Perhaps the most anticipated game ever for the PC, The Sims 3 burst on the scene this month with the same fervor the second version generated. Addressing many of the constraints of the previous version, The Sims 3 provides fans with most of what they wanted: a living neighborhood that can be explored in real time. In the Sims 2 your sim could go to a community lot and spend several game days there only to be transported back in time to the exact moment you left your home lot. With the Sims 3, the game clock keeps running meaning that game time still passes even when you aren’t playing a particular lot. All sims will age regardless if it is the lot you are actively playing or not. This feature, alone, would be worth it for me. But it doesn’t stop there. You now have to ability to let your active sim explore the entire neighborhood, including other residential lots. Visit your neighbors at their lot, stroll through town window shopping, or take the sim family to the beach for a family fun day. This added freedom alone should garner millions of additional fans to the most popular pc game in history.

But the improvements don’t stop there. You are given the ability to customize content on your own, without being an expert in game programming. New body styles and personality traits let you venture away from the frumpy stick figures in the Sims 2. You are given the ability to face short and long term challenges to increase your wealth, fame, get a promotion, and more. New mapping techniques eliminates most of the annoying screen load times while you explore your neighborhood. Improved design techniques allow more freedom when building  your dream house. And all the while this base game allows for many interesting possibilities with upcoming expansion packs. While the graphics are not a huge improvement over the second version, the added gameplay options make it seem fresh again and create the same excitement that the first Sims game stirred in all fans, young and old alike.

You need to be aware of the system requirements, though, before purchasing the game. The Sims 3 has huge requirements for optimum gameplay, especially if you are running Vista as your operating system. (See below for minimum system requirements) As with any game, there have been reports of crashing and lagging problems within the first week of release. A majority of these problems are due to not having the proper video card, processor, or RAM to support the Sims 3. As long as your pc meets the system requirements, The Sims 3 is definitely a game you’ll sure to still be playing for years. Highly recommended and well worth the money, The Sims 3 will surely be one of the top 5 games of the year.

Available on: PC and Mac

In order to play the game your computer MUST meet the following MINIMUM requirements:

OS: Windows Vista (SP1)/Windows XP (SP2) Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher

Processor: Vista – 2.4 GHz P4 or equivalent/XP – 2.0 GHz P4 or equivalent Intel Core Duo Processor

RAM: Vista – 1.5 GB/XP – 1GB 2GB

Disc Drive: 8x DVD ROM or faster 8x DVD ROM or faster

Hard Drive: Vista & XP – 8 GB or more At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games.

Video Card: 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0.

Supported video cards include: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900, FX 5950, 6200, 6500, 6600, 6800, 7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950, 8400, 8500, 8600, 8800, 9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280 (GeForce FX unsupported under Vista)

ATI Radeon 9500, 9600, 9800, X300, X600, X700, X800, X850, X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950, 2400, 2600, 2900, 3450, 3650, 3850, 3870, 4850, 4870

Intel Extreme Graphics GMA X3x00 series. ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100.

Other: Laptop versions of chipsets above may work, but may run comparatively slower. * This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.

If your pc does not meet these requirements, The Sims 3 WILL NOT work on that pc.