Acrobats, for instance, begin as mime artists, mastering basic balance ball tricks and flips before moving onto fully customised stadium shows. Magicians get to invest in new props like the Box of Mystery or Swords of Destiny. Singers meanwhile unlock new props, costumes and tracks – something expanded on in the limited edition box that features licensed material from Katy Perry, no doubt the first in a string of celebrity endorsements.

> “The Sims 3: Showtime – hands-on” at The Guardian

IGN has also posted a preview:

Your sims can live out their fantasies in their current towns, where new venues will be added for performing, or you can jump into an all new area called Starlight Shores. Starlight Shores still allows your sims to have typical jobs like fireman and office worker, but is full of venues to cater to your performer’s needs..  Newly created sims will also have more options to tailor their personality and desires to that of a performer. For instance a goal might pop up to make a certain amount of cash doing street performances, or to impress a certain sim with their skills.

> “The Sims 3: Showtime – Living the Dream” at IGN

IGN has also got hold of a new “gameplay” video. It’s included in the preview, but you can also watch it here if you prefer (the link below the player came with the embed code):

But this wasn’t a case of simply hijacking the character models and moving them around like automatons to act out pre-set story. Instead, developer Somethin’ Else programmed the game’s AI characters with a set of disparate behaviours and characteristics and then let them loose, filming the resulting interactions and building a narrative around them. The team hired indie games coder Robin Burkinshaw (who previously made his own Sims drama, Alice and Kev) to effectively ‘direct’ the action by playing the simulation, but he kept his interactions to a minimum, allowing the characters to decide on their own courses of action.

If you haven’t kept up with the series, but want to, there’s links to episodes two to five below too.
> “SuperMes and the idea of emergent drama” at The Guardian
> “The SuperMes – Episode 2″ at YouTube
> “The SuperMes – Episode 3″ at YouTube
> “The SuperMes – Episode 4″ at YouTube
> “The SuperMes – Episode 5″ at YouTube

To get the big gigs, your Sim has to somehow make contact with a venue owner and persuade them to let them have a try-out. Once this happens though, the game really ramps up. From here on in, players can start building their own custom stage sets, complete with themes, special effects, fireworks, light shows and so on.

> “The Sims 3: Showtime preview” at PC Gamer

That’s not all though, they’ve also interviewed executive producer Ben Bell. The interview focuses on the games and expansion packs in general, so don’t expect to learn anything about Showtime, but it’s an interesting read:

PC Gamer: How do you pick the expansions?

Ben: It’s a pretty organic process. One of the fun things about working on The Sims is that you can reflect on your own life and the ideas you find are totally relevant to the game. Very few people have fortunately been at war, so there aren’t that many human beings who can relate to that experience. Everyone can relate to the idea of wanting to be a star or basically to being a human being with basic human needs, so the first step is we look inward, at ourselves.

> “The Sims 3 Showtime interview: the expansions they won’t be making” at PC Gamer 

THEY’RE JUST LIKE US

The average household family size in The Sims 3 is 2.93 Sims. The average US household size is 2.58.

Click the link in the tweet below to see the other fun facts — you’ll need a PDF reader.

Celebrate The Sims’ birthday and check out some fun facts! bit.ly/A5YD8m RT and say Happy Birthday!

— The Sims 3(@TheSims3) February 4, 2012

Surprise your Sim today with brand new items inspired by the Prius v. Enjoy these new additions; a surfboard sculpture, a new barbeque, a high end electric stereo, a custom guitar and a whole mess of sports gear to help your Sim stay connected and efficient! Download today!

It appears to only be available in the US and Canada versions of the store, but I can’t see anything saying you can’t go to the Canada store and get it there from anywhere in the world (for example)… The second link below will probably only work if you’re in the US or Canada, but the first link should work from anywhere.
> Prius v at The Sims 3 Store (Canada) 
> Prius v at The Sims 3 Store (General)

This February, gamerbase in association with EA Games are giving you the chance to play the latest expansion pack in The Sims 3 series with an early preview tour of The Sims 3 Showtime!

Taking place in all four gamerbase superstores around the country, players will be able to experience what this exciting new expansion pack has to offer two weeks before it is released in the UK.

Cost: It is free to attend this event and try out the game

Minimum Age: You must be at least 12 years old to play

See the links below for the locations and dates (click them to go to the event page on Facebook) – all events run from midday until 5 pm:
> Edinburgh on Monday 13th February
> Glasgow on Tuesday 14th February
> Manchester on Thursday 16th February
> London on Friday 17th February

The SuperMes is a brand new show built and recorded inside The Sims™ 3. Four characters – Clare, Anita, Ryan and Robert – are all about to start sharing a house together. It’s Clare’s first time living away from her family, and she is a pretty shy and awkward girl. We follow her as she starts settling in, and we watch as the four of them learn how to behave together, how to get what they really want, and what life is actually all about. It all took place in The Sims™ 3 And we recorded everything exactly as it happened.

The show is attached to some sort of web game that “helps you to be better at life” — you can find out more on the website.
> SuperMe