The trailer video for Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff is now available!
News
3 Apr 2008 - 23:10
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3 Apr 2008 - 23:00
We've posted the highlights from our March International Showcase.
1 Apr 2008 - 23:00
Can you find the new Easter Egg on the Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff page? It's quite a treasure. There are now four Easter Eggs on the page, can you find them all?
27 Mar 2008 - 22:10
Come check out two new screenshots for The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff Pack.
25 Mar 2008 - 22:00
Come read these free Prima Guide samples for The Sims 2 FreeTime and Bon Voyage. Like what you see? Buy the full guide!
19 Mar 2008 - 22:00
COMING IN 2009 - The Sims 3 Gives You Complete Freedom Inspiring You With Endless Creative Possibilities.
EA REVEALS FIRST DETAILS OF NEXT-GENERATION FLAGSHIP PC GAME, THE SIMS 3
COMING IN 2009 - The Sims 3 Gives You Complete Freedom Inspiring You With Endless Creative Possibilities
REDWOOD CITY, CA - March 19, 2008 - Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today the first details on one of interactive entertainment's most anticipated games, The Sims™ 3. Featuring a brand new engine that has been in development for nearly three years, The Sims 3 allows you to immerse your unique Sims in an open living neighborhood right outside their door. The initial feature-set unveiled includes the new seamless, open neighborhood, new Create A Sim, new realistic personalities and new unlimited customization. The Sims 3 will launch globally in 2009.
The Sims franchise has long been recognized for its appeal to a universal audience, both male and female, and at any age. Its broad appeal and loyal The Sims community has vaulted the franchise to an impressive 98 million games sold around the world and translated into 22 different languages. Celebrated for its creativity, humor, and community, The Sims franchise has become a global and cultural phenomenon since its inception in 2000.
Now, The Sims 3 is being designed to be the next-generation flagship game from The Sims Label.
"In The Sims 3, Sims can go beyond the boundaries of their home lot, and immerse themselves in an open, living neighborhood, interacting with other Sims using our new deeper personality system," said Rod Humble, Head of The Sims Studio. "It is this type of open-ended gameplay that inspires endless creative possibilities. In addition the new goals and rewards systems will give players of all kinds from core gamers to storytellers the ability to enjoy long-term gameplay."
New Seamless, Open Neighborhood-Explore the Neighborhood Freely.
See the sights with your Sims! The new seamless neighborhood architecture allows your Sims to roam freely around the neighborhood and visit their loved one and friends - or foes. Discovering other Sims homes and families, traveling around to new locations like City Hall or the local park will create a whole new way of life for your Sims. Storytelling options will multiply as your Sims stroll downtown to meet new acquaintances, head across town for lunch, spy on their neighbors and bump into the boss when they least expect it.
New Create A Sim-Create Any Sim You Can Imagine.
In addition to the open, living neighborhood, the all-new Create-a-Sim interface will feature easy-to-use design tools that allow you to make truly detailed Sims that are more realistic than ever. Create-a-Sim gives you the incredible freedom to customize just about any Sim you can imagine. From thin to full-figured to muscular-everything in between and even the extreme! In addition to determining your Sims body shape and size, you will also be able to fine-tune every feature on their faces, customize their hair style and select their skin tone, all from a vast selection of options. With so many choices to choose from, it is fun to create more realistic characters that look like you, someone you want to look like, or even a famous personality.
New Realistic Personalities-Every Sim Is A Unique Person, With A Distinct Personality
With the innovative and proprietary Realistic Personality System in The Sims 3, you can attribute each character with five distinct personality traits, helping shape your Sims behavior and how they interact with others and their surroundings. This new system will empower you to create extremely complex and diverse in-game personalities. Will you create the nosy, inappropriate, kleptomaniac grandmother who loves to meddle in other people's business? Or the commitment-phobic, hot-headed punk rocker whose rude nature and childish disposition keeps him from scoring a date? In The Sims 3, Sims will go beyond the basic set of day-to-day needs to be distinct individuals with multifaceted personalities, who can focus both on short-term opportunities and long-term goals. With a wide selection of personality traits to mix and match, more than 700 million combinations of Sims await. You never know who you'll meet in The Sims 3!
New Unlimited Customization-Everyone Can Customize Everything!
New and accessible creativity tools in The Sims 3 make it simple for anyone to customize anything, anywhere! From floors to flowers, fashions to sofas, wallpaper to window shades and more, The Sims 3 gives you all the flexibility and options you need to be the architect of your dream house or explore your interior design skills to outfit your ultimate home. Your Sims can make home an ultra-deluxe mansion, a cool bachelor pad, family's dream home or charming cottage. The choice is yours in The Sims 3.
"The new engine and technologies in The Sims 3 are designed to unleash the player's imagination with realistic looking Sims who have distinct personalities and a seamless living neighborhood for them to discover," added Ben Bell, Executive Producer on The Sims 3. "Players are going to be thrilled by the level of realism in The Sims 3!"
For more information visit www.TheSims3.com.
Product Specifications
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts Redwood Shores
Ship Date: U.S., Europe and Asia: 2009
Platform: PC
Category: Simulation/Strategy
ESRB Rating: RP (Rating Pending)
PEGI Rating: RP (Rating Pending)
About The Sims
The Sims franchise celebrates an impressive 98 million units sold since its inception with The Sims launch in February 2000. Now translated into 22 different languages, The Sims franchise has quickly become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. For the latest information about The Sims franchise, please visit http://www.thesims.com. To check out the hottest The Sims 2 creations made by our community members, please visit http://www.thesims2.com. To stay up-to-date on the hottest The Sims 3 news and information, check out http://www.thesims3.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™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 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 BIG, POGO and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
13 Mar 2008 - 22:10
Come watch the music video for "Fa-Fa-Fa" by Datarock created using The Sims 2 FreeTime. Also check out the bonus Datarock band interview video and the making-of interview.
Interview - MaxoidPlumbob - Creating the Datarock Music Video
MaxoidMoonBelly: When you were planning the Datarock video, what was the inspiration for the story?
MaxoidPlumbob: The Sims 2 is so rich with a diverse amount of content that we don't often get enough time to showcase. The career reward outfits often get buried, and as a player you can sometimes play through a couple of generations without seeing them. AND robots, who doesn't love robots? Initially, this concept evolved around some outfits. But we usually put our heads together and try to come up with something fun that suits the band and music.
MaxoidMoonBelly: When you are developing the concept of a video, what types of storyboarding or shot-list process do you go through?
MaxoidPlumbob: We had a rough idea of where we wanted to go in regards to the characters, so I grabbed a couple of stills in game and mocked up some character art. Not only did this help get my creative juices going, it helped us share our ideas with everyone involved in creating the video. I wrote up a script, sat with my partner in crime (the editor and graphic designer of the video), boiled it down a bit and figured out what shots were needed to introduce the story and characters (as quickly as possible). We decided to play with a very familiar genre so we wouldn't need to get very specific with story elements. I typed up a shot list, figured up how many lots I'd have to build, and started working. The shot-list is a jump off point, once the ball gets rolling we revise and cut the list down once we start piecing together at the captured footage. We don't usually have time for storyboarding.
MaxoidMoonBelly: What is the most challenging part of making a video like this?
MaxoidPlumbob: I'm a real believer in the amount of imagination players invest in their own Sims' stories, so part of the equation is figuring out how we can showcase this element of game play. Our music videos have become a vehicle for us to do this, while our trailers are more specific to actual game play. When you look at the great community creations from our movie makers, storytellers, and builders, it's sort of daunting to keep up. So, we do our best to try and capture some of that innovation, while hoping to inspire the greater community in the same way we've been inspired.
So... orchestrating the Sims can be easier then finding a concept which will work within our world and equally suit a band like Datarock.
MaxoidMoonBelly: There are a lot of special effects in this video, can you tell more about what was used?
MaxoidPlumbob: What? Your Sims don't jump out of helicopters and into the lair of no-good evil scientists? Mine do. To achieve this moment, I had our Datarock-ers use the Bubble Blower object found in University, and using some "cheats" arranged them so it looked as thought they were floating around in the sky. The Helicopter was then composited in, added to the shot, using some editing software. It's a bit of Hollywood magic brought into our world.
The dance sequence and Fa-fa-fa section was a bit more complicated. All of the activity had to be triggered and then captured on a green screen background. This is achieved in game using specifically created wallpapers and floors, and again using the moveobjects cheat. Using editing software we take out the green and can put the footage over a second image.
MaxoidMoonBelly: What Sims games are used to get all those animations? Are they custom or in the game?
MaxoidPlumbob: Part of the fun of making a music video is that we're given the entire Sims 2 toy box to play with. Which in addition to all of the cool stuff, we can use every animation in every game. So we can have all the great dances in Bon Voyage, the cool sports stuff found in FreeTime, and the Servo's from Open For Business. But just as wonderful, are the smaller moments and little animations tied to specific Sim moods and personalities, like idles and reactions. Everything you see, from the dances to the superhero taking flight is packaged with the game.
MaxoidMoonBelly: I see a lot of neat objects used in the video for the sets, are those custom or are they in the game?
MaxoidPlumbob: The mad scientist's lab is filled with the career rewards objects and aspiration rewards. By using the snapobjects and moveobjects cheats, I'll often swap them around so the camera is only seeing part of this object and part of that object, so we can create a fuller illusion of a mad scientist's lab. If you look closely, you'll see some fun stuff. The only things created for this project were some basic floors and walls, the tracksuits (a recolored outfit found in Teen Style stuff), the movie poster whipped up for the closing shots (another Teen Style stuff recolor), and a transparent drive-way so we could create the illusion of driving through the desert.
MaxoidMoonBelly: What were some of the in-game cheats you used to get those special features in the video?
MaxoidPlumbob: Boolprop is our friend. I usually start building with every cheat turned off until I get a basic look and ensure that windows and doorways will work properly within the game. Then I start plugging in the cheats, snapobjectstogrid, moveobjects, allow45degreeangleofrotation and the like. Then the fun begins, when I can start dressing the set, or decorating. I've always wanted my own robot factory, and now I have one.
13 Mar 2008 - 22:00
Create a Mashup using movie clips from The Sims 2 FreeTime Expansion Pack to win The Sims 2 FreeTime Limited Collection and a signed Natasha Bedingfield album! Entering the contest is easy! Create your Mashup now!
12 Mar 2008 - 22:00
The latest Community Showcase challenge is up. Submit your international-inspired creation.
11 Mar 2008 - 22:00
Come explore the rewards of grilled cheese in this FreeTime comic strip!
