http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18991
--- Comment #78 from Pablo Marchant pamarca@gmail.com 2009-08-30 00:13:38 --- Well so, the bug can be worked around just by running the sims like:
env WINEPREFIX="/home/pablo/.wine-sims" TZ="America/Bahia" wine "C:\Archivos de programa\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe"
Where, of course, you need to replace WINEPREFIX with the prefix where the sims 3 is installed, and "Archivos de programa" should be replaced with whatever it corresponds in your language ("Program files" in english I believe...)
I just tested this, and it works right. No need to modify the system timezone, or to use a "patched" ntdll