The Sims Livin' Large Expansion Pack

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• The Sims - Livin' Large takes the Sims to a whole new level of entertainment -- it moves them out of their old house, and into a gorgeous mansion!
• Design your mansion to your liking -- it can be a medieval castle, or a Vegas casino
• Sad clowns will visit your Sims if they're sad, and a helpful cleaning robot will pick up after you
• Use the chemistry set to create potions to make you invisible, or make an evil clone of yourself
• Voodoo dolls, genie lamps, and alien visitations are just some of the other elements that keep the Sims-style fun coming!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004UE0I
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: August 30, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (238 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,655 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #35 in Video Games > PC Games > Simulation > Life
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Sex and aliens. That's really all that was missing from the amazing original edition of The Sims, and the expansion Livin' Large delivers these new treats to liven up your beloved Sims existence.

New characters (including a gladiator and Xena-like warriors), and, more impressively, new decorations are the reasons to buy this game. The furnishings are mostly grouped by theme, with the medieval dungeon option the most authoritative of the bunch. (Little Cassandra Goth has been longing to read by torch light all along.)

Our personal favorite is the futuristic theme, with an optional, but expensive, maid/gardener robot to take care of the fabulous modern furnishings. Clearly the Sims team has been doing its research over at Herman Miller, and you'll have a bright red, flowing-foam sofa to show for it.

But it wouldn't be The Sims if only good taste prevailed. Bring on the mai tais with a tiki-heavy islander theme. There's also a startling collection of carpeting and objects best grouped under the design ideal we call "demented clown."

The attention-getting rarities include: a lame fortune-telling ball (our advice mostly centered around hiring a maid), a voodoo doll for hexing roommates, and a genie who delivers as much bad as good (dead plants, anyone?). And, yes, there's a vibrating bed to give your Sims the spice they've been missing.

While the expansion didn't blow us away, it did provide more of the humor and novelty true Sims die-hards will appreciate. With even more attention to detail than the original offering, EA deserves Sims-like applause for this edition. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly addictive. Even hardened gamers will enjoy it!, September 4, 2000

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Sims Livin' Large Expansion Pack (CD-ROM)

Doing game reviews for BellaOnline.com, I tend to buy a new game every 3 days to play. There are few that really grab a tight hold of me ... but this was definitely one. As soon as it came out, I bought one copy for me and another as a present for a relative. That night I was up until 5am playing my couple - a criminal and a psychic - and building them up in career. Blearily I trudged to bed, dreaming of my Sims.

The next night I promised myself I'd show a little more self control. I created a musician sim - in a fit of amusement I chose Britney Spears - and her partner Prince William. I wanted to have a little fun - I put him into a Robin Hood outfit. She started playing on her electric guitar, and the Sim-friends that came by booed their fool heads off. A few hours later, she was ripping amazing riffs on her tiny instrument, and the Sim-buddies were now dancing around the living room. It was amazing.

The wealth of new outfits for your sims, and objects to buy them, is just fantastic. Pets. Giant lights. Interesting, pretty doodads. The gorgeous new 60s windows and wallpaper, plus the gothic candelabras, arrow-slit windows, and even a robot make this an incredible enhancement.

They've got fun jobs available, too. Want to be a Shooting Star in musical fame and glory? How about a slacker (think golf caddy) or hacker, or psychic or more? They're all there, each with their own outfits and career ladders. But wait, it even gets better.

You can have MULTIPLE NEIGHBORHOODS. Now, since a given Sim family often needs 15 or more friends to get to the higher levels, the original game was pretty much one-person-only. You couldn't have multiple people use your computer, because there were a limited number of house lots to go around. The houses were simply needed for the Sim-Pals to live in (in groups of 8 of course). With the new system, each person who wants to play can have their very own neighborhood, where they grow and live to their heart's content.

Sure, there are still a few bugs. Probably the most glaring one is the annoying lack of pathfinding ability. My psychic lost her job when she'd already gotten to Medium status because she was trapped in the bathroom. The maid and an unruly guest blocked both entrances, and I didn't blast a hole in the wall fast enough. In another scenario, a guest came into my kitchen, faced the fall, and refused to move. She in fact fell asleep against the wall. Once again, I had to make a hole in my house for her to escape.

Pathfinding aside, though, the game is enormously addictive and I haven't been to bed before 3am since it has entered the house. The person to whom I gave it as a gift is experiencing the exact same problem. Sure, you can argue, is a high-school-band-teacher *really* a step up from being a lounge singer? By the time you're a Rock Star, with a huge pool and a bar in your back yard, you don't really care. It's just amazingly fun.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent gameplay for all ages!, September 13, 2001

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Sims Livin' Large Expansion Pack (CD-ROM)

Being an avid gamer and walkthrough writer, I tend to buy a new game every 3 days to play. There are few that really grab a tight hold of me ... but this was definitely one. As soon as it came out, I bought one copy for me and another as a present for a relative.

That night I was up until 5am playing my couple - a criminal and a psychic - and building them up in career. Blearily I trudged to bed, dreaming of my Sims.

The next night I promised myself I'd show a little more self control. I created a musician sim - in a fit of amusement I chose Britney Spears - and a partner in a Robin Hood outfit. She started playing on her electric guitar, and the Sim-friends that came by booed their fool heads off. A few hours later, she was ripping amazing riffs on her tiny instrument, and the Sim-buddies were now dancing around the living room. It was amazing.

The wealth of new outfits for your sims, and objects to buy them, is just fantastic. Pets. Giant lights. Interesting, pretty doodads. The gorgeous new 60s windows and wallpaper, plus the gothic candelabras, arrow-slit windows, and even a robot make this an incredible enhancement.

They've got fun jobs available, too. Want to be a Shooting Star in musical fame and glory? How about a slacker (think golf caddy) or hacker, or psychic or more? They're all there, each with their own outfits and career ladders. But wait, it even gets better.

You can have MULTIPLE NEIGHBORHOODS. Now, since a given Sim family often needs 15 or more friends to get to the higher levels, the original game was pretty much one-person-only. You couldn't have multiple people use your computer, because there were a limited number of house lots to go around. The houses were simply needed for the Sim-Pals to live in (in groups of 8 of course). With the new system, each person who wants to play can have their very own neighborhood, where they grow and live to their heart's content.

Sure, there are still a few bugs. Probably the most glaring one is the annoying lack of pathfinding ability. My psychic lost her job when she'd already gotten to Medium status because she was trapped in the bathroom. The maid and an unruly guest blocked both entrances, and I didn't blast a hole in the wall fast enough. In another scenario, a guest came into my kitchen, faced the fall, and refused to move. She in fact fell asleep against the wall. Once again, I had to make a hole in my house for her to escape.

Pathfinding aside, though, the game is enormously addictive and I haven't been to bed before 3am since it has entered the house. The person to whom I gave it as a gift is experiencing the exact same problem. Sure, you can argue, is a high-school-band-teacher *really* a step up from being a lounge singer? By the time you're a Rock Star, with a huge pool and a bar in your back yard, you don't really care. It's just amazingly fun.

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Livin' Large is Rockin' Big time!, November 17, 2000

By 

Brittany Rose (Winnipeg, MB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sims Livin' Large Expansion Pack (CD-ROM)

If you own the original "the Sims" game you will love and cherish it for a long time. Eventually though, you'll become a little bit bored with it and then you'll start downloading some things from the net. Still not satisified? then you NEED Livin' Large. To add to your gameplay there are 5 new careers, Journalist, Computers, Musician, Paranormal and Slacker. Building up points for these careers is now easier with new skill-building objects like a chemistry set and telescope for logic, or a gnome making kit for mechanical skills.

Not only are there these great objects and careers there are other brand new objects, including stairs, windows, and doors. there are some distinct themes within this, including creepy stone castle style, with dungeon stairs, stained glass and a stunning bed. or try the tacky vegas stuff out, like the vibrating "love bed", tiki bar, and laugh out loud artwork. Also go modern and bright with funky furniture, lamps and walls.

NPC's like the "Tragic Clown Catcher" download, the Tragic Clown himself, Grim Reaper, Genie, Servo and others add to the game as well. With so many objects, reactions and gameplay its no wonder that I'm and I"m sure u will be addicted to The Sims once again!