The Sims 3: Art Mimicking Real Life

Dunston, Jamie Lynn. "The Sims 3." PopMatters 17 June 2009. 18 June 2009 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/94894-the-sims-3/>.

In a review of The Sims 3, Jamie Lynn Dunston examines the success of the newest addition to The Sims game. A game that simulates life and allows the player to create their own story, The Sims has had a lot of success in the past ten years, culminating in the latest addition.

Dunston evaluates the various aspects of the game in a typical review style (not pulling from the previously discussed technique of New Game Journalism). There are new features that enable the player to create more stories and add a more unique feel to their game. Character traits are chosen from a list and these traits determine a Sim’s lifetime and short term wishes. There is more freedom when designing the look of your character and the ability to zoom in closer allows the player to inspect their piece of art.

Players are able to move their Sims’ locations without the interval of a load screen, allowing more freedom of the game. The modest amount of memory the game requires is also an improvement from previous installments that included many expansion packs.

The appeal of The Sims is that players can either mimic real life or create outrageous situations such as an evil genius. It has been one of those games that dances the line of the relationship between art and real life.