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43. Sims 2 Pets: Rumours and new Video
Written on Wednesday 24 May 2006 at 23:18 by
ChEeTaH -
2 comments.
With the
appearing of the Sims 2 Pets at E3, rumours about the game have sprung up as well. Gaming shop
EB Games had the title in their database for several platforms; first PSP, later on several alternative platforms (PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, GameCube and the GBA), but by now all product pages for the Sims 2: Pets have been removed. Although it's not unthinkable that a Sims title for consoles and handhelds is currently in the make, the Sims 2: Pets is more than likely the fourth expansion pack for the PC, considering the full E3 trailer (see
TheSidDog.com for a new video, near the bottom of the page) has PC-like graphics, and a
message from EA just before the E3 saying that the next EP would be shown at the E3. Naturally we'll keep you up-to-date with all the latest news about upcoming Sims games, but until then it's safest to assume that the Sims 2: Pets is primarily the next PC expansion pack.
44. The Sims 2: Pets: Pictures and Videos
Written on Friday 12 May 2006 at 04:09 by
ChEeTaH -
19 comments.
As announced here earlier, the
next expansion pack for the Sims 2 on PC is going to be all about pets. Due to the Internet connection not working at the hotel yesterday, the pictures here are a little later than expected... but they're here. Just click the thumbnails below to see the big versions of the pictures. Although the quality isn't too great, it does show the theme and the logo. More images and a video can be found on
TheSidDog.com, and in an E3 line-up video of Electronic Arts at their
media center you can see short clip showing artwork of the expansion pack.
45. Family Fun Stuff Screens and Videos
Written on Friday 17 March 2006 at 01:36 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
The Family Fun Stuff pack was
revealed with the release of Open for Business, and
rumours had been going around for even longer. Although Maxis has kept the pack fairly quiet until now, they have unleashed it today with 25 screenshots (three of which not posted on the official site, which has 1 near-duplicate), 42 renders of objects, 2 movies, a packshot and logo, title image, the little advert on the left, and a release date of 13 April. The pack comes with 60 new items, but none of them seem to be completely new objects, providing new gameplay. The items already exist in the base game, just in a different shape and colour - some of them do provide new meshes. There are many decorational items, a bunch of outfits, and some redesigns of beds, wardrobes and the like. The pack will be available in stores and online (according to MaxisShannon in the Open for Business
chat held Thursday). All the graphics can be found in the remainder of this newspost, for the movies visit the official
videos page. More information is on the pack's
About page.
Read More!
46. Open for Business Commercial Contest
Written on Sunday 12 March 2006 at 22:28 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Maxis is giving away prizes again, and this time it's a PC from nVidia as well as three graphics cards. If you want to win one of them, you have to make a video commercial for a business ran with the Sims 2 Open for Business. Whether it's for a store, company, club, or any other type of business you can come up with, is up to you. You can enter by posting the video on your MySim page on the
official site and filling in the
entry form before 24 March. The video has to be 60 seconds or shorter, including the "Made with the Sims 2" cinematic, and must be published in QuickTime, Avi or Windows Media format. Only citizens of the United States and Canada, except the states Colorado, Arizona, Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee, Vermont and Quebec. Winners will be selected by EA around 5 April. For more information about the contest, read the
rules page.
47. Open for Business Shipped; Screenshots, Videos and More
Written on Wednesday 1 March 2006 at 15:40 by
ChEeTaH -
4 comments.
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.
Read More!
48. Unofficial OfB Screens and Videos
Written on Tuesday 28 February 2006 at 02:15 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Besides magazines and gaming websites, some fans of the Sims have already received their copy of the third expansion pack for the Sims 2 on PC, Open for Business. That means some people are already posting new screenshots of the game on forums or elsewhere. The German gaming site
Krawall has posted
35 screenshots, and the DVD included with the Dutch gaming magazine PC Gameplay also had several screenshots of the pack on it. Fansite
The Hub has posted them on
their forums. On the forums of our affiliate
SimsZone Mirena68 and Azazel13 have posted some
screenshots throughout the thread. But with the expansion already being released in Switzerland and Austria last week, there are more German sites with screenshots from users.
Undisturbed.de has posted
many screenshots in their forums, and fansite
SimTimes has put a couple of screens together in
one topic. In the start post of that topic, you'll also find two links to videos SimTimes made, as well as
another video from raye1forTS2 on the official site's BBS.
The game will be available worldwide this week, and more screens and videos are bound to turn up on many websites. New shots may be posted on links given above, or on many other forums. We won't be able to report on all of them, but naturally we will keep you updated with new reviews that will appear soon as well.
49. Howard Jones Audio Podcast
Written on Wednesday 22 February 2006 at 23:06 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
A week ago Maxis updated their list of podcasts with a new
videocast with Howard Jones, one of the singers who has recorded an old hit for Open for Business. Jones answers a few more questions, this time not from MaxoidMonkey but from MaxoidDano. He tells that the Sims 2 is the first videogame he has ever recorded a song for, though he used to play videogames a lot, like "
Space Invaders". Howard also tells about his history in the music industry, his inspiration and favourite bands. iTunes users can
subscribe to the podcast to hear the latest one. Others can check out the official site's
podcast page to download the latest and previous podcasts.
50. "Sims Played By" Campaign Updated
Written on Monday 20 February 2006 at 13:00 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Last year EA launched the "
Sims Played By" ("
How do you play?") campaign to promote the Sims 2 on all platforms. New stories have been created since, for Open for Business, which will be released soon. EA has now published the 6 new stories - 3 videos and 3 picture stories - on the campaign's website,
SimsPlayedBy.com. Fansite
SnootySims has posted three stories as they were printed in magazines, all of which you can see by clicking the thumbnails below. The first and last were scanned and submitted by ZemiZem6 from Teen People Magazine, and posted on the
official BBS, whereas the second is from Mitch, who has written the story.
51. Howard Jones Videocast
Written on Wednesday 15 February 2006 at 22:30 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
After
Kajagoogoo was interviewed by Dano earlier this week, it's now been MaxoidMonkey's turn to interview Howard Jones about his music in Simlish, which will appear in Open for Business in the New Wave radio station. Jones tells a bit about his music, and how his son plays the Sims 2. When asked about the music he made for the game, he says recording "Things Can only get Better" in Simlish was very challenging to do, but it was a lot of fun and the result is good. He also says that if he was a Sim, he'd probably listen to Kraftwerk. A game about himself would be about travelling around the world, and making the electronic equipment work. You can find out more about the artist at
HowardJones.com, where you can also get ringtones, lyrics, pictures and more. The whole interview, just over 3 minutes long, can be found through the
iTunes Subscription or on the Sims 2 website's
Podcast page. There you'll be able to get two versions, a high resolution one (9.0 Mb), and a low resolution one (2.6 Mb).
52. OfB Designer Walkthrough Video
Written on Saturday 4 February 2006 at 15:47 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
Maxis has created a new walkthrough video for the Sims 2 Open for Business. This time Hunter Howe takes you through the new expansion pack in over 7 minutes time. He shows a toy store, which has a crafting room to start with. A Sim with a gold talent badge for toy making allows him to create all kinds of toys, customizing them slightly. Uploading the lot to the exchange will include the customised objects in the download, so whoever downloads a lot gets your objects in it. You can also put the objects or anything else from the catalog for sale, setting the price as well.
Next Hunter shows a store that's opening up, and the first customer of the day browsing around a bit. Andy brings the buy bar of the customer down a bit, by failing miserably at trying to sell something. Sims looking around confused need some help from your salesmen. Good salesmen, with the golden sales talent badge, are able to use the dazzle interaction, making customers enthousiastic and buy stuff they might not really need. The customers buying stuff are likely to give you some loyalty stars which rank up your business. You can also buy perks with them, and Hunter shows the motivational speech interaction, which is one of the perks. He also shows setting the price for all items that are for sale. Still Andy is failing to succeed, so he's fired.
Finally, on another lot, Hunter shows some of the new build and buy mode features. From mascots to elevators, the salon chair and crafted toys. You can also spot some awnings and new roof shapes along the way. You can download the movie from the official
movies page, or from the Open for Business
trailers page, where it's named "
Official Movie 1."