EA today officially announced The Sims 3, the game will allegedly include a seamless, open neighbourhood inside it's brand new engine. Never played The Sims myself; it's just not my bag, but 98 million units sold since the year 2000 tells it's own story.

Here's the first The Sims 3 artwork, certainly a big graphical step forward.

"In The Sims 3, Sims can go beyond the boundaries of their home lot, and immerse themselves in an open, living neighbourhood, interacting with other Sims using our new deeper personality system," said Rod Humble, Head of The Sims Studio. "It is this type of open-ended gameplay that inspires endless creative possibilities. In addition the new goals and rewards systems will give players of all kinds from core gamers to storytellers the ability to enjoy long-term gameplay."

"The new engine and technologies in The Sims 3 are designed to unleash the player’s imagination with realistic looking Sims who have distinct personalities and a seamless living neighborhood for them to discover," added Ben Bell, Executive Producer on The Sims 3. "Players are going to be thrilled by the level of realism in The Sims 3!"