The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• In The Sims - Hot Date, you'll play matchmaker and see if you can take your Sim down the path of romance!
• 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

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005N6ZL
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 14, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (407 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,730 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack represents an entirely new experience for your Sims--dating! With exciting new characters, interests, romance objects, and an all-new downtown area filled with restaurants, shops, and parks, Hot Date will get your Sims off the couch and into the singles scene. Play matchmaker for your Sims and watch them become Casanovas or Casa-nevers.

Players can have their Sims ask each other out on a date, or they can try their luck with an in-game dating service. Arrange to meet another Sim downtown at exciting and romantic locations that the player can create. Everything from a candlelit dinner, a drink at the bar, or a rendezvous in the park is possible as your Sim attempts to orchestrate an evening to remember.

Once your Sim is out with that special someone, additional interests and new interactions keep the conversation flowing and chemistry clicking. Sims can now flirt, play footsie, engage in a little tonsil hockey, or converse in Simlish about new and diverse interests. Being a fun and fascinating date gets your Sim one step closer to a goodnight kiss, or more!

Players can watch sparks fly or fizzle as their Sims meet and date a host of new characters. Sims can spurn the advances of the Jock, welcome the overtures of the Femme Fatale, find true lust with Mr. Medallion, or strike out with the Blonde Bombshell. More than 100 new objects, including the Picnic Basket, Cuddle Couch, and Love Tub, allow players to set the mood for their Sims. Find your Sim a soul mate... or just have fun looking with The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack.

Product Description

Note: This is an expansion pack for The Sims - You must have The Sims to use this program Forty new social interactions and four new types of hugs help you keep you Sim doing well on the dates 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!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

222 of 225 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just When You Think the Sims Can't Get Any Better, November 16, 2001

By 

FictionAddiction.NET - See all my reviews

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

I've had the game since the day it came out. Where to start? First, the basics. The box says there are over 125 new items. There are new floors, windows, wallpapers, doors, trees, lights, tables and counters. There's even a lighted ceiling fan.

When Sims are ready to go downtown, they simply call a cab. They can invite other Sims with them or just look for their friends once downtown.

The Sims really seem to enjoy the new fish pond. They can buy fish food to feed the fish or rent sailboats to play with in the water. There's a rental shack where you get these items and it also has a picnic basket you can get.

When your Sims get a picnic basket, they spread out a blanket and then lay on it, eating and talking. If the date's going well, he might just go for a romantic kiss and then again, his date might completely reject him!

Each one of your neighborhoods has its own downtown area. When you go to the beach, you actually hear waves crashing! They can't swim in the water but, of course, you can always put a swimming pool on the beach. There are even changing rooms where your Sims can change into their swimsuits.

Another great feature of Hot Date is the "Townies." When you're downtown, you see all sorts of Sims, not only the ones from your neighborhood. You can talk to them and make friends. If all goes well, you can ask them to "Hang Out" with you and they'll follow you around doing what you do.

Let's talk food. There are all sorts of places your Sims can eat. There's an ice cream counter, hot dog stand, a place to get hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza, a diner and also a really fancy restaurant. You can create the restaurants yourself too or you can use the downtown buildings that come with the game.

There's a new grill for the park areas so your Sims can cookout. There's a new stove and when you place it downtown, you automatically hire a chef for your restaurant. When you put a dishwasher in the restaurant, you automatically get busboys that clean off the tables.

You can also put cash registers in the stores and restaurants. This automatically hires store clerks, hostesses and waiters/waitresses.

Another great thing about this game is that the people change. For example, you can go to a diner once and you'll have a male waiter taking orders. You can go again and it will be a woman. It's as if they have shift changes just like in the real world.

It's fun to watch the hostess seat your Sims and hand them menus. Your Sims will read the menus and talk about what they want to order. Then the waiter will come, take their order and take the menus.

They can also go to the bar and order drinks. You can have your Sim sit at a table and call the "barmaid" over.

Sims can shop for clothes, jewelry, candy, flowers and magazines. When they shop for clothes, they can buy outfits for themselves or for the Sims their with. One of my Sims bought a new pair of pajamas and now that's what she wears when she goes to sleep instead of the default pajamas. Everyone else in the house is still wearing default pj's because they haven't been shopping yet. Nice feature!

Also, you can put changing rooms in the clothing boutiques so they can try on outfits, swimsuits and pajamas. They'll go in the changing room and come out with the other clothes on. Then they'll prance up to the mirror and check themself out.

Sims now have an "inventory" that allows you to buy things like teddy bears, The Sims game, lollipops, chocolates, a yellow rose, a bouquet of red roses and even jewelry. One of my Sims bought his date a bouquet of red roses. The date was going well so when he gave the roses to her, she threw them on the ground and stomped on them!

In Hot Date, they also have new personality traits. Your Sims can now talk movies, parties, fitness, fashion and more with each other.

If there's a topic they don't know too much about, they can buy a magazine at the magazine stand. They'll take it home and read about it there. There are about six different types of magazines, I believe. The magazines have funny titles like MAXSIMUM and WhooNoo.

You can place speakers anywhere downtown and your Sims can listen to jazz-like music while they shop. And most everything you do downtown costs money. For instance, playing pool costs money. Turning on the jukebox costs money. Even the bubble blowing machine costs money.

Sims can also interact with over 40 new actions. They can cuddle, play footsie, kiss, make out, embrace, insult each other by shaking their fists, gossip, admire, entertain with puppets, nag about the house or their friends.

One of my favorites is the hug feature. Sims can now hug friendly, romantic, intimate or even leap into each other's arms. And they're all so funny to watch.

They can even kiss suave, peck on the cheek, fiery and more. And if your Sim is feeling frisky, he/she can "check out" another Sim or "growl" at them.

Another funny interaction is "Brag." Sims can flex their muscles. They can also primp. One of my female Sims primped by pulling out a compact and checking herself out in the mirror.

When your Sims are back at home, they now have four new beds (all singles). Really nice. And there's also the Niagara Love Tub that allows two Sims in at once. They can wash each other, play and embrace. It's really funny to hear them "playing" under the water.

I've gone into a lot of detail here but it's still not enough. There's just way too much to discover. Happy Simming!

109 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much fun and much better, November 7, 2001

By 

Avalon Daughter (I wish I was in Glastonbury) - See all my reviews

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

I got the opportunity to see the game first hand before it was released. What can I say but much better than before. Finally, the Sims are able to break out of just hanging out at home and actually act out.

Whereas the first two expansion packs were fun, the problem was the characters never really changed. This time, the characters developing more detailed personalities and having a place to go try them out is the gem of the new expansion pack.

Your new sims can flirt or play footsie or show off their muscles while hanging out downtown. Another new feature! you can help create a downtown for your sims to hang out at such as the restaurants, boutiques or clubs and shops. Also, there are plenty of new characters to interact with, such as the Femme Fatal or the lonely guitar player -- quite a bit of fun to see new people! Also, there's an old lady that will beat you with her purse if you get too close to her hubby. LOL! There's no interaction with cars, unfortunately. Nope, Sims don't own their own cars -- but a taxi will help them downtown instead. There's also new wallpapers, doors and windows as well as furniture and a heart shaped tub for your new couple. :)

There's more to hot date than meets the eye. Now, you have to get your sim to date and talking isn't the only thing to keep another sim interested in your sim. If they're hungry you should feed them or if they're bored you should direct them to a club to hang out and dance -- otherwise, one of them could walk out on the other sim. But no matter -- your sim could look into picking up another date while downtown. Still, if your sims stay interested in each other, a make-out session could ensue very easily.

Buying new things isn't limited anymore either. When I mentioned the boutique, that isn't the only thing they can buy. Gifts for your date, such as teddy bears or roses is an option -- but let's say that your Sim buys some lingerie. No more ugly pajamas to bed! Other things you can buy include the entertainment, such as racing boats, feeding the fish or having a picnic. The more you buy for your Sim's date, the more they end up liking your Sim.

The character differences are what really adds to the game. You have options on how to greet your sims, from handshakes to air kisses to hugs and real kisses. They also react differently as well as having a new skill bar to work on. The relationship bar is now more of a meter to see how the relationship between your sims is working. You can build these new skills by buying magazines to increase your sims relationships skills.

Easily the BEST expansion pack so far. A serious MUST have.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but a bit disappointing, November 16, 2001

By 

j95 (DC Metro) - See all my reviews

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

Hot Date provides Sim fans with things that other expansion packs have failed to do before - more interactions and an opportunity to leave your house! That in itself is worth to 30 Simoleans that the expansion pack costs. The downtown area is a lot of fun to look at and interact with - there are many interesting characters to interact with and your neighbors show up there too.

Lots of great new items - my particular favorites are the Cuddle Couch (where I have discovered new interactions such as "caress," and "embrace") and the Heart-Shaped Hot Tub (where you can "wash," "cuddle," and "kiss" your date). There are some new decorative elements as well, although not as expansive as Living Large or House Party.

The best part of this game,however, was the new interactions. You can ask particular questions now, including if the Sim wants to come home with you. There are too many new ones to list, but here's a few: extreme tickling, growling, checking out, kissing passionately, kissing romantically, etc. etc. Consequently, relationships have become more complex, with the addition of a "long term" relationship bar and a "short term" relationship bar. The latter displays how you're faring with your companion in the short term (fluctuates wildly) and the former is your longer relationship "base," if you will, which is fairly steady. Different combinations on these bars produce different opportunities for social interactions.

So why did I give it 4 stars? There seem to be gameplay problems similar to the release of the first game. Remember when it took your Sim 45 minutes to drink a cup of coffee? It now takes a staggering 4 hours to be seated, order and receive your food in a restaurant (I'm not even talking about eating the food). Also, the Downtown scenes are filled with lots of action and people, and that can put a strain on older computers, resulting in some pauses and choppy movement. If you've got a new, powerful computer, this shouldn't be a problem.

All in all, this is a great addition to a great franchise. It's a little racy (although I think the pictures are relatively tame, the SOUNDS are surprisingly suggestive), but it is rated TEEN, so your kids aren't going to see anything they haven't seen on TV or Dawson's Creek. I highly recommend it and hope that Maxis comes up with a patch to fix some of the timing problems.