The Sims, like Tamagotchis before them, could teach you a lot about the accumulation of needs – the diamond above their heads would switch from a vibrant green to an alarm-bell red as theirs built up. It was clear they could never be truly “happy” without a guiding hand. Sims needed more upkeep than a pet hamster: they would wet themselves and cry if you didn’t lovingly guide them to a bathroom in time eat food they found on the floor pay little attention to their family unless actively encouraged. Looking on Reddit, compared to others, we were tame – none of us thought to start a prison for “slave artists”, or trapped a starving child next to a room filled with her pizza-scoffing family.īut once you had explored the game’s extremes, it was a feeling of protection over your charges that kept you coming back for more.
My friends and I certainly displayed some psychopathic tendencies as we reduced our fake families to tears, or experimented with murder and neglect.
Was this level of control healthy for developing teens? I’m not sure.
WHY DIDNT THEY REMAKE SIMTOWN TV
Want to create a femme fatale who breaks the hearts of everyone on the block, or redesign a set from a TV show? Want to engineer the romantic partner of your dreams, or fantasise about Beyoncé’s life behind closed doors? Want to infringe another’s human rights and suffer no punishment? On The Sims, you could. Playing The Sims, the opportunities for imagination and reinvention were limitless. You can spend your time becoming the best part of you, or doing things that you wish you could in real life.”Īrmando Iannucci on The Personal History of David Copperfield, Brexit and his comedy Avenue 5ĭecorating virtual homes and tending to their occupants gave me the stability I craved. And that was before your own, self-imposed “storylines” played out on-screen.Īs gaming journalist Jupiter Hadley says: “The Sims is special because it’s a dolls’ house with far more features. And despite its traditional, suburban setting, this was a game with hilarious quirks – characters might get creepy phone calls for seemingly no reason set themselves on fire when loading a dishwasher get turned into a zombie or beg with the grim reaper to spare a friend’s life. The Sims’ neighbourhood was a playground a space where young people could express creativity – in fashion, interior design, or character development – without being graded or monitored. ‘The Sims was a space where young people could express creativity – in fashion, interior design, or character development – without being graded or monitored’ This was a game for the anti-gamers – it was certainly the first time I ever played a computer game at a female friend’s house.
WHY DIDNT THEY REMAKE SIMTOWN PC
In real life, making decisions day to day can be pretty vile, because they matter.” It remains the biggest-selling PC game of all time, and opened up new, young markets – it was specifically designed for no individual demographic. As fellow enthusiast Jinny Weller tells me via Twitter: “Playing The Sims with no goals or a real finish is really the draw. Still, even without points or prizes, and long before the dopamine hit of social media “likes”, The Sims was addictive. The characters don’t speak a recognisable language, instead they garble away to each other in gibberish, affectionately known as ‘Simlish’ Unlike shooter games like Call of Duty, platform-hopping franchises like Super Mario, or adventure sagas like Tomb Raider, on The Sims, there were no treasures to seek, no levels to leap, and no scoreboard – the entire goal was to play God: keep characters alive by meeting their basic needs. This was a “sandbox” game – in that the player could not progress: gameplay was open-ended. Over the years, the world grew with the release of expansion packs like Hot Date, Superstar, and Unleashed, allowing you to make your Sims famous, take them on holiday, throw wild parties, or get them a puppy so they, too, could enjoy taking care of someone helpless and incompetent. He began to think that building a house from scratch for human characters might be fun. Strangely, The Sims grew from a real life tragedy, when SimCity creator Will Wright’s home was destroyed in a firestorm. It was first released this week 20 years ago, following the popularity of city development game SimCity, launched in 1989. This is the virtual universe of The Sims, the surprise hit computer game that allowed you to create characters and families, design their homes, and help (or hinder) their careers and love lives. A smooth, wordless jazz fills the spare room where I, at 13, have been camped out for hours, building a house with a swimming pool from which I will later remove the ladder, so that a character I have designed to look identical to my ex-boyfriend can never escape.
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