Electronic Arts has announced details of the third game in its massive selling Sims series, which will be on the shelves in 2009.

The Sims 3 features an entirely new game engine that has been three years in the making. This means you can expect sparkly upgraded graphics, but also a seamless open-ended neighbourhood. Your Sims won't be restricted to small lots; they'll be free to wander about town with no restriction, visiting friends or just taking a stroll in the park.

And there'll be greater scope for interaction with the people you meet along the way, as The Sims 3 has far more depth when it comes to personalities. The redesigned personality system uses five separate traits which can be tuned and tweaked, along with short and long term ambitions that go beyond the basic daily needs we're used to coping with. EA reckons there'll be a possible 700 million combinations of personalities.

A huge stack of new customisation options is also promised, with Sim creation being so detailed that apparently it'll be possible to construct a pretty convincing replica of yourself. Everything in your house will be tweakable, too, from the wallpaper through to the furniture. Roll on next year when we can find out exactly how realistic the game will be.