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News Archive - April, 2002

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Monday 1 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 73 (Happy Easter)

Written at 02:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Despite Sim Brother giving the housemates a present, is it a Happy Easter for Davina?
You can find out here!

TSO and Sims 2 canceled

Written at 11:45 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Even though many people are waiting for The Sims Online and The Sims 2, Maxis has decided to cancel it today, 1 April. The reasons are huge financial problems, because The Sims and its expansion packs didn't sell as well as they expected. There will be staff-cuts meaning half of the people who work at Maxis now will be sacked, especially in the design section. Only SimsVille will be continued as their one and only project, and Maxis' future will depend on how that game sells. Also, Maxis has decided to shut down its official Sims site because it costs too much money. The BBS will be the only part of the site that will remain. No more copies of the game will be pressed any more, so once the shops run out of it, you can definately not buy it any more. Today, 1 April 2002, will be remembered as a sad day for The Sims' community.

Tuesday 2 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 74 (Easter Monday)

Written at 02:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Davina confronts Anne about what is going on between her and Tony
Find out what she had to say!

April Fools...

Written at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

I didn't expect many people would've believed the news item about Maxis being broke. If you did believe it though, then you should've double-checked the date. Of course it was an april fool joke. Maxis has not canceled anything except SimsVille, and they will be continuing with what they're doing now. No staff-cuts will be made. Basically: nothing of it is true. The Sims sold 6.3 million times, and with that it's the best-selling PC game ever. Needless to say they will have had enough income of that to continue for a couple of years...

Wednesday 3 April 2002

First vacation area added!

Written at 00:36 by Carrie - 1 comment.

I have added the first vacation area to the databases today. It's called Alpine Escape Ski Lodge. This cozy lodge is the perfect getaway for any Sim. It has an indoor pool and 2 hot tubs. The master suite has its own private bathroom door and each room has direct access to the 2nd floor wrap-around deck. Be sure to make your reservation today!

More screenshots at GameSpot

Written at 01:46 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Once again GameSpot has posted some new screenshots of Vacation. And it aren't just 6 new screenshots or so, but 34 in total! The new screenshots, added a while ago (28 March already), can be found over here. If you haven't bought the game (or haven't been able to yet), and are still in doubt whether to get it or not, then check out these shots and maybe you'll change your mind and get it...

Sim Brother - Day 75 (Tuesday)

Written at 02:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

With chatting over the table, in the tub and in the store room, the housemates have been giving their jaws plenty of exercise, plus some exercise of another type for Tony & Davina.
Check it out!

A DownTown lot and House added

Written at 05:05 by Mike - 1 comment.

I've added a new downtown lot. Its called "Beach Hangout" and, yes... its by the beach! It has a pool table, a pool, shops, etc... The House "Weston" has a big pool and the usual kitchen etc. But this home also has a "Romantic Walk" around a selection of trees. Check them out!

That's Life 2 coming

Written at 23:24 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

18 months after the first edition of That's Life, an unofficial expansion pack for The Sims, a second edition has been announced by the german X-Media. That's Life 1 was just a collection of files that you could download for free from several fansites. That's Life 2 will be set up the same way. The first version was found useless by the buyers, and a waste of their money. The interface was a pain, and so installing the files didn't work as easy as expected. That's Life 2 will cost approximately 15 Euros. I doubt if it'll really be worth that amount of money, while everything's available for free too...

UK HD Patch coming tomorrow?

Written at 23:57 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The UK (and hopefully international) Hot Date patch might be coming out tomorrow evening, Maxis' time. On the BBS at the official site a Maxis Official has posted this news. Hard work is being done on the patch, so it can be posted tomorrow. We'll keep you updated. If this patch is included with the European releases of Vacation, the latest expansion pack, is unknown.

Thursday 4 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 76 (Eviction Night)

Written at 02:00 by Andy - 1 comment.

Eviction Night
One of these two will be leaving the Sim Brother House tonight.
All is revealed right here!

SimDay Report: Commercial promotion

Written at 17:54 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week's SimDay's a small one again. First of all last week's arch has been renamed to the "Promotional Ballon Fence". It's now free of trouble. You can download it here (1.26 Mb). Also, you can now download the TV commercial for Vacation. To download the commercial in zip format, click here. It's 4.88 Mb.

SV Object Cloning

Written at 18:28 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It seems to be that it's not possible to clone Vacation objects that well with Transmogrifier - extracted sprites look wrong. According to Bil Simer from BluePrint this is probably because of the amount of colours used in the sprites. As nice as he is, he'll create a new version of his Object Cloner as soon as he got his hands on SV. We'll keep you updated on this. For more information about Object Cloner, BluePrint and other tools, go to the BluePrint website.

TSO Site Update

Written at 23:49 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official site of The Sims Online has had a major update again. You can read several new articles, with some (new) screenshots. The articles cover the state of development, why chatting is so much fun, and more. To go to it all, visit the TSO site.

Friday 5 April 2002

Anne's Eviction Night Special

Written at 03:02 by Andy - 0 comments.

Anne says goodbye
Find out what else she had to say to Will Wright!

SV Officially released

Written at 11:27 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.

Today's the official date that Vacation ("On Holiday" in the UK, "Op Vakantie" in the Netherlands and "Urlaub Total" in Germany), the latest expansion pack for The Sims, is released in Europe. Although some people may already have bought it, because some shops had it for sale early, it should now be in stores everywhere. Order or buy your copy of SV today!

Saturday 6 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 77 (Thursday)

Written at 03:45 by Andy - 0 comments.

She's done it again.
Now the Final Three have been decided, Sim Brother has plans for them.
Read All About It!

Sim Brother - Day 78 (The Hustings)

Written at 04:57 by Andy - 1 comment.

It's the day of the Sim Brother Hustings and the Candidates must look their best!
Read what they had to say!

Submissions

Written at 19:31 by Steve - 2 comments.

I have added two new walls today. They are both by Chris Power, so thank you Chris.
They are both of some vampire women and you can download them from the walls page.

Sunday 7 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 79 (Another Task)

Written at 03:47 by Andy - 2 comments.

The Three Housemates are given a very hard hard challenge and only a very short time to do it in.
Find out the details here!

TNHH 3.7 Public Release

Written at 18:51 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Neighborhood Handler 3.7 is now available for download. You can redistribute this version now as often as you want, as long as you don't sell it. This new version was released last week to the TNHH group. The main new functions are SV compatibility, and the installing of houses, areas or families. More information can be found at tnhh.thesimszone.co.uk and in last week's news post. The new version can be downloaded from the utilities section.

TSO Beta test this summer

Written at 20:04 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

GameSpot reports that there will be an external beta-test of The Sims Online this summer. About 50,000 people will be able to test the game that's scheduled for release this fall. TSO is now in pre-alpha stage, which means there are still features of the game to be completed. Besided that news, there are also some new screenshots to be found here.

SV Reviews

Written at 20:10 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There are 2 reviews for Vacation, the latest expansion pack to see. One is from GameZone (9.5), and the other one from GameSpot (8.0). Both are overall positive about this new expansion pack. To read GameZone's review, click here, and GameSpot's video review can be viewed here GameSpot has also brought 42 new screenshots with this review. Those can be seen over here.

Swedish Site launches

Written at 20:16 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official Swedish site, thesims.se has been launched. This is an official site for The Sims, in Swedish. The design is completely different from the design of the official site for English and other languages. There's a newsflash about On Holiday (Vacation in the US, the latest expansion pack) that says it'll be released 11 April. This is the same date as in Holland. Most other European countries can already enjoy the fun of this new expansion pack.

SV Loading Times

Written at 20:45 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

From BluePrint we can read that there is a way to shorten the loading times of Vacation. This is easily done by putting everything except walls, floors and skins into FAR files. A FAR-file within another FAR-file won't be read too. Other things like turning off virusscanners, setting the compatibility mode in Windows XP etc. might also save some time. More detailed information can be found at BluePrint. Part of this information also comes from Tom van Dijk from IFF Edit.

Monday 8 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 80 (In 3rd Place ...)

Written at 02:00 by Andy - 1 comment.

The Three Housemates are about to become Two
Find Out Today's News Here

New Skins Added

Written at 19:56 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added a new Thunderstorm Female Skin and a new LA Dodgers T-Shirt Skin Set today. Be sure to look for more baseball t-shirt skins coming soon! All skins are available in all 3 skin tones.

Tuesday 9 April 2002

New required files available

Written at 00:16 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

After some feedback that I received on The Neighborhood Handler, I've made 3 new required files available for download. You have to download these if you use the small version and are upgrading from version 3.6 or lower to version 3.7. I apologize for inconvenience caused by "missing file" errors. You can download the files here (740 Kb). They will install automatically.

BluePrint moves

Written at 00:36 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Bil Simser's site of BluePrint has moved over to TheSimsResource. His site got too big for SimFreaks. Thanks go out to Heather though. Also, with the move comes a new design. Besides that, Tom van Dijk, a Dutch programmer known for the (forbidden) ScriptStation as well as other programs, has joined the new Blueprint site. He'll be writing programs to edit several things in The Sims, and of course his old programs can be found there too. You can visit the new Blueprint at blueprint.thesimsresource.com.

2 Vacation lots Added

Written at 00:59 by Mike - 2 comments.

I've added two vacation lots today. "Winter Fun Land" & "Golly Beach Hotel". They both have plenty of facilities to keep your sims happy. The Beach hotel is massive with plenty of things to do! Check them out here.

Sim Brother - Davina's Eviction Night

Written at 03:48 by Andy - 0 comments.

Davina is out and wins 3rd place. Find out what Davina had to say to WW
Her Story is Here!

Sim Brother - Day 81 (An Unwelcome Guest)

Written at 05:21 by Andy - 0 comments.

Look who's back to cheer up Tony & Anna as they cope with Davina's sudden eviction.
Read It All Here!

Will Wright at Oakland Tribune

Written at 20:43 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Oakland Tribune has featured Will Wright and looks back on the successes he's made with SimCity and The Sims. It also very mentions a "yet-to-be-named project" that Wright is working on. This probably is the SimUniverse game speculated about earlier this year. Furthermore, it tells about Wright's interest in robots, and a bit about the BattleBots competition he participated in. To read the whole article, visit The Oakland Tribune.

SV Review at IGN.com

Written at 20:56 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

IGN.Com has reviewed the latest expansion pack for The Sims: Vacation. The 4 pages long article describes the new features, objects and NPCs in the new expansion pack:

"All that brings us to today, and Sims Vacation, the fourth expansion in the series. The good news is that Vacation is as deep and feature-rich as Hot Date. But that's also the bad news -- Vacation never takes any step beyond Hot Date. It's pretty much just more of the same. "

With an overall score of 8.0 (which is not an average) is pretty good. The author of the review would've like to see it do more than Hot Date did though. For the whole review, go here.

Wednesday 10 April 2002

Sim Brother - Day 82 (One Day To Go)

Written at 02:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

There's only two days before the Series is finished.
Can Anna & Tony get rid of the Tragic Clown in time?
Find out if they did today!

New Objects Added

Written at 16:00 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added 3 new objects today. They are the Green Muscles 'n' More Exercise Machine, Orange Tiled Counter and Holsimer D-Lux Computer Desk. Be sure to check them out!

It's Finals Night on Sim Brother!

Written at 23:24 by Andy - 0 comments.

With numerous articles and interviews from Sim Brother coming to TSZ, over the next four hours, you need to know what to expect.

The Schedule Can Be Found Here!

Thursday 11 April 2002

Games Domain reviews On Holiday

Written at 00:32 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Games Domain has put up another review of SV. Only difference this time is that they played the UK version 'On Holiday'. Same game, different name. To be short about it: it's positive:

"The Sims On Holiday is a somewhat basic add-on. Yes there are a host of new environments, things to make your world pretty and clothes for you to waltz about in, but without the addition of Hot Date the game lacks that same initial buzz you got when Bella caught you and Mortimer kissing on the street. It's fun to watch them doing new things for a while and the same Sims appeal is still there, in terms of their audio gabbling and detailed animated movements. But when you've let them try everything once, relaxed by the pool, done a bit of shopping and returned home to continue developing their lives, there's not as much to explore as Hot Date offered."

It can all be read here. Tomorrow, people in The Netherlands and Sweden will (officially) be able to buy the new expansion pack too. SV is already out nearly everywhere else.

The Sim Brother Evictees - Life On The Outside

Written at 00:54 by Andy - 0 comments.

Do you want to know what the seven former housemates have been up to since they left the Sim Brother house?

You can find the news here!

Sim Brother - We Have A Winner

Written at 02:14 by Andy - 0 comments.

Which one of these two will be the Winner of Sim Brother?
The Answer Can Be Found Right Here!

Sim Brother - The Runner Up Interview

Written at 03:54 by Andy - 0 comments.

Find out what Tony has to say to Will Wright about his experiences in the Sim Brother House
It's all here!

Sim Brother - The Winner & The End

Written at 05:28 by Andy - 0 comments.

Find out what Anna said to Will about winning Sim Brother, and also find out what she has won.
It's all in here!

SimDay Report: Win a Vacation!

Written at 18:32 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Want to go On Holiday - for real? You can win a trip for 4 persons to Beaches Boscobel Spa Resort & Golf Club in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, 8 days and 7 nights long. No purchase necessary - just go to Amazon.com, enter your username, email address, and you're in the contest. The winner will be randomly picked at 31 May. To participate you must be 13 years or older, and must live in 'the 50 states of and the District of Columbia'. Winning minors have to be accompanied by an adult on the "Ultra" trip. More information is here.

The other bit this SimDay was reported earlier: "Will Wright at Oakland Tribune".

New frontpage on official site

Written at 23:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official site got a new homepage. The first page now is a portal to The Sims, one of its expansion packs, or The Sims Online. The actual website for The Sims hasn't changed though - not yet anyway. To find the new portal, go to http://thesims.ea.com.

GameSpot UK reviews On Holiday

Written at 23:31 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

More reviews of the latest expansion pack are popping up everywhere. This time, GameSpot UK has reviewed On Holiday:

"On Holiday also adds two new interesting concepts - postcards and souvenirs. To maintain friendships with those left behind in the neighbourhood, sims can send them a postcard (although I found them hard to find in the resorts I was in) using a special postbox. Likewise, your sims can buy souvenirs of their trip which come back with them. Changes to friendships during the holiday still apply when the sims get home, although (like Hot Date) no time passes while they are away."

The complete review can be read here.

Hot Date Mac in beta stage

Written at 23:44 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There's good news for all Sims fans who use a macintosh. Although Vacation is already out for Windows, Hot Date is now in beta-stage for the mac. Currently the scheduled release is May 2002. Plans about Linux-versions are unknown, and so far only the original game has been successfully ported over to Linux in November. Also Aspyr has not announced making Vacation for Macs yet, although there's not much doubt that they will. You can pre-order Hot Date for Macintosh at Aspyr.com.

Friday 12 April 2002

SV objects cloning possible again

Written at 22:39 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

For all object cloners out there, BluePrint has some good news. Tom van Dijk has written a small program so you can change the colour palette back to 256 colours, which was a problem with Vacation objects. The new objects use more than 256 colours, which was the default for older objects. Just run the IFF file through this new utility called TransPatch, and it'll fix the file so you can use it in Transmogrifier or ObjectCloner. For more information and the download, go to BluePrint. To go to the Transpatch page right away, click here.

Saturday 13 April 2002

The Sims on PS2?

Written at 00:55 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

From PSX Extreme we can read that EA and Maxis are 'exploring the possibilites' of making The Sims for Sony's PlayStation 2. An official announcement hasn't been made (yet), but there are 'strong plans to develop a PS2 game based on The Sims'. The speculated release date that EA will aim for is before the holidays in 2002. The full article can be read here.

HD Patch UK - small update

Written at 22:29 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As some of you might've noticed: the UK version of the Hot Date patch still isn't out. From Maxis we can read that they've ran into a few small problems that are going to be fixed before they will release the patch. You don't have to wait for this patch if you already have On Holiday, as it's included with that. The patch should be released soon, but no exact date is known right now.

Sunday 14 April 2002

Sim Brother - Tom & Will S

Written at 02:34 by Andy - 0 comments.

The 3rd & 4th Evictees are now available to download.

Please give Tom and Will somewhere to live.

Sim Brother - Anne R & Davina

Written at 03:10 by Andy - 0 comments.

Right behind Tom & Will come the 5th & 6th Evictees.

Can you find a home in one of your neighbourhoods for Anne and Davina?

Monday 15 April 2002

UGO.Com reviews SV

Written at 01:32 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Another review of Vacation has popped up at UGO.com. As we've read in other reviews, it's a nice expansion pack, but it doesn't add as much as Hot Date did. Hot Date had all the new social interactions, but Vacation has less. The good thing is that it's less focussed on the individual sim. Finally you can send whole families, including the kids, on a trip. UGO gives SV a B+. To read the review, which is not so very long this time, click here. Our own review here at TSZ will be coming soon.

Tuesday 16 April 2002

Sim Brother - Their Portraits

Written at 01:32 by Andy - 0 comments.

On Day 58, the housemates had to paint portraits of each other. Now you can have them hanging on your wall.

Wednesday 17 April 2002

New Objects Added

Written at 07:40 by Ryan - 0 comments.

I've added two new objects today. From now on I will be adding one or more objects every day all week long! I will contuine doing this for awhile so check back every day to see something new. To see the two new objects added Click here

New Paintings Added

Written at 17:46 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added a new Male Celebrity Paintings Collection for your female Sims today. It includes paintings of Liam Neeson, Mel Gibson, Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks. I have also made a few updates to the Alpine Escape Ski Lodge. Enjoy!

Download Errors

Written at 21:24 by Steve - 0 comments.

I have just corrected problems with 3 of the skins on our site. These skins have not been available for download, but can now be downloaded from the skins page.
I would like to appoligise to everyone who has tried to download these skins.
All of our downloads will be checked to make sure that this does not happen again!

Thursday 18 April 2002

Sim Brother - Tony's Skin

Written at 03:08 by Andy - 0 comments.

For those of you who want the Sim Brother Runner-Up & British Prime Minister living in your neighbourhood, you can find him right here.

Todays Additions

Written at 06:12 by Ryan - 1 comment.

Today I've added two objects, a wall, and a floor. Click Here to see them. Don't forget I'm adding one or more new ojects every day so come back tomorrow to see something new!

2 New Objects Added to Holsimer Collection

Written at 17:53 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added 2 new objects to my Holsimer Collection today. They are the Holsimer Red Egg Chair and the Holsimer D-Lux Food Processor. On Monday, be sure to look for me to upload some new skins for your Sims!

SimDay Report: Community Update

Written at 20:13 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A nice SimDay this week, at least for us. There has been a community update, and we've noticed that. We're now featured at the official site. Thank you Maxis for that. Besides that, there are also some regular things going on: commercial skins and another article.

Read More!

Another review

Written at 20:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There's another review of SV, this time at Game Revolution. It describes the interactions between tourists and other people:

" The big losers in this expansion are Sims looking for a little rendezvous with their next door neighbor. This can quickly turn into the vacation nightmare. When Sims vacation alone or as a family, the player can control all members of the traveling party. But when one Sim asks a neighbor to come along, the game operates the same as it does when a Sim asks another to Date or Hang Out in the Downtown mode of Hot Date. The vacationing companion will arrive with a mood crystal above their head to let you know their most pressing need. You won't be able to actually do anything about that need, at least not directly, because you can't control the companion."

The final grade it gets is a C, with negative points being the limited interactions, an 'autonomy issue' and that the neighborhoods are still separated. I doubt the last thing will ever happen though... You can read the full review of Vacation over here.

Late Poll Results

Written at 22:30 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Last poll was Sim Brother's final poll: did you like it. And as we expected, most of those who followed it liked it a lot, and want a sequel (45 of 86 votes). 24 people have voted that they did not follow it and were here for the news and downloads. To view all the results, go here. The new poll is about the latest expansion pack: do you already have it, and if not, will you get it and when? You can vote on the right, or by following this link. You can view the results of the poll here For all previous polls, visit the poll archive.

Friday 19 April 2002

3 New Additions

Written at 07:43 by Ryan - 0 comments.

Today I've added 3 set of the Cow Spots Chairs. There are 3 chairs in each set. Click Here to see them. Remember to come back tomorrow to see a some original objects!

Sim Brother - Anna K's Skin

Written at 12:47 by Andy - 0 comments.

Anna K, the Winner of "Sim Brother" and International Tennis Star is available for you to what what you please with her.

2 More Objects Added to Holsimer Collection

Written at 16:18 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added 2 more new objects to the Holsimer Collection today. They are the Holsimer Classic Comfort Chair and the Holsimer Retro D-Lux Comfort Chair. Enjoy!

Registration Problems

Written at 23:55 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Some registration problems are occuring: e-mails are not being sent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this, and are doing as much as we can to fix this problem. If you didn't get an email after you registered as member, and if you registered within 48 hours ago, then you can email me to get your password. Please provide the following information in your email:

Username you registered with

Your email address

Date and time you registered

If any of this information is not given then the email will be ignored. The date and time can be estimated if you don't remember it exactly. I'll send you the password as soon as I get the email.

If you still can't login after you got the password I sent, then please register again. After that, follow the same procedure as above. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

Saturday 20 April 2002

4 New Objects

Written at 05:01 by Ryan - 0 comments.

Today I've added 4 new and original objects. Their all decortive objects. Click Here to check them out. Remember again tomorrow I'll be putting at least one more thing on, so come back!

Registering disabled

Written at 21:42 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Registering as a member has been temporarily disabled due to problems. I do not know when it'll be available again. All members can still login normally, but new members cannot register. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this.

Sunday 21 April 2002

Another SV Review

Written at 00:51 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

"Take The Sims, plop the game down in some aptly-themed vacation spots, add a few new items, take away work, and what do you have? Why, The Sims Vacation, of course. While that may be oversimplifying things a bit, thats the good and bad of the newest release in The Sims series of expansion packs. Maxis and Electronic Arts have delivered still more additional items for your Sim-joyment, just as they did with the previous 3 expansion packs. And unfortunately, Maxis and EA have also figured out yet another way to bilk Sims fans everywhere for another $30 for what I would describe as a mediocre expansion pack."

That's the first paragraph of another review of the latest expansion pack for The Sims, this time at Gamersclick. It's not a very long read. As Pro and Con they give the same thing: "Another expansion for The Sims". The overall score is 80%, with a remarkable score for the (according to many people outdated) graphics: 10/10. To read the complete review, go here.

Todays Stuff

Written at 05:57 by Ryan - 1 comment.

Today I've added 5 objects and a floor. The objects are bathroom stuff and the floor just matches them. Click Here to view these objects. You might not see anything from me tomorrow, but please come back Monday for a new objects from me.

Monday 22 April 2002

What game will beat The Sims?

Written at 23:09 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Back in March The Sims beat the game Myst in sale numbers. It had sold 6.3 million times, making The Sims the best selling PC game ever, and it's still high in the sales charts. GameSpot has now written an article in the latest issue of GameSpotting. It's all about what a game should be like if it wants to beat The Sims, and sell even more. If you want to read it, visit this page.

Server problems

Written at 23:32 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

With the link to our site at the official site came a lot of visitors in just a few days. We had between 18,000 and 23,000 (unique) visitors each day, with yesterday being the busiest with over 22,000 visitors. We're very happy with this immense amount of visitors, where it were 'just' 2,000 to 3,000 each day before last thursday. However, the increase in traffic has caused some problems on the server, resulting in a lot of downtime and the registration emails not being sent. We apologize for this inconvenience, and hope that these problems are solved soon, and we're doing as much as we can. Until then, if you can't access a page at any time, try later. Also, during the weekdays the site will be faster than in the (busy) weekends. Again, we apologize for this inconvenience.

Tuesday 23 April 2002

250,000 visitors milestone

Written at 22:18 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

After our 100,000 milestone, only 3 weeks and a couple of days ago, comes another milestone: we've made it to the 250,000 visitors since 2 February 2002. This is earlier than we expected, mainly due to Maxis' last community update. Those brought us nearly 100,000 visitors in the last few days (hence the server problems). This is another great milestone for us, and we're now going for the 500,000, then the 1 million and then... Thank you all for visiting The Sims Zone!

Wednesday 24 April 2002

New House Added

Written at 01:51 by Mike - 2 comments.

I've added a new house today. Its Called Alston House. To check it and all my other houses out Click Here!

Thursday 25 April 2002

New Downtown Lot Added

Written at 00:40 by Mike - 0 comments.

Balina Arcade has been added today. Its an arcade and restuarant, perfect for an evening of fun and a romantic dinner afterwards. You can check it out Here.

SimDay Report: A quiet one

Written at 21:24 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week only one thing for SimDay: a new game. This Hungry Hingry Hamster game is for the latest expansion pack, and is one of those other nice games to place in your vacation areas. If you want to download this new game, click here. It's only 656 Kb. Too bad there's nothing else to report from the official site...

Friday 26 April 2002

May I have your votes, please?

Written at 00:07 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A record in the amount of votes for a poll was made last poll: 757 people casted their vote in one week time. The question was "When will you get SV?" From the possible answers, 529 people said they already had it. 85 others have said to get it in a month or so, and 52 are not going to get it. All results can be showed here in the poll archive. This week we ask you what you think the best expansion is. Cast your vote on the right, or right here.

That's Life 2 Coming soon

Written at 00:25 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As we reported earlier, That's Life 2 (also known as Face Factory) is coming. This is an unofficial expansion pack for The Sims. That's Life 1 caused a lot of havoc when it seemed to have items from several sites on it, without any form of permission. The same will be the case with That's Life 2. There's one big different though: this time it includes the tool 'Face Factory'. With that you can make your own faces. BlackStar Interactive will release this expansion pack world-wide soon, as they got the permission from the creator X-Media. Whether it's worth buying this expansion pack is up to you, but remember that most of it can be found for free on the most popular sites too...

Yet Another SV Review

Written at 15:29 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This time it's up to MonkeyReview to review The Sims' latest expansion pack. As most others, they find Hot Date the more innovative expansion pack. Vacation expands the new features that came with Hot Date, but doesn't add something really new. In other words: "although we see some nice changes in The Sims Vacation we don’t see the major changes that we saw in Hot Date". Although most of you already have the game, for those who still have to decide whether to buy it or not, you can read the review here.

Saturday 27 April 2002

New House Added

Written at 01:29 by Mike - 2 comments.

I've added a new house today "Alsbury" A two story home with 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 Balconys and more! To check it out and all my other homes Click Here

Monday 29 April 2002

New Objects Today

Written at 18:28 by Ryan - 0 comments.

I have added four new object today, their all kinds of stuff so Click Here to view them. I'll be putting some more stuff on tomorrow.

Tuesday 30 April 2002

Added New Object

Written at 07:27 by Ryan - 0 comments.

Tonight I've added one set of 3 objects. They are Neon Zebra Sofas, Click Here to see them. You might not see anything from me tomorrow but check back Thursdays to see something new!

SimCity 4 coming

Written at 23:46 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

To step away from The Sims for a bit: Maxis has officially announced SimCity 4 yesterday. Maxis' history started with SimCity in 1989, which became a world-wide top-selling game. After SimCity 2000 (1993) and SimCity 3000 (1999), several other versions of SimCity (like the SimCity 2000 Network Edition and SimCity 3000 Unlimited/World Edition), many other Sim-games (like SimTower, SimFarm, SimAnt, SimLife), now comes SimCity 4. This new edition will have many new features, upgrades and more since SimCity 3000 but the basis is the same: build a huge city and then destroy it, however you like. SimCity 4 is expected to be released in December 2002. 22 May a new site will open for SimCity 4 here. The full press release can be read here. The first presentation will be on the E3 on 21-24 May in Las Vegas.