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1611. Expansion 7: Makin' Magic (instead of Spellbound) [Update 18:30]

Written on Wednesday 9 July 2003 at 20:08 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

We've heard a lot about a seventh expansion pack in the past, called Spellbound. It looks like that was just a working title, as a press release has already leaked: The Sims Makin' Magic will be released 31 October in Europe, probably a week earlier (24 October) in the US. Although the press release isn't available in English yet, there's a Dutch version of it available at this page (at the official Dutch site). Sims will be able to cast magical tricks to improve their love life, cause chaos at angry neighbours, or make an end to all their worries. There will be another new area ("Magic Town") where you can meet new characters, show off your magic, or discover secret recipes for spells. You can also change the regular objects into personal helps, hypnotise your friends or change that boring woman nextdoor into a frog. If your Sims aren't skilled enough, anything can go wrong. That's about all that the press release says. When there's an English press release available (which will be very soon), we'll mention it. Stay tuned!

[Update 18:30] I missed the two screenshots at the bottom of the press release. Here they are anyway:

1612. 100,000 albums

Written on Wednesday 9 July 2003 at 12:03 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Maxis has achieved another milestone: album number 100,000 has been posted. The exchange at the official site has been the place to tell your Sims' stories for more than 3 years. The first 6 months weren't really exciting according to Will, but after that more and more fans started to post their stories and they even amazed Maxis at times. The fans still do so. "With The Sims 2 on the horizon, I can't wait to see what the fans will create. There will be an even greater potential for creative storytelling and content," said Will in this press release. Congratulations Maxis!

1613. SimDay: Music and a hidden survey

Written on Thursday 3 July 2003 at 22:38 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week's SimDay seems to be pretty nice. There are several interesting, but also some less interesting things. First of all there's the official announcement of The Sims Bustin' Out on GBA (click here to read), and a link to GameSpot's interview about it (more info right here). Then there's a link to an article at Wired News talking about Sims photo albums... Read More!

1614. New poll

Written on Thursday 3 July 2003 at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Like every week we've changed our poll again. Last week we asked how often your Sims move house, and that varies a lot. For those who don't know: use the bulldoze icon, click on the house the family lives in, and then use the Create a Family screen to move them in somewhere else. For all the results of that poll click here. This week we got a sort of private question for you (although everything's anonymous, so we won't be able to track anything with your member account whatsoever): how much money have you spent on The Sims, its add-ons, donations, paysite subscriptions etc. etc. Vote on the right or at this page. Thank you.

1615. Sims Survey

Written on Thursday 3 July 2003 at 00:31 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

I received an email from a group of four undergraduate students, who need your help. They're conducting a research to identify the ratio of males vs females playing specific computer games, including The Sims. They've posted an anonymous survey which, if you want to help them, you can fill out. It's anonymous and there are no risks of privacy of the respondents. You can find the survey at http://cgi.sfu.ca/~bmazus/cgi-bin/sims.php. It's a very short questionnaire (just 4 questions and a comments field), so it'll take only a minute to fill out.

1616. New The Sims (GBA) Screenshots

Written on Wednesday 2 July 2003 at 13:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

IGN Gameboy has posted a preview of The Sims Bustin' Out on the GBA. In it is the information we saw in yesterday's news. However, it comes with 3 little new things: screenshots. These are about a Sim that has to go, a calling Sim and a Sim on a Bridge (below). You can check out their preview at this page. The screenshots are on this media page.

1617. Bustin' Out Interview

Written on Wednesday 2 July 2003 at 02:37 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

GameSpot has had a talk with Virginia McArthur about Bustin' Out on the GBA and GameCube. The interview has been spread over 3 pages, and mainly discusses the GBA version. The opening question is about when development on the GBA version started, which officially was in March 2003. There's also a lot of talking about the connectivity between the GBA and GameCube, as well as the features the GBA edition will have. Here's a snippet about auctions:

"If you connect to another GBA, you will be able to participate in each other's daily auctions. Auctions are held every sim day in the GBA version of The Sims Bustin' Out, so the best way to get more cheap stuff is to link up to another GBA and join in that auction as well. Your sims will be able to show up at the other player's local general store and will have an additional auction time. This is the ultimate trading spot--a way to bargain and take away other sims' surplus."

They also shortly mention the developers of the game, which is not Maxis but Griptonite Games, an Amaze Entertainment Studio located in Kirkland, Washington. For more questions and answers, click here.

1618. Late Superstar review

Written on Wednesday 2 July 2003 at 02:24 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A late Superstar review has been posted at 3DAvenue.com. It's split up in 5 parts: Introduction, GamePlay (8.5/10), Visuals (7.5/10), Controls (9.0/10) and the Conclusion. The overal score they give is a 8.0 (out of 10). It doesn't really mention any new stuff, but I'll give you a quote from the GamePlay part anyway, which discusses repetition:

"One problem, or annoyance, I came across while doing this process was the repetition. Since your sim has needs, like food and sleep, you can never stay in studio town for as long as you need, forcing you to come back day after day trying to get a mere half star. Often you can replenish such needs as hygiene and hunger at Studio Town, but your energy can only be improved by sleep, and you can only get sleep at your house. Managing your sim is still obviously a very important role in Superstar, which is good, but when it always seems to cut into your activities it can become tedious."

You can read the entire review at this page, or check out other reviews in our review index.

1619. EA Announces Bustin' Out for GBA

Written on Tuesday 1 July 2003 at 21:27 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

EA Games has announced The Sims for the GameBoy Advance today. There's a nice little bit of info in the press release about the gameplay in Bustin' Out, which is similar to Bustin' Out on the other consoles:

"Players begin living in a Barn and earn their way through locations in SimValley to eventually live in the coolest cribs, such as a swanky Mansion on the hill. Players will be able to unlock over 20 locations such as the Biker Juice Bar and the Ultimate Dance Club on their way to success. There are eight new career paths for players to pursue including Cliff Diving Instructor to Iron Pizza Chef. If players want to get through adventures with speed, they will be able to unlock a scooter to race around SimValley. Players will meet and play with a wild cast of over 30 new characters exclusive to the Game Boy Advance such as Salty Sam and Bucky the Bull Rider. Players also can go to the pet shelter and adopt a dog or cat to keep them company. New to the Sims is a close-up social interaction screen that will allow players to have conversations with other Sims and establish friendships that will help them advance through levels and complete goals."

Of course it also mentions the connectivity with the GameCube, as well as several other things. You can read the whole press release right here. We already knew about this game for a while, since the E3 in may, and even have 2 screenshots for your from back then. You can find them at this page in our news archive.

1620. New donation files

Written on Tuesday 1 July 2003 at 02:16 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Sumit's been a busy man recently, and he's provided us with some unique donation files. Besides a plasma computer, a set of 9 columns (NeoClassic Style) and a NeoClassic table for your collection, there's also a brand new object tutorial. If you're a bit artistic and want to make brand new 3D objects, Sumit explains how. The tutorial explains how to create objects from scratch using Rhino 3D and Transmogrifier. You'll be able to download this tutorial if you donate to TSZ. Please do so, we really need the money! Thank you very much.