Electronic Arts reported a $644 million first quarter today, a revenue take that beat expectations thanks to impressive sales of The Sims 3 and EA Sports Active.

The Sims 3 has sold 3.7 million copies so far, with 59% of those sales coming from the international market, according to EA. So far the game is outpacing The Sims 2 by around 25%.

EA Sports Active, the company's Wii exercise game, sold 1.8 million units, a figure that EA CEO John Riccitiello was predictably "very pleased" with. The title is now EA's best-selling software on the Wii.

Despite the success of much of its lineup, EA still lost money overall, posting a $234 million net loss, a figure that compares unfavorably to last year's shedding of $95 million in the same quarter.

EA Maxis' The Sims 3 debuted in June with over 800,000 unit sales in the United States, according to Gamasutra.

The citizen-management sequel topped all console and PC games in June, easily besting Prototype's 600,000 sales across two platforms.

The collector's edition of The Sims 3, the regular retail release, and The Sims 2 expansion Double Deluxe captured the top three slots on the overall PC retail charts.

For a look at the top-selling PC retail games of June, click through:... Read more

The pre-release leak of The Sims 3 essentially served as a "demo program" for Electronic Arts to test its focus on "disc-enabled" services like community and downloadable content, CEO John Riccitiello recently postulated to IndustryGamers.

After jokingly referring to the leak as a "secret marketing campaign," Riccitiello noted that "Sims 3 has a massive amount of content, and a lot of it is downloaded once you register with EA." For example, registered users get an extra city as a free download.

"For the pirate consumer, they don't get the second town, they don't get all the extra content, and they don't get the community. [The piracy] was only concentrated on Poland and China, but I think of it as not being that different than a demo," the CEO added.

Use of free downloadable content as a piracy and used sales deterrent is a growing trend amongst the development community, which has been extremely... Read more

Electronic Arts has made its expected declaration of Sims domination following last week's release of The Sims 3. The company claims the PC/Mac game sold more than 1.4 million units at launch, making it EA's biggest launch on the PC to date.

EA also noted that over 7 million pieces of player-created content have been downloaded already. That's a lot of wallpaper.

"We finally really did it. You maniacs... damn you! God damn you all to Hell!" -- Charlton Heston as Colonel George Taylor in Franklin J. Schaffner's Planet of the Apes (1968).

If you have been anywhere near a television, newspaper or computer recently, you'll no doubt be aware of the mind-boggling popularity of singer Susan Boyle. Well, now she's starring in her own The Sims 3 trailer. With the Queen of England. And Barack Obama.

The Sims 3 arrives in PC and Mac form on June 2.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

"Check out the new gameplay trailer for The Sims 3 which shows awesome new gameplay, different locations, clothing, interactions, new objects, houses, customization, new career paths, and Sunset Valley," says publisher Electronic Arts.

Me? All I see is some sort of postmodern social commentary, with the demands of exercise and restrictions of scarcity being recreated in a virtual world, but that's probably because I've been reading my old English theory papers. Sims 3 hits PC on June 2.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Confirming that The Sims 3 will "street in 60 countries June 2," EA has revealed that the long-awaited PC and Mac lifestyle sequel is finished and has enterted manufacturing.

Alongside the $49.99 regular edition, retailers will also be stocking a $69.99 Collector's Edition, which packs the game itself, one Sims-styled 2GB USB drive, a tips guide, plus the "bonus in-game European-styled sports car unavailable elsewhere."

Update: The downloadable "Riverview" town for The Sims 3 that launches alongside the game on June 2 will be free, EA has informed Shacknews. As for the SimPoints-cash conversation ratio, 1000 SimPoints will run $10, not including any applicable taxes.

Original: Unveiling The Sims 3's online features, EA has announced a microtransaction store selling in-game items and plans for sizeable downloadable content on release.

In-game items such as "the must-have new outfit" or "the latest style of plaid furniture" will be sold in The Sims 3 Store for SimPoints--a virtual currency bought in... Read more

A new Sims 3 trailer from EA shows the game's surprisingly powerful movie editor, and an example movie by Sims staffers who apparently have issues with their neighbours.

After capturing clips of your sims, enter them in a timeline to rearrange them, add transitions, effects and a soundtrack before publishing your movie to the Sims website.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Considering the horrors wrought in the Spore Creature Creator, we eagerly await the terrifying home movies sure to be made when The Sims 3 is released June 2 on PC.

The Sims 3 will feature greatly simplified copy protection with no online activation when it launches for PC and Mac on June 2, The Sims label head Rod Humble has announced on the official Sims 3 website. In his words:

The game will have disc-based copy protection - there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed.

We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorization server access in the distant future.

DRM proved a thorny issue for EA when Spore's SecuROM online activation technology initially only allowed owners to install the game three times before having to contact EA. Reactions ranged from comical protest creatures in Spore to class-action lawsuits.

Grant must really like Arrested Development, because he created poor Sim Liam as a never nude. Good thing he took the time to "carefully coordinate" Liam's underwear.

Really, this trailer is meant to demonstrate how the citizens of The Sims 3 are so smart that they'll keep on trucking even if you aren't around, but let's be honest here, an Arrested Development reference is way more entertaining than some virtual porch fire.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

In EA Maxis' The Sims 3, the various traits of players' Sims will combine to create a Lifetime Wish, or a final goal for that particular Sim.

Examples include a professional author, a movie composer, and a Super Robot Cross Breeder (pictured right).

After achieving the Lifetime Wish, Sims will be able to choose from a list of various bonus traits and objects. Becoming a Super Robot Cross Breeder, for instance, could earn you the Steel Bladder trait.

The bizarre Sims 3 is set for a June 2 release on PC.

In anticipation of Valentine's Day tomorrow , both Blizzard and Electronic Arts have issued some media meant to celebrate the romantic feast of martyred saints. Blizzard chimed in with three wallpapers, one for each of StarCraft II's playable races, while Electronic Arts provided some smooch-tacular screenshots from The Sims 3.

The Sims 3 ships in PC form on June 2. Blizzard hasn't said when the first of its three PC StarCraft II entries will arrive, but promised that the multiplayer beta will launch in the "months ahead," followed by the release of a "frontline" Blizzard game this year.

For me, the fun of the SimCity games was unleashing destruction. So upon receiving an e-mail titled "The Sims 3 Vampire Screens," I was sold. My head was instantly filled with visions of bloodsuckers ravaging through the once-peaceful Sims suburbia. I smiled.

Then I looked at the screenshots. Reflections in the mirror? Sunlight streaming through the windows? These aren't vampires, they're the folks that shop at SimHot Topic.

But hey, The Sims 3 isn't due on PC until June 2. Maybe there's still some hope yet.

Update: Electronic Arts has clarified that while players can indeed make a Sim that appears to be a vampire, they cannot actually play as a vampire in the game.

EA Maxis' latest Sims 3 trailer gives us a look at the many careers and personalities the game will allow you to choose for your Sims. It then explains how your Sims will typically follow their ordained dreams--or sometimes completely ignore your commands. Which is usually the point when you wall them into a single-cell room and turn their lives into Sim Dante. (This is not shown in the trailer.)

Originally expected to be released this month, The Sims 3 has been delayed for a June release on the PC. And if a trailer's not enough, check out the new screenshots, too.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Following word that Electronic Arts was "evaluating the launch window" for The Sims 3, the publisher today revealed that the PC lifestyle game has been delayed to June 2.

The anticipated sequel was previously expected February 20.

"The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3," said EA marketing VP Russell Arons. "The Sims 3 will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness."

Though The Sims 3 was initially set to ship on February 20, publisher Electronic Arts tells Edge that it's "evaluating the launch window," suggesting a possible delay.

The official UK site for the anticipated PC lifestyle simulation sequel now lists a "TBA" release date, with the official US site promising that it's "coming in 2009."

While retailer listings are often an indication of a delay, online retailer Amazon.com shows both versions arriving during the week of February 15, with GameStop and Best Buy likewise indicating a North American release in the days following February 20.

Every Sims 3 trailer is unique, like a snowflake. A strange, mutant snowflake, that inevitably makes you uncomfortable.

As consolation, please also accept these screenshots, which are considerably less awkward.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Love it or hate it, The Sims is set to receive another full sequel soon after 2009 begins.

With The Sims 3 (PC) shipping on February 20, Electronic Arts has released the minimum requirements well in advance, giving fans a chance to bulk up their computers in anticipation of the expanded people simulator.

The full Sims 3 minimum requirements follow:... Read more

This French ad for "Les Sims 3" kinda makes you worry about the marketing team--I can only assume / hope that something got lost in translation. We'll find out for sure when the Maxis-developed lifestyle simulator sequel hits PC on February 20, 2009.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo