The 1980’s…big hair, loud clothes, neon arcades…everything was over the top! This was the decade of my birth (Quick! Guess my age! No...wait…don’t…) and it’s an era I remember vividly.

Music was a very important part of the 80’s. The cassette tape, big boom box stereos, rock music…I remember lying on the floor of my bedroom listening to the radio and waiting patiently for my favorite song to come on so I could record it to a mix tape. Fortunately for my Sims, they have robust control over the radio and the ability to skip from song to song while listening to the brand new “Boomin’ Box” which is – you guessed it! – a massive boom box stereo! 

The Sims 3 70's, 80's, & 90's Stuff Pack captures the rock’n’roll spirit of the 80’s with an awesome new guitar, and five new facial make-up options including a lightning bolt over the eye and a new three-shade eye shadow. My favorite outfit for men from the 80’s is a top and bottom set we call the “Glam Rock Lace Up” duo. It’s a leather shirt (with lightning bolts on the sides!) with laces up the front, and matching pants with laces down the side.

There are some really great clothing assets for women in this decade! Some of the most iconic looks are most appropriate for the gym, but we also have a prom dress, an 80’s grunge t-shirt, and a hot pink long sleeved shirt paired with a mini-skirt a really big belt.

Video games were popular and the 1980’s were the heyday for the arcade and we celebrate with the new “Blips Vs. Pixel” arcade machine. There is also a new “Neonis Foosball Table,” but I think that’s getting into the realm of the 1990’s…

Stay tuned as I’ll be posting a dev blog all about the 90s and the grunge-tastic ways for your Sims to relive that era!

Hi Everyone!

SimGuruKarskyhere! The Sims Studio is thrilled toannounce today that The Sims 3 UniversityLife is in development and will launch on March 5^th of thisyear. I want to take this time to tell you a little bit about some of the coolnew features that will be available in this expansion. Please note that this isthe first blog of many. In the coming weeks, we’ll be deep diving on many ofthe features highlighted below, as well as revealing some all new ones. Fornow, here’s an overview of what’s to come in The Sims 3 University Life.

Now, I don’t know about you,but university was a pretty awesome time in my life—if you haven’t gone yet, Ibet it will be for you too! I certainly gained a great deal of knowledge fromstudying about things related to my major, but I also learned that there is alot more to the university experience than just textbooks and classrooms. Whenwe started brainstorming the gameplay for TheSims 3 University Life, we wanted to make sure that we got all of that intothe game. Not just the academics, which are of course important, but thesocializing, the partying, and the day-to-day experiences of being away fromhome. All of this even played into picking the name. We included “Life” in thename to evoke the bigger picture of the quintessential university years, fromdating and partying, to group study sessions and class activities.

Making the Grade

When you think university,one of the top things in your mind is academics. I mean, it’s the “real” reasonyou go to university, right? So we wanted to make sure we made this part of thegame as robust as it is in real life. That meant we wanted a richer experiencethan just “doing time” to earn a passing grade. So, we created differentobjects Sims can use and activities they can do to improve their grades. For example,Science and Medical students have a skeleton they can work on, Communicationsmajors can broadcast their own radio show, and other majors all have their own uniqueobjects that impact Sims’ success. And, of course, university wouldn’t becomplete without study groups and lectures, so we’ve got those in the game too!

It’s Who You Know

In The Sims 3 University Life there are different social groups oncampus: the nerds, the rebels and the jocks. Hanging out and gaining cred withthese three groups offers unique advantages to your Sims, from earning dreamjobs to even gaining an extra trait! And just like real life, your Sim canchoose to spend time with only one or all three of the social groups. Your Simmight be a Fine Arts major with a techie streak, so your Sim could spend timewith both the nerds and the rebels to build the right kind of relationships andstory. If your Sim gains enough influence with the nerds, they might evenunlock one of the brand new social group careers, such as becoming a video gamedeveloper (my favorite new career).

Are You Ready to Party?

Hanging out with friends,going to parties, dating–all of these are also huge parts of the typicaluniversity experience. I studied at a school where each year there was anawesome bonfire party held by a group of students. Being so fond of thismemory, I really wanted us to include bonfires in the game.  A couple of other guys on the team rememberedplaying games with ping pong balls at parties and so we included “juice pong” foryour Sims to play! We wanted to make sure we included a lot of the iconic partysituations from university and I think we got ‘em. We even created a specialParty Pack that you will receive when you pre-order the Limited Edition versionof the game. The Party Pack features the Partaeus Maximus statue and will giveSims the ability to throw the themed costume bash of their lives! The packcomes with brand new togas, laurel leaves and masquerade masks for thoseclassic college parties. Partaeus Maximus will not only let you choose betweentoga, masquerade, formal, sleepwear, and swimwear parties, but will also boostthe moods of all of your party guests.

Well, thanks for reading upon The Sims 3 University Life today!This is just a quick introduction to some of the fun content that you canexpect in this expansion. Stay tuned as we’ll be featuring more details on thegame in the coming weeks. Be sure to tune in for our next Live Broadcast takingplace on February 14^th at 10:00 AM PST.

The Sims 3 University Life launches on March 5^th and we cannot wait to get this packin your hands. Until then, watch this space for additional updates.

Kari St. John

Senior Producer, The SimsStudio