"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

[mkaltner]

You'd still be wrong, even if Sony made EQ in the first place.

The history of EQ is this:

Division X of Sony makes sports games
Division X spins off and becomes 989 Studios
Team Y at 989 Studios starts EverQuest
Team Y spins off and becomes Verant Interactive.
Sony sees the potential they let leave and buys both 989 Studios and Verant back.

So, Sony didn't even make EQ.
And The Sims, Online, won't be made by Sony either. So, I don't think Sony will stand in the way, at all...

Personally, I don't think Maxis (The creators of The Sims), would keep people from customizing the game. Of course, they'd need the Hard Drive for the PS2. And if they don't have one, they don't get to customize. Simple as that.

Well, that's my opinion at least.

- Mike

Re:If EQ is any guage

[Anonymous Coward]

One downfall of MMORPGs in general is the lack of real roleplaying. Dark Age of Camelot has seperate RP servers that do have special RPing rules that do help(like no l33t sp3ak, names that fit the setting, etc). I don't even use the non-RP servers anymore

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.

The perfect game for it!

[inkfox]

This is the perfect game for it. Keyboard use isn't so wildly important, save for the occasional chatty note, and the interface is pretty simple.

I'd also love to see Diablo ported to the Playstation. This is another one that would work remarkably well on the TV screen, and that has a straightforward interface for most of the game.

What are some of the other online games with simple interfaces? With enough choices like this, online console gaming could finally take off!

Re:The perfect game for it!

[unicron]

Their is a Diablo port on Playstation. Granted, it's not multiplayer, but it does exist. I always see it at the local Blockbuster and chuckle.

In my opinion, they need to port the other way. Halo for the PC would lead to some wicked lan parties.

Re:The perfect game for it!

[rapid prototype]

Diablo ported to the Playstation

um... Diablo was on the ORIGINAL Playstation. Two-player hack'n'slash action.

-rp

Re:The perfect game for it!

[rapid prototype]

it's not multiplayer

it wasn't an online game, but you could play with two controllers.

-rp

Re:The perfect game for it!

[inkfox]

There is a Diablo port on Playstation. Granted, it's not multiplayer, but it does exist. I always see it at the local Blockbuster and chuckle.

In my opinion, they need to port the other way. Halo for the PC would lead to some wicked lan parties.

Not much motivation to do it though. Judging by the LAN parties I've been exposed to, if there was a really large turnout, you'd still be lucky if anyone there knew anyone who'd actually bought the game. :)

Re:The perfect game for it!

[evilned]

In its most basic form, Phantasy Star Online was just Diablo in 3d. The game is probably the only reason I havent pulled out my ethernet adapter and sold it on ebay . It seemed to work well for sega (although much like the original Diablo, hacking made the game alot less than it should have been). Still, a keyboard is pretty much nessecary for the game. The chat software was really cool, but its just easier to grab the keyboard to type in a couple of lines instead, and thats one of the selling points of a game like that, communication with teammates. And with the sims, communication will probably become a major part of the game as well. USB keyboards arent that expensive, and I'm sure almost every online game Sony has its hands in will have keyboard support.

Re:The perfect game for it!

[ergo98]

Wasn't Halo originally supposed to be a Mac game (highlighted at a Mac trade show), followed by being a PC game, however Microsoft's acquisition of Bungie switched gears to it being a console game first. Of course as a console game probably 99% of the people playing the game are playing legitimate copies, versus the average computer game where I doubt more than 25% are playing legit copies. For all of the anti-copy protection babbling on Slashdot, the fruits of the rampant piracy on the PC is publishers who will only support the safest PC game (such as The Sims).

Re:The perfect game for it!

[Wheeljack2]

There was a Diablo port to the PSX1. And it was a really bad port, too. I would personally prefer to see Blizzard stay away from consoles, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing Warcraft III and World of Warcraft on consoles soon enough.

hmmm saving new cool items and expansion

[the_2nd_coming]

how the heck does sony plan to skirt this short fall of the PS2?

Re:hmmm saving new cool items and expansion

[krswan]

Doesn't a hard drive come with the ethernet expansion kit that Sony will be selling this summer? The 40gig drive that they have hinted at (and sold with their Linux kit) should save a few items and expansions.

Re:hmmm saving new cool items and expansion

[johnpaul191]

i don't own a PS2 (or an xbox) so i am not totally keeping on top of this, but my understanding was that the PS2 expansion kit included: ethernet card and drive (for the expansion slot in the back) and a keyboard and mouse.

i do not know how true it is, but i heard the expansion kit would allow users to surf the web and whatnot since they will have the ethernet jack. that would/could leave more up to the user in terms of selecting game servers. since there is a hard drive, they can load the OS on there and let you have the game disc in the drive. this is the push for them to work on their linux kit. if this is really how it plays out, i will be psyched. millions of kids with their very own linux box.

then again wasn't this supposed to be out already? i know linux kit was a huge success in Japan when it came out.

Re:hmmm saving new cool items and expansion

[martyn s]

I think you're talking about the linux kit. That's totally separate.

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

[mosch]

this may be a foreign concept to you, so i'll speak slowly and use small words.

not everybody is the same. yes, that's right, different people like different things.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[CaseyG]

I spent numerous hours maintaining my Sims' social lives, cleaning their homes, and keeping them fed and rested, until I realized that I would enjoy doing those things for *myself* even more. :)

-c.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Ilgaz]

I am also wondering how that game has become most bitched about game as being most suscessful game in PC history...

I mean, people like Counter Strike, they play it, for me its a disgusting thing.

Can't we go away from "sims suck" and "life game for lifeless people" and ask how come EA decided on PS/2 version while there is X86/DirectX version in their hands. You know how easy it will be for porting purposes.

Oh and... This is Xbox'es grave?

Let me say, I have NEVER, EVER seen a 45 year old married with children woman asking how to install an expansion pack for a game, for HERSELF. Its a phonemenon but it doesn't mean it has to suck.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Te1waz]

I know, I just don't get it either. Maybe it'll sell, maybe it won't.

What about a network enabled Grand Theft Auto?

There's a game that definetley HAS sold well on the PS2 (apart from in Auzzie). Hell, if they're that keen on the 'Sims' motif, have an expanded 'At home with the Mafia' bonus game where you can breed mafiosa (probably enacted at Luigis Club in Red Light, Portland). You know, add a few hot-tubs etc. 'Say hello to 8-ball, ladies'.

You could help out the neighbours 'Give them an offer they can't refuse' etc.

It'd be Kewl...

As for my earlier comment about Hairy Saliors playing street girls, I think we have one in the discussion already (RE:fp, score1).

Re:Robert the Bemused

[mattbelcher]

While explaining why something is fun to someone else is nearly impossible, I'll give you a few hints towards enjoying the Sims. 1) Play with more than one person in the house. Many hardcore gamers tried to "win" the game right off by trying to create a Bruce Wayne-esque playboy, power-levelling through the career ladder. This is probably the most boring way to play the game. A lot of the fun comes from putting your Sim household through all manner of interesting situations. You need to have several house members to do this. Inviting people over doesn't provide enough interaction. 2) Be creative. Try to create theme houses. For example, after the first expansion came out, I tried to re-create the 80s New Wave band "The Police." I created three characters: Gordan, Andy, and Stewart, put them all on the musician track and bought two guitars and a drum set. I held concerts for the neighbors. Eventually, I got Gordan and Stewart to start beating the crap out of each other. Basically, I amused myself by telling a story. The Sims is a game that takes a lot of personal investment into having fun. The game won't entertain you without your involvement. In this way it is a lot like table-top D&D. You only get out of it what your imagination puts in. The game is only there to make that imagination a little more tangible and to put some structure into the creation of your vision.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Rupert]

I don't know why other people like it. I like it because computer processes that do stupid, self-destructive things in contravention of my direct instructions are a familiar concept from my job as a Windows programmer.

I have at least got to the point with the Sims that I don't stay up all night making sure my Sims go to bed on time.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[kindbud]

In my experience, the people who most enjoy The Sims are the ones who cannot get a handle on their real life affairs. So they exert control in the virtual world.

That's my take, FWIW.

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

[Rupert]

Up to a point, Lord Copper.

I tried creating a family that matched my own, and building a house that looked like mine. That wasn't any fun (particularly since my Sim-family could only afford to build the basement at first). Since then I've been playing with random families, which is a lot more fun.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[jgerman]

So what isn't a waste of time?

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

[Rupert]

I play the Sims when Gareth (6), Fiona (3) and Lisa (*cough* >21 *cough*) are asleep.

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

[Sentry21]

I'll add in my two cents about what I like about it; namely, the architecture.

My first experience with The Sims was on my vacation to Israel; the family I was staying with were a bunch of sims junkies (the kids anyway), and so Galia and I would sit there for hours playing house, as it were.

I'd come up with some neat new design for a house (my favourite was every-room-a-building with paths and foliage in between, fenced off), and we'd spend an hour working on it, getting it perfect, furnishing it, trying to fit furniture in, and then she'd take over and do most of the managing of people with some input from myself, micromanaging their lives while I teased her about being a control freak.

Quite an amusing game to play with someone else, but I've never managed to play it alone for more than a few minutes. Games are always better in groups of two or more.

--Dan

Re:Robert the Bemused

[56ker]

Well I must be in a minority then because I
a) have no children
b) have never played the Sims and have never wanted to.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[BoBaBrain]

I spent numerous hours maintaining my Sims' social lives, cleaning their homes, and keeping them fed and rested

How very good of you. The rest of us sold all their Sims' furniture, walls and toilet and invested the money in a coffee machine. After that, the game practically plays itself.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[bryanbrunton]

The attraction to the Sims is really quite simple: SEX.

The people who purchase the game enjoying having all of the little Sim people copulate like sex crazed bunnies. They get those poor little Sims into all sorts of intriguing of love triangles and trysts.

The Sims builds upon the its cultural antecedents: TV Soap Operas and Barby Dolls.

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

[dswensen]

Agreed. Trying to design a house with good flow and aesthetic appeal is one of the big challenges of The Sims, and one I have the most fun with.

Hot Date has made that even more fun, as you can design entire downtown areas, so you not only get to design shops, restaurants, clubs and the like, but you have to think about street layout, seating, lighting, etc.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[dswensen]

My girlfriend is the most "together" person I know. She has such a handle on her real life affairs it makes me sick. And she adores The Sims.

I'd like to say it's because she's a girl and doesn't like violence (or something equally sexist), but she also happens to be the most sadistic GTA3 player I've ever seen.

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).

Re:Robert the Bemused

[sheean.nl]

I've got a nice one:

1) buy a radio
2) turn on the radio (hardcore music)
3) let the sims play with fireworks (in the house, full of wooden boxes and without an exit
4) BWUUHAHAHAHAHAHA!

can you imagine what kind of job it must be to record the voices for the sims?

ok, now scream, but not English, like you're set in fire, AAUWWUAAUWAUHWGHAWWA!

Re:Robert the Bemused

[misfit13b]

Depends what you do with it...

The only time I really saw this game played was when my brother had it. His character had an attractive next door neighbor, the only problem was, she was married. So, he invited the husband into the backyard for a cookout, and then built a shed around him with no doors.

After a little while of begging to be let out, complaining that he was hungry and needed to use the bathroom, he died. My brother then started to woo the poor widow, and they were married shortly after.

So you see, almost any inane game can be made interesting... if you're sick enough. After that instance however, the game DID get rather boring rather quickly.

And yes, sometimes I do worry about him. ;^)

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Ilgaz]

Um there is no "sex" in game... Just some 12 year old platonic stuff...Kissing etc.

Social stuff? Yes, especially that Hotdate stuff... Now they added "gossip", everyone talks against eachother! You know what it brings in? Social chaos!

Now what? we sims gamers will be called "sex psychos" or something? geez

Re:Robert the Bemused

[chad_r]

Well then, you obviously haven't tried this game yet.

Ref:

Re:Robert the Bemused

[jimbolaya]

My thoughts exactly. I tried playing the game for a little while, and I found it rather absurd that I had to constantly tell the characters to shower, eat, take out the trash...then I looked around my apartment. My own body needed showering, my own stomach feeding, and my own trash emptying. And why was none of this taken care of? Because I was playing this silly game! Telling people how to be cleanly is supposed to be fun? I don't get it, but apparently, a lot of people think so.

Re:Robert the Bemused

[rapidweather]

Same here. First time I saw someone playing the Sims game, I thought it was strange to see a grown man playing with a doll house, and boring too. My main interest would be in getting it to run on my system, after that, I'd let someone else play with it. Now an online version where strangers interact in a Sims world? Sitting on the couch together watching TV? Now that would be funny!

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Gibbys Box of Trix]

We did exactly the same thing. Well, tried, anyway. She just went loopy, crying over the gravestone in the garden, the house became haunted, and whether as a direct consequence or not the kitchen frequently caught fire since the incident occured.

Also imagine our remorse when we finally got round to reading the instructions and discovered that Sims are basically polygamous and we never needed to kill the poor fellow in the first place.

Hmm... all this Sims talks makes me want to reinstall it tonight. I think I will merge it with my current obsession (THPS3) and create a fantasy world of Tony Hawk's home life. Anyone have a model site with skate park apparatus?

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Magius_AR]

Why raise a simulation when you have the real thing .

Because I'd get arrested for some of the stuff I do to my Sims if it was irl ;)

Magius_AR

Re:Robert the Bemused

[Babbster]

Coffee??? Who in their right mind buys anything but the espresso machine? U R n07 1337! :)

Mouse

[Fender21]

How in the world could you play that with a console control?

Bad idea

[David_Bloom]

Maxis has had failures in the past porting their simulations to consoles. Without a real mouse or keyboard, most SIM games just end up being unplayable. I doubt the PS2 version will get very far.

Re:Bad idea

[Ilgaz]

So you think PS/2 hasn't, won't have a mouse?

As playing game since it was first shipped, I don't believe anyone over EA or Sony can be that moron not thinking it.

Re:Bad idea

[David_Bloom]

Nobody is going to pay $50 for a PS2 mouse just to play a $40 game.

Re:Bad idea

[binaryDigit]

Except that you can easily add a keyboard to the PS2 if you really want one.

Re:Bad idea

[David_Bloom]

At that point, wouldn't it just be easier...and cheaper...to use a computer and a TV-out compatible videocard?

Re:Bad idea

[Ilgaz]

They are paying...
$40 for the game
$40 * x for expansion packs

People wanting to play Sims on Linux, pay for $69 Mandrake gaming edition and the Win32 CD (modified). I don't want you to go postal but some are having win32 version in hand while doing it. :-) For being real MS (OS) free.

Don't be surprised if they include a mouse with the game. How much a Taiwan made USB mouse cost?

Know what? I'll check for a demo at Sony reseller here. If it works OK, I don't care, I am buying PS/2 and Sims... getting rid of win32 FULLY and FINALLY.

Re:Bad idea

[rseuhs]

The PS2 has 2 standard USB ports, so you just buy a mouse for 10$ (or less) or just grab the one that is hanging on your PC...

Re:Bad idea

[binaryDigit]

I don't think adding a $30 keyboard to your $199 game system equals the cost of a pc with tv-out card. If you've already got the pc hardware, then more power to you, but if you want to kick back on the sofa and play/watch the sims on the big tv, then whats so hard about plugging a usb keyboard in a ps2?

Re:Bad idea

[Ilgaz]

But your PC won't be 128bit. Read about PS2 specs someplace. Sony seems wanting to be away from geek specs because of their gamer profile etc.

If you read well, especially ram speed, processing power etc... And think its created for ONE THING, gaming, you'd think once more time comparing it to PC or XBOX.

Re:Bad idea

[joshsisk]

People buy arcade controllers that cost way more than that just so they can have the controls they are used from the arcades in Street Fighter.

People used to buy lightguns, before we got to PC to have controllers shaped like guns, even though each console usually had only one or two lightgun games.

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.

Re:Bad idea

[Gibbys Box of Trix]

You need to compare something like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 on the PS2 and the PC. Everyone, even Sony fanbois like you who have seen and played the two games running side by side admit that the PC version kicks seven shades out of the PS2. It even adds to the console version, a more complex online environment accessible through a standard 56k modem, skinnable characters, the ability to change the music, downloadable parks, etc. etc. I'd bet good money that the Sims games are better on the PC too for more reasons than just the graphics.

Noone who got motion sickness from PC gaming would go out and spend £250 on a graphics card anyway, because they wouldn't be playing the games that warrant it in the first place.

Oh! Look Score 0... you're a troll! Silly me.

Thumbs down

[SystemFork]

Has anyone here actually played The Sims?

It's boring. Your sims are like dolls living in a doll-house. You send them to work, feed them, clean up after them, put them in bed. Rinse. Repeat. Forever.

It's really not all that fun. I gave it away to a friend's girlfriend after playing it twice.

However, she loved it. [shrugs]
--

Re:Thumbs down

[Aexia]

That's exactly what it's supposed to be and that's why it's so popular with women. It's the dollhouse they couldn't afford when they were a kid.

Re:Thumbs down

[Anonymous Coward]

Sims is to games what Beaches and every Julia Roberts movie are to movies. A chick-click.

When a slashdot user says they have never met a person who likes the sims. Well, it is very possible.

Re:Thumbs down

[user32.ExitWindowsEx]

So, for your average /. reader, could The Sims be a game that convinces the ladies that geekiness isn't to be avoided after all?

Re:Thumbs down

[sheean.nl]

Now, you don't let them do casual things, you'd make them do things you would never (unless you're an idiot) do, like: electrocute, stunt with fireworks (in-house), drown those sims, call the police for nothing, drown them, the Sims is just like an ordinary horror game, really!

Re:Sims Website

[Anonymous Coward]

It's harder to turn your housemates into lesbians in real life than it is in the Sims.

Sims PS2 and Online are separate products

[vtown_mike]

The Sims Online has nothing to do with Sony. They are not providing any service for the game. The Sims PS2 is a separate product and is NOT an online game. It is being produced by Maxis and developed by Edge of Reality (who ported THPS, THPS2 etc... to the N64). It will have a classic mode as well as a new level/goal based game mode.

Not Sony

[CaseyG]

Sony isn't doing The Sims online. It wouldn't be their first venture into online gaming anyway, as hundreds of thousands of EQ players could tell you. :)

This is EA's first online game. The article also mentions that EA is teaming with Sony to bring titles (possibly including The Sims and/or The Sims Online, though it was not specified in the article) to the PlayStation 2.

-c.

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:Oh really now that's just silly.

[Fjord]

I don't think he was refering to the expansion packs, but the fact that you can go and download an "I Dream of Genie" skin and many other pop culture/racey/strange skins and objects for your Simms. My understanding is that this had a lot of apeal for people, but I never really could get into the Simms that much.

Re:Oh really now that's just silly.

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

I wasn't even quite sure if you could do that or not. In any event, I would be very surprised to discover that most The Sims users are doing this, although it sounds very cool and like something that some people could be come very obsessed over. But even if EA had been fascist jerks about this stuff and prohibited it, my suspicion is that The Sims would still be successful, probably just as successful as now.

His comment seemed like an attempt to take something with an appeal he didn't find quite so engaging (raise the virtual family), and try to claim its appeal was something else (customization), which is dangerous, as there are quite a few games as or more customizable than The Sims that were neither the creative nor commercial success that The Sims is.

Re:Oh really now that's just silly.

[RatBastard]

While many people do enjoy The Sims "Out of The Box", many people are aloways adding to the game. My humble Sims Site delivers 2.6GB of data a day, most of that as downloads. The fact that The Sims is expandable is what gives it legs.

RIP XBox

[rseuhs]

One should think that XBox would be the first choice for PC-Console ports, right?

At least that's what Microsoft want us to believe.

With the bestselling PC-games being ported to PS2, XBox will die a quick death like Hailstorm, Windows/Alpha and PenWindows (read: Microsoft will pretend to push it and then tell all customers to f**ck off without warning)

I think MS will lose a lot of their fanboys with XBox...

Re:RIP XBox

[garcia]

I don't remember Windows/Alpha having quite the backing (both financially and publically) that the XBox does.

I don't like the XBox myself, but that doesn't mean that people out there don't either. MS has created a machine that is doing what they want.. Infiltrating people's homes so that they can have Billy come onto your TV set daily to tell you his demands for the next 24 hours.

XBox isn't going to die just yet. Don't compare it to platforms that were dead from lack of public interest.

Re:RIP XBox

[rseuhs]

XBox isn't going to die just yet. Don't compare it to platforms that were dead from lack of public interest.

XBox *IS* dead because lack of public (and developer's) interest.

PS2 sells over twice as many units in the US, about 10 times as many units in Europe and over 60 times (!) as many units in Japan.

And all this only few months after release, where the sales are usually the highest.

Time is working against the XBox:

• At release, the XBox looked attractive to PC-gamers (XBox' primary audience), it looks a bit outdated today and in half a year it will be hopelessly outdated compared to any PC-gaming system. Even after 2 years, the PS2 doesn't look outdated.
• Sony just reduced their costs by producing everything one one chip. Microsoft will not be able to get a GeForcentium.
• When XBox is outsold several times by an 2-year old PS2, what will happen against a brand-new PS3? Everybody knows that sooner or later the PS3 will come, and just like 2-year old PC-tech can't keep up with the PS2, in 2 years PC-tech won't be able to keep up with the PS3, especially if you don't ignore costs. So even if MS releases a XBox2, it won't be able to keep up with the PS3 (and would be a bad move anyway, because XBox1 owners would be pissed. You don't want to replace your console every 2 years). The only pro-XBox argument is that (because of newer manufacturing techniques) it performs quite good and has a couple of features the PS2 lacks. If you take that away, what's left?
• The gap widens (see above). With every month that passes, it is becoming harder and harder to convince devopers to develop for the XBox and not the PS2.

I think MS will open their online stuff, then see that nobody is interested, quietly shut down production, sell the rest of their stock at Christmas and then just say "sorry".

Re:RIP XBox

[joshsisk]

The Sims is niche.

Niche? It's sold over 4 million copies. It's the biggest PC game of all time... Bigger than Myst.

That must be a pretty large niche.

Re:RIP XBox

[joshsisk]

At release, the XBox looked attractive to PC-gamers (XBox' primary audience), it looks a bit outdated today and in half a year it will be hopelessly outdated compared to any PC-gaming system. Even after 2 years, the PS2 doesn't look outdated.

This logic doesn't hold up, unless you are just blindly comparing specs (where it's hard to compare the PS2 to the others, as it's a different system), as opposed to actually looking at the results. The best Xbox games I've seen look nicer in terms of graphics than any of the PS2 games I own or have played.

However, there are no games for the Xbox that makes me _want_ to buy one. Which is what will ultimately kill the console - even if I could get a Xbox for free, I can't think of a single game I'd buy that is exclusive to the system. Halo is okay, but it's no GTA3. If they can't get more marquee title games, they are dead in the water.

Re:RIP XBox

[bryanbrunton]

You might think that until you realized that the XBox is a 3rd party game developer's nightmare.

A recent Microsoft press release tells us this:

"As for games in the U.S., Bach said five games have sold more than 500,000 units and 20 games have sold more than 100,000 units."

Its well known in the gaming industry that on average a game needs 200,000 units to break even on costs. So only 5 (most of which are owned by MS) of any the XBox exclusives have reached that point on the XBox.

And considering that the GameCube (4.2 million sold) has nearly outsold the XBox (2.5 million sold) 2 to 1, then the next logical choice would be the GameCube.

Links:
XBox lackluster Sales

Re:RIP XBox

[rseuhs]

This logic doesn't hold up, unless you are just blindly comparing specs

But this is exactly what the average PC-gamer does. In 6 months he'll say "What? A Celeron 700 with a nForce chipset and shared memory?", but a PS2 is still a PS2.

Re:RIP XBox

[sheean.nl]

Everybody knows that sooner or later the PS3 will come

it already is, check out this news-report, from a trusted web-site.

Re:RIP XBox

[joshsisk]

But this is exactly what the average PC-gamer does.

Considering that PC gamers -especially hardcore gamers- make up a negligable portion of the marketplace, I don't think any of the console companies much care what they think.

The focus of the market has long since moved from hardcore gamers to mass market gamers, even in the PC market. The fact that the Sims and Myst are the two best selling PC games proves this.

The Sims - a non-hardcore game - has sold about 4 million copies. That's less than 10% of the install base of the PS2, if I recall the numbers correctly (and I may not, but regardless it's still small in comparison). Quake III (for the PC) hadn't even sold a million copies last time I checked.

Sure, if you are saying that MS is going to have problems selling the Xbox to hardcore PC gamers because it's specs will start looking less and less powerful, I'd agree with you. I just don't think that is the market they, or any of the console companies, are going after.

Re:RIP XBox

[rseuhs]

I agree that hardcore-gamers only make up a smaller part of the market (small, but not neglectible. Quake 3 didn't sell as well as the Sims, but it still sold a lot).

However, everything the XBox does (x million polygons per second, hdtv, broadband) is a "hardcore-gamer" feature.

"Halo" is a "hardcore" game and by a wide margin the most (and probably only) successful game on XBox.

But I agree that hardcore gamers are a small audience, that's also a reason why the XBox doesn't sell.

But if you take that away, the XBox has lost their small audience, too.

Re:Sims Website

[packeteer]

escapism is a HUGE business worldwide... look at the figures for world wide heroin sales... ever wonder why american imports tons and tons of drugs every year?

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.

DaoC RP servers are a JOKE

[Gudlyf]

They may be a bit more strict with naming conventions, but it'll never "force" people to roleplay. Seeing someone actually roleplay on the RP DaoC servers is shockingly rare. I see people refer to power buffs as "crack" more than as a spell.

Only Played SimCity

[ackthpt]

I never went any further with the series so I wonder what they could cook up. SimCity was effectively trying to plan a city and solve it's problems as it grows and managing resources.

Ironically, it was a huge struggle which I never got very good at, perhaps there's a lesson there. About the time I decided to dump it I hit all the disaster buttons on the city and, lo, like real-life, it suddenly started to go well. Nothing like building after a disaster to revive a slumping economy (assuming you started with a pretty good one, rather than say, Goshzilla stomping through half of Africa and things going from bad to worse.) I haven't had much urge to play it since.

but but but.... Re:The perfect game for it!

[johnpaul191]

i wonder how they will deal with crazy 3rd party objects? will that be eliminated. so far The Sims has encouraged people to make their own skins for people and objects for the house. they even give info and link some of the bigger sites. i guess if/when PS2 gets online it will also allow for a keyboard and a hard drive? wasnt that the plan? i guess that will allow people to download 3rd party objects, or make their own with photoshop. i think the customization has been a lot of the success. where else can you make a house occupied by stormshadow (gi joe), darth vader, darth maul, the grim reaper and bill gates? yes, there are bill gates and steve jobs skins so you can make them neighbors and have them duke it out. there are 3rd party downloads to change the computers to Apple models. tons of retarted stuff. i don't play the game all that much (i dont play any games much), but i think the endless possibilities are the key to this game. some days you just want to remove the ladders from all the swimming pools (so people drown and death comes to take them away.... leaving a ghost producing tombstone). it's better than going... outside!

Re:but but but.... Re:The perfect game for it!

[inkfox]

i wonder how they will deal with crazy 3rd party objects? will that be eliminated. so far The Sims has encouraged people to make their own skins for people and objects for the house. they even give info and link some of the bigger sites. i guess if/when PS2 gets online it will also allow for a keyboard and a hard drive? wasnt that the plan?

Yes, the broadband adapter will ship with a hard drive as well. It would be entirely possible for Sony to either let people visit arbitrary sites, to use some site to deposit characters and objects that you want available, or to let EA maintain a single site with add-on objects.

As a matter of fact, it would be difficult to believe that they wouldn't let people do this!

And will there be a Linux version of it?

[dave-fu]

Well, will there? The Sims seem to be awfully popular with this Linux-savvy crowd, so it would logically follow that they'll release a Linux version for everyone, right?

Re:And will there be a Linux version of it?

[Rude Turnip]

There already is a version of The Sims for Linux. If you buy the Mandrake Linux Gaming Edition, it comes with The Sims.

It's actually the Win32 version that has been modified a bit to work with Transgaming's WineX...so it will work under Linux with WINE, but not under Windows because the code has been changed too much. I'll sell you my copy if you want.

Re:And will there be a Linux version of it?

[forsetti]

Are you sure this is this case? My understanding was that the "Sims" code was left alone, but Wine was modified (hence WineX) to support specifically those functions necessary for The Sims, as well as certain other specific games...

Re:And will there be a Linux version of it?

[Rude Turnip]

It's probably both cases then, because the game definitely won't run in Windows.

Re:And will there be a Linux version of it?

[Lemmy Caution]

The whole Sims thing soured me on Transgaming. For one thing, it is only shipped with the Mandrake gaming edition - and it thus costs more than the Windows version of The Sims. I had signed up with Transgaming expecting to get support for running the windows Sims I had already bought - but no, it's a separate purchase. Also, the 'Linux version' of the Sims can't use the expansions (like Hot Date, Vacation and the like). I seriously doubt that it will be useful for the online version.

I don't think the Transgaming model is a very good one. By forging the business partnerships they did to make money, they disappointed me and other customers. With Transgaming, the CodeWeavers plug-in, and the open tree, all of Wine is horribly forked - I'm not religiously opposed to paying for software, but I don't like the idea of have 3 entire Wine installations on one system (and I prefer to have Debian manage my installations, thankyouverymuch.) I don't have any clever solutions on how it could work (I used to work in a Vespa repair shop, and the owner of the shop once told me "avoid people who say 'you could make a lot of money if.... ' - you need their advice like you need pernicious anemia") but the current approach towards Wine and Windows-based games in Linux isn't working.

could somebody please explain

[cr@ckwhore]

Could somebody please explain *why* The Sims is such a popular game? I've played the game, and found it to be completely boring and even slightly confusing. Whats the appeal?

Re:could somebody please explain

[Jeppe Salvesen]

I got two words for you : nudity patch.

Seriously, though. It's just a training program for nerds before they get out into the real world. Figure out how much work it is to get laid the hard way, how much time keeping a tidy apartment takes, etc etc etc.

Then, it's back to online nudity and pizza boxes with alien life forms forming.

Re:could somebody please explain

[Babbster]

Could somebody please explain *why* nerds are always criticizing the things that *other* nerds like that they don't (and apparently doing so with their +1 turned on to boot)?

I knew it! I search for "ladder" on this page...

[StupidKatz]

and I get some twisted schmuck who likes killing of his Sims in some silly manner or another...

No, I don't kill my Sims. Probably because I'm still waiting for the prices to come down in my local store. :)

PC games to Console: Sims vs. Diablo

[digitalmuse]

I think inkfox is in the dark about how Diablo has already been ported for the original playstation. And apparently it got fairly good reviews, so you could argue that it's a good landmark for how a PC-based RPG made a graceful transition to a console title. However many of the people I know got addicted to playing Diablo as a (m)morpg, and the console version supports only a basic two-player version.
I personally can't see myself playing a(m)morpg sim game like 'The Sims'. Everquest and it's ilk seem to be the 'killer-app' for mmorpg's and they do it very well, because they reward players for working together for short-term rewards and long-term gain. The system also has an inherent, "my Palidian is bigger than yours!" ego-stroke factor with the upgradable array of quasi-unique items and the structured leveling system. You play to improve your character (both XP and GP) and then take on new, more challenging enemies.
On the other hand, games like The Sims reward intellectual gameplay based on long-term development and more qualitative goals; build a pretty house (what do you consider 'pretty'?), develop lots of positive relationships with NPCs, build some skills, budget time for work/play, etc.
I always found that I could pop open the sims for 'just 10 minutes' (which invariably becomes 30...) but I will sit down for a good chunk with an RPG (to date I think most of my playstation RPG sessions were at least 30 minutes, if not more like 1hr +...) Without adding a new 'competitive' aspect to The Sims, or building a structured points/leveling/neighboorhood/my_sims_need_therapy system, I find it difficult to imagine that they will find the online version will get the same rabid response from the gaming community that drove the original single-player 'The Sims' to blockbuster status on the PC.
This isn't to say that I don't love The Sims, but I think that it is going to take some serious re-tooling of the game's underlying goals and concepts to produce a (m)morpg that will sell to the online-console-gamer market.

Re:PC games to Console: Sims vs. Diablo

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

I always found that I could pop open the sims for 'just 10 minutes' (which invariably becomes 30...) but I will sit down for a good chunk with an RPG (to date I think most of my playstation RPG sessions were at least 30 minutes, if not more like 1hr +...) Without adding a new 'competitive' aspect to The Sims, or building a structured points/leveling/neighboorhood/my_sims_need_therapy system, I find it difficult to imagine that they will find the online version will get the same rabid response from the gaming community that drove the original single-player 'The Sims' to blockbuster status on the PC.

I dunno, it seems to me that the very things you describe are what keeps me from playing any current MMOGs. I was totally put off by the having to put hours of time in at a time, social hierarchy based totally on how little life you have outside the game, statistics systems designed to waste my time and addict me rather than be rewarding play in and of themselves.

I think the lack of any clear goal, except a focus on doing whatever you think is fun, and it's focus on inherently social situations, makes it an exceptional candidate for turning into an online game. Indeed, the prospect of everyone showing off their own version of the pretty house to each other strikes me as an incredibly beautiful idea for a game.

Remember, if it's sold on a montly subscription model, it doesn't matter how many hours you want to waste on it--it just matters that you're willing to pay to waste SOME time on it every month.

I never bothered to get into the Sims, simply because everyone else already was, and I have a bigoted disdain for things everyone else likes already ;). But perhaps an online version would be different enough from all other massively multiplayer games that I'd have to give it a shot.

Re:PC games to Console: Sims vs. Diablo

[digitalmuse]

I have to agree with you Track, I myself don't play MMORPG's, I don't care for the PK/Level_whoring that many MMORPGs 'devolve' into, I guess my interests fall into 3 categories;
a) 'flat' multiplayer experiences like CS or Quake3:TA. (well defined game structures that are based primarily on skill, not on out-spending an opponent based on in-game development)
b) old-school paper-RPGs (gameplay shared with a bunch of people/friends in a co-operative environment that rewards thought and cognitive skill... and a little hack'n'slash for fun!)
c) single player RPGs (which invariably seem to be console/PC based (ie: final fantasy, Marathon, Deus Ex, etc... , are their any good self-run paper RPGs?)

I found The Sims to be interesting, and I will gladly admit that I redecorated my house a few times, learning about space management and the immportance of a good book-case to prevent kitchen-fires, however I didn't care for it as much as I did for any of the original Marathon trilogy. That was a game with intrigue, character development (not the player's character so much as the AI's that drove the story) and plot. We all look for different 'experiences' in our leisure time. I have friends who enjoy recreational drugs, making their own music, martial arts, art, cooking, porn, competitive sports, programming, MMORPGs, ADD (et al) and countless other pursuits.
Everyone finds something that satisfies them as an individual. Companies cater to these needs (face it, you do not need 95%+ of what you see in your local 'big box' retailer) and aim their products at things they think we like spending our time doing. My belief, as stated in my first post, is that attempting to develop a syncronicity between 'The Sims' and the 'MMORPG market' will be difficult. And without altering a large portion of what makes 'The Sims' such a popular 'simulation tool' (as Maxis likes to label their products) I think that they are not going to appeal to the target market of power-gamers who make 'EverQuest' and 'UltimaOnline' such financial successes.
I also recall that 'The Sims' had a fairly robust system that automatically generated an exportable HTML scrapbook/photo-album/family-journal of the major events in the lives of your Sims. People created houses that told stories, dark tales of death and drownings (and the funeral urns over the mantle...) and swingin' batcholer pads that had hanging gardens and would host pool parties for the whole neighborhood. Perhaps they are looking to make that aspect the selling point. Who knows, but having played most of the Maxis titles at one point or another, I wish them the best of luck.
And don't forget to clean up after the hamster... ;)

Re:PC games to Console: Sims vs. Diablo

[Babbster]

I've never understood the complaint about EQ (and any other online game) that it rewards people who have no outside life. What part of your life outside the game SHOULD be affecting your gameplay? Should you be getting experience in EQ for going outside and taking a hike through the forest? Should you be getting experience for starting a brawl in a bar?

ALL MMOGs are going to reward you for playing more, just like Final Fantasy can only be completed through many hours of play or Diablo rewards you for playing as long as you can. How much success are you going to have with The Sims (offline) in less than a couple of hours?

Now, if you are making the argument that you don't like the "fixed" time commitments of things like joining your guild on a raid, exploration of a dungeon, well, I guess I can understand that. But, the only real difference between EQ and an offline RPG in that area is that in an offline RPG you can just save and come back to where you left off. I would suggest the EQ is more interesting BECAUSE it requires you to plan your time, coordinate events with your friends and/or guildmates and generally demonstrate some commitment to get ahead. If you can't do that, then it isn't the game for you, but that doesn't mean that it is a "bad" game or that the people who play it have no lives...they just enjoy different entertainment than you do.

-Aaron

Re:PC games to Console: Sims vs. Diablo

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

Games should reward you for getting better, not for playing them more. It should be a function of skill and strategy, not of time spent. True, you're skill and strategy in a particular game will increase with time spent playing, but it should be a natural result of practice, not an arbitrary "experience points" system.

Most offline RPGs don't require you to waste time doing simple repetitive tasks before you get to do anything fun. Some do, and I generally don't play any of those games. Final Fantasy is fun immediately. Everquest and it's kind just want to taunt you with the fact that you are not and never will be able to even distract other players in combat, NOT because they are more skilled, NOT because they are smarter than you, but because they have a magic, game defined number that you can only get by playing ProgressQuest.

And yes, it does mean it is a bad game. The game encourages people to do mindless repetive tasks. People waste time doing these tasks, instead of doing something productive or creative, or even just playing a game that would improve their reflexes or intelligence instead. Thus, the world is an inferior place because of EverQuest, and that makes it a bad game.

But really, I only scream at companies making games like this out of love. I think massively multiplayer, persistent games have incredible potential. Yes, they will always have massive time commitments (will they always intentionally inflate their commitments with bizzarre relics from the gaming past as "experience points"?), but they have the potential to create entire societies purely for entertainment. MMOGs should be the genre of gaming showing the most innovation, so it hurts me so damn much to see them showing THE LEAST. Why is it we see nothing but endless improvements on a very antisocial game about killing monster after monster, selling what you find killing them, buying weapons, and killing more monsters?

So I'm really, really excited about any MM game coming down the pike that will show everyone, once and for all, that YES, IT'S POSSIBLE TO MAKE AN ONLINE GAME ABOUT MORE THAN KILLING LOTS OF STUFF TO GAIN LEVELS TO KILL MORE STUFF! Holy crap, it may even be possible to make a massively multiplayer online game where violence never happens!

And maybe, maybe, by appealing to a different demographic, these companies will learn that time commitments are a neccessary evil, not a feature.

Re:I knew it! I search for "ladder" on this page..

[johnpaul191]

oops.... i mean i heard that people do that... i read it online somewhere.

i do have to say that i never thought of that trick on my own. someone came and did it to my Sims neighborhood while i was away..... poor sims. for the creative people with issues there are many ways for sims to die (like walling them in while they sleep, which i have never tried). i think my housemate explored the possibilities after his favorite Sim died from spontanious combustion. another lesson in why you should back up your data.

It's like the Real World

[Telastyn]

It's like the Real World on MTV, and the accursed 'reality' shows. The Sims allows people to look in on other people's lives, even if they aren't real. The game is made in such a way to create drama to entertain, and give just enough control to keep people "playing".

I hate reality TV. I hated the sims.

The sims is just reality TV you can interact with.

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

[Ooblek]

I totally agree with you. Now if I could just figure out an easy way to help my wife learn the UI of it....oh, wait, then she would be using the computer all the time when I want to do Everquest. Nevermind.

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

[Rupert]

Absolutely you can lose at the Sims. Like when you leave it running overnight and come back in the morning to find the husband dead (from a kitchen fire because you never had him study cooking) and all the furniture sold because the wife can't hold down a job because she's always out in the yard crying over the gravestone.

The Sims are fun, but not too bright...

[Anonymous Coward]

I find the Sims fascinating. Over time they've concocted this hilarious idea that they evolved from pixels. This seems to have gained popular support largely because they can't experimentally confirm my existence. I could meddle, I suppose, but it's more fun watching them try to figure it out for themselves.

Re:please pay attention!

[News For Turds]

Oh yeah. Sorry about that. This is the real link. Dumbass.

Joy of the sims

[billatq]

I think some people are missing the point. While the sims is a mediocre at best simulation of life, the fun part about it is that you have the ability to control whatever you want. You don't get that chance with life. You build up their little lives and completely wreck it to where it's worse than your own. I'm not sure how popular this will become on console though, but most everything can be done with pointing and clicking on the game.

the sims .... ick

[tadd]

i installed it on a friend's computer and played it for maybe an hour after installing ... what the hell is the point? then again i generally abhor games that dont't require actual thinking. give me a good game of chess, backgammon, checkers, go, reversi, anything that is basically a board game for computers, especially if the man v. computer mode is at least modestly challenging, i am happy. i don't need simulation, my real life is stimulating enough, and if not, i have coffee

Customization and Play Control

[Rezell]

I remember being a fan of the original SimCity, and when it came out for the NES I bought it so I could play on a larger screen. However, two buttons (A & B) and no shortcuts could hardly compete with a keyboard/mouse combination.

The PS2 has 10 buttons (if you count the analog sticks) - so hopefully the can overcome the control problem suffered by many games that are ported from PC to a console.

It would be really cool if they built in a control mode that would allow a gamer to use the USB keyboard and mouse that come with the PS2 Linux Kit and retain all of the control functionality of the PC game.

check again...

[bje2]

check again, www.news.com.com, news.com.com, www.cnet.com and www.news.com are all CNet, and all resolve to the same block of IP Addresses...

Re:Sims Website

[sheean.nl]

ever wonder why american imports tons and tons of drugs every year?

research?

Re:Sony's Evil Twin

[WillSeattle]

You just have to use a black marker around the outside rim of the CD and it's automagically NOT copy protected.

Copy Protection - Bad Idea for Lotus 1-2-3 - Bad Idea Now

-

Four True Things

[WillSeattle]

1. The Sims (Win/Linux) is going online.
2. The Sims is being done for PS2.
3. The Sims will be ported to the GameCube - which has an audience with a high female content who like the game, plus parents who will buy it for kids instead of ultraviolent games.
4. The Sims probably won't be ported to xBox.

-

Re:Sims Website

[sheean.nl]

why simulate real life?

can you control your roommates and make them fight each other, and then stop... load... restart & drown them?

look, people just want to do something and then stop and do something else without screwing any real-live persons.

simulating is a good way of testing things for real-life, without the Sims some people might never know that trying to repair your desk-lamp can kill yourself!

Contradictory.

[(codic)]

I recall an interview with Will Wright some time ago where he stated that a Linux port of Sims Online was technically impossible because, IIRC, the level of synchronization required between the client and the server could not be achieved if they were running on different OSes.

It doesn't appear to be the case that the Sims Online is actually going to be ported to the PS2 (see previous comments), but if news like this ever becomes official, I would like to see an accompanying comment of how they overcame the synchronization difficulties.

I can't find the original interview anywhere, so I could be mistaken. If you can find it, let me know.

the assassination of Lord British all over again

[dswensen]

Ah, online GTA3 would just be ruined by the one guy who manages to steal a tank and then just roars around the neighborhood plowing over everyone else.

Update

[David_Bloom]

Sorry about all this USB mouse stuff...I don't own a PS2, and did not know that you can just hook up a normal USB mouse. Anyway, USB mice run around $40 nowadays, so I'm still not sure if it's practical...plus, you are going to get a USB extention cable to use it on a big screen TV.

player killing in sims :)

[Black_Logic]

This may be a little off topic, but..
I've never actually played sims but my younger sister has every expansion pack and plays the crap out of that game. One day I was asking her about it the game, I wondered if you were able to kill/fight anyone in the game. Her answer was a hesitant no, she said, "Well, I did kill my maid, she wasn't very good at her job." "How'd you do it, if you're not allowed to kill anyone?", I asked. Here's how she did it.
1. Build a small empty room next to your house.
2. Put a fishtank or something that a maid would want to fiddle with in there.
3. Ask maid to clean fishtank.
4. Close the door by building a wall.
5. She'll starve in there. :)
6. Optionally, turn the room she's in into a pool, that'll cut her lifespan down to about 2 days. :)

My little sister freaks me out sometimes. :)

Re:Everything old is new again...

[Peyna]

Did you ever play with Action Figures or GI-JOE? Those were all dolls. Just given different names because boys didn't want to play with dolls. The original GI-JOEs were about the size of what you might consider a doll. I am going to go play with my (fake) stuffed animals now, thank you.

s/entertaining/popular/

[Time Doctor]

There are a wide number of games which are high selling and I think most gamers can agree _aren't_ fun (cough, Who Wants To be a Millionare cough). This is probably another one of thoses cases where your average RTS/FPS/et cetera fan won't be interested. I know I'm not interested, but then, you'd need a *real* Linux port to get me to play.

As in, something that's not a very slightly modified windows binary with a wine wrapper (and to play even the 'transgamers' have to purchase the distro).

This is _really_ silly when the codebase has been ported, twice. The first time without the polygonal parts, and the second without graphics whatsoever (if I recall correctly).

People with Lives Need Not Apply...

[NetFu]

My God, I posted a negative review for The Sims on PCGR.com (PC Game Review) basically saying what most of the negative comments in this thread have said, so I feel the same way.

But, I can't say all computer games or video games are a "waste". I have been a Sim-freak for more than 10 years going back to the first SimCity. I love ALL of the Sim games except this Piece Of Shit. Because:

THE POINT OF A SIMULATION GAME IS TO BE OR CONTROL THINGS YOU CAN'T DO IN REAL LIFE!!!

SimAnt -- Cool to control and half-way understand an ant colony
SimCity Classic & 2000 -- way cool to create and destroy
SimTower -- pretty cool to simulate the economics of a big tower, but limited.
SimIsle -- cool, but limited like SimTower
SimFarm -- same as SimIsle or SimTower
SimGolf -- hmm, cool only because there's no chance I'll ever own a golf course.
SimLife -- waay cool simulating genetics and evolution
SimEarth -- cool like SimLife, but on a larger planetary scale.

The point is that the sim/game allows you to be or do something that you probably could never do. So that's why I've come to the conclusion that only losers would enjoy The Sims because if I don't waste my time on the game I have a good chance of doing everything the Sims do in the game. Only losers would not have the prospect of ever buying stereos, big screen TV's, using certain paints on their house, or planting certain plants in their garden. Or, my God, having real inter-personal relationships with real human beings.

But then I come to the question of, "How is it that these losers have computers to play the game and post these pro-Sims messages on Slashdot.org???"

Oh well, at this point, I don't give a shit because they're losers so I'll stop trying to figure it out and get back to my real life...

Console version of the game

[BornInASmallTown]

It'll be interesting to see how both the console version of the game, and the online version deal with expansion and customization...

Oh great, now I have to figure out how to build and live in a virtual house using nothing but csh.

Re:Console version of the game

[haggar]

Oh great, now I have to figure out how to build and live in a virtual house using nothing but csh

Don't complain. I was playing, in my BBS days, a MUD, purely text-based, where the greatest thrills would be provided by somethinglike this:

You hit Pete the great with your Spear of Gold.
You do 450 hitpoints of damage.
You have killed Pete the great!

Re:For real SIM online fun ...

[Caffeine27]

Freakin classy, but your to late. they have that...

Re:Sims Website

[scosol]

why simulate real life?

look, people just want to do something and then stop and do something else without screwing any real-live persons.
simulating is a good way of testing things for real-life

EXACTLY - witness the zen that is Grand Theft Auto 3 :)

the sims like eq?

[modme]

I just cant wait to be able to camp the rare spawn Neighbour's Dog. I need to collect and hand into the vet 14 rare spawn fleas, and the rare drop turd, to get my new 'baseball cap of uber d3wdness'!

Add dragons or the Sims get medevil

[WyldOne]

I mean what is the challange in normal situations? Add Dragons, drive-bys, alien abductions, superheros, Villans, Elvis sightings, you know the things you see in National Enquirer

Everyone knows that without dark there is no light.

At $200 a pop

[Pfhor]

I know I would buy one.

Why? cause it's cheaper than upgrading any PC i have to becoming a decent game box.

And, hopefully someone will start hacking at it, and get it running some more fun things. On board networking, great video out, great audio capabilities, could turn into a decent home entertainment system (actually, it is a decent one right now, if you don't mind keeping everything in WMA on it, and not be able to retrieve information from it). I would hope someone could break open the box and start hacking with it, get linux on it. (I don't know if the CD ROM drive un able to read burned CDs is true or not).

It would be a fun project box. And because I spent 3 hours playing halo on it, and I want one.

Sims need smoke alarms

[alien_tracking_devic]

I've dated two cute women who were Sims nuts (that's right--cute gaming chicks--two of 'em. No, don't ask me where I found them--go find your own). In both cases there were times I came over when they had a Sims session going on. So they just let it run by itself while we cooked dinner or whatever and eventually the Sims would start a fire in the Sim kitchen and burn everything down. This always happened. Cracked me up every time.

time restrictions

[Magius_AR]

I just wish they'd slow down time a bit, so that taking a shower doesnt take 2 hours and going to the bathroom doesn't take an hour...you hardly have any time to do anything, especially with the new expansions.

Magius_AR

Don't forget the heart bed

[peter]

And just what do you think your sims are doing when you tell two of them to "play in bed" on your vibrating heart bed. (in the Livin' Large set.) Sure doesn't look platonic to me ;)