The Sims Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

Voodoo Extreme has a small piece on EA Games celebrating The Sims' fifth anniversary. They have apparently sold over 54 million units in the lifetime of the series. From the article "The very first The Sims videogame for the PC began shipping to stores this week in February 2000 and took the nation by storm by becoming the #1 selling PC game in four out of the last five years."

really?

[Leroy_Brown242]

Fake reality for real people who's real relity isn't really interesting!

On that note, I must say that my girlfriend a serious Sims adict. :/

Re:really?

[Grey Ninja]

Is a Sims addict, or is a Sim? =)

Re:really?

[Destoo]

Which type of game is the sims..

That is a question that baffled me for a while until Tycho resumed it in one line.

It's a modern day doll house.

Think about it. That's all that it is. Just like your little sister playing around with her Barbies, this is what the Sims is. No more, no less.

I'm not saying it's not good, I'm not saying it's not addictive. But after watching my sister play for a few months, and seeing people still hooked on it, I get the analogy. I played a little but focused more on "le

And to think...

[game kid]

...I've never even played either Sims yet. I feel so behind the times here; I want to live a virtual life too...*sob* no, I don't really care much for it, though I know many around me that do, and some that were anticipating part 2 before its release. I think.

Re:And to think...

[maglor_83]

I've never even played either Sims yet

I have played the original sims, but can't understand why it has been so successful. While it is certainly an original game, and can be quite entertaining, I found it had a complete lack of purpose, which made it dull quite fast. While other Sim games suffer from the same, it doesn't seem to be to the same degree. If I play Sim City for a while, at least I can end up with lots of money, with which I can buy bigger and better things for my city, but with The Sims, yo

The Sims Motto:

[mabu]

"Why feel inadequate in one plane of existence when you can feel inadequate in two."

Re:The Sims Motto:

[Moby Cock]

Inadequate? Where else can you control the affections of scores of lesbians?

Re:The Sims Motto:

[game kid]

Where else can you control the affections of scores of lesbians?

On behalf of every Navy SEAL (IMHO), I must say to that, Hooyah. Nothing hotter than a pair of lesbians (or for that matter, twins)...

...but no, I've never been with one, so don't ask how it feels. Not that forum posting [slashdot.org] helps my chances.

Side-note: if sim-lives aren't your thing, how about sim-races [racer.nl]? Me likey teh Racer and its developer's drawing gallery [marketgraph.nl]; look around there for a Drew Barrymore in the midst.

Sims

[mixtape5]

I'm happy that the guy has made so much money with his creation...I have played the Sims in the past, probably more than it deserved. I'm not really a fan of the game. Ultimately, it leaves the player unsatisfied, because once you either a) realize taht you will accomplish nothing in the game by getting perfect, b)become perfect and have to maintain perfection (tough). The game feels more like a chore than a game.

I feel that the only reason it has lasted for five years is because Maxis would introduce "new" items, career paths, and such BEFORE their players got to points a or b described above.

To be fair, I did like the "missions" mode in the PS2 version of Sims. It gave the game direction and purpose.

Re:Sims

[gl4ss]

it's an endless soap opera for pc.

keeps going.

Beat Will Wright!

[MiceHead]

The Sims is a fantastic series for a number of reasons, most notably its unique gameplay and the resulting cross-gender appeal that has led to sales of over 50 million units. Given this success, I'm surprised to see that few studios have attempted to go up against it and create an even better "society simulator." When Doom came out, it brought forth literally hundreds of followers. Some were clones, but many advanced the genre; there's no question that today's most popular first-person shooters [sierra.com] came about by standing on the shoulders of its predecessors.

Maxis created a new genre in The Sims, but at this time, only two "followers" come to mind -- Singles [singles-thegame.com] and Playboy Mansion [playhef.com]. Given the vast amounts of money The Sims series has made, why aren't more companies trying to one-up them? Is there an inclination towards pushing (say) the first-person shooter genre because most game developers are first-person shooter fans?

I'm a fan of The Sims. And I want to know who will beat Will Wright at his own game by making an even better game in the genre he created.
____________________________________________
Inago Rage for people who like to create things [dejobaan.com]

Copycat games of The Sims?

[MMaestro]

Not gonna happen, at least for a while. Why? Because it seems to have been a one trick pony that somehow managed to get it right the first and only time. Case in point : The Sims 2.

Sure its true to the sequel, or more accurately pretty much an updated version of The Sims 1, but after the initial sales it just didn't seem to fly. Considering the bad news reports (remember the CD copy protection problems?) and quiet community voice community voice (I think its safe to say that The Sims 1 community is/was fai

High barrier of entry

[aendeuryu]

I know it seems like the Sims would be a simple enough game to copy, but you have to look at what you'd need to surpass in order to become a player in this field. 1. A huge dedicated fan base with a lot of stupid money to spend. 2. 13,000 animations. 3. A polished game that's had several updates, before others have even attempted releasing their own first unpolished version.

Personally, number 2 is the big one, I think. Even the open source community might give it a go despite 1 and 3, but who has a motion

Re:High barrier of entry

[MiceHead]

You have a good point. I also think it would be a larger studio that would be most likely to go up against The Sims. However, where I disagree with you, (and apparently you're already in the right, here, because we don't see more such followers!), is that, just as larger studios see the success of FPSes and pour lots of money into creating their own, I would have expected more of them to see the success of The Sims and pour lots of money into creating their own, as well.

Again, what you're saying may be en

5th anniversary?

[joshsnow]

celebrating The Sims' fifth anniversary.

DNF is celebrating its seventh anniversary this year too. That's Seven years since it was announced.

What has this got to do with the Sims? Simply that I recall being very excited by screenshots of both upcoming products back in 2000...

Happy Anniversary!

[Mitaphane]

Here's to 5 more years of The Sims expansion packs from EA! Huzzah!

Re:Happy Anniversary!

[fm6]

Forget it. They'll put all they efforts into The Sims II. Which would be OK -- the game really did need updating. Unfortunately, they updated it with fancy 3D graphics that don't work unless you spend a lot of money on the latest hardware.

what a lot of posters are missing, is that

[512k]

The sims isn't a game you "win". You don't progress twords ONE set final objective, and then it's completed.

Think of the Sims as a cross between a dollhouse, and a demented sitcom. You just sit back and watch the fireworks.

Network TV would never have a show about a bank robber named Tortilla Del'sim, his assortment of illigitmate children, their neighbors, whos entire "home" consists of an outhouse, with a phone on the outside, to order pizza from..etc...

TSO

[Dachannien]

Then again, there's always that smashing success known as The Sims Online, boasting a decline in subscriber totals [mmogchart.com] down to roughly 36k, from a peak of 105k in mid-2003.