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Urbz: Sims in the City Comix

Posted by Zonk on from the indie-comix-and-simlish-go-together dept.

Thanks to MaxoidHumanoid (a Maxis employee) who writes "The latest title of the Sims franchise, The Urbz, comes out next month, and there is a new feature on the website launched only yesterday called Urbz Comix. A new comix will be released weekly for 10 weeks. A stellar line-up of indy comix artists has been assembled. Here's part of the roster: Peter Bagge, Evan Dorkin, Jay Stephens, Jim Mahfood, R. Stevens"

3 of 19 comments (clear)

  1. Re:OOPS, still, the question stands by fireduck · · Score: 2, Informative

    it appears the the Urbz is console only, while Sims 2 is a pc based game (not sure if there's a console version yet). I think Urbz is aimed at teens who want to do cool things like go to a club or eat sushi, or strip down motorcycles, rather than have cocktail parties... (hence the console release)

    kinda like the difference between an oldsmobile and an acura.

  2. Re:OOPS, still, the question stands by Babbster · · Score: 4, Insightful
    You're correct that Urbz is for consoles and Sims 2 is PC. There actually IS an argument to be made, though, that Sims 2 is something of an extension of the two console Sims games (The Sims and The Sims Bustin' Out). I say this because Sims 2 took the original PC game and added a fully 3D engine (console: check), increased character customization ability (console: check) and more goal-based gameplay (console: check). They also added Sim aging which is new for the series as a whole.

    As for the idea that Urbz would compete with The Sims 2 on PC, I find that extremely improbable. First, you're talking about three very different audiences: 1) The hardcore PC gamer who got some guilty pleasure out of the original Sims and is now going diguised to the videogame store to buy the new one; 2) the very casual PC gamer who might only buy one game (and its expansions) between now and the time Sims 3 hits the stores; 3) the console gamer who probably finds the PC Sims franchise TOO open-ended.

    Urbz: Sims in the City is a game entirely different from the traditional Sims games. For example, they've taken out a couple of the motivation bars (one is room/environment and the other I don't recall off hand) to focus the gameplay more. They've also made it so that you're actually working your job (it's not just waiting for the Sim to get back from work) and performing tasks logical for that occupation (such as a sushi chef keeping the restaurant clean). Besides work, the gameplay is about hanging out and getting/being popular.

    In short, Urbz and Sims 2 cater to different playstyles. It remains to be seen whether Urbz will be any good, of course.

    Final note: EA/Maxis has had "competing" Sims products between console and PC before and certainly the PC expansions didn't suffer against the console games.

  3. Re:OOPS, still, the question stands by marktaw.com · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm a console gamer that's vowed never to buy another PC game again, yet I bought The Sims 2. I buy maybe 5 or 6 games a year, and I usually only buy the ones I know are going to be good, and I don't buy them if they're more than $20 unless I really want them. For example, I'm still workin on GTA3 and just bought Vice City a couple of days ago. But, I broke all of my rules and bought The Sims 2 for PC for $45 or $50 or whatever it was (well, I had an Amazon gift certificate, so it was really free).

    Why? Because I'm a fan of the series, and so is my girlfriend, and we'll both get lots of use out of it. I don't know if I'll get Urbz when it comes out, but as long as it doesn't get trashed by the fans, I'll get it when it hits the $20-25 mark, which could be a very long time if it remains popular.

    Urbz, I think, is an answer to the question "Why should I get The Sims for my Console if I already have it for my PC?" There's probably the perception - and rightly so - that there's too much overlap between the two, especially now that the PC version has a 3D engine, goal oriented play (though still more open ended than the console version), and a high level of customization. Urbz, then, might not be about capturing a different demographic, but about differentiating enough to get their existing customers to buy in to something they might otherwise see as redundant.

    "This isn't the Sims, it's the Urbz, and you have to buy it because it's not the same, it's different." Ever since Maxis was acquired by EA, they've been dedicated to one thing, and one thing only: Sucking the life blood out of their existing customer base by creating add on after add on, and even requiring that you bought all the 99 prevoious ones before you could use the one you wanted. No more variety (sim life, sim ant, sim far, sim tower, sim earth, etc.), just The Sims and The Sims expansion packs.

    So think of the Urbz not as a different game aimed at getting a different audience. Think of the Urbz as an expansion pack you can only get on consoles.