wraggster
May 4th, 2009, 23:10
Sims fans eager for their latest dose of Simlish have only one month to wait, because the upcoming release of the popular franchise will be released at the beginning of June. But according to one industry analyst, the game could already be a gigantic hit for EA. According to an article on Gamesindustry.biz, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey predicts up to 4 million units of The Sims 3 could be sold in 2009. This would easily surpass that of The Sims 2, which sold 3.5 million units in 2004, the year that game was launched. Hickey does believe that some of the sales of the title will be impacted by the "demographic transition towards newer entertainment forms like Nintendo's Wii and DS," assuming that the same fans of the Sim franchise have moved on from the PC to the console and handheld arena.
EA also announced online content details, such as an online store that will allow players to buy in-game items. The title will initially ship with a point total equivalent to ten dollars, and players will be able to add 500, 1000 or 2000 point packs at a later time. Apart from the purchasing, EA is focusing on making the Sims 3 website a social networking site where users can share content with other players or use tools to embed items in other sites or blogs.
According to Ben Bell, the executive producer of The Sims 3, "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. 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."
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/979/979182p1.html
EA also announced online content details, such as an online store that will allow players to buy in-game items. The title will initially ship with a point total equivalent to ten dollars, and players will be able to add 500, 1000 or 2000 point packs at a later time. Apart from the purchasing, EA is focusing on making the Sims 3 website a social networking site where users can share content with other players or use tools to embed items in other sites or blogs.
According to Ben Bell, the executive producer of The Sims 3, "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. 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."
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/979/979182p1.html