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1121. The Sims 2 to use On2's VP6.2 Video Codec

Written on Friday 13 August 2004 at 05:01 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Despite earlier messages saying The Sims 2 will save uncompressed AVI video files when creating a movie, it has turned out that EA has licensed On2's VP6.2 codec for use in The Sims 2. That means movies created from The Sims 2 will need that codec (a little sort of 'program' which media programs use to decode the video files) to be played. On2 claims that their codec provides better video quality than Windows Media 9, Real 9, or H.264. You can find the trailer of The Sims 2 on the VP6 samples page. It's very likely that the necessary files will be included with the Sims 2 when you install it, so there's not really a need to install the codec already. However, you can of course go ahead and get yourself ready to play Sims 2 movies in the future.

1122. UrbzDay

Written on Thursday 12 August 2004 at 21:38 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Somewhat bigger than SimDay, there are a few new things for the Urbz. The first thing to notice is that the new logo is now placed on the official website as well. Old news is the "new trailer" which has been posted at IGN earlier. The announcement that Sims become toys, posted here yesterday has also been put on the website. Furthermore there are fourteen new screenshots (see below), of which 5 show off the EyeToy capabilities of the PS2 version. Finally there's of course the weekly blog, by Scot Amos again. He talks about how close The Urbz on the consoles is getting to Alpha stage:

"Call the neighbors, wake the kids, it's almost ALPHA! That's right... just a few days away until The Urbz goes "ALPHA". Alpha, as I've stated before, is EVERYTHING in the game and you can play it all the way through. We're actually almost there now (ahead of schedule) but we have to really, honestly, thoroughly be able to play the thing from start to finish before we can be declared Alpha."

For the entire blog, see official Urbz website.

1123. SimDay: 3 New Screens [Update - And a contest]

Written on Thursday 12 August 2004 at 21:12 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week's SimDay is extremely small. All that's new are 6 screenshots of the Sims 2, of which we posted 3 earlier this week together with Lucy's Mail. You can find them below. There's nothing else, unfortunately.

[Update 13 August, 15:00] A mention of a new sweepstakes contest, organised by Teen People and the Sims 2, has been added. People from the United States, between the age of 13 and 24, are elegible to enter. You can win a "trip for 2 to L.A. including: Airfare, hotel, dinner at a hip Hollywood hangout, and a shopping spree at one of Hollywood’s hottest boutiques," or one of ten copies of The Sims 2 together with a T-Shirt. See the contest page for details, and make sure to read the official rules.

1124. New Poll

Written on Thursday 12 August 2004 at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been a week since we put up our previous poll, in which we asked you if your Sims water their plants. 427 people have voted, and most Sims pay to do the watering. 67% said their Sims have a gardener coming over every 3 days. 15% says their Sims water the plants and flowers themselves and they stay alive too. 10% of the Sims does the same, but their plants and flowers die for some reason after all. 5% are anti-green and don't have any plants, while 4% of the Sims doesn't water the plants at all - according to our poll anyway. See the results page for precise details.

As for this week, we want to know which (pre-made) family of The Sims 2 you'll most likely be playing the most. We have made a list of all the known families in the three neighbourhoods, and you can pick your favourite on the right or on the latest poll page.

1125. Urbz DS Interview

Written on Thursday 12 August 2004 at 00:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Planet GameCube has posted an interview with Virginia McArthur. She's worked on the Sims Online and the Sims vacation before, and has been active on the Sims for consoles for two years. She's now the producer of The Urbz on the Nintendo DS. She talks a bit about the upcoming handheld game. She says the second screen of the DS will be used as XAM - the PDA for Urbz. The touch screen can of course also be used, for example to create your urb or to navigate through menus. Most GBA mini-games will also be moved to the touch screen to give it a unique feel, and some unique DS mini-games will also be included. Splicer Island is an exclusive location for the DS as well. Finally, players will be able to create and share paintings. It's also said he DS will probably not be able to interact with the GBA version, but instead Maxis focusses on DS to DS wireless connectivity, for wireless multiplayer mini-games, auctions and trading. Read the entire interview for some more in-depth details.

1126. Comedic Sims movie

Written on Thursday 12 August 2004 at 00:12 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

elRellano is a website which posts humouristic videos on many subjects. They have also made a Sims movie which will definitely get you laughing. If you're interested in seeing how Sims really feel about the cursor arrow trying to control them all the time... then check it out. Go to their videos page and download the Los Sims - OJO X OJO, Diente x Diente. It's just 6 Mb and you'll get almost 4 minutes of video. Warning: the movie is not to be taken seriously :-)

1127. New parts Sims 2 Review @ SimsZone

Written on Wednesday 11 August 2004 at 16:18 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Our affiliate SimsZone has posted two new parts of their review of the Sims 2 yesterday and today. Yesterday's part is about creating your family. You start by giving your family a last name, after which you can quickly start creating the Sims. That starts with a name (and biography) as well, as well as the basic characteristics. Pick your Sims' sex, age, body type and skin colour and you're ready to go a bit further. SimsZone also notes that all your Body Shop Sims were automatically imported upon installation, so you can also choose to use one of those.

For the rest of the details, including info about the neighborhoods, read on (and click Read More if necessary). Read More!

1128. Sims become Toys [Update]

Written on Wednesday 11 August 2004 at 02:44 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Besides the Sims 2, there's also the Urbz to be released later this year. And some slightly remarkable news has been announced about the last title today: Atomic Toys is going to make toys based on the characters in the GBA version of the Urbz. The first series of the toyline, called "Miniopolis Urbz" will be launched at the same day as the release of the GBA version. Toys based on the characters of the console version will be released later in the year, but before the holiday season. The availability of these toys is not mentioned, so it could be US only. For more information, read the press release. Meanwhile, the Urbz has also been officially added to the Nintendo DS launch lineup of EA, meaning it will be released simultaneously with the Nintendo DS platform. That will be November in North America and probably Japan (if the game's released there at all - I don't know), Europe and the rest of the world will have to wait until early 2005, as the DS system won't be out until then in those areas. The other versions of the game should be available in November worldwide.

[Update 22:25] There's a mini site available for the toys, which includes a photo with the toys on them. You can find it on this page, which also includes an interactive demo. Noticable is that one of the logos, previously used at TheUrbz.com is now seen there. TheUrbz.com now has the Atomic Toys logo on it.

1129. The Sims 2 Preview @ SimsZone.de

Written on Monday 9 August 2004 at 22:08 by ChEeTaH - 11 comments.

Our colleagues at SimsZone in Germany have been lucky to play a (test) version of the game. They got a copy from EA, and have posted the first parts of their preview today. For the first time ever, they tell something about the installation procedure. Instead of grabbing a coffee during the install, with the Sims 2 you can play a "Grow your Sims" mini game while waiting for the game to be copied to your hard drive (2.65Gb at least). The game starts off with a memory clone, in which you have to match some images. After that there's a trivia about the development of the Sims 2. After another memory game, you're presented with the results. According to SimsZone it does get boring after a while, but it's not needed for much longer and it's a nice addition to the otherwise boring installation.

When starting the game, their first impression says that everything's alive in the new game. Sims also move in a smoother way than before. It doesn't even come to its right in screenshots: "Whoever watches the game in action will not be surprised, but astonished." Controlling the game is easy, despite the large number of new features and improvements. The tutorials should familiarise you enough with the camera control, as it is something to get used to. For Sims 1 players there are 2 tutorials which highlight the changes since that game. That's about all SimsZone has to say until now, but they've promised more articles in the next few days.

Of course the preview is posted together with a bunch of screenshots of both the installation as in the game. You can check all of them out in their Sims 2 Preview special. Of course when new info arrives on their site, we'll let you know.

1130. New Sims 2 Screenshots [Update]

Written on Monday 9 August 2004 at 14:22 by ChEeTaH - 7 comments.

Two other Sims Zones have posted some new screenshots of the Sims 2. The first one is our affiliate SimsZone Germany, which has reposted the screenshots from Giga Games, but this time in slightly better quality, thanks to a repeat of the show. Go to their Screenshot section and scroll down for the high quality screenshots.

Sims Zone Poland has posted a selection of brand new screenshots of the game. They show a part of Veronaville, but also quite a bit of unique in-game material. The schoolbus and the kids getting in are shown for example, but you can also see a toddler hanging over the toilet pot. You can also see toddler Beau just after he's grown up to be a child, and achieved the aspiration level of Diaper-Filler. Finally, there are a few party screenshots as well. You can see them all below, click the thumbnails for large versions.

[Update 10 August, 11:10] It seems that Sims Zone Poland will be posting new screenshots almost every day for the next few days. Today they've already posted 20 new screenshots on the page mentioned above. Instead of reporting about it every time, you'll have to keep checking their screenshots page for the new screenshots. Thanks to Piotr for telling this in the comments.