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Not only has the voyeuristic aspect of the game resonated with players, but the incredible variety of ways to play has given The Sims a life of its own.
Want to play it straight and watch the lives of a typical nuclear family? You can do that. But what if you’d prefer to dress your Sim like a Viking and have him play his guitar for spare change in the subway while living with two women — she’s a slacker and she’s a paranormal — who are a couple? Go for it.
Wacky fun
If wild inventiveness dictates the way you play The Sims, then you’ll want to pick up the Livin’ Large expansion pack from Aspyr Media. You can be a slacker, a hacker, a paranormal, or even a journalist, and you can forget those boring houses that you see too many of in the suburbs; now you can hang out in a medieval castle, a sci-fi “house of the future,” a Vegas-style lounge, or a quaint turn-of-the-nineteenth-century home.
Best of all, you can also visit Electronic Art’s official Sims site, or any of the many unofficial fan sites (see “The Sims Online Experience”) for more stuff to fill your little Sim neighborhoods. You can even dress your Sims like well-known people with fan-made skins. You could have the crew of the Starship Enterprise going where no one has gone before in your sci-fi home, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston lounging in your medieval castle, and Martha Stewart fussing in your rustic manor.
Martha could invite Brad and Jennifer over for dinner, only to recoil in disgust when they bring their buddy Worf with them. Then Data could show up and sweep Martha off her feet with his dry wit and pale skin while Captain Picard tries to get Jennifer into the hot tub. The possibilities for wacky fun are endless.
A surprising success
“I’m really quite happy and rather surprised at the success of the game,” creator Will Wright says of the Sims phenomenon. “The creativity of the players has been the biggest surprise. I have a lot of fun just surfing the fan sites to see what they’ve done with the game.”
He cites Edward Scissorhands (complete with custom meshes for his hands and hair and a custom naked skin) as his favorite fan-made Sim and the clown (“He’s just so pathetic, in a scary sort of clown way,” Wright says) as his favorite new character from the Livin’ Large expansion pack.
“The Sims is a phenomenon in gaming,” concurs Aspyr president Michael Rogers. “It is one of those rare games that is fun to play and fun to watch others play, and even just look at screenshots and storyboards of other people’s experiences in the game. We knew the game was special from the first time we saw it, but because it’s so hard to describe, it was a pleasant surprise that it’s doing as well as it is.”
Tasty cake
While Livin’ Large has added a welcome dimension to the game, it’s just frosting on the cake for the many Sims fan site owners who have created and hosted all those fun downloads. They’ve seen inspiring diversity among the players who visit their domains.
“I can’t think of many, if any, other games that have been able to boast such a large following of female supporters as well as the young and old,” comments Steve Bonham, owner of The Sims Resource. “I get mail from many people who visit my site, from people too young to buy the game to those old enough to be my grandparents, and yet they all enjoy the Sims game experience and its community.”
“It’s my belief that The Sims has become so popular due to the inherent ‘playing God’ aspect of the game,” adds Matt of SimsForMac.Com. “When else do you get to play the puppeteer and hold the strings, so to speak?”
As the Sims turn
Once you’ve sifted through all the downloads and populated your neighborhood and built your houses, it’s time to watch your Sims in action. For some players, this has been like watching a favorite soap opera on a regular basis. While you can nudge your Sims to do your bidding, at some point the game’s built-in artificial intelligence emerges and they take on personalities of their own.
“One time,” says Steven Newler of Sims For Mac, “two of my Sims fell in love with each other, and a third Sim became so jealous he kissed the male to show his affection.”
“The funniest thing I’ve seen,” adds Mall of the Sims webmaster Alan Rosenbaum, “is when one of your Sims starts booing another one while they’re trying to learn to play guitar or piano. It’s hysterical!”
