1UP: The Sims 3 preview and screens

In The Sims 3, you still control only a single household at a time, but your neighbors advance, change, get new jobs, develop relationships, and otherwise advance alongside you — whether you’re paying attention or not. A downtown area with places to eat, shop, and work (think: bookstore, park, clothing store, movie theater, bistro) offers a central hub for socialization, though at launch (EA’s targeting the spring of 2009) some buildings may be little more than facades. Sims may be able to enter a clothing store, for example, but players won’t be able to follow — that’s one possible area for growth in the inevitable expansion packs.