Today EA announced that The Sims 3 has received a release date. By 20 February 2009 everybody should be able to get the game. A limited collector's edition will also contain a Plumbob USB drive with matching green cabinet, an in-game Italian-style sports car, a Tips and Hints guide and some Sims 3 Plumbob stickers. If you pre-order at selected retailers, you'll also receive an additional exclusive in-game vintage sports car and a collectible poster. Details about worldwide availability of this limited edition have not yet been given - the limited DVD edition of the Sims 2 was not available everywhere at the time, but things may very well be different this time. Read on for the full announcement.

I'm exhausted, I've worked a long time to get these previews done. They really are extensive. So feedback is welcome. I'll go and get some sleep first though. Our English preview consists of at least 6700 words, while our Dutch preview has a word count of more than 7200. It may not seem like much, but it is.

Click on the image below to read our preview.



We've also added two movies in the preview!

Click here to talk about The Sims 2 Apartment Life in our forums.

For previews from other fansites, please check the list at the official Dutch site.

Today SNW visited EA to check out the new expansion to The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Apartment Life. Give us a few days, and we'll deliver an extended preview on the new features, clothes and objects to you.

We are quite impressed already and definitely looking forward to the 29th of August, when The Sims 2 Apartment Life will be released.

Today SNW visited EA to check out the new expansion to The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Apartment Life. Give us a few days, and we'll deliver an extended preview on the new features, clothes and objects to you.

We are quite impressed already and definitely looking forward to the 29th of August, when The Sims 2 Apartment Life will be released.

I received a mail last night, but I had already gone to sleep. So here it is now:

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Hello,

My name is Ben and I’m an Executive Producer on The Sims 3. The last few years have been exciting for me personally. Since joining The Sims Label at EA, I’ve had the opportunity to work on dream projects such as The Sims 2 Pets, and The Sims 2 Castaway. However, things are about to get very exciting and I’m so happy to be sharing this news with you.

In the very near future, we are going to announce the first details of The Sims 3. As you can imagine, The Sims 3 development team is very excited because we have been working on the game for the past few years. Like you, we are all fans of The Sims and we can’t wait to talk to you about the innovations in The Sims 3. We know that there are so many expectations for this game. The Sims 3 team has been quietly listening to the community and incorporating suggestions to make this the best possible game. Many of our team members worked on The Sims and The Sims 2, so trust me, you are in good hands. We hope that you’ll be impressed by what we’re working on for The Sims 3.

What is The Sims 3? Very shortly, you’ll see magazine articles, websites and interviews on this subject. However, we want to share the announcement news with you first.

When the team first started thinking about what The Sims 3 could be, we asked ourselves the following question. What if you had to live your whole life in one location… and then one day, suddenly, you could step outside and go anywhere in the whole neighborhood?

The first thing you’ll notice about The Sims 3 is that the Sims now live in a completely seamless, living neighborhood. This means that they can walk next door, walk down the street, drive to the center of town, stroll through the park, and explore everything without ever encountering a load screen. Wherever you go in your town, you will see other Sims going about their daily lives. You’ll discover new things about the community that your Sims live in, and you will have the chance to participate whenever and wherever you like. As a player, this is an incredible innovation for me because now I can see what my neighbors are up to all of the time and go interact with them. Or if I am feeling devious I can peek through the window and spy on their every move. I can even shoot across town to see what the other families in my town are doing, any time of day or night. It’s an entirely new way to play with your Sims!

The second aspect of The Sims 3 that always impresses me is our completely reinvented and realistic Create a Sim. In The Sims 3, you have so much freedom to create the Sims that you want to make, yet it’s easy and fun. In the coming weeks, we will have some screenshots on our website that show you a small glimpse of what is possible with Create a Sim. The Sims can look like anyone you imagine. I’ve made my friends, my great grandpa, and many other important people from my life. We also have a new realistic personality system called Traits that allows you to determine the personality of every Sim. There are dozens of Traits that you can assign to your Sims. Every Trait will change the way that your Sims feel, think and behave in the game. You can choose several traits for your Sims, so it’s really possible to make any character that you can imagine and they will come to life in The Sims 3. Now imagine placing these unique personalities into your very own “Petri-dish” that is the new seamless, living neighborhood.

The third thing that I really want to share with you about The Sims 3 is that everyone will be able to customize the appearance of everything, right in the game: This is true for furniture, walls, floors, fashion, hair, and so much more. You will be able to customize the colors or patterns and apply them to everything (this is great for me in particular, as I am colorblind). You can make everything match, clash, or coordinate. It is so easy and fast, and it is incredibly powerful. What is really exciting is that you won’t need developer tools to make big visual changes to the game. We will be giving you a small taste of how this works on the website. However, I cannot wait to show you how fun this feature is when we have the final user interface in the game. The real power of this feature will be obvious when you get your hands on it. Fans of The Sims already make amazing things, and now it will be so much easier for to make and share creations.

While I have met many of you at fan events, I look forward to sharing more with you about The Sims 3 as we develop the game leading up to launch.

There is so much more that I would love to tell you about but we’ll save that for future emails. Please stay tuned.

Talk to you soon!

Ben Bell
Executive Producer
Electronic Arts

On February 12, 2008, I flew to England, so I could play Spore at EA UK. Of all the things I've learned in the game, I've written a preview. And you can read the preview on SporeNetwork! Click on the image below to read the preview!

I already heard of EA Land a few weeks ago. But I didn't feel the urge to post this immediately, since I was very busy with my Spore website at that time. You may be wondering what EA Land is. Plain and short description is very simple: it's a free version of The Sims Online. But with less bugs, and once again, it's FREE. I won't be playing this any time soon. I do think the people that work on EA Land (MaxisLuc being one of the most famous people) do a great job. There are a lot of improvements. But I just can't find the time -right now- to go and play EA Land. I am too busy with SNW (Sims and Spore; Mind you, I have 5 fansites and then I didn't even mention all the other sites I have and maintain) and I would also like to play Sims 2 myself sometimes. With all the activities I already have, I hardly have time to play Sims 2. Let alone EA Land. But most of you are visitors with more free time than me. So this could be very interesting to you all! If you ever played TSO and want to play again, I suggest you go here and join again.



Excerpt from a piece of text MaxisLuc wrote on the EA Land website: "I would like to introduce you to EA-Land, a world that is free-to-play, and based on a re-engineered The Sims Online architecture. Yes, free."

On the Dutch official website, I found an exclusive car for your Sims game! It's the Montgomery Hawker from Burnout Paradise. It comes in two versions. A hi-res version for people with a high-end PC. And another one, for people that do not own a high-end PC. You will need The Sims 2 Nightlife for this car. So make sure you have that before you start downloading it right away! It won't work without Nightlife. Click on the image below to visit the page where you can download it!



Here are some screenshots of the car in the game. Click them for a bigger version!

A patch has been released for The Sims 2 Bon Voyage. And I suggest you do download it, as it cleans up many bugs. Download it by clicking here.

The fifth comic strip is about Romance Sims. Here are the screenshots:

Last week, a chat took place on the official website. The transcript is now online and can be read by clicking here.

Curious about the last magazine? It's about Film & Literature. You can read the magazine here. Below you can view the screenshots that came with the magazine.

The Pleasure comic strip is done! Click here to view and read it. Below you can view the screenshots:

The Cuisine Magazine is finally online! Click on the icon below to read it. At the bottom of this post, you can view the cuisine screenshots.

A new comic strip is online now! This one is about Knowledge. You can view the screenshots here:

A new magazine has been released. This time it's about Fitness. Click the icon to read it!

In some regions of The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, we celebrate Carnival. It's not the average Carnival. Not the Rio-de-janeiro type of Carnival. Not at all. For starters, Dutch Carnival is most celebrated in Catholic regions, mostly the southern provinces Noord Brabant and Limburg. And in Belgium, it's mainly the Flemish people that celebrate Carnival, also in Catholic regions. In Germany it's celebrated throughout the entire country, although there are some differences between the western and eastern part.

The reason I'm posting this, is because EA created several Carnival outfits for your Sims! And along with that, you can download a PDF file with a plumbob you can print and put together.

The first download is a baton twirling girl. In The Netherlands she is called 'Dansmarieke' and in Germany it's 'Tanzmariechen'.
The second download is a fool or jester. In The Netherlands this is a 'Nar' and in German this is called a 'Narr'. Quite similar to each other.
And as I've mentioned before, the third download is a PDF file with a printable plumbob in it. It is in German, but the images kinda show you how-to. It shouldn't be a problem.

Click below on the image to view and download the items mentioned above!

The second comic strip for The Sims 2 FreeTime has been released. You can view the 4 screenshots that came with it below.



To view the full comic, click here.

The official The Sims 2 website has released 105 artwork renders with items from The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff. They can be viewed below.

The official The Sims 2 website has released 10 screenshots. Most of the European official websites have 12 screenshots, so I added the missing two screenshots below as well!

A new magazine for The Sims 2 FreeTime has been released. Click on the icon below to read the seventh magazine.



With the magazine came 3 new screenshots, which you can view below.

I forgot to mention this in my last update. Natasha Bedingfield, the female singer known for her songs 'These Words', 'Unwritten' and many other songs, has sung a song called 'Pocketful of Sunshine' in Simlish. This song will be included in the next expansion pack; The Sims 2 FreeTime. You can now watch this video online, on the official website. Click below on the image to view the video!

I'm *finally* done with all my previews. As some of you may know, there was a Sims 2 FreeTime fan event in Amsterdam on January 22nd. SNW went there to view the presentation and eventually I wrote three previews.. The first was actually a preview by Junior but I helped him with the writing. Junior blogged about the day itself. That's his preview. You can find the link below this message.
The other two previews are for SimsNetwerk and SimsNetwork. By now, everyone knows we have two websites, one in Dutch and one in English. So we also have two previews. On SimsNetwork we have the English version on Simpedia. Clicky clicky clicky here to read our preview! Yaay, woohoo, weeee, woosh! Have fun, and be sure to leave a comment on our forums! We'll appreciate that!


Click on the box art above to read our preview!

Junior's Event Preview (Dutch)
SimsNetwerk - VrijeTijd Preview (Dutch)
The Sims Zone - FreeTime Preview (English)
SnootySims - FreeTime Preview (English)
DMS2C - FreeTime Preview (English)
DMS2C - VrijeTijd Preview (Dutch)
GibbieSims - VrijeTijd Verslag (Dutch)
Simsense - VrijeTijd Verslag (Dutch)
SimsPlanet2 - VrijeTijd Preview (Dutch)
MammaSims - VrijeTijd Verslag (Dutch)

When more previews are published, I will add the links here!

Below are the previews from websites in other countries:
DieSims2.de (German, Official site)
SimPlaza (German)
SimTimes (German)
Sims2Fans.de (German)
Sims Adictos (Spanish)
SimsSpain.es (Spanish)
Sky Sims 2 (Spanish)
TecnoSims (Spanish)
SimSolucíon (Spanish)
ActualidadSims (Spanish)
CapitalSims (Spanish)
KnightLord (Swedish)
Simsnörden (English)
EdenStyle (English)

Did I forget yours? I tried to include everyone's previews. I will make sure to add yours, just send me a PM on the forums!

I've got 15 The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff artworks.





Again, I'll add these to the new Simpedia soon!

In April 2008, the new stuff pack called 'The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Stuff' will be in stores. Below you can read the information I found on the official website and below that the boxarts! Be sure to check the frontpage of the official website for some artworks!

The Sims™ 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff Stuff

Must-Have Stuff to Redesign Your Sims' Kitchens and Bathrooms! Redesign your Sims' essential living areas into the most luxurious of spaces. Transform the bathroom into a romantic getaway with charming claw-foot bathtubs and calming lighting fixtures or give it a contemporary twist with beautiful glass showers, basin sinks, and more. Redesign your kitchen as you upgrade it with sleek appliances on granite countertops or romantic natural wood cabinets next to wrought iron stoves. Outfit your Sims in the perfect clothes and accessories to enjoy their lavish new rooms, from sumptuous spa robes to designer cooking aprons. Be your Sims' personal interior designer! Give them the kitchens and bathrooms of their dreams with a variety of new furniture, décor, and outfits! *Requires The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition, The Sims 2 Holiday Edition, or The Sims 2 Deluxe to play.

Features:
• Outfit your Sims-Give your Sims the right attire and accessories to enjoy their brand-new kitchens and bathrooms including a hair turban, spa mask, cooking aprons and luxuriant cashmere pullovers for around the house.
• Contemporary Appliances-Update your Sims' kitchen with that sleek new look you've been dreaming about with a stylish refrigerator, food processor, toaster oven, and more.
• Charming Kitchens-Renovate the kitchen into the warmest room in the house with romantic touches including new themed wallpaper, wood-carved counters, and ceiling-mounted hanging pot racks.
• Modern Bath Designs-Make your Sims' bath time a modern experience with contemporary design options such as elegant sectional mirrors, quad-quadrant ceiling lighting with a modern flair, and graceful countertop basin sinks.
• Bathroom of your Dreams-Indulge your Sims in a romantic bathroom complete with cozy new tiles, fancy towel racks, romantic paintings, designer rugs, and much more.

Click on the boxart below to view a bigger version!


Wanna talk about this new stuff pack? Visit our forums!

A lot has happened in Sims land lately!

A while ago, a screenshot was released on a foreign EA website, I forgot to post it, but I still want to post it so here it is:


The sixth magazine has been released as well. It's all about Nature. Click on the icon below to read the magazine.



In this magazine were two screenshots. I added these below.


Furtermore a comic has been released with 5 new screenshots. Click here to view the comic. Below are the screenshots.



EA has also sent out a few exclusive screenshots.


I will add all of this to Simpedia soon. But I've been busy the past couple of days working on the FreeTime previews (yes, I write several previews, in multiple languages). So that's why we're a bit behind on the news. I was aware of the new screens, I just didn't have time so far to post anything.

My preview will go online soon!

The Sims 2.com has released the 5th hobby magazine. This time, it's about Science. The title is SimScientific

Edition 5 contains stories about alien abduction and other scientific stuff. You can read the whole magazine by clicking on the image below.



With this magazine, new screenshots have been released.