The site also offers PC-based games.

The chassis is compatible with PC-based games and most major gaming systems, including the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation.

"We wanted this to grow into a 'third arm,' " he said of the Sims Online, referring to Electronic Art's dominance in PC-based games and in console games as its first "two arms."

Consoles like PlayStation 2 and PC-based games like Sims dominate their respective markets, with tens of millions of users tethered to monitors with a joystick or a mouse.

(Microsoft, which is testing its online service, called Xbox Live, already has some experience in the field; its PC-based game Asheron's Call is among the most popular online games.)

The Sony Online Entertainment division operates the Station (www.station.sony.com), a PC-based game portal offering games like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy online.

It rose to popularity in 1998 following the release of the first PC-based game in the series.

The developers of Doom III, which is to be released as a PC-based game, said they were playing down any multiplayer potential, at least initially, to focus their efforts on the game's quality.

Zylom is a distributor of PC-based casual games.

Fate/stay night, PC-based visual novel game, released on January 30, 2004.