Electronic Arts is showing Sims 3 here at Games Convention at Leipzig. The one fact most fans want to know first, of course, is the release date: February 20, 2009 (worldwide).

Sims 3 no longer gives you only a small neighborhood, with the option (via addons) to "teleport" to places like a sports centre: It provides a whole, seamless, detailed town. As Executive Producer Ben Bell puts it: "In Sims 3, you can interact with anything, at any time". Of course, this interaction is still object based, so clicking on a phone will allow you to place a phone call, clicking on a canvas lets you paint it, and so on.

You can select from a wide variety of personality traits for your sims, for example, you can have your alter ego act shy, charismatic or evil. According to their traits, they will behave when not controlled directly by you. You can have a sim who is a talented cook (so guess what your friends will drop by for in the evening...), or who has a especially good sense of humour (so entertaining others with jokes will be easier for him). You can also chose your Life Goals in Sims 3, Bell pointed out: Do you want to be an Astronaut? Or a Poltician (is THAT a "Life Goal", btw?). Or a criminal mastermind.

There will be an Collector's Edition of Sims 3, at an yet unannounced price, which wlll feature exclusive accessoires and other, yet unannounced ingame content.