Fairhaven

Fairhaven or Fair Haven may refer to:

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Michael Grant

Michael Grant may refer to:

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The Sims

The Sims is a life simulation video game series, developed by EA Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the best-selling video games series of all time. As of September 2013, the franchise has sold more than 175 million copies worldwide.

The series was created by Maxis, before the series moved to The Sims Studio between 2006 and 2008. The Sims Studio then reintegrated into the new EA Maxis label in 2012.

The games in The Sims series are largely sandbox games, in that they lack any defined goals (except for some later expansion packs and console versions which introduced this gameplay style). The player creates virtual people called "Sims" and places them in houses and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires. Players can either place their Sims in pre-constructed homes or build them themselves. Each successive expansion pack and game in the series augmented what the player could do with their Sims.

Development

Game designer Will Wright was inspired to create a "virtual doll house" after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and subsequently rebuilding his life. Replacing his home and his other possessions made him think about adapting that life experience into a game. When he initially took his ideas to the Maxis board of the directors, they were skeptical and gave little support or financing for the game. The directors at Electronic Arts, which bought Maxis in 1997, were more receptive — SimCity had been a great success for them, and they foresaw the possibility of building a strong Sim franchise.

Tom Wopat

Thomas Steven "Tom" Wopat (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Luke Duke in the long-running 1979 television series The Dukes of Hazzard, along with John Schneider. He also played Jeff, one of Cybill Shepherd's ex-husbands on the sitcom Cybill.

Life and career

Thomas Steven Wopat was born in Lodi, Wisconsin, the fifth of eight siblings born to Albin Carl Wopat (December 10, 1919 – January 27, 1983), and his wife, Ruth Arlene (née Skarda) Wopat (May 20, 1920 – September 23, 1959). His father, a devout Roman Catholic, who raised his children in that faith, was a dairy farmer of Czech descent.

Wopat attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and made his television debut on One Life to Live. He achieved television fame in the popular television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–85), then embarked on a music career. He has recorded eight albums. Musically, he switches between rock and roll and country music styles, though his last two albums have been of classic pop standards. His 1980s albums were on EMI Nashville. The latter recording, Dissertation on the State of Bliss, is a collection of Harold Arlen songs. Wopat first appeared on the Broadway stage as a replacement in the 1977 musical I Love My Wife, as "Wally". He later appeared as a replacement in the stage musicals City of Angels, and Guys and Dolls. In 1981 he played the main character, Billy Bigelow in the musical, Carousel, at the Augusta Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan. He appeared in the opening cast of the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun as "Frank Butler", opposite Bernadette Peters, Susan Lucci and Crystal Bernard, who played Annie Oakley (in consecutive order); he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1999 for his performance as Butler. He later appeared in revivals of Chicago and 42nd Street.

The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is the third major title in the life simulation video game developed by The Sims Studio (Maxis) and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims 2. It was first released on June 2, 2009 simultaneously for OS X and Microsoft Windows – both versions on the same disc. The Sims 3 was released to game consoles and smartphones on October 26, 2010, for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Android, iOS, and Nintendo DS. The Windows Phone version was made available on the Windows Phone Store on October 15, 2010. A Nintendo 3DS version, released on March 27, 2011, was one of its launch titles. It has also been released for mobile phone platforms, and a simpler version for mobiles with Java.

The Sims 3 was a commercial success, selling 1.4 million copies in its first week. Critics issued mostly positive reviews. The Sims 3 gained an 86/100 score from aggregator Metacritic. The game has sold over ten million copies worldwide since its 2009 release, making it one of the best-selling PC games of all time.