The Sims 3 Store – Bad, Awful, or Worse?

One of EA's touted additions to the Sims 3 is the Sims 3 store, where you can buy extra pixels to make your sims happy. I like the idea, but I don't like the way it has been implemented. Why? Because the cost of pixels has skyrocketed since EA got into the online content game. For a standard 40 piece 'set' which is essentially a series of pictures of household items, EA would like you to give them $15 USD.

Are you kidding me, EA? For extra sets that aren't even real, for digital media that doesn't even affect the actual game play of the game, we have to play $15 per set. To put this in perspective, this little lamp here costs 25 sim points. You can buy 1000 sims points for 10 bucks, so this lamp, this little, tiny, insignificant cluster of pixels is apparently worth 25 cents.

This stove, on the other hand. This picture of a stove, is worth, according to EA, one dollar. That's the same amount of money it apparently costs to feed a child in Africa for a day, and they are trying to charge every single user who wants to see this particular mesh in their game the equivalent price.

The EA store is, quite simply, daylight robbery.

This leaves users with a few options.

Option One

Don't get any additional material at all. Don't buy any more EA games until EA decides to quit trying to fleece their customers for every available penny.

Option Two

Private developers and modders are fast making their own meshes, and more often than not, these meshes are entirely free to download. Anyone with any desire to add additional content to their game would be well served to pay a visit to these modders. Support in these cases is usually optional, if you like the meshes they are making, you can make a donation. (Mesh is a term to describe the code for new in game content.)

For a list of great modders doing awesome work, visit this article.

Option Three

Pirate, pirate pirate. This is the option a great deal of tech savvy users will take and I have to say, if they do, EA deserves it. The game itself is not entirely cheap to buy, and the idea of an online store is to stop people from pirating by giving them an incentive to have a registered game. With prices as high as they are, there's really no incentive at all.

I don't mind EA charging for additional online content, I just think they're charging at least three times too much, if not more. Given that the Sims 3 has sold 1.4 million copies, there is no shortage of potential customers at the Sims 3 online store. Until EA brings its prices in line with reality, I for one, will not be shopping there.