The Sims 3 is almost upon us! We are now less than two weeks away from the next generation of the best selling PC game series, ever, and The Sims 3 is boldly going where the franchise has never gone before in more ways than one. Read on for the latest The Sims 3 developments.

The Sims 3 gives you unprecedented control over not just a household like in previous games in the series, but an entire neighbourhood. Gone are the lengthy loading screens and in come a true sense of freedom, and a town which truly feels alive from the moment you begin to play.

Recent fan day events held by EA have given a lucky few the chance to play the game first hand, and many of them did and had only good things to say which is great news for everybody else who are waiting patiently for June 2nd, or June 4th and 5th for those outside of North America, to arrive.

If you have not already heard, The Sims 3 allows your sims to move freely about the neighbourhood for the first time without those horrid loading screens - though you will come across loading screens when switching to different features. For example if you choose to move from live gameplay to the create-a-sim or edit town modes, a loading screen will appear, but it’s a nice pretty one!

Playable ghosts is one of the major new features of The Sims 3 which previous titles did not have. They can appear anywhere in the neighbourhood, but will rarely be seen away from the cemetary. If you visit the cemetary at the right time of night, which is probably between midnight and 3am, you are likely to encounter a number of different ghostly characters at once. If you see a grave shaking, or perhaps even a street light, something is on it’s way out to meet you.

Sadly not all recent The Sims 3 news is good news though! Two major talking points have been thrown up by leaks. Not only was access to the development state of the new website leaked and accessed by thousands of fansite followers over the course of a week or so, but even the actual The Sims 3 game has somehow made it’s way onto torrent sites which - after deciding to release the game without digital rights management protection - must be the news EA were dreading.

We of course do not encourage you to look for this leaked version of the game. By all accounts it is buggy, unfinished and you will certainly not be getting the full The Sims 3 experience as you will not gain access to The Sims 3 Exchange which will offer a free download of an entire second town to those sensible and moral enough to buy the game.

The second town in question, Riverview, is a quaint farming community which promises to throw up some surprises as you play, and during your time there you will also come across some familiar faces from previous The Sims titles.

With the release date drawing ever closer, new screenshots and videos are appearing almost on a daily basis which is great for those following the game religiously upto it’s release date. Sit back and relax until The Sims 3 is with you, it’s just around the corner!

For more on The Sims 3 check out Sims 3 Website.com

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