Sims 3 Expansion Announced 84
EA has announced that The Sims 3 will be getting its first expansion pack on November 16th, titled World Adventures. It will be available at first for the PC and Mac clients, and later for mobile platforms. "Players can take their Sims on new journeys to famous real-world inspired destinations around the globe for the first time ever and seek out new adventures. ... From mastering martial arts in Shang Simla, China, discovering rich culture and famous landmarks on a romantic getaway to Champs Les Sims, France or exploring the depths of ancient tombs in Al Simhara, Egypt, players can take their Sims on a journey that will change their Sims' lives." EA's Lyndsay Pearson spoke further about the expansion in an interview with IGN.
Re:And in other news... (Score:5, Insightful)
Off topic, but I couldn't help but notice your signature
Socialism has nothing to do with changing history, watching everybody, thought crimes etc. Socialism is about (brace yourself) social issues. The idea that as a society we help those less fortunate who need help. Be it because they're young or old, men or women, rich or poor. If you break your leg, you get helped and you don't get billed for it. If you need or want an education, we'll pay for it - which benefits society as a whole.
Then one can start to argue that it's not better for society as a whole to let people over say 50 live on, but in a democratic society that's unlikely to be approved, given the large number of voters who are 50+. Or that in order to curb crime for the betterment of society we need to install cameras everywhere.
Sure, but where most people see the opposite of socialism (capitalism) it'll be the same, but for different reasons: "Everybody must be monitored, to protect everybody's property". It's the same goal, just different arguments.
1984 isn't about socialism. It's not about capitalism either. It's about a society where authoritarian rule has run amok. And authoritarianism is opposed liberalism (but not in the way it's seen by most people in the US).
Socialism "done right" is what you see in most Scandinavian countries. Healthy democracies, stable rule (ignoring World War II), high taxes but with a high level of social benefits.
Re:And in other news... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:And in other news... (Score:4, Insightful)
Who cares, seriously? I will tell you why you shou (Score:2, Insightful)
Really? Well, I will tell you why I should care. Because The Sims3 is PC and Mac ONLY! (the mobile versions do not compare). No true console version exists because consoles couldn't do The Sims and THAT sonny does MATTER.
Because causes are getting more and more crippled with DRM and even in hardware if Nintendo and even MS now are to carry out their announced policy of no longer pushing new hardware to its limits.
This might soon mean that console games will the same material re-hashed time and time again without ever improving. Not that great games cannot be made on the consoles, but do we REALLY want business rules to dictate what we will be gaming next? Because then we will end up with games that are the equivelant of yet another reality show.
The Sims, wether you like the game or not is a HUGE game that has tons of modders and many of the BUYERS are BUYERS who BUY mods. Valve is very nice to support modding in its games, but the financial impact of it is debatable especially to a company like EA. No EA does not exactly make it easy for modders but many a Sims player only bought the game with the idea of creating their own content for it.
As such the Sims is a reminder to everyone that A: openess/modding appeals to more then just the "small" group of hardcore nerds. B: That PC games can still be a cash cow. C: That games other then MMO's can make money. D: That not every game needs to be a FPS and finally, that releasing a game for the Mac makes financial sense.
So that is why The Sims 3 matters, not because you have to like running your own private menage of girls wetting their pants (but really, who could resist), but for the fact that this game shows another way for publishers.
If you ever get a girlfriend, and she complains that you are spending to much time on the PC, just giver her a copy of the sims. That alone means I want to hear about any new releases.