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1481. Sims 2 Previews

Written on Friday 16 July 2004 at 15:02 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As URBZ producer Scot Amos told us last SimDay, EA's annual Hot Summer Nights event is taking place this week. It has started off, and several gaming sites sites are posting their previews of all the upcoming EA games. There are already 4 new previews of The Sims 2 online, at GameSpot, IGN, GameSpy and 1Up. There's a lot of repeat info in the previews, but there is some new stuff. For instance, we're being told of Gold and Platinum aspiration statuses. If your Sim does really well on the aspiration track, they can gain points and get extra objects or social possibilities with them. You can also choose to get the "elixir of life," which will extend the life of your Sim, or other "Aspiration Awards" like the money tree or the love tub. In platinum mode, little setbacks won't hurt your Sim. Sims will also get a rank in their aspiration track, e.g. "Hormonal Hurricane" or "Towering Tycoon." And if your Sim isn't doing very well on the aspiration track, expect a lot of trouble from them. Angry teens can actually swing on refrigerator doors...

Furthermore, there's some more talk about the three neighborhoods that ship with the game. Pleasantview is where Mortimer Goth has left off to. Bella has left him in a mysterious way (Luc Barthelet... perhaps?). Cassandra got a little brother Alexander shortly before her disappearance. Pleasantview is probably most likely somewhat similar to the current neighborhood in The Sims 1. Strangeland, on the other hand, is a bit like Area 51. It's a desert, with a UFO crash site. General Grunt and his two sons, Tank and Buzz, live in that neighborhood. Grunt, someone in the military, stays up late a lot to look through his telescope, suspicious as he is. He's not too keen with the Smith's, his neighbours. Pollination Technician 9 Smith has a blue-green skin and wants to settle down in the area with his wife and two children. The third neighborhood, Veronaville, is one that's divided into two by a river. In a Romeo and Juliet setting, there's something going on between a Capp and a Monty, whose families live on either side of the family. It's up to you to develop these stories further. The options to customise the hoods are also mentioned, and the 'ploppables' can now be put in the hood. There's even an enormous sunken stone head, which looks a lot like Sims creator Will Wright.

GameSpy also reveals some info about ghosts, which will be better than ever before. For instance, if your Sim was drowned, their ghost skin will be a bit blue and leaving puddles all over the place. If they burnt up in flames though, the gloom will be red, and the ghost might start a fire. Hungry ghosts empty the fridge, while the restless can haunt objects.

Of all previews, the GameSpy one is the longest and also gives most information. It's a definite must-read. IGN promises an interview with Lucy Bradshaw later. 1Up basically only mentions some bits of the screenshots, but it's not the most interesting preview. Click the links below to read the previews.

• 1Up
• IGN
• GameSpot
• GameSpy

1482. 12 New Sims 2 Wallpapers

Written on Friday 16 July 2004 at 01:33 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.

The bonus cd, that comes with pre-orders from several shops in the US, is already being sold for $10 at some stores (with a $10 rebate when you buy the game). On this CD there is material like some videos and interviews (with some webmasters from The Sims 2 University, professional testers, Will Wright, Lucy Bradshaw and other Maxoids), two mini-games (Family Tree, which already came with a McDonald's CD in January, and the Hot Lips game, in which you have to select a Sim, three Sims from the opposite gender, and then see how well the Sim kisses), a bunch of old screenshots, a timeline of the Maxis history, and also 12 new wallpapers. For those who have the CD: only 6 of them, with the new logo, show up in the menu, the other 6 can only be accessed through Windows Explorer (My Computer). The probable reason the second set was 'hidden', is that they have the old logo. Hence it may seem there are some doubles between them, but they have a different logo, so you can pick your favourite. Unfortunately we can't post any of the other things as they are locked in one huge file (we can't afford the bandwidth that would generate), and there's nothing saying it's permitted to post the files. However, the wallpapers can be posted freely on fansites, so they're here. Click the Read More bit (or just scroll down a bit) to see the wallpapers, and click your favourite resolution to download them (either 800x600 or 1024x768, other sizes aren't available).

Thanks go out to our own Sumit for providing the wallpapers. Read More!

1483. Triple Deluxe Trailer

Written on Thursday 15 July 2004 at 21:34 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been out for almost a month now, but a new trailer has appeared today. At GameTrailers this trailer is now available for download. It's based on the original intro video of The Sims (with the gable-end roofs), and shows some in-game material as well. To see it, click here. Windows Media Player 9 or QuickTime required. Thanks to James Magenta for the tip.

1484. Urbz comes to Nintendo DS

Written on Thursday 15 July 2004 at 16:27 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

EA has just announced that The URBZ will come not only to the consoles and the GBA, but also on a third Nintendo platform: the Nintendo DS (Dual-Screen), a handheld console with two screens, which will be released on 29 November for about $200. Special features are wireless multiplay mode, touch-screen input, and some special features not available in any of the other versions of the game. There will be 24 objects, 5 mini-games, 7 characters and 8 pet species in the game. The pet species can be made using a special in-game 'gene manipulator.' That means you can create your own pet, besides just creating a Sim, for the first time. The story behind the game is as follows:

"Daddy Bigbucks is trying to take over the city of Miniopolis and keep Splicer Island a secret. It is up to you to uncover the truth by training your pet, increasing your reputation and keeping your crew on Splicer Island happy."

The gameplay will probably be similar to the GBA version of the game. Just like with the GBA version, Griptonite Games will be developing the game. The game will be released in November as well (like all other versions of the URBZ), under the EA Games brand. The precise release date is yet unknown, though since the platform won't be out until 29 November it's likely that the game will be released then as well. Once an exact date is known, we'll let you know. The URBZ is the first EA game that's announced for the new handheld platform, which was first shown to the public at the E3 2004. It's currently not known if the game will also make it to Sony's PSP (PlayStation Portable), though we'll of course let you know as soon as more information about that arrives. More information about the URBZ can be found at UrbzSims.com (which currently doesn't mention the DS version yet, but the 'Handheld' information probably applies). The press release can be read by clicking here.

1485. SimDay

Written on Thursday 15 July 2004 at 15:48 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's a rather small SimDay this week, as Maxis is probably getting read for Camp EA. This year it's called "Hot Summer Nights" though, according to Scot Amos' blog on the URBZ website. He tells that Maxis will show the URBZ to the press. Three of the new districts will be shown: "Tar Beach" (the rooftop environment on 125th Street), the city outskirts of "Gasoline Row" and the "stunning underground city-hub of Central Station". The Action Cameras are something to look forward to this weekend, when the gaming sites put up their info. Scot is very excited about them, and says they've got to "be seen to be believed". Furthermore, the URBZ Website has a link to IGN's Feature in the Buzz section, as well as a few brand new character descriptions. Meet the lady urbz of the game: Lil Bit, Alley Stile and Toot Sweet. You can also still watch and read about the other Urbz, of course. That, and the weekly blog, can be found on the Urbz website.

As for The Sims 2, there's one link to a new article about Women and video games at Equipped for Success. With 50% of the Sims players being female, the game is of course mentioned in the article. Lucy Bradshaw talks a bit about Maxis and the success of The Sims amongst the female gamers:

"Lucy Bradshaw, vice president and executive producer, said that women involved early in "The Sims" production process "brought a lot of rounding out" including, she said, an insistence by one female member during the early design process that the kids portrayed in "The Sims" not act like "deadweight."

You can read the entire article for more women and games. Furthermore this Simday brings screenshots we already posted last weekend, and the press release of the DVD edition of the Sims 2. That's all for this week.

1486. New Poll

Written on Thursday 15 July 2004 at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

The results of our old poll are in, as it's finished to make way for a new one. 268 people commented on the interface of The Sims 2, and the majority, 65%, says it's looking great. 21% says it's looking good, yet familiar. About 10% said they don't care - as long as it works. The other options weren't very popular, and got just 1, 5 or 6 votes. For more details, check the complete results.

This week's poll is also about The Sims 2. While the status of a release of the DVD edition, with several extras including a "Filmmaking 101" and 60 minutes of interviews, tips and tricks, outside the USA is still vague, a lot of discussion has broken out on forums since yesterday's press release, stating it'll be released in "North America only for the same price as the CD version". Besides the discussion in several major forums (on both official sites as fansites), there's even a petition that you can sign if you want the DVD version to be released in Europe as well. The poll jumps in on this matter, and you can let us know now if the DVD version should be released outside the USA as well. Vote on the right or at the latest poll page.

1487. Sims 2 DVD will be released in Europe [Update - perhaps not?]

Written on Tuesday 13 July 2004 at 19:26 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Although we got a semi-confirmation yesterday, stating that a European release of the DVD edition of The Sims 2 wasn't definite yet, Computer and VideoGames posted an article shortly after I received the e-mail from EA. They're saying that EA has confirmed to them the DVD definitely be released in Europe. The same site has been a reliable source before, as they've been (almost) right when giving away the release date for The Body Shop and The Sims 2 back in March, before any official announcements were made. I haven't had any definite confirmation from EA yet. An exact release date is still unknown at this point, so it could be the same date as for the CD edition, but it could also be later. Read CVG's entire article for a bit more details. We'll keep you updated as usual.

[Update 18:50] The DVD edition has just been officially announced with a press release. That press release contradicts what's said above: "This is the first DVD release in the highly successful The Sims franchise and initially will only be available through pre-orders at major retailers. This DVD will be available in North America only at the same price as the CD-ROM version." This makes the situation only more confusing, but we'll keep you updated on this matter as news flows in.

1488. New URBZ Screenshots

Written on Tuesday 13 July 2004 at 16:35 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

EA has made a batch of 5 new hi-res screenshots of the URBZ on the consoles available for you to see. Shown are a Sim busting a move, a fighting cage (twice), "Chug A Lug" (probably a mini-game), and a hover board. Go urban, and click the thumbnails below to see the complete screenshots.

1489. Sims 2 DVD for Europe Update

Written on Tuesday 13 July 2004 at 00:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's almost common knowledge that The Sims 2 will be released on DVD as well in the US. However, it's never been confirmed if that DVD will be released in Europe as well or not. EA UK has told us that "A UK release of the DVD special edition is being looked at but we don't have any confirmed information on a possible European release for it right now." Currently there's a poll running at The Sims UK (official site), asking if you have a DVD drive in your computer. With currently over 80% saying they do, it's not unlikely that the DVD will come to Europe as well. However, as EA said, there's no definite release date yet. Hence it's also possible that the DVD edition will be released later than the CD version of the game (if at all, that is). As usual we'll keep you updated on this, and we'll let you know as soon as EA has made a final decision.

1490. 54(!) New Sims 2 Screenshots

Written on Monday 12 July 2004 at 00:08 by ChEeTaH - 8 comments.

A Taiwainese site, GameBase.com.tw has posted 54 new screenshots of The Sims 2. They're all in-game shots, and show stuff like the loading screen, the importing and selecting of a neighborhood, the interface for creating photo albums or movies, but they're mostly shots taken while playing the game. Although the quality isn't great, you might also finally be able to recognise the sizes of a house. They seem to be either 3x2 (with the road on the long side), 3x3, 3x4 or 4x3, 3x5 or 5x3, 5x5, 5x7 or 7x5 and 7x7 (Don't pin me down on that, it's hard to see!). You can also see there's an interface for placing props on the neighborhood, something which was still questioned at The Sims 2 University but hasn't really been mentioned since. Click here to see all screenshots. Click the Sims 2 logo on that page, to see the first screenshot. Click the orange text at the right bottom each time to skip to the next picture.