Well, you just explained why I'm actually curious in the game to be honest. All the talk about them taking out the monotony that deterred me from enjoying the previous games and making it more like other "tycoon" style games sounds appealing to me. More time shaping a human's future and less time constantly doing dishes and using the bathroom all day.

Mind you, that might make the game so different from the previous titles that it completely turns off the clearly massive amount of fans, and even those changes hasn't convinced me to buy the game, especially knowing full well it'll be sold to me piecemeal for four years. So yeah, maybe it's a horrible idea.

I dunno, I'm looking forward to it. As kuddles said, it seems to remove the annoying issues with the Sims series and let me run my little world into the ground. The Sims isn't exactly a mind blowing series but I still pull out Sims 2 when I feel like spending an hour or two unwinding with a game that doesn't involve mass murder and/or epic world changing events. So I'll probably end up buying it pretty soon after release assuming reviews hold up reasonably well and it isn't bug-ridden. Admittedly, EA will send dozens of expansions at me afterward but that doesn't mean the original product won't be worth my money.

Is this the one Jeff Green is working on now?

No, he's been passed around EA quite a bit in the past six months, haha.

I recently read the PC Gamer review, and they seemed to love it. (92%)

I kinda wanna pick it up, but I don't know if I could forgive myself for buying a virtual dollhouse at full retail as well as for exposing myself to the temptation to buy the million inevitable expansions. I think a big part of my choosing to buy this is whether or not it will be made available on Steam.

If anything I think another delay is needed. This time just till the end of June. Why? I have an odd feeling even after the first delay we are still gonna get a quite uncooked turkey like The Sims 2 was resulting in a ton of expansions. About 50% of the Sims 2 expansions were meant to be in the original release but were cut due to technical problems or release time.

Yes I want to get the game but not only will I miss the chance to preorder my Collectors edition but there is the sad fact my parents who somehow got a hold of me are forcing me not to get it until mainly after Fathers Day. Unless I happen to win a contest or somehow come by money I did not earn. Then I'm allowed to get it.

Why is that the exception? Because the most my family ever won was around 20 dollars on a scratch off ticket.

Arg I accidently jumped off topic. Anyway Sims 3, Gonna Rock if they give it a little more time to cook. Why am I so sure it will rock? While I will miss the old bars I feel the personalities and free open world will make up for it. Along with the sims having cars from the git-go.

I have my pre-order in.

I'm looking forward to the "living neighborhood" thing. I always hated how I would create ancillary characters for my main ones, and then have to actually play them so they weren't jobless losers.

Can you make hot co-eds make out in Dwarf Fortress?

Actually, there's probably no reason to buy a new release just for that... and you can't drown your Sims anymore by removing the ladder from the pool apparently...

We shall see!

Can you make mothers in Sims 3 pop out babies and leave them behind to be incinerated by demons so that the mother can get away?

Was there every any doubt?

Actually, now that I think about, him taking a cab was probably unnecessary. The PC Gamer review talked about how the editor of the magazine created a character with an obscenely large nose who walked about town impregnating all the women he could charm. He never owned a house, preferring instead to bed with his women, and shower at the local gym.

This, my friends, is called living the dream.

I just got my copy of PC Gamer today, and it made even more excited. Give me a virtual world filled with virtual people I can toy with to my hearts desire. Make a Utopian vision of small town America, and then let loose a serial killer in it. His property will be nothing but windowless, odorless kill rooms.

But one of the many possibilities.

...And as for the "dumbing down", it's a slider option that's given you. If you want to constantly feed your Sim you can, but you could just as well not.

.......And "The quintessential casual game" is a misnomer. A casual game is something you can learn in a couple of minutes and play for a couple of minutes at a time, The Sims is neither. But hey, it's not "cool" and chicks play it, so it can't be hardcore right?

So anybody have any impressions yet?

Will be downloading from Gamersgate shortly. Dont understand why it isnt on STEAM yet...

Does this arbitrarily used term bother you THAT much that you needed to bring it up in two seperate threads?

It's casual because it CAN be player for minutes or hours, but is simple to pick up and understand. It's casual because it appeals to a wide range of demographics that don't normally play more "traditional" videogames.

As the judge once famously said, "I know it when I see it."

Why get so hung up on this word?

In other news, we have a thread about The Sims 3. I require impressions. Hop to it, minions.