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Brace Yourselves! The Sims are Going on Vacation!

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EA Ships The Sims™ Vacation Expansion Pack

Brace Yourselves! The Sims are Going on Vacation!

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 26, 2002 - EA (Nasdaq: ERTS) today announced the release of The Sims™ Vacation Expansion Pack, a new add-on disk to the top-selling PC game of 2000 & 2001, The Sims™. The Sims and their families have been in overdrive with the magical high-jinx of Livin’ Large, the wild parties of House Party and the never-ending social obligations of Hot Date. They need a break and The Sims Vacation provides the perfect opportunity to give them a little rest and relaxation on a fun-filled vacation island!

“Everyone needs to get away from it all sometimes, and The Sims aren’t any different,” said Tim LeTourneau, Senior Producer at EA’s Maxis™ studio. “With The Sims Vacation, the whole Sims household can get some fun and sun on a fabulous island get-away.”

Both luxurious and rustic accommodations are available at this new and fully customizable destination. The vacation island offers a snowy alpine setting, a boardwalk boasting beach resort and a forest campground. Volleyball, snowboarding, archery, fishing or hunting for hidden treasure are just a few of the things that Sims can do with their family and friends at this unique resort location. All-new social interactions and over 125 new objects will have Sim vacationers entertained from dusk until dawn.

Whether the Sims are on a romantic retreat, a family getaway or an extreme holiday, a comical cast of characters is available to cater to them during their island stay. Kana, the Vacation Director, and the wacky resort staff are on-call day and night to see to the Sims’ every need. A troupe of costumed performers is also on hand to entertain the kids. Sim parents listen up! Keeping those kids happy is crucial because errant children can bring a pre-mature end to the Sims’ island stay.

A Sim vacation would not be complete without that special dust-collector to remind them of the whole experience. Souvenirs of all types can be bought, caught, won and collected. Sims can dig up a buried treasure chest, win a stuffed penguin at a carnival game, collect arrowheads and lava idols or catch an aggravating case of Montezuma’s revenge. The Sims are sure to have the time of their lives with The Sims Vacation.

The Sims, the wildly popular game that allows players to create a neighborhood of simulated people known as “Sims” and control their lives, skyrocketed to the top of the charts when it began shipping to stores in February 2000. Translated into 13 different languages, The Sims has quickly become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. It was the best selling PC game of 2000 and 2001 according to NPDTechworld and has recently become the best selling PC game of all time. Combined sales for The Sims, The Sims™ Livin’ Large, The Sims™ House Party and The Sims™ Hot Date total over 13 million units life-to-date. For more information on The Sims, The Sims Livin’ Large, The Sims House Party, The Sims Hot Date and The Sims Vacation visit http://www.thesims.com.

Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.3 billion for fiscal 2001. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and video game systems. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA GAMES™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and EA.COMSM. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, EA GAMES, EA SPORTS BIG, Maxis and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA.COM is a service mark of EA.com Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Play matchmaker to your Sims and watch the sparks fly or fizzle. Search the Date Exchange, upload a date you have created, or just look around for the perfect date for your Sims.

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Meier's accomplishments are simply some of the greatest games ever coded

Wright made gaming history when he started to think of video games as "toys" rather than "win-or-lose" affairs

Go To GameSpy.com

Will Wright

Maxis

Why is Will Wright Influential?
• Created SimCity
• Created The Sims
• Pioneered "system sims"

We're not sure if it was some kind of forward-thinking vision -- or if it was simply divine inspiration -- but Will Wright made gaming history when he started to think of video games as "toys" rather than "win-or-lose" affairs. Take his 1989 opus SimCity for example (read our Hall of Fame entry). While other game developers were concentrating on jumping puzzles or exploding spaceships, he was building what he called a "system simulator." SimCity was a tiny digital city, the development of which was completely under your control. Sure, there were goal-based scenarios, but most people simply played the game in free-build mode. Did you want a spacious suburban paradise? A glistening commercial empire? A disgusting densely-trafficed nightmare of urban decay? It didn't matter, it was up to you.

SimCity was a success because it had a broad appeal (everyone knows what a city is), was easy to play, and almost never punished the player for his or her decisions. This formula is really a hallmark of one of the greatest game designers of our time, one repeated again and again in his later "Sim-" games. SimCity alone would rank Wright high on our list of achievers, but the fact is, he's always thinking up the next big toy. His most recent game, The Sims, is also a system simulator, but on a household scale. Does the magic still work? Of course! The Sims is probably the most lucrative product in PC gaming right now and shows no sign of slowing. It's fun for casual or hardcore gamers alike.

Next on his plate? A massively multiplayer version of The Sims that will give millions of casual gamers a reason to upgrade their Internet connection. Wright's straightforward themes and easy-to-understand gameplay are a model that we're sure to see in coming years.

What the Gaming Industry says:

Bill Jackson, Ensemble Studios: "I think that Will defines the term 'Thinking outside the box.' His toys have collectively eaten up more of my time than even my six-million dollar man action figures."

Raymond Padilla, Freelance Gaming Journalist: "He is somehow able to reach the hard-core gamer as well as the mass market. Nobody has been as successful in doing so on the PC side."

Rantz Hoseley, Quicksilver Software: "Forget the Sims, Sim City turned a geek hobby into a mainstream pastime. I remember working at a daily newspaper and coming in to find four or five editors playing the original SimCity, totally addicted, and missing deadlines because of it. Always the sign of a good game."

(...)

Sid Meier

Firaxis Games

Why is Sid Meier Influential?
• Created Civilization series
• Co-founded Microprose and Firaxis
• Leader in the strategy game genre

It's fitting that Sid Meier is ranked just out of the top spot on this list, because Meier seems to be everyone's second-favorite game designer. Sure, there's a legion of 3D engine designers on this list, each of them a Hall of Famer. But there's Meier again, as expected, with his name attached to yet another top-quality, addictive game. Just like he's been doing since the early 80s. Meier is the Nolan Ryan of game designers.

Meier's accomplishments are simply some of the greatest games ever coded -- the Civilization series, Gettysburg -- it's even arguable that Meier's Railroad Tycoon in 1990 is the true father of real-time strategy games. Besides his influential game designs, Meier has also led the way in the business world, being the co-founder of MicroProse and Firaxis Games, two of the top game development companies in the world.

Meier's latest game, SimGolf, is already showing the same signs that have been the hallmark of his previous work -- a unique premise, multiple layers of strategy, addictive gameplay and truckloads of fun.

So, what's the secret to creating consistently great games for nearly 20 years?

"I think a lot of what makes me kind of able to keep doing games is the fact that I was there at the beginning and that I don't have to play catch-up all the time," Meier said in an interview a few years back. "It's kind of like I've been there since the start, so I've seen the evolution and have a bit of a sense of history and perspective."

What the Gaming Industry says:

Tim Cain, Troika: "I have enjoyed his games for decades, and what better praise than that? I fondly remember Hellcat Ace on my first computer, an Atari 800. And my first computer game addiction was Civilization. I still hum the new technology tune whenever I have an idea."

Michael Hershberg, Quicksilver Software: "The first PC game I remember getting addicted to (and I mean stay-up-till-4-homework-comes-second kind of addiction) was the original Civilization. Now I have the pleasure of shunning my friends in favor of Civilization III. If Sid deserves anything it might be a spot on the Top 50 People To Blame For Dwindling Social Life."

Rich Carlson, Digital Eel: " 'Sid games' have everything. Strategy; historicity; depth; diplomacy; conflict; tactics; and the beat goes on. The C64 version of Pirates! blew me away. How could they fit so much in there!? When friends introduced me to Civilization and Colonization years later, I realized that Sid Meier was a designer of formidable skill."

Kevin Dill, Quicksilver Software: "In his early days, Sid brought more innovation and insight to this industry than any other designer ever. He inspired my own desire to enter the field, and in my opinion is by far the greatest designer ever. Compared to him, all others can only be described as good - Sid alone was great."

Meier's accomplishments are simply some of the greatest games ever coded

Wright made gaming history when he started to think of video games as "toys" rather than "win-or-lose" affairs

Go To GameSpy.com

Will Wright

Maxis

Why is Will Wright Influential?
• Created SimCity
• Created The Sims
• Pioneered "system sims"

We're not sure if it was some kind of forward-thinking vision -- or if it was simply divine inspiration -- but Will Wright made gaming history when he started to think of video games as "toys" rather than "win-or-lose" affairs. Take his 1989 opus SimCity for example (read our Hall of Fame entry). While other game developers were concentrating on jumping puzzles or exploding spaceships, he was building what he called a "system simulator." SimCity was a tiny digital city, the development of which was completely under your control. Sure, there were goal-based scenarios, but most people simply played the game in free-build mode. Did you want a spacious suburban paradise? A glistening commercial empire? A disgusting densely-trafficed nightmare of urban decay? It didn't matter, it was up to you.

SimCity was a success because it had a broad appeal (everyone knows what a city is), was easy to play, and almost never punished the player for his or her decisions. This formula is really a hallmark of one of the greatest game designers of our time, one repeated again and again in his later "Sim-" games. SimCity alone would rank Wright high on our list of achievers, but the fact is, he's always thinking up the next big toy. His most recent game, The Sims, is also a system simulator, but on a household scale. Does the magic still work? Of course! The Sims is probably the most lucrative product in PC gaming right now and shows no sign of slowing. It's fun for casual or hardcore gamers alike.

Next on his plate? A massively multiplayer version of The Sims that will give millions of casual gamers a reason to upgrade their Internet connection. Wright's straightforward themes and easy-to-understand gameplay are a model that we're sure to see in coming years.

What the Gaming Industry says:

Bill Jackson, Ensemble Studios: "I think that Will defines the term 'Thinking outside the box.' His toys have collectively eaten up more of my time than even my six-million dollar man action figures."

Raymond Padilla, Freelance Gaming Journalist: "He is somehow able to reach the hard-core gamer as well as the mass market. Nobody has been as successful in doing so on the PC side."

Rantz Hoseley, Quicksilver Software: "Forget the Sims, Sim City turned a geek hobby into a mainstream pastime. I remember working at a daily newspaper and coming in to find four or five editors playing the original SimCity, totally addicted, and missing deadlines because of it. Always the sign of a good game."

(...)

Sid Meier

Firaxis Games

Why is Sid Meier Influential?
• Created Civilization series
• Co-founded Microprose and Firaxis
• Leader in the strategy game genre

It's fitting that Sid Meier is ranked just out of the top spot on this list, because Meier seems to be everyone's second-favorite game designer. Sure, there's a legion of 3D engine designers on this list, each of them a Hall of Famer. But there's Meier again, as expected, with his name attached to yet another top-quality, addictive game. Just like he's been doing since the early 80s. Meier is the Nolan Ryan of game designers.

Meier's accomplishments are simply some of the greatest games ever coded -- the Civilization series, Gettysburg -- it's even arguable that Meier's Railroad Tycoon in 1990 is the true father of real-time strategy games. Besides his influential game designs, Meier has also led the way in the business world, being the co-founder of MicroProse and Firaxis Games, two of the top game development companies in the world.

Meier's latest game, SimGolf, is already showing the same signs that have been the hallmark of his previous work -- a unique premise, multiple layers of strategy, addictive gameplay and truckloads of fun.

So, what's the secret to creating consistently great games for nearly 20 years?

"I think a lot of what makes me kind of able to keep doing games is the fact that I was there at the beginning and that I don't have to play catch-up all the time," Meier said in an interview a few years back. "It's kind of like I've been there since the start, so I've seen the evolution and have a bit of a sense of history and perspective."

What the Gaming Industry says:

Tim Cain, Troika: "I have enjoyed his games for decades, and what better praise than that? I fondly remember Hellcat Ace on my first computer, an Atari 800. And my first computer game addiction was Civilization. I still hum the new technology tune whenever I have an idea."

Michael Hershberg, Quicksilver Software: "The first PC game I remember getting addicted to (and I mean stay-up-till-4-homework-comes-second kind of addiction) was the original Civilization. Now I have the pleasure of shunning my friends in favor of Civilization III. If Sid deserves anything it might be a spot on the Top 50 People To Blame For Dwindling Social Life."

Rich Carlson, Digital Eel: " 'Sid games' have everything. Strategy; historicity; depth; diplomacy; conflict; tactics; and the beat goes on. The C64 version of Pirates! blew me away. How could they fit so much in there!? When friends introduced me to Civilization and Colonization years later, I realized that Sid Meier was a designer of formidable skill."

Kevin Dill, Quicksilver Software: "In his early days, Sid brought more innovation and insight to this industry than any other designer ever. He inspired my own desire to enter the field, and in my opinion is by far the greatest designer ever. Compared to him, all others can only be described as good - Sid alone was great."