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News Archive - November, 2004
Return to the News Archive.Monday 1 November 2004
Sims 2 Patch Update
Written at 23:47 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.
A few weeks ago a patch was announced for the Sims 2. Meanwhile a feedback form was posted online with which Maxis investigates bugs and tries to find out what's causing these problems. An update was posted today in which Maxis states that the patch will still take a little while to be done, as Maxis wants to make sure they fully understand the problems and fix them rather than "substitute, misdiagnose, or overlook" them:
"I'm posting to give you an update on the patch. We have a team working hard to get it out to you soon. We want to make sure we understand the issues from all sides, and we don't want to rush out a patch that will only substitute, misdiagnose, or overlook problems the community is having with the game. We are so sorry for all the inconvenience that some of you are having. We know it's frustrating for some, and we know it's only because of the dedication to our games the community has that makes them successful. We'll keep you updated as news becomes available.Also see the patch thread on the official BBS for more. Tuesday 2 November 2004
Urbz Workin' It Trailers
Written at 19:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Two new trailers of the Urbz have been released by EA. They are follow-ups to the other Workin' It trailers that have previously been released for Cozmo Street, Central Station and Skyline Beach. Now the ones for Kicktail Park and the Foundry have now been added. You can download and stream them from both GameSpot and IGN (and probably some other sites). For IGN's editions, see their media page, or else use the media page of GameSpot. Sizes range from 3.6 Mb (low res IGN) to approximately 20 Mb (High res).
Thursday 4 November 2004
New Poll
Written 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.
Urbz Strategy Guide Details
Written 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:
SimDay
Written at 23:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
This week Maxis has a few nice things in store on the official website. First of all, there is the news that there will be a focus group in Encino, California. If you own either The Sims or Bustin' Out on the console, or the Sims 2, and you have a few hours left on thursday 11 November you can join in. For more information, see the newspost about it. Furthermore, Maxis has made the first episode of the StrangerHood series on their server. If you haven't been able to see "Who are you?" yet, you might want to check out the Strangerhood page to check it out. Finally, there is some new Maxis-made content. You might've seen the official Sims 2 site got a new intro promoting the Urbz, which will be released next week. You can now download an Urbz shirt for the Sims 2, made by Maxis. You can download Janey Urbzan from the Exchange.
UrbzDay
Written at 23:18 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.
The Urbz is coming very near as it's being released next week. Promotion for the game has started and you can download the TV commercial for the game from the Flix section. Furthermore, the last set of characters is being introduced. It's the Wiseguys, from South Side Bridge, introducing themselves this week. Meet Urbz like Louie Bricks, Babs Margarita, Luke Laruffle, Pamela Sneer and Jimmy Two-Shoes, but of course also all the characters presented in the past months, in the Crew section. Finally, there's a new Comic. Jayde has visited Gasoline Row and proved herself a worthy urb there. If you want to know how, check out the comic by Peter Bagge. For more information about the Comix, check out the Comix Section.
Sims 2 DVD Europe Release Date
Written 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.
Friday 5 November 2004
Will Wright @ GamesRadar
Written at 00:27 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Will Wright, founder of Maxis and brain behind SimCity and the Sims, sat down with GamesRadar recently for an interview. In it, Wright tells about his view on the world and the human mind, but of course also about the Sims 2. The ideas behind elements of the game, and reasons why certain gameplay features were implemented are also being discussed.
"For me, robots, and games building little human, toylike Sims are the same thing. How can we learn more about ourselves? The human mind is by far the most complex thing in the known universe, we understand more about galaxies and stars than we do about the human brain. I think we'll be studying it for a long time."The entire interview consists of 3 pages. Click here if you'd like to read it. Third Party Patch For Jumping Bug
Written at 19:23 by Neil - 1 comment.
This will interest those of you who are unfortunate enough to suffer from the infamous "Jumping Bug" in The Sims 2. You will be pleased to know that there is a beta third party patch for it!
For your reference, the jumping bug occurs when there are too many memories in the game. It's symptoms are that Sims become anti-social and refuse to do anything that involves another Sim (this includes using the telephone, the TV and the hot tub). When the sim tries to do any of these interactions, he, and often everyone else, will jump out of the interaction, and revert to a standing position with their action queues wiped. These symptoms will occur infrequently at first, and you may shrug them off as a glitch the first few times, but will grow increasingly frequent until they strike within seconds or less. The patch is available for download from modthesims2.com. It is a BETA patch which means you use it at your own risk but there is a long list of successful "ex-Jumpers" who have followed up to the patch with success so your chances are pretty good. Click here -> Download Patch. Full details contained within. Saturday 6 November 2004
Pedophilia possible in The Sims 2
Written at 14:49 by ChEeTaH - 12 comments.
A cheat (or hack, I don't know how exactly it works) makes it possible for children and teens to behave like adults, or vice versa. This means adults can end up screaming in a crib or being thrown in the air, but it would also be possible for young Sims to relax in the bed (or more) with older Sims.
The cheat was sent to JeroenZelle.nl, a Dutch site with a Sims 2 section. They were asked to publish the cheat but haven't done yet so far. Jeroen has said the cheat to make adults act like children will be published, but the other way around won't be. Harmless pictures of adults behaving like children can be seen in this overview. Dutch weblog GeenStijl has published 3 other pictures which should only be viewed by adults if anyone. They can be found through this post, which has links to the pictures (note: The Sims Zone is not responsible for the content of other sites linked to, including this one. The article doesn't show the pictures themselves but has links to them. You can view them, but doing so is at your own risk and is your own responsibility). Maxis has already been told of the cheat and its possibilities and they've said the patch should fix this. Tuesday 9 November 2004
New downloads
Written at 14:29 by Starrats - 0 comments.
Today I added some red, gold, green, blue and green blue cat eyes to the genetics section. I also added a brown vest with a green top underneath it, and one of my first creations a simple gothic dress, both are for adult female sims. For teenage girls I added a fantasy dress, a teen outfit and a formal dress. You can find them all here
Urbz Update
Written at 22:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
The Urbz has hit the shelves in the US - at least several shops have started shipping it, but tomorrow it'll officially be released. Several sites have posted something about the game in the past few days, including a first review. That one comes from GameSpy. It gets a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, and a "don't bother" for the multiplayer aspect of the game. In general the game is pretty good according to GameSpy, if not a little bit easy. On the technical side, their comment is that the graphics are just "average," but the camera is worse, as it can regularly get stuck behind objects. In the end it's a good game for console gamers. Read the review for all the exact comments from GameSpy.
There are also 3 short previews of the game posted in the past few weeks. The longest is from GamerFeed, is generally positive and says it will be "just as addictive as the previous console and PC titles." InsidePulse is less wild about the game, but still positive. Finally, All Game Guide just mentions the main features without much of an opinion. But there's more... Wednesday 10 November 2004
The Urbz Officially Released
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.
The Sims 2 - The Sequel Has Landed - A Child's Life
Written at 17:35 by Andy - 0 comments.
Thursday 11 November 2004
New Poll
Written 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.
UrbzDay: Comic and Cheats
It's Urbzday again, and now the game has been released Maxis has already published the cheats for the game. You can already find out how to reveal the gnome, get all power socials, skills and more by visiting our cheat overview. If you'd rather see the official overview check out the cheats for PlayStation 2, GameCube or XBox. And as the past few weeks, Maxis has posted a new comic. This week Jay Stephens takes Jayde to Kicktail Park. Find out what happens there by reading the Kicktail Park Comic now.
SimDay: The Strangerhood [Update]
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.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. Friday 12 November 2004
First Expansion: University? [Update]
Written at 18:29 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.
Sims have been made smarter with the upgrade from the Sims 1 to the Sims 2. But could it be the first expansion pack will take it even a step further? Over at GameStop a title has appeared on CD-Rom, that's called "The Sims 2: University". Its release is set to 1 May 2005, but that's likely to change as EA's CEO Larry Probst had already stated it would be released in the first quarter of the next year. Any more details are not yet revealed but we'll keep you updated. Also see GameStop's product details for more. Thanks to James Magenta for the link.
[Update 18 November 2004, 23:25] With thanks to James for the new link, GameStop has removed and put back the product details for the pack. Remarkable is its price tag, of $39.99 ($10 more than Sims 1 expansion packs), but also the new release date which matches what EA CEO Larry Probst told earlier: it's now set for 21 March according to GameStop. We'll keep you updated! EA Employees sue Company [Update]
Written 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. Saturday 13 November 2004
New Server Running [Update]
Written 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. Wednesday 17 November 2004
The Sims Zone turns 3!
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!
Thursday 18 November 2004
New Poll
Written at 12:46 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
As you can see on the right, there's a new poll about the Urbz. Let us know if you got it and if you like it. If you feel like voting in the poll, get down there, or else visit the latest poll page. If you'd rather just see what most people have been waiting for these days, check out last week's poll results:
Friday 19 November 2004
UrbzDay
Written at 00:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
This week's UrbzDay really comes with just a new Comic and descriptions of the pets. The latter can be found in the crew section, where you'll meet the bulldog, the cat and the monkey (consoles), or the chicken, some dogs, a lizzard and a pet dragon for the GBA. No descriptions for these guys, just pictures (and sketches) are to be viewed. The comic takes us to Skyline Beach this time. It's written by Jim Mahfood, and can be found through the Comix section along with the rest of them.
Finally, the official site now has the city guide that GameSpot posted earlier. Check it out on the city guide section of the official site to tour through the city. That's all from Maxis this week. We'll soon put up a review index as usual for this game, and we'll have our own review a bit later. Stay tuned for those. SimDay
The official site has been updated again this simday, for example with a new intro promoting the exchange and the Sims 2 instead of the Urbz. Real news however, is an interview with the guys behind the Strangerhood, Rooster Teeth Productions. GameSpy follows the colleagues of IGN who had an interview with Matt Hullum from Rooster Teeth a month ago. GameSpy talked to him, as well as Gustavo Sorola and Geoff Fink for this interview. It's 6 pages long and full of interesting (and less interesting) information:
"I refuse to recognize the difficulty to pronounce the word "machinima." I say let's work together and re-brand this type of movie making "rendervision." See? Doesn't that sound much better? Plus you don't have to constantly ask people if you're saying it properly. Rendervision... it just rolls off the tongue."Read the entire interview if you need to know more. Furthermore, The Sims 2 got nominated for two video game awards at SpikeTV's Video Game Awards. The game has been nominated in the Best PC Game and Most Addictive Game categories. The awards will be hosted at 19 December by Snoop Dogg. You can see all the nominations and vote for your favourites at the VGA 2004 site. New downloads
Written at 18:16 by Starrats - 1 comment.
A late The Sims Zone birthday upload.
I added 17 new hair colours (more of these in the future), 5 eye colours (all can be found here) and 2 recoloured versions of the original pink face wings.
Saturday 20 November 2004
Urbz/Sims 2 Competition
Written at 13:59 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Maxis has launched a new competition which combines both the Urbz and the Sims 2. The task: recreate one of the Urbz characters using the Sims 2 in-game tools. You can win the Urbz, along with some promotional items of the Sims. Two runner-ups will get just the Urbz game. As usual it's open to citizens of the United States and Canada only, except Quebec. You have to be at least 13 years of age and must have owned the Sims 2 at least 7 days before the start of the contest, which was 13 November. You can participate until 30 November 11.59pm PST. As with earlier contests, your entry must be submitted through your MySim page followed by an email to Maxis. See the contest page for more details.
Sims 2 Patch almost Ready
Written at 14:00 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.
The first patch for the Sims 2 is almost ready and should be released very soon. That's what Maxis posted on the official site yesterday, in a new newspost. The post contains a full list of fixes too. Below are a few of the things that will be fixed, check the newspost for the full list:
Sunday 21 November 2004
Extra Update
Written at 01:03 by Neil - 0 comments.
A note to say that the extra, the Sims 2: Bugs, Features, Solution extra by yours truely has been updated with a whole batch of new bugs that are to be fixed by the upcoming patch.
Also new in the extra is one new trivia item about the game option that never was, and also some new "features" of the game gathered from usenet, including crank calls, incest and the parents who arrive at your house to "help themselves" when you talk to their kids on the telephone. Read the extra! I'm going to remake this page at some point as it's getting difficult to read. Sims 2 University Announced
Written at 17:33 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.
EA will officially announce the first expansion pack for the Sims 2 tomorrow, althoug the press release is already available. As expected, the pack will be titled "University". It's set to be shipped in March 2005. In the game, a new life stage for Sims will be introduced, called "Young Adult." These young adults can go to college where they follow one of 11 majors, and of course "join the campus crowd." After that they can earn money in 4 new career tracks, or the ten old ones of course. The university lifestyle will be mimicked in the Sims with dorms, parties and exams:
"In The Sims 2 University players for the first time will play through the new "young adult" life stage as their Sims head off to college and join the campus crowd. Whether they live in the dorms or rush a fraternity or sorority that's just the beginning... Sims can choose from one of 11 majors and by keeping their grades on track, they'll secure a final degree and open up 4 new career paths. Players will enjoy all-new college based wants and fears that are tied to their Sims' social life and academic goals which will lead to new rewards and powers that will help them achieve their goals and aspirations in college and beyond.For more information, read the press release. Thanks to all of those who submitted the news. Monday 22 November 2004
First University Screenshots & Interview
Written at 11:33 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.
The first screenshots for the first expansion of the Sims 2, announced yesterday, have already appeared. You can see the shots from WorthPlaying and GameSpy below. But there's not only that: there's also an interview posted by GameSpy about the expansion pack. Producer Kevin Hogan was asked some questions. The interview reveals a few more details, for instance that teens have to go to college to become young adults, the new life stage. Once they finish college, they will become adults. If you don't let your teens go there, then they won't go through the new life stage. By choosing a major, you also affect which skills the sim develops, and which of the new careers they'll roll into. As with the Sims 1, the university campus will get its own neighborhood map, though it's connected with the actual neighborhood. The maps will of course be customisable. Read the interview for the exact details.
 Tuesday 23 November 2004
More University Interviews and Shots
Written at 01:00 by ChEeTaH - 9 comments.
Two more interviews and a few more screenshots: that's what's been posted since the earlier update about the first expansion pack for the Sims 2. Games site GameSpot interviewed Kevin Hogan, and IGN. Some new details are revealed in them: just like currently done in the Sims 2, when your teen becomes a young adult by moving to the university terrain, time will progress only for the sim you're playing and not their family. The life stage will be roughly twice as long as the teen stage, which would mean approximately 30 days, but in the end it depends on how well the Sim does and how fast they get their degree. There's a lot more info, including some screens...
Friday 26 November 2004
New Poll
Written at 15:45 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
A little late newspost, but either way a new poll was launched yesterday - as usual. This time we're wondering what you think of the Sims 2 University, the first expansion pack for the Sims 2. Give your opinion on the right or on the latest poll page. Last week we asked you if you already got the Urbz. Exactly one third of the 234 people who voted said they "hate the looks of the Urbz." The closest choice, with about 30.5% of the votes, was the lack of money. 21% said they'll get it later, whereas 6.5% already got the game and loves it. 4% told us it's a fairly good game, but 3% got it and doens't like it too much after all. The final 2%, which are 5 people, absolutely hate the game and probably regret they got it. You can view the exact results on the results page.
UrbzDay
Written at 17:26 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Yesterday was Urbzday again, and as usual the past few weeks a new comic was added. This time it's done by R Stevens. Instead of visiting one of the districts of the console version of the game, he checks out a different place: Miniopolis, where the handheld game is set. If you'd like to know what the Bouncer is doing to Crystal there, check out the new comic.
There's also a new movie, showing off the fighting cage down at Central Station. If you want to see what's happening there, head over to the Flix section. It's available in both low and high resolution. Finally, after a few weeks' absence, there's a blog again. Scot Amos tells that the very rapid development (just 10 months) has paid off and they've launched the Urbz. A busy time is behind them, but pre-production on a new title for the consoles has already started: "Now... we're in pre-production on THE NEXT game (which is WAY too early to talk about). That early startup time of analyzing what we want to keep from the Urbz, what we can build on, what great new ideas we can steal from Sims2, and what all new things we can throw in there to create a unique offspring from this new spin-off in the Sims universe."Read the blog for more information. SimDay
Written at 17:41 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
This week was no exception when it comes to the weekly SimDays. On the theme of the first expansion pack, University, Maxis has added a new style for your MySim pages. A sample can be found on MaxoidMonkey's page. If you'd like to change the style of your page, go to the manage page.
Furthermore, Maxis needs some people to attend in a focus group. During two hours and 15 minutes you will join a discussion about the Sims 2. The event will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, and you'll have to live nearby to qualify. You also need to own a copy of the Sims 2. See the related newspost for more information. If you remember the horror movie contest, you might be excited to know the winners have been announced. Aprilsghoffmann won the contest, and Jhearing4848 and Baconandeggzie were runner-ups. You can view all three of them and two more honorable mentions on the contest page. Finally there's a new article from Time.com. The Sims 2 has been named one of the coolest video games of 2004. See the Time.com article for more information. S2U: E-mail from Maxis
Written at 18:32 by ChEeTaH - 6 comments.
Like with the Sims 2, Maxis is now sending the community e-mails about the first expansion pack. Tim LeTourneau gives has sent out the first "Welcome to the Sims 2 University" e-mail. He tells a bit about the patch (more about that later today), and that we must be patient for it - after all the Sims 2 is released worldwide in 19 languages and the patch must work with every version of the game. About the new expansion itself, he tells it's stuffed with new objects, including band objects. Using those, you're able to make your own music videos which Tim is looking forward to. There isn't much else in this first newsletter, except five sketches of band objects. You can see them in their full size by clicking the thumbnails below. Read inside for the entire e-mail.
Sims 2 Patch arrives Monday
Written at 18:37 by ChEeTaH - 8 comments.
Dutch site SPZone has revealed that the Sims 2 patch will be released on monday. This news first came from inside (anonymous) sources within EA, but has by now been confirmed on the official Dutch site. If you want to know what the patch will fix, see the official news post for more information. The official site will also have the patch available, so head over there on monday if you want to fix up your game.
Sims 2 with Extras on Mac
Written at 18:54 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Aspyr Media has recently published a new issue of their monthly newsletter. In the November issue, they tell a bit about the Sims 2. On the Mac, some special features will be used, to integrate the game with iTunes and .Mac. Aspyr has the ambition to make the Sims 2 the most Mac-friendly game ever. Besides the extra features, the game will be optimized for OS X and special features of the new Mac OS X Tiger, which will be released in 2005, will also be used. If you want to know more details, read the November Newsletter for more. The Sims 2 is mentioned in the Development news section.
Sims 2 University: Screenshot, Sneak Peek
Written at 18:57 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.
After the first interview, games network GameSpy has something else new about the Sims 2 University, the Sims 2's first expansion pack. In a sneak peek they reveal details of a few features of the pack. For instance, to make the dorms area seem more crowded, Sims are only shown when they're not in their private dorms. You don't see what's going on behind doors of Sims you don't control. What's also new is that the band objects (see also Tim's mail) will work together - at least if the skills of the Sims playing the instruments is good enough. There isn't much else in it, though of course you can always check out the full sneak peek for some more precise details.
Furthermore, LosSims.com posted a screenshot, after which SimsExpress posted a larger version of the shot. Click the thumbnail below to see it.  Tuesday 30 November 2004
Sims 2 Patch Released
Written at 20:30 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.
It's delayed by a day, but it's available now. The Sims 2 patch is officially available for download from http://thesims2.ea.com/update/. There are two versions to download, one for the CD version and another for the DVD edition of the game. It weight almost 15 Mb and fixes a lot of things in the game, including floating teddy bears, the "jump bug", and NPCs disabling parts of the user interface. The new version number after the patch is 1.0.0.971 (which can be checked using the gameVersion cheat). For the complete list of fixes check the update page now. You need the CDs or the DVD while installing the patch.
Wednesday 1 December 2004
Sims can play Urbz
Written at 00:24 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.
Besides the patch, Maxis has released a new objects for Sims in the Sims 2. The object is a new video game: the Urbz. When you download it, you can take your Sim to the community area where they can buy the game and play it on their computer or game consoles. It's a fairly big download for an object, 7.66 Mb. If you like to download it, check out the object info page. This is probably an object for next SimDay, which is still two days away.
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