The Siiims

Today is Sims-3-is-revealed-day. Which probably also means today is RPS-readers-complain-that-they-hate-
the-Sims-day, but I'm going to talk about it anyway. Don't try to stop me.

Open world is the big thing, and with that comes less emphasis on the more monotous aspects of daily life, in favour of ever-changing social possibility. It's the Sims as a freeform RPG. Or at least that's the theory - and it's certainly theory enough to reignite my long-dormant Sims enthusiasm.

The finest info-morsels can be found in PC Gamer's preview, in which they talk at some length about peeing, plus a few interesting peeks at how a Sims game actually gets made, including discussion of where those oft-maligned expansion packs fit into the creative process.

Also, creative director Rod Humble says stuff like this: "The one thing that we don't do is make the same game every year. Some people hate some of the things we do, but at least we don't do the same thing every year. We really try to take risks." I suspect he's not talking about the expansion packs there. But I agree with him - The Sims 2 was a sizeable step forward, and this sounds like a huge one - introducing MMO-esque concepts, but with none of the peril of being called a noob by aggressive teenagers.

The official line is here, and there's also a Sims 3 website, but it's currently deaded.