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RETAILBIZ: THE SIMS 3 MCV 08/10/10 53
TEN SIMS FACTS
Since the original PC Sims game was released in February 2000, the series has gone from strength to strength. Here, MCVprovides ten Sims facts:
The original game has shipped 16m units worldwide
Global sales of The Sims 2 have reached 13m
The camera is accessible and the building mode is as versatile and deep as the PC version, with users able to build five-storey homes from scratch. Core appeal for The Sims comes from the ability to choose how each sim lives their life. In the original, players could starve sims to death if they wished, or become rich and famous, or even instruct them to enter a swimming pool and swim until they drowned from fatigue.
POINTS MEAN KARMA In The Sims 3, EA has added a new ‘Karma Points’ mechanic, which allows users to enjoy all manner of positive and negative actions – from getting lucky with that certain someone, to causing an instant earthquake or starting a fire in a neighbour’s house.
Each midnight, the player’s sims are judged. If they’ve had a good day they will receive positive karma points, but if they’ve been naughty they’ll receive negative points. These can be traded in for the instantaneous karma powers. Player adds: “Lots of funny stuff happens in The Sims, but it’s usually been down to the game, not the player. So we’re now giving the player control over this to make them feel powerful. “As developers, of course we would never use any of the negative karma powers, but we know that there are some players who would like to use them for more devious purposes.” Negative karma powers include summoning a poltergeist to scare sims or casting an ‘epic fail’ on someone, which will cause them to be rejected by
a love interest. Positive powers range from ‘instant beauty’ that can turn the ugliest of ducklings into beautiful swans, and ‘bless the mess’, which can fix any broken appliances.
Another addition is the trophy system which rewards players for completing challenges – such as getting a promotion, falling in love or making new friends. These trophies unlock new furniture, clothes and items.
THE POWER OF THE SIMS With the classic PC gameplay emulated on major consoles combined with the new karma and trophy features, The Sims 3 is one of EA’s leading products this year. Would Katy Perry re-record her songs in the ‘Simlish’ language for any other title?
The first ever object created for The Simswas a toilet
Total franchise sales of all The Simsgames is estimated at 125m
Sales of The Sims 3have reached 4.6m since its release last year
The Simshas been translated into 22 different languages worldwide
EA has released 20 The Sims expansion packs to date
The Simsofficial community site attracts 4m visitors each month
Total sales of The Sims 2: Pets expansion alone is 5.6m
The amount of custom content downloaded from the community website stands at 25m
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