EA is sending The Sims, and the gamers who love the franchise, back to the dark ages with The Sims Medieval, a new series for the PC and Mac. This permutation of the Sims allows gamers to “build up a medieval kingdom, controlling characters from all walks of life, from Kings and Queens, to Knights and Wizards, Blacksmiths and Bards.” This is all accomplished through a new addition to the series: quest driven gameplay.

As you complete quests in The Sims Medieval, you’ll be able to shape your kingdom as you see fit, and either expand it internally or through laying waste to everything and everyone else. Plus with every new game, you’ll create a hero with a variety of traits, which will no doubt switch up the experience each time.

The Sims Medieval is launching in Spring 2011.

The EA Play Label of Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that The Sims 3 Ambitions Expansion Pack, the second expansion pack for The Sims 3, is now available in stores and for digital download for the PC and Mac.

The Sims 3 Ambitions allows players to pursue a variety of exciting careers in their Sims’ lives that in turn affect their overall gameplay experience and neighborhood. Players can choose to hunt down vengeful spirits as the ghost hunter, invent brilliant and potentially destructive gadgets as an inventor, craft glorious masterpieces as a sculptor, dole out experimental medicine as a doctor, save lives as a firefighter, and solve riveting cases by any means necessary as an investigator with dozens of cases to solve and numerous clues to find. For the first time, players will be in charge of how their Sims’ career progresses and decide if they will work for good or evil, pursue creative endeavors or technical affairs, change the town for the better or wreak havoc on everyone’s homes. Choices made while playing the new careers and activities such as stylist, architecture designer and tattoo artist directly impact the look and feel of the town and other Sims. For example, as a player you get to determine what a Sims’ new appearance will look like, whether that be a hip makeover or a new tattoo fit for a rockstar. Additionally, players will be able to explore Twinbrook, an entirely new playable town in The Sims 3 Ambitions, where they will be able to meet new locals, explore their surroundings and find new employment opportunities.

"The Sims community has long wanted to control their Sims actions at work and now with the seamless open neighborhood those actions have a direct impact on the town and other Sims," said Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims at EA. "Offering a variety of new and exciting careers, players can choose to complete their work tasks in a heroic manner or take the deviant route."

The Sims 3 Ambitions will also be available for feature phones, iPhone and iPod touch in late 2010 from EA Mobileâ„¢. These versions will have customized mobile gameplay features, which will be revealed in the coming months and will not require a base game to play. For information on carrier availability and pricing for all EA Mobile games, please visit www.eamobile.com.

Let the cellular revolution begin. Electronic Arts and their Maxis studio announced today that Spore, perhaps the most eagerly anticipated PC game of this decade, has gone gold and will be available for PC and MAc September 5 in Europe and September 7 in North America.

Spore Creatures for DS and Spore Origins for mobile phones will also launch globally September 7.

Spore is the latest project from Will Wright, creator of Sim City and The Sims.

A few commerical tie-ins from EA: Players who preorder Spore or Spore Galactic Edition from participating retailers will receive a coupon good for $10 off their next purchase of custom merchandise at www.zazzle.com/sporestore. For the ultimate Spore fan, the limited Galactic Edition will contain the ‘Making of Spore’ DVD, ‘How to Build a Better Being’ DVD (a 50 minute National Geographic Channel documentary DVD hosted by Spore mastermind, Will Wright), ‘The Art of Spore’ hardback book, an exclusive Spore poster, and a premium 100-page Galactic Handbook.

“We are so excited to finally get Spore into the hands of fans and players,” said Lucy Bradshaw, executive producer of Spore at Maxis. “The Maxis studio has had an absolute blast creating Spore, but the fun is just beginning. The most engaging stories are truly the ones people create themselves, and we can’t wait to see how players not only craft and explore the Spore universe, but hear what stories they have to tell as a result.”

Perhaps the ultimate sandbox game, Spore lets players start from tiny organisms and expand and evolve into a massive, space-faring superpower.

For all the latest Spore news, screens, videos community content, and to try out the trial version of the hugely popular Spore Creature Creator, visit www.spore.com.

Electronic Arts announced today the FreeTime Expansion Pack for the mega-hit video game franchise, The Sims.

“Players of The Sims love to bring stories to life by exploring new and wonderful areas of their Sims’ existence,” said Rod Humble, Head of The Sims Studio. “Now with The Sims 2 FreeTime, your Sims can explore a range of interests to discover new fun and appealing life options and diversions. Realizing these all-new talents adds depth, humor and appreciation for the moments that make life entertaining.”

New features:

• New Gameplay Elements Tied to Hobbies. Your Sims can discover the activities that they’re most passionate about! Sims can now participate in contests to win prizes and Simoleons, or they can master interests, practice and improve their skills, and get in “the zone!” Your Sims can enrich their lives by creating items to use or sell, like pottery or cars. These new hobbies can strengthen friendships and uncover secret lots.
• New Lifetime Aspiration Meter. Your Sims can measure the progress of their aspirations over a lifetime and unlock special rewards and interactions!
• Five New Career Tracks and their Reward Objects. Oceanographers can earn a koi pond, entertainers can get their own star of fame, architects can use their own drafting table, dancers can receive a ballet barre and intelligence agents can use an audio augmenter earpiece.
• All New Objects and Outfits. The Sims 2 FreeTime introduces brand new items, including a basketball hoop, pottery wheel, toddler activity table, modular synthesizer, hobby train table and much more. Your Sims can also have new outfits to match their hobbies and activities, including a special outfit that was designed and created by a player of The Sims 2 that will be produced by H&M.

The expansion pack requires an original copy of The Sims 2 to play and ships February 26 in the U.S. (February 22 in Europe).