The Sims - The People Simulator from the Creator of SimCity

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It was created by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity. It is a simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons ("Sims") in a suburban household near SimCity.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000040OEI
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: February 2, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,135 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #14 in Video Games > PC Games > Arcade

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The ultimate goal of life is to achieve happiness, and the way to achieve happiness is to buy stuff. So says The Sims, a game that lets you create, direct, and manage the lives of SimCity's residents.

The game begins with the creation of your simulated people: pick a name and a gender, decide on personality/astrological sign, and then choose a look from a variety of heads, bodies, and skin tones. Name, gender, and appearance don't affect gameplay much, but personality determines how your Sim plays with others. A serious, neat Sim might go crazy living with a sloppy party animal--or opposites might attract, and the two could end up falling in love.

After creation, the next step is to find a place to live. Again, the player can choose from among the empty houses in the neighborhood or decide to buy some land and design a dream house. Building houses is a blast, and the easy-to-use house design interface could almost be its own game: players design the floor plan, put up walls, pick carpet, wallpaper, and siding, and fill the house with furniture, decorations, fixtures, and appliances. You're limited only by your imagination--and your Sims' pocketbook. But the choices you make in designing and decorating your Sims' house are vital.

A good general rule is that the more expensive the object, the better its ability to satisfy Sim needs. Each little Sim person has needs (Hunger, Comfort, Hygiene, Bladder, Energy, Fun, Social, and Room) which can be satisfied by interaction with other Sims or purchased objects: throw a party with the help of a rockin' stereo system, and watch your Sims' Social and Fun ratings improve. Have one of your Sims whip up some food from the refrigerator, and you'll satisfy the Hunger needs of your guests. Or have your Sim engage another Sim in a game of chess: not only will their Fun and Social moods improve, both Sims will gain some points in their Logic skill rating--which might help on the job.

One gameplay goal is to improve your Sim so he or she can climb a career ladder, which nets him or her more money, which allows the purchase of higher quality stuff, which lets you improve your Sim even more. With proper care, your Sim can have a mate, kids, and a mansion with an indoor pool.

Mismanage your new, simulated family, and you'll be faced with the worst of MTV's The Real World: jealousies will ignite, fights will break out, jobs will be lost, and the house will fall apart. Bringing about such a calamity is almost as much fun as guiding your Sims to material paradise, and takes considerably less time.

Triumph or tragedy, each significant event in a Sim's life is captured in a snapshot and saved in a photo album for later viewing. Players can also take photos any time they wish. The photo album feature is cool by itself, but the best part is that you can upload the album to www.thesims.com and share your Sims' sagas with the world. Entire families can also be uploaded and downloaded, as can houses. Want to re-create and manage your own version of Friends? Download the free face and body editor and make Sim clones of the Ross, Rachel, and the rest. Want to perfectly re-create the set? Snag the free wall and floor texture editor. Feeling a little silly? Add Darth Vader to the family and see what happens. With The Sims, you can create whatever--and whomever--you desire.

Toying with the lives, successes, and emotional states of dozens of little Sims is undeniably fun. In the same way that SimCity players develop a condescending attitude toward real-world city planners, The Sims players will begin to see life as a series of needs-satisfying challenges; the game gets in your head. But that's OK: limitless gameplay, endless variety, imaginative Internet features, and the ability to play matchmaker/landlord/counselor/God makes The Sims a great way to increase your own Fun score. --Mike Fehlauer

Pros:

• Unique, addictive, fun gameplay
• Included photo album feature records triumphs and tragedies
• Free uploads and downloads expand the game and allow swapping with other players
• Sims are smart--it's sometimes best to just let them act on their own

Cons:

• Addictive gameplay may cause loss of sleep, job
• Complex behavioral modeling program--requires serious computing power
• No pets other than fish

Product Description

Get the best-selling PC game of all time and all seven of its expansion packs! / Rated T: Teen With The Sims - Unleashed you'll add a furry friend to your Sims family. Housebreak your pets, train them to do tricks, buy them toys, and do your best to keep them from destroying the house! The Sims - Superstar lets you experience the lifestyles of the rich and famous and guide your Sims to superstardom. Become a movie star, rocker, or supermodel and spend your cash on extravagant new items for your home. In The Sims - Makin' Magic you'll cast spells, hypnotize friends, and even turn a neighbor into a frog. But watch out, spells can go haywire if you're not careful. The neighborhood will never be the same!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very adictive, November 27, 2005

A Kid's Review

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Sims - The People Simulator from the Creator of SimCity (CD-ROM)

I am 12 years old and I have had this game for about a month now. It is very fun and addictive. One thing I would like to point out, is that parents should not be worried by the rating saying T for teen and "mature sexual themes." These "mature sexual themes" do not exist. Unless they consider kissing as that, they don't have anything like that in it. You control your sims and help them make friends, get a job, etc.
When you first start out, you choose the last name for your sim, and the first name. Then you choose gender (male or female) then choose the head, clothing, and personality. Then you can right a biography about your sim, but you can just skip that. Then, you click done and you can then move them into a house or lot. You can choose an already built house, or buy an empty lot and build from scratch. After that, start living! you have to get your sims a job, and help them fulfill their needs: hunger, by feeding them, comfort, by letting them sit down in a chair or sofa or couch, hygiene, by telling them to take a bath or shower (don't worry, nudity is blurred out), bladder, by making them use the toilet (also blurred out), energy, by giving them coffee, expresso, or making them go to bed, social, by having them do something with another sim, fun, by having them do something fun such as playing on the computer, and finally room, this is not a major thing, but to improve the room rating, just keep it clean, and put up paintings and such. So, should you get this game? Absolutely! It's worth it, although it can get kind of repetitive after a while, unless you get expansion packs, but despite that, go ahead and get it! It's worth it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sims...how cool!!, July 1, 2006

A Kid's Review

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Sims - The People Simulator from the Creator of SimCity (CD-ROM)

The Sims is the most funnest game I've ever played! You get to create a family, build a house, get jobs, control your family, and decorate your place in just your style. After you've gotten used to this game, buy one of the expansion packs to add other options to your Sims' lifestyle. A great gift, and a great game. THIS IS A DEFINATE BUY!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is not a fast-paced game, November 12, 2006

By 

"Dity" (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Sims - The People Simulator from the Creator of SimCity (CD-ROM)

I give this game 4 fun stars out of 5 because the slowness can become tedious once in a while. It takes a long time to make friends, build skills, get promotions (just like in real life), and if all does not go well I get discouraged. Luckily you can choose to leave a family that is giving you trouble and play with a different one. I enjoy being able to build my own house, create characters with different personalities, and micro-manage every aspect of their lives. The game works well on Windows XP, but I would recommend a very good graphics card and 512MB of RAM to make it run smoothly.

I had a couple of technical issues with it crashing, and a house and family disappeared from the neighborhood (though their neighbors can still call them up, strangely enough). I contacted EA and they were very unhelpful in resolving the issue. The game does have some bugs that can be fixed with downloadable patches. Plus you need to download a lot of things to make it more interesting, such as wall lights, new furniture, different wallpaper and flooring, etc. What comes with it is limited. I suppose this is why expansion packs are made. Four out of 5 stars overall because of the technical issues and the limitations.