The Sims 3

I've always had a soft spot for simulator games since I was a child. I would player theme park games such as Roller-coaster tycoon, Sims Theme Park, Virtual Villagers etc.. also because of my love for theme parks. So, Sims games were quite up my alley. You're a god controlling your sims, building houses, and buying things so it's not much different from simulator games such as Roller-coaster Tycoon, Virtual Villagers, Virtual Families etc..

The Sims has always been a nice game for everybody to play. You can create characters with detailed looks and create whatever personality you want to create with them, like emotional, hot-headed, neat etc. and it can influence the life that they have. Though, the weird thing I found out about the games I mostly played, Sims 2 and Sims 3 was the children never cry but the other age group of people can. But it depends on if you make your children emotional, nice, sensitive beings or perhaps if their mood was way too low or if someone they love die, I don't know, but I always keep my Sims happy. Though, the children not crying isn't a problem to me, the games are still enjoyable because it offers something for everybody.

Characters such as the Repo-man, Social Bunnies, and Social Workers are the only annoying characters. Social bunnies can be summoned when sims get too lonely, which is more of an imaginary friend and not something realistic. The Social Workers and Repo-man take things away from you so it makes them seem mean-spirited.

The Sims can even get annoying with their constant whining when they need something, when the babies cry and throw tantrums or if something is in the way of them.

The games offers pretty good replay value if you know what you're doing. I haven't played Sims 1 in a long time, but I didn't like it too much when I was 12, but I'm thinking about trying it again since I liked the other Sims games. The games are realistic, addictive, and fun to play. If you're tired of playing conventional games and want something unique and realistic, but still likable and sympathetic, play the Sims games.

The Sims 3 was one of the most anticipated games ever, I cant say that it has paid off all that well.

For the first 10 days I was totally glued to it, I think my computer saw more of me than anyone else. After that I practically mastered the game by building a dream home, achieving life-long wishes, getting married and having children (certainly got me hooked). Despite all of that its difficult to do things as your Sim needs food, comfort, rest and entertainment constantly...

To be honest, I consider myself lucky for being able to play this game, I know that out of 5 of my friends who bought this, only 2 can play it because it uses up sooooo much space on your computer so beware!!!

Its definitely worth it but the screen-shots and trailers make it look like you can do absolutely everything (and although it seems like you can such as getting a job, you don't actually see anything apart from the bar at the top of your screen telling you what your Sim is doing)

Which idiot wrote the storyline, you have always been able to go out the house on The Sims 1 and 2, its only on consoles you couldn't leave the house?

its a great game there are many expansion packs like World adventures Ambitions Showtime Late night Pets Generations And soon to come Supernatural.

This game is addictive as its a whole new lifestyle,but is a great game. Sims can get jobs and do basically anything a human can do Even Woohoo (Make love).

Its an amazing video game

The Sims games are based on a simple concept: create virtual people then influence their lives. As they develop, so they express new needs, start relationships, develop skills and provide a unique experience, part dollhouse, part soap opera.

Now The Sims 3 takes all that and improves on it in every single way in a game that's the best of the series so far.

Previously Sims were restricted to living within the boundaries of a single lot and could only visit another location by taking a taxi ride (interrupted by a loading screen) at which point they were locked in another lot until they decided to return home. Not so now - your Sim is free to explore the entire city without restrictions. And what's more, life goes on throughout the city, with other households growing, evolving and changing. It's an amazingly deep, immersive world your Sims now inhabit.

Core gameplay remains relatively similar, but EA has streamlined a lot of the problems in the earlier games. Sims eat less, need fewer bathroom breaks, pathing is improved and the game focuses less on micromanagement and more on play.

One new feature is the "Moodlet." Your Sims' experiences may give them negative or positive "power-ups" that effect their mood. Eat a good meal or walk into a well-decorated room and your Sim gains positive moodlets. But in a room filled with dirty plates their mood sinks. It's a superb,quick way to gain an insight into your Sim's wellbeing.

Although it still revolves around watching the clock speed past, work has been overhauled, with new careers and paths and even a new "work attitude" option - push yourself for the raise or chill-out with co-workers being just two options open to your working Sims. Although still not perfect it's a more engaging experience than that found in The Sims 2.

Skills have been refined. Writer Sims can pen their own novels, choosing a variety of genres to work in (and even giving it a title). When your book is finished, you'll receive royalties and a complementary copy in the mail, which you can then place in your home. You can plant seeds and grow your vegetables, then use them in your recipes. The depth within the skill set is superb and rewards gamers willing to put the effort into exploring the new system.

Create A Style is a new tool that allows players to modify the colour/pattern of virtually any item in the game, from furniture to clothing and building surfaces. The power of this tool is incredible and offers a vast range of style options for the custom-content creators.

Visually the game is impressive. The Sims themselves - although stylised - are well-animated, with a "solid" feel to them and the environments really shine: trees shake in the wind, waves crash upon the beach, water droplets stick to your Sim's skin.

But perhaps what's most impressive is the sheer depth and immersive nature of The Sims 3. EA have cracked that "just one last thing" gameplay that keeps you hooked for hours on end.

Finally, it's impossible to discuss The Sims 3 without touching upon the negative reception the game has - unfairly - been given by a minority of very vocal players. There are complaints of crash-bugs, that EA didn't include all the content of The Sims 2's expansions and that EA are attempting to rob players with an unfinished/incomplete game.

All I can say is that having played on a Pentium 4 2.8/Nvidia 7600GT and a dual core 2.6/Nvidia 8800GT, the game never crashed, showed no graphical glitches and Time Advance works just fine (EDIT: a patch from EA has since improved Time Advance further, so now there's no excuse for not playing it!)

What I have experienced is people complaining about the "broken" state of The Sims 3 playing on machines that don't meet the minimum requirements. Perhaps they should also complain that their CD Walkman won't play Blu-Ray movies.

As for the "missing" content: even EA would struggle to release 18 DVD's worth of updates on time for under £300. Expansion packs - as they did for the previous games - will be appearing to introduce new content to The Sims 3, so why this is a problem for these people is baffling.

For those willing to accept this new evolution I'd strongly urge giving The Sims 3 a whirl, as it's without a doubt the best game in the series so far. For those unwilling to accept change, then I'm sure EA will continue to support The Sims 2 for another few years yet. However, during that time you'll be missing-out on some amazing experiences.

Its sad that after waiting for so much time, registering at Sims 3.com, eagerly longing for a copy of the game, frequently visiting the malls, spending about Rs.399( I got a concession of about Rs.600 due to my previous purchases) for the game with the actual retail price of Rs.999, installing it as soon as I entered my home and playing with it for a couple of hours, I got a bit bored with it.

Sims 2 changed the PC game play to a whole new level. It was so addictive that one was glued to his or her seat. Unfortunately, the mighty sequel doesn't do that and somewhat falls flat. I have to admit that some of the changes in the sequel are welcoming but the whole game itself does not manage to carry the weight of the previous titles and turns out to be a somewhat disappointing.

The best thing about Sims 3 is the character customization which has innumerable options. To assign various traits to Sims is fun and so is the clothing option. But why did they not have the height customization? It would be so much fun to marry a dwarf man to a huge lady.

The whole idea of seamless neighborhood is overwhelming. For the first time, I loved to keep my Sims away from their homes. The graphics have improved and the Sims look more realistic. The wishes is a good addition to the Sims game. The ghost Sims and the prospect of having Ghost babies too is fine.

But why is the game not addictive? Firstly, there are only about 12 lifetime wishes. Therefore, many of my Sims have the same lifetime wish which is bugging. Then, the speed doesn't seem to increase a lot when I click on 'forward'. I have to see my Sims sleep for a minute or so which is okay but sometimes irksome.

The whole new interaction system does get a bit jaded after a while. Doing the same actions over and over again to make your Sims love each other or make babies is boring. And its is not possible to see what the Sims do at work or even at restaurants. Why were the creators so lazy in this aspect?

Overall, a not so addictive game for me. I would have rated it 8 before but since I am not playing it now and am in no mood to play it, I give it a 6.