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News Archive - December, 2003
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Tuesday 2 December 2003
TS2U Special: Final parts posted
Written at 00:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
I've posted the final two articles of the Sims 2 University special. One of them was posted yesterday, but due to a misconfiguration in the database it was truncated (I never expected to write articles this big when programming this site!). Anyway, it's posted completely now, as well as the final article which discusses the future of the Sims. The other one is about Maxis web hosting, and that can be read right here. The final page is over here. I hope you enjoyed this special. If you haven't read the rest yet, I suggest you read it from the start by clicking here.
 
New Donation File
Written at 00:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
After having no new files for 3 months, we can now provide a new donation file again: a new Lovebed made by Sumit. You can download it by donating first. We really need the donations right now - the amount of traffic has nearly doubled last month, and it's cost us more money than we received from advertising and donations in November. All small bits are appreciated. If you donate this month, you'll be able to download this file. More information about the file can be found right here. Everybody who donated in October or November will receive an e-mail from me shortly, with the username and password to this file, because they didn't receive any donation files. Please donate!
 

Wednesday 3 December 2003
Bustin' Out (GBA) Released
Written at 13:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
The Sims Bustin' Out for the GameBoy Advance has been released, and the first review has already popped up: IGN Pocket has posted it, and given the game an 8 out of 10 score. Here's their final conclusion:
"The Game Boy Advance version of The Sims: Bustin' Out isn't quite as extravagant as the upcoming console games because of the standard limitations of the Game Boy platform. But as comparatively limited as the GBA version is, it's still a well-designed, casual game, and it definitely fits the bill for an on-the-go version of one of the most popular game franchises around."
The whole preview can be read here. Some new screenshots of the game can be found at GameSpot: click here to see those. You can read the press release about the game shipping at the official site, on this page to be precise. Note that the box shot shown there currently is wrong (The Sims Deluxe instead of the GBA box).
 
Chat with Will Wright
Written at 13:10 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Tomorrow's chat has already been announced: it will be a chat with Will Wright, the brain behind the Sims and SimCity. The chat time is as usual: thursday, at 3PM PST (which is 11PM in the UK, and midnight in Europe). The amount of people who can attend is limited to 500, and first come first serve: the first 500 product-registered people will be allowed in the chat room. Make sure you get there early. You can go to the chat from the official site's homepage.
 

Thursday 4 December 2003
Tim LeTourneau Interview
Written at 01:10 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
The British magazine PCZone has had an interview with Tim LeTourneau, senior producer of The Sims 2. Of course the topic of the interview is The Sims 2, but also the reason of the success of The Sims:
"At Maxis we feel the key reason The Sims is so popular with both male and female gamers is because people can easily identify and relate with the Sims and their environment. Players become sucked into this alternative sand box reality, its gameplay based on the key desires we all have in our every day lives. However in the Sims world things are very quirky and fun, we don't have to live with consequence of our actions, good or bad in quite the same way!"
That's only a (very) small bit of the whole article. If you want to read it completely, click here to see it.
 
New Poll
Written at 01:16 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
As usual, we add a new poll every week. Last week we asked you where your Sims work, and it turned out that most... don't. Nearly 63% of the Sims 'rosebud' their way through life. Are Sims really that lazy, or are you so lazy? Amongst the working Sims, it seems that a dull office is the most popular place, which got 9% (24) of the 254 votes. The rest of the results is at this page. The new poll is about Christmas, which is less than 3 weeks away now. Will your Sims get any presents from you, or not? Vote on the right, or at this page. All the results of old polls, including the one about Christmas last year, can be found in the archive.
 
SimDay
Written at 22:34 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
This week's SimDay is pretty big. Besides the chat and the release of Bustin' Out on the GBA (with the press release now showing the right picture), there's the announcement of a chat at WorldSims next Saturday at 12pm (8pm in Britain, 9pm in Europe). It will be about The Sims 2 University, and I'll be attending as well. More from TS2U is another interview, this time with Chris from SimSational. You can read it right here. Just two more things left: one is the next part of the Designer Diary at GameSpot. This time, it's Lucy Bradshaw and Tim LeTourneau talking about the Neighborhood. There's some new info in it, for instance that for their relationship, it matters how close friends live. Here's another new bit:
"A really cool new feature is that after you've built a house, you can pick it up and move it to another lot. If you want to fix up your lonely bachelor with the cute girl (who's a few blocks away) more quickly, well, now you can just pick up his house and make them next-door neighbors."
The fifth part of this diary comes with several screenshots, including 4 of Riverside Neighborhood. You can now also see boats and a rainbow. As if that's not enough, there's a new trailer for GameSpot members (Free registration is required), which shows the fly-through option, through Riverside Neighborhood. You can read the diary here, see the screenshots here and download the trailer here. Finally, this SimDay comes with two new track pieces for the fun house that comes in Makin' Magic. Download both tracks (1.4 Mb in total) from Get Cool Stuff.
 

Friday 5 December 2003
CaSIE delayed
Written at 00:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
In the chat with Will Wright, which is still on, it was said that CaSIE has been delayed again. Instead of December, it'll be released "some time" in January. A limited group of fansites will get it just before the holidays though. As known, this program to create skins and Sims with, will be available as free download from TheSims2.com. Nevertheless, it's still just a few weeks until the release.
 
Sim Brother III - The Downloads
Written at 02:27 by Andy - 0 comments.


You've waited patiently. Now the 10 full skins of all housemates and the Sim Brother III house are there for you to download for your own private use.


They can all be found in here. Enjoy!
 
Chat Transcript
Written at 09:15 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Last night's chat with Will Wright, creator of The Sims and SimCity, has been very busy, and many questions were answered. One of them, which was asked a few times, is when CaSIE is going to be released. As reported that's been delayed until January. Here are some other random quotes from the chat:
Q: What inspired you ot create the sims?
A: The simulation dynamics we developed for SimAnt and the writings of Christopher Alexander (A Pattern Language).
Q: Hi Will what is your favorite Sim Game?
A: It's still the original Sims (SimEarth a close second).
Q: Why do you like robots?
A: I think robots teach us more about humans than about technology. They are in essence attempts to model human abilities and when we try to build them we learn how amazing we really are.
Q: Have you ever made any families that just accidentally happen to resemble any of your workers? If so I hope you haven't drowned them :-p
A: No comment
You can read the entire chat at this page. Enjoy the read.
 

Saturday 6 December 2003
CaSIE Delay Follow-up
Written at 02:38 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Many people are upset when the news reached us yesterday that Maxis has delayed the release of CaSIE (Create A Sim), and that a select group of fansites will get it before the rest. Here's a reply about that from MaxisLucky:
"Basically, we've been working with some fansites that had some The Sims 2 content pretty early on - some of these folks have had Sims 2 specific content up since E3 this past summer. Since the game isn't shipping until Spring, we've been starting slow and contacting both sites that have been around awhile as well as new sites that are starting to have features that focus on The Sims 2 (and we have included both pay and non-pay sites, btw).

"As we progress towards ship we will be adding more fansites and have been gathering names and keeping track via the fansite system on thesims2.com. The best way to be considered is to build a cool fansite and list it in the fansite system. If we don't know about you and how awesome your site is or what a great content creator you are - we can't contact you.

"We think that user created custom content is going to be a huge part of The Sims 2 experience. It's why we're working on stand alone tools like CaSIE in the first place. As for who gets to participate in the early release beta test and who has to wait until it's final, we haven't made that determination yet. We'll likely keep the test group small so that we can manage it - if you make beta tests too large you end up spending more of your time organizing the email reports that come in than finishing the application.

"So, if it seems like we're being picky about who we ask to participate in the beta test - it's because we are looking to some of the people that have been active in the various Maxis communities (Sims, SimCity, etc.) for awhile.

"Thanks - hope this helps at least some people understand what we've been up to."
If you want to follow - or even participate - in the discussions, I suggest you visit the official site's BBS.
 
The Add-on/Neighborhood Handlers updated!
Written at 23:49 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
It's been a long wait, but I'm happy to say that I've finally released new versions of both The Add-on Handler and The Neighborhood Handler. The Add-on Handler is available for everybody right here. Nore that you do need the full version, even if you have a previous version. This is because all the DLLs have been updated because I'm using newer software now. The Neighborhood Handler is only available to members of the Yahoo! Group now, but everybody will be able to download it next week. Members received an e-mail with details where to find the new version. If you want it now, I recommend you become a member (for free) and download it. As both programs now use the same DLL files, you will only have to download the full version of one of the programs. For a list of the major changes, read more...
 
Read More!


Sunday 7 December 2003
Bustin' Out Gone Gold
Written at 20:33 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
The new console version of The Sims, Bustin' Out, has gone gold for PS2, GameCube and X-Box. The CDs are being pressed, and soon will ship to Europe (Release: 12 December), and the US (Release: 16 December). In Bustin' Out your Sims will be able to leave the house, and visit other areas on their scooter, car, or whatever they earned in the Get-A-Life mode. There will also be two-player support again, but on the PS2 version you can take it online. The GameCube version adds connectivity with the GBA version, which was released recently, and X-Box players get HDTV support which means better graphics. Of course there will be a free mode play, that we know from The Sims on the PC, as well. The rating is "T" (Teen). If you want to see a bunch of (new posted) screenshots, visit IGN or GameSpot. Expect the game in your local store soon!
 

Tuesday 9 December 2003
New Sims 2 Screenshot
Written at 21:47 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
A new screenshot of The Sims 2 has popped up on the net a few days ago, and I of course don't want to let you miss it. Hence you can find the picture below (click it for a bigger version). As you can see it shows a happy family/household with Sims licking plates, thinking, jumping, sleeping and looking down. Enjoy it.

A happy family
 
Official Chat
Written at 21:51 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
The chat of next Thursday has been announced again. This time it'll be about Bustin' Out, which has recently gone gold. Producers Kam Zambel and Bart Menayas will be the guest speakers, and they'll answer your questions - if you're lucky anyway. The chat will be held at the usual time: 3pm PST, 11 GMT and Midnight in most of Europe. If you want to read transcripts of previous chats, click here. You can enter the chat from the homepage of the official site.
 

Friday 12 December 2003
SimDay
Written at 00:34 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Slightly late, but not too late: the report about this week's SimDay. There isn't too much though: the weekly chat (which has already started at the time of writing), a Community Update, and 2 other things. The first of these is an interview with JudHudson from SimPrograms. Finally there are 15 new screenshots of Bustin' Out on the consoles. This game will be released tomorrow (Europe) or next week (US). You can take a peek at this page. That's all for this week already.
 
Poll #100
Written at 00:39 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
After having a new poll on this site nearly every week (with some exceptions), the 100th poll is now up, and you can cast your vote at the right or right here. It's a bit later than usually, but as usual you'll have until midnight (UK Time) between Wednesday and Thursday to vote. So cast your vote... Now! As for last week's poll's results: According to 186 of our visitors, more than 57% of the Sims will celebrate Christmas with a load of presents. 20% of the Sims are getting some presents. In total, about 18% of the Sims doesn't celebrate Christmas at all. If you want to see the exact results, click here.
 
Bustin' Out Newsflash
Written at 20:38 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Bustin' Out on GBA has been released in Europe today, and the release date for the consoles has been pushed back a week (only in Europe), to 19 December (which is next week). There have been several reviews of the GBA version already, which will soon lead to a review index of that game (just like Makin' Magic - sorry for the delay of that) at this site. You can find reviews of the GBA version at GameNikki (9/10), GamePro (4/5), IGN (8/10) and GameSpot (8.1/10). With the console versions going gold earlier this week, there are also some new screenshots and articles about that. You can find some new screens at WorthPlaying. IGN has posted an article about some of the characters you'll meet in the game right here. If you want to know more about the online functionality on the PS2 version, you might want to check out a new article at GameSpot (with a few screenshots) that covers that. Enjoy that right here. For the interested people: the release dates. The GBA version has been released in both the USA (2 December) and Europe (today). The console versions (PS2, GameCube and X-Box) will be released next week. 16 December in the US, and 19 December in Europe to be precise. All just in time for the holiday season.
 

Saturday 13 December 2003
Chat Transcript
Written at 21:30 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Last Thursday's chat about Bustin' Out was a success again, and many questions have been answered as usual. And we can even take the (careful) conclusion that there will be another version next year:
"There is no weather, but will there be Christmas?"
"We do have the day and night feature with real time shades which make the game look awesome and realistic. Weather is another idea we have been considering for the next version. And for XMAS? Sure you can create any envirnoment you like."
Other information from this chat is that there's also the information Sims will be able to play pingpong and airhockey, and there are 16 locations to go to, including Mom's House, Club Rubb, Toane's Gym, Tinsel Bluffs, Dudley's Trailer, and Studio 8. Be sure to read the entire chat transcript right here.
 
The Sims 2 Info
Written at 21:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
We got some information of The Sims 2 again. We've heard the team is making "great progress" finishing the game. I'm not sure if that means the game has reached the alpha stage now (i.e. all the features are in the game and have to be polished up/worked out) or not, but it could be. There's a chance to ask next Thursday, when there'll be a chat with producer Tim LeTourneau at the usual time (3.00pm PST, 11pm in the UK and midnight in Europe). And you shouldn't miss out on the next GameSpot Designer's Diary, in which Maxis will announce a new feature in the Sims 2 that hasn't been talked about yet. But there's more info...
 
Read More!

Sims 2 Fly-through video
Written at 22:19 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
If you read the last Designer's Diary at GameSpot, or checked this site some time ago, you probably have seen a new video of The Sims 2 already as well. It's a silent fly through a neighborhood. That video, showing stuff like boats, a rainbow and the neighborhood in general, is now also available at the official Sims 2 site. If you missed it last time, be sure to check it out right here.
 

Sunday 14 December 2003
Sims 2 Release Date?
Written at 16:07 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.
Many people have talked about the release date of The Sims 2. So far only "First Quarter" and "Early Spring" 2004 were mentioned. It turns out that it could be both. EA Germany has published 19 March 2004 as (European) release date. That would mean the game would probably be released at 16 March in the US. Note that this release date is still not definite, and might change later. Also, the official Sims 2 site still says early spring. The closer we get to the release date, the more definite it'll be. Perhaps Maxis will release a date in the chat next SimDay, which can only then be considered pretty definite (as Maxis doesn't seem to delay games once an exact date is given, as they've proven with previous expansion packs and other games). Credit goes to SimsZone for publishing this news.
 
TNHH Public Release
Written at 20:06 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
After a private release to the TNHH group last week, The Neighborhood Handler 4.11 has now been released to everybody. You can download this Makin' Magic compatible version from this site, in the Utilities section. You'll need to download the full version if you haven't installed The Add-on Handler 0.3.0b yet, otherwise you can get the upgrade version. The Website will be updated later tonight. For more information about this new version, I recommend reading last week's post. If you don't know what the Neighborhood Handler is or does, check out the website.
 

Tuesday 16 December 2003
Bustin' Out Last Diary
Written at 11:47 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
The last designer's diary of Bustin' Out has been posted at GameSpot. We can read what Mike Perry (who also did the previous diaries) has to say about the console-specific features, i.e. the online mode on the PS2, the GameCube/GBA connectivity, and the HDTV support for the X-Box. Here's a little snippet about the last mentioned feature:
"HDTV is the way television was meant to be seen. All versions of The Sims Bustin' Out have really excellent all-new graphics and special effects, but only the Xbox has native 720p widescreen HDTV support. In HDTV mode, you can play The Sims Bustin' Out with smokin' graphics so detailed they are even better than DVD movies. The colorfully psychedelic dance floor of Clubb Rubb looks awesome in HDTV."
This part also comes with several new screenshots, as usual. Those can be found, which you can view here. You can read the article at this page. As the game will be released today (in the US anyway), this is the last designer's diary for Bustin' Out. For the previous issues, click the following links to our news posts about them: Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1.
 
Bustin' Out Released
Written at 13:15 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Today, EA shipped The Sims Bustin' Out on three consoles: the PS2, GameCube and X-Box. The GBA edition has been out for 2 weeks already, and this version went gold last week. The game should be in stores soon, if it isn't already. EAGames.com has posted a few movies of Bustin' Out, a Sim's worst week, a "Sizzle" trailer and a clip with the creators doing their thing, all of which you can find right here. The last two of those have been spotted before, but you can now still see them in high or low resolution. QuickTime required. If you want to read the full press release about the shipping of the game, click here.
 

Thursday 18 December 2003
New Poll
Written at 21:28 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
We've added a new poll again for this week. We know some Sims are more old-fashioned than others, but we're interested in more precise figures. Hence this week's poll "How modern are your Sims?". Vote at the right or this page. If you want to see the results of last week's (100th) poll, click here.
 
SimDay
Written at 21:35 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
This week's SimDay isn't too big. There's the chat, which as announced before, will be about the Sims 2 and Tim LeTourneau will be attending it. As usual the time of the chat is 3pm PST (11pm in Britain, midnight in Europe). Click here to find a link to the chatroom when it's open. The next, and final, thing are some screenshots which we've posted here before. These are also of The Sims 2, showing several building options. If you haven't seen them yet, click here to get them after all. That's all already for this week.
 

Friday 19 December 2003
Chat Transcript
Written at 23:16 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.
Last Thursday's chat with Tim LeTourneau turned out to be a success again, with 500 people in the chatroom. There were several interesting questions and answers in this chat. Here are a few of them:
"Hello, one can see dates a little everywhere: February 2, March 14, March 15... for different country, but one still does not know which is the true one"
"We do not have an exact release date yet. Don't believe anything you read - the game will be released when it's finished."

"Will the baby sims still atomatically be in the little carages or will the Mother sim have to go to like some hospital to have her baby "delivered""
"Let's just say the pregnancy experience is a lot more like real life now. Of course a little shorter"

"Will you be able to interact with NPCs? (Maid, Gardner, etc.)"
"Even more than interact, let's just say you can get very close if you want to"

"Can a woman get pregnant by a man that does not live in the same household as her? I.e boyfriend and girlfriend not living together but she gets pregnant, if you get what i mean lol"
"This seems to be a popular topic, bet you can't wait to try this out."

"If you marry the maid, can you control her after she is part of your family? If not, then how does that work? Do they just go along uncontrolled?"
"Yep! She (or he) would be part of your family, just like any Sim born into the family or made in Create-A-Sim."
If you want to read a lot more about The Sims 2, click here to read the transcript.
 

Monday 22 December 2003
Sims 2 Interview and shots
Written at 23:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
GameSpot has updated again with some new screenshots, showing a marriage ceremony, Riverside, a party on a balcony and more. You can find those here. Another screenshot showing 4 differently decorated bedrooms has been poasted at TheSims2.com. To see that one, go to the screenshots page at the official The Sims 2 site. Even more interesting than all those screenshots, is a new interview with Will Wright that GameSpot's also posted. This interview also reveals a (perhaps the) feature that was still secret until now. It's that you can actually see the game from a Sim's point of view. Here's Will talking about that:
"Well, I think the camera freedom is something that we’ve resisted for a long time and feels like probably the biggest stretch. But it has some huge benefits. You can zoom in very close and feel totally immersed. You can even do like a walkthrough and be at that level, where you’re actually standing in the house, Sim point of view. You can see their faces because we’re bringing the camera in so much closer. Of course, you know, the kind of cost of that is that we have to provide a huge amount of detail on the characters and the objects now."
Click here for the whole interview, which also discusses other things of The Sims 2, and Will's vacation. Enjoy it!
 

Tuesday 23 December 2003
Sims 2 News
Written at 22:59 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
A lot of new screenshots of The Sims 2 have been posted today and yesterday. The first set of 5 comes from IGN. A couple of them show some hot action (nothing really explicit though), so be warned. They're all quite nice to see, and once again show the detail of the Sims. 4 others have been posted at TheSimsResource. You can also find the IGN ones there, but the 4 different ones all show some military action. Two show a guy being picked up for work by helicopter and truck, another shows a full bathroom, and the final one is some training going on. Click the site's links to see the shots for yourself. Finally, some articles. The first of the two is a preview at New Wave Gaming. It's probably not that interesting to most people, as it doesn't provide any new info. It also mentions mid-february as release date, but as none has ever been officially given, that shouldn't be considered official or even accurate. You can read the whole article yourself on this very page. More interesting is an interview with Lucy Bradshaw at Total Video Games. Here's a little quote from the article:
"Yes, this is a real leap from the original Sims in so many ways. Creating believable human characters in our Sims is a pretty huge undertaking. The better they look, the more fidelity players expect of their behaviour. By electing to give our Sims better looks, facial animations, and allowing the player to get closer to them, we needed to advance the AI significantly. And, yes, getting closer and having new animations has forced us to consider the boundaries that we want to maintain as well."
You can find that interview by clicking here. Enjoy all this new stuff!
 

Wednesday 24 December 2003
Merry Christmas
Written at 02:35 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
On behalf of everybody from The Sims Zone, I want to wish everybody a merry (and white) Christmas. Don't forget about your Sims, but don't spend too much time with them either :-) If you're going to get any presents, let's hope it's Makin' Magic, Bustin' Out or anything else Sims-related. Our 'present' to you are several new extras. The first one is a complete career index of ALL the careers in The Sims 1 and its expansions. You can now get more info about every career in high detail, including job descriptions, requirements, working times, and mood change per hour. And of course the salary... You can get in by clicking here. Some of the careers have been in the index for quite a while, but the last ones weren't added until a few days ago. Besides that, we've finally added a few review indexes, which contain links to many reviews we've found on the internet of the recently released games. Click the names below to go to the index for each game: I want to thank GameRankings, ToTheGame and SimsZone.de for providing the many links to all the reviews. You can always access these review indexes, as well as the career index, through our Extras section.
 
Santa's Here!
Written at 23:27 by Sumit - 0 comments.
Hope y'all have a white christmas cause I sure don't with this 60 degree weather, but atleast I got some gifts for everyone. I usually don't make expansions exclusive objects, but these come from Livin' Large, Deluxe, or Double Deluxe. So if you have any one of those, you've got yourselves a mighty fine present. I also have made my very first stairway retexture so check that out too. Check it all out here!

 

Thursday 25 December 2003
Affiliate Shuffle
Written at 23:19 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Work goes on, even during christmas, although less work is done than usual. Anyway: recently we dropped two affiliates, SimGateway and Big Brother of The Sims, because both sites are pretty much dead (the first one is still online, but not updated anymore, the other one didn't even show up anymore). We've looked for replacements to fill in the gaps, and found them. The first one is Sims Extremos, a site that focuses on news as well. That site is in Spanish, and partially in English. You might've noticed their link in the affiliates section for some time already. Besides that, we've also affiliated with WorldSims, a site with a lot of content, including news, downloads, forums and a chat. Make sure to pay both a visit, they're worth it.
 
SimDay
Written at 23:55 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.
There's news this Christmas. You might expect it to be a holiday, but Maxis has still posted a few things. And so we are reporting about it. Although it's not much, it's not something to keep from you. The biggest thing is a new download, in the form of a table soccer table. At TS2U the webmasters and Will Wright (as well as some others) played a few matches at a real-life table. So did I, and I actually did ask if it was in The Sims 2 or not... But now it's in The Sims 1, if you have vacation or a later expansion pack anyway. You can download it from Get Cool Stuff. Another thing is a link to the interview with Will at GameSpot, which we posted about a couple of days ago. Finally there's the message that Maxis is on a break until 5 January in the next year. Sounds far away, but it's just 2 weeks from now. No Simday until then...
 

Friday 26 December 2003
Bustin' Out Cheats
Written at 01:00 by ChEeTaH - 29 comments.
I've just spotted the first couple of cheats for Bustin' Out on the internet, on several sources. However, as I don't have the game (I don't have any of the consoles) I'm unable to test these. Nevertheless, I've put them on this site as several sites gave the same codes. If you can confirm that these codes are correct or incorrect, let us know by e-mailing us. You can find a link on the cheats page itself. If you want to get a lot of money, all objects or unlock all locations on the PS2, GameCube or X-Box, please go to this page to view the cheats.
 
New Sims 2 Screens
Written at 01:15 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.
It's a busy Christmas indeed, but a nice one! We received 3 more pictures of The Sims 2 from Maxis (as well as all subscribers of the Sims 2 mailing list). They show how the photo album function works, and how you can even get your pictures on the wall... of your Sims' homes! Click the images below to see even big versions of them.

Photo Album 1/3 Photo Album 2/3 Photo Album 3/3
 

Saturday 27 December 2003
Bustin' Out Cheats Confirmed
Written at 23:36 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.
After spotting the cheats for Bustin' Out, I've now been able to confirm them. Besides getting help from a few of you (thanks for that), the official site has apparantly also published them right here (with some extra hints as well). That means confirming the cheats for us is no longer necessary. You can see the cheats at this page, with all instructions. Some have been slightly updated now as well, as some appeared to be wrong.
 

Sunday 28 December 2003
Sims 2 at Consoles?
Written at 14:57 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.
A couple of days ago, this article appeared on the "Console Gaming Network". It wouldn't be special if it didn't mention that The Sims 2 will be made for consoles as well. If it's true, is questionable. The first thing they mention, is that the PC version will be released in January 2004, but the game is probably NOT quite ready then, as Maxis hasn't even finished CaSIE yet, nor have they already decided on some details like the lengths of each age period. It also makes an assumption, which is not too unbelievable:
"Although a date for the console version of the game is not yet set, with the success of The Sims and The Sims: Bustin' Out, it's a given that the Sims 2 will soon be available for the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube."
Console gamers would probably miss stuff like the 2-player and get-a-life modes if The Sims 2 was ported to those consoles. As it's not expandable on consoles as well, it'll be hard to make it real playable (or a big success) anyway. Finally, there hasn't been a press release about a console version of The Sims 2 whatsoever. It's likely that there will be a new version on the consoles, there's not much doubt about that (if not on the current consoles, then on the next generation of consoles, like the PS3, GameCube 2 and X-Box 2 or whatever their names will be)... But it won't be The Sims 2. If you want to read the article after all, click here.
 

Tuesday 30 December 2003
Help with Bustin' Out cheats
Written at 19:55 by ChEeTaH - 10 comments.
Many people seem to be having trouble entering the cheats for Bustin' Out. Some people managed to get it to work though. If you want more details, click here for a previous news post to which many people have replied with details about the cheats on various platforms. The cheats page has also been updated, and you can view that by clicking here.

When entering the codes, remember that they have to be entered very quickly (within 1.5 seconds). You may also want to try in both live and buy (paused) mode, as it seems that cheats work only in either of them. On the PS2, L3 and R3 refer to pressing the analog sticks down, something that not everybody knows. Finally, the cheats are different for every console, so you should make sure to type the correct ones. The money cheat has only been confirmed for the X-Box so far, and not for the PS2 or GameCube.

It's wise to post questions in the comments of this news item. Click here to read them as well. I don't have the game myself and am unable to test the cheats for you. Using the comments you'll be able to reach a lot more people. Of course any feedback, especially if the cheats did work for you, is appreciated as well, by many people. Please post a comment if you managed to get the cheats to work, with details on which console (PS2, GameCube or X-Box) and how exactly you entered them. That will help many people.
 

Wednesday 31 December 2003
Happy 2004!
Written at 22:44 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.
From everybody of The Sims Zone, I want to wish everybody a happy 2004. 2004 will be the year of - of course - The Sims 2, and perhaps more details of the next game Will's working on. We don't know, as even I cannot predict the future... To end this year, I've written an article with a compilation of all the news of the past year. If you want to read it, click here. Happy new year!