SHT does have lots of shinies and interactions I may want and would love to have, but fear of the social features will keep me from getting this EP right away. I have to see how things go with turning off the social stuff and does it affect gameplay. Like for example, when memories were introduced it was like a YAY moment for me. Then after experiencing freezing, bloating the save files, no real way to turn off memories, just notifications without a mod, I don't feel like destroying my save games to end up with the social stuff from hell.

They mentioned crowds...which makes me curious. Games now do have the ability to create crowd scenes and I know some company was working on doing this so that it would cause less of a performance hit. I wonder if EA is including something like that in the game. If so, I would guess the crowds will not include sims from our hoods but rather generic Sims...which is okay I suppose and better than 5 people watching the show.

It appears as though you have to work your way up to be talented. There's a teen DJ, so I cn assume there's a teen rapper and singer. Maybe not performer - that's a bit dangerous for teens.

Theres been stuff children in the last two packs, and I did see a chair in the trailer. Childrens got toys in Pets and a Most of the items in Generations were for children, so children aren't forgotten completely. It'd be nice if they could, at least, sing into a hair brush while looking int he mirror.

What are you even talking about?

EA made performing (including music) the main feature of this EP. So if they, yet again, won't add a playable wind instrument I will be mad. Because they have never done it in the entirety of the series, and it's gotten really old to me. Not just in The Sims, but also in other life simulation series like Animal Crossing.

It's getting on my last nerve. I know it's just silly because it's "just video games", but that doesn't stop it from being absolutely ridiculous.

And by the way, I have never said I wanted a violin.



Since when did "talking about the EP" only equate to loving it and discussing what we love about it?

This "2 minute video" is what we have about this EP, and despite what you may believe, EA's trailers say a whole bunch about their Expansion Packs. There's never much hidden.

If we can't discuss the 2 minute video then we can't discuss anything about this EP, because it's all we have.

Because you're not talking about the EP. You're talking about what they didn't put in it. That's not talking about it. That's talking around it.

When I last looked, this was a discussion forum. Not just for yes people. At least I thought it was, I may be wrong.

I just don't think it's very nice discussion for every single post in every one of these threads to be "Ugh why didnt they add what I want!!!!".

I remember with Sims 2 people actually talked about the game and liked it. NOw all it is is people whining. Everybody whining. Nobody wants to talk about how they think the careers might work or how they think the stardom will work or what kind of music there will be or what events performers can do and things like that. Everybody wants to whine and whine and whine. It's stupid.

Scarity, maybe instead of complaining and whining about the way people are discussing the EP, you could try to start a conversation about what you like/what interests you about the EP.

People are whining because EA is doing bad business, and their tactics are air thin. Think about everything people wanted in Late Night, that just so happened to be apart of Showtime. It's hard to appreciate the good when everything else aroud it is so bad.

The game is shaping up to be incredible, I have to admit, but major flaws hold it back. Like the pool table lamp from Late Night...

Discussions don't always have to be nice.

Discussions have positive points AND negative points.

Not everyone in the thread is saying they hate it already.

By the way, whining? You're whining because we have an opinion that is the opposite of yours and you don't want to hear about it.

Maybe because this EP isn't a new idea. I mean, it's not even a new idea to The Sims 3. It is essentially Late Night 2.0. For me, when they cover such a similar theme again, they need to fix everything they got wrong the first time. Excuse me for having something I particularly care about. After almost 12 years of this series being in existence, I am a little angry.



Perhaps because maybe The Sims 2 had a lot of fresh ideas. At the very least, they never repeated a theme twice in two Expansion Packs in the same game. A lot of the Expansion Pack ideas were quite different from their The Sims 1 counterparts.

It's not that no The Sims 2 Expansion Packs were disappointing. I complained about Pets, I was mad at Freetime for the very same reason I am mad at Showtime, and I was very leery towards Bon Voyage (since it was basically a Vacation remake with nothing to make it refreshing).

I was very vocal about these things back then.

I'm sorry, but what exactly is there to speculate about with Showtime? It's a recycled idea of one we've already had in this game. We know how EA works now, and we can easily guess how exactly it will play out since we've already seen something very similar in this very game.

If you want me to say something positive: I am interested in the open venues. It is actually something that could turn out very good as it is something I never expected them to try in this game.

More info!

announce trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw2SXuHyjLQ&feature=player_embedded#!

Here is your chance to become a star and tell the story of your journey! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that The Sims™ 3 Showtime Expansion pack*** for PC/Mac is in development and will launch worldwide in March 2012. The latest expansion pack from The Sims Studio allows players to live the rags to riches story with their Sims and share these experiences with their friends. Using new and innovative social features such as individual in-game news feeds and live updates, players are connected to each other like never before.

“The Sims 3 Showtime is a huge step forward for The Sims franchise,” explains Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio. “For the first time, we are introducing social features that allow you to send your Sims to a friend’s game, perform at their venue in front of their Sims where you both will earn rewards, and capture and share these in-game moments of your rise to fame.”

The Sims 3 Showtime allows players to connect and share with their friends and fellow fans of The Sims without ever leaving the game. Players will venture into a new world and live the dream as singers, acrobats, magicians and DJs. Using the all-new SimPort feature, players can send their Sim into a friend’s game to perform in their world, book gigs in their friends’ town, go on tour, and be reviewed. Along the way, players can earn rewards for achieving goals and accomplishing special challenges that can be tracked and shared via in-game social wall posts. Players have the opportunity to post their Sims’ successes, share gameplay techniques, create wishlists and send gifts, search for new friends and share memories through their in-game news feeds and as e-cards.

Players who enjoy building can customize their Sims’ stages using props and special effects to create unique venues such as a swanky concert hall, a massive stadium or an indie club. How the stage is built will directly influence a player’s Sim’s performance and career progression. For players who love a challenge, they can earn in-game rewards and accomplish goals such as performing a legendary show in a high-level venue. For players who enjoy experimenting, an endless amount of gameplay opportunities and choices within the game provide a vast array of situations for cause-and-effect play and hilarity to ensue.

The Sims 3 Showtime is currently available for pre-order****. Those who pre-order now will be automatically upgraded to a special Limited Edition version, which features the Ultimate Stage venue. Players can place this fully customizable venue in their world and will be able to use it as an additional stage for their Sims to perform on, complete with in-game props, backgrounds, lights and special effects. This bonus venue is available through pre-order and while supplies last.

Info
Live the rags to riches story with your Sims while connected to your friends! Experience the rise to stardom as your Sim performs on stage from one venue to the next. And for the first time, The Sims 3 Showtime introduces social features, including Passport, an all-new feature that lets you send your Sims to a friend’s game! There, your Sim can perform at your friend’s venue in front of your friend’s Sims! You will also be able to chat with friends and post messages and screenshots on your friends’ walls.

Features

* Your Sims can live the dream as Singers, Performers, Magicians, and DJs. Watch them rise to fame—or go down in flames as they perform for other Sims.

* All-new social features: chat with friends, post to their walls, give status updates, and create friends lists.

* Send your Sims to a friend’s game and have your friend’s Sim come to your game with the new Simport feature!

* Create your own venue! Build a swanky concert hall, a massive stadium, or an indie club. How the stage is built will influence your Sims’ performance and career progression.

* Get a bonus venue and stage for your Sims to perform in the Limited Edition!

* Or you could send your Sims to explore the new world called Starlight Shores!

Cover and screenshots

Well I would love it if you'd show me where you bought your magic copy of the game because mine sure as hell does not have celebrity performances or active careers where you perform for crowds.

Mine doesn't have karaoke machines or vanities or pool tables or a DJ booth or singing or circus performances or DJing or magic tricks. Mine doesn't have 5 new active careers in it. Five new active careers! And all people can say is "wow, this EP has NOTHING to do!!!"

I just don't understand thisg ame anymore I guess. People want the world. You are all the spoiled brat from willy wonka for chris sakes!!!!!

We got Ambitions. Yay. Now give us something other than more careers. ^_^

We don't want the world. We just don't want the same Christmas present from 3 different people in 3 different colors and then be told they're all different when in actuality, they aren't.

I don't really care for the social parts of the game.
Karaoke machines are cool, acrobats is new unless it was in the sims 1 and didn't realize it.
I wonder if singing is actually singing now. I hope we can add singers to our bands.
The performance clothing looks cool.

Scarity, the recycled idea is the one of celebrity and performing.
For those that liked that aspect of LN, SHT represents a lot of stuff that should have been included in LN, like celebrity performances beyond just bands with no vocalists.
For those of us who aren't interested in celebrity and careers as performers, SHT represents yet another EP that focuses on a theme we aren't interested.
No one has said this EP has nothing to do, what they are saying is 'this EP has stuff that should have been in LN'.

That sure looks like a rabbit hole to me...

[PS] Remember, don't feed the trolls.

Ha ha, I watched the trailer and the magician pokes a knife through the box and the girl screamed. Ha, ha ha! I want the expansion just for that :-)

The whole reason why people are complaining about the gameplay not being included in Late Night is because, with how the Sims 3 works, EPs do not depend on one another for gameplay. For instance, in Generations, my teen and child sims can go on field trips. However, they do not go to field trips in Egypt, China, or France. They go on field trips to rabbithole businesses in the current world. In Ambitions, we had a few careers opened up to us. However, when Late Night appeared, our sims were forced back into rabbitholes for their careers and only left for the occasional B-roll filming or other outside work activity that was performed during work hours. It wasn't until Generations that we had another career opened to us (daycare) but other careers were shut down as even possibilities in Pets (pet store owner and then the non-existent vet career or pet groomer). Equestrian isn't a career, by the way, with work shifts, employee uniforms, co-workers, etc. It's a skill building "career."

The EPs tend to not rely on each other for gameplay, which is why I have the feeling that these features, unless EA decides to be awesome, will not intermingle with the LN features and will be, yet again, stand alone features.

...that and I think people are disappointed that an EP slot was wasted on a sequel to an already existing EP.

This! I agree.


And did EA put Paris Hilton in charge or someone over there always wanted to be famous and failed miserably in real life... Late Night flooded our games with privileged celebrities, Hidden Springs backstory is all about rich and famous running there to hide from papparazzi and now Showtime focusing on fame and spotlight.

They should've put all those together in one EP in my opinion.

You have said a mouthful here. Exactly what I think, it is a waste. SMH

I wish EA would take their time with the next EP and do something awesome instead of rinse, repeat.

I'm pretty sure this infatuation with "celebrity" and "fame" is coming from America's obsession with reality TV and socialites and that anyone and everyone can be famous for 15 minutes on any one of a billion tv shows. EA must believe that everyone lives in this world and wants the same things.

While I think the stage and settings look extremely cool (in the trailer) - I'm also afraid that they're just large objects that won't be customizable. You'll have a choice to work on a small medium or large stage and all the animations and interactions will be the same for each size.

And going on what QueenJimmy said, it's exactly that flaw that will keep anything in SHT (I love that abbreviation, by the way) from working seemlessly with LN. I will happy and readily eat my words if they add a singer to what LN established as a "band" or let bands perform on these stages for venues.

Don't feed the trolls is right on. Whiners are irritating. LOL

Did you all notice the usual disclaimer at the end of the trailer? 'Not all screenshots represent actual gameplay".

Also, it says you send your sim to someone else's game and vice versa. It doesn't say you get your sim back. You just need the other person to do things or report things in order to advance in your career and earn rewards. Except for that last part I'm thinking this is similar to sharing households on the Exchange altho it sounds like they will use Passport to do it.

I'm not planning to put this on pre-order. I'm going to wait to see if the undesirable features can be modded out first.

Oh my, that new "venue" looks like a Rabbit Hole to me.

I'm kind of blaming teenage girl players for this whole infatuation with having famous sims. I can say that, I am a teenage girl. But I don't talk about how I play sims at school because all my guy friends think it's a "pussy game" and all girls who I've met who play it will always try to talk to me about their super beautiful (Read: Pudding faced), super amazing famous sims whom I don't care a lick about. Maybe that's who EA is aiming all this fame stuff at.
I kind of like the general idea of the EP, if only for the new skills that it looks like it'll introduce. I could kind of due without the fame and having my friends super amazing pudding faces in my game.
Although, at least when sims do get famous, they'll be getting famous for a reason other than disappearing into a rabbit hole every now and then. Unlike real life.

That's the problem right there. EA is trying to cash in on what's popular instead of taking a risk on innovative gameplay. They need people (creative team and management) who are willing to go out on a limb and set the trends, not follow them--that's never cool. All their creativity and energy is spent on coming up with new ideas to monetize the game instead of the game itself. What you end up with is The Spice Girls of games, successful on the surface, but missing the boat completely in terms of the earning potential and staying power of discovering some honest-to-goodness talent or coming up with their own ideas.