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Showing posts with label The Sims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Sims. Show all posts

2010/06/19

The Sims 3 Experiment: One House, Eight of the Biggest Gaming Icons Ever

I’ve played The Sims 3. There, I said it. Guess what else? I still have The Sims 3 on my computer – it’s been there for nearly a whole year.

I recently got back into it, and decided to do something which I dabbled in a while back. That was to create a family, although not related, of the biggest names in gaming, and put them in one house.

As of writing this I all ready have seven.

Screenshot-110 One is none other than Duke Nukem. Duke has been around for nearly the past two decades, and has had quite a few games under his belt- one of which was no doubt Duke Nukem 3D, his most successful  game to date, which still sells to this day. Duke is currently pursuing the Law Enforcement career in the house, with hoped of becoming a super hero.

Screenshot-111 The next one is Doom Guy, otherwise known as John “Reaper” Grimm, if you’ve ever watched the atrocious movie based on the series of games. Doom Guy entered the gaming market after Duke Nukem, in 1993 [Duke Nukem was in 1991], and starred in a series of games that revolutionised gaming for years to come, as well as establishing first-person shooters as the popular genre it is today. Currently Doom Guy is in the Military career, hoping to become an astronaut.

Screenshot-79Who’s next? Lara Croft. You couldn’t have a house filled with gaming icons without the Tomb Raider. Lara was probably the first real female character that you took control of in game, and had three big hits in the series – the first three games – before hitting a stumbling block, which was most of the entire series for the next several years. But, she came back in Tomb Raider Legend, and has since seen another two great additions to the long running series. Lara is currently pursuing a career in journalism [couldn’t get any adventure clubs or something, although they are probably present in one of the expansions, which I don’t have… yet].

Screenshot-121 The fourth one should be a give away by now, seeing as this in order of when they actually hit the gaming world. Yes, it’s the G-man. No, not that G-man, but Gordon Freeman from Half-Life. Gordon has never spoken in any of his games, and lacks that personality and attitude [although borrowed] of Duke Nukem. Still, he was the main protagonist in a series which saw FPS titles become more than mindless killing sprees, but added a little logic and puzzle solving in to the mix as well, along with characters that you actually game a damn about… instead of killing everyone. Clad in his usual science laboratory get up, he no doubt works at the science laboratory in the town.

Screenshot-118 The fifth one came just after Gordon Freeman in Half-Life, and that would be Garrett from Thief. Okay, so this guy is likely the underdog of the entire bunch. He’s been in three or four titles over the past dozen or so years [four if you count Thief Gold, five if you count Thief II Gold, which didn’t actually ever see the light of day], and is set to star in a true sequel in the series soon, Thief IV… or THI4F… or is it ThIVes? Anyway, Garret and the Thief series brought about a new genre in gaming, and that was the first person sneaker. Thief probably wasn’t the first game to do this, as Metal Gear had some of that sneaking stuff in it too, but Thief helped popularise it, and many games to this day, especially Splinter Cell and the likes, owe their gratitude to the series. No doubt, Garrett is in the Criminal career path, and likes to steal, or “mooch” off of other Sims.

Screenshot-108 The sixth one? There was a hint in the above paragraph. It’s Snake. Snake? Snake?! SNAAAKKKEE! Yes, Solid Snake from Metal Gear fame, with probably one of his best titles in Metal Gear Solid, of 1999. Solid carried on the appeal of the stealthy approach in games, sort of like Thief, but in a modern, militaristic universe. He has had numerous games since then over the past decade, some of which he didn’t even really star in, in a sense. Like Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, or MGS 3 for short, which saw Naked Snake take the main role. Snake is also in the military career, and also has natural cooking and gardening abilities, which he picked up from his dad, Naked Snake, or Big Boss.

Screenshot-126 Number 7 would be a character who also cropped up in the 90’s: SHODAN. She’s appeared in two games in the System Shock series, namely System Shock and the sequel, System Shock 2. She’s been voted as one of the best villains to appear in a game, and one of the greatest all-round characters too. She even has the greyish-blue skin, complete with blue and green hair just like in the games and has an evil personality comparable to the real rogue AI.

In the game, Shodan is climbing up the rungs of the political career, seeing as she eventually wants to become the leader of the free world, or the neighbourhood at the very least. And she’s going to make people suffer and have fun while she’s doing it too.

Who will be number eight? Who do you think? Maybe we should have a vote, and you can leave your thoughts in the comments. So many choices, and you can only have eight in a household unfortunately. I guess I’ll be starting new houses with other characters who didn’t make this list.

Candidates who are on my list to make the eighth member of the household include: Agent 47 from Hitman, B.J. Blazkowicz from Wolfenstein, and some others.


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2010/06/01

The Sims Could be Getting Medieval on Your @ss

Plumbbob3 Couldn’t resists the heading, the saying made famous in Pulp Fiction years ago. But Superannuation spotted some domains that were registered by EA recently, which seem to indicate that there will soon be yet another expansion or add-on pack for The Sims 3 that has something to do with anything and everything medieval – as in back in the Middle Ages, which by looking at the names could be something like The Sims Get Medieval, or something to that effect.

These domains include simsmedieval.com, simsmedieval.net, thesimsmedieval.com, thesimsmedieval.net, thesimsgetmedieval.com, and thesimsgetmedieval.net.

I have to say that this is the expansion for The Sims that I have waited for for ten years. I think a few other add-ons may have dabbled in it a bit, but I mean, I want to build castles, and moats, have jousting tournaments, and so on.

I’ve yet to buy any of the expansions for the game, namely World Adventures and Ambitions, but this one just got my attention. If it is an expansion, that is. It might not be. It could be something else entirely.

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Source: superannuation


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2010/05/10

Guinness Names the Top 50 Best Video Games Series

CoD4 So, Guinness thought it would have a crack at listing the Top 50 Video Games series of all time. This time gamers were able to vote for the list, instead of in the gaming edition of Guinness Book of World Records.

I’ve got the list here, and I will make my comments either next to it or somewhere else. Why? Because everyone has their own opinion. And don’t we all like to deride someone else’s work – especially lists? Yes!

  1. Halo [Overrated. Crysis 2’s writer would agree with me here.]
  2. Call of Duty [See above, but still better than the first.]
  3. The Legend of Zelda
  4. Guitar Hero
  5. Metal Gear [Yes.]
  6. Super Mario Bros.
  7. World of Warcraft
  8. Gears of War
  9. Super Smash Bros.
  10. Grand Theft Auto [Definitely.]
  11. Pokémon [I only ever played one Pokémon game in my whole life – so…]
  12. Resident Evil [Yes, I’ve played a few.]
  13. Fallout [Yes.]
  14. Half-Life [Definitely.]
  15. Sonic the Hedgehog [I only ever played one game in my whole life – so…]
  16. Counter-Strike [Probably.]
  17. Runescape
  18. FIFA [I only ever played one game in my whole life – so…]
  19. Kingdom Hearts [Never played it.]
  20. Final Fantasy [Never played it.]
  21. Pac-Man [Yeah!]
  22. Madden NFL [Never played it]
  23. The Sims [Damn right!]
  24. Tomb Raider [Yep.]
  25. WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW [Belongs here somewhere.]
  26. Rock Band
  27. LittleBigPlanet
  28. Saints Row
  29. The Elder Scrolls [Yes.]
  30. God of War
  31. GoldenEye 007 [Everyone likes the game, so won’t argue.]
  32. Bioshock [Yep.]
  33. KillZone [Everyone likes the game, so won’t argue.]
  34. Skate [Probably. Preferred THPS Games.]
  35. Left 4 Dead [Maybe.]
  36. Need for Speed [Yes. Played the first few.]
  37. Chrono Trigger [Never played it.]
  38. Gran Turismo [Played the first couple.]
  39. StarCraft [Yes.]
  40. Ratchet & Clank
  41. Pong
  42. Tom Clancy's [Damn right! The Original Rainbow Six and Ghost Recons, as well as Splinter Cell.]
  43. Star Wars: Battlefront [Never played it]
  44. Battlefield [Yep.]
  45. Diablo [Yes.]
  46. Lego Batman
  47. Mario Kart
  48. Burnout
  49. Crash Bandicoot [Yes.]
  50. Pro Evolution Soccer

Doom? Quake? Duke Nukem? System Shock? Thief? Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater? Mortal Kombat? Mass Effect? Medal of Honor? Command& Conquer?! Red Alert?! Jagged Alliance?! WORMS?! Some horrible omissions here. Practically nothing older than late 90’s. Anyway…

It’s like I always say: it’s down to personal opinion, and your own is the only one that really matters.

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Source: Halo Tops Guinness World Record's 50 Best Video Game Series [Gamasutra]


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2010/03/16

The Sims 3: Ambitions Expansion Details, and Trailer

The Sims 3: Ambitions

I know I’m a bit late with this, but I was just busy working on one big editorial, or AAA original lately. I’ll give you a hint at what it’s about: St. Patrick.

Now, EA are going to bring out their second expansion for The Sims 3 this year, called Ambitions.

Players have long been dissatisfied about getting their Sims out of bed, had them shower, visit the bathroom, brush their teeth, and just make it down to the kitchen to have a breakfast on the run, before they had to dash outside and catch the car to work [or take their own car, in the Sims 3).

Ambitions will let you control your Sims at work too, and provides you with more career options, like firefighter, investigator, architect, ghost hunter, stylist, doctor, a tattoo artist, sculptor, or inventor.

Some say this has been done in The Sims 2 with Open for Business, but the scope of the idea will be taken much further in The Sims 3, to the point where you will be presented with challenges and such like you would at the Sim’s home. There was an interview on Gamespot recently where Grant Rodiek elaborated on the subject:

“The focus of Open for Business was creating and managing a retail establishment. The Sims 3 Ambitions is more about your sim's personal venture. Each career presents a unique experience.”

Scott Evans also had this to say about Ambitions, recently:

"The variety of careers to choose from is unmatched and we've never given players the opportunity to follow their Sims to work and affect their actions on the job."

Tired of riding bicycles around the neighbourhood while in your business suit and getting laughed at? Then another great thing that this expansion will provide is motorbikes!

The expansion pack, The Sims 3: Ambitions, should be out in June, a year after the release of the original Sims 3, and will be available on PC, Mac, iPhone and iPod touch.

By the way, if you’ve watched the trailer above, the song playing is called Saviour, by Rise Against.

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Sources: Gamespot


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2010/02/03

Apocalypse Then: The Sims

The_Sims_Coverart

10 Years of The Sims

I was just reading the other day that the 31th of January was the tenth anniversary of The Sims!

This title was apparently released on the 31th of January, 2000.

I remember waiting in my room one evening for my dad to get home because he was going to buy it for me as a gift one day (probably good grades or something).

Who can believe it’s been ten years since then? The game has since had numerous expansions, addon packs as well as two sequels in The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, and no doubt more expansions and addons to come (for The Sims 3 anyway). Out of all of these I only bought two for The Sims, and two for The Sims 2. Livin’ Large and Hot Date for The Sims, and University and Nightlife for The Sims 2.

Countless hours I’ve spent ordering the b@stards around, and living vicariously through my virtual avatar. And not to mention countless hours of sleep lost as I stayed up late into the early hours of the morning playing this addictive title.

Hey, some of you may still think The Sims is a girl’s game, but it hasn’t done badly, considering it’s the best-selling PC franchise of all time, and last year The Sims 3 was the best selling PC game, even beating the mighty Modern Warfare 2 on that particular platform.


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2010/01/31

Apocalypse Then: SimCity 3000

SimCity_3000_CoverartEarlier on in the month, I talked about the fact that it was Will Wright’s 50th birthday (the 20th of January). On this day in gaming, the 31st of January, 1999, one of the titles in one of his most successful franchises was released: SimCity 3000.

The game, a city-building simulation, and the sequel to SimCity and SimCity 2000, was developed by Maxis and published by EA, and released for the  PC, Mac, and Linux. Later on a special edition of the game was released under different names in various countries.

The designer was credited as being the legendary Will Wright.

I got the game and played it myself for a while back in 1999 when it was nearly brand new. I remember once I left the game running on my dad’s PC in the study for the whole night because I hadn’t figured out how to save a game or something and so I didn’t want all my effort going to waste by exiting the game.

Although I’d even played the original SimCity years before, this was likely the best one I’ve played, and I haven’t even touched it in years. To be honest, I prefer The Sims, a series which started a little over a year later.

It was eventually succeeded by SimCity 4, which made a cameo appearance of sorts in The Sims 2, or rather the expansion, SimCity 4: Rush Hour, did.

You can pick the game up here if you want to play a classic.


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2010/01/25

The Sims 3 was the Top Selling PC Game of Last Year

screenshot321 Modern Warfare 2 may have racked up a lot of achievements, and been the all round best selling game of 2009, but as for the PC, it was something a little less violent.

EA says that The Sims 3 was the best selling PC game, retail wise, of 2009, but of course it had about five months more to do it in. The Sims 3 was released in June last year, while MW2 was in November. If it had been different, well, it might have been different.

EA even goes on to claim that The Sims 3 is one of the best selling PC games ever, and that the expansion, World Adventures, is one of the best selling expansions of 2009. And The Sims 3 is also part of another achievement: the sixth year that a Sims title has been a top best selling game. I guess that some of the other years would have been 2000 and 2004 when the prequels were released, respectively.

A lot of blowing-your-own-horn there.

And here I was thinking that nobody really played the game anymore. I do from time to time.

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Source: Big Download


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2010/01/20

It’s Your Birthday: Will Wright

Will Wright Yes, today, January 20th, in 1960, Will Wright was born. He turns 50 today.

Who’s Will Wright? One of the most recognised names in the video game industry. Shame on you.

Will grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and stayed there until nine years of age, when his father, Bill Wright Sr., died of leukaemia. His mother, Beverlye (Beverley?), then took the family and moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, her hometown. There he finished high school at 16 and went to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech, and then the New School University. Wright didn’t ever get that degree he wanted.

Will Wright is the main man behind Maxis, the company who made games like SimCity and The Sims, the most popular series, as well as many other titles with”Sim” included in them. He co-founded it along with Jeff Braun. The company was later bought by Electronic Arts in the late nineties.

The next major title that was designed by Will was Spore.

Since then, he’s left Maxis, and gone on to found Stupid Fun Club, another video game company.
Interesting stuff about Will:
  • He is a collector of leftovers from the Soviet space program.
  • After five years in college, Wright didn’t get a degree.
  • Will has more fun designing and building games and levels than playing them.
  • Will hasn’t ever been involved in developing mindless, violent video games.
  • Will stated once that one of his motives behind The Sims was his own lack of social skills.
  • Will has been given awards, including a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Game Developers Choice Awards, and inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame, and the PC Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a fellowship in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs).
  • Stanley Kubrick is one of his idols.
  • As a child, he was interested in model making.
  • Will became an atheist in high school.
  • Among others, some of his interests include computers and robotics.
  • Will is held in high esteem by many people, and compared to peers such as Roberta Williams and Peter Molyneux.
  • Once, Will participated in and won an illegal street race.

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2009/11/18

What the Hell is That Green Thing in The Sims?

It’s been there since The Sims 1, and has been there through every expansion and addon. Then there was the sequel, The Sims 2, and every expansion for that one too. Then this year saw The Sims 3 and the brand new The Sims 3: World Adventures.

All the while, I’ve never really known what the hell that green thing is hanging over a sim’s head. I read on the official Sims 3 Twitter account that it’s called a “plumb bob”.


In The Sims 2, it even changed colour from red, orange, yellow, right through to white. So what the hell is a plumb bob?

I was talking to my brother, and all the while I was playing with this thing, a led item hanging on a thread, which almost looked like a spinning top.
It turns out that is a plumb bob.

Also spelled as plumb-bob, or as The Sims 3 wiki spells it: PlumbBob. Some even call it a "plummet".


Mystery solved.
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2009/09/21

The Sims 3: World Adventures lets you Build Tombs and Torture Chambers

More details have been revealed about this expansion for one of the year’s biggest titles.

The Sims series may not appeal to most hardcore, manly gamers who say “That’s for sissies, I want to kill things!” but it’s still has a major following. Most Sims expansions have been “cute”, but didn’t really ever add anything that mind-blowing, apart from a few new objects and stuff. World Adventures may just change that perception though.


World Adventures has a new basement tool. Now, you can build a basement level in The Sims 3, just like you could in The Sims 2, but it required planning. If you built a house and only later decided to build a basement, it could mean problems. I’ve never tried multiple levels before, so I’m not sure if you can, but this pack seems to suggest you can’t, seeing as this new basement tool provides you with the means to create multiple underground levels. And not only that, but the underground theme continues, as there will be new objects and even traps to decorate the place with. So, if you’re a big fan Indiana Jones, or of games like Thief: The Dark Project, Tomb Raider, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and other such games which involve tomb-raiding, then this should be quite exciting news. There’s even a Tomb Fogger which creates, well, fog for your tomb. And in addition to this, you can have hidden stair ways, secret passages, and treasure chests, as well as more!


The expansion will be out on November 17th.


Sources:


http://www.simoperations.com/?page=thesims3/worldadventures
http://kotaku.com/5362601/the-sims-3-world-adventures-goes-underground

The Sims 3 expansion pack has tools for underground construction
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2009/05/22

Is The Sims Really a Girl Thing?

I’ve always got a list of the latest games that I want to get, and this year, among all the action games, and FPSs, there’s one name that doesn’t quite fit with the overall theme- The Sims 3.

I played the original Sims back in 2000, and for hours I was lost in that game, as my friend and I would compete with each other to see who could build the biggest and best house on an unlimited budget.

In the end, I deleted his house and claimed myself the winner.

In fact, he was just as fanatical over the Sims if not more. He had a friend who collected all of the expansion packs, and he would “borrow” them and play them all in one big super-Sims game.

The Sims 2 was just as good if not better, and better looking to boot. The animation was far better than the original, and I found that the themes of the furniture and other stuff was more varied and grouped to suit the architectural personality. I liked building castles with stone walls and creating moats and walls. Overall, I enjoyed it more than the original.

Then, I met a guy who had a cupboard filled with all of the Sims games, gathering dust on the top shelf. I got excited as I hadn’t played most of the expansions for the original (and still haven’t), until I asked the question, “Do you play them at all?”

“Nah, they’re my sister’s. That’s kind of a girl thing.” He responded.

True, there were times while I was playing, and as I selected different shades of blue for the walls, and got a smile on my face as I saw the Sims interact positively with each other, that I thought, “Have I gone too far?”

It’s funny how we still have these gender roles and such, and stereotypes, even today. You’ve got the aggressive, assertive male (ooh, scary), and the caring, nurturing female. What about the loathsome metrosexual, everybody? The one who is only one facial or mud bath away from batting for the other side? Wasn’t that supposed to be the end, the tearing down of these walls that have stood for so long that dictate what is masculine and what is feminine? It’s just like the old saying, “What boys can do, girls can do better”. Well, I think in this day in age of gender equity, “What girls can do, guys can do just as good” is appropriate.

Some argue that it’s all down to how we see and play the game. Some people have a god complex, and like to have the lives of people in their hands, for better or worse. Then some are control freaks who like people to do things just so, or not at all. There are the tyrants, who like to cause mayhem and destruction, and the architects and engineers who rebuild after the dust has settled. Others like to escape into another world for a few hours to escape their real lives, and look on it as virtual wish fulfillment.

It’s all really down to an individual play style. Some like to load a game, while sobbing silently, if the oven catches fire and the house burns down, while others laugh maniacally while shouting “Burn you little trolls, burn!”

Now, The Sims 3 is nearly ready for release, set for June.

Recently I read an interview conducted by SACM with Mike McCabe, the Regional Head of Publishing for Electronic Arts Mobile. Right at the end, the last question asked was, “What titles can we look forward to in the near future?”

“The most exciting game coming out in the beginning of June will be The Sims 3. It’s appealing to a very broad demographic, as it’s skewed to a more casual, more female audience.”

But look at what’s happened recently. The Sims 3 has been leaked onto the net just weeks before its scheduled release, and is available on all number of sites like Rapidshare and other torrent portals.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t piracy more of a guy thing?
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It's not an abbreviation of anything. It just means the best of the best... 

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