REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Let the fur fly! Will you have a pet or be a pet? Now you can play both ways as pets are Sims too! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced The Sims™ 3 Pets is now available in North America on PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, Nintendo 3DS™ and as an Expansion Pack on the PC/ Mac*. Developed by the award-winning team at The Sims Studio, The Sims 3 Pets gives players the ability to play as a pet for the first time in franchise history and see The Sims world through their eyes.

Across all platforms, players will be able to use the robust Create a Pet tool to customize dozens of breeds of cats and dogs. On the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC/Mac, players are able to design their pet from their coats, colors and body shapes, and even down to their snouts and age. Players can also choose from a variety of unique personality traits such as friendly, hyper, clueless and piggy, offering limitless opportunities for fans to create the pets of their dreams or nightmares.

“Pets have always been the top requested theme from our players, and we are delivering a deep, rich experience in The Sims 3 Pets for our fans to enjoy,” said Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio. “From the moment a player starts the game, they’ll revel in the opportunities to recreate their childhood pet, train their dog to be the most desirable or despicable animal in the neighborhood, share their favorite pet on The Sims 3 Exchange or witness the special lasting relationships their Sims build with their pets. The Sims 3 Pets is about the moments that are unique to the player who lives them.”

The Sims 3 Pets also features gameplay experiences specific to each platform. Exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, players will explore all new venues and embark on mysteries in the New England-style town of Sugar Maple Coast. Karma Powers return to the console games and give players the ability to bestow wealth on their Sim or completely uproot their lives. New Karma Powers include: Transmogrify that allows a Sim, cat or dog to turn into a different species; Meteor Strike that drops space rocks from the sky; Feral Possession which turns players’ pets into furry terrors; and more. Exclusive to the Xbox 360, players who are Kinect-enabled can use voice commands to quickly jump between areas of Create a Sim and live mode to change outfits, fulfill the needs of both their Sims and pets and more.

In The Sims 3 Pets PC/Mac Expansion Pack, players are able to create and adopt dogs, cats and, another first for the franchise, horses. Fans are able to take their Sims and their pets on wild adventures while exploring the new world with animal-specific venues and environments such as the dog park, cat jungle or horse stables. Another exclusive to the PC/Mac version, players will be able to search through their world for the elusive unicorn. The magical unicorn can be added to a player’s household after they’ve built up the relationship enough. Unicorns offer fun opportunities to play with life by being able to bless other Sims, teleport around the world and even spark fires. Other minor pets that Sims can own and interact with, but are not fully controllable, include birds, rodents, lizards, turtles and snakes.

Unique to the Nintendo 3DS version of The Sims 3 Pets, players can now create, customize and control a household full of pets without any human Sims. In addition, players will be able to save up to three separate games, each with its own household of three playable Sims. Through gameplay, players can add a fourth member to their household. The Sims 3 Pets on Nintendo 3DS lets fans use Play Coins collected from the Nintendo’s 3DS pedometer feature to spend as Karma Power points. Additionally, players will be able to use Nintendo’s StreetPass™ function to share their Sims and pets with other Nintendo 3DS users in near vicinity.

The Sims 3 Pets is rated “T” for Teen, with an MSRP of $49.99 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and $39.99 on Nintendo 3DS and PC/Mac.

The Sims 3 Plus Pets is also available on PC/Mac and bundles The Sims 3 base game and The Sims 3 Pets Expansion Pack with an MSRP of $49.99.

For more information, visit http://www.thesims3.com/content/en_US/promo/pets/pets.htm, like the game on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. For more information on The Sims 3, visit http://www.thesims3.com/.

*Requires The Sims 3 for PC/Mac to play.