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321. The Sims 2 Heads to Consoles

Written on Tuesday 19 April 2005 at 14:25 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

After the Sims, Bustin' Out and the Urbz, Maxis is developing a new edition of the Sims franchise for consoles and handhelds. After the PC version sold over 4.5 million copies, the Sims 2 will make its transfer to the other systems later this year. The game is in development for the current generation consoles (Playstation 2, XBox, GameCube), handhelds (GBA, Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable), and even mobile phones. As with the previous versions, the console edition will differ quite a lot from the handheld ones. An official announcement is yet to be released, but IGN already has the scoop.

Compared to previous verions on the GBA, The Sims 2 won't be too much different from Bustin' Out of the Urbz. Gameplay will be very similar: mission-based, but of course with new graphics. On the GBA it will be possible to trade unlocked episodes by connecting two GBAs to each other. GBA-GameCube connectivity will most likely not be brought back. A small interview with Maxis regarding this version can be found at IGN.

The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS will be 3D, and features like the touch screen will be used. Dual link between the DS and GBA editions are not yet definite. More of that can be seen at another interview. It's not unlikely the PSP version will be similar to the DS version rather than the GBA version, though not much information about that has been given.

The console version will feature graphics similar to the PC version, as well as some of the assets. Just copying it entirely to the consoles is not possible, so the console version will differ from the PC. Characters will have developed slightly further, e.g. you can find an alien abductor in Strangetown. The console will feature 60 characters, 35 of which are from the Sims 2 and University, and the remaining 25 are unique to the console editions.

A major feature is the Direct Control you can have over your Sims, controlling them directly through a third-person view. As soon as you get near enough to an object, you'll be able to have your Sim interact with it. Other than that, you don't have to wait for the game to figure out the path - you'll be able to determine it yourself. Customization will be possible through CAS, but creating objects (to which extend is not mentioned) will also be possible. A two-player split screen will be back again as well.

The food system will be new as well. Rather than just getting a fridge that has all meals, you'll have several ingredients which you can combine the way you like. Some ingredients will have to be bought, others have to be harvested. There will also be some potions, which can be combined and create many different effects. Motives will be limited to six, but will also play a secondary role in the game. The primary objective is to get in the game, and explore it. The new social system is one thing to explore. Sims will show how they feel about another, through the way they stand.

Finally, just as with the Urbz, the PS2 version will have EyeToy and HDD support, whereas the XBox will feature hi-res HDTV graphics. The GameCube will get some extra content on it. A lot more can be found in the interview IGN held with Scot Amos.

This title most likely renders the Urbz 2 rumours to be false. More of the Sims 2 will be shown at the E3 next month. For now there are already some screenshots which you can see below - three from the GBA version, three from the Nintendo DS and one screenshot and two artworks of the big consoles' version. Click the thumbnails below to see larger versions of all of them.

322. SimDay

Written on Friday 15 April 2005 at 03:18 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

This week's Simday is a small one. There are links to the IGN interview about Nightlife, and two mailing lists: The Sim Insider and the Sims 2 Scoop. With these mailing lists you can stay up to date with the latest news on the Sims 2, and the Sims 2 Nightlife. Finally, iFilm has featured the Strangerhood. You can see the feature and rate the trailer and first episode of the show.

Other than that, there's a new ShiShi Frou Frou Fu Lion by MaxoidMonkey. It's an ancient, Chinese statue, that you can put in your game for decoration. The April Fool's scissors have also been reuploaded, but it's unsure if anything has changed. There's also a new poll on the official site, and members got an e-mail announcing a spring cleaning on the exchange. Maxis is preparing to clean out the database again, and you are asked to help by cleaning up your own MySim page. That means you should clean up your guestbook, and delete double or unwanted uploads from the exchange.

[Update 19:50] With thanks to Martin, we've updated the links to the mailing lists.

323. Sim Brother 4 - Cat's Eyes #1

Written on Sunday 10 April 2005 at 23:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Sim Brother 4 is more this year. This time, expect a weekly extra editorial about the happenings in the house. Every Sunday the reports will be summarised and analysed, and then be talked about from a different perspective. In the "Cat's Eyes" series you can look at Sim Brother 4 with a different eye. The first issue, discussing what possibly is the most important day of the series, and the second day is up to be read now. And come back later tonight for the usual Sim Brother report too!

Read Cat's Eyes #1

324. SimDay

Written on Saturday 9 April 2005 at 18:40 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A little later than usual, this SimDay report. There are a few things on the official site since earlier this week. Of course there's the Nightlife Announcement and a link to the GameSpy interview. Other than that there are three things exclusive to the official site. The first is a new Nightlife theme for MySims Pages. To set yours to this new theme, go to the Modify Theme page. This is the ninth theme available for MySim pages, making them more and more varied. There are 4 new small artworks on those MySim pages from Nightlife. You can see them below.

Besides that, Maxis has opened a new BBS section. In the Challenges & Contests BBS you can discuss challenges like the Legacy Challenge, make up and showcase your own challenges or contests and more. And Maxis is already doing so, by holding another new contest. With the "Nightlife Styles" contest you can get your creation included in the expansion pack. Two outfits will win: one male and one female outfit. These will be included in the expansion, and the winners will win a pack signed by the Maxis team. These outfits must be created with the Body Shop, and you can submit up to three outfits. As usual you have to be at least 13 to enter, and you must live in the US or Canada. For more information see the contests page and the complete rules.

325. New Poll

Written on Thursday 7 April 2005 at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Thanks to the 425 people who gave directions in our last poll, we have found the way to Pleasantview. The vast majority, 61.4% (261 votes), says you just have to load up the game and then double click the picture. 14.6% Said "You don't," whereas 11.3% claims it's a matter of just walking on and on. 9.7% said something similar, with "First right, second left, and then just keep going." The final 3.1% advised to go to SimNation first, and then to ask for directions. Lost it? See the full results for more.

And this week, we want to know all about the new Nightlife pack. Does it sound too similar to The Sims 1 its third expansion pack Hot Date, or do you think this will be a lot better? Vote on the right, or on the latest poll page.

326. Nightlife Update - Art, Box, Interview and T-Mail

Written on Wednesday 6 April 2005 at 23:23 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been announced just one day ago, but there's already quite lot of news about it: Nightlife, The Sims 2's second expansion pack. First of all, Maxis has made a landing page, which shows information of the expansion pack. On it you can find a logo, in colour, as well as some artworks. They're posted in their full size below, they're not thumbnails to click this time. The landing page also gives some info regarding new places: there will be mellow lounges, nightclubs, restaurants and even bowling alleys. Of course objects will to make these be included as well, for example a bowling lane or a DJ Booth. You can work with the latter to get a little bit extra money. Other objects include a photo booth, poker table and a karaoke machine, while new characters come in the shape of vampires and hot waiters. In total there will be 125 new objects and items in the pack, a few more than in University.

Other than that, there is an interview with Tim LeTourneau (Senior Producer) and Shannon Copur (Producer) at GameSpy. They talk about the similarities with Hot Date, but also the differences between the two packs. Some information from the interview has been posted above, for the rest read the interview. GameSpy has also posted a box shot, which you can see below (click the thumbnail to enlarge it).

Finally, we received an e-mail from Tim LeTourneau about this expansion pack. He'll be keeping us updated with news about the expansion pack like he's done with University, and Luc and Lucy did with The Sims 2 itself. You can read his words in the Read More part. Of course we'll keep you updated with the latest news about the pack in the future.

Thanks to XPDude and SP Zone for some of the links.

Read More!

327. Massive College Drop-outs [Update]

Written on Friday 1 April 2005 at 11:38 by ChEeTaH - 5 comments.

Things are going bad at SimState University, La Fiesta Tech and Académie La Tour. It turns out that today many players of the Sims 2 University have seen a massive number of drop-outs of both NPCs and even playable Sims. Professors could not longer be reached at home for help or private lectures. Even students with a 4.0 GPA and top grades are dropping out, and it doesn't even matter if it's the end of a semester or not. They all autonomously pick up the phone and sign out, to be placed in the Sim Bin in the neighborhood - as adults. It's not entirely sure what is causing this problem, or if it affects every installation of the game. It might depend on the system configuration. Read on for more details...

[Update 11:45] We received the screenshot below from April Flores, which shows the situation. In the dialog that shows up, the "No" button is greyed out and clicking it has no effect, the same goes for the action icon at the top. April also said that this dialog would appear only for playable Sims, but you had to click Yes to be able to continue playing the game. Click the thumbnail to see the full version of the screenshot. We'll keep you updated with more.

[Update 2 April] As you can now read in another post, this news is fake. April fool!

Read More!

328. New Poll

Written on Thursday 31 March 2005 at 02:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Have you ever been lost? Well, we sort of did. We are asking you how to get to Pleasantview, the famous neighborhood in the Sims 2. Let us know where it is by checking the option that you think is right on the right of this page, or on the latest poll page.

Last week we asked you what you think of University, and the results are quite stunning. 457 People voted, of which 39.4% (180 people) says the expansion rocks. 38.5% (176) hasn't played it yet, followed by the group of 81 (17.7%) of those who think it's just alright. 3.1% (14) Absolutely hates the expansion, and finally 1.3% (6) isn't too enthousiastic about the game, but doesn't hate it either. See the results page for more info.

329. Easter Pictures

Written on Wednesday 30 March 2005 at 01:23 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This post is slightly late as easter is over by now. Nevertheless, SP Zone has found and posted a few Easter artworks from the Swedish site that were posted a couple of days ago. They aren't too big, but slightly larger than the thumbnails below. Click those to see the full versions. Happy belated easter!

330. SIMposium Special - The Future

Written on Sunday 27 March 2005 at 22:48 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been a while since the last parts of the SIMposium coverage were posted, but we've now continued it. This time the afternoon workshops are covered. They consisted of discussions about what the fans want in the game, and about the official website. If you want to know what has been discussed and what ideas were spoken of, then check out the latest article in our SIMPosium Special. This is the last article from me regarding the SIMposium event, but there's just one treat left to be posted later this week: the interview I had with Will Wright at the event. Come back in a few days to find that posted here.