EA Winter Lineup Preview: The Sims Series
Posted January 25, 2007 
Comments(1) The Sims franchise is breaking out a new expansion pack and a new game this fall which should make some new experiences, one taking The Sims in a new direction altogether.
The Sims 2 Seasons is an expansion pack with a simple concept that could potentially go a long way in terms of new gameplay options. By adding in the change of seasons in The Sims 2 neighborhoods, a host of new activities become available for a players Sims. Sims now can go ice skating or build snowmen in the winter, harvest fruits and vegetables in the fall after year-long gardening, and have summer swim parties.
The changes aren’t just a light addition of new options that hold no weight, however. The changes in the weather that accompany the changes in season affect Sims in many ways. Underdressing a Sim in the winter or overdressing in the summer can have very bad consequences on a Sim. The seasonal changes will also affect a Sims desires and even fears. For instance, a player’s Sim may prove fearful of thunderstorms and others may become prone to sneezing fits in certain weather.
On top of the seasonal clothing, objects, and activities that become available in Seasons, there are also six new career paths. Sims can now go down the paths of Adventure, Gaming, Law, Music, Journalism and Education. And if a player is a cake-o-holic and are addicted to getting money, gardening and fishing can be developed into profitable hobbies for a Sim.
The Sims Life Stories kicks off a new line of standalone story-based Sims projects called The Sims Stories. In Story mode players take on the roles of either Riley or Vincent and lead them through their own unique life stories. Riley’s story centers around her return home and her attempt to settle in and make a new life for herself with all of the experiences and hardship that come along with that process. Vincent’s story has players sorting out the high-tech wiz’s love life, which hasn’t gone quite the successful route of his career.
Yet for this new twist on the franchise, there’s still Classic-mode that allows the traditional Sims gameplay. Gamers can still create their own Sim and play a traditional-style Sims game in the Life Stories world.
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EA has emphasized their attempt to make Life Stories a laptop friendly experience. One effort to do that was to institute an autosave feature to allows players to start and stop whenever they please. Though we have no specifics at the moment, there’s also the addition of shortcuts to save time to take to perform actions according to EA.
The Sims Life Stories will ship Feb. 6 while The Sims 2 Seasons will ship Feb 27.
The Sims 2 Seasons Trailer
The Sims Life Stories Trailer
Square Enix Ltd. announced today the March launch of the forthcoming German and French service of Final Fantasy XI. In early March Square will offer a language conversion download that will make it possible to play FFXI in French or German free of charge via PlayOnline. This will only be available for those using the EU version of FFXI on the PC or Xbox 360. The display language is automatically changed to the current Windows/Xbox 360 settings when the PlayOnline Viewer is activated. It will still be possible to switch between languages, including English.
Blizzard Entertainment announced that World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has broken the day-one sales record to become the fastest-selling PC game ever in North America and Europe, with a worldwide total of nearly 2.4 million copies sold in 24 hours.
Celebrate the Feb. 16 UK release of ArmA: Armed Assault on PC, 505 Games, Bohemia Interactive and New Media Maze launched the ArmA: Armed Assault Trailer Maker at www.armatrailermaker.com today.
In preparation of the highly anticipated early 2007 release of Myst Online: Uru Live, two major developments are being announced. Currently in beta release, a new area of the city and an all-new, never-before-seen Age are being released tomorrow, January 19.
Bethesda Softworks has announced The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles to be released later this year as the official expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Featuring over 30 hours of new gameplay, players will explore an entirely new plane of Oblivion – Madgod, the realm of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. Shivering Isles adds to the existing world of Oblivion, gamers can use existing save game/character if they wish or create an all new character just to explore the new content in Shivering Isles.
As the story is told, psychotic and “sublimely creative” beings are currently inhabiting the Shivering Islands and Sheogorath enlists the player’s character to defend the realm. The story, of course, offers a branching storyline as players fight new creatures such as hideous insects, Flesh Atronachs, skeletal Shambles, amphibious Grummites. There will also be new items, spells and ingredients as well as new armour and weapons that can be gained from the craftsmen of Crucible and Bliss.
Electronic Arts will celebrate Europe’s most prestigious club soccer tournament, the UEFA Champions League, with the launch of UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, the only officially licensed videogame of the tournament. UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 will ship to stores worldwide on March 20, 2007 in anticipation of the real-world tournament that culminates in the UEFA Champions League Final in May.
“We celebrate the passion soccer fans have for their club teams by capturing all of the classic rivalries in-game and enabling players to win glory for their club teams in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007,” said Ken Sayler, lead producer on the Xbox 360 system. “This is the ultimate stage for club football in Europe and we’re giving you the power to build and manage your dream team by creating a unique virtual card system to collect, trade and use players on your way to glory.”