I highly doubt this would be the case. You will probably find there will still be way more pc players than console players. I do however think the sims 4 on consoles is going to sell really really well. Especially if they make sure in the description it states it is identical to the pc. Its always been a pc game i doubt they would move away from that. I would imagine if anything new base games could be multi platform at launch.
I believe that PC gaming will stop some day. But not before people don't use PCs for their gaming anymore and I believe that day is still far out in the future.
Mobile phones won't replace PCs for gaming because their screens are far too small for that. But other devices may. Gaming consoles for TVs could be much nearer the end of their era because smartTVs don't really need them. But smartTVs aren't advanced enough yet to replace our computers. I guess that this will change in the future though because when smartTVs get enough power then they only need a keyboard and other controlling devices to do everything that we today do via consoles or on our computers.
Handheld devices like tablets will also be used though.
The era for the big Sims games will of course end some day too. But just not yet because I am sure that EA will attempt to develop new different and improved versions of them until their sales numbers go down so much that it wouldn't be very profitable anymore. But if we were near that day then we would have seen EA release very few SPs and GPs too for at least the last year. But instead EA has released a huge number of them. This is enough for me to know that they still are very profitable and that EA therefore for sure will release TS5 too. TS6 will only be released if the sales numbers are high for TS5 too though.
I think in the future consoles will replace pc's and mobiles will replace consoles. Its kind of already started with a few pc only titles like city skylines being ported to ps4/xbox one and i have all of the earlier GTA games on my phone. I dont think we will see the end of gaming on pcs for a while yet tho. But i would say it has begun. You can even stream games from consoles by hitting a button now days!!
For the moment, I can't see PC gaming going anywhere. I mean, if EA does transfer to console and mobile, then we've still got our current games. They can't take software from us, can they? PC is my favourite gaming method. And anyway, my laptop isn't going to be 'old' and 'slow' for a while yet. Aren't light up keyboards quite new? They're definitely not old. I can't see EA letting the Sims 5 be console/mobile only. Sims games are released first on PC. I think EA know they'd lose plenty of loyal fans, and the new ones just can't amount to that. VR won't be that soon, since I can't see a way for commands, manage worlds and switching sims to be done. And what about CAS? Having randomly generated looks and hair would be hated, unless they add hair salons and plastic surgery to the game. Many players would miss CAS hugely. So VR Sims isn't coming any time soon. If they did, they would have to make an entirely new game, similar to freeplay, but you wouldn't spend time sleeping, instead hours staring at Simlish symbols. And we don't want to have to go through the torture of school AGAIN, do we? I think the Sims will be sticking to PC, and sticking with them will be many loyal fans.
Why I play the sims is a question with a million answers.
> I think in the future consoles will replace pc's and mobiles will replace consoles. Its kind of already started with a few pc only titles like city skylines being ported to ps4/xbox one and i have all of the earlier GTA games on my phone. I dont think we will see the end of gaming on pcs for a while yet tho. But i would say it has begun. You can even stream games from consoles by hitting a button now days!!
Consoles will replace pcs? Uhm, pcs are for a lot more than just gaming. I could see smartTvs replacing computers one day, but not consoles. Still, I see PCs sticking around for another good while and maybe always having a place in some business type situations. A lot of laptop users stream their PC games on their TV screen already and with a smartTv, that would be ten times easier because you are cutting out the middle man (the laptop). I actually see consoles going first and you being able to simply download the games onto your smartTV the way you can now download it onto your PC, in which case the console becomes obsolete.
Mobile games, for the most part, are simplistic and either a few bucks or "freemium" which is just a pain in the butt. They would lose a good chunk of their players by going mobile unless mobile gaming becomes a lot more complex in a few short years. But even then, they are always certain limitations when you are working with touch screens and the size of most devices as well as the space available on them compared to even the cheapest laptop. Mobile devices are meant to be portable so I don't see their size increasing. I have experienced that the census seems to be the bigger the better when it comes to Sims. Everyone I know plays on a desktop, Tv hookup or decent sized laptop and wouldn't want it on a phone.
Considering all the attention mobile and consol is getting, I do believe that there is not much hope for the sandbox version. With little to no information on what is being worked on, it does seem like EA has very little interst in the sims 4 pc version.
I think that Sims 4 might be the last version, period.
I mean, unless Sims 5 is literally the most amazing game of all time, I doubt that many people would want to buy yet another version of the same game again, and have to wait years (again) for DLC.
This is why I think the Sims needs a complete makeover for the PC. Stop putting out the same dang thing every 5 years, a bland base game with the same ol' same ol' that needs years of add-ons and expansion packs to be fully functional. Reboot the series and include weather, seasons, careers, cats & dogs, etc. right out of the gate, then have DLC for sale such as clothing and toys and additional pets for the game that doesn't require a lot of development and doesn't cost the consumer a fortune.
Yeah but keep in mind, just because we have had multiple sims games, that does not mean they are going to keep making them forever. And if they do make a sims 5, I am going to continue playing sims 4. That is the only sims game I will play, WHEN i play. Also, i hope that if they do continue on that endeavor , that sims 5 is dramatically more advanced and impressive than any sims game ever before to justify creating an entirely new version of the same game.
Somehow I agree with this.
If they do plan a TS5 they need to make it only if it's to be a clear crystal advancement on the series. I feel like TS4 was made as a money maker instead of an actual improvement. In fact since it's a recycled mmo engine, it couldn't be more right than that.
TS4 was made from the scraps from Olympus and did not go through the same development as the predecessors which has been close to a disaster at times.
Olympus was only the UI and not the game. Besides that EA would never just scrap an almost completed game and then just release another game which had been made in almost no time because this would contradict all the business concepts which are vital to a company like EA. But the best documention about Olympus is probably https://simsvip.com/2017/05/10/olympus-ui-multiplayer-code-found-sims-4-engine/ where a modder explains his find and also the fact that Olympus only was about the UI. Later in the article he is guessing though:
1. He thinks that TS4 was meant to be only online just because SimCity 2013 was.
2. He ignores the fact that TS4 almost certainly had been in development 3-4 yrs when SimCity 2013 was released.
3. He ignores the fact that SimCity 2013 wasn't really meant to have neither expansions nor a successor while TS4 was meant to have about 30 expansions and also likely TS5 as a successor released about only 5 yrs later.
Point 2 and 3 here IMO make it completely unlikely that TS4 ever was meant to become online only. But I can believe though that TS4 until 2013 was planned to have a few more online options than the final version of TS4 got.
We need instead to compare TS1, TS2, TS3 and TS4 if we want to understand why the games are made as they are:
1. TS1 was a cheaply made sidegame to SimCIty whith more focus on the people who lived in the houses instead of on building the houses.
2. TS2 got a much bigger budget because TS1 had sold so unexpectedly well. It got new age groups, better graphics, less focus on the needs of the sims but a lot of focus on story telling both for each family and for the whole neighborhood.
3. TS3 got an open world but all the story telling was gone.
4. TS4 must have been hard for them to design because they didn't want it to be too similar to TS2 or TS3. But then it was almost impossible to find something important to add. Online options were considered. But they weren't at all enough to make the game sufficiently different from the previous games. So they finally decided to make TS4 into a reboot of TS1 instead. Therefore toddlers and the open world were removed and babies simplified. They still wanted TS4 to be different from TS1 too though and they didn't want it to be so hard to take care of the needs as it was in TS1. So instead they let the needs mean less than ever before and focused the game instead more at partying, multitasking and the "new emotions".
But they knew that TS3 simmers maybe wouldn't like TS4 anyway. But they hoped that the main target group (young teens) would and they had no reason either to not expect it.
Also such a game would of course be more suited for the about 30 expansions which EA hoped to be able to sell for it later.
If they make TS5 ten it needs to follow on from TS3 rather than be a side game. If it looks good then I would not doubt for a second that it could be successful and The Sims will really thrive!
TS5 sure won't be a sidegame because it will still be a new and different game meant to have about 30 SPs and GPs (but likely no EPs). But designing it will of course have given EA's game designers about the same problems which I described about for the design of TS4. But the way TS4 was made will actually most likely have made it easier to design TS5 because it now won't be as difficult both to make it very different from TS4 (and the previous games too) and still be better than TS4
Still TS5 too will of course be an easy game with only simple tools and targeted mostly at new young teen simmers
Yeah but keep in mind, just because we have had multiple sims games, that does not mean they are going to keep making them forever. And if they do make a sims 5, I am going to continue playing sims 4. That is the only sims game I will play, WHEN i play. Also, i hope that if they do continue on that endeavor , that sims 5 is dramatically more advanced and impressive than any sims game ever before to justify creating an entirely new version of the same game.
Somehow I agree with this.
If they do plan a TS5 they need to make it only if it's to be a clear crystal advancement on the series. I feel like TS4 was made as a money maker instead of an actual improvement. In fact since it's a recycled mmo engine, it couldn't be more right than that.
TS4 was made from the scraps from Olympus and did not go through the same development as the predecessors which has been close to a disaster at times.
Olympus was only the UI and not the game. Besides that EA would never just scrap an almost completed game and then just release another game which had been made in almost no time because this would contradict all the business concepts which are vital to a company like EA. But the best documention about Olympus is probably https://simsvip.com/2017/05/10/olympus-ui-multiplayer-code-found-sims-4-engine/ where a modder explains his find and also the fact that Olympus only was about the UI. Later in the article he is guessing though:
1. He thinks that TS4 was meant to be only online just because SimCity 2013 was.
2. He ignores the fact that TS4 almost certainly had been in development 3-4 yrs when SimCity 2013 was released.
3. He ignores the fact that SimCity 2013 wasn't really meant to have neither expansions nor a successor while TS4 was meant to have about 30 expansions and also likely TS5 as a successor released about only 5 yrs later.
Point 2 and 3 here IMO make it completely unlikely that TS4 ever was meant to become online only. But I can believe though that TS4 until 2013 was planned to have a few more online options than the final version of TS4 got.
We need instead to compare TS1, TS2, TS3 and TS4 if we want to understand why the games are made as they are:
1. TS1 was a cheaply made sidegame to SimCIty whith more focus on the people who lived in the houses instead of on building the houses.
2. TS2 got a much bigger budget because TS1 had sold so unexpectedly well. It got new age groups, better graphics, less focus on the needs of the sims but a lot of focus on story telling both for each family and for the whole neighborhood.
3. TS3 got an open world but all the story telling was gone.
4. TS4 must have been hard for them to design because they didn't want it to be too similar to TS2 or TS3. But then it was almost impossible to find something important to add. Online options were considered. But they weren't at all enough to make the game sufficiently different from the previous games. So they finally decided to make TS4 into a reboot of TS1 instead. Therefore toddlers and the open world were removed and babies simplified. They still wanted TS4 to be different from TS1 too though and they didn't want it to be so hard to take care of the needs as it was in TS1. So instead they let the needs mean less than ever before and focused the game instead more at partying, multitasking and the "new emotions".
But they knew that TS3 simmers maybe wouldn't like TS4 anyway. But they hoped that the main target group (young teens) would and they had no reason either to not expect it.
Also such a game would of course be more suited for the about 30 expansions which EA hoped to be able to sell for it later.
If they make TS5 ten it needs to follow on from TS3 rather than be a side game. If it looks good then I would not doubt for a second that it could be successful and The Sims will really thrive!
TS5 sure won't be a sidegame because it will still be a new and different game meant to have about 30 SPs and GPs (but likely no EPs). But designing it will of course have given EA's game designers about the same problems which I described about for the design of TS4. But the way TS4 was made will actually most likely have made it easier to design TS5 because it now won't be as difficult both to make it very different from TS4 (and the previous games too) and still be better than TS4
Still TS5 too will of course be an easy game with only simple tools and targeted mostly at new young teen simmers
@Erpe why do you say there will be no expanison packs?
Yeah but keep in mind, just because we have had multiple sims games, that does not mean they are going to keep making them forever. And if they do make a sims 5, I am going to continue playing sims 4. That is the only sims game I will play, WHEN i play. Also, i hope that if they do continue on that endeavor , that sims 5 is dramatically more advanced and impressive than any sims game ever before to justify creating an entirely new version of the same game.
Somehow I agree with this.
If they do plan a TS5 they need to make it only if it's to be a clear crystal advancement on the series. I feel like TS4 was made as a money maker instead of an actual improvement. In fact since it's a recycled mmo engine, it couldn't be more right than that.
TS4 was made from the scraps from Olympus and did not go through the same development as the predecessors which has been close to a disaster at times.
Olympus was only the UI and not the game. Besides that EA would never just scrap an almost completed game and then just release another game which had been made in almost no time because this would contradict all the business concepts which are vital to a company like EA. But the best documention about Olympus is probably https://simsvip.com/2017/05/10/olympus-ui-multiplayer-code-found-sims-4-engine/ where a modder explains his find and also the fact that Olympus only was about the UI. Later in the article he is guessing though:
1. He thinks that TS4 was meant to be only online just because SimCity 2013 was.
2. He ignores the fact that TS4 almost certainly had been in development 3-4 yrs when SimCity 2013 was released.
3. He ignores the fact that SimCity 2013 wasn't really meant to have neither expansions nor a successor while TS4 was meant to have about 30 expansions and also likely TS5 as a successor released about only 5 yrs later.
Point 2 and 3 here IMO make it completely unlikely that TS4 ever was meant to become online only. But I can believe though that TS4 until 2013 was planned to have a few more online options than the final version of TS4 got.
We need instead to compare TS1, TS2, TS3 and TS4 if we want to understand why the games are made as they are:
1. TS1 was a cheaply made sidegame to SimCIty whith more focus on the people who lived in the houses instead of on building the houses.
2. TS2 got a much bigger budget because TS1 had sold so unexpectedly well. It got new age groups, better graphics, less focus on the needs of the sims but a lot of focus on story telling both for each family and for the whole neighborhood.
3. TS3 got an open world but all the story telling was gone.
4. TS4 must have been hard for them to design because they didn't want it to be too similar to TS2 or TS3. But then it was almost impossible to find something important to add. Online options were considered. But they weren't at all enough to make the game sufficiently different from the previous games. So they finally decided to make TS4 into a reboot of TS1 instead. Therefore toddlers and the open world were removed and babies simplified. They still wanted TS4 to be different from TS1 too though and they didn't want it to be so hard to take care of the needs as it was in TS1. So instead they let the needs mean less than ever before and focused the game instead more at partying, multitasking and the "new emotions".
But they knew that TS3 simmers maybe wouldn't like TS4 anyway. But they hoped that the main target group (young teens) would and they had no reason either to not expect it.
Also such a game would of course be more suited for the about 30 expansions which EA hoped to be able to sell for it later.
If they make TS5 ten it needs to follow on from TS3 rather than be a side game. If it looks good then I would not doubt for a second that it could be successful and The Sims will really thrive!
TS5 sure won't be a sidegame because it will still be a new and different game meant to have about 30 SPs and GPs (but likely no EPs). But designing it will of course have given EA's game designers about the same problems which I described about for the design of TS4. But the way TS4 was made will actually most likely have made it easier to design TS5 because it now won't be as difficult both to make it very different from TS4 (and the previous games too) and still be better than TS4
Still TS5 too will of course be an easy game with only simple tools and targeted mostly at new young teen simmers
@Erpe why do you say there will be no expanison packs?
I don't know if there will be EPs. But it should now be clear for everybody that EA doesn't release 2 EPs each year anymore because one of those EPs has been replaced by 2 GPs.
The other observation is than in 2014 to 2016 (2.5 years) EA released as many EPs as GPs (3 GPs and 3 EPs). But then in the first half of 2017 EA suddenly released 2 new GPs within very few months such that we now almost have twice as many GPs as EPs.
If I read EA correctly then all those changes are caused by the development in sales numbers. So it seems to me that EA judged that smaller and cheaper expansions usually seem to sell better than the big expensive EPs. The reason was likely very high sales numbers for SPs which EA earlier didn't think would sell at all because people were supposed to be much more interested in gameplay than in just stuff. But to EA's surprise the first SPs for TS2 sold so extremely well that EA began to release SPs regularly and more and more often.
So the high sales numbers for SPs caused EA to experiment with less EPs, the new GPs and SPs with just a little gameplay added. This new way was introduced for TS4 from the beginning. But originally it seemed that the plan was to just alternate between GPs and EPs such that we would end up with the same number of both types of expansions. This was also the situation when the year 2017 began and we had 3 GPs and 3 EPs.
But then EA suddenly changed things again by releasing 2 GPs quickly in a row and with no EP between them. Why? I don't believe that this was just done without a reason. But what was the reason? The only likely option I can see is that EA now has decided to release even more GPs which must mean that the GPs for TS4 have sold better than the EPs. But if EA now plans to release more GPs and even fewer EPs will TS5 then get EPs at all?
@Erpe "But then EA suddenly changed things again by releasing 2 GPs quickly in a row and with no EP between them. Why? I don't believe that this was just done without a reason. But what was the reason? The only likely option I can see is that EA now has decided to release even more GPs which must mean that the GPs for TS4 have sold better than the EPs. But if EA now plans to release more GPs and even fewer EPs will TS5 then get EPs at all?"
Or it could be because of starting scratch with a new platform they also have to redo all the coding and now their "library" of codes is getting larger after each pack made. So they can pick up the speed of producing each pack,
@Erpe "But then EA suddenly changed things again by releasing 2 GPs quickly in a row and with no EP between them. Why? I don't believe that this was just done without a reason. But what was the reason? The only likely option I can see is that EA now has decided to release even more GPs which must mean that the GPs for TS4 have sold better than the EPs. But if EA now plans to release more GPs and even fewer EPs will TS5 then get EPs at all?"
Or it could be because of starting scratch with a new platform they also have to redo all the coding and now their "library" of codes is getting larger after each pack made. So they can pick up the speed of producing each pack,
They aren't starting from scratch. For the first time ever they will instead just release exactly the same game for consoles as they already have released 3 yrs ago for the PC. They have even told us that all the free updates that they have released since for the PC version will be included in the version for consoles too.
The reason that now for the first time ever are able to do that is that EA has hired Blind Squirrel Games in Orange County, California to make the version for consoles. Blind Squirrel Games is a quite new company started in 2010. But they have already transferred Bioshock to consoles for 2k games in the same way. So they have developed a technic which makes such transfers possible and which is the reason why EA hired them to do the same for TS4 as they did with Bioshock.
I don't think that EA ever planned to make a version of TS4 for consoles until they saw that Blind Squirrel Games was looking for other games to transfer to consoles too. But it is quite exiting to see the result of BSG's work.
Anyway: This has nothing to do with the fact that EA seems to plan GPs and SPs to be the main expansions for Sims games in the future. So I am still sure that the reason is that GPs and SPs have sold much better than EPs because they are easier for (especially young teen-) simmers to afford. Therefore I alas also am quite sure that EA at least considers to cut even more down on the number of EPs in the future. But we will have to wait to see what this will mean both for TS4 and for TS5.
Well if that's the case then I'll say no to Sims 5. Mobile gaming is pure trash. Sims 5 will probably be a 'free' game but it'll charge you real world cash per household item/article of clothing. You think Sims 4 is a stripped down version version of the Sims then you'll hate to see how stripped down Sims 5 is!
I honestly hope EA isn't as stupid to go the mobile route with the future of the Sims.
That will be such a shame. I was just planning to send this letter to EA...
Dear EA,
My name is Dr_Direwolf. I had my first experience with the franchise when I bought the very first Sims games. I also followed through the entire Sims 2 and all of Sims 3 except for the last two expansions. I also bought Sims 4, but lost interest very quickly. I suppose I could call myself a Sims veteran. I heard that there is a chance Sims 5 may be happening. After having found Sims 4 less than ideal, I am writing about how I think Sims 5 should be like. I am no professional game designer, but I have done some reading on game design and would like to share my thoughts.
Open-endedness (1 & 2)
Sims 3 is brilliant in a lot of ways, but I think it has several shortcomings. One of them is the lack of open-endedness present in 1 & 2: As many of my fellow Sims players had expressed, Sims 3 is often too linear and limiting: You want to get a certain bonus? Finish a fixed amount of tasks. You want your Sims to be happy? Finish the lifetime wish. I think one of the charms of the Sims was that it was so open-ended: In Sims 2, the player had a goal – to make their Sims’ life fulfilling (or miserable, depending on the player). There were so many ways to do it – there’s considerable flexibility in how to accomplish that goal: For a Sims to have a fulfilling life, he/she only needed to earn a set amount of points through aspiration, but there were hundreds of possible wants that he/she could have at any moment. Sims 2 succeeded to strike the delicate balance between giving player a goal while also being open-ended.
Quirkiness (1 & 2)
Sims 1 & 2 were endearingly silly: There were a lot of contents that were somewhat realistic, but so exaggerated that they were hilarious. Aspiration failure, for instance, actually had a basis in reality – people do tend to become crazy when they face too much failure – but the Sims 2 version of it was so exaggerated it was hilariously quirky. I think that’s the charm of quirkiness – contents that have a basis in reality, but are presented in such an exaggerated way they are funny. It adds charm to the game. In fact, I think this was what made Sims unique in the first place.
The chance to fail (1 & 2)
One thing I (and, according to what I have heard, many players) like about 1 & 2 is that when playing them, our sims had the chance to fail. Sims 2 had both wants and fears, but Sims 3 only had wishes – In the latter, players had the chances to gain points but not lose points. Victories feel rewarding only when there was the chance to fail. Trust my words on this one, I am a neuropsychologist. I have done research on this sort of stuffs. If you want, I can provide citations for this point. If you are afraid that some players may not enjoy having the chance to fail, I suggest adding a difficulty setting option.
Open neighborhoods (3)
Okay, let’s be honest here, Sims 4’s lack of open neighborhood was just lazy. I think many, many players have requested its return, so I don’t think I need to elaborate much here. I do notice a small problem with Sims 3’s neighborhoods, though – they were large, but somewhat empty. Sims 3’s neighborhoods were the largest the main series has seen. However, there wasn’t much to do – many of the buildings couldn’t be customized, for starters. I think Sims 5 should have an open neighborhood, but probably ones that are (1) slightly smaller than those in Sims 3; but (2) populated by wholly interact-withable buildings like those in Sims 1 & 2. Perhaps forget about the rabbit holes, and just make it such that sims simply disappear when they board their cars to work. Personally, I also loved it that we could choose how our sims behave at work in 3.
Personality system… and other customizations (1, 2, & 3)
The trait system was a great idea, but I think it will be better if paired with the personality points system in 1 & 2. Just look at any good RPG, and one will notice that for a character to be memorable, he/she needs to have stats and special abilities. Final Fantasy, Pokemon, etc. all of the great RPGs I can think of have this. In Sims term, the personality points are the stats, while the traits are special abilities. A sim needs to possess both to be memorable. In fact, when describing each other’s personalities, we describe each other using traits, but also compare how open-minded / organized / extraverted / nice / neurotic people are. I suggest you check out the Big Five personality model from psychology. Please, bring back Create-a-style. I think many players have requested this.
Expansion packs: A need to interact with the base game’s innovation
I do notice a potential problem with the franchise’ business model: Basically, what you guys have been doing is to release a base game, release expansion packs (EPs), starts working on a new generation of Sims, and repeat this process. This seems to be an inherently problematic business model: As of Sims 4, it looks like you guys are (understandably) running out of ideas as for what topic to make EPs (pets, vacation, etc.) on, but if you keep making EPs that repeat themes of previous EPs, many players feel ripped-off. E.g., when you make a Sims 4 Pets, then players are going to moan: “What? Pet again? What a rip-off!” Here, my suggestion lies in one point: Make the theme interact with the base game’s innovation. Imagine that you are making a Pet EP for Sims 4. You focus on how sims interact with pets. Players will moan: “What? Pet again? What a rip-off!” On the contrary, you could try to make an EP that focuses on how the presence of pets interacts with the Sims’ emotions. Now this is a pet EP never seen before – it will actually feel like Sims 4: Pets, rather than “just another pet EP”. Similarly, when making Sims 3: Pets, you could have focused the contents on how open neighborhoods enable pet interactions not possible in 1 & 2 – making Sims 3: Pets far more distinct from previous pet EPs. I think this may make your business model work better in the long run.
Conclusion
I am hereby creating a vote to see how many other Simmers agree with my points. I am no professional game designer, so my proposal may sound foolish to you. However, I do believe that the Sims series has potential. I tried Second Life, but honestly did not like it at all. The Sims series has its unique charm – it is enjoyable in a way that other series cannot be. That’s probably why Sims 1, 2, and 3 were some of the best-selling games of all time. I wish you and the franchise all the best. With Kind Regards, Dr_Direwolf, a player who loved Sims 1, 2 and 3
meh i dont think they should invest in mobile gaming. personally i only use my iphone for taking pics and texting/surfing the web. gaming in mobile is awful, but then again, ea is awful so it should be a perfect match.
meh i dont think they should invest in mobile gaming. personally i only use my iphone for taking pics and texting/surfing the web. gaming in mobile is awful, but then again, ea is awful so it should be a perfect match.
So agree - not a mobile gamer. Not even a console gamer. But I do not see The Sims PC ending but then I am a big watcher of the parent company too, not just Maxis. So as long as the CEO and Board are happy with the Sims - they will continue - and right now anyway they seem quite happy with the Sims for PC - so much so they offer pretty much the same game for console now. Without pc version - they'd have had no console version this time.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
That will never happen. They wont put all their eggs in one basket like that. If anything cell phone AND computer technology will evolve to the point where they merge together and we're playing awesome versions of the sims anywhere.
VR and holographic stuff will make mobile games yesterdays news anyway
My speculations on hints for future content:
-Cars Update
-Spiral/Diagonal Stairs Update
-Hotel Pack
-Romance Pack (possibly combined with Hotel Pack)
-Bands Pack
-Royalty Pack
-Fashion Design Pack
-Fairies Pack
-Werewolf Pack
-France-inspired World
Again I will say sims 4 should be it and all the coders need do is listen to what we as gamers want and do it. Life would be beautiful then, lol. If they go mobile they lose me because I don't game on tiny screens.
Mobile isn't just tiny phone screens -- many folks play on a tablet, like one of the Android tablets or Apple's iPad series. When my Android tablet died I went ahead and spent the extra money on an iPad mini (got a refurbished mini 2 -- saved myself about $100 over a new iPad mini 4, and works just fine); I use it mainly for reading ebooks (and now I have my iBooks library available as well as my NOOK and Kindle libraries) but also for watching video (great for watching my own shows on SlingTV when my husband's monopolizing the TV), and I was thinking in terms of trying Sims Mobile when it finally goes live in the US. I'll still be primarily a PC player, but for those times when I'm traveling without my laptop it'll be handy to have if I want to fulfill a quick Sims fix, or if I'm bored in the car or at Starbucks when my husband's doing errands for his mom or brother.
I'm still on the fence if Sims 4 should be the last edition -- while I could easily see myself playing this game for years to come, it might be nice to see what they can do if they get to start from scratch, with a brand new game engine and the works.
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Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
> @Jordan061102 said:
> Fortunately I have TS2 and TS3 and fortunately TS2 and TS3 exist!
I'm jealous. I have a mac and TS3 just won't work on it. I want to play so so so bad.
*goes to the corner to cry*
I was able to play TS3 on my Mac, but it took a lot of frustrated nights until I bit the bullet and installed some of the NRaas mods like Overwatch and Registry.
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Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
PC is going nowhere, no worries about that - the CEO said so. They want EA's games capable of being enjoyed in any format players use. But he said that specifically when asked by one of the Big stock holders at the last Conference call Quarterly meeting.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
PC gaming is different to Console gaming. The gap grows narrower as consoles grow more powerful, but there will always be things one can do that the other can't.
Consoles have to be built to specifications, so when you convert you need to convert into something that can handle the game. Also, most PC gamers have become accustomed to living with carpal tunnel syndrome, so your average console gamer won't be able to handle a mouse.
Why would EA stop making Sims for the PC? THey'd lose the vast majority of their player-base.
Prepping a list of mods to add after Infants are placed into the game. Because real life isn't 'nice'.
Consoles are primarily made for action games and sports games where you need one or two special controllers and preferably a big TV screen to play on. Therefore I am in no doubt that a dedicated sports fan like EA's CEO Andrew Wilson prefers consoles as his gaming platform.
But Sims games don't need a special controller and a huge TV screen to play on. They need a big harddrive and a powerful CPU instead like most other games also do with the exception of sports games and action games.
I have often considered to by a console (most likely a PlayStation) myself. But all the console games seem to be just action games (especially first person shooters) and sports games which aren't at all my preferred game types. Therefore I have never bought a console anyway.
The future is difficult to predict. But mobile devices gain much customers than consoles do. It isn't just about smartphones but also about tablets which maybe will get even bigger screens such that they better can compete with laptops. Laptops likely will get touch screens too and such the difference between laptops and tablets likely will become smaller.
Consoles are primarily made for action games and sports games where you need one or two special controllers and preferably a big TV screen to play on. Therefore I am in no doubt that a dedicated sports fan like EA's CEO Andrew Wilson prefers consoles as his gaming platform.
But Sims games don't need a special controller and a huge TV screen to play on. They need a big harddrive and a powerful CPU instead like most other games also do with the exception of sports games and action games.
I have often considered to by a console (most likely a PlayStation) myself. But all the console games seem to be just action games (especially first person shooters) and sports games which aren't at all my preferred game types. Therefore I have never bought a console anyway.
The future is difficult to predict. But mobile devices gain much customers than consoles do. It isn't just about smartphones but also about tablets which maybe will get even bigger screens such that they better can compete with laptops. Laptops likely will get touch screens too and such the difference between laptops and tablets likely will become smaller.
There are already laptops with touch screens.
And consoles also are great for RPGs! Did you know the big MMO Elder Scrolls Online is available on console and even more popular? Not to mention the many, many RPGs available (not online MMO). There are also adventure games and even strategy games available on consoles. The city sim Cities: Skylines just got released on console. Not to mention platformers like MARIO which have been around for ages on Nintendo. There are lots of first person shooters available of course, but there's a lot more available on consoles than you think
Consoles are primarily made for action games and sports games where you need one or two special controllers and preferably a big TV screen to play on. Therefore I am in no doubt that a dedicated sports fan like EA's CEO Andrew Wilson prefers consoles as his gaming platform.
But Sims games don't need a special controller and a huge TV screen to play on. They need a big harddrive and a powerful CPU instead like most other games also do with the exception of sports games and action games.
I have often considered to by a console (most likely a PlayStation) myself. But all the console games seem to be just action games (especially first person shooters) and sports games which aren't at all my preferred game types. Therefore I have never bought a console anyway.
The future is difficult to predict. But mobile devices gain much customers than consoles do. It isn't just about smartphones but also about tablets which maybe will get even bigger screens such that they better can compete with laptops. Laptops likely will get touch screens too and such the difference between laptops and tablets likely will become smaller.
There are already laptops with touch screens.
And consoles also are great for RPGs! Did you know the big MMO Elder Scrolls Online is available on console and even more popular? Not to mention the many, many RPGs available (not online MMO). There are also adventure games and even strategy games available on consoles. The city sim Cities: Skylines just got released on console. Not to mention platformers like MARIO which have been around for ages on Nintendo. There are lots of first person shooters available of course, but there's a lot more available on consoles than you think
True but this time I agree with @Erpe that the sims isn't really designed for console gaming. I would personally find it extremely annoying not to be able to play it with a mouse on a PC even if it worked well for Busting Out and The Urbz (but I still preferred and played the standard PC version of TS) and even though I'm usually very fond of playing with a controller (even on my PC). I just feel that in TS not having a mouse feels more limiting to me. But again, I doubt they'll abandon the PC version.
Consoles are primarily made for action games and sports games where you need one or two special controllers and preferably a big TV screen to play on. Therefore I am in no doubt that a dedicated sports fan like EA's CEO Andrew Wilson prefers consoles as his gaming platform.
But Sims games don't need a special controller and a huge TV screen to play on. They need a big harddrive and a powerful CPU instead like most other games also do with the exception of sports games and action games.
I have often considered to by a console (most likely a PlayStation) myself. But all the console games seem to be just action games (especially first person shooters) and sports games which aren't at all my preferred game types. Therefore I have never bought a console anyway.
The future is difficult to predict. But mobile devices gain much customers than consoles do. It isn't just about smartphones but also about tablets which maybe will get even bigger screens such that they better can compete with laptops. Laptops likely will get touch screens too and such the difference between laptops and tablets likely will become smaller.
There are already laptops with touch screens.
And consoles also are great for RPGs! Did you know the big MMO Elder Scrolls Online is available on console and even more popular? Not to mention the many, many RPGs available (not online MMO). There are also adventure games and even strategy games available on consoles. The city sim Cities: Skylines just got released on console. Not to mention platformers like MARIO which have been around for ages on Nintendo. There are lots of first person shooters available of course, but there's a lot more available on consoles than you think
I know. But there are still fewer RPGs than there is for other platforms.
Yes there are already laptops with touch screens. But the idea of combining a touch screen laptop and a tablet is still in a very early stage and such laptops aren't yet really meant for heavy gaming. The hardware companies are experimenting though and I would guess that they in a few years likely will find a better solution.
Making cross platform games for both PC and consoles is also a quite new technology which EA now is using for a Sims game for the very first time. But my guess is that cross platform games will become more and more common in the future.
Comments
I think in the future consoles will replace pc's and mobiles will replace consoles. Its kind of already started with a few pc only titles like city skylines being ported to ps4/xbox one and i have all of the earlier GTA games on my phone. I dont think we will see the end of gaming on pcs for a while yet tho. But i would say it has begun. You can even stream games from consoles by hitting a button now days!!
Consoles will replace pcs? Uhm, pcs are for a lot more than just gaming. I could see smartTvs replacing computers one day, but not consoles. Still, I see PCs sticking around for another good while and maybe always having a place in some business type situations. A lot of laptop users stream their PC games on their TV screen already and with a smartTv, that would be ten times easier because you are cutting out the middle man (the laptop). I actually see consoles going first and you being able to simply download the games onto your smartTV the way you can now download it onto your PC, in which case the console becomes obsolete.
Mobile games, for the most part, are simplistic and either a few bucks or "freemium" which is just a pain in the butt. They would lose a good chunk of their players by going mobile unless mobile gaming becomes a lot more complex in a few short years. But even then, they are always certain limitations when you are working with touch screens and the size of most devices as well as the space available on them compared to even the cheapest laptop. Mobile devices are meant to be portable so I don't see their size increasing. I have experienced that the census seems to be the bigger the better when it comes to Sims. Everyone I know plays on a desktop, Tv hookup or decent sized laptop and wouldn't want it on a phone.
> Fortunately I have TS2 and TS3 and fortunately TS2 and TS3 exist!
I'm jealous. I have a mac and TS3 just won't work on it. I want to play so so so bad.
*goes to the corner to cry*
This is why I think the Sims needs a complete makeover for the PC. Stop putting out the same dang thing every 5 years, a bland base game with the same ol' same ol' that needs years of add-ons and expansion packs to be fully functional. Reboot the series and include weather, seasons, careers, cats & dogs, etc. right out of the gate, then have DLC for sale such as clothing and toys and additional pets for the game that doesn't require a lot of development and doesn't cost the consumer a fortune.
1. He thinks that TS4 was meant to be only online just because SimCity 2013 was.
2. He ignores the fact that TS4 almost certainly had been in development 3-4 yrs when SimCity 2013 was released.
3. He ignores the fact that SimCity 2013 wasn't really meant to have neither expansions nor a successor while TS4 was meant to have about 30 expansions and also likely TS5 as a successor released about only 5 yrs later.
Point 2 and 3 here IMO make it completely unlikely that TS4 ever was meant to become online only. But I can believe though that TS4 until 2013 was planned to have a few more online options than the final version of TS4 got.
We need instead to compare TS1, TS2, TS3 and TS4 if we want to understand why the games are made as they are:
1. TS1 was a cheaply made sidegame to SimCIty whith more focus on the people who lived in the houses instead of on building the houses.
2. TS2 got a much bigger budget because TS1 had sold so unexpectedly well. It got new age groups, better graphics, less focus on the needs of the sims but a lot of focus on story telling both for each family and for the whole neighborhood.
3. TS3 got an open world but all the story telling was gone.
4. TS4 must have been hard for them to design because they didn't want it to be too similar to TS2 or TS3. But then it was almost impossible to find something important to add. Online options were considered. But they weren't at all enough to make the game sufficiently different from the previous games. So they finally decided to make TS4 into a reboot of TS1 instead. Therefore toddlers and the open world were removed and babies simplified. They still wanted TS4 to be different from TS1 too though and they didn't want it to be so hard to take care of the needs as it was in TS1. So instead they let the needs mean less than ever before and focused the game instead more at partying, multitasking and the "new emotions".
But they knew that TS3 simmers maybe wouldn't like TS4 anyway. But they hoped that the main target group (young teens) would and they had no reason either to not expect it.
Also such a game would of course be more suited for the about 30 expansions which EA hoped to be able to sell for it later.
TS5 sure won't be a sidegame because it will still be a new and different game meant to have about 30 SPs and GPs (but likely no EPs). But designing it will of course have given EA's game designers about the same problems which I described about for the design of TS4. But the way TS4 was made will actually most likely have made it easier to design TS5 because it now won't be as difficult both to make it very different from TS4 (and the previous games too) and still be better than TS4
Still TS5 too will of course be an easy game with only simple tools and targeted mostly at new young teen simmers
@Erpe why do you say there will be no expanison packs?
The other observation is than in 2014 to 2016 (2.5 years) EA released as many EPs as GPs (3 GPs and 3 EPs). But then in the first half of 2017 EA suddenly released 2 new GPs within very few months such that we now almost have twice as many GPs as EPs.
If I read EA correctly then all those changes are caused by the development in sales numbers. So it seems to me that EA judged that smaller and cheaper expansions usually seem to sell better than the big expensive EPs. The reason was likely very high sales numbers for SPs which EA earlier didn't think would sell at all because people were supposed to be much more interested in gameplay than in just stuff. But to EA's surprise the first SPs for TS2 sold so extremely well that EA began to release SPs regularly and more and more often.
So the high sales numbers for SPs caused EA to experiment with less EPs, the new GPs and SPs with just a little gameplay added. This new way was introduced for TS4 from the beginning. But originally it seemed that the plan was to just alternate between GPs and EPs such that we would end up with the same number of both types of expansions. This was also the situation when the year 2017 began and we had 3 GPs and 3 EPs.
But then EA suddenly changed things again by releasing 2 GPs quickly in a row and with no EP between them. Why? I don't believe that this was just done without a reason. But what was the reason? The only likely option I can see is that EA now has decided to release even more GPs which must mean that the GPs for TS4 have sold better than the EPs. But if EA now plans to release more GPs and even fewer EPs will TS5 then get EPs at all?
"But then EA suddenly changed things again by releasing 2 GPs quickly in a row and with no EP between them. Why? I don't believe that this was just done without a reason. But what was the reason? The only likely option I can see is that EA now has decided to release even more GPs which must mean that the GPs for TS4 have sold better than the EPs. But if EA now plans to release more GPs and even fewer EPs will TS5 then get EPs at all?"
Or it could be because of starting scratch with a new platform they also have to redo all the coding and now their "library" of codes is getting larger after each pack made. So they can pick up the speed of producing each pack,
The reason that now for the first time ever are able to do that is that EA has hired Blind Squirrel Games in Orange County, California to make the version for consoles. Blind Squirrel Games is a quite new company started in 2010. But they have already transferred Bioshock to consoles for 2k games in the same way. So they have developed a technic which makes such transfers possible and which is the reason why EA hired them to do the same for TS4 as they did with Bioshock.
I don't think that EA ever planned to make a version of TS4 for consoles until they saw that Blind Squirrel Games was looking for other games to transfer to consoles too. But it is quite exiting to see the result of BSG's work.
Anyway: This has nothing to do with the fact that EA seems to plan GPs and SPs to be the main expansions for Sims games in the future. So I am still sure that the reason is that GPs and SPs have sold much better than EPs because they are easier for (especially young teen-) simmers to afford. Therefore I alas also am quite sure that EA at least considers to cut even more down on the number of EPs in the future. But we will have to wait to see what this will mean both for TS4 and for TS5.
I honestly hope EA isn't as stupid to go the mobile route with the future of the Sims.
Dear EA,
My name is Dr_Direwolf. I had my first experience with the franchise when I bought the very first Sims games. I also followed through the entire Sims 2 and all of Sims 3 except for the last two expansions. I also bought Sims 4, but lost interest very quickly. I suppose I could call myself a Sims veteran. I heard that there is a chance Sims 5 may be happening. After having found Sims 4 less than ideal, I am writing about how I think Sims 5 should be like. I am no professional game designer, but I have done some reading on game design and would like to share my thoughts.
Open-endedness (1 & 2)
Sims 3 is brilliant in a lot of ways, but I think it has several shortcomings. One of them is the lack of open-endedness present in 1 & 2: As many of my fellow Sims players had expressed, Sims 3 is often too linear and limiting: You want to get a certain bonus? Finish a fixed amount of tasks. You want your Sims to be happy? Finish the lifetime wish. I think one of the charms of the Sims was that it was so open-ended: In Sims 2, the player had a goal – to make their Sims’ life fulfilling (or miserable, depending on the player). There were so many ways to do it – there’s considerable flexibility in how to accomplish that goal: For a Sims to have a fulfilling life, he/she only needed to earn a set amount of points through aspiration, but there were hundreds of possible wants that he/she could have at any moment. Sims 2 succeeded to strike the delicate balance between giving player a goal while also being open-ended.
Quirkiness (1 & 2)
Sims 1 & 2 were endearingly silly: There were a lot of contents that were somewhat realistic, but so exaggerated that they were hilarious. Aspiration failure, for instance, actually had a basis in reality – people do tend to become crazy when they face too much failure – but the Sims 2 version of it was so exaggerated it was hilariously quirky. I think that’s the charm of quirkiness – contents that have a basis in reality, but are presented in such an exaggerated way they are funny. It adds charm to the game. In fact, I think this was what made Sims unique in the first place.
The chance to fail (1 & 2)
One thing I (and, according to what I have heard, many players) like about 1 & 2 is that when playing them, our sims had the chance to fail. Sims 2 had both wants and fears, but Sims 3 only had wishes – In the latter, players had the chances to gain points but not lose points. Victories feel rewarding only when there was the chance to fail. Trust my words on this one, I am a neuropsychologist. I have done research on this sort of stuffs. If you want, I can provide citations for this point.
If you are afraid that some players may not enjoy having the chance to fail, I suggest adding a difficulty setting option.
Open neighborhoods (3)
Okay, let’s be honest here, Sims 4’s lack of open neighborhood was just lazy. I think many, many players have requested its return, so I don’t think I need to elaborate much here. I do notice a small problem with Sims 3’s neighborhoods, though – they were large, but somewhat empty. Sims 3’s neighborhoods were the largest the main series has seen. However, there wasn’t much to do – many of the buildings couldn’t be customized, for starters. I think Sims 5 should have an open neighborhood, but probably ones that are (1) slightly smaller than those in Sims 3; but (2) populated by wholly interact-withable buildings like those in Sims 1 & 2. Perhaps forget about the rabbit holes, and just make it such that sims simply disappear when they board their cars to work.
Personally, I also loved it that we could choose how our sims behave at work in 3.
Personality system… and other customizations (1, 2, & 3)
The trait system was a great idea, but I think it will be better if paired with the personality points system in 1 & 2. Just look at any good RPG, and one will notice that for a character to be memorable, he/she needs to have stats and special abilities. Final Fantasy, Pokemon, etc. all of the great RPGs I can think of have this. In Sims term, the personality points are the stats, while the traits are special abilities. A sim needs to possess both to be memorable. In fact, when describing each other’s personalities, we describe each other using traits, but also compare how open-minded / organized / extraverted / nice / neurotic people are. I suggest you check out the Big Five personality model from psychology.
Please, bring back Create-a-style. I think many players have requested this.
Expansion packs: A need to interact with the base game’s innovation
I do notice a potential problem with the franchise’ business model: Basically, what you guys have been doing is to release a base game, release expansion packs (EPs), starts working on a new generation of Sims, and repeat this process. This seems to be an inherently problematic business model: As of Sims 4, it looks like you guys are (understandably) running out of ideas as for what topic to make EPs (pets, vacation, etc.) on, but if you keep making EPs that repeat themes of previous EPs, many players feel ripped-off. E.g., when you make a Sims 4 Pets, then players are going to moan: “What? Pet again? What a rip-off!”
Here, my suggestion lies in one point: Make the theme interact with the base game’s innovation. Imagine that you are making a Pet EP for Sims 4. You focus on how sims interact with pets. Players will moan: “What? Pet again? What a rip-off!” On the contrary, you could try to make an EP that focuses on how the presence of pets interacts with the Sims’ emotions. Now this is a pet EP never seen before – it will actually feel like Sims 4: Pets, rather than “just another pet EP”. Similarly, when making Sims 3: Pets, you could have focused the contents on how open neighborhoods enable pet interactions not possible in 1 & 2 – making Sims 3: Pets far more distinct from previous pet EPs.
I think this may make your business model work better in the long run.
Conclusion
I am hereby creating a vote to see how many other Simmers agree with my points. I am no professional game designer, so my proposal may sound foolish to you. However, I do believe that the Sims series has potential. I tried Second Life, but honestly did not like it at all. The Sims series has its unique charm – it is enjoyable in a way that other series cannot be. That’s probably why Sims 1, 2, and 3 were some of the best-selling games of all time.
I wish you and the franchise all the best.
With Kind Regards,
Dr_Direwolf, a player who loved Sims 1, 2 and 3
So agree - not a mobile gamer. Not even a console gamer. But I do not see The Sims PC ending but then I am a big watcher of the parent company too, not just Maxis. So as long as the CEO and Board are happy with the Sims - they will continue - and right now anyway they seem quite happy with the Sims for PC - so much so they offer pretty much the same game for console now. Without pc version - they'd have had no console version this time.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
VR and holographic stuff will make mobile games yesterdays news anyway
-Cars Update
-Spiral/Diagonal Stairs Update
-Hotel Pack
-Romance Pack (possibly combined with Hotel Pack)
-Bands Pack
-Royalty Pack
-Fashion Design Pack
-Fairies Pack
-Werewolf Pack
-France-inspired World
Mobile isn't just tiny phone screens -- many folks play on a tablet, like one of the Android tablets or Apple's iPad series. When my Android tablet died I went ahead and spent the extra money on an iPad mini (got a refurbished mini 2 -- saved myself about $100 over a new iPad mini 4, and works just fine); I use it mainly for reading ebooks (and now I have my iBooks library available as well as my NOOK and Kindle libraries) but also for watching video (great for watching my own shows on SlingTV when my husband's monopolizing the TV), and I was thinking in terms of trying Sims Mobile when it finally goes live in the US. I'll still be primarily a PC player, but for those times when I'm traveling without my laptop it'll be handy to have if I want to fulfill a quick Sims fix, or if I'm bored in the car or at Starbucks when my husband's doing errands for his mom or brother.
I'm still on the fence if Sims 4 should be the last edition -- while I could easily see myself playing this game for years to come, it might be nice to see what they can do if they get to start from scratch, with a brand new game engine and the works.
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
I was able to play TS3 on my Mac, but it took a lot of frustrated nights until I bit the bullet and installed some of the NRaas mods like Overwatch and Registry.
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
Consoles have to be built to specifications, so when you convert you need to convert into something that can handle the game. Also, most PC gamers have become accustomed to living with carpal tunnel syndrome, so your average console gamer won't be able to handle a mouse.
Why would EA stop making Sims for the PC? THey'd lose the vast majority of their player-base.
But Sims games don't need a special controller and a huge TV screen to play on. They need a big harddrive and a powerful CPU instead like most other games also do with the exception of sports games and action games.
I have often considered to by a console (most likely a PlayStation) myself. But all the console games seem to be just action games (especially first person shooters) and sports games which aren't at all my preferred game types. Therefore I have never bought a console anyway.
The future is difficult to predict. But mobile devices gain much customers than consoles do. It isn't just about smartphones but also about tablets which maybe will get even bigger screens such that they better can compete with laptops. Laptops likely will get touch screens too and such the difference between laptops and tablets likely will become smaller.
There are already laptops with touch screens.
And consoles also are great for RPGs! Did you know the big MMO Elder Scrolls Online is available on console and even more popular? Not to mention the many, many RPGs available (not online MMO). There are also adventure games and even strategy games available on consoles. The city sim Cities: Skylines just got released on console. Not to mention platformers like MARIO which have been around for ages on Nintendo. There are lots of first person shooters available of course, but there's a lot more available on consoles than you think
True but this time I agree with @Erpe that the sims isn't really designed for console gaming. I would personally find it extremely annoying not to be able to play it with a mouse on a PC even if it worked well for Busting Out and The Urbz (but I still preferred and played the standard PC version of TS) and even though I'm usually very fond of playing with a controller (even on my PC). I just feel that in TS not having a mouse feels more limiting to me. But again, I doubt they'll abandon the PC version.
Yes there are already laptops with touch screens. But the idea of combining a touch screen laptop and a tablet is still in a very early stage and such laptops aren't yet really meant for heavy gaming. The hardware companies are experimenting though and I would guess that they in a few years likely will find a better solution.
Making cross platform games for both PC and consoles is also a quite new technology which EA now is using for a Sims game for the very first time. But my guess is that cross platform games will become more and more common in the future.