The Sims has it gone too far?

[tweeky]

I am a big The sims fan I have all the expansion packs out at the moment. I have read that there is a planned release of another 3 The sims games in the next 6 months. There are currently 7 versions out at the moment.

My question is do you think the company that makes The sims has gone too far?

Please post your reasons why.

[killercow]

I can't really vote on that becuase I haven't played ANY of them. I guess they have gone too far for me not to have played any of the 7.:rolleyes:

[Abbadon]

Nah, I've played it a few times myself and have seen it beeing played for hououououououououours and I think it's good they bring out extra content regulary. Methinks if they didn't it would become very boring very fast (just my opinion). As long as people keep having fun with it: keep it comming! I'm deep in the (6th by now?) latest Tomb Raider game. Still great fun and no "going to far" to be seen. (btw: saw the new TR movie yesterday, makes the game more fun to play! :D )

I DO think however that the sims are vastly overpriced for stuff that is essentially one expansion-pack after another. It's not like they have to rebuild the game-engine every time, but they are charging like it is.

Also they do NOT mark clearly enough on the boxes that you need the full game to play some (maybe all? don't know) of the expansion packs. I've heard from quite a few people feeling cheated like this...

[tweeky]

The main reason I think they have gone too far is because if you look back over the last 6 months they have just released 2 games, they have another 3 games about to come out, the prices can be anything from 20 to 50 pounds (30 to 80 US dollars approx). The expansion packs often have items that they did not create but fans of the series have created and placed on the net. I have also found items that are in the expansion packs available for download from their website. A few examples are the Ukulele Lady Lamp, the Jack-O-Lantern, the Queen Vivanco Roses, the Nouveau Nites Party Lights, etc...

I think you get the idea, I don't mind it when they give you games like tomb raider after a year or 2, But I do not like finding out that I have paid good money for items that they then go and place on their website.

The sims website (http://thesims.ea.com/us/getcool/index.html)

Also I do agree with you about the size of the text, I think it's between font size 4 and 6.

[Abbadon]

Maybe they should open an online store where your sim-caracters can go to to buy new content :D (sort of like an online Ikea, complete with unreadable diagrams :D) Real cheap prices for the gamers and very low cost for the game-makers. You only buy what you want and you need the original game to get to it, so no surprises there...

Wow, I meant it as a joke but thinking on it, this would be a great feature for the Sims! It's like Diablo, where you can go into town to buy stuff, only with a real credit card. Of course, not everyone has internet acces so it wouldn't benefit everyone, but still...

[killercow]

they have just released 2 games, they have another 3 games about to come out
See for a good-great game to come out you have to wait a long time. For example, Half-Life2, Halo2 (another darn year:( but it'll be awesome!:D ), DoomIII, Battlefield Series (not all the expansion packs) etc. Are they usually long games? Is there an ending point (ie. Death?:eek: ) Or are there goals?

[saphalline]

I do agree that the pricing of the expansions is a little high, especially if you are new to The Sims and have to shell out $200 USD just to get the game and all the expansions so far :eek: but on the other hand... they are a lot of work. Speaking as a programmer, I know that every time they add something cool like downtown or pets, there's a whole lotta patching going on! :p The game was made to be modular, but it still takes a lot of time and effort to add things since they didn't know what they would be adding in the beginning!

Plus, the expansions have become unruly. I doubt that any game has a bigger hard drive foot print than The Sims + all expansions. What are they up to now? Like 3-4 gigs just to install? Not to mention several hundred megs per neighborhood! They can stop anytime now and just move on to The Sims 2.

By the way, I'm intrigued by what I've heard about TS2. Supposed to be fully 3D (The Sims is only partial-3D), so you can rotate the scene 360 degrees, not to mention the resolution benefits. Also, the first installment of TS2 is supposed to include most of the expansions content to TS1, so you'll get more Sims stuff per buck in the beginning. Sounds like a good plan to me, and even though it will require beefier hardware, I think the programmers have some optimization ideas... ;)

All in all, gonna be another hit game.

[tweeky]

I understand what you are saying saphalline I'm currently learning to be a programmer, I think they've gone over the top with the amount of games they've released and are planning on releasing, would you like it if they released a game you really liked and then released 4 expansion packs for it.

As I said in an earlier post I don't think they should allow people to download the items that come in an expansion pack. I'm also not saying the sims games are bad, I am planning on getting The sims 2.

The sims takes up 2.95 GB (3,169,230,848 bytes) on my drive at the moment. It contains 17,888 files and 592 folders.

The sims 2 will be fully 3D, it now has weather, one of the in game pictures they showed was a man sat in a hot tub during a thunder storm, you can imagine what happened next. The sims can have kids like before but now they can age. Each sim will have their own genetic code, if 2 sims have a kid, the child will take charteristics from it's parents, so it will look a bit like it's mother and father. The house can now have at least three floors. Links to some pictures below if you want to see The sims 2.

http://thesims.ea.com/us/sims2/images/local/screen_01.jpg
http://thesims.ea.com/us/sims2/images/local/screen_02.jpg
http://thesims.ea.com/us/sims2/images/local/screen_03.jpg
http://thesims.ea.com/us/sims2/images/local/screen_04.jpg
http://www.3dgamers.com/screenshots/games/thesims2/
Sims house (http://images.3dgamers.com/screenimages/games/thesims2/new_sim_house.jpg)

[Abbadon]

Well, there is Mechwarrior 4 which had 2 expansion games and then some mech packs to go along with it. However, those were spread over quite some time so the $$ pressure was less. Also, it's the kind of game that is a bit easier to "acquire" (as opposed to buying ;) ) than The Sims.

[saphalline]

Heck, I have fun just with the original Mechwarrior4 game! :D I don't have any expansions or anything like that just because I never got that into it. I play way too many games to stick to one for months on end. The only reason I'm not broke is because I play older games as much as newer ones, and those $10 "jewel case" versions are acceptable price-wise. ;)

Looking at those pics for TS2, I was amazed!! :eek: Good thing I upgraded my mom's PC over the summer (The Sims is the only game she plays). Although, I'll have to keep an eye out for SDRAM sales...

The other thing about expansions, code-wise, is that they add unnecessary computations, so the game runs slower than if it were made into one big game from the start. On the other hand, The Sims is so addicting I've seen people willing to play it on a bare minimum PC, so it might be a moot point. :p

[pave_spectre]

I dont think the sims goes nearly far enough.

Where are the street riots, the attempts at overthrowing the government, organized crime, black marketeers, nuclear holocaust - you know, the fun stuff.:p

[Abbadon]

Things that would be cool:

A mod for the sims that lets you play in alternate timelines, like the Middle Ages, the Far West,... (playing the sims as cave man would SO rule :D)

[tweeky]

I'm not complaining about the game, I consider the game to be very good, I am complaining about 2 things, the first is the constant releases of the game for example 3 more sims games in the next 6 months (1 every six months would be more acceptable) and the second is that people can download some of the add ons that come in the expansion pack.

[saphalline]

Well, those are valid complaints, tweeky, but you also have to remember that this kind of marketing ploy has been going on for years in the electronic game industry. Usually it's with an unpopular game, or the greediness makes it an unpopular game, but it's different with The Sims.

A lot of Sims addicts are people like my mother - PC users that maybe have played Solitaire or Freecell, then are inexplicably drawn to The Sims and become real gamers. :p Not being familiar with (or even recognizing) such cheap tactics in the electronic gaming world, they gladly spend the required money for the game and all expansions. And let's be honest, if The Sims is the only game you're playing, the money isn't that bad. They even get to the point where they drool over and expect another expansion every so often, just so they can toy with their simulated people in new and perverse ways.

Not to say that Will Wright is a money-grubbing maniac. Far from it. He's a gaming genius, and while he's not personally involved with every Sims expansion, I'm betting he was the mastermind behind the good ones, like the downtown and vacation ones.

As for the downloadable items, I'd have to agree with you there. The least they could do is reserve some items for the expansions only, but they should also make many more available that are DL only. That's how extra content should be delivered, and all EA has to do is look to other games and fan sites to see that. But it's important to also make the distinction. Will Wright is head of Maxis, the developer. EA is the publisher, which by definition has to be the money-grubbing partner. Everything that's wrong with The Sims' marketing is EA's fault, and that's no joke.