It was a year ago today that The Sims 3 shipped.  (Coincidentally, they celebrated by shipping Ambitions today.  I'm really hoping to have a chance to run out and pick up a copy at Best Buy tonight.  I'm struggling through a really gross cold, so look for the lady in the sweats with the red eyes and a wad of Kleenex in hand.)

Out of everything The Sims 3 brought to the table, I think the defining item for me has been Story Progression.  Until Sims 3, time stood still for everyone but your own Sims.  When you went to town, you would run into the same NPCs over and over again, throughout generations of your own Sims, the NPCs and townies remained unchanged.  

It felt eerie and a little stifling, as if your Sims were living within a shrink-wrapped world where nothing ever changed.  Now the NPCs and townies all have their own lives, they get married and have kids and grow old and die, and the towns feel genuinely alive.

I know a lot of people who tried Sims 3 but have returned to playing Sims 2.  I feel like Sims 3 isn't really getting a fair shake at this point, because Sims 2 has so many expansion packs available.  But at the same time I respect the fact that for a lot of people, the basic gameplay experience just isn't there.  And they had to leave their old Sims behind, stranded in Sims 2.  It really IS a shame that you can't upgrade or port over your Sims and their homes and memories and everything.  I meticulously re-created my families in Create-A-Sim, but it wasn't the same.

In the last year we have seen two expansion packs (counting today's release of Ambitions), one official disk-based Stuff Pack (High End Loft Stuff), and a Tofunda Wagon-load of extra content at the official Sims 3 store.  EA has a big stake in keeping us happy, because The Sims 3 quickly became one of their best-selling titles.  It sold 1.4 million copies in the first week, which made it "the most successful fame launch the company has ever had."  I wasn't able to find any sales figures for their online store, but they must be doing pretty well, because it seems like every week they have a new set available for sale.  Which they wouldn't be doing, if they weren't selling!

Speaking of the expansion packs - just to digress for a moment - although you can buy and download the expansion packs from the EA website, I STRONGLY recommend that you buy the physical versions.  Why?  Because you cannot back up your digital downloads to disk.  

Let's say your computer blows up, or you buy another one, or your game goes explodey and you have to reinstall it.  You will need to drop another $40 to buy the expansion pack again, because your EA Store digital download is only available for a few weeks.  (And for the love of all that is holy, do not pay the extra fee to have the download available longer!  That's just crazy.)

So happy birthday, Sims 3, and I'm looking forward to more great years to come!