The Sims Expansion: Hot Date (Mac)

by Aspyr

Product Features

• Take your Sim Downtown, and meet up with other Sims you can ask out on dates
• Create fun places to take your date -- movies, clubs, parks, and more
• Keep your date interested and take him/her places like a restaurant or nightclub, to build your relationship meter
• Mood is important here -- set the right mood or your date will leave in disgust
• Forty new social interactions and four new types of hugs help you keep you Sim doing well on the dates

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005YY9R
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 12, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,121 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #55 in Video Games > Mac Games > Simulation
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

Hot Date is the third add–on for The Sims and is probably the most value for money: rather than getting just a few more items and a couple of extra career paths, you get to explore the altogether friskier side of Sim life... dating.

The first addition to the Sims universe is the downtown area. This is where your Sims can go to hang out and buy dating-related paraphernalia. There are several restaurants ranging from the diner-style to the more up-market fish place, as well as a beach area, memorial park, and a couple of malls.

Here you have to find a suitable Sim and start chatting them up. To help you out there are over 40 new interactions and "interests." These are like the "skills" cooking, mechanical, etc. and are listed in a new menu denoted by the speech bubble. You can see exactly what your Sim is into and will talk about, and you can improve these by making your Sims more well read with magazines bought in the mall.

Once you have charmed your opposite number, it's time to ask them on a date. There are now two relationship meters, one for your long-term relationship with this Sim and one for that particular encounter. How high these are will determine whether you get knocked back or not; but, if you do manage to get their phone number, when you return home you will see that you are able to call them and invite them downtown for a date. If only reality was that easy.

In terms of new items, there are loads of furniture and decorative schemes that are themed around the downtown area. For the Casanova Sim, there is a heart-shaped hot tub and, of course, there are some new skins so that you can introduce new faces into your town.

You can also edit the downtown area by creating your own buildings. You have free rein to create a dating arena extraordinaire as there is no budget. On the not-so-positive side, the game still suffers from freezing up for several seconds when there is a high level of detail on the screen and there isn't a massive amount of new stuff here if you have already played the Sims to death. But having said that, The Sims is really is one of the best and most addictive sim games out there, and this expansion pack is definitely better value for your Simoleans than any of the others have been. --Kristen Bowditch

Product Description

In The Sims: Hot Date, you'll play matchmaker and see if you can take your Sim down the path of romance! Fun new animated scenes and rewards for people who do well on their dates If you can keep up a conversation and share mutual interests over a long period, you can even ask for your date's hand in marriage!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hot Date has a lot of up's and down's.., January 7, 2003

By 

Irene Y "elevatia" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sims Expansion: Hot Date (Mac) (CD-ROM)

First, I think my rating is more like 3.5 stars, not 4. But figured to round up anyway.

I loved the Sims original game, loved the At Large expansion pack and was thrilled when I first heard about Hot Date. But after purchasing and playing with it for several weeks, I'm starting to have my doubts with this particular expansion pack. Obviously the best part is for the Sims to go Downtown. That is pretty much tbe bang-of-the-buck for this game and yes, brings a whole new level of play into the Sims.

The benefits of Downtown:

1.) You can create your own shopping boutique, ice cream/pizza/fun parlor, restaurant, park, dance or disco, that type of thing. If you love building things and putting together the furniture, painting the walls, etc. like me, you'll be VERY happy with this and can build all day if you'd like.

2.) The downtown already created by Aspyr is pretty nice, they are very thorough and detailed down to the public restroom so there's a lot to see, do and socialize among other Sims. It's visually appealing.

3.) Freely interacting with so many other Sim-citizens, and a number of them aren't even in your neighborhood (so spare you the time to manually invite them to a party at your home). Which is great if you need to gain friends to advance your career.

4.) You have new furniture (eg: love hot tub), building options and characters to choose from with the addition of Hot Date. You also have more commands between Sims now because the goal is to find a potential mate (new kissing, cuddling, fighting, conversation options).

BUT... here I think are the drawbacks from the game.

1.) I have a G4 with lots of RAM so it's pretty good in loading programs. However, Sims Hot Date stalls and chugs like crazy when you are going downtown, especially if you have a lot of Sims. It's very distracting and prevents you from really having a good time playing or having that "Sims experience."

2.) You cannot build anything else other than dating-intended businesses or places for your Sims. Maybe this is a lame statement from me since the point of the game IS to find romance and land a mate, but the quest of dating gets boring rather quickly... (like you can only buy lingerie, teddy bears or flowers...ugh) There is a number of objects you can't put in your downtown business for some reason as well.

3.) Your Sims become a LOT more testy and harder to "match up" after installing Hot Date. This is no joke. It's like 2 or 3 times harder to have the Sims love each other, even more for them to marry. Pretty discouraging if that's what this pack is supposed to be about.

4.) Your Sims can't, repeat CAN'T stay overnight in downtown. No hotels are available. So yes, they will eventually get burned out, lose energy/comfort points. And I notice even if you have a couple of Sims go together to Downtown, you can only control one of them when you get there. (unless I'm an isolated case?)

Anyway, hope that this review was honest enough for you. I still enjoy it for the additions it brings in the buildings and furniture, but otherwise I think it may be better to get the other expansion packs instead (Livin' Large or Unleashed). And either way, make sure you have tons of memory.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Date is super HOT!!!!, July 31, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Sims Expansion: Hot Date (Mac) (CD-ROM)

I have bought The Sims and every other expansion pack along with it, and Hot Date is one of a kind. The new items are so cool, and the ability to go downtown greatly helps Sims socially. Before, when my Sims were required to make friends for their jobs, I might run out of people in my neighborhood, but now they can meet the Townies downtown.

Downtown is basically a whole new neighborhood for the Sims to go to. You can build on and destroy the 10 lots, as well as design your own hangout area. To get downtown, your Sim must call on his/her telephone "Call Cab">"Go Downtown", and a few minutes later, a taxi will bring them over.

Incredible as it is, Hot Date has some minor faults. If you have not installed the two previous expansion packs (Livin' Large and House Party), you can't access some of the lots. For example, they placed objects such as the DJ booth and dance cage (from House Party) in the cowboy night club area, so it won't work if you don't have that expansion pack. Also, when you leave in the cab, you return to exactly the same time after you've finished your shopping and partying. So, if you think you'll pop in at 2:00 A.M., get back at 6:00, and then go to work, still with reasonable energy, think again. Your Sim's needs continue to lower as you stay downtown, so usually, by the time you get back, you are in a pretty bad mood. Also, kids can't go downtown, and you can't save your game while your downtown. If you say in the options menu "go back to neighborhood" you lose all progress in relationships, but if you "quit", you keep all relationship and mood changes, so when you select the family again, they will immediatly pull up in a taxi, and you have to call again to go downtown.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot date=hot game!, June 5, 2002

By 

Amy Wallace "Buttonsamy" (Bolinas, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sims Expansion: Hot Date (Mac) (CD-ROM)

WOW! I started playing the sims pretty recently on my roommates computer (PC). We just had the original sims. Then, when Hot Date came out for PC, we bought all the other expansion packs and I was blown away.

Everything else was really just add-ons, cool skins, new walls and objects, but Hot Date totally rocked! You get new characters, TOWNIES that your sim can interact with, and if things get going, bring home...tons of really cool new building stuff. Loads of new interactions so that building a relationship is MUCH harder. You really have to pair two sims up, rather thann just stick em together and if they talk enough they will fall in love. In Hot Date you have tons of different kissing styles, hug styles, cuddling options and chat options. Its great, your sims can hold neat conversations!

What I am concerned with is the fact that the release date keeps being postponed. I know when they finally release Hot Date for MAC it will rock, maybe more than the PC version because they will have worked out the bugs.

Keep the faith simmers and mac users, oh and BTW, there is a new program not associated with maxis or aspyr called SKIN SHRINKER that will change PC skins for mac, so all thsoe pesky renaming of downloaded skins is over! Happy gaming!