The Sims Castaway Stories

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Play exciting new story adventures as a castaway on a desert island
• Create and customize Sims and play through 24 whole new dynamic chapters
• Meet the natives, discover the hidden mysteries of the island, befriend new animals, and unlock rewards
• 2 fun new ways to play--all-new directed Story mode and classic Free Play mode
• Create multiple profiles and tell a new, unique story every time

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000WQWQ36
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: January 29, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,120 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #39 in Video Games > PC Games > Simulation > Life
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com

What would it be like to be shipwrecked? Maybe something like what befell Tom Hanks in Castaway, or perhaps the uneasiness that hangs over the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 in LOST, or maybe something a little lighter like the comic antics of the passengers and crew of the Minnow in television’s Gilligan’s Island? In reality, who can know for sure, but it’s safe to say that Sims players will have a lot of fun trying to inject a little bit of each of these scenarios when their Sims explore the ins and outs of tropical paradise in The Sims: Castaway Stories.

Take your Sims to the islands

Accept the bounty of the island. View larger.

Or do your best to escape. View larger.

Explore the island's mysteries. View larger.

There's always time for a beach party. View larger.

The third release in Electronic Arts' stand alone Sims Stories product line, The Sims: Castaway Stories places the conch firmly in player's hands as you do your best to guide your Sims in their new lives after they wash ashore on an uncharted island.

An Island Full of Choices
An isolated island could just as easily be seen as a paradise as a prison. In The Sims: Castaway Stories you choose how your Sims will view their new home. Will they play for the long run and concentrate on survival or go for the quick escape back to civilization? Regardless which one it is, both paths are full of challenges and will require your Sims to make many decisions, face dangers, accumulate necessary skills and accomplish certain tasks. But remember, it is your job to guide your Sims and that sometimes it's the journey that is important. What will your Sims consider more important, learning how to make and keep a fire going or build a raft?

Two Ways to Play
As with all games in The Sims Stories product line, in The Sims: Castaway Stories your Sim’s stories are truly in your hands. This is done by providing player with two exciting, but very different ways to play that will provide hours of play and replay options:

• Story mode - Guide your Sims through this elaborate mode designed to provide longer playing time, taking on a variety of challenges presented to you as you build your new life from scratch, meet the natives, and discover the hidden mysteries of the island.
• Freeplay mode - Create your Sims, design their shelters, learn the necessary skills you will need and explore the island, going only where you want to go, when you want to go.

Full List of Features:

• Brand New Environment to Play In - Play exciting new story adventures as a castaway on a desert island who needs to survive and thrive. Create and customize your Sims and play through 24 whole new dynamic chapters. Adopt an orangutan, fight off wolves, and choose your own romantic interest, taking on an adventure that is completely your own.
• Tell Your Own Story, Over and Over Again – Create multiple profiles and tell a new, unique story every time.
• Two Fun New Ways to Play - all new directed Story mode and classic Free-play mode.
• It’s Never Been Easier to Play on Your Laptop - Featuring simple shortcuts and an all-new auto-pause that lets you start and stop easily when opening/closing your laptop.
• Be Creative While Staying Connected - Easily stay in touch with friends by using your own IM & email while playing the game in its own window.
• Part of a Fun New Product Line—The Sims Stories line also includes The Sims Life Stories and The Sims Pet Stories.

System Requirements:

	Minimum Specifications:
OS:	Windows XP, Vista
Processor Speed:	1.8 GHz or more
RAM:	512 MB (1 GB for Vista) or more
Disc Drive:	8x or faster DVD-ROM drive
Hard Drive:	2.9 GB (15 GB for Vista) or more free space
Sound Card:	DirectX 9.0c compatible
Video Card:	DirectX 9.0c compatible*

Video adapter must have 32 MB of memory (128 MB with Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware for Vista) or more and one of these chipsets: ATI Radeon 7500 or better; Mobility 7500, 8500, 9000 series; Mobility M7, x200 or better; Mobility Fire GL/GL v5200; NVIDIA GeForce 2 or better; GeForce Go 6100 or better; Quadro series; Intel Extreme Graphics 82845, 82865, 915, 945 series, 950 or greater.

Product Description

The Sims Castaway Stories

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool enough..., January 31, 2008

By 

M. Robbins "your hometown hairdresser" (Bedford, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Sims Castaway Stories (Video Game)

This is what I've been waiting for. I'm a huge fan of the Sims. I had most of the original Sims and most of Sims2. I liked those games - for a while. After you've done all the new stuff and had a couple of kids, the fun just kind of died. I have always always said that if there were some sort of directed story to the Sims that I had to play out, I'd like that so much more.

When EA came out with the Sims Stories, I was excited because that had finally happened. The first 2 titles just didn't excite me much, so I passed. They announced Castaway and I couldn't wait. It was released first on platforms, but I *hate* Sims platform games. The graphics aren't as nice and the gameplay is always lacking. So, I waited for the PC version.

It's very fun and very *new* as far as Sims go. There are familiar elements, but also great new twists. I highly recommend this title to people who, like me, love the Sims but have lost interest over the years. It's totally renewed my Sims playing.

The *only* drawback, and it's kept me from playing all the way through, is loooooooooooooong load times. At first I thought it was my computer, but since I have a great graphics card and tons of memory and ram, I thought maybe it wasn't me after all. After a bit of searching, it seems that lots of people are frustrated with the long load times between scenes. It plays out basically as follows: Game loads, objective pointed out, load new scene for up to 5 minutes, play 30 seconds, then on to a new scene taking up to another 5 minutes. If I'd have known that before I originally posted my review, it would have gotten less stars.

Anyway, enjoy!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New & Entertaining, February 16, 2008

By 

Amy Enz (Gloucester, Virginia / Iraq) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sims Castaway Stories (Video Game)

I got the wii version of this game for my brother and began looking for a PC version. Being an avid player of SIMS2 I was weary of trying SIMS Stories, but it turned out very well.

What's the difference between the wii and PC version? The wii game has a game version only, while the PC version has two ways of playing. The wii version is more of a challenge as far as difficulty of play. The PC version is more guided, yet still entertaining. In the wii version you get to pick your whole crew, find them during the game and you can switch which player you are. In the PC version, when you play the game, you pick your character and the rest are automatically put in the game, you can only play yourself unless you adopt or marry another character from the game. After playing the PC version all the way through, you will most likely never play again as it is more or less the same each time.

On the PC version you also have the choice of playing like you would in any other SIMS game and selecting a tropical lot to live on, then building, buying, working and interacting with the locals.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely different from the other SIMS2 games! It's simply FANTASTIC!, February 17, 2008

By 

Mary A. "TinkerMaryBelle" (Syosset, New York United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Sims Castaway Stories (Video Game)

Are you a die hard SIMS fan? We are here at my house. Not a tile comes out that we don't have.

We were waiting for Castaway Stories because it's so different from the other SIMS games. This game is FANTASTIC!!! There are palm trees, beaches, monkeys, coconuts, bananas, you can swim, you can dig for treasure on the beach, you build things, you get to spear fish (ok so you might not like spear fishing but it's cool to watch the SIMS do it), there's a jungle, there are ancient ruins to explore and even a native or 2 to make friends with, or marry!!! This game is graphically amazing!

Castaway Stories is a simply, a MUST, for the SIMS fanatic!