SimsAnimals

Quick Glance: Players are let loose on a forest of unsuspecting animals. Turn them against each other or create a thriving environment of trust and love!

At the E3 press conference, EA announced several upcoming Sim games, guaranteed to put another nail in the coffin of your and my productive lives. One of the more interesting titles on offer was SimAnimals, a wildlife simulation game, where you (acting as the hand of God) can interact with a range of animals in their natural surroundings. Animals you'll see include wolves, bears, owls, foxes, hedgehogs, squirrels, deer, and raccoons.

Apparently there will be no progress bars or menu items, just one large white floating hand to control everything. Whether this results in a satisfying, intuitive game or just a straightforward point and click interaction won't be known until we hear of any hands-on reports.

From what EA is saying so far, the game's emphasis is on building trusting relationships with wild animals, as well as storytelling (like we did with The Sims) and enjoying quirky situations that emerge in the forest. Seeing as you're able to move everything in the game (including the animals themselves), it's easy to see how you could get them to love you or hate you, depending on your jerkitude factor. There's also animal woohoo, though I'm not sure this is much of a calling card.

The forests boast challenges to beat and goals to achieve, as well as unlockable areas and unique objects. Animals can gain special abilities by completing specific tasks. In a sense it sounds a bit like The Sims meets Viva Piñata, but that's just a personal first impression, of course.

SimAnimals will be released for the DS and the Wii, sometime in the first quarter of 2009.

The more I think about Sims players in general, the more I'm starting to feel sorry for these animals