The Sims 3

August 2008: The Sims 3 website has announced the release date for Sims 3 as February 20, 2009!

Are you ready?

March 2008: TheSims2.com annouces that The Sims 3 will be released in 2009!

And, the official Sims 3 website is launched!

Check out the website to learn more about the new game. The Sims 3 will allow your Sims to explore entire neighborhoods. You will be able to create comepletely unique Sims in your living neighborhood--no more being tied to one lot.

That's right, The Sims 3 allows your Sims the freedom to explore the entire living neighborhood.

Create A Sim has been enhanced, allowing you more options when creating unique Sims.

Your Sims will now have more realistic personalities because each Sim will be a unique person with a distinct personality.

If you are familiar with, or are a player of, any of The Sims games, you probably know there is a lot of talk about the release of the The Sims 3. The Sims and The Sims 2 are computer games from Maxis and Electronic Arts. These real-life simulation (Sim—get it?) games are incredibly popular among players of all ages, from teens to adults.

EA Maxis officially announced a sequel to The Sims 2 called The Sims 3 in November 2006. Since then, rumors and fake pictures and videos of the game have circulated around the internet. However, The Sims 2 most recent expansion pack, Free Time, came with a little surprise. During gameplay, a Mr. Humble gives your family a gift, with a note: “The gift from Mr. Humble turns out to be a new computer for you and your family! Perhaps this machine and the game included on it are signs of things to come...”

The game that comes with the Sims computer is Sims 3…the video below is supposedly a preview of Sims 3 from within the Free Time expansion pack. I only say “supposedly” because I haven’t gotten the expansion pack to see it for myself yet.

You probably don’t want to get suckered into believing the rumors, especially if anyone is promising to sell you the game ahead of time. If you want to know real, authentic information, make sure it comes from EA or Maxis. Chances are that any new developments and announcements will be posted on The Sims 2 website. The website is pretty great about providing links to fans sites that provide information about the games. If you can’t really tie anything back to the official Sims 2 website, you shouldn’t believe what you read or see.

Don’t worry, I’ll update this article whenever more accurate information is provided about the release of The Sims 3.

The Best Fake Sims 3 Stuff

There is a lot of fake stuff out there about Sims 3, but some of it is pretty entertaining. If you pay attention, you will be able to tell what is fake and what isn’t…but, as of right now, 99.98% of it is fake.

The following video is obviously not really a preview for Sims 3, but it is funny. Plus, they show some of the stuff that is supposedly supposed to happen in the new game, like sims with more sophisticated social skills that they learn over time. Just watch it:

EA might not be ready to talk about the new game yet, but that doesn’t mean players haven’t let their creative imaginations run wild. I wonder just how much more realistic they can make this game, but still keep it fun?

Here is a cute little preview of what is to come. Do you think this is what they meant when they were talking about more advanced social skills? It is quite fun to have the Sims in this video speak English instead of Simlish…I always wondered what they were really talking about.

Actually, when I see videos like the one below, it makes me think that people would be crazy to believe this is really for Sims 3 because it looks so much like Sims 2. Sure there are some things shown in the video that I’ve never seen in the Sims 2 game, but I also don’t have all of the stuff packs or any custom content. If the new game pretty much looks the same, but has more sophisticated interactions, I guess I’d stick with Sims 2.

But, I am willing to bet that there will be a lot of upgrades and differences with Sims 3. Now we just have to see if our computers can handle it!

The Sims games are popular, so there are a lot of fans out there eagerly awaiting new information. There are also a lot of fans out there having fun and making up information about new games. This is fairly harmless, and can be pretty funny. But remember that there are also people out there who want to scam others.

Do not offer to pay for any advance copies or sneak peeks of any games. If EA offers to sell one of their games early, you will find links from their official websites.

Until we get more word, have fun thinking about all of the cool stuff that will be in the new game. What would you like to see in the new game?

Are you excited about it, or do you wish they would continue expanding Sims 2?

Please share your thoughts about this in the comment box at the bottom of the page.