I should preface this by pointing out that I am a complete nut for The Sims games. I lost a year and a half of my life to The Sims. I was there for the debacle that was The Sims Online. (I was a beta tester, but dropped out after the first few weeks. My review in a nutshell was, "Blecch.") I gave Spore a whirl, didn't care for it, and switched back to The Sims 2. As you can imagine, I'm terribly excited about the prospect of The Sims 3, which is scheduled for release this February. There is precious little pre-release information about The Sims 3, aside from what you can read on the back of the box or on the Amazon page. (The game went up for pre-release sale not long ago.) There are two features which will set The Sims 3 apart from The Sims 2 you will now be able to follow your Sims to work, and they are no longer bounded at home by the edges of their property. Considering you can walk to any property in The Sims 2, this last one doesn't seem exactly "revolutionary." However, the ability to follow your Sims to work definitely opens up the world of game play. I have several questions about this new "workplace" location. Will we be able to customize the workplace, the same way we can customize community lots? Could I stick a hot tub in the middle of the office? Could I delete the bathroom doors, and watch as my Sims' coworkers all wet themselves in the middle of the hallway? Can my Sim bring his lunch to work, by cooking it ahead of time and sticking it in his inventory? Can my Sim put a Cow Plant in his inventory, and drop it near the boss' office? Once you start thinking about it, the possibilities are really quite grand. The Sims 3 is also introducing a new Personality Traits system:

"The combination of traits you choose-brave, artistic, loner, perfectionist, klepto, romantic, clumsy, paranoid, and much, much more-help shape the behavior of your Sims and how they interact with other Sims."

I imagine this will eventually prove to be an interesting and enriching way to add to the Sims experience. But truthfully, it makes me die a little inside. First we had to learn the "astrological compatibility" charts in The Sims. Then we had to juggle all of those "topics of conversation" and hobbies in The Sims 2. And now we have a whole new system to learn. (More to the point, where does Grilled Cheese fit into the personality traits?) I'm afraid I already know the answer to my biggest question. I searched around the Sims 3 website, and didn't find a "contact us" link, or I would have asked them already. Will you be able to import your Sims 2 people into The Sims 3? I strongly doubt it, which means having to close the door on all the little people you have raised, nurtured, and occasionally tortured since The Sims 2 was released in 2004. *snif*