![Quintet – boldly fly your starship through the galaxy with your friends [Freeware]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/quintet3-270x190.jpg)
Sims Online Free. Ooh, Electronic Arts has released a free version of the classic Sims Online game. If you’ve been living on Mars for a while, The Sims is one of the biggest game franchises on the planet, and the online version, which used to cost $9.99 a month, was notable for some pretty cool visuals and unique gameplay.
Well the developers have now re-jigged the code, updated it all and re-released it in both free and pay to play versions. The pay per month version gives you money and more space than the free version, but the free version lets you upload your own stuff and earn money from other players in certain areas. There’s even a Facebook avatar app, an iGoogle gadget, and custom widgets for all you social network wonks to keep track of what’s going on in your city.
Here’s the beginner’s guide for you to ogle as you download the 1 GB plus game files. I had trouble starting up the game after download (it’s very beta and very test mode and all that), in which case go to Options after you click on the game start shortcut – make sure to choose the updated patch shortcut because the core files are constantly changing at the moment – and select ‘Fix/Repair’ or whatever it’s called to check and repair the game files. It’ll then do an update and load up.
It’s fun!
EA-Land is a game that evolves every week. Every Wednesday we stop the game for a few hours and add new features before restarting it. There is a constant stream of features regularly added to the game – in this we differ from other games which add more features just once a year. We believe this makes the game more interesting, and it helps the community stay closer to the development team, giving the community more control on the evolution of the game. Since August 2007, we have updated the game 22 times, skipping only the Thanskgiving and year-end Holidays. So, don’t expect a static game, but an ‘evolving’ game and get involved!
About the Author:
Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don't we all?
Nigel – who has written 5161 posts on The Red Ferret Journal.
![buycott3 150x150 Buycott finally theres a guilt free way to shop [Freeware]](http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/buycott3-150x150.jpg "Buycott - finally there's a guilt free way to shop [Freeware]")
