5. PC PowerPlay - The Sims 3: Showtime
No game will ever be able to compete with The Sims. It is one of the longest lasting, most successful series in video game history and has spanned across almost every major gaming system. The Sims Studio and EA have continuously impressed and satisfied their fans while simultaneously broadening their fan-base throughout the years with their famous expansion packs. Players don't seem to understand, however, that not every single expansion pack is intended to be an entirely new game. It's called an expansion pack for a specific reason - it expands the game. As Meghann O'Neill from PC PowerPlay proves, not everybody that plays The Sims grasps the above concept. O'Neill complains about the entire pack, calling it - essentially - a waste of money, and that it requires a lot of work for a small reward. Hmm, that sounds very similar to real life, doesn't it? Perhaps TSS/EA is just doing what they do best - giving the players more options. They begin with the basic foundation of an excellent simulation game, and then progressively provide the features that make that simulation more appealing. Sometimes this just includes a few new items and jobs/professions, but it adds to the game, does it not? From reading O'Neill's review it just seems that she is ignorant of TSS/EA's intentions. They cannot afford to recreate The Sims every single time they release an expansion pack. Instead, they do what they can to improve the gameplay value in order to continue entertaining players and bringing in more fans. You can
read Meghann O'Neill's review at PC PowerPlay here.