and lights.

Personally i'll probably be a sucker and pick up either the Bayside or Hewnsman sets, both are very attractive. The Tiki and storybook do not interest me at all, as almost all of the objects i can just use in TS2 for free.

First Sims 3 Expansion News?

2009-05-16T22:00:00.000-04:00

The Game isn't out, yet we have our first possible hint at the first Sims 3 Expansion. SimBr. attended the Sims 3 Brazilian event, and spoke with an EA rep who told them that the first expansion will likely focus on Jobs and Occupations.

We have just received from our representatives in The Sims 3 Tour event in Sao Paulo information about the first expansion of The Sims 3. Representatives Weslley, Eduardo and Victor spoke to the manager of marketing for EA Games, Ian Freitas, and revealed that the first expansion of The Sims 3 exists, and that probably has something do with occupations and work. Great news! Keep an eye on O Sim BR.net for more news in real time about events in Brazil!

Check out their report here

Thanks to S2K from The Simmers Club for the tip!

The Sims 3 Trial?

2009-05-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

A NY Times article has debuted 3 ways that the Sims 3 will do marketing over the web. A Sims 3 Email Chain, where you can send emails to a Sim Pen-pal, and depending on your responces they might send back different things. The 2nd is a Sims Sidekick which will put a sim on your desktop and can browse the web at your side.

The third and most interesting is a free "trial". Now i'm not sure if this could be the full game (similar to Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box) or if it could be like Bodyshop which was released as a free demo for TS2. Exspect more info to come soon, as we are now 18 Days from Launch!

Read the NY Times Article Here

3 Sims Sudios make The Develop 100

2009-05-11T16:00:00.000-04:00

The Develop 100 is an annual list of the most bankable game developers. Blizzard (Makers of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, etc.) Ranked #1, however EARS [EA Redwood Shores (Formerly made the TS2 stuff)] was rated at 28. Maxis was rated at #31, and EA The Sims Studio made the list at #33. One of my favorite developers, Criterion Games, was ranked at #37. You can check out the list here

Rumor: Apple interested in picking up EA?

2009-05-05T18:00:00.000-04:00

I'm going to call this one a phony rumor, and a wishful dream at best for now, but many Mac Sites, along with the WSJ are reporting that Apple is eyeing EA for a takeover. Now there are several reasons why this would be incredibly stupid on EA's side of the deal.

1. EA Makes hardly any money off of Mac Software
2. EA Makes tons of money off of the PC, and Consoles
3. EA doesn't do many Mac Games

Now on Apple's side things are better, but i don't see this as a really possible rumor, but then again a rumor is a rumor.

Apple Eyeing Electronic Arts Takeover? [Kotaku]

Will The Sims 3 Sell 4 Million Units in 2009?

2009-05-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

That's what Gamasutra predicts, The Sims 2 sold 3.4 million copies in 2004 after a September launch (Roughly .85 million a month). So it is no surprise that they think TS3 will sell 4 million units from a June Launch (.66 Million a month). They also say that piracy will probably cut into sales much like it has done with Spore. You can check out the full article here

EA Unveils The Sims 3 Web Features

2009-04-30T15:00:00.004-04:00

So it seems as Drea has an ever growing position in The Sims Division. The Sims 3 site seems to be making quite a leap from the Sims 2 site. The main feature at launc (to me anyway) is the addition of a 2nd town which is downloadable, named Riverview. The new hood is something i'm surprised to see EA doing. Does this mean EPs will expand on the main town, or add their own towns? If so how will the 2nd town integrate into the main experience?

Also on the site you can find the mashup-maker, an exchange (Similar to that of the TS2 Exchange), and the My Sim pages make a return (is that good?). The store also makes a re-appearance (which we had confirmed earlier).

Press Release:

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 30, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced the robust online and community offerings to The Sims™ 3 game, the highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise The Sims. In addition to the town included in the game, a second town, Riverview will be available for download from The Sims 3 product website at launch. TheSims3.com also will allow players to create and share their own movies, manage their online content and purchase additional in-game content. The game is set to launch worldwide on the PC, Mac, iPhone™, iPod® touch and mobile devices starting June 2, 2009.

“With such a vibrant and active community as The Sims has, we wanted to build even further on the already immense offline experience, by offering players additional functionality, content and tools available online through the game,” said Ben Bell, Executive Producer of The Sims 3. “One example of the many online tools we’ve added to the game is the Create a Movie tool. Within the game, players can easily set up the camera angle they want, capture in-game footage, play director and producer and then post their movies online to show off to the world.”
Key Online Elements Include:
The Sims 3 Store: Included with purchase of the game is $10 worth of SimPoints, which players receive when they first register their game online at TheSims3.com. They can use their SimPoints towards downloading exclusive in-game items from The Sims 3 Store, to customize their game. For additional items, players can purchase bundles of 500, 1000 and 2000 SimPoints in $USD, EUR, GBP and other major international currencies using a variety of payment methods including international and national credit cards, PayPal, and EA cash cards (in North America only). Whether it’s the must-have new outfit or the latest style of plaid furniture, players have the opportunity to further customize and populate their Sims world with additional items.
Game Launcher: The Game Launcher is the key entry point for players into TheSims3.com community. This hub page connects players to both the Store and the Exchange, and provides them with news and information about game updates. Players can keep track of their downloads, uploads, installs, game updates and their media portfolio that includes the videos and photos they can capture while playing the game. The Game Launcher also alerts players to new content in the store, localized game and store promotions along with relevant updates to the Store and cool new content from the community.
TheSims3.Com Site: With the launch of the game on June 2, the marketing website at TheSims3.com will be replaced with the full community and product site for the game. The site will not only connect players, encourage new ways to be creative in the game, and offer personally relevant information for each use, it also will serve as the hub site where players can share their content with other members, and embed them on social networking sites and blogs.
Key Site Features
The Exchange: Building off of The Sims 2 Exchange’s success of more than 100M downloads, The Sims 3 Exchange highlights featured items, most popular downloads, powerful search and browser capabilities, along with giving players the ability to see what other players are recommending.
Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible tools inspire creativity and allow players to create movies and stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Players can show off their Movies with the Create a Movie Tool by embedding them on external sites or with an email link back to their Movie on TheSims3.com.
My Page and My Studio: The Sims 3 product site will allow players to maintain their profile pages on their My Page section as well as offering them the new My Studio section to manage all their creations – Movies, stories, Exchange objects. My Page is also a blog space where players can post news, customize it with a personal avatar, track favorites and more. Users can make friends with other The Sims 3 players and share their content across a number of social network sites.

For more information about The Sims 3, go to www.TheSims3.com. The Sims 3, developed by The Sims Studio, is also in development for Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and mobile devices. To download artwork, visit www.info.ea.com. The Sims 3 will be available for purchase at retail and online through digital distribution starting June 2 at http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/ContentTheme/pbPage.the_sims3/ThemeID.718200.

* INTERNET CONNECTION required. See product pack or digital distribution rules for details.

About The Sims 3
Get inspired by the endless creative possibilities and unexpected moments of surprise and mischief in The Sims 3! Customize your Sims’ appearances and choose up to five traits to create individual personalities. From the “romantic” trait or “kleptomaniac” trait to “evil” trait, create millions of unique Sims from the vast amount of personalities. New goal-oriented game play enables you to choose which short or long-term objectives you want your Sims to pursue and even determine your Sims’ destinies in life. Create and edit your own movies by capturing your gameplay moments or select from a library of clips. Then join The Sims 3 online community where you can show off all of your creations, receive additional content, hear the latest news, and more! Download exclusive content and hear the latest news of The Sims 3 at www.TheSims3.com.

About The Sims
The Sims franchise celebrates an impressive over 100 million units sold since its launch in February 2000. Now translated into 22 different languages and available in 60 different countries, The Sims quickly has become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. For the latest information about The Sims and to check out the hottest creations for The Sims 2 made by our community members, please visit www.TheSims2.com.

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS^TM, EA^TM, EA SPORTS Freestyle^TM and POGO^TM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Launcher Screenshot:

The Sims are no longer on Stage

2009-04-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

According to SnootySims twitter account EA has shut down The Sims on Stage, which they bought over a year ago. It's a sad day when an up and coming site is taken over by a corporate mega power, and then after lack of traffic, is shut down. The Sims on Stage now directs right back to the main Sims site, which no longer displays the Sims on Stage logo. It's a sad day for karaoke singers everywhere.

Random: Battlefield 1943 Trailer

2009-04-23T19:00:00.006-04:00

I know, i should be ashamed of posting stuff about a Non-Sims game, on the blog here, but it's kind of dry out there, with The Sims 3 still being over a month away. So, i've always been a big fan of the battlefield series (started with 1942, moved up to 2, 2142, and the Heroes Beta). So i am obviously excited about it returning to WWII with Battlefield 1943 coming this June to PS3 and 360, and September to the PC. So check out the trailer!

Revised for typos

Tweet for Ashton, Win Some Games

2009-04-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

There has been a war between Ashton Kutcher and CNN lately, as to who can hit 1,000,000 followers on twitter first, each are in the mid 900,000's, and yesterday EA joined the fray, saying the person who gets ashton his 1,000,000 follower will win every game they publish this year, on the platform of their choice, so get tweeting!

http://twitter.com/aplusk

EA Goes Nuts on Marketing

2009-04-10T21:00:00.001-04:00

EA has officially gone nuts on TS3 marketing, with advertisements appearing all over the place, these images were uploaded to The Sims 3 Facebook account, and show how much EA has invested in TS3, in which i am amazed, sure its not covering Valve's L4D advertising, or Take Two's GTA4 advertising, but it is still very impressive. Check out all of the images below!

Will Wright Leaves Maxis

2009-04-08T16:00:00.001-04:00

In a rather perplexing piece of news EA today announced that Will Wright has left the studio he founded with Jeff Braun back in 1989. Will Wright has had an internal group in Maxis known as the Stupid Fun Club, which will now become a studio for creating games, movies, TV Shows, and Toys according to the press release. Maxis will continue on the Spore franchise along with any new IPs, while the Sims Division will continue the Sims Franchise. EA will publish all of The Stupid Fun Club's games, just as if he still was at maxis. You can check out the official site here

There are a few articles which i will point you to, first is just an article from kotaku, the 2nd is an interview with IGN's Steve Butts.

Kotaku - Will Wright Leaves EA, Does Something Stupid [Kotaku]
IGN: Will Wright Leaving Maxis [IGN.com]

Sims 3 Delay

2009-01-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been following us from the beginning, know that we have been predicting a delay for quite some time. Well it appears that The Sims 3 may be getting pushed back, possibly into mid June according to SnootySims Keep an eye out as we update you in regards to the delay!

Were back!; Sim Animals Screens

2009-01-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

Once again i apologize for the long delay of updates, i had exams over the past week, but now i'm Free!

While i was out Studying EA released some new screenshots for SimAnimals, which you can see after this post. SimAnimals comes out next Wednesday on both Wii and DS.

Rumor: MySims Racing?

2008-12-23T16:00:00.000-05:00

I must say that i looked forward to the first MySims game, it seemed fresh, and new. But Allgame.com has posted a new page for "MySims Racing" with a release in 2009. If i were to take a guess at what it would be like, i would guess maybe similar to the Mario Kart type racing. Something Kid friendly, which obviously fits the Wii and DS well. We'll keep you up to date on any developments that occur regarding the MySims Franchise.

Source: Sims Domination

MySims Party Boxart

2008-12-23T15:00:00.000-05:00

EA has released the new Boxart for MySims Party. While i am fairly impressed with it, it feels like EA is really going to start expanding upon the MySims franchise (as you will see in posts hitting later today). Anyway you can check out the Wii and DS Boxcovers below, MySims ships in early 2009.

Announcement: EA Now on Steam

2008-12-20T14:00:00.002-05:00

EA and Valve have announced that you can now buy several of their games via Steam. SecuRom is likely still in these games, but elimates the need for the EA downloader. As of yet no Sims games are purchasable via steam, but you can buy about a dozen of EA's top PC games including Spore, Mass Effect and Dead Space!

Press Release:

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - December 18, 2008. Just in time for the holidays, Valve announced that, Spore™, Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™, Mass Effect®, Need for Speed™ Undercover and EA SPORTS FIFA Manager 2009 are available now to gamers in North America via Steam, a leading platform for PC games and digital content with over 15 million accounts around the world.

In the coming weeks, Mirror's Edge™ , Command & Conquer™ Red Alert™ 3, and Dead Space™ will also be added to the catalog of EA's titles available via Steam.

"EA is one of the industry's largest publishers," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. "The EA titles coming to Steam this holiday include some of this year's top PC titles."

"We are pleased to extend our holiday titles to gamers worldwide via Steam -- a revolutionary technology that is one of the game industry's most successful digital distribution services," said John Pleasants, President, Global Publishing & Chief Operating Officer.

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

About Steam
The leading online platform for PC games and digital entertainment, Steam delivers new releases and online services to over 15 million PC users around the world. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, Spore, Dead Space, Command & Conquer, Red Alert, Mirror's Edge and Need for Speed are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. Mass Effect is a trademark or registered trademark of EA International (Studio & Publishing) Ltd. Warhammer is a registered trademark and Age of Reckoning is a trademark of Games Workshop Ltd. Official FIFA licensed product. "© The FIFA Brand OLP Logo is a copyright and trademark of FIFA. All rights reserved." Manufactured under license by Electronic Arts Inc. The Premier League Logo © The Football Association Premier League Limited 1996. The Premier League Logo is a trade mark of the Football Association Premier League Limited and the Premier League Club logos are copyright works and registered trade marks of the respective Clubs. All are used with the kind permission of their respective owners. Manufactured under license from the Football Association Premier League Limited. No association with nor endorsement of this product by any player is intended or implied by the license granted by the Football Association Premier League Limited to Electronic Arts. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

View the EA Steam Catalog Below:

Coming Soon:

The Escapist Magazine Talks MySims Kingdom

2008-12-17T19:00:00.002-05:00

I know its strange to still be posting MySims Kingdom stuff, but the escapist has put up an interview! Check it out! MySims Kingdom is out on the Wii and DS now, MySims Party will be coming soon.

Rumor: Spore is coming to steam?

2008-12-16T17:00:00.003-05:00

Apparently the EA store is working well for EA. A while back we saw the Sims 2 series pop up on Direct2Drive, along with spore, now it seems that EA is putting spore also up on Steam another digital distribution competitor to the EA store. Why is this odd? Well because Spore would be the first EA first party game to go up on steam. Will The Sims series follow suit? I can only hope.

ELECTRONIC ARTS SOFTWARE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR SPORE [Thanks Kotaku!]

Remember those Disney/ EA Rumors?

2008-12-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

These rumors? The rumors that we reported on back in early November might yet be coming true sometime soon. The Wall Street Journal seems to think a merger will happen sooner then later. We'll obviously keep an eye on any developments that come out of the Magic Kingdom, or EARS.

WSJ: Is Disney Going After EA? [Kotaku]

Poll Results: Disney

2008-11-10T23:59:00.000-05:00

This week's Poll results came in nicely with a whopping 5 Votes! The question asked what you thought of a Disney/EA Merger. Results:

I Love it!

0 (0%)

Its a decent idea, i would support it

0 (0%)

I don't care all that much

0 (0%)

A Stupid idea, but they can't screw it up too much.. right?

0 (0%)

I Hate the idea

4 (80%)

Meh, its only a rumor, so what?

1 (20%)

With the poll now closed the new poll goes like this. "Where do you buy your games?", Make sure to vote in the poll, and comment if you have a question!

New Sims 2 Survey

2008-11-09T17:00:00.005-05:00

For those of you interested i got in on the old (October?) survery for Thesims2.com. The survery mainly dealt with casual gaming (EA has now Merged The Sims with EA casual just so you know). While it was an interesting survery i found it rather... unsatisfying? View some of the questions and my answers below You can Still take the Survey Here

The Simcity Societies Forums, Dead?

2008-11-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

Well... not quite. The mods and admins have abandoned it, but there are still a few members that post. Most of those posts are however rants about securom. This Post reads:

"Well they managed to delete some threads but we're still here! EA needs to go out of business for that Securom sh*t. I think they should be forced out of business and every EA executive sent to prison for life."

So where exactly are the EA/Tilted Mill Employees or even Volunteers? Its like they just abandoned a game and a community all within less then year of its release. I always thought Simcity Societies had a little hope for it, i thought they could turn it around by adding new transportation modes, and zoning and the like. But nope, they decided to screw over us Simcity fans. So will we ever get another proper Simcity Game?