Tuesday 1 August 2006

Fansite Pets Previews

Written at 06:45 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

We're continuing our own Pets coverage with a preview for the consoles version very soon, but meanwhile some other fansites have also started writing about The Sims 2 Pets. All of these come with inside information, exclusive pictures, and more. The focus is, as you might expect, largely on the PC expansion pack, although all sites do at least cover all other platforms to some extent as well. So check out the following links for more details about the upcoming game.

• SimsZone (German)
• SimParool (Dutch, More Pictures)
• The Sims Resource
• SimmingWorld
• Variousimmers: PC, Consoles/PSP, DS, GBA
• Simsologies (French)
• The Sims 2 MySpace Community
• Official German Site
• Official French Site

Thursday 3 August 2006

The Sims Zone on a New Server

Written at 23:59 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As some of you might have noticed the past two days, there has been some downtime of this website. That's because the site has been transferred to a new, more powerful server in Germany. That's also the reason of the slight delay in our Pets previews for consoles and handhelds, but we promise they'll be online on this site soon. Meanwhile we are still having a few small technical issues with the new setup, which means the site might experience a little downtime. We're trying to keep this to a minimum, but nevertheless we apologise for any inconvenience caused by this. Come back after a couple of minutes if you can't access the site at any time.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Friday 4 August 2006

Our The Sims 2 Pets Consoles Preview

Written at 23:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As promised we've continued or Sims 2 Pets coverage. The second preview of the new Sims game is now available for you to read on this site, naturally with a nice dip of pictures. This time we look at the console version, which will be out for Playstation 2 and GameCube on 17 October (20 October in Europe), and PSP in November. We check out the details from create a pet to the pet plaza, with pet points, pet tricks, and more pets. The Nintendo DS and GBA versions will get their very own previews soon as well. Until then check out the Pets Consoles Preview.

Take me to the Pets Special now!

Sunday 6 August 2006

Bella Goth Interviewed

Written at 19:30 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Recently Maxis asked on their official BBS about any questions people had to ask Bella Goth. Some of them have now been answered in an interview with her on the official site. She talks about her being in Strangetown, her lost memories, the night of the abduction, Don Lothario, the Calientes and her looks. She isn't able to clearly answer all the questions, as her memory - especially that of the abduction and everything shortly before that - isn't functioning all too well. Read the Bella Goth Interview to find out all the details.

Wednesday 9 August 2006

E-Mail Problems Solved

Written at 17:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

If you recently tried becoming a member of The Sims Zone or our sister site the Spore Zone, you may not have received your registration e-mail, or you may have only just received it, after the normal 48 hours limit. You might also have tried sending us an e-mail through our contact form, but never got a reply. Due to some technical issues, the server hasn't sent out many e-mails, which means any e-mail sent between 3 August and today may not have been received by us, or hasn't been sent out properly. These problems have now fortunately been solved.

So if you sent us an email in the past couple of days, please try again. To try becoming a member again, head on over to the register page and fill in the details again. If it's been over 48 hours since you last tried, the username you picked should be free to use again, otherwise you might have to wait a little while.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused by these errors.

Tuesday 15 August 2006

Aly and AJ in The Sims 2 Pets

Written at 05:11 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Just like several bands did for Open for Business, the upcoming Sims game The Sims 2 Pets (expansion pack on PC) will feature real-life artists who recorded one of their songs in Simlish. Aly and AJ have performed "Chemicals React," which can be found on the Deluxe Edition of Into the Rush, in Simlish. The song will appear in the PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube and PSP versions of the game - the DS and GBA editions will not feature it. The Deluxe Edition of Into the Rush is now available in stores with an extra bonus dvd, which includes the full video of the song. Yahoo! Music will host the world premiere of the complete Simlish Aly & AJ video on August 22nd, but so far a trailer of it has been published on the official site. The press release announcing the collaboration between EA and Aly and AJ is found together with the trailer on a special Aly and AJ page.

Glamour Wallpapers and MySim Themes

Written at 05:39 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It was only recently when Maxis made some new Glamour Life Wallpapers and two MySim Themes based on Family Fun Stuff and Pleasantview. Now there are two more wallpapers and two themes for MySims pages, all in the style of Glamour Life Stuff, the stuff pack that will be released at the end of this month. If you're logged into the official site you can click "Manage" next to your avatar to modify the theme of your MySim Page to either the Diamonds or Gold Glamour Life themes, or of course any older theme. The wallpapers can be found on the wallpapers page, and come in resolutions of 1024x768 and 800x600. Below you can see the thumbnails for both the desktop and MySim decorations.

Wednesday 23 August 2006

Glamour Bonus Items

Written at 02:01 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

In several countries throughout the world, EA is offering bonus items when you purchase Glamour Life Stuff at selected retailers. Although EA UK has not yet announced a similar promotion, in America there are three stores where you can get one of three items: Target will get you a Gold Record for your Sims, at Wal-Mart you'll get an exclusive painting and at Best Buy you can ask for a Television set. In all cases you'll need to pick your copy up in a local store - online purchases probably do not apply. For more information see the Glamour Order page on the official site. To get the pack delivered to your doormat, you can pre-order the stuff pack from our shop.

Glamour Life Mini-game

Written at 02:33 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

To promote Glamour Life Stuff, EA has published a mini-game similar to that of Family Fun Stuff. With the game (which requires Flash 8) you can drag several items and Sims to a room, and so decorate your favourite glamour room. You can play the game as much as you like, straight from the web.

Open for Business Gold on Mac

Written at 02:43 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Aspyr has updated their project status page with the information that Open for Business has gone gold for Mac. That means it's now in the final stages of production and will soon be shipped to shops worldwide. Although an exact release date is not given by Aspyr itself, their main online retailer Amazon US currently reports a shipping date of 4 September, while Amazon UK says it'll be out 1 September. Making things more confusing is MacWorld, which reports that the game will be out this week. The exact date remains uncertain, but it's almost certain that it'll be released in the next few weeks. Whether Aspyr is planning to release the stuff packs on the Mac platform as well is currently uncertain.

SIMVeillance Art Project

Written at 03:28 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Occasionally an artist uses the Sims to create something for an art exhibition. Katherine Isbister and Rainey Straus created a project in San Jose, by installing a surveillance camera in the Fairmont Hotel near the Fairmont Plaza in downtown San Jose, California. The people filmed with that camera have been turned into Sims using the Sims 2, and the source video has been recreated using the Sims avatars of the passersby. The SIMVeillance project was first shown at the ZeroOne Festival in San Jose, two weeks ago. The two screens showing the original and animated videos can be watched until 26 November in the San Jose Museum of Art. More details are at the SIMWorks website, which also has a preview video of the project. Rensselaer Campus News also has a story about the art, and even more can be found in a Mercury News article.

New Sims 2 Introduction Demo

Written at 03:39 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Earlier this month EA released a new demo of the Create a Sim part of the game. Titled "The Sims 2: An Introduction" this demo lets you create sims without the need of the Sims 2 itself. The created Sims can be shared through the exchange. Options to change the Sim's finest details are in the demo, and the resulting Sims can of course be played in the game as well. The demo weighs 286 Mb to download, and comes close to using 400 Mb after installation. The EA FTP server provides the download for the official sites, but you can also find it on various other sites, including GameSpot.

Festive Holiday Stuff Update

Written at 03:48 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Over a month ago we reported about the third stuff pack possibly being Festive Holiday Stuff. This has now more or less been confirmed by EA Germany, which gave a release list to GameStar, a German magazine. With an expected release in Germany of 9 November, the pack can be expected in the US around 7 November and the UK at the 10th. The date may vary a little for other countries. The exact contents or price of the pack is unknown, although EBGames has had a listing of it according to SnootySims. Under the title "Happy Holiday Stuff" a release date of 7 November was put, and a Holiday Edition 2006 of the game, most likely a bundle of the Sims 2 and the Stuff pack, was also listed. Both listings have now disappeared from the website though, and the pack can no longer be pre-ordered from EBGames. Naturally we'll keep you up-to-date with any news about this (still rumoured) stuff pack.

New Family Fun Stuff MySims Icon

Written at 03:57 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

To clear up the official website a bit, Maxis has changed the MySims icon for Family Fun Stuff, shown on everyone's MySims page. The original wheel made it unclear to people with lower-end video cards, as the difference between registered and unregistered was hard to tell. The toybox has now taken its place, after it won over the Mardi Gras mask in a little survey held by Maxis. More information has been posted by MaxoidDrea. You can see the registered (coloured) and unregistered (grey) icons below.

Glamour Life MySims Icon

Written at 04:01 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

With the news that the MySims icon for Family Fun Stuff has changed also comes the news of the icon that will be used for Glamour Life Stuff, which is to be released later this month. Rigglyby on the official site's BBS has already found the image, which is that of a sculpture. You can see the images for registered (coloured) and unregistered (grey) games below. Thanks to SnootySims for the tip.

How to Make Sims Attractive

Written at 04:07 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Making realistic Sims can sometimes be a pain, according to the SunSentinel. They asked Christina Brown, a 21-year old Sims fan from Chicago, about creating good looking Sims. The result consists of 10 tips which can be used as guidelines in creating and sharing Sims using the Body Shop. Although the article is now only available after purchase, there's still a Google Cached version available - but most likely only for a limited time.

Sims and Children

Written at 04:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Similar to an article earlier this year published by the New York Times, the UK newspaper the Telegraph has posted an article on their website about the Sims, and how young children play the game. They've interviewed Bethany Howe, 11, and her mother. Bethany showed the Telegraph around her houses, families and neighbourhoods, as well as the creation of a Sim. Her mother is alright with Bethany playing so much, since the game is safe and non-graphic. Caroline Pelletier from London University's Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media explains how little girls playing the Sims tend to explore subversive behaviour with the game. Covering five pages, you can check out the entire article for all the little details.

Thursday 24 August 2006

Sims 2 Get A Life for PC?

Written at 03:53 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Australian shop GameHead is cause of a new rumour, namely "The Sims 2 Get A Life". The product is said to be released 28 September, roughly three weeks before Pets is released on PC and other platforms. The title "Get A Life" was used earlier in the first Console version of the Sims, but this listing is for PC and is called the Sims 2. The price of $67.40 Australian comes down to roughly £30 or $50 US, which is for a full priced game. That means it's not likely this is another expansion or stuff pack for the Sims 2, but it might be a bundle of the base game with an expansion or stuff pack. What exactly it will be - if anything at all - is still uncertain, but if there's any news we'll let you know here. Thanks to SimsZone for the link.

Nightlife Nominated for Golden Joystick

Written at 04:04 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Since 1982 there have been annual Golden Joystick awards, which is a ceremony for the video games industry, during which games and developers or publishers get awards for the results they've made. This year the ceremony will be held at 27 October in London, UK, and public voting is now possible. Maxis has two nominations on the list, of which the Sims 2 Nightlife, the second expansion pack is one for the best PC game of the past year. Will Wright's upcoming creation, Spore, is nominated for "One to Watch 2007." Finally Electronic Arts has another nomination in its hands: EA Games is nominated to become Publisher of the Year. These 24th Golden Joystick awards nominated games released between 1 August 2005 and 31 July 2006. The show will be broadcasted live on ComputerAndVideoGames.com, which also presents the entire show.

Glamour Life Stuff at EA Downloader

Written at 04:14 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Where the Family Fun Stuff pack was available through EA Downloader only after the official release, Glamour Life can now already be downloaded from the service. After purchasing the pack for £14.99 or $19.99, you can pre-load the stuff pack. At the release date of 30 August, which is now confirmed, the pack will become installable, so you can have it in your game the minute it's officially released. A box and packaging is not delivered, it only has the pack as download itself. British people can purchase it here, Americans should go to the American product page. Others should select their country from the region list, after which the price and information will be adjusted in the selected language. For more information see the Downloader page at the official site. Note that the release date is 30 August for American players - in other regions the release date may vary slightly, by a couple of days.

MaxoidGrant Pets Story

Written at 04:28 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Over the past couple of days, a producer of the Sims 2 pets on PC, MaxoidGrant, has posted a trilogy about two Sims and a cat - who thinks she's a Sim. Things don't go so well when a dog joins the story as well. You can follow George, Darcy, Stella and Belle through parts one, two and three. Also check out MaxoidGrant's blog for a few updates about the story,

Pets Training Paper and Updated Puzzle

Written at 04:36 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The Sims 2 Pets will be out in about 2 months, and like Nightlife got Horoscopes and Open for Business some Classifieds, Pets is getting a Training Paper. The first issue is all about the PC version, and gives some insight in what Create a Pet for that platform will be like. Besides that some dog and cat breeds are introduced. More issues of the Pet Training Paper are promised, in which they'll introduce more breeds from the various platforms. Until then there's just the first issue to be read. Also on the official site, the Pets puzzle has changed, and you now have to put together a different screenshot.

New Pets Screenshots and Artworks

Written at 05:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official site has recently been updated with various new screenshots of the Sims 2 pets - on all platforms. There are some Create a Pet screenshots for all platforms, as well as some generic in-game scenes on the PC and various handhelds. Besides all that, we also have a few artworks which were left behind at the announcement, all directly from EA. As if that's not enough, we also have five screenshots for the Nintendo DS and one for the GBA from DS-x2, found by GibbieSims. Check out everything by clicking the thumbnails below.