Introduction

Developer: Maxis
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Official Website: http://www.thesims.com/index.phtml

Now for something completely different...

The Sims has been eagerly anticipated by the entire gaming community - it's sold faster than any Maxis game ever before. That's saying a lot, considering that this is the same quirky company behind Sim City, one of the best selling computer games ever. What's so special about the Sims? Maxis has again taken a mundane subject and created an artful simulation. American computer games manufacturers have been largely loathe to include petty human concerns in their games (as opposed to, say, the Japanese, who have entire genres of games devoted to petty human concerns). Will Wright's The Sims offers players control over a range daily human trivialities, from using the potty to being late for work. You create a neighborhood cast of characters, complete with individual personality traits, and hurl them all in houses close to each other to watch and manage the results.

Granny's looking punk rock!

Someone looks uptight

At first The Sims is mystifying - you want to explore and fool around. The game reflects the human desire to experiment with life. We see ourselves on this earth, perhaps surveyed by an all-seeing God, and we want the chance to play with lives to see what happens. The Sims offers you that power, albeit in a limited, consumer fashion.

Each house is a saved game

Dottie's possible actions with Desdemonda