A milestone in the world of computer games was reached Wednesday. Electronic Arts announced that it has sold 100 million copies of The Sims franchise, one of the most famous game types in the world.

The Sims has generated some $4 billion in sales by the past eight years, a level few titles have matched. The entire Star Wars franchise was estimated to be worth $22 billion in a Forbes exposition published last year.

“If 100 million boxes of The Sims were lined up end-to-end, they would stretch from New York city to Moscow,” EA trumpeted. “And, with 100 million sold, one out of seven homes in Europe and one out of three homes in America would have a product of The Sims franchise.”

70 Million Creations

Since its launch in 2000, Electronic Arts has released dozens of add-on packs, spin-off games and ports to various console units. EA released The Sims 2 in 2004 and recently announced

that The Sims 3 will be released next year.

The game, developed by Will Wright, plus stands as an early version of a virtual world, which most society now associate with Second Life. But distant before Second Life, Sims users were designing, uploading and purchasing custom furnishings, clothes and housing for the games’ inhabitants.

The Sims Web site (www.thesims2.ea.com) has more than 4.3 million strange visitors and more than 70 million user-created items. The Sims has additionally made a contribution to a trend known as “machinema” — movies made from game play. YouTube hosts more than 100,000 such videos featuring players’ Sims characters.

A “Private Experience”

But unlike Second Life, The Sims has not become a shared online experience. Rather than inviting other humans into their creations, many users care for them like a prized dollhouse, inviting only a few close friends to see the world and the humans they’ve…

Orginal post by Top Tech News