One of the new NPCs is the lovelorn guitarist.
The Sims has had two expansion packs so far, and now Maxis is producing a third one. Maxis says that it is always considering what the fans want and is always looking to dig deeper into places it hasn't yet explored. In this new expansion, Hot Date, the designers are now delving into one aspect that Sims fans have clamored for from the beginning--the opportunity to manage and manipulate romantic human relationships in greater depth than was previously available in the original game. After all, now that you can have a career and throw a party, what about dating and romance? With Hot Date, Maxis is now giving lonely Sims fans a love life.

A new facet of The Sims: the Downtown area.
We recently visited the Maxis offices in Walnut Creek, California, and got a chance to see Hot Date, which has been in development for a little more than a month and is slated for release sometime in October or November. Maxis says that when considering Hot Date, there were two things it wanted to play with: social one-on-one interaction between Sims and letting players go to someone else's house. The first objective would be easy to achieve; however, the second was determined to be too difficult. That is because each house in The Sims is a saved game, so you can't visit and interact with someone else's house without messing up his or her saved game. Thus, it was decided that a compromise could be reached by creating an entirely new location where social interactions could take place. Enter Downtown.

Downtown is a neutral location, so to speak, where dates happen. Hot Date is about being in Downtown with your date. Just like you can with a house, but on a larger scale, you'll be able to build Downtown into whatever you want, creating different parks, restaurants, clubs, shops, and other venues. Downtown will look very different from your original neighborhood--picture a street of small boutique shops and restaurants--and will also have its own nonplayer characters (NPCs). Many of the components are new and fit into the style of a downtown district but can also be added to your homes if you wish

The point of the date is to keep the two people--one you control and one you lead--on the date as long as possible to see all the cool things in Downtown. There are various social interaction rewards laced throughout the game. Fans of the Sims will recall the "love bed" reward, which you receive if you can get two Sims to make out on the love bed together. In Hot Date, there will be plenty of rewards of that nature. If you manage to keep the date interested throughout the evening, you'll be rewarded with lots of cuddling and making out. Maxis says that the gameplay is controlling one person and using that person to meet the needs of your date, getting him or her to follow you to reward places. Of course, like in much of real life, the way you get your date to follow you is by taking out your wallet. Everything costs money in Downtown. You need to pay to get into clubs, buy food at restaurants, and buy items when shopping. By using your money, you can boost your date's mood--once you've picked up on what motivates him or her, of course. In the regular game, if you want to meet a Sim's need for nice food, you might buy an expensive refrigerator. Of course, on a date, you can instead just go out and buy food for your date and thus meet his or her expensive food needs. By using Downtown, you can thus satiate the appetites of Sims, but without having to buy permanent solutions for them, like the fridge.

To actually get a date going, you can go to Downtown and just pick up a datable NPC hanging out there. Or you can invite a Sim to a date over the phone. With Hot Date, a new option will be granted when talking to Sims on the phone: a date option. You can call a person up and ask him or her to meet you in Downtown for a date. Seconds later, a taxicab will arrive at your doorstep. You can step in and your next stop will be Downtown, where your date will be waiting.id like to thank game spot for the review and all round this game will be totally great, now all thats left 2 do is to order it and wait.

"8th Wonder of The World..... The Sims... What happens Next?", I have read all of the reviews for the Expansion and I think that this is the FAR best Sims Expantion Pack! It has just about everything that a Sims fan wanted and more. I think that this could be the best trend that it was ever to come about. The walls... floors.... and of course the Objects....... are just what everyone wants. I think that this is the best game that I will\and have invested in. I recommend it to anyone! Young or Old Male or Female it is for everyone!