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161. Family Fun Stuff Producer Mail

Written on Thursday 6 April 2006 at 02:07 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

We've had Luc-Mails (Luc Barthelet) and Lucy-Mails (Lucy Bradshaw) for the Sims 2, T-Mails (Tim LeTourneau) for University, Nightlife and Open for Business, H-Mails (Hunter Howe) for Open for Business as well, and this time we have an L-Mail for you about the Family Stuff Pack that will be out on PC later this month. Lyndsay Pearson, Associate Producer for the game, tells what a Stuff pack is, and how it's made. As example the toybox is used. She concludes with a few items that will be in the pack, as well as her own experience with it. Of course plenty of graphics are included, this time containing several sketches and artworks, as well as the odd screenshot. You can see them all below, as well as within the e-mail which is posted in the Read More part (see below). The last screenshot listed right below here wasn't directly included in the e-mail. Read More!

162. Easter Downloads from Maxis

Written on Tuesday 4 April 2006 at 00:56 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

With easter coming along, Maxis has made a few holiday downloads again. An Easter Chick Hat and the Hippity Hoppity Bunny Suit are the first two of what possibly becomes a larger set of Spring downloads (whether it will is currently unknown). Both can be found on the Spring Downloads page. Below are a couple of screenshots and artworks from EA Europe showing the new items.

163. Family Fun Stuff More Expensive [Update - April Fools]

Written on Saturday 1 April 2006 at 13:59 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The first "Stuff" pack for the Sims 2, Family Fun Stuff, will be released later this month. Although previously it was said to be sold at a price of $20, EA has decided to increase the price. Packaging and shipping costs are the main reason. The so-called "Gold Master" CD, the very first CD containing the product which will then be copied to the pressed versions, was broken. The pack had already gone gold, yet unannounced by a press release from EA. This has made millions of already printed copies unusable. These copies cannot be sold anymore, and will be destroyed next week. A new, working version has been made yesterday and is in testing over the weekend. It's expected to be sent to the CD printing factories next week. Family Fun Stuff will be released in stores a week later, but a version at EA Downloader will be released at the given date of 13 April. Due to this misprint the pack will also be sold at a higher price than mentioned before for the first couple of weeks: $25 instead of $20. Availability of the product might also be lower than usual. The price will probably drop back to $20 when the next Stuff pack is released. That rumoured Glamour pack is expected late June. If nothing goes wrong with that, Glamour Stuff will probably start selling at $20.


[Update 2 April, 1:04] Did we kid you? The truth is that Family Fun Stuff will be released on time, in the week of 13 April, for the price of $20 (or roughly the equivalent in any other local currency). Although the game has probably gone gold by now, considering the short time to the release, this has not yet been announced or confirmed by EA. An EA Downloader version too has not yet been confirmed. All the details about that will be posted here as we get the news. Next year, keep in mind that the first of April is a day when we'll post something that's not entirely true... Read More!

164. IGN Reviews Open for Business

Written on Wednesday 22 March 2006 at 00:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A little later than most other sites, gaming site IGN has now also reviewed Open for Business. They say that running a Sims business is sometimes more like work than play, but fun nonetheless - although not too intuitive, as previous reviews have also mentioned. Checking the manual helps out though. They also comment that the talent badges are somewhat mysterious - skills do accelerate getting badges, but it doesn't say which skills help with what badges. The new items in the game are well-made by Maxis, including some of the crafted toys and robots besides the usual furniture. Altogether it is the least fun Sims 2 expansion so far, as it requires a lot of work to get a successful business. Overall IGN gives the pack a rating of 7.8 out of 10. Read the complete review over two pages for all of IGN's thoughts about the game.

165. 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!

166. Open for Business Reviews

Written on Wednesday 8 March 2006 at 16:45 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Several reviews are appearing about Open for Business, and although some of the big gaming sites haven't covered it yet, other, smaller ones have. Two of them are the Australian PAL Gaming Network and PC GameWorld. The first one says the game is the deepest expansion for the Sims 2 yet, but it's designed to work with University and Nightlife - something other reviews have also mentioned. The gameplay is complex, but addictive, especially when you get the hang of running a business. Unfortunately the interface isn't as easy to learn as PAL hoped it would be. The final score for the expansion pack is a 7.0, as you can read in the entire review. A shorter review that doesn't mention much more than all the features is to be read at PC GameWorld, which rates the game at 88%. You can read the review if you want more details. If you want our opinion, read our growing review.

167. 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!

168. Family Fun Stuff Pack Confirmed

Written on Saturday 25 February 2006 at 19:25 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Some people are already getting their copies of Open for Business. Especially in Switzerland and Austria the pack has already been released. Where University and Nightlife came with an announcement of the next expansion pack, that's not the case with Open for Business. Rather than looking 6 months ahead, it's just 2 months this time, with the announcement of the Family Fun Stuff pack. The Fun Stuff pack, which will cost roughly $20, has been spotted several times before, earlier this month, together with a Glamour Stuff pack (which is not announced now). Rather than being a full expansion pack, a Stuff pack will only contain several objects, clothing, déco items and accessories for Sims. This pack will have, as the name says, a family theme. There will be Fantasy and Underwater sets for children's bedrooms, upscale Nautical furnishings for the family room and adventurous costumes for kids, matching outfits for group outings with the family. In total there will be 60 items, including castle beds, sun dresses and tropical wall hangings. Family Fun is said to be released in April, and although most shops have now removed their entries, rumours from dates posted there suggest it'll be late April. It's not yet sure when Maxis will officially announce the pack, if it'll be available through EA Downloader introduced last year, and when pre-orders will start to be taken - but as always we'll keep you updated with that information. The ad on the Open for Business can be seen by clicking the thumbnail below. Thanks to SimTimes (German) for posting the images.

169. Mascot Screens

Written on Saturday 25 February 2006 at 16:14 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

When pre-ordering Open for Business at several stores (including our shop, US only) you can get a mascot kit as download. You will be able to download the files at the day of release, 1 March. To promote pre-ordering a little more, Maxis has released two new screenshots displaying what you'll get. There's a chicken mascot suit, and the Sim in it is a bit surprised, as well as a chicken sculpture to put outside your business. You can check the two screens by clicking the thumbnails below. If you want the download, order the game in our shop before 1 March (offer available for US orders only, see the official UK site for details about getting the mascot in the UK).

170. New OfB Screen

Written on Saturday 25 February 2006 at 15:33 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official Swedish site has posted a new screenshot of the Sims 2 Open for Business. This time you get to see a Sim playing with a toy robot. You can check out the screenshot by clicking the thumbnail below.