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691. The Sims 2 Best simulation game at E3

Written on Saturday 24 May 2003 at 23:58 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Sims 2 has won its first award. The website IGN PC has given The Sims 2 the award for Best Simulation Game shown at the E3 a week ago. This is what they say about it:

"This is the game you'll want to know about if you're at all interested in titles where the domination and control and development of other people is the main premise. It's the same Sims you know and love with a new look, a load of new features and even more depth."

There's a bit more. You can check out at this page. All the other PC awards are there too. Runners-up for best simulation game were Century of Flight, Train Simulator 2 and Lock-On.

692. New poll

Written on Thursday 22 May 2003 at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Last week there was a poll about the new features of The Sims 2. You voted a lot, and the best new feature turns out to be the aging of Sims with 42% of the votes. Second came the multi-story homes option (50 votes, 17%), third are the 3D graphics (49 votes, about 17% too). For the rest of the results, go here. This week's poll is about Superstar: we wonder how good you think it is... if you got it anyway. You can vote on the right, or on this page. For more polls, go into our poll archive.

693. Will Wright Interviews: Talk about SimUniverse? [Updated]

Written on Wednesday 21 May 2003 at 01:06 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

GameSpy has posted an interesting interview with Will Wright. It's not to much about The Sims, but more about the man himself. Besides telling how much he worked with Sid Meier on SimGolf, The Sims on GBA and the collaboration with Nintendo's Miyamoto on that. But there's also a bit about a secret project:

GameSpy: "I don't suppose you want to talk about the secret project."

Will Wright: "Not yet. The problem is that when I work on a game it takes about four years. If I start talking about it now, people will have heard about it for three years when it comes out. They'll be sick of hearing about it. I need to be kind of careful. I think that the optimum is that your game goes to E3 once, not twice or three times. I wish I could do a game in two years."

Now if we go back into our news archive, our visitors who came here over a year ago might remember the name of SimUniverse. Although we haven't heard anything about that for a long time, it might still be true. Check out this newspost and this one for what we posted about SimUniverse last year. Oh, and to read the GameSpy interview: click here.

[Update 23:30] In the "Read more" bit (or below if you can see that already) you can read more about the audio interview posted a couple of days ago. Read More!

694. The Sims 2 Interview

Written on Monday 19 May 2003 at 00:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There's still some stuff appearing from the E3 last week. There was already a 20-minute interview with Will Wright at GameSpy earlier, and now GameSpot has posted another interview with Will Wright. Although it's much shorter (just about 97 seconds) and less interesting, this interview has a nice thing for the fans: it's a video. So if you've always wanted to know what Will really looks like (instead of as a Sim), it's worth to check it out from this page. In the interview Will talks briefly about The Sims 2 and its new features, like this: "If they have a screwed up childhood, they'll be a screwed up adult. They might have to go to therapy". Sims will be much more responsive and aware of the environment around them, according to Will (we'll take his word for it). Although the simulation will be more complicated, they want to keep the interface as simple as The Sims 1. Will also says the console verison is somewhere in between The Sims 1 and The Sims 2. There isn't anything real news in the interview, unfortunately.

695. GameSpy E3: Sims 2 Preview and Audio interview

Written on Saturday 17 May 2003 at 20:48 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

GameSpy has been quite busy at the E3 (which is now over) as well. On the last day they visited Maxis to check out their latest games: The Sims 2 and Bustin' Out. We already told you about Bustin' Out yesterday, but The Sims 2 was posted a bit later. And yet again, this preview reveals a new feature of The Sims 2: weather. Here's a bit:

"During the demo, we witnessed another new effect. It started to rain. The lighting of the scene changed as the dreary clouds moved in, and the Sims themselves all reacted with dismay as the raindrops came down. (The unfortunate Sim who opted to remain in the hot tub was in for a shock when the lightning struck...)"

Poor sim. They also discuss the building in the new game, in which will be able to curve stairs. As you could also see in the background of one of the screenshots (the one with the family on the couch, which you can see right here), doors and windows can now also be placed on diagonal walls. GameSpy also reveals that Maxis plans to release tools to create new items even before the game will be released. The conclusion is that "If it all comes together, Sims 2 should be ten times as addictive as the first. And that scares me". Along with the preview they also posted an audio interview with the god of gods Will Wright. Fargo, the writer of the preview, told us some of the audio is garbled but there are still quite some interesting things in it. Unfortunately I can't check that myself yet (there's a 45 minute wait at FilePlanet), but for those who just want to listen: click here (it's a 20Mb file!). As soon as I've been able to get the interview I'll update this newspost. Anyway, for those who want to read the interesting preview: click here. It's worth your time!

696. Bustin' Out Preview @ IGN

Written on Friday 16 May 2003 at 01:04 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

I must admit this news is probably a bit late, as I should've been writing this a week ago. Anyway, IGN has posted a preview of Bustin' Out, but there aren't many new facts in it. Still it's nice to read it, especially the part where IGN says they will give us a hands-on preview from the E3. That means we should be knowing more of this title tomorrow, as the E3 will end then. Hopefully we'll be getting some screenshots of both Bustin' Out and maybe The Sims 2 then too. So far the amount of information from the E3 is probably smaller than expected, but it's possible that these Sims titles, and The Sims on GBA, haven't been shown in the exposition yet. If not, then we should see more tomorrow. Back to the Bustin' Out preview:

"Along with the slew of new locations, Maxis is packing the game full of more, more, and more of our favorite Sims objects. Now we can track down and earn groovy collectibles such as the Laser Light Show, DJ Booth, Climbing Wall (for those athletically inclined Sims), and High Dive. Maxis never disappoints with the many wacky and creative additions to its Sims universe, and Bustin' Out looks no different. Players can now customize their characters with things such do-rags and piercings, in addition to teaching them new moves like the crowd-favorite French Kiss, hilarious Towel Snap, and funky fresh Moon Walk. Afraid of what your parents will say to a full body tattoo? Save your money and get one in the Sims instead."

It occurs more often that sites post one review of the same game on different platforms in different flavours. The same has happened here, and IGN has posted the review 3 times. Twice with the first screenshot (GameCube and PlayStation 2 editions), and once without it (X-Box). Have fun reading!

697. The Sims 2: E3 preview and movie

Written on Thursday 15 May 2003 at 17:03 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

IGN has had a look at The Sims 2, and are giving us a 2-page preview of the game, straight from the E3. It's a bit humorous, as the editor (I won't mention the name of Ivan Sulic) apparantly had his notes drowned in some "unidentifiable liquid" - he probably had a few drinks too many. Hence, all the quotes are from pretty nameless people. Anyway, the preview discusses the creation of skins, which is as follows: first you select an archetype. That can be a Caucasian, African American, Chinese, Persian, and even an Elf. You can then totally modify the archetype, using various sliders. They also mention the DNA, which is passed on to the Sims' kids, their kids and so forth. When another editor at IGN (PS2) commented raising kids isn't fun, this was Maxis' response:

"Sims producer: It is about domestic chaos. It's a chaos simulator. Children aren't the main focus. It's not made to be tedious. It's made to be a challenge. Kids have been added for fun."

I wonder who said that... Anyway, on the second page the life quality is discussed, and it seems it's determined by what the Sim desires to have, i.e. what he's done in the past. Although they only talk about having a good and happy life, they unfortunately don't mention if a Sim who hates all the goody-goody stuff can have a good life too, without having children, a career, etc. Maxis will also try to keep the system requirements down, but The Sims 2 won't run on low-end systems, mainly because of its detail. Maxis will also make the game as expandable as The Sims 1.0, and they will release tools to make archetypes for instance. If you want to read everything I mentioned here, and a few other things, in detail, then click here. Besides that, GameSpot has posted a direct-feed movie trailer from GameSpot Live. You can check it out from this page. Unfortunately I'm unable to check the movie out myself on the computer I'm at now, but perhaps someone will post their say about it in the comments.

698. New poll: more The Sims 2

Written on Thursday 15 May 2003 at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

After asking if you were looking forward to the E3 this week, this week we're asking you to tell us what you think will be the best new feature of The Sims 2. Are you stunned by the 3D graphics, the aging, DNA, the life score, multiple-story homes, Create-A-Sim or just nothing at all? Tell us by voting at the right, or at this page. As for our last poll: most of you apparantly never heard of the E3, the big event that's going on now. Basically it's a convention and exposition (hence Electronic Entertainment Exposition, E3) where the newest video games are shown. 39% (53 votes) said they've never heard of it, but those of them reading this now have. Second in the list are those who are looking forward to it just because The Sims 2 will be shown there, with 37 votes (27%). Following that closely is the option "Yes, but not just for The Sims 2. I want to know more about other games too", with 30 votes (22%). Twelve people (9%) are even going (or went by now) to LA to check it out, and just 2% (3 votes) don't care about The Sims 2 or any other games at the E3. A clear overview of this list can be found at this page, in our archive.

699. The Sims for GBA-GameCube coming

Written on Thursday 15 May 2003 at 01:49 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Nintendo gamers who are fans of The Sims as well should be happy to hear this: Will Wright announced that The Sims will be coming for the GameBoy Advance at the E3, during the Nintendo press conference. Using a GameCube GameBoy Advance link cable, the two games will be able to exchange Sims from one version to another. It seems that the GameCube version will be re-released, with special options available to link the GBA and GC versions of the game. On the GBA, players can earn money, send those Simoleans to the GameCube and buy special items that normally aren't available. Other ideas will be implemented later. Currently both games (i.e. one GBA edition, and an enhanced GameCube version) are still in heavy development. Although currently no release date is known, Will Wright said that the new GameCube version will be shown at the E3 in the Sims booth. That means we'll probably get more news about this within the next few days. It's also unknown if the Bustin' Out expansion pack contains the 'upgrade' for the GameCube, or if current owners of The Sims on the GameCube will be able to get a refund or exchange their game. Right now things are indeed still very vague about this...

700. The Sims 2 E3 Impressions

Written on Wednesday 14 May 2003 at 13:36 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

GameSpot has posted some first impressions of The Sims 2, from the E3 convention in LA. The exposition starts today, and we're hoping for some more screenshots. Until then, you can read this:

"First of all, The Sims 2 looks really good--at least that's what we thought based on what we've seen. It features a fully 3D engine with realistic lighting, as well as far more detailed character models for the sims themselves, who now can be seen making realistic facial expressions and moving about in an even more lifelike manner. The game's interface appears nearly identical to that of the original, though a few new "motives" (the statistics of your sims that you need to keep track of) have been added. The "social" motive from The Sims has been broken up into "family" and "friends," and a "mind" motive has been added, representing mental stimulation. The gameplay remains fundamentally similar to its predecessor--you can create and control your very own mundane little people, encouraging them to interact with each other and their homes in various ways. You can also build houses for them from the ground up and then fill those houses with all kinds of things you might find in a real home. And some weirder things, too. The Sims 2 isn't trying to mess with success. From what we've seen, the game is squarely trying to extend the original game toward logical conclusions."

It also tells about the six stages of life: from a "wee baby" your Sim will go into his "toddler years" to become a child, teen, adult and finally a "geezer". For those who don't like their Sims to age and die, there's good news too: you can turn off the aging option keeping your Sims the age they started with, like in The Sims 1.0 we know. The whole preview (which in fact tells some other things too), can be read right here. More E3 news will quite likely be seen later today, or else tomorrow or friday.