It's a busy week for Will Wright and his Sims videogame. The game creator will receive the Vanguard Award from the Producer's Guild of America in Los Angeles on January 20. Wright is the first videogame creator to receive this prestigious award, which has been presented in the past to James Cameron, George Lucas, and Pixar Animation Studios.

Wright, who has created games like Sim City, The Sims and the upcoming Spore, has been an innovator in creating games that expand the audience of gaming. Over half of The Sims players are female. And that franchise alone has sold over 70 million copies, making it the biggest game franchise of all time.

Sims fans are in for new games, courtesy of Electronic Arts. The Sims Stories is a new line of games designed for the laptop gamer. They feature new characters and original story lines that are great for gamers on the go. The first game in this line, The Sims Life Stories, ships February 6. The game introduces a new Story Mode that offers two playable characters (Riley Harlow and Vincent Moore) and two unique story lines.

Unlike traditional expansion packs, these games don't require any previous game software, they're stand-alone adventures. Also in development for this franchise are The Sims Pet Stores, which ships this summer, and The Sims Castaway Stories, which ships Christmas 2008.