It has been confirmed before, but one cool feature is how sims recognise other sims according to thier career rank. In addition to high-ranked soldiers and music stars for example, it is cool to see your top athelete walking out of the gym to a crowd of people screaming! I might be incorrectly reading these speech bubbles, but I think you may be cheered on in any competitions there may be in the game.
A question that has keep been coming up is the matter of surnames. In The Sims 2, families had to have the same surname, and only university households could have different-surnamed sims. Now, in The Sims 3, sims can have different surnames, and all be part of the same household.
Simmers worldwide loved two of the objects added in The Sims 2: Apartment Life. However, these objects don’t make a return in The Sims 3. From what we could see, spiral staircases and the bookcase door are not in the base game of The Sims 3. Spiral Staircases were a very in-demand feature of TS2: AL, so they may be added in an expansion pack later.