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Sims 2 Goes Gold

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the begin-your-lust dept.

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.

22 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. No way! by StevenHenderson · · Score: 5, Funny

    It appears that it will be on time after all, an unusual occurrence in this industry.

    I'm sorry what did you say? I was busy playing Half Life 2.

  2. In other news... by ALeavitt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wil Wright has just finished work on his Money Printer 2.0 (TM). Much like his original Money Printer, this will allow Wright access to enormous sums of money, and all he has to do is insert the monthly "expansion pack" to print even more!

    --
    This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
  3. Glorified Doll House? by alpha1125 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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
    1. Re:Glorified Doll House? by B00yah · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Funny, because that was actually the original name of the Sims (Doll House that is, minus the "glorified"). They decided to change it because they wanted a wider appeal for the game, and they felt that boys would have issues playing with dolls.

      But there is definite gender attraction to this...My wife's been chomping at the bit to get ahold of this since it was announced...She already has a Best Buy gift card set aside just for its purchase.

      --

      How Jaded Are You?
    2. Re:Glorified Doll House? by kfg · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It was orginally named Doll House because that actually was the genesis of the game. It wasn't a game at all, but an architechtural/interior design program with the advancement that you could populate it with people and pets so you could see a more natural rendition of your design rather than just a static image.

      After working it up they realized they had something that could be sold for entertainment.

      Frankly, I have no gender aversion to dolls or doll houses. They really are valuable tools for design and I like designing. Being able to animate them is a major plus. Call them "models" if you get all weirded out by names.

      They're also fun to play with. Sue me.

      But I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the game.

      KFG

    3. Re:Glorified Doll House? by DMadCat · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I just find it amazing that, after all of the space games, fantasy games, action/adventure games, sports games, etc... all people really wanted was a game that attempts to simulate real life in all of its monotonous glory.

    4. Re:Glorified Doll House? by glorf · · Score: 5, Funny

      Did you know that the first Sims was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none _suffered_, where everyone would be.._happy_. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program, entire crops were lost.

  4. SimLetMeSeeYouDoIt? by kg_o.O · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://thesims2.ea.com/images/screenshots/screensh ot_91.jpg I hope we finally get to see some ACTION! Or at least make an adult patch..pleeeasee ;)

  5. Vacation Time by Devil+Ducky · · Score: 5, Funny

    You don't need to call off, you only have to go to work every other day to not get fired. I always hate when the boss calls to yell during the middle of my nap after a long morning of weight lifting, doesn't he know that's only going to make me skip work the day after tomorrow too?

    Seriously, it looks like they did a great job with this game. Don't know if I'll like having my sims age and die on me but we'll see.

    Also gamespy has a brand new interview with Will Wright about the game.

    --

    Devil Ducky
    MY peers would get out of jury duty.
  6. Blah! by Mika_Lindman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn Sims, people who play this sucky game are the same fancies who watch Survivors and cry when their favourite drops out. Or watch Queer Eye For Idiots to get tips on how to dress. Real men play Doom3 and Half-Life 2, when they are not training to become better ninjas.

    Only way for The Sims to become playable for us Real Men, would be to include ninjas and pirates ( also replace all relationshipstuff with killing, and "build your own house" should be changed to "destroy your neighbours house").
    I've had it with you linux-loving, Sims playing fairies, I will no longer read any other website than the best page in the universe. You can keep on discussing about the latest Barbie's Pony game and when it's linux port is coming out.

    ( I don't need to include the smiley, now do I? )

  7. Licence to print cash by Snaapy · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I hope Will Wright gets his royalties. No doubt, The Sims is the best selling game idea ever. HC players might not like The Sims, but it's something large crowds want to play.

    The Sims Franchise Celebrates Three Years at the Top (feb. 2003)

    The Sims franchise has shipped over 24 million units, including more than eight million units of the core product, The Sims.

    Since the launch in 2000, The Sims franchise has spawned five expansion packs and a deluxe, console, and online version. The Sims has been translated into more than 17 languages and is sold worldwide.

    According to The NPD Group, The Sims base product was the number one selling PC game in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

    The Sims franchise games held five of the top ten spots on the 2002 best-selling PC games in North America chart, released by The NPD Group.

    The game's long list of honors has included being selected "Game of the Year" for 2000 by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and by numerous other publications in the United States and abroad. The creator of The Sims, Will Wright, was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in February 2002, joining such industry legends as Sid Meier and Shigeru Miyamoto. Will Wright has also been recognized by ISDA in 2002 for his extraordinary body of work and enduring legacy he has established in the interactive entertainment industry.

  8. I want to be a SIM person! by random_culchie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are they doing the merchandise yet?

    I want to get one of those green diamond things above my head!

  9. No, no-one ever thought this by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 5, Funny
    The Sims is a dollhouse. Except the dolls move although they clearly took their AI from Barbie.

    It is also one of the best selling games of all time. Any game company with a brain would love to have a game like this. It is like having a money press in the basement. Just keep pumping out tiny little version improvements (the expansion packs) and reap the money. Just check the sales charts of the last few years. Not bad for a game engine wich even at launch wasn't that hot.

    The most amazing story about The Sims is that no-one seems to have tried to copy it. You got the recent "Singles" and that is it. There seems to be a market for a non-violent, non-competitive game yet all we get is more FPS with extra-gore. Don't get me wrong I LOVE GORE. Just not all the time. Sometimes I want to play a nice game where I can control a households of lesbian teenage girls and get them to pee their pants in sync. Is that really so much to ask?

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:No, no-one ever thought this by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Non violent" it may be, but sadistic it isn't.

      I've had endless fun winding up the missus by finding new and inventive ways to kill off her people.

      From building them into rooms without doors, or even more evil intent, removing the ladders from the pool.

      Making the Goths into toast was purely accidental though ;)

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
  10. Ripoff by gammelby · · Score: 5, Informative
    Pffft. Pathetic ripoff of still shining Little Computer People.

    Ulrik

  11. You never played it eh ? by thrill12 · · Score: 5, Funny

    But ofcourse this is possible. In Sims 1, there were numerous ways to send you Sims to Sim-graveyard:

    - Lock them inside a room with a nice flaming fire, near some combustable furniture.
    - Make them swim, then take the ladder away.
    - Starve them in a room.
    - Give them a guinea pig for a present - guaranteed fun !

    Heck, if there ever was proper modding for the Sims 1 (creating objects yourself, it never arrived...), I bet people would even find ways to generate some attributes that would make this more 'easier'.
    But somehow I got the feeling that Sims blazing around the house with uzi's, bazooka's and the ever-so-funny boobytrap behind the new door was not the intention of the original Sims creators.

    However, now the Sims 2 is out, perhaps they put out some more of those long-promised development tools for Sims 1 ?

    --
    Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
  12. The original sims... by gUmbi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bought the original Sims when it first came out, more interested in the actual concept and implementation than the gameplay. Anyway..my girlfriend at the time tries it out and gets hooked. The creepy part - she's built a model of my apartment with me and her as characters. One day she comes into the room crying - apparently my character spontaneously combusted. We didn't last much longer after that :)

  13. Ahhh the Sims by therealfitzman · · Score: 5, Funny

    My favorite thing to do in the first Sims was to get my Sims addicted to Linux. Then I would switch them all to Windows and watch them slowly die. Good times.

  14. Makes for an interesting discussion. by Backdraft32 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We talked alot about the Sims and TS-Online in my philosophy class. We were having a discussion about human nature and virtual reality, and whether it would eventually lead us to a more enlightened era or if we would sink further into the dregs of humanity. I used The Sims to show that if there were no repercussions, people are generally going to do bad things - TSO is a haven for prostitution, crime and just all around deviance. Hence, we pretty much came to the conclusion that human nature is to do as much as you can get away with... So aside from spending hours on end playing the sims, you are also taking part in a really cool psychology and philosophy experiment. Check out the Second Life (formerly Alphaville) Herald for some more insight. http://www.alphavilleherald.com/

  15. The gaming demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  16. The Sims is the very best example I got... by Kjella · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...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
  17. more family fun by mono_indy · · Score: 5, Funny

    i used to start my wives sims game and put heavy metal music and horror movies on and let it run all night. she hated that. the simes would have lost almost everything and were crazy as hell the next day. i can't wait to see what i can do with the new sims. lol.

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