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The Sims Adds Ultima Characters

Special preorder promotion brings in characters from Ascension as well as the game's creator himself.

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Electronic Arts and Maxis are finding all sorts of ways to get gamers interested in the upcoming human- simulation game, The Sims. In the latest effort, EA is offering those who preorder The Sims from EBWorld special character skins from Origin's Ultima IX: Ascension, along with a skin of The Sims and SimCity creator, Will Wright.

The Sims is scheduled to release February 4, and one of its best features is its ability to accept Quake-like skins as characters. Independent artists in three iterations of Quake as well as several Quake engine-based games have already used this type of technology, so the technique is well known. Already, Maxis has added Ascension characters like The Avatar, Raven, and Kane to the special preorder offer. Other characters include Will Wright, Firaxis' Sid Meier, a Need for Speed driver, an EA Sports cheerleader, an EB worker, and a Maxis worker. The skins will operate just as other characters do in the game. In the past we've seen skins of Star Wars: Episode I's Darth Maul tending house in The Sims.

We expect artists of all sorts to add their skin art to the game once it releases.

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