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.

Comments

Glorified Doll House?

[alpha1125]

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.

Sequels and time frames

[Anonymous Coward]

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!

On time? NO WAY

[inflex]

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.

Far more important reason for linux and mac versio

[SmallFurryCreature]

There is a far more important reason why they might want to create a linux/mac version. It requires you to know what the true appeal is of "The Sims". If you don't know it is close to what the true appeal of Quake/Half-life/Unreal is.

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.

And what kinda games do you like?

[SmallFurryCreature]

I hate to put it to you but most games are very repetitive. I heard this comment before, usually from CS kiddies. People who will happily play the same level over and over again, walk exactly the same path to hone their "skill" to the finest.

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.

Feels just like they're walking on broken glass

[vorpal22]

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...

The gaming demographic

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

The Sims is the very best example I got...

[Kjella]

...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