The Sims 3 Wii First Look

The Sims 3 for Wii is not just simply a port of the original PC game. Instead, what players get are two separate games that differ significantly from their PC cousin: a single player mode where you take direct control over your Sims with a unique new building system and innovative career-based gameplay, and a multiplayer mode that takes the elements of The Sims people love and sets them in an entirely new game show theme that's entirely unexpected.

The single player portion of Sims 3 for Wii is the part that's most like the original. Player engage and interact within a beach-themed town where they take direct control over a Sim, guiding them in a fully streaming world (much like the PC version, where you can zoom in and out and around the town at will). By direct control I mean that players don't just point and tell their Sims where to go, but now instead use the analog stick to move their Sim in the world. It's an interesting choice since the Wii version would give players arguably the closest thing to mouse controls, but maybe the direct control gives you a better connection to your character -- I can't say for sure myself until I play it.

The Create a Sim portion of Sims 3 on Wii is esentially as feature rich as the PC version, but building in the game is radically changed. Instead of constructing your own houses wall by wall, players pick a lot and then drop in "shells," essentially pre-fabricated buildings that they can then customize with a series of small changes. While obviously not as deep as the building in the PC version, the team at EA assured me that shells allowed them to drop in structures with architecture that isn't possible in other Sims games; buildings with rounded roofs, or angular beams that look very modern, and fit the style of the beach city they've created.

Career choices are also different in the Wii version of Sims 3. The careers you can follow are more beach-themed, like the new Tourism career, and are more dynamic in the choices that the player can make in controlling how their Sim interacts within their job. The Sim in the demo I watched took a job as a hotel janitor, where I got to see the new way players interact with their Sim at work. Instead of simply sending your Sim off to their job and watching time speed up for eight hours, players can tell their Sims exactly how they want them to spend their time at work. Want to craft a lazy Sim who'll likely get canned? Tell them to flick the light switch on and off for several hours rather than working. It's not as deep as actually doing their job, but it's certainly more engaging than simply watching time tick by.

Though the single player experience is similar in its core mechanics to the original game, the multiplayer, on the other hand, offers something that has never been done before within the franchise. Up to four players pick a Sim and play through their lives, with each round following a particular stage of their Sim's life. Players start off as children, and for each player -- based on the traits they pick -- they're given a situation they have to handle. Multiple options are given to the player they can deal with it, and the other players can wager which option they'll pick. Then, after everyone picks an optionfor that turn, the results are handed out, with players failing or succeeding and being rewarded happiness or sadness as a result.

Each round isn't just about following and waiting for the decisions of a single player, however. There are also cards that allow players to face off against one another, heading into a mini game where they do logic puzzles that determine who gains happiness. Players can gain happiness by picking cooperative cards, encouraging real-time deal making and banter with the other players that could be really fun for group play. Personally I had a lot of fun playing the multiplayer, but playing it with people I barely knew inevitably made it harder to put a finger on just what they'd do which might make the game marginally less fun than playing with your friends. Still, I could definitely see this mode being the way people get the most enjoyment out of the Sims on Wii, though the game length (about 15 minutes per person, so 60 minutes for four) could become an issue for people looking for a short match.

The Sims 3 on Wii showcases the bold direction that EA has been taking when bringing their franchise to platforms and systems outside the PC. The multiplayer component is a big leap in the right direction for what Wii users expect to see with engaging and fun gameplay specifically tailored for the system, while the single player -- if it comes together technically; it's a bit rough right now -- changes up gameplay in significant ways but still stays true to the same mechanics and style that the audience has been loving for years on the PC. What I saw was still in its very early stages of development, so it will be intriguing to see what direction the game takes as it gets closer to release.

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