Open for Business officially shipped yesterday. Some stores worldwide have already started selling the game, despite the official release date being 2 March. EA announced this in a press release. Senior Producer Don Laabs is quoted saying Open for Business ""opens a limitless world of new gameplay for Sims fans. The game includes all the tools players will need to create businesses that reflect their unique personalities, be they buttoned-down professionals, or wacky worker bees who explore the limits of the workplace. This is one of the most open-ended expansion packs we have created and we encourage fans to discover their irreverent, quirky business personalities." Precise details can be found in the full press release.
Besides the press release there's a lot more news from Maxis about Open for Business, more or less celebrating the release. Read on for details.
First of all, those who pre-ordered at selected stores have received a code with which they can get a special Mascot download. The code can now be entered at the official site to redeem the download. Any code can be used to download the file up to three times, so it's best to securely save the file after you've downloaded it. Distribution is prohibited, but the Hot Rod that came with Nightlife was found on the official exchange soon after release of the expansion as well. Time will tell if this is the same for this mascot sculpture and outfit.Besides the press release there's a lot more news from Maxis about Open for Business, more or less celebrating the release. Read on for details.
A few days ago, Maxis also added a new theme for MySim pages. If you have one of those on the official site, you can now give your page a Open for Business look by simply changing the theme. You must be logged in for this to work. Previous themes, for University and Nightlife for example, are also still available.
We also gave you some details about Prima's strategy guide for the game earlier, as well as some of the information published in it. Now Maxis has posted part of the guide, 14 pages from various sections of the guide (including the front cover and table of contents). Several hints and tips about running a business are given. The sample (in PDF format) can be found through a link in the help section. To purchase the full guide, visit our shop.
Next a Fansite kit has been released, with various graphics from the pack. It contains buddy icons which you can use in your chat program, the logo, pack shot, a few renders, videos, screenshots and a wallpaper in various sizes. Most of these items have all been published before. Four new screenshots, as well as the buddy icons, can all be found below. For the screenshots, click the thumbnails to see them in full size. The entire fansite pack, 70 Mb, can be downloaded through the official site.
That's still not all though. There are also two new videos on the official site. You can see a succesful furniture store, and a mascot in a bakery, with less success. Seven more new screenshots can also be found on the screenshots page, but these too can be seen below by clicking the thumbnails as well. Finally, there are also 7 screenshots from the official Swedish site. That makes a total of 18 new screenshots today, some of which you might recognise from as scenes from the two movies.
There are now two things left that have been put in place for Open for Business. First of all the support section for the game has been filled. 24 Questions and answers have been posted, most of which are updates to previous Sims 2 entries. Other than that they list some of the key features, talent badges, the minimum system requirements, how to purchase a community lot, and how to obtain the promotional mascot mentioned earlier in this article. There are also instructions about how to evict an existing family in the Bluewater Village shopping district. This might not always be possible, but if you want to evict a family, all that needs to be done is load the lot once first. You can then evict the family through the neighborhood view. Check EA's support section for details.
Finally, if you encounter any bugs in the expansion pack (if you already have it), you can now submit a bug report through the Feedback Form. You will not receive a reply, but instead Maxis will get your report and then try to address the most common issues through a patch. Naturally a date for a patch whatsoever has not yet been announced.
We'll keep you updated as reviews of the expansion pack will soon appear on the internet. Thanks to SimsZone and SnootySims for some of the links mentioned above.
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Written at 15:40 on Wednesday, 1 March 2006 by ChEeTaH.
