Here's a Q&A straight from EA that answers
questions about The Sims 3 Store, TheSims3.com, disk protection
and more
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?
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.
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.
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
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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