Being in a band and potentially living the life of a rock star is an incredible dream that we’ve all entertained at one time or another. That’s why even the most tone-deaf among us get together with our best friends and jam away in our garages, driving our parents and neighbors crazy. Never mind that the road to fame involves sketchy venues and poorly paid gigs! Here on The Sims 3 team, we are pretty excited that your Sims can now actively pursue that rock and roll dream!

The Band career is flexible and full of possibilities in The Sims 3 Late Night. Buy one of four new instruments and your Sims can play in anything from a jazz band to a rock band. There’s a double bass, keyboard or piano, and a drum kit. Your Sims must learn to play an instrument first because really, what kind of band leader doesn’t know basic scales. Once they’ve gained some skill, it’s time to recruit band members.

Form a band with members of your Sim’s household, friends, or the guy who lives next door. As a band, Sims can learn new compositions that they can buy at the bookstore. Your Sim’s band must have at least four Sims if you want anyone to hire them to play gigs. Otherwise, if they’re strictly a jam-for-fun band, they can have anywhere from two to four Sims in their band. One of the best parts of having a band is getting to choose a fantastic name for the band—like The Stinking Llamas or Reticulating Spliners. You can rename their band as many times as you wish or just go with one of the names that we’ve come up with. As the band leader, your Sim also has the power to kick out members anytime you wish. Be prepared for the consequences to your Sim’s friendship though!

When they start out, your Sims will be offered three hour gigs at dive bars around town. Make sure your Sim gets to the venue early. The other band members will meet your Sim there. Even if your Sim’s band starts playing paid gigs, they’ll still want to practice. Your Sim can practice with their band mates anytime, anywhere. Just call the band members and they’ll drop what they’re doing to come practice. Choose different styles during a session. Will it be a jazz jam session or a blues jam session? Your Sim can jam with up to eight Sims, whether they’re in the band or not.

Your Sim’s commitment to the band need not be full-time. Perhaps you still want your Sim to pursue their day job in the film career path and make time for band practice after hours. On the other hand, if you want your Sim to go pro, you could register them as self-employed at City Hall and chart their progress from Attic Act to Legendary Musician. The measure of success for any band is the amount of Simoleons they rake in from tips and gigs.

There are lots of places in Bridgeport that are fair game for earning a few Simoleons. You’ll find a stage set up at every venue in Bridgeport. Waylon’s Haunt is one of our favorite Bridgeport venues. It was one of the first venues that made it into the game and it’s like a familiar, neighborhood bar: a bit grimy, yet cozy with neon lights and dartboards. There is a diverse assortment of clubs and venues to play at. Your Sim can even stash an instrument in their inventory and then descend into the subway to play for tips.

Becoming a high level musician or pursuing the band career are just two of the many ways to achieve celebrity status. Among the perks of being a celebrity, there’s a chance of getting a free grand piano or a themed electric guitar complete with amplifier that will really take your Sim’s band’s image to the next level.

Whatever your Sim’s musical style, there are new outfits and accessories to suit everything from the grungy to the refined look, like leather wrist bracelets, sharp indie vests, or thick ironic glasses! And don’t forget the tattoo system—every self-respecting rock star knows that body ink makes you look legit.

See? Becoming a rock star isn’t so hard. At least for your Sims. Rock on!

To install this update, please start your game and use the “Updates” tab in your Launcher.

This game update includes:

New Features

·         Sims that drive extensively can now develop a relationship with their vehicles.  Vehicles can be named once a friendship is formed.

·         The Vehicle Enthusiast Trait is now available.  Sims with this trait can name their vehicles immediately and develop relationships with them more quickly.

Base Game Updates

·         Fixed an issue where ghosts could become stuck in vehicles under certain conditions. Ghosts will now properly exit vehicles after arriving at their destination.

·         Nameable items can only be named when they belong to the active household.

World Adventures Updates

·         Career titles for Sims visiting Egypt, France and China will now display in the Relationship Panel tooltips.

The Sims 3 Create a World

·         Create a World users need to install a new version of The Sims 3 Create a World Tool.  Users can find the Create a World page from the “Games” drop down in the site header.

Sul sul zeedab nas! The Sims fans will turn up the volume on their HD and PC hardware this fall and rock out while playing The Sims™ 3 game on their PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and Wii™ or when firing up The Sims™ 3 Late Night Expansion Pack* for the PC or MAC. The EA Play Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today the robust music line-up for The Sims 3 for console platforms and The Sims 3 Late Night PC/MAC that includes music from a variety of genres such as hip-hop, alternative, pop, rock, electronic, and more. Artists from around the world including Travie McCoy, 3oh!3, Flo Rida featuring Jovi, Kelly Rowland, Kelis, and more recorded current or upcoming hit singles from their latest albums in an entirely new language, ‘Simlish,’ which is the official language of The Sims franchise.

“The Sims may be one of the biggest and best-known brands in popular culture today and for a major artist to be asked to re-record their music in ‘Simlish’ has become one of the most unique and exclusive opportunities in the world of entertainment,” explained Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive, Music and Music Marketing, EA. “Over the past decade, hundreds of artists – including superstars as diverse as Katy Perry, Lady Antebellum, Flaming Lips, Damien Marley, Depeche Mode, Nelly Furtado, Matt And Kim, and so many more – have all become a part of this global phenomenon. For more than a hundred million The Sims players and fans every day, we are truly providing the soundtrack to their lives.”  

“I’m always trying to find new ways to reach different audiences with my music and The Sims 3 was a perfect way,” explained Flo Rida who laid down his lyrics from “Fresh I Stay” in Simlish with Jovi.

The experience is unlike any other for some of the artists and can even prove to be challenging. “We couldn’t stop laughing while re-recording “Double Vision” in Simlish because it just sounds super bizarre,” 3oh!3’s Sean Foreman commented during their recording session. “I’ve always been a fan of The Sims games and could never figure out what the characters were saying in the game. I’m not sure if Simlish can be translated, but it’s darn fun to speak!”

• 22-20’s – “Latest Heartbreak”
• 3oh!3 – “Double Vision”
• Aceyalone and RJD2 – “Ever Seen This”
• Aeroplane – “We Can’t Fly”
• Alpha Rev – “Phoneix Burn”
• Cody Simpson – “IY IY IY”
• Crash Kings – “You Got Me”
• deadmau5 – “Some Chords”
• Flo Rida featuring Jovi – “Fresh I Stay”
• Free Energy – “Free Energy”
• Hot Chip – “We Have Love”
• Innerpartysystem – “American Trash”
• Jasmine V – “All of These Boys”
• Jessica Mauboy – “Saturday Night”
• John Butler Trio – “Gonna Be a Long Time”
• Kidz in the Hall – “Flickin’”
• Lazee featuring Apollo Drive – “Calling Out”
• Mickey Factz – “Dreamland”
• Ozomatli – “Are you Ready?”
• School Of Seven Bells – “Dust Devil”
• The Dirty Heads – “Stand Tall”

• 3oh!3 – “Double Vision”
• Bryan Rice – “There for You”
• Chiddy Bang – “Here We Go”
• Electrolightz – “Miss Outta Control”
• Eliza Doolittle – “Rollerblades”
• Foxy Shazam – “Unstoppable”
• Hadag Nahash – “Lo Maspik”
• Hadouken! – “M.A.D.”
• Jessica Mauboy – “Saturday Night”
• Junkie XL – “Live Wired”
• Kelis – “Brave”
• Kelly Rowland – “Rose Colored Glasses”
• King Fantastic – “All Black Ying Yang (The Party Song)”
• My Chemical Romance – “Na Na Na”
• Nikki & Rich – “Next Best Thing”
• The Ready Set – “More Than Alive”
• Soulja Boy – “Speakers Going Hammer”
• Travie McCoy – “Need You”