Tuesday 2 August 2005

Nightlife US Release Date and Rating

Written at 13:53 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.

Maxis has confirmed the US release date for the Sims 2 Nightlife, the second expansion pack for the Sims 2. A newspost on the official site mentions September 15th as the release date for the game in the US. It will arrive in Europe around the same time, depending on which country you live in it might be a day earlier or later. Also, the ESRB has revealed the rating for the expansion pack. As with all other Sims games, it'll be rated T for Teen (13+). Besides that there are descriptors of Crude Humor, Sexual Themes and Violence. More information can be found after a search.Thanks for XPDude for the link to the ESRB search. You can pre-order the expansion pack and its strategy guide by Prima from our TSZ shop. By doing so you'll also support The Sims Zone.

Thursday 4 August 2005

Sims 2 Mac Patch Arrived

Written at 18:55 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Almost two months after its release, publisher Aspyr has published a patch for the Sims 2 on mac. This patch fixes several issues with the first release: you can now have more downloads in your game and Body Shop, rendering and capturing video should have a bit perform a bit better. Also, if the reflections in mirrors were wrong, the patch might fix it. For Italians support for Italian has been added as well. The patch, which is about 19 Mb in size, can be downloaded from MacGameFiles.

Saturday 6 August 2005

Sims 2 (Consoles, DS, GBA) Screens

Written at 04:04 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Gaming site GameSpot has posted several new screenshots of the Sims 2. The collection is expanded with three new screenshots of the consoles (PS2, XBox, GameCube) version, four shots of the Nintendo DS version, and another two for the GBA. As usual clicking the thumbnails below will show you full versions. With thanks to Simfantastic 2 for the news submission.

Nightlife Info and Screens

Written at 04:41 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official site has been updated with new Nightlife horoscopes for August. If these indeed reveal new features of the expansion pack, it might be that Sims will soon start singing in the shower again. Two turn-offs, gray hair and an out-of-shape body, are mentioned as well as the filet mignon dinner you can have at the restaurants. Read the somewhat cryptic horoscopes for more details.

Also, EA Australia has posted 5 new Nightlife screenshots on their site, EAPlay. They can be seen below, by clicking the thumbnails. Thanks to SnootySims for the find.

Saturday 13 August 2005

Nightlife Pre-order Gifts

Written at 09:10 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

We already reported earlier that Maxis is giving away a downloadable car if you pre-order the Sims 2 Nightlife from selected stores. It's now revealed that it's a hot-rod, as shown in the picture below. But if you pre-order from Amazon, for example through our shop (US only), you get a special soundtrack of scores from the expansion pack that you can download off the Amazon Digital Locker. Tracks include artists like Junkie XL, Lemon Jelly, Hyper and Adam Freeland. Once you pre-order you get immediate access to those tunes.

Focus Group Later this Month

Written at 09:15 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

On August 23rd Maxis will be holding a focus group in the San Francisco Bay Area about the Sims 2. If you're a fan of the game and live in the area, you can sign up and give some feedback to Maxis about the games they're currently creating, although the newspost on the official site doesn't mention any game in particular. That means the game is probably for either Nightlife or the Sims 2 on consoles and handhelds. For more information about the focus group and signing up, see the official newspost.

Sunday 14 August 2005

Wright Writes about Game Design

Written at 05:49 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Even though Will Wright, designer of the Sims, is busy developing Spore for at least another year, he is also writing a book. The book will be about Game Design, as Will confirmed to Mercury News in an e-mail. Wright gets a lot of inspiration for his games from books, but also films. There isn't much other information in the article.

Nightlife Contest Winner Download

Written at 06:04 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been a few weeks since the winners of the Nightlife style contest were announced. Four entries, two from North America and two from Europe, won the contest and those outfits will be featured in Nightlife, the upcoming expansion pack. One of those four, the Swedish winner, has now been made available for download on the Swedish site. To download the outfit made by Pepsinisse you need to login to that site with your EA.com account, after which you can find the download after a quick search. The "Ladda ner" link lets you download the file.

Nightlife Music Samples

Written at 06:12 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As we reported earlier, you can get a free soundtrack of Nightlife when you pre-order it. You can now listen to samples of 10 tracks of the "Greatest Hits" CD on the Brazilian site. The 10 files are in WMA format and can be downloaded for free. Thanks to SP Zone and SnootySims for the links.

Sims 2 Consoles Video

Written at 06:41 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A new video interview about the Sims 2 on consoles (PS2, XBox, GameCube) has been posted at GameSpot. In the video Alex Hutchinson, lead designer of the game, takes you through Tranquility Falls, one of the 12 story locations in the game. The world map is shown, after which the location is loaded. You see a bit of the story bubbles from the Sims you can communicate with on the lot. After that several objects, direct control, socialising and wants and fears are shown. Pretty much all the talk of Alex is accompanied by gameplay footage of the game. The video feature can be found on the media page. You need a free GameSpot Basic account to stream the video.

The Sims 2 (Consoles, Handhelds) Screenshots

Written at 07:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Besides the video interview about the console version of the Sims 2, there are also a ton of new screenshots. The first seven console shots come from IGN, which has recently posted those. We got the rest of the screenshots directly from Maxis, at a sneak peak event held last Friday. Besides these screenshots, you can expect a preview of the several games in the near future here at The Sims Zone. For now enjoy all the screenshots below or behind the Read More link, depending on where you are now. Note that some might look (very) similar to screenshots you've seen earlier, but in that case these are in a slightly different camera angle or position. Read More!

Wednesday 17 August 2005

Nightlife Preview and Lots of Screens

Written at 03:06 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The second expansion pack for the Sims 2, Nightlife, is nearing completion and with less than a month to go to its release, GameSpot has had some exclusive hands-on time with the game. In their preview written about it, some new details are given. For example, the pre-made downtown area will feature 31 locations to go to, including clubs, restaurants, spas, parks, an art museum, a grocery, bars, shops, and more. The Gypsy Matchmaker which can also be found downtown will set up a date for you for §5,000. That is more expensive than some cars, which come from §950 to §11,500. Added is also the "Ask" interaction, which besides asking about wants and fears also lets you know about the other Sim's job and how much money they make. Besides all that there are dozens of new options in Create-A-Sim. The preview also mentions the new lights, which are basically the only graphical improvements to the game. They do seem to slow down the framerate of the game a bit if a lot is going on, so tweaking the graphical details settings might be needed to keep your game running smoothly. Other than that, the expansion pack will probably be received better as it has a bigger impact on the original game than University did, says Gamespot. Along with the preview, 22 screenshots were posted. 20 Other screenshots come from the official Japanese site. These small shots were found by SnootySims. One of them shows what could be a food fight, so there might be throwing more than just drinks in the expansion pack. Click all the thumbnails in the read more bit (below or behind the link) for larger versions of all these screenshots. Thanks to joesemsims for the Gamespot link. Read More!

Friday 19 August 2005

New Extra - How Good's My Computer?

Written at 01:27 by Neil - 0 comments.

Derived from a post in the Knowledge Base today about slow computers and Sims 2 comes a small article about how to work out whether your computer can play Sims 2 comfortably or not.

It helps nobody when a user posts on the KB saying they have a slow computer but don't give any details about it. So now one can find out everything and a little bit more about their computers.

The extra includes fascinating (if you're into this sort of stuff) details on what I'm running Sims 2 on. But you don't need to know anything about a computer to use this tool. Except switch it on. And get online. Though if you're reading this I reckon you've got those two elements sorted. :)

Click Here to read.

Saturday 20 August 2005

Strangerhood Studios Episodes

Written at 14:42 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

We already mentioned Strangerhood Studios a while ago, the spin-off series of the Strangerhood made for the Independent Film Channel. Three episodes could be seen before, but now you can also download episode four from the videos archive. There you can also still find the previous three episodes of the Strangerhood Studios series. Two more videos have been made and might be put online later.

Nightlife Developer Chat

Written at 14:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Maxis regularly holds developer chats so the fans of the game can meet the team behind it. One of those will be held next Thursday, 25 August. This time you will be able to discuss Nightlife and ask any questions you still have about the upcoming expansion pack, which will be released in less than a month, directly to the team. As usual the chat will be held at 3pm PST, which is 11pm in the UK and midnight CET. You'll need to go to the chat page at that time to join the chat.

New Sims 2 (Consoles, Handhelds) Screens

Written at 15:12 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Gaming site IGN has posted several new screenshots of the Sims 2 on Consoles and Handhelds (except mobile). There are three screenshots for each version of the game, all fairly small compared to some previous shots. You can see them all below, as usual, by clicking the thumbnails.

GamesConvention Screens

Written at 15:21 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Two days ago the annual GamesConvention started in Leipzig, Germany. This gaming expo is one of the biggest public expos where gaming publishes and developers show off their latest upcoming games. Of course Electronic Arts is also showing several games, including the Sims 2 on Consoles and Nightlife for the PC. Several, mostly German, Sims fansites are also attending. TheSims.de has already posted some screenshots of Nightlife taken during the convention, in two posts on their frontpage. The Sims Zone is also at the GamesConvention and we'll post pictures and more in the next week - so stay tuned for more.

Sunday 21 August 2005

Sims 2: Bugs, Features, Solutions...

Written at 01:11 by Neil - 3 comments.

Another revision to this Extra of mine, with some brand new oddities for you to scratch your head over.

We have five new bugs, including a nasty University bug that, well, defeats the whole point of the EP really, the "your friend has been dead for ages why haven't you called him?" bug and a curious one involving the maid's van.

17 new "features" of Sims 2 are also listed - including Zombie capabilities (what you can and can't do with them), what cowplants do when they're hungry, broken universities with custom neighbourhoods and another one which can be only be described as "WooHooing yourself" and remain clean enough to sit on this front page.

Click to Read The Extra!

Monday 22 August 2005

Sims 2 Consoles Preview

Written at 23:50 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.

As we mentioned before, we've visited Maxis and the Games Convention earlier this month. On both occasions the Sims 2 on consoles and handhelds was shown. A new special has been opened up, with an exclusive preview of the Sims 2 on Consoles. Included are also many pictures taken at the Games Convention, showing the game in its current (developing) state. In two pages many aspects of the game are covered, from the loading to creating and controlling a sim. Find out about the game in our new special.

Tuesday 23 August 2005

Nightlife Cheat Codes

Written at 12:45 by Neil - 2 comments.

A list of some of the new cheat codes that will supposedly appear in Nightlife have appeared on a 3rd party website. And as the game isn't out yet, this should be taken with a pinch of salt.

As well as the long term favourite move_objects and motherlode cheats (free access to all objects and lots of money cheats), the new cheats look set to control varying options of graphical quality and realism.

Couple of the new cheats are as follows:

• social_debug - You can tell what social reaction will happen before you do it. So will the sim accept or reject that attempt to tell a dirty joke?
• slowmotion Puts the game in slow motion. The community will find a reason for this one :)
• boolprop lotInfoAdvancedMode - shows some sort of lot information.

Most of the other cheats revolve around views in the neighbourhood. And of course, many of the previous cheats will be retained. But as I say, take it with a pinch of salt. Click here to see the list of cheats.

Wednesday 24 August 2005

T-Mail #6

Written at 13:53 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Tim has sent another e-mail to the community. This time he gives two screens of Nightlife, showing the day/night button in the neighborhood view. The team has put the finishing touches on the expansion pack, which quite possibly means that it's gone gold. Other than that he tells a bit about the fansite event at Maxis just over a week ago, where several website representatives, including me, visited to check out the Sims 2 on consoles and handhelds. Scot Amos and Virigina McArthur, producers for respectively the Consoles and Handhelds/Mobile versions of the Sims 2, are also introduced. They will probably send out e-mails like Tim in the near future. Read the entire mail in the Read More part, as usual, and see the screenshots by clicking the thumbnails below.

Read More!

Granny Time

Written at 21:13 by Starrats - 0 comments.

This time I made some dresses for the granny-sims, because the default ones where getting boring.

So here are 5 granny dresses. I hope you all like them.

Friday 26 August 2005

More Nightlife Screens

Written at 21:47 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Nightlife has been completed, and that means screenshots made now can show the game in its full glory. Several new screenshots have appeared. One is from the official site, the three others were posted by the Spanish Capital Sims, and originally came from the official Spanish site. Those four can be found below. For more, you can visit the website of the German GameStar magazine. They've posted 42 new screenshots (of the German version) in their screenshots gallery.

University in November on Mac

Written at 21:53 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been almost six months since The Sims 2 University was released on the PC, and about 2 months since the Mac release of the original game. Now, Aspyr has announced that the first expansion pack will be available for the Mac in November of this year. The expansion is now in Early Development, which means the release date might still change. Naturally we'll keep you updated as the release nears.

Saturday 27 August 2005

SimsZone at Games Convention

Written at 01:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Our colleagues of SimsZone DE have visited the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, for several years in a row. This year was no exception. Now the event is over, they've posted Nightlife and Sims 2 Consoles previews. Read on for details and links, or head on straight to the GC Special at SimsZone. Read More!

Sims 2 (Console) Preview and Screens

Written at 01:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

GameSpot has posted a preview about the Sims 2 on consoles. Along with that they added the four screenshots below as well. There isn't anything new in the preview, although it does mention the two-player mode a bit more extensively than other previews. When you enter two-player mode, the second player will have to create their Sim. After that, the gameplay isn't much different, except that there are two Sims running around satisfying their needs and aspiration. You can read the preview, and click the thumbnails below to see the screenshots.

SimDay: Chat and Podcast

Written at 01:42 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Yesterday was Simday, with the main event being a developer chat about Nightlife. That chat revealed a few new things. First of all, there will be several designs for driveways. Garage doors can be coloured using design mode, and at restaurants you can order Filet Mignon, Fried Chicken, a Nectarine Tartlette Dessert or Shrimp, and Crepe Suzette is a new dessert that Sims can make themselves. The ReNuYuSenso Orb allows your Sim to change their aspiration and turn-ons and offs, but you should beware of the Grilled Cheese aspiration... When on a date, if a romantic rival appears, you can fight them and, if you win, they'll stop bothering you. Cars can of course be stolen, but an alarm that you can build into it might help. Other than just bills, Sims can receive love and hate letters now. As for the Pleasure Seeker aspiration, one lifetime want will be to have a ton of dream dates. And if they go insane, they'll pull out a lampshade on their head and do a silly dance. For builders there's a new cheat which will allow you to change the roof pitches, so roofs can have different angles. New radio stations involve the Oldies and Classical stations. The biggest new lot is a 5x6 one, which will cost §18,500 to buy. If you want more information from the chat, read the transcripts, which reveal more (old) details.

Other than that, Maxis is starting a PodCast show soon. This on-demand "radio-station" (Wikipedia Description) will feature an interview with some producers of Maxis soon. Scot Amos, producer of the console version of the Sims 2, and Virginia McArthur, producer for the handheld versions, will be up first. You can now submit your questions to Maxis, and who knows they might be answered. For more information about this, see the BBS thread about the podcast.

Sunday 28 August 2005

Nightlife Guide Details

Written at 20:48 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As Prima has done for the entire Sims series, they've also made a strategy guide for Nightlife. On their website there is now some information about the contents of the guide. Similar to the University guide, the guide will contain the essentials for the Sims 2 as well. Other than that, there's a complete catalog of 125 objects and items, details about the new Pleasure and Grilled Cheese aspirations, tips for dates, outings, attraction and "supercharging romantic pursuits". Besides that, expect instructions on how to build your own downtown, and a directory of the downtown area that Maxis ships with the game. See the info page for more details.

If you want to pre-order this guide, or order any of the previous Prima guides for Sims games, visit our shop. You'll help us paying our bills as well, without any extra costs for you.

Nightlife Mini Site

Written at 20:58 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Maxis has recently opened up a new mini-site to promote Nightlife. It's not really a follow-up to the "A Llama In Every Home" and "As If We Need A Website" sites, which were launched shortly after the release of the base game, but instead is made to advertise Nightlife. You can see several short gameplay clips of this upcoming expansion, including dating, dining, dancing, bowling and having fun. Other than that you can also send some pick-up lines to somebody else. Go to the Live In Sim site for the site.

Monday 29 August 2005

TS2 (GBA, DS) Previews and Screens

Written at 01:07 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

After the recent preview for the consoles, gaming site GameSpot has now also posted previews and new screenshots for the DS and GBA versions of the Sims 2. The previews aren't too long and don't reveal any new information. The thing GameSpot notices most about both games is that it's not at all like the PC version, but much more of an adventure game. Read the DS preview or the GBA preview for more details. The screenshots, some of which are only slight variations on earlier ones, can be seen by clicking the thumbnails below.

Thursday 1 September 2005

Hello world! Nicx is here to stay!

Written at 00:50 by Nicx - 3 comments.

Hey everyone! I have just joined the staff here at The Sims Zone with the main purpose of bringing you (what I hope are) good quality downloads. You will find my work here on the Nicx page. You may have heard of me before from TSC2 which is my other website. I have 12 downloads here to get you started and I will hopefully be adding loads more over time.

Here are some examples of my work:

Read More!

Nightlife Screens and Preview

Written at 01:37 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

In the past few days quite a few new screenshots of Nightlife have appeared. The first two come from the Swedish site, and three more are directly from EA. But that's not all. Website IGN has posted a preview of the expansion pack. If you've read their previous previews of the Sims 2 and University, you'll remember the five IGN guys in a house. Well, the story continues, this time downtown. The main complaint is that driveways take a lot of space, and might need some redesigning of the house to make them fit in. Small lots can have quite some trouble fitting one in properly. Nevertheless the fact that Sims can have multi-functional cars, in which they can joy ride or use it as an alarm clock, is a good thing. They also mention hateful flames around thought bubbles if your Sim is furious with another one. Other than that the preview mentions mostly old features. Just read the preview to get up-to-date again with all the information. The eighteen screens that come with it can be found on their screenshots index. The other screenshots are below, just click the thumbnails.