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1591. Body Shop Screenshot
Written on Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 19:12 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Even though the Body Shop is
released already, that doesn't stop the flow of screenshots coming in. A new one has been found at
GameSpy, along with an
article about the release of the program. If you're still waiting with downloading the program, but want to take another look already, click the thumbnail below for the full size screenshot.
1592. Bustin' Out N-Gage Shots
Written on Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 19:03 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
It's out since yesterday, but much hasn't been told about The Sims Bustin' Out on N-Gage. Nevertheless, it's also shown at the E3, at Nokia's stand, and the Dutch
InsideGamer has posted a set of new screenshots on their website. 2 Of these are new, while one of these 2 is again very similar to some
earlier screenshots. You can see both below (they're already in their full size). The
info site at
N-Gage.com has also posted a new wallpaper for you to download, and an
interview with Virginia McArthur. That interview is already a month old but never posted about.
1593. E3 Interviews
Written on Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 17:57 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Two new interviews have popped up last night. One comes from
GameSpot, and the other one from
GameSpy. The first one is all about the Body Shop, which was
released yesterday. Darren Futa, the producer of the program, tells a lot about it, including this:
"In this first version of the tool, players will be able to create new textures but not new models. However, using just the existing models we're providing, there is an incredible amount of unique and compelling fan content that can be created."
That makes it seem as if the program is not yet entirely finished, and creating custom models will be an option for a future version. Make sure you read the
entire interview for a lot more.
The other interview is with Neil Young, General Manager of Maxis. In 3 pages GameSpy and Neil discuss the game in general, especially the future of the franchise. Of course there's a lot of talking about the Sims 2, the URBZ there, but there are also bits about SimCity, Will's Next Project and even The Sims Online:
"The ongoing updates to TSO are handled by EA's Online division and there are a group of people who worked on the original game working on maintaining and advancing the product. We remain committed to TSO and, in particular, I think that there's a lot more life left in TSO."
For the entire interview, go to
this page. Enjoy the read!
1594. GameSpot: E3 Material [Update 2]
Written on Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 13:48 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
The E3 has kicked off, and
GameSpot has already posted some first articles and screenshots. The first thing is about the URBZ, and is an
article with their pre-show impressions. It came with a couple of screenshots, of which one is new (click the thumbnail to enlarge). Here's a quote:
"Gameplay will apparently revolve around a series of minigames, though we didn't get to see any of these in action. Players will have to control their urban sims through a series of trials in order to impress various other characters. For instance, we were told that players may have to spend a night as a sushi chef, trying to cater to the late-night dining crowd."
The whole article can be read
here. Furthermore, they've also posted a couple of new screenshots. They may look a little bit familiar, as they're similar to what we saw in the
IGN Video Interview. Yet these are of much higher quality and definitely worth a look. Click the thumbnails below to see them all.
[Update 18:00] The links to the images below where dead. They're fixed now. Thanks to Tim for reporting this.
[Update 22:00] GameSpot has posted their Sims 2 impressions as well. They sat down with Lucy Bradshaw a while ago, and the article provides mostly basic information like the
IGN Interview. Make sure you
click here to read the article.
1595. Body Shop Available! [Updates - 22:35]
Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 21:32 by
ChEeTaH -
14 comments.
The Body Shop is out! FilePlanet has posted the Body Shop as exclusive download on
this site. It's split up in several downloads, but it's big. You must first free up 106 Mb (!) for just the progam. Once you've got that, there is a starters pack for another whopping 95 Mb. Finally there's a pack exclusive to FilePlanet, which is just 2 Mb. You need to have a (basic, free) account at FilePlanet to be able to download the files. There currently is a waiting time of about 30 minutes, and you'll have to be a little bit patient before you can actually download the file. You can find all the download links
right here. GameSpot has also published it, except that there it's one download of 206 Mb. You can find that on
this page (free registration required there as well, but there's no waiting time). FilePlanet has also posted the 3 screenshots below, which shows some Sims with GameSpy and other outfits in the game. We'll keep you updated with news about the showcase and more!
[Update 20:35] The official site's showcase has launched too now (with the first user skins already there). From
this site you can download the Body Shop (including a mirror on the official site now), the starter pack, the exclusive FilePlanet and GameSpot packs, a tutorial and the manual (in several languages). You can go to the download page
here, get help with the body shop on the
BodyShop Help page, and get more help with the showcase on the
ShowCase Info page.
[Update 21:35] Some screenshots showing the GameSpot Sims have been added as well. Click the thumbnails below for those.
[Update 22:35] It's busy, and Maxis knows it. The official site is struggling to stay online, and even the GameSpot download servers have been down for some time as well (they're back up at the moment though). Several Sims fansites have mirrored the program, but due to limited resources of those sites I won't list them here. The servers are getting "
slammed" as obviously the program is very popular. If you're unable to download it now, it's suggested to try again later. Here's what MaxisKitty has to say about the download problems:
"Our servers are getting totally slammed right now. If you are having problems we recommend that you come back later and try again.
"We are working on improving performance - but you might just want to try the FilePlanet or Gamespot pages if you want to try and grab the file right now."
[
Last update: 11 May, 22:35]
1596. Official Sims 2 UK site Launched
Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 21:09 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
EA UK has just launched the official UK site for The Sims 2. It's already quite full of content: you can find info, wallpapers (at the bottom), screenshots and the
E3 trailer (
QuickTime required, 24 Mb, it's on the "mystery" page), already posted about
last Saturday. For discussions, there are also some brand new forums. They're no different from the original forums on the
Sims 1 UK site though. You can also download a couple of official movies and media on the download page. Navigation is done using a rotating wheel on the right. Unfortunately the site works with
Internet Explorer only (and browsers using the IE engine), not with
Mozilla FireFox or other browsers. You can find it at
TheSims2.uk.ea.com.
1597. Triple Deluxe Announced
Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 18:07 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
EA Germany has announced "The Sims: Super Deluxe XL" today. This is probably the pack known as
Triple Deluxe in English. More details have been given about its contents too. Besides the original Sims, it'll contain the expansion packs Livin' Large, House Party and Vacation. Hot Date is not included, but the Sims Creator, which was included in Deluxe and Double Deluxe as well, will be added as well. At the time of writing there's just a
German press release. An English press release is expected soon, but is not yet available. At first the Spanish EA site said "
The Sims Gigaluxe" would be released 16 June. However, this date hasn't been confirmed elsewhere. Thanks to our affiliate
SimsZone for the tip.
1598. Gigaluxe/Triple Deluxe and Mega Deluxe?
Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 16:53 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
We already reported
The Sims Triple Deluxe a couple of days ago, which would possibly combine The Sims, Livin' Large, Vacation and possibly other expansion packs as well. Now another pack, The Sims Mega Deluxe, can be
pre-ordered from GameStop.com. Judging from the box shot it's a different pack than Triple Deluxe. More is known about Mega Deluxe too: it will be a back of The Sims, Livin' Large, House Party and Hot Date. The Create-A-Sim is not mentioned. It's said to be released 25 May, which is already in 2 weeks. See below for the box shot. Thanks to
SiMan for the tip.
1599. Extra Extra! E3 Newsletter
Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 13:52 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
Maxis has sent out a special edition of their Sims Insider's newsletter. In it are a few new, but also some old things. There's some URBZ stuff that has been posted about quite some time ago already. However, there's brand new Sims 2 material. First of all there are the 2 screenshots and the artwork below (click to enlarge). There's also a new video of Veronaville, in which the camera flies through the neighborhood. You need
QuickTime to play it, and you can download it using
this link (4.8 Mb). It's only a matter of hours to the E3 and the Body Shop now, we'll keep you updated here as much as we can!
1600. Lucy Bradshaw Video Interview [Update]
Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 04:19 by
ChEeTaH -
4 comments.
As she already
told us, Lucy has been interviewed by IGN. The interview is now
available for IGN Insiders. It's a huge download, 300 Mb in Quicktime or almost 150 Mb in Windows Media format, but I've downloaded it. It doesn't give much real new information about the game, though the in-game clips from it are nice to see. You can see some snapshots I've created at the end of this article (in the Read more bit). Most interesting from those videos is that it looks like Maxis has included some Superstar elements, as we can see a lady Sim on the red carpet, with body guards and flashing cameras around her. Other images show the building of the homes, but also Sims jumping on couches, kissing and wrestling. We can also see the creation of a Sim (in-game) for a bit. For more information about what Lucy and Steve Butts, Editor-in-Chief of IGN, had to discuss in those 20 minutes, read on... It's a nice summary of what The Sims 2 is all about again.
[Update 16:20] Some more pictures from the movie, not taken by me, can be found at
Snooty Sims. They're posted along with some other shots from recently published movies. You can see them
right here.
Read More!