939 results found.
Displaying results 401 to 410

<< Previous | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | Next >>

401. The Sims Zone turns 3!

Written on Wednesday 17 November 2004 at 20:29 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

It's been 3 years already since we started as The Sims Zone. Although this site existed before as TheSimsFusion, and SimsZone before that, we've been running under the current name since 17 November 2001. Besides the several moves between servers (like last weekend), we've been keeping you up-to-date with the latest news and info about the Sims continuously, which has resulted in well over 3.6 million unique visitors to the Sims Zone so far. We've also introduced several new features since our launch, including our members section (have you registered yet?), SimBrother (have you watched the 3 series?), and our knowledge base (have you posted your questions there?). Of course we won't stop in the following year(s) - expect more news, info, articles, reviews, polls, and a lot of other things from the team behind the Sims Zone right on this site - of course all about the Sims franchise. I want to thank the entire team, including former team members, especially Matt and Matthew, former webmasters of SimsZone and TheSimsFusion, for the effort they've put in this site the past years. Let's hope it'll never stop, just like the Sims!

402. New Server Running [Update]

Written on Saturday 13 November 2004 at 13:37 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As you read this, we're running on a new, faster server, with a lot more bandwidth too. You may have experienced a few hours downtime but we're back and running now. The new server has far less sites running on it, as it's almost dedicated. Unfortunately, we are experiencing a few DNS-related problems which cause thesimszone.com to be offline at the moment, as well as thesimszone.co.uk without www (all other subdomains work fine). We hope to solve these problems as soon as possible, until then please just use www.thesimszone.co.uk or the subdomains there. We apologise for the inconvenience and hope to have everything back soon.

[Update 15:15] The entire thesimszone.co.uk is now functional, even if you don't use "www." now. TheSimsZone.com should be back within the next few hours, that's a matter of waiting.

403. EA Employees sue Company [Update]

Written on Friday 12 November 2004 at 19:42 by ChEeTaH - 6 comments.

Some employees of Electronic Arts, including members of the Sims 2 team, have filed a lawsuit against the company. The employees have had to work overtime during crunch-times (rushes before the major deadlines), which meant working 12 hours a day 7 days a week, with occasionally the Saturday evening off. The group of employees claims they didn't get paid for the extra hours they worked, nor did they get extra hours off, or extra vacation days in return. EA's attitude towards this is said to be "If they don't like it, they can work someplace else." The details are revealed by the spouse of an EA worker, in a blog post. "This company is not strapped for cash; their labor practices are inexcusable." The spouse claims EA's actions to make employees work too long - almost 90 hours a week - is "unethical" and "illegal." Another part says the turnover rate in engineering at EA is approximately 50%, which means a lot of people leave the company constantly, and new ones join.

GameSpot further investigated this issue, and brought up that Attorney Robert C. Schubert, partner at San Francisco law firm Schubert & Reed LLP, has "initiated legal proceedings to start a class action lawsuit on behalf of a group of EA employees." EA claims the employees fell under the Californian exemption law, Senate Bill 88, which does not apply to the entertainment industry and only to specialty employees earning at least $90,000 annually. The claim "Jamie Kerschenbaum vs. Electronic Arts, Inc." was filed 29 July of this year. Jamie was part of the Sims 2 design team, although his current employment status is unknown. "EA will not retaliate against employees for exercising legal rights, including by participating in the proposed class action." More about this can be read in the GameSpot newspost or the EA Spouse blog.

[Update 22:20] More posts by former EA employees have been published. See the read more area (or read on below) for the details about those. Read More!

404. SimDay: The Strangerhood [Update]

Written on Thursday 11 November 2004 at 13:43 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

This week's SimDay is more like a StrangerhoodDay. But first, MaxoidKane has sent out a private message to all registered members. Maxis will be cleaning out the exchange, by removing unpopular files from the database. That way, Maxis hopes to make it easier for people to find what they're looking for. Anything that was posted "in the last 21 days, featured items, frequently downloaded items, and rated content" will be kept, anything else will be removed. It's recommended to make a local back-up copy if you fear your content will be deleted, so you can always reupload it:

"Our creative and talented Sims 2 community has been growing at a fantastic rate and in turn the Exchange has been growing at a rapid rate. We've found it has become difficult for users to wade through the incredible amounts of content. We think that regularly removing unused content from the system provides a benefit to users looking for quality content.

"Beginning next week, we'll be pruning the Exchange database on a regular basis in order to help users trying to locate quality content and to provide space for more content in the future. Content added in the last 21 days, featured items, frequently downloaded items, and rated content will be retained. Content that does not meet this criteria will be removed. Rest assured, we have adjusted the criteria for the length of time the content has been on the exchange. If you're worried about your content being removed, please back up a copy of your content locally. We'll conduct regular cleanings of the Exchange following this criteria from now on."

Furthermore, there's some Strangerhood news. Tonight at 3pm PST (11pm GMT, midnight in Europe) a chat will be held with two creators of the series, Burnie and Matt from Rooster Teeth Productions. You can join the chat to ask them questions about writing scripts or creating the movies. The auditorium will open approximately 10 minutes before the chat starts. You can find it on the chat page. Rooster Teeth has also made a second episode of the series, titled "The one with the Premise". It's just under 5 minutes and comes in DivX, Windows Media and QuickTime format. You can download it from the Strangerhood Archive.

[Update 12 November, 1:45am] The chat transcript has been posted. If you want to know more about the series or the guys behind it, you might want to read it. Episode 2 of the series is now also available for download on the official Sims 2 site, which you can use if the Strangerhood one is slow for you. Finally, something that was posted late this simday, is a new object. The Greek "Touch of Autumn" Cornucopia can function as decoration in any Sims 2 house. You can download it from this page on the Exchange.

405. New Poll

Written on Thursday 11 November 2004 at 12:43 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week's poll is all about the performance of the Sims 2 on your computer. How well does it run? Smoothly with all settings to the max, or doesn't it run at all? Vote on the right or the latest poll page. As for last week, we asked you what you are waiting for the most. The first expansion for the Sims 2 is by far the winner; it got almost 56% of the 332 votes. The patch is second with 16%, and a new computer to play the game got 13%. Then there's a difference of one vote in favour of The Urbz on the Consoles compared to nothing of the possible options at all, with approximately 7% of the votes. The handheld version of the Urbz and a console for the Urbz were both tied at 3 votes, which is almost 1%. All the results are on the results page.

406. The Sims 2 - The Sequel Has Landed - A Child's Life

Written on Wednesday 10 November 2004 at 17:35 by Andy - 0 comments.

A Child's Life is the latest section that we are looking at in our detailed review of The Sims 2 We look at the life of children and the changes this new stage of life brings up to and including the point of the most important decision of a sim's life. It's all in here!

407. The Urbz Officially Released

Written on Wednesday 10 November 2004 at 15:26 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The Urbz: Sims in the City has officially been released in the US today. Europe and other parts of the world will follow tomorrow or friday. The Urbz is the latest title in the Sims franchise for consoles (PlayStation 2, GameCube and X-Box) and handhelds (GBA and DS). The first 700.000 copies of the game contain with a download card with which you can download 4 exclusive Black Eyed Peas tracks from Apple's iTunes. Along with the launch of the game itself, EA has also teamed up with Atomic Toys, which has made toys based on characters in the handheld version of the game. Toys based on the console game will follow later this year. You can expect a complete review from us soon, but until then there's a preview written almost a month ago, which you can read. Of course you can also buy the game on the platform of your choice, or the official strategy guide from our shop.

408. Sims 2 DVD Europe Release Date

Written on Thursday 4 November 2004 at 23:42 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There is more confirmation of the news we brought last week that the DVD would be released in December for Europe. Several online shops in Britain, including GamePlay and MVC have it listed, and according to them it will be released at 3 December 2004. However, things have become a bit unclear about the exact contents of the package. Dutch SP Zone has reported the game and all the bonus content will be put on one single DVD, contrary to what I was told earlier (the game would be on 4 CDs, and the bonus DVD with the bonus content would be included). It's also still unclear whether there will be some kind of exchange or rebate possibilities for those who already have the game and want to get the DVD version instead. Of course we'll keep you updated with the latest news on this as we get it. You will also be able to order the DVD from our shop as soon as Amazon makes it available for pre-order.

409. Urbz Strategy Guide Details

Written on Thursday 4 November 2004 at 15:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Some new details of the official strategy guide (by Prima) for the Urbz on both console and handheld have been revealed. It will be 192 pages, which cover all of the following:

• The best tips for working and playing in all 9 districts
• Must-have info for reputation and social interactions
• Essential details on all socials, objects, needs, skills, and jobs
• Covers two-player and freeplay modes
• Special features and cheats for all platforms
• Exposes secrets for Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo DS, plus minigame strategies

A preview of the book can also be downloaded in PDF format, from the book's details page at Prima's site. It already shows you 4 pages. Another German preview shows the cover, the credits and table of contents, and another 22 pages from the book itself. That can be found on the official german site. Of course you can already order the book from our strategy guide Shop, for just £8.36 or $10.49.

410. New Poll

Written on Thursday 4 November 2004 at 15:45 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As you can see, we've put up another poll this week. We're wondering what Sims-related thing you're looking forward to the most right now. Whether it's the Urbz, or a patch or the first expansion for the Sims 2, or even a computer or console to play either of these games, let us know and vote on the right or the latest poll page. Last week we asked you what you hope to be like when you're old. 208 people voted, of which 48 (23%) won't get old, 36 don't know yet (17.5%), and 9 (4.5%) already are old. Living happily ever after being married with children is the most popular option of the 5 aspirations, with 47 votes (22.5%). Being rich and romantic were close with respectively 27 (13%) and 25 (12%) votes each. Growing old and wise is the wish of 11 people (5.5%), and finally becoming famous is what 5 people (2.5%) said they'll do. All the results can be found on the results page.