Just recently I reviewed two new towns for The Sims 3, Lunar Lakes and Hidden Springs. The new The Sims 3: Showtime is more than just a town though! It is a whole new way of life in the new town of Starlight Shores.

Everything seems bigger and brighter in showbiz and they made sure that the game reflects that. The inside of the buildings are quite well done. They look like bars or clubs that you have been inside of in real life, except they're quite a bit cleaner. The performers' costumes are all so bright and beautiful. The stages are magical and it really is nice to be able to see your Sims perform finally. You can use the default stage set up or you can customize your own stage. The bigger venues are easier to redesign as you want, simply because they have more room for your props.

One thing that I was really curious about when I first heard about the game was if you were going to be able to hear your Sims sing actual songs. The answer is yes, you do. The songs are like any of the radio stations and are in Simlish. You really only get one song per performance though as the shows are about 3 hours and so that doesn't take very long in our time, even on the slowest play speed.

The Sims 3: Showtime plays just like the rest of the Sims games, but there are things that have been added just for this expansion. There are three new professions to choose as a job: Magician, Acrobat and Singer. Instead of going to a daily job with a set work schedule, if you choose these careers, you will have to go audition for gigs and perform for your money. The better your performance, the more money you will earn. Performers are known for being a bit extreme at times. There are now three new traits to reflect these personalities: Diva, Natural Born Performer, and Social Butterfly. I haven't explored all of the aspects of these yet, but I like the Natural Born Performer best out of them as it makes it a lot easier for you to put on great shows. Simfest is a new feature as well. Basically, it is where your Sim can watch a bunch of different people perform their talents. These are really good for your Sim to go to if you can find the time.

The Sims 3: Showtime has some new features to enhance your play experience. There is an "in-game messaging system" where you can chat with any of your friends that are also signed into the Sim system. Even better though, you can send your Sim to perform in your friend's towns. Now your Sims are no longer limited to just playing on your system, which is truly nice. You do this through the new "SimPort." There are specific rewards and achievements connected to using the SimPort, so make sure you've got at least one and hopefully more friends that you can play with!

As usual, the difficulty in The Sims 3: Showtime depends on how difficult you want it to be, but I have found that the new professions carry different challenges from before. To start off, there are a wide variety of households available to choose ranging from very little household funds on up (as low as $800 and as high as $100,000). Be careful though because those more expensive households have a lot more people to deal with, which makes it a lot harder! You can still choose Move-in Household and use any of the pre-mades that you're used to or any that you have saved. The game will tell you how difficult those families are. You are also free to make your own Sims and customize them however you want.

Something that you will probably want to remember just to make your lives easier is that the more expensive objects tend to give you better rest and a better environment, so sometimes it is worth the money. You can even get things like stoves that teach you cooking faster, which is really helpful! The quicker you can improve your Sims' lives, the more money you will make and the easier things will become.

The three new professions are quite a bit different from your current ones. It used to be that you just sent your Sims to work, they did their job, and they came home. The only thing you could really do with their jobs other than take on opportunities outside of work was to set how hard they worked while at their job. Now though, you will need to make sure that your Sims put on the best possible shows that they can, which means that you will need to control them at work. You can direct your Sims to perform whatever acts that they know during their shows. Simply click on the Sim and choose the action. Personally, I like the acrobat's tricks the best. You should really check out the contortionist tricks! The magician has some interesting performances as well. I have found that you will almost always put on a better show if you choose what to do rather than let the Sim choose what to do on their own.

I have really enjoyed playing The Sims 3: Showtime. The new things that they have added to the game really make it worth getting a new version. I like the new careers that they have added, even if they can be more difficult to deal with at times. You get to interact with your Sims at all times now, but I liked being able to send them off to work before so that you weren't having to direct every Sim 100% of the time. It'll take you time to learn the nuances of the new game, but that just makes things feel new again. The Sims 3 is continually improving and The Sims 3: Showtime is a great addition to the series.