INTERVIEW: The Sims 3 associate producer Grant Rodiek

I would have liked to known if they considered making the system requirements(for the game) a bit lower, and more about the considerations that went into deciding the min. system requirements?
Because, as it seems to me, the average female gamer does not own a relatively Hi-Spec system. Now, I do realize that The Sims 3, like The Sims 2, is not going to be a game thats only gonna be on the market(By that I mean popular) for 1 or 2 years(like most other games), and that in a couple of years most of these female gamers will have upgraded their system, but anyway :=).
(To anyone who might took sentences including the 'female gamer' phrase in them, offensive, it was not, I do realize that there are female gamers out there with Hi-End hardware).

I hate how you have to pay for stuff on the Sims Store. How much more money can they make off this game?

OK I don't know what average girl gamer you're talking about Mika,but as a girl gamer, I built my computer to play games, specifically the sims. And this game, the sims 3. just like sims and sims 2 will be popular for far more then 1-2 years.

Ditto on the female-gamer and computer hardware thing, Shannon. I am a graphic designer, and I've upgraded my iMac to its limits. This was done for work, but also for the fact that I want to be able to run games smoothly for a long time without having to buy a faster computer.

Same here!!!!!! I got a macbook for almost only the sims3!!!!! I would bet all my money that the sims3 will be on the top ten of the computer games list for more than 2 years!!!!!! If u dont like it Mika then dont get the sims 3!!!!!! On the other hand, US, have good working computers that we PAY or get for presents!!!!!! So if u do not like the EFFORT they put into this game, DONT GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone needs to calm down about Mika's statement. It's not that big of a deal! All he said was that he thought some female gamers might not have high-spec computers, because they might be more casual gamers. There are plenty of girl and guy casual gamers. I seriously don't see why everyone is flipping out about his comment. He wasn't being sexist at all. He never said The Sims 3 was crappy. And it's true, The Sims 3 will certainly decline in sales in about two years, even though the community will still be hopping.

I dont understand why you guys are jumping all over Mika, some people do not have the funds to upgrade there pc that often. it was just an opinion and he/she even apologized... take a chill relax and count down the days till release!!!! :)

the problem tho, is if the poster meant 'casual gamer' that's what should have been said, 'casual gamer.' and not 'female gamer.' because it does have implications. i don't think any of the girls here are jumping down anyone's throat to point out the concern is unfounded, and whatever Mika assumes to be true isn't. being told you're wrong about something isn't being told you're a slimball for having the nerve to be wrong.
on topic, i like the sound of free points at the sims 3 store, but there's no mention as to whether it's worldwide or if it's just america like sims 2. anyone know this?

I am a 'girl gamer' and only upgraded my computer 2 years ago - but still doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for the sims 3 :(. I think that EA should have considered the large amount of sims casual gamers when setting their min requirements, as there will be hundreds of thousands that want to play, but can't.

I agree with Alexis when it comes to the Store... I hate it so bad!

I mean, we already pay a lot of money for the base game and for the EXPANSIONS. Personally, I think the Store is a huge rip-off, and I'm very disappointed in EA for having released it. =/

The system requirements are totally inconsiderate -.- Damn you EA!

I'm gonna spend my 1000points on the Store and then use modthesims2(3!) thats free and just use Q-Xpress installer (on the website) and yer off !

P.S - MTS3 is much better because they are using proper tools so they can make things like real model cars (Aston Martins , Veyrons etc.)

I agree with Mika and a few others. I preordered the game and then realized my 2.5 year old mac is "too old" to play the game. How bogus. So now I have to send it back once I get it *sigh*. I was so excited to get this game and now I'm stuck with Sims 2. It's a bit ridiculous the req's EA set. I don't consider my comp to be that out of date (heck I even just upgraded the OS). But apparently my only option is to buy a new comp. and that's not happening anytime soon.

FyI - I would need an additional 1 gb of ram (not hard to get at all) and a new graphics card (tougher b/c i'm stuck with a gma950).

I'm totally disappointed. I thought my computer was decent and I don't meet the system requirements. I'm totally disappointed, and it seems to me there are lots of people experiencing the same problem. I'm not gonna be able to play this game for a good while. DAMN YOU EA!!!!! Computer-fascism!!!

okay im so confused, my sim has just had 2 sets of twins, and a single boy. so she has 5 boys now!? i really want them to have a girl. And the man wants a girl too. Does anyone know of any cheats for the sims 3 to get them to have a girl???

You know what would be great, if Grant coudl actually spend a couple of hours reading the player reviews on the net. A lot of the well known sites have tremendous amounts of feedback on this game.

This would help him to see what we really want, rather than thinking he or his team know what we want. Yeah the games pretty good but not what we had hoped for from all the hype spilled out. the open neighbourhood was described by a forum member I know as, a big dorm. It's not that open. Next door have no furniture unless you play them or your sim visits them and they literally stand at the door for long periods of time waiting for their on stage moment when the car pool comes. I had hoped they would chat over the garden fence type thing, I thinbk we all thought that was how it would be.

Read what the players are saying Grant and stop thinking and start listening. Well that is, if you want to sell all those expansion packs.

Signed
A female with a high end pc, lol

my only problem is tht the game is not out for wii, ps2, ps3, or xbox systems. it is losing them a lot of business that they could have. i am not buying the game until they come out with a wii version.

I agree with Gerald because the are still alot of sims fans that play sims games on the consoles and are upset that they can't play the game on pc, mac, and the other requirement for sims 3 that EA games made. Which will lose EA alot of sims fans. And when I say alot of sims fans I mean alot.

I agree with J that preson is telling the truth.

If you want female babies, you need to eat watermellons, if you want male babies, you need to eat apples

I know we have been over this okay and I am like a month and half late but I dont get why they dont have a sims 3 for wii I hope they are working on that becaues they need to Wii was that all exciting console that everyone wantewd and so most people probabbly have it and now one of the most popular style ogf game The Sims comes out they want that to but they cant!! I was just playing Sims 2 castaway 2 minutes ago and thats a sims game for Wii why cant we have sims3 for wii!!

i agree with u

they should make sims3 for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii because many people agree that the sims2 was great but it needed alot more and with sims3 it would make gamers very happy >.O

I agree with the last few comments, they should make the Sims 3 for the Xbox360, Wii, and the PS3. I say this because so many people play them on the consoles, because our computers do not meet the requirements.