The Sims (series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sims is a video game series developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the most successful video games series of all time. As of April 16, 2008, the franchise has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide,[1] and as of March 19, 2008, is the best-selling PC franchise in history.[2]
The games in The Sims series lack any defined goals. The player creates virtual people called "Sims" and places them in houses and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires. Players can either place their Sims in pre-constructed homes or build them themselves. Each successive expansion pack and game in the series augmented what the player could do with their Sims.
Despite the series not having goals, some of its games have had story modes, an example is The Sims: Bustin' Out
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[edit] Video games
As of February 2005, The Sims franchise has shipped more than 52 million copies globally.[3] As of April 16, 2008, the franchise has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide,[1] and as of March 19, 2008, is the best-selling PC franchise in history.[2]
[edit] The Sims
The Sims is the first game in the series. It was released for Microsoft Windows in February 2000. It used a combination of 2D and 3D computer graphics. In total, seven expansion packs were released for it. It was repackaged in several different formats and different versions of it were released on several different platforms. By March 22, 2002, The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling PC game in history, surpassing Myst until The Sims 2 overtook it.[4]
[edit] The Sims 2
Maxis released The Sims 2 on September 14, 2004. The sequel takes place in a full 3D environment, as opposed to the combination 2D/3D ("2.5-D" or Isometric) environment of the original game. Other additions to the original gameplay include Sims that grow from infancy to adulthood, then age slowly, and eventually die. This game features clear "days of the week" with obvious weekends for children to stay home from school, as well as "vacation days" to take time off work, an "Aspiration Meter" that increases and decreases as a Sim fulfills specific desires and experiences its worst fears, and "Aspiration Rewards" which can be "bought" with "Aspiration Points" that are earned each time a want is successfully filled.
The Sims 2 is set some 25 years after the original game, and also integrates a storyline into the game. For instance, the Pleasant family (available in the family bin in Sims 1) has settled in a suburban neighborhood, and their family tree panels reveals relationships with the original Pleasant family from the Sims 1. Additionally, the Goth family has aged significantly, while Bella Goth has mysteriously vanished (suggestively from an alien abduction).
Because faces and neighborhoods are handled in very different ways, objects had to migrate from 2-D sprites to 3-D models, and some objects (particularly those contained in expansion packs) were not copied at all. The Sims 2 was not made backwards-compatible with any Sims 1 content. There have been several expansion packs and add-ons released for The Sims 2.
[edit] The Sims 3
The Sims 3 was announced by EA in November 2006. It is due to come out in 2009. The production of The Sims 3 started after the release of The Sims 2.[5]
[edit] The Sims Online
In December 2002, Maxis shipped The Sims Online, which recreates The Sims as an MMOG, where actual human players can interact with each other. This sequel did not achieve the same level of success as the original The Sims game that producers and developers thought it would.
Reviews for The Sims Online have been lackluster. Many reviewers have likened The Sims Online experience to an enormous chat room where few participants, if any, have anything worthwhile to say.
[edit] The Sims: Bustin' Out
The Sims Bustin' Out was the first console-only release of The Sims series. It was also the first to use vehicles and to follow a small storyline with no sandbox mode.
[edit] The Urbz: The Sims in the City
A game set in a city, presumably Sim City. The player must earn reputation and complete tasks for characters. It was released for Xbox, Playstation, Gamecube and GameBoy Advance.
[edit] MySims
MySims is a console game created by EA exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS. It features Chibi-like characters (similar to the Wii's Mii avatars). It was released in September of 2007.
[edit] The Sims Stories
The Sims Stories is a series of computer games from The Sims series, based on the original The Sims 2 engine, optimized for play on laptops, as it has lower system requirement than The Sims 2, but can still be played on desktops. One feature of this game, if played on a laptop, is the auto-pause function, which stops and starts the game according to when the laptop lid is closed.[6] At present, three games have been released.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Electronic Arts (2008-04-16). "The Sims Celebrates 100 Million Sold Worldwide" (PDF). Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
- ^ a b IGN: The Sims 3 Set for Global Launch in 2009
- ^ The Sims Franchise Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary and Continues to Break Records. TMC Net (2005-02-07). Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
- ^ Walker, Trey (2002-03-22). The Sims overtakes Myst. GameSpot. CNET Networks. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
- ^ Sims 3, next-gen Black, new SimCity and LOTR coming
- ^ About - The Sims Stories. The Sims 2 (EA). Retrieved on 2007-10-31.
- ^ About The Sims Stories: Coming Winter 2008. Yahoo! Games. Retrieved on 2007-10-31.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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