I was looking at the updated info about the Sims 3 (I bought it already and am just waiting for the release day, so I check on it occasionally) and the best news I saw there was that they are taking out the need for a internet connection to play it! No nasty added hidden stuff! They listened to us!
So far, I am liking what I am seeing about the game and i can't wait to play it and see for myself if it is what they say it is. :)
Houses
http://thesims3.ea.com/view/pages/videos.jsp?languageCode=en&sourceid=ea3214 There are a lot of neat videos to see too.