The Sims 2

[Farbror]

Yes, the inevitable happened, the sequel came. Now, I know a lot of gamers hate/dislike the first The Sims, and I was one of them. But I am weak. I've bought the sequel.

Those who usually applaud the first Sims say that it's good beacuse you can approach it in so many ways, like trying to aim for some super-success family and "win" the game like any other game, or you could try and torture your family for the sake of it, or you could just sit back with "free will" on and watch everything happen. Naturally, as a gamer, I approched it from the "game" view.

I was disappointed. It was super easy to make too much money, there was no pressure at all, and everything was generally so simple, the sims were static and boring without personalities, the lack of goals caused repetitivness, everything was boring. I didn't like the original The Sims.

And the sequel came. And I think that all the things it brought, aging, ambitions, relatives etcetera, makes it an all out better "game". The aging added pressure, the ambitions added more personality and goals. The Sims 2 is more "Game" than the original The Sims. I like The Sims 2.

Of course, these are just my first impressions, and my first impressions from the original The Sims were almost the same (Which is why you should never review a game until at least after a week or two of nonstop playing), but so far, everything seems kinda neat.

Anyone else played it?

[Roderick]

I don't think I'll be buying into the Sims 2-dream. I did have an eye out for the first one before it came out, but when it did I quickly discovered it wasn't meant for me. Perhaps it was the absence of an actual straightforward game, or perhaps the genre just doesn't do anything for me. Regardless, in my personal opinion it was just a huge waste of time and offered disappointingly little actual freedom and actual room for experimentation. But I don't mean to say this to bash the game or anything. Sims 2 just won't be a game I'll be interested, nor anything from the Sims franchise.

[Salka]

I really, really, really despise the Sims.

Most people I have ever met that play the Sims, are girls that play it when they can't remember where they left the Windows Solitaire shortcut on the desktop. Some girls play it because it's super-cute, and super-cool to play The Sims. Some girls play it because they like matching boys and girls up, or something like that. I think I've met one guy who played The Sims, and he didn't like admitting it. He went pure red in the face when he told me.

The Sims is made, pretty much, for girls, or for very, very girly men that think it's super-cute. I can't find words to describe how much I hate it, but I have to hand it to the developers: they broke into a very difficult, shitty, shallow market. It irritates some deep, hidden-away part of my soul when I go to a friend's house and ask if they have any Consoles or PC games, and they say, "Yes, I have The Sims and all the Expansion Packs, but when I loaded the latest expansion on it broke my PC and now there's no gigahertz left and it won't turn on so I can't load the new expansion pack so we're probably going to get a new PC because that one is two years old anyway." I mean, those were pretty much Breda's EXACT WORDS and it made me want to slap her. For so many reasons. So many, many reasons.

I'm going to buy The Sims 2, because I want to be able to continue to hate this awful, awful franchise and be able to back up and justify my hatred. Besides the fact it's a game played by and aimed at the most shallow, screwed up market sector ever, since like, whatever, HIPPIES or something... it's also a shit game. If you go for that sort of thing, get Civ III or something. It's like The Sims, but completely different and AWESOME. And if you're getting Civ III, get Civ II instead, because it's better and Civ III is fucked up.

I hate girls and The Sims and girls and solitaire. But especially The Sims.

[Erwin_Br]

I really, really, really despise the Sims.

Most people I have ever met that play the Sims, are girls that play it when they can't remember where they left the Windows Solitaire shortcut on the desktop. Some girls play it because it's super-cute, and super-cool to play The Sims. Some girls play it because they like matching boys and girls up, or something like that. I think I've met one guy who played The Sims, and he didn't like admitting it. He went pure red in the face when he told me.

The Sims is made, pretty much, for girls, or for very, very girly men that think it's super-cute. I can't find words to describe how much I hate it, but I have to hand it to the developers: they broke into a very difficult, shitty, shallow market. It irritates some deep, hidden-away part of my soul when I go to a friend's house and ask if they have any Consoles or PC games, and they say, "Yes, I have The Sims and all the Expansion Packs, but when I loaded the latest expansion on it broke my PC and now there's no gigahertz left and it won't turn on so I can't load the new expansion pack so we're probably going to get a new PC because that one is two years old anyway." I mean, those were pretty much Breda's EXACT WORDS and it made me want to slap her. For so many reasons. So many, many reasons.

I'm going to buy The Sims 2, because I want to be able to continue to hate this awful, awful franchise and be able to back up and justify my hatred. Besides the fact it's a game played by and aimed at the most shallow, screwed up market sector ever, since like, whatever, HIPPIES or something... it's also a shit game. If you go for that sort of thing, get Civ III or something. It's like The Sims, but completely different and AWESOME. And if you're getting Civ III, get Civ II instead, because it's better and Civ III is fucked up.

I hate girls and The Sims and girls and solitaire. But especially The Sims.

You know, that's quite a long-winded way of saying you don't like the Sims

--Erwin

[Salka]

You know, that's quite a long-winded way of saying you don't like the Sims

--Erwin

And girls, though.

And Solitaire.

[Guest]

Yeah, but by buying it, aren't you, in the grand scheme of things, helping their cause into making more and more of these games?

I almost bought this game, because I was semi-intrigued by the first. However, I think the fad wore off after a while, and I got bored, so I'm not gonna bother, and put my pennies toward Final Fantasy 11 and Half Life 2 instead.

[Erwin_Br]

And girls, though.

And Solitaire.

I do share your sentiment, though.

I think guys that play the Sims used to play with their sister's Barbie dolls when they were little. Now, I can't stand the Sims, but I admit that even *I* did, at some point in my younger years, play with Barbie dolls.

I must add that I played with my sister's dolls in a very manly way. I remember she had to get a new car, a Mercedes SLK, for her dolls because I damaged it. I think I watched a James Bond movie that evening before and now secret agent Ken was chasing the evil Barbie doll at high speeds with his brand new Mercedes. Ken didn't notice the coffee table because he was distracted by my sister who stormed into the living room, shouting something about keeping your damn hands off of my stuff.

Anyway... I kinda forgot what I'm trying to say.

--Erwin

[Guest]

I do share your sentiment, though.

I think guys that play the Sims used to play with their sister's Barbie dolls when they were little. Now, I can't stand the Sims, but I admit that even *I* did, at some point in my younger years, play with Barbie dolls.

I must add that I played with my sister's dolls in a very manly way. I remember she had to get a new car, a Mercedes SLK, for her dolls because I damaged it. I think I watched a James Bond movie that evening before and now secret agent Ken was chasing the evil Barbie doll at high speeds with his brand new Mercedes. Ken didn't notice the coffee table because he was distracted by my sister who stormed into the living room, shouting something about keeping your damn hands off of my stuff.

Anyway... I kinda forgot what I'm trying to say.

--Erwin

I didn't play with Barbie and I played the Sims.

Mind you, I did play with my turtle figures a lot as a kid, and try to make up my own episodes.

Does that count?

[Simon]

I do share your sentiment, though.

I think guys that play the Sims used to play with their sister's Barbie dolls when they were little. Now, I can't stand the Sims, but I admit that even *I* did, at some point in my younger years, play with Barbie dolls.

I must add that I played with my sister's dolls in a very manly way. I remember she had to get a new car, a Mercedes SLK, for her dolls because I damaged it. I think I watched a James Bond movie that evening before and now secret agent Ken was chasing the evil Barbie doll at high speeds with his brand new Mercedes. Ken didn't notice the coffee table because he was distracted by my sister who stormed into the living room, shouting something about keeping your damn hands off of my stuff.

Anyway... I kinda forgot what I'm trying to say.

--Erwin

I sometimes used my sister's Barbie dolls to go with my Action Man toys, they'd have to be rescued from Doctor X's hideout behind the Lego box or something like that. That's manly enough...right?

[Chris]

I've actually never played either of the Sims games, but I can understand where the appeal lies. I kind of like Will Wright, so I'm not big on completely hating on his game--it's not really his fault he was hijacked by an infuriating demographic.

And Solitaire.

Have you ever played Spider Solitaire though? Comes with Windows XP, is totally awesome.

[toblix]

I really tire of games without points and real endings very fastly. For example, even though The Sims (1) is (was) highly detailed, brilliantly designed (graphically and hearingally) it got infuriating after a while because of a single, simple factor: time. Since it took about a quarter of an hour just to get out of bed, or ten minutes to get off a chair and out into a waiting car, and after you came home from work (if you got to it in the first place) you could take a shower and then eat, and then it was two in the morning and you had to go to sleep and wake up tired and sad in the morning. There were all these cool things to do, but doing mundane things got in the way, and you had to maintain all these diverse stats that couldn't possibly be combined, so you ended up with them dying in a pool of their own urine in front of their burning stove.

Now, here comes The Sims 2, and tempts me with even more gooder graphics, more cool music, an immensely staggerating level of detail and a really powerful house building engine system, and they even have days off from work and so on. The first family I tried died in their own urine on the sidewalk because I splurged so much with the lamps and beds I couldn't afford a door into the house. An old man, two adults and a little, fat redheaded baby, all dead in yellow stinking pools, and the mailman just delivered the bills, carefully avoiding the puddles as he went. My next family (a hot teen babe and a fat old black man) died mysteriously after being left on their own while I went to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which was great, by the way). When I got back, there was one urn by the bed, and one in the kitchen, and there was this big pool around the toilet. Is there a forensics function in this game or what?

Anyway, I really hope this game can be played without getting me all stressed and irritable, so I can try earning some real money and building the Magnificent Mansion I've always dreamt so much about.

[SiN]

No matter how much you hate it, you can't deny that The Sims is an ingenious game. Let me explain.

Before it was popular to hate The Sims, and before the stream of expansions came out, and before it was the best selling game, I played it. And I played it for 5 hours straight (12am-5am). And I loved it. And I didn't even think that my sister's would get massively hooked onto it. And more importantly, I never played with my sister's barbie dolls when I was younger.

So why did I like it? It was the ultimate sandbox game. It was a great rags-to-riches story. It was (bar Black&White) the closest thing PC games have come to simulating life. It was incredibly fun.

Why did my sisters like it? It was virtual barbie doll house. It was fun to build houses. It was fun to furnish houses. It had a simple-to-use interface. It was fun to watch how their characters interacted. It was fun to raise a family.

Basically what I'm trying to get at is that, whether he intended it or not, Will Wright (who I have a HUGE amount of respect for) created a wide appeal game. It appealed to both hardcore gamers (me) and casual gamers (my sisters) for different reasons.

And no matter how much you hate The Sims it's a very good thing for the PC gaming industry. It's bringing in new blood. Someone who plays the sims today, may play SimCity tomorrow, then Rollercoaster Tycoon, and who knows where it could go from there ...

SiN

[Salka]

I do share your sentiment, though

Misogynist!!!

Have you ever played Spider Solitaire though? Comes with Windows XP, is totally awesome.

No. I just went and loaded it. It certainly looks like a more manly version of solitaire. But I've forgotten how to play.

I didn't know Windows XP had a Pinball Game before. But it's a crap pinball game so it doesn't count.

Why did my sisters like it? It was virtual barbie doll house. It was fun to build houses. It was fun to furnish houses. It had a simple-to-use interface. It was fun to watch how their characters interacted. It was fun to raise a family.

Jesus Chris! No it's not! No it's not! Where are you getting this shit from!?! That stuff isn't fun at all! Have you ever tried furnishing a house or raising a family? Girls think it's fun.

[MrHoatzin]

Jesus Chris! No it's not! No it's not! Where are you getting this shit from!?! That stuff isn't fun at all! Have you ever tried furnishing a house or raising a family? Girls think it's fun.

Yuf, darling, marry me. We can then sit in our unfurnished house celebrating gleefully our lack of children.

[Erwin_Br]

Misogynist!!!

Oh, ho ho ho. You couldn't be further away from the truth.

Jesus Chris! No it's not! No it's not! Where are you getting this shit from!?! That stuff isn't fun at all! Have you ever tried furnishing a house or raising a family? Girls think it's fun.

Raising a family is easy. You just drop off your children at the daycare center and that's that.

At least, that's (sadly) the impression I get from most parents nowadays.

--Erwin

[SiN]

Guy that posted before me

that would be SiN

Jesus Chris! No it's not! No it's not! Where are you getting this shit from!?! That stuff isn't fun at all! Have you ever tried furnishing a house or raising a family? Girls think it's fun.

and yes, i have done most of the above. i KNOW its not fun ... ive moved house 3 times over the past few years ... my sisters had a great time ordering me & my dad where to put everything, and what colour they wanted each room, and stuff like that. me and my dad though, didnt have a good time, moving ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FRIGGIN BOXES from one house to another!!! but thats the beauty of games ... u get to do all the fun stuff without all the boring (and back-breaking!) work.

SiN

[Erkki]

I really tire of games without points and real endings very fastly. For example, even though The Sims (1) is (was) highly detailed, brilliantly designed (graphically and hearingally) it got infuriating after a while because of a single, simple factor: time. Since it took about a quarter of an hour just to get out of bed, or ten minutes to get off a chair and out into a waiting car, and after you came home from work (if you got to it in the first place) you could take a shower and then eat, and then it was two in the morning and you had to go to sleep and wake up tired and sad in the morning. There were all these cool things to do, but doing mundane things got in the way, and you had to maintain all these diverse stats that couldn't possibly be combined, so you ended up with them dying in a pool of their own urine in front of their burning stove.

Exactly. That's why I didn't like it as well. I'm gonna try Sim 2 though, for a short time, to see if it has been improved, but even if has I don't see that I could play it for more than a day or two. Actually, I already downloaded it (hey, it was talk-like-a-pirate-day and I just took it one step further ).

[Jake]

put my pennies toward Final Fantasy 11 and Half Life 2 instead.

Ok the word "pennies" made me do a double take, I can't deny.

[Metalmickey]

Ok, I've never played the SIMs, nor did I ever play with anyone's Barbie dolls, but I have had friends who liked the SIMs, and have watched it being played a few times. Firstly, one of my former game-virgin best friends plays it, and though she has enjoyed the game a lot, I've also managed to get her to play and take up Unreal Tournament, Q3 arena, and Gran Tourismo 3 quite enthusiastically since then, so I'm relieved to know that she's doing fine in avoiding being the truly awful kind of person described above in Yufster's post.

Secondly, I try to convince myself that the SIMs is lame, and wouldn't appeal to real gamers. I do have a vague feeling that something's not right about it, and that somehow, I'd be 'letting the side down' if I played it. If I'm being honest however, I can't justify that, and am probably just making up any feasible excuses I can in order to avoid letting it sink it's claws into me and suck my life away, just like the excuses I've made in the past to help me sucessfully avoid all those damn Championship Manager games that my mates of 5 years ago used to go crazy about, and every single MMORPG out there! I mean, I like resource management games, I'm patient, I find social interactions interesting (in an objective, scientific sense), and I like designing things and putting them together in a perfectionist kind of way. Hell, I'm pretty much guaranteed to like the SIMs... Still not letting it or the sequel anywhere my Hard Drive though

[Gabez]

I borrowed The Sims off a friend once and played it solidly for a week or two. Then I got bored of it and threw it away (not litterally).

The Sims 2 looks really really cool, but I'm afraid that I'll get bored of it like I did with The Sims 1.

Personally, I'm not interested in the new Rollercoaster Tycoon game to satisfy my Sim needs. I've never liked the series before, but the 3D engine and gameplay enhancments look exciting.

[Simon]

Can't speak for The Sims 2 (though I'm sure it's an improvement in many ways), but I found The Sims fun for a few weeks, then eventually stopped playing. I didn't consciously decide I was bored of the game, or that it sucked, but I just didn't have the feeling of wanting to start it up.

I guess I knew the game probably had a bit more to offer if you pushed your Sims in their careers, but it seemed pretty tedious to level them up in Fitness, Charisma or Creativity points by watching them use an object in the house over and over. That was possibly a factor in my loss of interest in it. My brother and especially my sister stayed with it and the expansion packs for months though.

So whilst The Sims doesn't excite me a lot, I don't think it's everything that's wrong with video games, or even a bad game. It's just not the kind of strategy game that's going to keep me captivated.

[Redwall]

Perhaps the quandary with the Sims lies not in its gameplay but its setting. As with others, I played it for a few weeks and then simply got bored. I think the reason is that for the first few weeks, I was facinated by the gameplay - a group of people were under my absolute control. Eventually, however, the gameplay got old and the setting began to sink in. I no longer had a bunch of people under my absolute control, but a group of people I could tell to take a piss whenever I wanted to. Which I didn't find all that exciting.

[jokemaster]

I Just made my sims woohoo five times in a row, twice in a hot tub, once in bed.....

[MrHoatzin]

I Just made my sims woohoo five times in a row, twice in a hot tub, once in bed.....

My condolences.

[Lindset]

I Just made my sims woohoo five times in a row

Wait...

twice in a hot tub

2

once in bed

+1

=3

You're not fooling me, or my mathematical prowess!