The MySims series started out as a cutesy, cartoony version of the Sims series for PC and Wii that would let a younger generation of gamer take a crack at the building and customization of the Sims without asking them to navigate sexual relationships and simulated job grinds. From there, the series experimented with a more structured kind of game – like MySims Racing or MySims Kingdom – that had elements of other game genres around to direct gameplay objectives. However, it was still mostly a free-roaming game without much direction.

Now we have MySims Agents, an evolution in the MySims series toward a serious adventure game. Sure, it's still cutesy and cartoony – and about 85% of the cast is made up of Sims we've seen in other MySims game – but this is a game on a mission. And the mission is to become a secret agent.

What Is It?
MySims Agents is an adventure game for the Wii following the rise of a gumshoe detective to world-class agent as he works to recover the stolen Nightmare Crown. Players take the role of this young detective and progress through a series of mostly-linear levels to find clues, interview people and ultimately get to the bottom of the bigger mystery. Most of the gameplay is centered around gadgets that the player levels up over time – like evolving a basic magnifying glass to a high-tech footprint sensor – as well as the leveling of companion detectives that the main character can recruit.

What We Saw
I sat down for about an hour's worth of fiddling at EA Redwood Shores. The save I was playing on was toward the end of the game, so a lot of stuff was unlocked and gadgets were already leveled up.

How Far Along Is It?
MySims Agents is due out in September just before the mega-October rush. The build looked solid to me, although my hands-on time was limited to certain areas and puzzles because they were 100% finished.

What Needs Improvement?
Mind The Puzzle-Platform Ratio: A lot of Agents involves solving agent-y puzzles like lock-picking or hacking a computer. However, there are some platforming sections where the player has to guide the Agent through a jumping puzzle or across balance beams. Depending on how the ratio of puzzles-to-platforming stacks up, these sections will either blend in seamlessly with the secret agent theme or leave the player grumbling in frustration about how James Bond never got mobbed by butterflies and fell off a cliff.

What Should Stay The Same?
Adventure Gameplay: Part of the problem with the adventure-flavored MySims Kingdom was that there just wasn't enough structure to the story. It was hard to care about what the King wanted when there were endless possibilities for rearranging your house décor and endless numbers of Sims that wanted you to build junk for them. MySims Agent zeros in on the story and while it still that "Hey, let's go rearrange furniture in your secret headquarters" gameplay, there seems to be enough structure to the game to propel you out into the world to start solving mysteries instead of aimless wandering around to provoke local wildlife.

Fixed Camera: MySims Agent has a fixed camera that the player cannot control. This works well with the gameplay, because it allows the level developer to hide things from the player that they have to do detective work to find. It also makes Build mode less tedious because the Agent has to stand on a specific spot to enter build mode so that the camera can fix itself in the best possible angle for seeing the building area – a definite improvement over MySims Kingdom.

Smooth Sim Integration: A big part of any Sim game is working on inter-Sim relationships. This element makes its way into Agents through the recruitment system and the special side missions system. As the player goes through the game and meets all different kinds of Sims, he or she can recruit Sims as secret agent operatives. Recruiting a Sim moves them into the Agent's headquarters and the Agent can send them out to do side missions for other Sims, which improves the Agent's relationship with those Sims. While on these special missions, your Agent can carry on with main story missions and receive updates (or pleas for advice) from your other Agents in the field via text message. So it's almost like you're playing two games at once and that way, you can reap twice the benefits. Depending on who you recruit and how you train them, you can have a crack team of investigative Sims – or a bunch of bums that clutter up your basement.

Masks: There're a lot of hidden things in every level like bonus outfits or special items – but the big ticket items are always masks. Each mask a Sim finds has special abilities attached to it, like charisma or athleticism, and hanging the masks on a particular floor of the Agent's HQ trains all Sims that live on that floor in those skills. This is a neat way to customize your crack team of investigators because different missions require different combinations of skills. You can of course pick and choose different Sims from different floors to go on special side missions or take with you on main story missions – but sending an entire floor of Agents to do your bidding is both convenient and cool.

Final Thoughts
I'm looking forward to MySims Agents because I want to see MySims series evolve into solid adventure games. Between the collectibles and the unlockable hard puzzles, there's enough content here to move MySims away from the stigma of "baby's first god-complex game" and toward a series that appeals to everybody. During my demo, one of the MySims development team guys compared the series to The Muppets, saying that it'd be ideal to have a franchise of characters that you could use to tell any kind of story – or in this case, populate any kind of game. I'd be down with that; and I really hope Agents can lead the charge.

Among the list of games getting future merchandising are The Sims, MySims, Dead Space, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, Dante's Inferno and Army of Two.

"Creative Minx is proud to be working with EA, and to be able to represent such a strong portfolio of highly-recognizable gaming titles," Andi Riordan-Scott, President of Creative Minx Marketing. "We look forward to building successful merchandising franchises across multiple categories and distribution channels for EA's top brands and leveraging the awareness of its strong consumer base."

Let's hope this includes Dante's Inferno wind-up babies and Army of Two hockey masks.

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First up was My Sims because I got it confused with My Sims Kingdom. My Sims is already out on Wii but the upcoming PC release introduces new community features (like shared Gardens where you can hang out) and six new character NPCs that sort of (but not really) tie into My Sims Kingdom. My Sims on PC looked to be more user-friendly for the builders among you than it was on Wii (or maybe I say that because I’m a klutz with the Wii Remote) and I noticed that the terrain now has different elevations. Terraced garden, here I come.

After extricating myself from My Sims, I immediately tumbled into My Sims Kingdom. This is essentially the same as My Sims on the Wii – only there’s a plot and tons of RPG elements tossed in. It almost reminded me of Little King’s Story or My Life as a King – one of those cutesy RPGs with a twist. In this case, it’s the building gameplay. The whole story is that you’re customizable character graduates from lowly pig farmer to King’s Builder and are given a wand to go around the kingdom, building stuff and making things happen by talking to people. The kingdom is broken up into different islands, each with its own theme. We got to see the home base island where the king’s castle needed some bridge-building and later a space island where we got to build a rocket ship. Unicorns, fishing, and princess fill out the fantasy storyline and if you’re a kid, or a girl, or can swallow your testosterone long enough to play the game, it’ll probably charm you senseless for at least a couple of hours.

I hit a wall with My Sims Kingdom when I was told they weren’t ready to unveil Drama Island yet (damn!), so I moved on to SimCity Creator and had a tough choice to make: DS or Wii version? I opted for the DS demo and got a nice look at the Challenge Mode where you’ve got to play through the Ages to win. The guy running the demo took me from the Stone Age where people are incapable of using possessive pronouns through Ancient China with its awesome pagodas into Industrial Revolution Europe where we had to figure out where to put the oh-so-cancerous coal mines for the sake of electricity. The graphics were typical SimCity dull, but the promise of a “Future Age” after completing Challenge Mode had me wondering if there’d be teleporters and rockets and stuff…

I would have stuck around to see, but Challenge Mode would easily take the rest of the afternoon to complete, so I got up to dash to for another game before the demo hall closed when the guy running the Wii version called, “Wait, what about me?”

I’m a bleeding heart, despite my foul mouth, so I turned to the guy and said, “You’ve got three minutes.”

He jumped right in: “Curvy roads. Godzillas. Natural disasters.”

That got my attention. I’m the jerk who kills my pregnant sims, after all. “Show me.”

The roads were curvy, all right. And the graphics were head and shoulder over any SimCity game I’ve ever seen, even on PC. And sure enough, there were Godzilla-type monsters and natural disasters you could inflict on your city with the flick of the Wii Remote of the press of a button.

“Awesome.”

And before I realized it, they were closing down the hall and having last call at the bar. So at the very least, these games all hold true with a basic Sims property: they’re like black holes for time.

Here’s what My Sims Kingdom looks like:

And this is SimCity Creator:

If you didn't get to pick up MySims for the Wii your in luck because it is coming to the PC. In the game you will get to create original characters, build towns, and grow a community. Expect it to hit stores in October.

Oh, and as an added bonus the trailer features the same creepy children from the SimCity Creator trailer we posted last week.

The EA-UTA deal is said to "significantly ramp up EA’s film and television slate" which currently consists of a "feature version" of The Sims, a MySims animated series and a Dead Space animated, direct-to-DVD feature. In other words, pretend to be surprised when the Army Of Two movie script leaks later this year.

Hit the jump for the full press release. We'll have additional details on all of EA's Comic-Con related announcements through the week.

Electronic Arts Signs With United Talent Agency

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced it has signed with leading Hollywood talent and literary agency UTA for representation in motion pictures and television.

UTA will help the company develop a comprehensive strategy for moving its intellectual property into the realm of large-budget motion pictures and television series. EA’s broad portfolio of titles includes top-selling franchises such as Army of Two™ and Need for Speed™ as well as eagerly awaited new titles such as Dead Space™ and Mirror’s Edge™.

“UTA is an ideal partner for us to bring the richness and story telling nuance of our popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts,” said Patrick O’Brien, Vice President of EA Entertainment. “Some of our teams have already made steps to expand our games into other forms of media like online, social networks and print publication. This partnership will help us take these efforts to the next level and match each of our titles with the right artists, producers and financiers.”

“We view EA as an emerging entertainment force, not just because they are a great untapped IP rights holder, but because at their core they care most about how viewers respond to their stories and creative vision,” said UTA partner Richard Klubeck in making the announcement. “We’re excited to work alongside the EA team as they make this important expansion of their intellectual property strategy.”

The relationship is expected to significantly ramp up EA’s film and television slate, which currently includes a feature version of the popular The Sims™ game in script development at 20th Century Fox with producer John Davis and a MySims™ animated television series in development at Film Roman. EA is also in production with Starz/Film Roman on an animated DVD feature version of its new title Dead Space to launch with the game.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, Army of Two, Need for Speed, Dead Space, MySims and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Mirror’s Edge is a trademark or registered trademark of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

United Talent Agency is one of the entertainment industry's premier talent and literary agencies, representing many of world's most widely-known figures in every current and emerging area of entertainment, including motion pictures, television, digital media, books, music, mobile and live entertainment. Collectively, UTA agents represent a significant cross-section of today's most acclaimed artists and entertainers, including nominees and winners of Academy, Emmy, Grammy, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Writers Guild, Producers Guild, Golden Globe, People's Choice and Webby awards. The agency is also globally recognized in the areas of film finance, corporate consulting, branding & licensing, endorsements and the representation of production talent. The agency also operates UTAOnline, the first dedicated broadband representation division of a major agency.

It's the same cutesy world, complete with fruit harvesting, mining, socializing, and building, only now you'll be able to share your creations and play games with up to seven friends online. You can even email or IM things you build to other players so they can use them in their own MySims town. Creating a community based around player-created content might just be exactly what MySims PC needs to succeed where the Wii version failed.

MYSIMS BRINGS ALL THE FUN FROM THE HIT WII GAME, ALONG WITH NEW FEATURES, TO PC PLAYERS WORLDWIDE IN OCTOBER

Play And Share Online With Your Friends And Meet New MySims Characters On Your PC!

Guildford, UK — July 7, 2008 — The Sims™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Label, today announced the first details for MySims™, made for the PC, coming to stores in October, 2008. MySims first launched on the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ in Autumn, 2007 and has been a worldwide hit embraced by players everywhere. Now the game makes its way to the PC with new online features and new characters.

In MySims you can create original characters, build a town, grow a community and discover a world of your own. Start by personalising the appearance of your MySims from head to toe and go on to unlock cool new items as you befriend and build relationships with your neighbours. Make your creations unique when you design your own homes, shops, restaurants and more in this fun, open-ended game. All that you need is a little creativity and some help from the locals!

Now on the PC with new online features and characters! Have fun with friends safely in a shared online game space and discover surprises and wonders in your newly created town with the MySims you love and a new cast of characters! Now in MySims, made for the PC, you can find all the fun of the first game plus new online features and all-new characters to spark your creativity. Safely chat, interact and play games like Tag and Hide-and-Seek with your online buddies. Construct buildings and create objects to use cooperatively with up to seven friends that are online with you. Like trading cards, share your creations with your friends in-game, as well as outside the game via email or instant message so that others can enjoy them in their own MySims town. The choice to play online is yours, so you can decide to play as a single-player or expand your experience by playing with friends in an online neighborhood.

“MySims, made for the PC, opens up the world of MySims for you to explore, play and share with up to seven other friends that are online with you,” said Rod Humble, Head of Studio for The Sims Label. “For the first time, you can express the creativity of MySims with others in a collaborative way, as you create and live in a shared town with your friends online. With MySims, made for the PC, it’s a whole new world of interaction with personalised creations, buildings and towns to share, along with furniture and other tailored creations that you and your friends can trade. Players who enjoyed MySims on the Wii and Nintendo DS will view this as a great way to connect with friends in an online PC game and those new to MySims will find this a fresh and exciting game.”

In October - it’s time to get your MySims out on the town!

An assortment of UK fashion designers have teamed up to create an assortment of MySims-inspired fashions to sell for charity starting next week.

Each of the creations are meant to capture the "self expression, customization, creativity and collectiability" of the My Sims world with 100 percent of the profits going to the Great Ormond Street children's hospital.

The items range from a Wii bag to a really neat t-shirt with a build in pouch to carry your DS around in.

Giles Deacon - Eek Wii-mote/Bag talisman - based on Giles' signature avatar Eek will come with special My Sims elements designed to stimulate the mind or just act as good luck. RRP £35

Cassette Playa - Stuck on My Sims - Cassette Playa puts a unique twist on the MySims world with a series of vinyl and foil artworks rooted in customisation - give your DS that My Sims make-over or simply customise your phone, laptop, nails or notebook. RRP £15

House of Holland - My Sims Pouch Tee - designed for DS on the go, with a seamed in DS pouch/pocket - this limited edition tee bears the cult signature of Henry Holland's irreverent take on life - with the slogan 'Life Begins With MySims'. RRP £40

Tatty Divine - My Sims Sushi Bag - designed to perfectly carry your Wii mote on the go, Tatty Divine's exclusive bag takes design inspiration from MySim's sushi chef, and features hundreds of glittering Swarovski crystals. RRP £150

The goodies go on sale on Oct. 8.

My Sims Capsules [The Sims 2]

My Sims has such a different gameplay feel between the DS and the Wii that I think you could love one and hate the other. Since the DS versions seems very Animal Crossing-esque, I'll have to love that Wii and hate the DS version, I suspect. Brian Crecente

Huh... I think I would like Miis more if they looked like this instead of the way they turned out. But I'm not bitter, it's better than the 360 avatars. ;)

I suspect Electronic Arts' latest Sim offering could be a big hit, especially with the popularity of the Mii. They' have big heads, huge eyes and cute mannerisms. If they were anthropomorphic I think they'd cause me to projectile vomit candy. Brian Crecente

MySims looks to transform the traditional personal management gameplay of The Sims into a candy colored, town-building, character-customizing affair perfect for the Wii market. Or the assumed Wii market.

Interested parties can check out the official MySims site for more screens or continue on for the adorable, blockheaded press release featuring the first use of "delightful but disorganized" that we've seen on the internet. Michael McWhertor

EA Announces MySims Created Especially for the Wii and Nintendo DS Platforms

Popular Video Game Series Embraces Player Creativity, Customization and Personal Expression Through a New, Delightful Cast of Characters

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that the company is developing MySims , the first game in a revolutionary new line from the developers of the blockbuster franchise The Sims, designed especially for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms.

MySims introduces a charming cast of whimsical characters while delivering the creativity, customization and classic open-ended gameplay that has enchanted Sims players worldwide. Players begin by creating their own toy-like Sim that reflects their personal style and attitudes. From pig-tails and baseball caps to dreadlocks and Mohawks, the options are endless and the style is unlike any Sims game to date. By unlocking cool new clothing, hairstyles and accessories, players explore the game's incredible depth of customization and expression... and the characters are just the beginning!

Transforming the traditional Sims gameplay for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms, MySims moves the player to a delightful but disorganized town where - thanks to the easy and unique controls - they can re-shape everything and make it their own. The town is rundown, but the player can make it much more dynamic. Using a selection of building blocks, unique patterns and engaging creativity tools, players can design furniture and appliances, architect new homes and businesses, and re-define the entire MySims landscape!

As players explore and build up the town, they will get to know dedicated, long-time residents like the always-busy Mayor Rosalyn P. Marshall and Buddy - the mostly-lazy hotel Bellhop. Once things start to look up, they'll meet and choose from a variety of colorful, would-be residents. Will they build a restaurant for Gino Delicioso the Italian Chef, or will they help Ocean Breeze set up his Yoga studio instead?

Design is everyone's domain in MySims. From building a new Pizza Oven for Gino to putting the finishing touches on a new roof for Buddy's busy hotel, each completed task will help the town grow. As it expands to new areas, players will receive special building blocks, decorations and patterns which help customize their unique creations. From furniture and buildings to the town as a whole, every choice informs how residents and visitors feel and behave.

"We want MySims to provide a creative play experience like never before on a video game system," said Executive Producer Tim LeTourneau. "By giving players the tools to create literally any kind of world they want in MySims, we're reinforcing the idea that the players create the magic. Will the town support a plethora of spooky, mysterious townsfolk - or buzz with the laughter and smiles of fun-loving Sims? It's your call! In MySims, what players make... makes all the difference!"

MySims will be available for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms in fall 2007.

Product Specifications
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts
Ship Date: Late 2007
Category: Simulation

About MySims

MySims is the first game in a revolutionary new line from the developers of the blockbuster franchise The Sims , designed exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. Explore a whole new world that's yours to transform with MySims. Socialize with the locals and uncover all sorts of useful and surprising treasures hidden throughout the town. Accessible and intuitive controls make it enjoyable to create Sims, build their homes, and interact with other Sims and their world. For more information check out www.Mysims.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.