The month after. The month between two releases: The Sims 2 in September, and the Urbz in November. Things started to calm down a bit, and the review madness was getting less. We opened a review index to list a bunch of reviews from other sites, and in the same post the Strangerhood was first mentioned. Our own review was continued by Andy. And Maxis? They announced the first patch which would solve bugs and problems in the game. Of course Neil couldn't stay behind and compiled a list of bugs and features as he did with the Sims 1. Almost a month after the major release, the Developers looked back on the time they spent getting the game done.
The first few objects were also posted for Halloween. A month and a day after the release of the PC version, the Mac version, to be made by Aspyr, was announced. And there was news about the first expansion again. It would be released in the first quarter of 2005. Before that though, it was said the DVD would be released in Europe in December. The Strangerhood started with Episode 1 and Starrats joined the team and posted her first eyes. Neil on the other hand wrote a tutorial concerning basements (and later: attics). And at the same day as the eyes and the basement tutorial, we also closed the donation section as our finances had improved.
The other game, the Urbz, was nearing its own release and the hype was slowly breaking loose. A special version, including a download card to get some extra Black Eyed Peas songs, was announced. The European rating was also revealed at 12+. Maxis also started something original, and every week a new comic would be posted on the site, taking Jayde through the 9 districts and Miniopolis.
The first few objects were also posted for Halloween. A month and a day after the release of the PC version, the Mac version, to be made by Aspyr, was announced. And there was news about the first expansion again. It would be released in the first quarter of 2005. Before that though, it was said the DVD would be released in Europe in December. The Strangerhood started with Episode 1 and Starrats joined the team and posted her first eyes. Neil on the other hand wrote a tutorial concerning basements (and later: attics). And at the same day as the eyes and the basement tutorial, we also closed the donation section as our finances had improved.
The other game, the Urbz, was nearing its own release and the hype was slowly breaking loose. A special version, including a download card to get some extra Black Eyed Peas songs, was announced. The European rating was also revealed at 12+. Maxis also started something original, and every week a new comic would be posted on the site, taking Jayde through the 9 districts and Miniopolis.
"The Urbz toys will also be available at the same time as the game itself, though they're still unconfirmed for Europe."At 25 October it went gold on the consoles. The Urbz was all done and ready to be pressed. Just a few more weeks until that would be released. Some might not consider this very important, but October was full of little special things. Hence this has been crowned most important news item for October.
November started off with news about the Sims 2 Patch. A new feedback form was put online and bug reports could be submitted to Maxis. And there was one more news post about the DVD edition of the Sims 2. The European release date was set, and confirmed as 3 December. Before the official patch was released, the community had already modded a patch for the infamous "jump bug," which caused Sims to "forget" things they had to do. At 6 November a remarkable item was posted. Several big sites reported that through a hack it would be possible to have pedophelia in the game. Then almost halfway through the month, there was a name. The name of the first expansion pack for the Sims 2. And it would be called University. We turned 3 years old and days later the full list of problems that the Sims 2 patch would fix was published. Another day, or officially two, and the Sims 2 University, expansion pack number 1 of the Sims 1, was announced.
Tim LeTourneau, producer of the Sims 2 and the Sims 2 University, also took over part of Lucy Bradshaw's job. In the past she had mailed the community with weekly updates, after Luc left Maxis. Tim would do that for the Sims 2 University. But before that's released, the patch was released. And finally, there was a little bit of news for Mac fans of the game. Aspyr mentioned the Mac version would have some exclusive features in the game, relying on technology from Apple.
As you might expect, there was also a lot of news concerning the Urbz. There were some details about the strategy guide. It was 10 November when the game was officially released, and a day later, on Urbzday, Maxis revealed the cheats for the game. And that was pretty much the end of that. Sims in the Sims 2 would be able to play the game a few weeks later as well, but almost right after the release there was no big Urbz news anymore. But why is its release not the most important of November?
Tim LeTourneau, producer of the Sims 2 and the Sims 2 University, also took over part of Lucy Bradshaw's job. In the past she had mailed the community with weekly updates, after Luc left Maxis. Tim would do that for the Sims 2 University. But before that's released, the patch was released. And finally, there was a little bit of news for Mac fans of the game. Aspyr mentioned the Mac version would have some exclusive features in the game, relying on technology from Apple.
As you might expect, there was also a lot of news concerning the Urbz. There were some details about the strategy guide. It was 10 November when the game was officially released, and a day later, on Urbzday, Maxis revealed the cheats for the game. And that was pretty much the end of that. Sims in the Sims 2 would be able to play the game a few weeks later as well, but almost right after the release there was no big Urbz news anymore. But why is its release not the most important of November?
"The Crunch Mode philosophy that ea_spouse describes is a typical case of caring more about worker's butts than their brains."That's a quote from Evan Robinson. He was an ex-employee of EA, responding to a major news story that was published on many sites - and not just Sims fansites. Several employees of EA sued EA because they had to work many extra hours without being paid for those hours. The story started through a blog written by the spouse of an EA employee. GameSpot dug up the news that Jamie Kerschenbaum was one of the people who had filed a lawsuit against Electronic Arts. Jamie was one of the members of the Sims 2 team. Joe Straitiff also responded, and made his own blog telling his experience. Remarkable is that he too worked for Maxis, as he was put on the Urbz. Although I've never found out if the story was Maxis only, or if it was similar in other studios within EA, it does turn out that the company trying to please his fans doesn't take care of its employees too well. Hence my decision to make this story the most important of November.
The holidays are coming close, days are getting shorter (at least on the northern hemisphere). December, Christmas time. At least according to Maxis, as they posted a christmas tree and a Kwanzaa Kinara. But furthermore it's been a fairly quiet month. The Urbz was released in November, and I posted my review in December. The rest of the Urbz news has been pretty slow, with just weekly "comix" on the Urbzdays. The news for the Sims 2 had quieted down a few months earlier alreayd, but now most things are about the Sims 2 University. However, besides the occasional update Maxis hasn't let too much loose about the expansion yet. Even the first designer diary didn't bring too much new information.
Basically there were two remarkable news items this month, both in the same week. In fact, both were posted on the same days. The first one, which is the runner-up when it comes to importance this month, is the news that Maxis again got a new General Manager. Neil Young, who took the job from Luc Barthelet in March 2004 went to join the EALA studio. Nick Earl is the one who has replaced him. As General Manager of the Redwood Shores studio, where Maxis is housed since March as well, he has now also taken control of Maxis. And I think you can guess the most important piece of news in December...
Basically there were two remarkable news items this month, both in the same week. In fact, both were posted on the same days. The first one, which is the runner-up when it comes to importance this month, is the news that Maxis again got a new General Manager. Neil Young, who took the job from Luc Barthelet in March 2004 went to join the EALA studio. Nick Earl is the one who has replaced him. As General Manager of the Redwood Shores studio, where Maxis is housed since March as well, he has now also taken control of Maxis. And I think you can guess the most important piece of news in December...
"There are two versions availble, one for the Western languages and one for the Asians."It's all about the HomeCrafter Plus. This is the second official tool released for the Sims 2, and allows you to create floors, wallpapers and terrain textures. At 21 December, this tool was released, after the initial announcement from Tim LeTourneau was posted a day earlier. The HomeCrafter Plus has resulted in a lot of new custom content within the first day already, including Starrats posting her first Christmas carpet, and Sumit posting some snow. Although the month is not over yet, it's quite likely this will be the most important news of December anyway. Just one more week and a day to go until we close off this year.
Statistics
Before ending the overview of this year's news, it's time for a few statistics for the number freaks. Keep in mind that December is not yet over and more posts are bound to come. Here are the amounts of posts per month at the time of writing (this will be updated early 2005):
- January: 49 (6th place)
- February: 35 (11th place)
- March: 35 (11th place)
- April: 38 (8th place)
- May: 67 (2nd place)
- June: 37 (9th place)
- July: 66 (4th place)
- August: 75 (1st place)
- September: 67 (2nd place)
- October: 60 (5th place)
- November: 40 (7th place)
- December: 36 (and counting, currently 9th place)
Conclusion
And that concludes this year's overview of the Sims news. A year in which the Sims 2 was delayed, the launch of our knowledge base, Luc Barthelet left Maxis and Neil Young became the new General Manager, the announcement of the Urbz, the Body Shop was released, employees were rumoured to be laid off, the first Sims game for the DS was announced, the Sims 2 went gold and was finally released, the Urbz went gold, EA employees sued the company they worked for, and the Sims 2 HomeCrafter Plus was released. We've given you a quick overview of the news of 2004, and highlighted the most important things each month. If you ever want to head back in time, just check out our news archive, where all the old posts are stored. Simultaneously with the posting of this article, a poll has been opened in which you can choose the most important news of 2004. It will be open for one week, after which the results will be revealed. See our poll archive for the poll, and get voting!
Of course 2005 will be full of Sims news again, and you'll always be able to get the latest right here at the Sims Zone. We're looking forward to it, and hope you are too. On behalf of the whole team, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Of course 2005 will be full of Sims news again, and you'll always be able to get the latest right here at the Sims Zone. We're looking forward to it, and hope you are too. On behalf of the whole team, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Written at 01:00 on Thursday 23 December 2004 by
ChEeTaH.
