Sims 3: in 2009 4 miljoen exemplaren over de toonbank?

In dit artikel op Gamasutra voorspellen ze dat Sims 3 alleen al in 2009 4 miljoen keer over de toonbank zal gaan. Sims 2 verkocht in 2004 3,5 miljoen keer dus dat zou best wel eens kunnen gaan kloppen.

Grootste gevaar voor Sims 3, we hebben dat ook gezien met Spore, zijn de illegale versies.

Electronic Arts’ upcoming Sims 3 could sell over 4 million units in 2009, says Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey — although he expects that a demographic transition toward newer entertainment forms like Nintendo’s Wii and DS might weigh on the title.

Sims 2 sold an estimated 3.5 units in calendar 2004, so the analyst expects the anticipated sequel to outdo its predecessor. EA also detailed today the game’s digital distribution-heavy, points-based model for further monetization, although Hickey doesn’t project how much Sims 3 can expect to earn incrementally from DLC and expansions.

He also expects that piracy is a potential risk for Sims 3 sales — “Spore sales were likely dramatically impacted by piracy,” Hickey says.

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Sims 3 Store FAQ

ManagerJosh van WorldSims heeft een FAQ ontvangen met daarin erg veel details over de nieuwe Sims 3 Store. Het is een behoorlijke lap tekst en je vindt die in zijn geheel in de ‘Lees meer’.

Bron: Sim Programs


Q: What is the ship date for TS3?

A: The game is available in stores in NA June 2nd and then throughout European and Asia-Pacific countries starting from June, 3rd onwards

Q: How do I register for TheSims3.com?

A: You can register online at http://TheSims3.com/Register (site goes live June 2) or by clicking on the Sign Up Now button on the Welcome page in the in-game Launcher

When you start up your game the TS3 Launcher will come up on screen with a Sign Up Now button that will take you to register when you click on it and connect through the game to TheSims3.com and all that it offers. You will need the Serial Code printed on the back of the game manual in order to get full access to the community and The Store. (User can still register for the Community site without a serial code but will not get full access to all of the Community/Store features (such as Exchange upload/download, posting to Forums, using the Store). This type of account is called Site Registered as opposed to Game Registered.)

Q: How do I connect to the internet through The Sims 3?

A: You can connect via the Launcher

Q: How many Game Registered accounts can I have with each game?

A: There is one Game Registered account online per game.

Q: What online features does the game offer?

A: The Sims 3 offers a robust online community feature set. Users can create and share movies and stories using the Create a Movie and Create a Story tools. The new Exchange lets players share Sims, lots, households, objects, clothing, patterns and more. My Page and My Studio help to tracks and organize everything you’ve shared online. And of course, The Sims 3 Store offers really cool premium content including a downloadable town at no additional charge.

Key Features:

* The Exchange: Building off of The Sims 2 Exchange’s success of more than 100M downloads, The Sims 3 Exchange highlights featured items, most popular downloads, powerful search and browser capabilities, along with giving players the ability to see what other players are recommending.
* Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible tools inspire creativity and allow players to create movies and stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Players can show off their movie mashups with the Create a Movie Tool by embedding them on external sites or with an email link to TheSims3.com page.
* My Page and My Studio: The Sims 3 community site will allow players to maintain their profile pages on their My Page section as well as offering them the new My Studio section to manage all their creations – movies, stories, Exchange objects. My Page is also a blog space where players can post news, customize it with a personal avatar, track favorites and more. Users can also make friends with other The Sims 3 players and share their content across a number of social network sites.

Q: What are SimPoints?

A: SimPoints are the virtual currency used on The Sims 3 Store. Players may buy SimPoints in bundles of 500, 1000 or 2000 SimPoints using international credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, national credit cards including Carte Bleu, Carte Si, Dankort, Maestro, Solo and Delta, cash cards (North America), or PayPal. The Sims 3 Store accepts a number of currencies for the purchase of SimPoints including USD, GBP, EUR, BRL, SEK, DKK, AUD, NZD and ZAR.

Q: What can I buy with SimPoints?

A: With SimPoints players can buy in-game items from The Sims 3 Store. “The Store contains hundreds of exclusive items at launch, with new content added continuously.

Q: Will the content at The Sims 3 Store change over time?

A:The Sims 3 Store will have ongoing, regular releases of new content that is only available through The Store.

Q: How do you get the content you buy at The Sims 3 Store into your game?

A: When you purchase an item from The Store, it automatically gets added into your game Launcher when you click “Download Now.”. From the game Launcher, you can then install the item into your game with a single click.

Q: Can you download the entire game from The Sims 3 Store?

A: No, you can digitally download the game at the EAStore starting June 2 – http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/ContentTheme/pbPage.the_sims3/ThemeID.718200.

Q: How does the The Sims 3 Store differ from The Sims 2 Store?

A: The Sims 2 Store launched in July 2008 in North America, four years after the ship of the base game. The Sims 3 Store will launch globally at the same time as The Sims 3 and offer exclusive content that can only be found at The Sims 3 store.

Q: What is Riverview?

A: Riverview is a free downloadable town offered from The Sims 3 store. Now you can add even more content to your TS3 game experience with new lots, stories, Sims and more.

Q: How is Riverview different from Sunset Valley?

A: Riverview is a town with an idyllic countryside setting. It’s dotted with farms and nestled by a winding river. This sleepy little town comes with an entirely new set of inhabitants with secrets for your Sims to uncover.

Q: If I play offline can I get Riverview?

A: Riverview is offered only to Game Registered players on TheSims3.com. Players can play the game offline once they’ve downloaded the town.

Q: How is the TS3 Create a Movie tool different than Spore?

A: The TS3 Create a Movie feature is a web-based custom video editing tool designed to add cool effects, transitions, audio and more to video shared from your TS3 game.

In The Sims 3 game, players can capture footage easily. Their captured footage is then uploaded to the player’s My Studio page on TheSims3.com website. On the website, players can then use the Create A Movie tool to easily drag and drop video clips, add a soundtrack and create a finished Movie that they can then publish on The Sims3.com and share on blogs and social networks, as well as upload to YouTube or other video sites.

Copy Protection questions:

Q: Is there copy protection on the disc?

A: Yes, we have the same level of copy protection on disc as what shipped with the original The Sims 2 base game.

Q: How is copy protection for The Sims 3 different than for Spore?

A: The key difference is no online authentication required to play the retail disc product.

Q: Has EA changed its DRM policy?

A: This copy protection strategy is specific to The Sims 3 retail disc. There are no additional details about any other EA PC title at this time.

Q: How will it work if I buy the game via digital distribution?

A: Digital download services each have their own methods, each service will post those specifics on their sites.

Q: Do you need internet access to experience 100% of The Sims 3?

A: No. Players will be able to experience the game in its entirety. (Having online connections does enhance gameplay with free downloads and the opportunity to show off and use the creations of other players.)

Q: What are the minimum hardware requirements for The Sims?

*TS3 specs reach systems that have been in the market place for 5 years.

A: http://thesims3.ea.com/view/pages/newsItem.jsp?item=236875146

THE SIMS 3 MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

FOR WINDOWS XP
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
1 GB RAM
At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
1.5 GB RAM
At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:
Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA X3000 or above.
2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent
0.5 GB additional RAM

SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS
NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280

ATI Radeon™ series
9500, 9600, 9800
X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
2400, 2600, 2900
3450, 3650, 3850, 3870,
4850, 4870

Intel® Extreme Graphics
GMA X3×00 series

FOR MAC OS X
* Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher
* Intel Core Duo Processor
* 2 GB RAM
* ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100.
* At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
* This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.

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Creator’s Camp Deel 10: TheSidDog

De officiële Amerikaanse Sms 3 site heeft deel 10 online gezet van het Creators Camp, dit maal met TheSidDog een machinima artiest die ook zijn eigen site heeft.

TheSidDog loves to create characters and sets with The Sims 3 that can be used in his machinima. During the Content Creators’ Camp, TheSidDog created movies using captured footage from the game which he edited with the Create a Movie Tool.

His favorite piece of machinima was a movie titled “A Day With Creepy the Clown”. He started it off as a practice piece so that he could get used to the new tools, but ended up enjoying it the most.

When asked about his favorite experience from The Sims, TheSidDog replied that coming to the Creators’ Camp to make machinima and meet other fans of the game was definitely memorable. Check out all of TheSidDog’s movies at TheSims3.com when the game launches in June.

Q&A with TheSidDog

What is your favorite Personality Trait from The Sims 3?
Insane, hands down. My “Creepy the Clown” video did that trait justice.

If you could take any aspect from the game and convert it into a real life moment what would it be?
The obvious choice is the Motherlode cheat, but I liked the feature in Sims 3 that told you what other Sims were thinking about your own Sim. Reading minds would be AWESOME.

What is your favorite new feature in The Sims 3?
I love the new Create-a-Sim and especially Create-a-Style; it will come in handy when building machinima sets.

Er zitten ook 2 video’s bij die Sim Programs op YouTube heeft gezet.

https://youtu.be/Vqft8MmNzbU

https://youtu.be/Vq1-IBpvw0E

Vertaling nieuwe features op officiële Sims 3 sites

Dit is een vertaling van de nieuwe features die op 30 april is uitgekomen (zie dit blogbericht).
Vroeg of laat komt EA zelf ook met een vertaling, dit blog zal dan uiteraard aangepast worden.

Als toevoeging naast de eerste stad ‘Sunset Valley’ zal er een tweede stad beschikbaar zijn als download. Deze stad gaat genaamd onder ‘Riverview’, en zal beschikbaar zijn op De Sims 3 product website die gelanceerd wordt.

De officieële Sims 3 website zal de spelers toegang geven om video’s te creeëren en online te zetten. Daarnaast zal je je eigen inhoud (downloads etc.) kunnen onderhouden en zelfs aanschaffen door de officieële Sims 3 online winkel.

“Met zo een meeslepende en actieve gemeenschap als De Sims heeft, wilde we verder bouwen op de offline ervaring van de spelers, door het aanbieden van extra functies, inhoud en gereedschap online aan te bieden tijdens het spel.” zegt Ben Bell.
“Een voorbeeld hiervan zijn de online opties voor het maken van een video. In het spel kunnen spelers op een makkelijke manier de camera gebruiken, opnemen, voor regisseur en producer spelen en het dan op internet neerzetten om het aan de wereld te laten zien.”

Online Elementen

*De Sims 3 winkel:

Met het kopen van het spel ontvang je $10 aan SimPoints, deze kunnen spelers ontvangen als ze hun spel online registreren op TheSims3.com. Met de SimPoints kunnen ze download spullen kopen die speciaal voor het spel gemaakt zijn om het spel
nog meer op te fleuren. Als je niet genoeg hebt aan de $10 waarde in SimPoints kun je altijd extra SimPoints kopen. Dankzij bundels van 500, 1000 en 2000 SimPoints voor Dollars, Euro’s, Engels ponden en meer. Je kan betalen door middel van vele verschillende betaalmethodes, inclusief internationale credit cards, PayPal en EA cash cards (alleen beschikbaar in Noord Amerika). Ook al wil je alleen een heel mooi jurkje of de nieuwste stijl van meubels, de spelers hebben de kans om hun Sims wereld vol met extra downloads te bouwen.

*Spel opstarter:

Tijdens het opstarten is het moment om toegang te krijgen in TheSims3.com gemeenschap. Intussen dat het spel opstart kan je toegang krijgen voor De Sims 3 winkel en de uitwisseling pagina, ook zal het de laatste nieuws weergeven. Spelers kunnen zichzelf up to date houden qua downloads, uploads, installaties, spel updates en de media portfolio waaronder the video’s en foto’s vallen die je in het spel kan maken. De spel opstarter zal de speler ook aangeven wanneer er nieuwe spullen/kleren zijn te downloaden in De Sims 3 winkel of wanneer er aanbiedingen zijn.

*Thesims3.com website:

Met de lancering van De Sims 3 op 2 juni zal de marketing gedeelte van de website worden vervangen door een gemeenschap en product pagina voor het spel. De website zal niet alleen de spelers met elkaar verbinden en aansporen om creatief te werk gaan in het spel, het zal ook als een website werken waar spelers alles met elkaar kunnen delen. Wat ze tegelijkertijd ook op hun persoonlijke website/blog kunnen neerzetten om daar met elkaar te socialiseren over het spel.

Website Opties

*Uitwisseling/Exchange:

Na het grote succes van de uitwisseling met De Sims 2 kan het bij De Sims 3 niet uitblijven. De hoogtepunten van De Sims 3 uitwisseling zijn o.a. het aangeven van de meest populaire downloads, de nieuwste downloads, de zoekfunctie en de mogelijkheid om als speler aan te geven welke downloads ze het beste vinden.

*Maak je eigen film en maak je eigen verhaal:

Nieuwe en makkelijk toegankelijke opties inspireert de creativiteit van de spelers om hun eigen video/verhaal te creeëren, waarna ze het kunnen tonen en delen met hun online vrienden. Spelers kunnen hun video’s laten zien door middel van de ‘Creeër een video’ optie.

*Creeër een video optie:

Je hebt nu de optie je video’s op je website/blog te zetten en ze te delen met je vrienden. Je kan ook terug linken naar je video met een e-mail link.

*Mijn pagina en Mijn studio:

De Sims 3 product website geeft toegang aan spelers om hun profiel te onderhouden op de ‘mijn pagina’ gedeelte. De ‘mijn studio’ gedeelte zorgt ervoor dat de spelers hun eigen creaties (video’s, verhalen, uitwissel objecten) kan onderhouden. Mijn pagina is ook een soort blog waar spelers nieuwtjes kunnen plaatsen, ze kunnen hun blog aanpassen met een persoonlijke avatar en ze kunnen hun favorieten weergeven. Het is mogelijk om andere Sim spelers te volgen, vrienden te maken en de spullen uit te wisselen met elkaar.

EA onthult nieuwe features op officiële Sims 3 sites

We hebben in deze blogberichten al eerder aandacht besteed aan de nieuwe features die op de officiële Sims 3 sites komen en EA heeft net een persbericht verstuurd. We proberen zo snel mogelijk een vertaling online te zetten.

EA Reveals The Sims 3 Full Online Feature Set

Second Town and Robust Online Capabilities To Deliver Comprehensive Community Experience

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Apr 30, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the robust online and community offerings to The Sims(TM) 3 PC and Mac game, the highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise The Sims. In addition to the town included in the game, a second town, Riverview will be available for download from The Sims 3 product website at launch. TheSims3.com also will allow players to create and share their own movies, manage their online content and purchase additional in-game content. The game is set to launch worldwide on the PC, Mac, iPhone(TM), iPod(R) touch and mobile devices starting June 2, 2009.

With such a vibrant and active community as The Sims has, we wanted to build even further on the already immense offline experience, by offering players additional functionality, content and tools available online through the game, said Ben Bell, Executive Producer of The Sims 3. One example of the many online tools we’ve added to the game is the Create a Movie tool. Within the game, players can easily set up the camera angle they want, capture in-game footage, play director and producer and then post their movies online to show off to the world.

Key Online Elements Include:

  • The Sims 3 Store: Included with purchase of the game is $10 worth of SimPoints, which players receive when they first register their game online at TheSims3.com. They can use their SimPoints towards downloading exclusive in-game items from The Sims 3 Store to customize their game. For additional items, players can purchase bundles of 500, 1000 and 2000 SimPoints in $USD, EUR, GBP and other major international currencies using a variety of payment methods including international and national credit cards, PayPal, and EA cash cards (in North America only). Whether it’s the must-have new outfit or the latest style of plaid furniture, players have the opportunity to further customize and populate their Sims world with additional items.
  • Game Launcher: The Game Launcher is the key entry point for players into TheSims3.com community. This hub page connects players to both the Store andthe Exchange, and provides them with news and information about game updates. Players can keep track of their downloads, uploads, installs, game updates and their media portfolio that includes the videos and photos they can capture while playing the game. The Game Launcher also alerts players to new content in the store, localized game and store promotions along with relevant updates to the Store and cool new content from the community.
  • TheSims3.com Site: With the launch of the game on June 2, the marketing website at TheSims3.com will be replaced with the full community and product site for the game. The site will not only connect players, encourage new ways to be creative in the game, and offer personally relevant information for each user, it also will serve as the hub site where players can share their contentwith other members, and embed them on social networking sites and blogs.

Key Site Features:

  • The Exchange: Building off of The Sims 2 Exchange’s success of more than 100M downloads, The Sims 3 Exchange highlights featured items, most popular downloads, powerful search and browse capabilities, along with giving players the ability to see what other players are recommending.
  • Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible tools inspire creativity and allow players to create movies and stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Players can show off their Movies with the Create a Movie Tool by embedding them on external sites or with an email link back to their Movie on TheSims3.com.
  • My Page and My Studio: The Sims 3 product site will allow players to maintain their profile pages on their My Page section as well as offering them the new My Studio section to manage all their creations – Movies, Stories, Exchange objects. My Page is also a blog space where players can post news, customize it with a personal avatar, track favorites and more. Users can make friends with other The Sims 3 players and share their content across a number of social network sites.