Search News Archive
1341. 2 Million Visitors!
Written on Monday 29 March 2004 at 18:37 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
After 2 years and 2 months since we
started counting our visitors, The Sims Zone has reached another milestone. The counter just got to 2,000,000 unique visitors during the almost 775 days that were counted. Time for some statistics: since the
launch on 17 November 2001, over 1300 newsposts were written. Almost 700 comments were made to newsposts since we
launched the members area in February 2002. In the same time, over 7,300 member accounts were created, and about 900 of them have logged in in the past month. There have been more than 110 community news posts since July 2002, when we
opened the community section. Members have posted about their updated sites about 230 times, while there are currently 100 links to sites by members. The 25 links on our
Links page got close to 39,000 hits altogether from The Sims Zone, while our
Affiliates do a little bit better. Our current affiliates are good for over a massive 70,000 (!) hits. We also started our popular Sim Brother in
January 2002. Currently we're 3 series later, and during those 3 series Andy has written 244 daily reports and specials. During the history of The Sims Zone, we have posted more than 580 files, of which some also come from TheSimsFusion, the site this was before it became TSZ. When it comes to
polls, we've also achieved quite a bit. Almost every week we post a new poll, and currently number 116 is running. Together they're worth close to 700 answers. In total, about 28,000 people have voted in all those polls. Finally, our most recently
launched feature, the Knowledge base, has proven to be very popular. The more than 550 questions have resulted in a staggering 1150+ answers. In total, there are already almost 100,000(!) views to the questions in total. There are also more than 500 subscriptions to questions. Nice note is that there are the most questions in the
Sims 2 section: it contains over 50% of all the questions! Most of the questions have been answered, but members are posting new questions and answers every day. That concludes this round of statistics. As time progresses The Sims Zone will continue to grow, and we're definitely ready for another 2 Million visitors. Keep visiting!
1342. New Sims 2 Screenshot
Written on Thursday 25 March 2004 at 18:47 by
ChEeTaH -
10 comments.
Maxis is moving, but still they're providing us with new screenshots. It looks a bit messy, as if the Sims only just moved in (coincidence?). That's all we have currently though. More information about it will probably follow soon. Click the thumbnail below to see the full shot.
1343. Luc Leaves Maxis (and gives some info away...)
Written on Thursday 25 March 2004 at 12:50 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
In his latest weekly e-mail, Luc Barthelet has told us that he's leaving Maxis. The company that made The Sims is moving to a new location this week, and as it happens Luc is "
also personally moving to new endeavors". It's still going to be within EA though, but it will be a while until we'll hear from Luc again: "
I can say is that it will take a few years to come out and it will probably involve the Sims and other EA properties in a completely new way." Also, he announced a bit for the next E3 in May 2004. Luc says there's going to be another console version of The Sims this fall, which will be announced just before the E3. During the E3, you will be able to see it. The Sims 2 will be there for a second time too, but this time it's possible to play the latest Sims game. The
E3 is the biggest gaming exposition in the world, held on 11-14 May in Los Angeles. A lot of games press will be around checking out all the latest games. If Luc will be there too is unsure, but Neil Young, who produced EA hit '
Return of the King' before, probably will be. He's taking over as General Manager at Maxis, doing what Barthelet has been doing since 1997. GameSpot has written an
article about that move too. Lucy Bradshaw, Executive Producer of The Sims 2, will now be sending several websites the latest and greatest of the Sims 2 every week. In the "Read More" bit, I've copied Luc's complete e-mail, for the fans...
Read More!
1344. New Poll
Written on Thursday 25 March 2004 at 01:00 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Sims watch TV, just like people. At least most Sims do. We asked about your Sims' favourite channel, and 309 people voted. The cartoons are the most popular, with 23% of the viewers, while the romance channel is second with 16% of the votes. About 14% prefers action, while 13% claims not to watch TV. With one vote less, the Entertainment channel followed with also about 13%. The last three results are close, with 14, 13 and 12 votes each (around 4-5%). Those last three are Sports, the Animal Show and the EP6 News channels. We also have a
nice overview of the results.
The new poll is also in the entertainment category. We want to know what your favourite career in Superstar is. Let us know by voting on the right or on the
latest poll page. Also make sure to check out our
archive.
1345. Body Shop Details
Written on Wednesday 24 March 2004 at 22:39 by
ChEeTaH -
3 comments.
The latest issue of the Sims 2 newsletter is out, and it's almost all about the Body Shop tool. It's now been confirmed that it was formerly known as CaSIE, and Maxis also revealed what CaSIE means: Create-a-Sim Independent Editor. However, that name doesn't matter anymore. What does, is a brand new concept of art, sent together with the letter. It's shown below. Other screenshots that were included were
these three. There's also a link to the
interview with Lyndsay McGaw. That's all for this month's newsletter.
1346. 2 new Sims articles
Written on Wednesday 24 March 2004 at 19:48 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Two news sites have recently published articles about The Sims. The first one comes from
Wired and is about The Sims Online. There's a presential election coming soon to Alphaville. If you're interested in knowing about the plans of the possible new presidents, and more background info on the
Alphaville Government, read
the article. The other article comes from the Miami Herald. It focuses on what kind of "
virtual fixation" The Sims is, and how dedicated some players are:
"So many people spend so much time creating and playing The Sims, that fans have become sensitive to a portrayal of them as 'freaks without lives.'
"Many observers point out that Sims players form valuable friendships and communities. And sociologists and industry experts say people can learn about juggling the elements of their lives from such simulation games."
Make sure to read all about that too
right here.
1347. New Sims 2 Screenshots
Written on Wednesday 24 March 2004 at 16:57 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Spring has just started, but Maxis is in a Summer mood. They've sent
GameSpy 7 new screenshots of The Sims 2, all of which are taken around a pool. On the screenshots you can see the new camera mode in action, and of course the brand new water. Dive along with the Sims and
watch those screenshots!
1348. Release Date News
Written on Tuesday 23 March 2004 at 22:46 by
ChEeTaH -
5 comments.
There's a little update about the Sims 2 related release dates, with thanks to James Magenta for the tip.
PC Zone has posted an
article saying that the Body Shop will be available for free download from 10 May (which oddly enough isn't a SimDay). Maxis is - according to PC Zone - aiming for a release date of the full game in September. Note that we haven't been able to confirm these release dates yet, nor have we heard anything directly from Maxis. Also the game might be further delayed - we never know. It's a matter of patience and only time will tell...
1349. CaSIE (now "Body Shop") Update
Written on Tuesday 23 March 2004 at 12:19 by
ChEeTaH -
3 comments.
It's a quiet time when it comes to news for The Sims, but we've got some major news. CaSIE, which has apparantly changed name again to "
The Sims 2 Body Shop". The reason of the name change is unknown, but it could be to get rid of the confusion between "CaSIE" and the (in-game) "CaS". The current release date for this tool is set to May 2004, which means we'll have to wait another month and a bit.
GameSpot has posted 3
new screenshots, of which one is of TS2BS. The other 2 are taken from the game, using custom Sims. Make sure to check them out. Recently we also gave you
some screenshots which will probably be included in the next newsletter. The name "Body Shop" was already mentioned back then, but it wasn't clear that it was the new name of CaSIE yet.
1350. The Add-on Handler: Translators wanted!
Written on Friday 19 March 2004 at 20:22 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
If you would like to help out the international Sims community, but don't know how yet, here's a chance! I'm looking for people who would like to translate one of my programs,
The Add-on Handler. The next version, which is in progress, will have the option to be translated to other languages, using language files. That is to help all those people who are not so familiar with English to use the program just as easily as everybody else. I'm looking for people to translate the program for me, as my knowledge of foreign languages isn't too great. Read on (click "Read More" if necessary) for more information...
Read More!