Slashdot Mirror
Sims 2 Goes Gold
Dan Farina writes "The long awaited 'The Sims 2' has gone Gold, as seen on the latest posting on Maxis' The Sims 2 updates page. It appears that it will be on time after all, an unusual occurrence in this industry." I'm already having a strange obsessive twitching in my left leg. I think I might need to use up some vacation time in September.
Anyone else ever thought that the sims was a glorified doll house game?
Probably why I never play it... dolls and doll houses don't interest me. I'm not saying it shouldn't interest you, it just doesn't interest me.
Money cannot buy happiness, but can buy something soo darn close, that you can't really tell the difference
What I really enjoyed about "the Sims" was the ultra repetitive game play! Who wouldn't want a game where hardly anything changes?
Of course, the feature that's really going to sell more copies of the Sims 2 is the feature that makes me sad for humanity: Virtual people making more virtual loving! Great... now that's excitement. Here's a tip people: the real thing is just a little bit better (or so I've heard, I obviously haven't experienced it since I post on slashdot)
I've just signed legislation that'll outlaw Russia forever. We'll begin bombing in five minutes.
Sequels by wal-mart style developers (like EA) usually are on time when you consider the main part of the game has already been made.
It would be far more poignant to ask how late the first one was!
Are you freaking kidding me?
Sims2 was due out in _MARCH_ originally.
Not only that, it was supposed to have precursor tools/applications out in Nov 2003.
The project in fact is about 6 months overdue.
PLD.
Right, user created content. The expansion packs are bought less for the extra content but for the extra capabilties given to content creators. New type of chairs, new types of clothing. It may sound strange but the original game had some severe limitations on what kinda seating you could have. You could create a low seat but any sim sitting on it would float.
So why are Mac and to a lesser extent Linux versions important? I think it is save to say that the Mac crowd has a higher percentage of people who like to create artwork. Linux has a higher percentage of coders.
It is telling that a lot of the free content sites I visited had very clear instructions for how to use their content on the mac version.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Sigh, guess I'll be sacrificing my own health, hygeine, career, love life, and 'round the house duties in the coming weeks in favor of the same for a set of pixilated poppets. Why would I do this? SIMS express a greater range of emotions and reward me better than my girlfriend, family, co-workers, and neighborhood police tend to do. I like rewards. Ring the bell Pavlov, its salivating time!
Aren't "Monster Rancher" or "Animal Crossing" similar games? Having never played either, I'm only going off Gamespot reviews, but they both sound like they share similar, non-violent, build for no apparent reasons qualities.
I never did understand these games. I tried The Sims for about 2 weeks, got bored, moved on. I tried the Sims Online, realized you couldn't get anywhere or really do anything, got bored, moved on. I doubt I'll try Sims 2.
--trb
Oh yeah. That is fun.
All games get old really fast. The trick is not to make the gameplay to varied. It is to make the basic gameplay so much fun that people want to do it again and again and again. Kinda like sex. Except is usually a lot easier to cheat in a maxis game.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
My biggest hope for Sims 2 is that it won't take my Sim 15 in-game minutes to walk from the bedroom through the living room to the bathroom. I mean, I have my sluggish days, and my house is big, but...
I think the success of games like the Sims and the near-inevitable success of its sequel point to the increasingly fragmented nature of the gaming demographic.
In the past, it was simple. You had PC gamers and console gamers. The former mainly played simulatorss, strategy games, fpses, "Western" RPGs and the more "highbrow" sports games. The latter had platform games, beat-em-ups, "Japanese" RPGs and the "arcade" sports games. There was a bit of crossover and plenty of people owned both a PC and a console.
These days, I follow what would once have been the "mainstream" games for both PC and consoles. The games I've been excited about include Doom 3, Half-Life 2, the next installment of the Final Fantasy series and pretty much anything from Bioware. However, in terms of games sales, I represent an increasingly insignificant force. The Sims and its expansions represent an entirely different gaming demographic all on their own, reaching out to a group which would never have been marketed to in the past, but who have brought a whole new level of purchasing power. Similarly, we've seen much-ridiculed genres such as the "deer hunter" games spring up and be largely ignored by the classic "mainstream" gamers, but go on to huge commercial success.
I don't think this is a bad thing; it's just an inevitable part of gaming moving further into mainstream society.
...that you're NOT supposed to judge the market by yourself. If I was an exec presented with this game, I would have sent them packing. [Insert que of music exec turning down Beatles here] I tried it for a little while, and I must say I simply didn't get it. I still don't get it. I probably never will get it. It feels like a crappy DIY reality show. Then again, people play solitaire too. If I do, my mind goes "boring. Boring! BORING! B O R I N G ! ! !" Ah well, wouldn't be any fun if we were all alike anyway.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
One day out of sheer curiosity I fired up her PC, logged in as her, and loaded up her saved game.
This act in and of itself speaks volumes about the disconnect in your relationship and the disconnect you have about judging control-freaks and seeing the same behavior in yourself.
... Sims 2 with the hope that the micromanagement tasks are optional.
That's why this game sucks. It's micromanagement at the stupidest level. Gosh, I bet there's more in a human being's life than cooking, mopping, sweeping, unclogging toilets...
I found The Sims to be a very addictive, horrible game.
Which leaves, guess what... that other deeply mysterious human gender, Women. Huh, who woulda thunk it, a game popular with the ladies..., Gosh!, maybe they even deliberately designed it that way. Which is probably why, statistically speaking, most slashdotters don't get it.
My daughter (age 16), and freinds, loves the original Sims+Pack+++ and is eagerly awaiting the new game.
The Sims is a beautifully crafted and delivered fantasy AI world where players pretend absolute control over other peoples lives. To say nothing of the amazingly detailed, houses, landscaping, decoration, fashion and gizmo obsessions. The whole thing has a lightweight, easygoing ethic and experience that is light years from the dark and dangerous firefights guys enjoy.
Of course, what this fantasy may say about the real workings of the female psyche... I shudder to think, not something a guy/father can safely speculate about and stay politically correct, (or alive).
But what of it..., its fantasy, harmless entertainment liked by women, so EA found a winner, and a whole otherwise ignored market, so good luck to em I say.
Maybe we should all learn to write games and software that women as well as geek guys can like... Heck, I heard they were 50% of the random user base!
There is no god; get over it already! Never exchange a walk on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage.