Rumored Sims 1 Remaster Should Learn One Simple Lesson From Sims 3
There is speculation that The Sims 1 could be remastered or re-released in some way thanks to a recent tease from EA, and if true, there's one major Sims 3 upgrade the game needs. In the original Sims, the townies of the plainly-named Neighborhood 1 were mostly meant to help a player tell their own stories. However, there's room for improvement here in 2025.
For casual fans, it may come as a surprise to learn that The Sims series actually has a wealth of lore behind its characters and worlds, especially when it comes to some of the more well-established townies like the Goth family, or the Landgraabs. It's easy to miss the lore of the world if you're jumping in and creating your own family, but playing with the pre-existing townies reveals a lot of lore and story that's missing in the more simplified game of The Sims 1. For serious Simmers, the lore is what makes The Sims franchise feel more alive, and so retroactively adding some of the later canon into a re-release of The Sims 1 is essential for EA.
The Sims 1 Remaster Should Include The Sims 3 Lore & Here's Why
That’s Actually Your Sister, Michael
So far, EA has kept pretty quiet on the supposed Sims 1 re-release, other than sharing some Sims 1-esque images that started the conversation. At the time of writing, it's unclear if fans can expect a straight port or re-release, or if we'll be playing a remastered version. It's also unclear if all seven of the game's original expansion packs would also be included in the release. It could begin with just the base game, or even feature expansion locations, like Downtown from TS: Hot Date and Old Town from TS: Unleashed. That would make it even more important to tie-in the past of important townies.
25 years ago when the first game launched, families like the Goths and Newbies grew up in other cities, including Sunset Valley and Riverview. This was a big change from later games, and ignoring this lore would make any future TS1 re-release a bit hollower. Some of these direct relations were first established in TS2, such as bloodlines, feuds, and romances. But, TS3 is where these locations were actually shown and could be influenced in other directions. DLC worlds went even a step further and established the past for even more popular townies, including the rather grim Specter family. While it would be amazing to visit these worlds, to keep it simple, EA could just update character bios.
TS3’s Sunset Valley was the hometown of several future residents of Neighborhood 1. First, Bella Goth’s birth name is Bachelor, making her the younger sister of neighbor Michael Bachelor. At minimum, EA needs to make them related so they no longer flirt or Woohoo with each other. It was also directly confirmed that Cornelia Goth was Agnes Crumplebottom’s sister, making Mortimer Goth the nephew of the Downtown menace and still a controversial Sim in TS4.
Sunset Valley was also home of the lavishly wealthy Landgraab family. While they weren’t in the PC version of TS1, they debuted on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube consoles. It would be interesting if they or other SimValley locals made appearances in an updated TS1.
Back in Neighborhood 1, across town live the Newbie family, consisting of Bob and Betty. Both are in TS3’s Riverview free DLC as teenagers. Bob Newbie was a smart kid, but a lazy slob that lacked ambition. Meanwhile, Betty Simovitch was under the strict guidance of her mother Fatima to become a rock and roll music star. Bob and Betty were friends, but had no romantic spark yet.
Future Events For The Pleasant & Burb Families Were Revealed in Sims 3
Forget The Parents, The Kids Are More Interesting
Another major Neighborhood 1 family were the Pleasants, made up of husband Jeff, wife Diane, son Daniel, and daughter Jennifer. TS3 didn’t bother giving lore to Jeff and Diane, but instead focused on the children. For TS2 fans, Daniel and his twin daughters, Angela and Lilith, were the foundation of enemy and rival drama.
TS3 DLC wasn’t as concerned about staying 25 years in the past and began jumping all over the timeline. In the world of Sunlit Tides, Daniel has just newly married Mary-Sue and they are enjoying their honeymoon. Daniel has the Commitment Issues trait, and he is likely to autonomously divorce Mary-Sue.
As for Jennifer, she wound up in a romance with John Burb from Old Town. Long after the events of The Sims 1, they become engaged and set sail around the world. They wound up crash landing in the DLC world of Dragon Valley, but are hoping to one day return home to Pleasantview and kick off the events of the second game. Since the games can jump around with their canon, a re-release of The Sims 1 could tie up some loose ends by introducing elements established later in the series. Simmers are always calling for more lore, and this could be an easy way for EA to keep the next release consistent, while offering something simple and new for fans.
