The Sims 2
The Sims 2 is a 2004 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in The Sims series, and is the sequel to The Sims. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 14, 2004, and a port for MacOS by Aspyr was released on June 17, 2005. Eight expansion packs and nine "stuff packs" were subsequently released between 2005 and 2008.[c] In addition, versions of The Sims 2 were released on various video game consoles, including the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, and GameCube, and mobile platforms, including the Nokia Ovi Store. The three handheld versions of the game are completely different among themselves, unlike the home console versions of the game, which are virtually identical to each other. All three handheld versions take on more of a linear storyline. A sequel, The Sims 3, was released in June 2009.
The Sims 2
Charles London
Jonathan Knight
Margaret Ng
David Gregory
Matthew M. Brown
David Patch
Goopy Rossi
Leo Hourvitz
- Windows
- Mac OS X
- Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox
- PlayStation Portable
- Java ME
Like its predecessor, The Sims 2 allows the player to create and dress characters called "Sims", design neighborhoods, and build and furnish houses. Players manage their Sims from birth to death, forming relationships in a manner similar to real life. Sims have life goals, wants, and fears, the fulfillment of which can produce good or bad outcomes. The Sims 2 was the first game in the series to incorporate a 3D graphics engine, which allowed the player to get 360º views of the game as opposed to the fixed 2D isometric view of The Sims. Genetics are also a new game mechanic, as previously children in The Sims did not always look like their parents. Although gameplay is not linear, storylines and scripted events exist in the game's pre-built neighborhoods.
The Sims 2 was critically acclaimed, and it has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. It was also a commercial success, selling one million copies in its first ten days, a record at the time. It contributed to The Sims series reaching 100 million copies in April 2008. By March 2012, the game had sold 13 million copies over all platforms with over six million PC copies, making it one of the best-selling PC games of all time.
Development[edit]
Preliminary development on The Sims 2 began in late 2000 following the release of The Sims.[36][37][38] EA Games announced on May 5, 2003, that the Maxis studio had begun development on The Sims 2.[39] A teaser trailer was provided on The Sims: Makin' Magic CD, released October 2003, which was later uploaded to websites all over the Internet. The game was first shown at E3 in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2003.[39] The development team decided that the core qualities that drew people to The Sims were that it was easily relatable to most people, gave players the freedom to be creative, had an irrerevent sense of humor, and featured open-ended gameplay, and set out to build upon these aspects in the sequel.[40][41] The move to 3D graphics was considered essential in getting players of the first game to upgrade.[41] The development team considered adding thirst and stress needs but reconsidered after feedback from players showed that they were growing tired of maintaining their Sims' basic needs. Instead, the team focused on using the existing needs to differentiate the different life stages; for example, teenage Sims have a higher need for social interaction.[41] Custom content was also considered an essential part of The Sims' popularity; to incentivize its creation, the team ensured that installing and managing user-made content was as smooth as possible.[41] Will Wright stated that the reception to the expansion packs for the first game helped the team to decide which features to include in the base game, citing community lots as an example.[42]
On December 15, 2012, Electronic Arts announced that the official website would be shut down on January 14, 2013. It is now no longer possible to download content from the official site, create exchanges, or participate in the official forum communities.[43] On July 16, 2014, Electronic Arts announced the end of support for The Sims 2. As a response, The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection was released at the same time as a limited time offer. The game became available for free download from Origin exclusively following an announcement by EA that they would no longer be supporting the game.[44] This offer ended at 10:00 PDT July 31, 2014.[45][46][47]
On August 7, 2014, Aspyr Media released The Sims 2: Super Collection as digital download exclusively available at the Mac App Store; the game was updated for OS X Mavericks, 4K, and Retina. This compilation only includes the first six expansion packs and the first three stuff packs. Aspyr stated they were unable to include the remaining packs for the game due to licensing conflicts with EA. Like the Ultimate Collection, no new updates on when the remaining packs were to be released separately or as a single add-on to the Super Collection emerged. In his York Vision review of the Ultimate Collection, Tom Davies wrote "it really is quite difficult to make the mind boggling grandness of The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection live for you. By the time Maxis gave up on bringing out expansions for it they had pretty much given you everything you could have ever wanted the game to have, and a whole heap of stuff you never considered but are grateful for anyway. ... The thing is, if anything there is too much game. You just don't know what to do first or how on earth you're going to get round to doing it all, it's like being a six year old in Toys'R'Us."[48]
Editions, compilations, and add-ons[edit]
Mac OS X[edit]
Mac OS X ports of the base game, the first six expansion packs, and the first three Stuff Packs have been released by Aspyr Media. The port for the base game was announced on October 19, 2004.[87] The Sims 2 had reached beta status on March 1, 2005, and was released on June 17 the same year.[88] The Sims 2 Body Shop was also available for Mac OS X. Aspyr Media released The Sims 2 with all ported expansions and stuff packs as The Sims 2: Super Collection for Intel Macs in 2014. The game is available for purchase on the Mac App Store for OS X 10.9 Mavericks and above. At its release, it was compatible with Mac OS X Panther and above on PowerPC Macintosh systems. In its review, Macworld wrote: "All told, The Sims 2 is a technically impressive game that adds many new features to an already proven formula. And believe it or not, The Sims 2 uses some of the most sophisticated and demanding 3-D graphics ever seen in a Mac game. A 1.2GHz or faster machine is absolutely mandatory. Owners of ATI graphics cards will want to update their cards with the latest drivers and firmware from ATI —this made a big difference with my X800 card."[89]
Consoles[edit]
The console versions of The Sims 2 featured local splitscreen multiplayer, a story mode, and an option to control game characters directly, as opposed to queuing options as is traditional Sims gameplay; however, unlike in the Windows PC and Mac OS X versions, it is not possible for Sims to have children or age, as they are only adults (excluding elders), although they can get married. The player must earn aspiration points to unlock rewards by filling up the Sims goals, which would also be needed to complete story mode. Story mode is a sequence of multiple levels along with developed storylines which each character asks the player to fulfill wants that pertain to their story. There is also a sandbox mode where the player can live in a preset family or build their own.[90][91][92]
In his review for GameSpot, Andrew Park wrote: "It should probably go without saying that the Xbox version of The Sims 2 looks the best on consoles, though the GameCube version also looks almost as sharp and clean. The PS2 version of the game, as you'd also expect, fares the worst, and it has a slightly blurrier look and shows a few more jaggies, especially in wide shots of houses and open lots. It also has noticeably longer load times, though this shouldn't be surprising to any PS2 owners."[93] In his review for GameRevolution, Mike Reilly wrote: "Balancing such plusses and minuses while keeping the species afloat is the stuff life is made of, and as The Sims 2 for the PC proved, also makes for a damn good video game. Unfortunately, the new console versions feel more like weak clones of the original rather than the vivacious offspring we hoped would carry the line into our PS2s, Gamecubes and Xboxes. There's still a ton of content and some interesting new features here, but the complex sense of manners and familial intellect were lost on these three red-headed stepchildren."[94]