After an initial 30-or-so minute delay from the expected 10 AM PST start time due to technical difficulties (hey, it can happen even to the best of us, right?), the Sims team went on a roll, dolling out details about not one, but two new expansions for the game as well as delivering some more-than-elusive hints about a stuff pack and yet another expansion coming out later this year.
First up, the good people Maxis showed off the nearly-here 70's, 80's, & 90's stuff pack that will be released on Jan. 22, giving us a look at the various retro fashion and vintage furnishings inspired by decades of memories past, complete with floating fireplace that hangs from the ceiling and reminds us of what people forty years ago thought the future would look like, a so-bad-its-good, Weird Science like ladies workout outfit, some grungy 90's fashion shown off on a Sim that looks uncomfortably similar to the late Kurt Cobain, and a rather cool sectional with a curved corner, among other things.
From there, the team moved onto the more juicy stuff, starting with the exciting, albeit expected, official unveiling of the much speculated University expansion that has been frequently rumored around the internet and occasionally listed on European retail sites over the past months. Officially tilted The Sims 3 University Life (you know, to differ it from the Sims 2: University, because repetition is so totally unlike the Sims franchise) EA's latest poorly kept secret got shown off quite a bit in the livestream. Coming with the expansion are many of the features players would expect and have gotten a glimpse at in various screenshots leaked recently, including a new college-based world that you can ship your young adult Sims off to--which appears to function similarly to World Adventures vacation worlds-- dormitories, college majors and, yes, even classes (education in college, who knew?), as well as a variety of new activities designed around the timeless stereotypes of bratty party animal college escapades ("juice" pong, anyone?). Look for a more detailed break-down of the University announcement in the coming days. University will be released on March 5th, the same day as SimCity, which also got a new teaser trailer thrown into the mix.
After giving some more in-depth detains about the upcoming stuff pack and pulling back the curtains on an expansion players have been anticipating for a while, Maxis decided to spice things up a bit. Out of the clear blue sky, simmers got a bit of a shock when with mention of Island Paradise, the next expansion after University Life. Schedule for a June release and as such still very much in development, visual details about the expansion where skimpy indeed, although the lone screenshot shown off had plenty of staying power as it boldly and proudly flaunted a revolutionary and remarkable new feature for the Sims series: a boat! (to non-Sims-players, that may sound a bit underwhelming, but trust us, its actually pretty awesome). Yes, for the first time in the series, Island Paradise feature useable boats, and better yet, not just mundane commuter boats, but instead full-fledged houseboats for Sims to live and travel on and that, according to the Sims Team, will even be creatable by players.
The hosts seemed pretty adamant that houseboats will be fully customizable by players, although details about just how this will work remain uncertain (our bets are on pre-made exterior shells with interiors useable in build/buy mode similar to the highrises of Late Night, but at this point its anyone's guess). Of course, Island Paradise will contain an actual island world consisting of several different land masses that together will presumably constitute some rendition of a utopia, as well as the ability for Sims to snorkel and scuba-dive underwater (which could possibly just be a rabbit-hole, however since the host seemed to act like this was a major feature, hopefully it will be something more). In the expansion, players will also be able to not only visit but also run and manage their very own island resort ( a welcome bit of Open For Business, oolala!).
Continuing on the bombardment, the host, with sincere apologies to his apparently disgruntled PR people off-screen (oh Ryan Vaughan, you're such a transparent salesman its cute), went on to unveil the third expansion for this year, although stopping short of anything but a vague description that it will allow Sims to travel into the future. No details about how this mechanic will work, or whether or not it will seem as out of place in the game as it sounds, but hopefully when its released later this year it will prove to be good enough to justify being another expansion that isn't the Sims 3 variation of Open For Business that so many players in the game's forums are vocally waiting for. There was also announcement of a stuff pack for this fall that will revolve around iconic themes, costumes and sets (whatever that means, simply new themes of furnishings, perhaps?).
And so, there you have it! Since Maxis took a new approach and decided to unveil new expansions still early in development and a long way from release, details about much of the content were skimpy, but more info is sure to spill out over the coming months. Particularly, the Sims Team has scheduled another livestream for Feb. 14th, that can reasonably be expected to show off some more of University Life and possibly Island Paradise. Stay tuned as Digitdan covers any other details as they are released!
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