Hands up anybody who has never heard of The Sims? Anyone? Ah, I thought so.
The Sims has become one of the most successful PC game franchises of all time. In fact, take a look at any current PC gaming best-seller list and you are guaranteed to see at least one Sims add-on title appear in the top ten.
Developer Maxis and publisher Electronic Arts knew they were on to a good thing when The Sims burst onto the PC gaming stage a few years ago. Of course, one needs to capitalise on the success of any business and this is exactly what these companies did.
The Sims has spawned several add-on titles for the PC version, covering areas as diverse as dating, pets and, with the latest release, stardom.
For the uninitiated, The Sims allows a player to create and control the life of a character in a virtual world. Your character will have to go to the bathroom, learn how to prepare food and could even get married.
Learning new skills will influence the way your character will develop and even determine how successful he/she will become in the virtual world.
The more successful your character is, the more money he/she makes and the better items can be bought for his/her house. This (mostly) consumer-driven world has even led to companies like MacDonald`s signing multi-million dollar contracts with Maxis to have their products feature in the game.
Many people might wonder how this franchise could have become so successful. After all, have games not been created as a means to escape the drudgery of our daily lives? Who would want to play a game where the virtual is a carbon copy of reality?
The answer is addiction.
It quickly becomes a compulsion to play The Sims, as there are almost as many virtual situations as there are real ones.
Consider this: if you neglect your baby, social services will come to take him/her away from you; if you allow your character to sit around and mope the whole day, do not expect him/her to be the life of the next party.
Suffice to say, watching the cause-and-affect style of the virtual world becomes fascinating for many people. They keep playing The Sims to see what will happen next. In its own way, The Sims has become a computerised soap opera.
Until now however, The Sims has been solely the domain of the PC gamer.
Recently though, Electronic Arts released a redesigned version of The Sims for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles. While the title retains the spirit of the original, it does feature several changes necessitated by the convergence to the console. One of these is the introduction of the Get a Life mode.
In this mode, the player has to finish several missions by completing certain objectives. These objectives can range from learning how to cook to getting a job and moving into your own house. Completing objectives allows you to unlock new things that can be purchased for your house.
When you have finished all the Get a Life missions, the traditional Sims game mode is unlocked whereby you can build your own house and develop your character as you see fit.
Players should therefore view the Get a Life mode as an extensive tutorial for learning how to play the title on the console. This is probably going to frustrate many players already familiar with the game. Perhaps the sandbox mode should have been left unlocked from the start.
Graphically the game looks dated and the background music quickly becomes annoying.
Having said that, the screen area is used to great effect, with the player knowing exactly where everything is. Maxis should also be congratulated for the easy to learn and intuitive control system.
Another useful addition to the console version is that of multiplayer. Two players can either compete to fulfil certain mission objectives or even play cooperatively.
Conceivably a husband and wife can play a virtual couple with the freedom to break as many dishes in domestic disagreements as they want without the costly repercussions that exist in real life.
The Sims on the console is a good implementation of the principles established by the PC version. However, if you prefer your action thick and fast then it would be better if you give this title a miss. Nonetheless, The Sims is a useful addition to any console gaming library.
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