The time has come to reveal the winner of our Sponsored Monte Vista giveaway! And the winner is…..
 

 Autumn!

 
Autumn, please check your email as I have sent you details on the prize. Big thanks goes out to Keys4.me for providing us a code to giveaway, and a bigger thanks to all our readers for participating!
 

 

The entry period for this contest has ended. Check back soon for the winner announcement!

 

 

 

If you were waiting on a Monte Vista sale, it has finally arrived! Best Buy has listed Monte Vista for $9.99, plus free shipping! Big thanks to Gr1zz for the great find!

 

Click Below! – Thanks PsychoChick966, Becca & Cath!

 

 

 For a complete review and info post on Monte Vista, please check out our Sims 3 Store World Guide.

 

The Sims 3 Monte Vista has hit retail shelves worldwide, and I just scooped up my very own copy. The retail version includes a new box art, as well as a disc.

 

 
When the store team advertised the North American retail version, it was stated that the world and its content were available directly on the disc, giving the idea that it would be similar to an expansion pack. That is both true, and false.
 
When installing the Monte Vista DVD, the disc automatically runs the installation wizard. After a few clicks, the installation ceases, and opens up the Sims 3 Launcher. You will be greeted with a welcome screen that requires a log in to your Sims 3 account, and the 16 digit code found on the pamphlet inside the Monte Vista case.
 

 
Once you have accepted the terms and redeemed the content, your Sims 3 account is granted access to the world, a Sims3pack appears in your downloads folder, and a purchase in your Sims 3 Store purchase history is made that reads “Free”.
 
Now here is where I classify the retail version as nothing more than a Sims 3 store purchase. Looking into the files contained on the disc, the only content on there is a bunch of useless folders and a copy of the Sims 3 Monte Vista in simpack form. This means that the retail version may contain the actual “simpack content”, but does not have the world directly written onto the disc for installation like any stuff/expansion pack.

 

 
Even though this version of the world is not available directly on disc like an expansion pack is, the content is indeed attached to the disc in file form. The sims3pack that comes with the retail version is account locked, so you cannot simply remove the pack and dump it into the downloads folder. Disc and account activation is required.
 

 

Today is the day that The Sims 3 Monte Vista is available in retail stores worldwide. I will be purchasing this boxed version today, and have a post up with details later tonight. Starting today, Monte Vista is available for purchase via Origin.

 

Click Below!

 

 

Click Below!

 

 

 
Monte Vista is gorgeous, that is an easy fact to state – it really is gorgeous. For these reviews I try to find unique things and this was hard – because I could not get past how gorgeous it is. Huge thanks to EA UK for providing Monte Vista for me to review.
 

 
We’ve had beautiful worlds before of course, Sunlit Tides or Appaloosa Plains for example, and in Sunlit Tides, we were given unique rabbit holes and houses.
In Monte Vista they stepped up their work a bit more. I have been to Italy and instantly got the Italian feel from this world. The terrain is beautiful and painted with a lot of detail. I just loved seeing the sprawling hills in the background while playing.

 

Continue… 

 

 

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Best Buy has listed The Sims 3 Monte Vista for pre order, which is set to release on January 8th, 2013. Please note that this is only a “code in a box”, and not a disc with pre loaded content.

 

 

 

 
When The Sims 3 Monte Vista was first announced at the Maxis Live Broadcast, right away we thought, “Another world already?! Didn’t we just get Sunlit Tides?” and I’m sure we weren’t the only ones. Sunlit Tides is that nice beach island world you’ve always wanted to put your Sims on, but Monte Vista is a whole different world.
 
The Sims 3 Monte Vista is not an island world, or desert like previous worlds we’ve seen (Sunlit Tides and Lucky Palms), but a world that takes place in a peaceful countryside with rolling hills, and old time Italian style charm. The world is magnificent from every view in the world, from the new lighthouse, coliseum, or up atop the walled in city that sits high above the rest.
 

 

Continue…