Creation is one of the most addicting things about video games. To be able to make your character and then watch him/her prosper in the game is astounding! Games like the Saints Row series and The Elder Scrolls series are known for detailed character creation, but there is one other game series that focuses heavily on character customization more than all others.
Two months ago, the newest Sims 3 expansion was released: The Sims 3 Island Paradise. As a faithful Sims fan, I was excited to hear about it! The idea of my Sim Family being able to go to an Atlantis-esque island resort and party it up? Irresistible!
To think that just 13 years ago, when the first Sims game was released on PC/Mac and then later on consoles like the PlayStation 2, XBox and the Nintendo Gamecube, The Sims was a very hard game! You’d spend most of your time trying to get out of your Sim’s Mother’s house only to go to another house where you’d eventually want to get away from your roommate. But let’s get back to your Sim’s Mother.
She yells at you because you’re not getting out of her house fast enough. She cries because she’s a lonely old hag. She screams at you because you’re supposed to clean up her messes and fix her household appliances at the drop of a hat. It’s enough to make any gamer’s head spin!
So what do you do?
You make sure your Sim reads enough books to get their Cooking and Mechanical skills up to level three or four so you can get out of there! In the mean time, you have to cook for yourself since your Sim’s Mother only cooks for herself. Good luck trying to get some sleep because if your Sim’s Mom is awake, chances are she’s going to keep the TV and stereo running which means no sleep for your Sim! She lives in a little one-room house with one bathroom. Not one-bedroom, but one-room. It’s more like a studio apartment disguised as a house!
Ahhh, sweet virtual simulation stress…
I forgot to mention that the graphics on The Sims were rough to look at, but they were great back in the year 2000! Now in 2013, you can customize anything about your Sim: from his/her eye color to his/her entire outfit! And best of all? You can make an entire Sim family up to six people! And that’s not including pets (or is it?)… Your Sims don’t even have to be human! That’s right – your Sim can be a supernatural werewolf, ghost, fairy, or vampire!
We ventured through the original Sims series, then Sims 2, which was on all the same platforms as The Sims (and for the first time on the Nintendo DS, the Gameboy Advance and the PlayStation Portable), then Sims 3 which is the current series. According to IGN.com, next year in 2014, Electronic Arts will be unveiling The Sims 4, so don’t get too comfortable yet! There’s still more to come!
Going back in order, after The Sims came The Sims 2, which was released in 2004. It introduced an alien race your Sim could integrate with or become. It also began the wave of more detailed foods that your Sims could eat and, depending on what ingredients you used, what impact those foods would have on those who ate it. It was also the first time where you could actually control your Sims’ movements, like on the console if you were to move the joystick in a certain direction, your Sim would run that way.
And finally, The Sims 3.
With a plethora of expansions to date, The Sims 3 is continuing to grow into the best part of the simulation series yet! Some of the occupations available are more interactive than the rest. For example, your Sim can be a firefighter and save the town from a fiery demise instead of simply disappearing into a building for a few fast in-game hours worth of work. The possibilities are endless!
Aside from the console and PC/Mac versions, there’s also The Sims Social on Facebook and on your phone!
Who knows what The Sims 4 will bring? Guess we’ll find out next year!
