"The Sims" Online, and on the PS2

bahamlabs writes "Sony is is attempting to venture into the online gaming market with what is now the most popular computer game of all time, "The Sims"." It'll be interesting to see how both the console version of the game, and the online version deal with expansion and customization- the two things that allowed The Sims to become among the most entertaining games ever.

Comments

If EQ is any guage

[Kraegar]

Sony didn't do so well with allowing people in Eq to be creative and unique, so if that's any guage I'm scared to see what they will turn the Sims online into.

With Eq they squashed numerous fan-story sites, as well as many, many in-game control-hungry stompings of players creativity. They turned the game from what could have been a great RPing platform into a service provided that catered to the "l33+ dewd" player, giving power to those who had the most time/money, not those who tried to be creative.

Think they'll change that much to help those of us who love to customize and be creative with the Sims? I somehow doubt it.

Re:If EQ is any guage

[Kraegar]

Yes, Verant Interactive made the game, Sony provided the cash. However, most of the directives that squashed the fan-stories, etc came from Sony, in an effort to keep their name from being associated with material they didn't like.

Re:If EQ is any guage

[Phil Wilkins]

Sims Online is EA IP. Why would Sony have anything to say about it at all?

Sony's online strategy for PS2 is very much a hands off affair. We make the hardware, and provede some drivers. You implement and maintain the server. As opposed to you know who, who want a virtual Disneyland, complete with the army of creativity inspiring rentacops.

Robert the Bemused

[rde]

Will someone please explain to me the attraction of the Sims? When it first came out, I gave it a couple of hours, and decided it was a waste of time. When everyone tried to convince me it was great, I gave it another go. Still nothing. I'll grant that all video games are pretty much a waste of time, but this brings inanity to new levels.

Note: this is not a troll. I just don't understand why people would want to play the damn thing.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[eam]

I was trying to think of why I had no interest in trying the Sims. Then I remembered:

Nick: age 3
Alex: 18 months

Why raise a simulation when you have the real thing .

Re:Robert the Bemused

[swankypimp]

It is a great fantasy game for all ages. Instead of getting magic powers or wasting baddies with a BFG, though, you are able to get a cool house, a big tv, wife, mistress, and all other manner of fly shit. You can fairly easily upgrade your character's charisma, physical fitness, intelligence, creativity, etc. It appeals to college-age kids who are eager to get out into the real world, as well as to older people who want to recapture that youthful sense of wonder, in a setting where the problems of the RW don't exist.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[ergo98]

What isn't "escapism"? Anything apart from perhaps work (of course all of us put on "business faces" and play a role during the day. One could say that the game of business is escapism, because it certainly doesn't conform to any utopian dream), there are two types of entertainment: Passive and active. Active entertainment is things like gardening, or spending hours on your lawn to have a super gold green (now those people I think don't have a life, but hey c'est la vie), or working out at the gym, or writing or playing computer games. Passive entertainment is things like reading a book or watching TV. Personally on the grand scale I'd put active entertainment FAR above passive entertainment any day of the week (despite the elitist "read a book" BS. Books are someone else's imagination, not your own. If you really want to use the book elitism, at least say write a book which is something that anyone is capable of doing once they're literate), and I'd certainly give kudos to the person creating a universe in The Sims over someone running to catch the latest pop action flick from George Lucas, or the latest episode of Friends.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Martin Spamer]

I agree, I cannot see the attraction.

I think the people that do like it are the same people that watch Soap-Operas on TV, Briggs-Meyers F types, feelers not thinkers. They have been convinced join the computer revolution but are content to be passibe consumers, of emotional content, rather than knowledge.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[dswensen]

For me, the appeal is:

It's not twitch gaming. I can chill out and not have to clench my teeth and aggravate my carpal tunnel wondering if I can get to the Sodomizer 5000 before the Meklors kill me.

There are no serious consequences to screwing up. No saving and reloading, no trying to wade through mounds of enemies to get the Magical Hoobajoob. So, somebody gets fired from their job, or the shower breaks. Big whoop.

There's no real goal, so the pressure is off. I don't feel the need to charge forward so I can see the next level, cut scene, or badass monster.

My 3d card doesn't scream in agony trying to push the graphics.

I get to make the kind of interesting, screwed-up, freaky people I usually don't get to meet in real life -- and control their every move (cue Snidely Whiplash laughter).

But seriously, it's just a nice break from the games I usually play. I enjoy first-person shooters, RTS, and space sims as much as the next guy, but sometimes I just want to relax and play a quiet, dip-and-twiddle game that won't leave me shouting at the computer screen when lag kills me or I get overwhelmed by baddies.

I don't enjoy puzzle games like Minesweeper or Tetris, so this is a good alternative for me. Before The Sims came along, I usually played SimCity for just these same reasons: no pressure, no finale, no disastrous consequences. Just good fun.

Plus, and this may seem a little trite, but sometimes I just get tired of all the violence in games. Every once in a while I need a break from it. But when I start thinking "Gee, I really wish Betty Newbie had a railgun so she could pop Bob in the dome for leaving the dishes undone," I go back to Return to Wolfenstein and all is well again :)

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Phil Wilkins]

> how come EA decided on PS/2 version while there is X86/DirectX version in their hands

Because EA doesn't care about the marginal cost of porting to the PS2 (they have some in-house expertise in that department). What EA does care about is a potential additional 30 million sales. That and the ability to do Sims Online without having to pay a certain other company it's vig (in exchange for the promise of vapour).

Oh really now that's just silly.

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

It'll be interesting to see how both the console version of the game, and the online version deal with expansion and customization- the two things that allowed The Sims to become among the most entertaining games ever.

No, that's ridiculous. Do you think an unexpanded version of the Sims wouldn't have been the mega hit that The Sims is currently? The Sims sold just fine before any expansion packs. Because lots of people want to manage a virtual family. Lots of people can and do love The Sims with no additions whatsoever.

Re:Sims Website

[jgerman]

Cheaper, takes less time, and is more rewarding.

Popular attitude on /. lately, though gladly many have debunked it in the past. So here I go again:

Cheaper: Who cares. Those that can afford it do, those that can't can find other entertainment. No inherent quality here.

Takes less time: Not sure why this is listed as some sort of benefit, what are you going to use the extra time for? Laying around, doing more of the same? Why not do something that takes a long time rather than a few short ones, depending on your personality type, completing one long activity may be more rewarding than multiple short ones which leads me to:

More Rewarding: This is just a crock of shit, which leads me to believe that you are an immature, shallow thinker. The value of a reward is a function of the rewardee, (and to a lesser extent the rewarder), not some arbitrary designation placed by those who feel forced to judge other.

So why don't you live your life, and the people who want to spend time playing the Sims (or anything else) will live theirs and you can keep your meanigless value judgements to yourself.

It's for people who don't like Video Games...

[JohnDenver]

Or can appreciate people who don't like video games.

Take my girlfriend for example: She's really not into the objective nature of most video games which either keep the game interesting by appealing the need for visual stimulation (Quake)or mental simulation (Command and Conquer).

There are a slew of people who get dizzy from all the visual stimulation and don't want to joggle the brain with strategy games.

The Sims doesn't make people dizzy and they can't lose, because they're not in competition with another player or AI.

Really it's the first really successful girl friendly game, and one of the reasons people like it because they can explore scenerios with the Sims that they wouldn't otherwise risk in thier own lives.

It's not that hard to figure out if you can make an effort to understand why people don't like every other game.

Re:Bad idea

[joshsisk]

People say this all the time, they also say the opposite. I can tell you one thing, I can get much better-looking, faster moving and more detailed 3D graphics out of my PC than ANY game I have seen for the PS2.

However - my PC/video card/512 mb of ram combo cost way more than my PS2, WAY MORE, so it's not really a fair comparison.

PCs and consoles are JUST DIFFERENT. A top of the line PC is generally going to be more powerful, and give you better-looking graphics but it's a totally different way of playing games. It doesn't make it more fun, just a different kind of fun.