{"id":856793,"date":"2025-12-15T10:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vg247.com\/the-sims-3-15th-anniversary"},"modified":"2025-12-15T10:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:49:13","slug":"for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/","title":{"rendered":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Sims 3<\/a><\/strong> celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when they moved into their university halls of residence, allow me to take a break from booking myself in for a hip replacement to look back on one of the most lauded – yet divisive – entries into The Sims franchise.<\/p>\n

As someone who has genuinely enjoyed every Sims game, I was a staunch TS3 apologist for most of its run; which is why its reassessment by the fandom as a strong contender for the best entry in the franchise has always felt jarring to me — and, if we’re being honest, caused me to become something of a devil’s advocate on the subject.<\/p>\n

If you think The Sims 4<\/a> is disliked, rest assured that its immediate predecessor received almost like-for-like criticism while it was the in thing. You could argue that the shortcomings of TS4 have caused TS3 to be vindicated in hindsight, but it’s just as easy to argue that rosy nostalgia kicks in once there’s a fresh new upstart to pick apart. Realistically, as in most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when they moved into their university halls of residence, allow me to take a break from booking myself in for a hip replacement to look back on one of the most lauded – yet divisive – entries into The Sims franchise. As someone who has genuinely enjoyed every Sims game, I was a staunch TS3 apologist for most of its run; which is why its reassessment by the fandom as a strong contender for the best entry in the franchise has always felt jarring to me — and, if we’re being honest, caused me to become something of…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":856794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[259,8712,542,773,159,410,1093,8711,1391,1873,1707,59,844,44,34,137,54,516,9582,1095,9572,9583,3987,534,60],"class_list":["post-856793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vg24-7","tag-action-adventure","tag-bird-view-isometric","tag-electronic-arts","tag-first-person","tag-ios","tag-mac","tag-maxis","tag-multiplayer-competitive","tag-nintendo-3ds","tag-nintendo-ds","tag-nintendo-wii","tag-pc","tag-ps3","tag-ps4","tag-rpg","tag-simulation","tag-single-player","tag-strategy","tag-the-sims-3","tag-the-sims-4","tag-the-sims-5-project-rene","tag-the-sims-studio","tag-third-person","tag-xbox-360","tag-xbox-one"],"yoast_head":"\nFor better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T10:49:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-15T10:49:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":223,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Action-Adventure\",\"Bird view \\\/ Isometric\",\"Electronic Arts\",\"first-person\",\"iOS\",\"mac\",\"maxis\",\"Multiplayer Competitive\",\"nintendo 3ds\",\"nintendo ds\",\"Nintendo Wii\",\"PC\",\"PS3\",\"PS4\",\"RPG\",\"Simulation\",\"single-player\",\"Strategy\",\"The Sims 3\",\"The Sims 4\",\"The Sims 5 (Project Rene)\",\"The Sims Studio\",\"Third Person\",\"Xbox 360\",\"Xbox One\"],\"articleSection\":[\"VG24\\\/7\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/\",\"name\":\"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-15T10:49:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims | Arcader News","description":"The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims | Arcader News","og_description":"The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2025-12-15T10:49:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims","datePublished":"2025-12-15T10:49:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/"},"wordCount":223,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg","keywords":["Action-Adventure","Bird view \/ Isometric","Electronic Arts","first-person","iOS","mac","maxis","Multiplayer Competitive","nintendo 3ds","nintendo ds","Nintendo Wii","PC","PS3","PS4","RPG","Simulation","single-player","Strategy","The Sims 3","The Sims 4","The Sims 5 (Project Rene)","The Sims Studio","Third Person","Xbox 360","Xbox One"],"articleSection":["VG24\/7"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/","name":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-15T10:49:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/for-better-or-worse-the-sims-3-set-the-standard-for-modern-life-sims\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For better or worse, The Sims 3 set the standard for modern life sims"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1427557,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856793\/revisions\/1427557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}