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Author
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Topic: Sim-ply Irrestible (March 2001)
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Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 03-14-2001 04:23 PM
   
This month's cover story is now online. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 03-14-2001 04:26 PM
I was actually amazed when Pattie became as hooked on The Sims as she has. I mean, I'm the guy who'll play 3D Pinball all night, or play Star Wars Monopoly against the computer, or spend days on end trying to save enough money in Sim City 3000 to build a spaceport - but Pattie usually steers clear of video game addiction. On the other hand, I am not surprised that she's decided to employ efficiency as her major strategy. I just gotta hope she doesn't take any home decorating tips from that upscale home she downloaded.I've made a major effort to not install this game on my own computer, since I am quite sure that would be the end of all productivity on my part. If you ever see me drop off the boards completely, you'll know I've failed - send a rescue mission.
[This message has been edited by Dave Thomer (edited 03-14-2001).] |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 03-14-2001 04:27 PM
Back in college, I used to spend whole weeks at my roommate's computer, playing "Doom" with the shades drawn and headphones plugged into the CPU. As a result, plasma cannons and cyber-demons figure prominently in my memories of school - more so than, say, classes or human interaction.After I graduated, I began playing a PlayStation game called "Metal Gear Solid," which is an excellent game but had the ability to keep me from doing the things I needed to do, such as earning a paycheck or visiting the bathroom. During the Millennium Celebration, when the entire world was having the biggest party in recorded history, two of my best friends, John and Matt, were playing video hockey. At about 12:15 a.m. they realized what they had been missing, and stepped outside for a few minutes, but quickly went back into the house to continue playing. They played uninterrupted for the next 12 hours. Moral: Video games are BAD. Forget about desensitization to violence and senses of detachment and all that stuff; video games are unhealthy simply because they keep you from ever getting anything done, except phoning for pizza or maybe - maybe - bathing. That said, I plan to visit an Electronics Boutique as soon as possible and pick up my copy of The Sims.
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Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 03-14-2001 05:57 PM
Kevin, if you buy this game from EB and not through the notnews.org link to Amazon.com, I'm cutting off the brownie supply. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 03-17-2001 11:27 AM
Other tales of video game addiction: one summer my roommate and I became hooked on the PC versions of classic Atari games. We spent a lot of time playing Centipede and Tempest.Also, check out this CNET interview with game creator Will Wright, and be afraid. Be very, very afraid. quote:
[The online verson of The Sims is] going to be totally different. It's an entirely different game, because all of a sudden the things that you want to be doing are different. People will have much broader bandwidth to interact with the characters now that they know they're real. So we're focusing the game much more on the social side. It's going to be keeping track
of all the things you do socially and all the friends you make. There will be aspects of the game play where one of the things you might do is play a popularity game, where it's keeping track of who has the most friends, and it's kind of a dog-eat-dog, real cutthroat high school popularity thing.
Interestingly enough, Wright also talks about what he calls the 'Calvin factor' -- the desire of game players to build cities and communities just for the pleasure of inflicting disasters on them. Wow, we put together a theme issue and didn't even know it!  [This message has been edited by Pattie Gillett (edited 03-17-2001).] |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 03-18-2001 11:17 AM
You would never cut off anyone's brownie supply. You're physically incapable. |
Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 03-18-2001 11:27 AM
Kevin, do you really want to risk it?
I may like feeding people but I also like being right. (I say this as I just finished making what could be NE Philly's largest pot of chili.) FYI, Dave, I'm going to pretend I never read your post. I think it's the best way to avoid having to use the jaws of life to remove me from my desk. From what I hear about Alie playing his game, I think she had better employ the same strategy. |
Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 04-21-2001 06:45 PM
I don't know whether to start my angry letter campaign to the evil folks at Maxis or try to get in their good graces in hopes that they will hire me (or at least allow me to do a research project on them for grad school). These people are freakin' geniuses. OK, they design this ridiculously addictive game, market expansion packs for this game, build a web site where people can trade info about this game AND then they pull out the big guns. They've made these programs available so that users can make their own Sim people, Sim furniture, houses, whatever. So now there are literally hundreds of Sim-user web sites on the net where you can download additional stuff for your game - did I mention it's all FREE.
It's there some kind of marketing award for this kind of thinking? There should be. I give up, I'm not going to fight it any more. I've got three weeks till my classes start so I just won't do anything productive until then. I feel better now. |
slgorman
One of the Regulars
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posted 04-22-2001 03:42 PM
Over the Easter/Tax Day holdiays, I visited my brother the proud owner of a completely outdated computer. You really don't want to know how old it is. Guess what his favorite game on it is? The very first version of SimCity, which by comparison to anything made in, I don't know...the last 10 years, is pathetically lame and bland. Yet still addictive. Go figure. |
Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 05-02-2001 03:44 PM
Hey, there are still large numbers of people still addicted to Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. Explain that! Of course, I have no right to speak ill of them. People with glass mouses shouldn't throw stones. |
Andrew Wester
One of the Regulars
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posted 05-02-2001 08:30 PM
For those of you with addictions and nostalgia to the good old days of 4 bit systems, arcades that weren't street fighter clones, and games that were only 200 kb in size, go to www.classicgaming.com I think you will like it |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 05-05-2001 12:51 AM
I would also highly recommend an official Friend of Not News, The LogBook, specifically the Phosphor Dot Fossils section, which contains reviews and info about tons of old games.I, on the other hand, will simply sit here and be somewhat nostalgic for my old Atari 800 computer with its single button joystick, 5.25" floppy disk drive, and absurdly lo-fi games, thanking the stars I don't have the thing around to suck away my time all over again. |
Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 11-04-2001 06:40 PM
Update: Maxis cancelled Simsville late last month, saying that the game simply did not meet the company's playability and lifespan standards. The next Sims expansion pak will be be called Hot Date and is due out early next year. Any of you gamers know if pulling a game that has already been heavily marketed is common? |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 11-05-2001 02:55 AM
Increasingly, yes. It's also increasingly common for a game to be released by a different company than that which advertised it originally, simply because the originating company may have been bought out or otherwise subsumed by a larger company in the months/years it took to develop the game.There is always a bigger fish. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 11-05-2001 02:24 PM
Speaking of addictive games, I literally logged off right after leaving my previous response and got in an epic game of Dune 2000 that kept me up until 4:30am. And it only went no further because I looked at
the time, realized I HAD to sleep, and saved the game. There are probably another three to seven hours left before I win that particular game.So what's the point? Dune 2000 is now available as a budget package as a jewel-case-only game. And it's about as addictive as crack. If you're into commanding armies and blowing stuff up, you can do no better. (And I'll even admit that this isn't normally my kind of game. But I'm hooked!
Hooked, I tell you!) |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 05-07-2002 06:55 PM
Thought I'd give this one a bump in light of the Everquest/"Video game addiction" lawsuit brought about by the mother of a 21-year-old who committed suicide. Y'know, I've been playing video games for over 2/3 of my life, and I've never encountered a situation where I felt it was necessary to off myself. So what does everyone here think? Any grounds to this suit? |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 05-08-2002 01:18 AM
Been in a bit of a bubble lately. Got a link on the details? |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 07-16-2002 05:50 PM
Actually, given all the hype about the addictiveness of Everquest, I'm waiting to see what Star Wars Galaxies will be like, and just how wrapped up in it the really diehard fans will get. Will they give up lining up outside the theater for virtually lining up on Yavin IV? Will they do it all for the Wookiee? (Boy, that's pretty bad. I think we've now mangled that quote twice here.)But seriously...I have a feeling SW:G might finally knock The Sims off of its throne. Why determine the fate of a virtual yuppie when you could be a virtual Jedi-in-training instead? [This message has been edited by Earl Green (edited 07-16-2002).] |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 07-18-2002 03:04 AM
I've actually been following Star Wars Galaxies for a while now, through the updates the developers provide on the website message boards. (It's amazing how the gaming industry builds and utilizes its online communities, but that's another topic.) I love playing games, and when I was a teenager I dabbled in role playing games, and we've already discussed my fondness for Star Wars, so this sounds like a potential electronic version of heroin.Just what I need -- another game. I just started playing Magic: The Gathering online, and I keep muttering about counterspells and something called Roar of the Wurm. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 07-18-2002 01:32 PM
Wurm?I'm just enjoying the fact that I now have a computer in my home office that can play Starfleet Command, New Worlds, and Emperor: The Battle For Dune. You wanna talk about wurms? Emperor's got 'em. Big, scary ones that emerge with a sound that almost necessitates a changing of the pants. Probably more than you ever wanted to know, eh? |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 07-19-2002 01:42 AM
Admittedly, the Wurm to which I referred was not nearly so wardrobe-affecting. Then again, some might find that a useful feature in a game. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 07-19-2002 02:49 PM
They probably need to add that feature to the Sims so the players remember to get up and go to the bathroom once in a while. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 08-08-2002 11:30 PM
Not sure if this is a replacement for the Simsville idea Pattie mentioned in this article, but be aware that The Sims are soon to be a massively multiplayer game. The Sims Online is coming. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 08-09-2002 06:17 PM
I'd heard some rumblings about this already. As big a hit as The Sims is, I can't imagine they'd give up on the sales and marketing potential of an MMORPG Sims title. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 08-11-2002 10:57 PM
Oh, I'm not at all surprised either. That's gonna be someone's doctoral dissertation waiting to happen. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 09-02-2002 02:07 PM
The Sims Online is the cover story in the latest issue of Computer Gaming Monthly. I'm gonna say it right now: this is going to blow Everquest and even Star Wars Galaxies away in terms of sales. And I would predict that within two years of launch, we'll hear of the first-ever Sims Online-related divorce case. It looks kinda fun in a way, but I can see where some people are going to take it way, way too seriously.Also, SimCity 4 is going to have some crossover compatibility with The Sims, according to the early advertising material. I would make a joke about holding out for SimSeaMonkeys, but they already have those. 'Nuff said. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 09-09-2002 12:33 AM
What advantage do you think Sims Online would have over SWG, Earl? I've only done some cursory looking at both games, but it seems like both will have some pretty powerful things going for it. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 09-09-2002 06:50 PM
Simple: the power of the mainstream. SWG will get Star Wars fans, sure, but Sims Online has the potential to attract a far wider audience. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 09-10-2002 02:04 AM
I guess I see where you're coming from, but I gotta question any analysis that doesn't consider Star Wars 'mainstream.' We are talking about one third of the 15 highest grossing films in North America, after all -- you don't get that from merely a cult audience.I also wonder if the MMO market is built to attract casual gamers the way standalone games are, but that's a topic that's far beyond my depth to answer. |
Meg Hughes
One of the Regulars
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posted 09-12-2002 07:10 PM
Did you guys ever play Snood? It's something that used to make me late for class and practice, not to mention something that made me "forget" about homework and exams...its a good game, VERY addictive, but a good game..and FREE at www.snood.com you can download it and play and they have these stupid riddles that come up asking you to register and pay for snood, but you don't have to...ever! Just thought I'd add in on the 'so good its addictive' games... |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 02-19-2003 11:10 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Dave Thomer:
I also wonder if the MMO market is built to attract casual gamers the way standalone games are, but that's a topic that's far beyond my depth to answer.
I think the sales numbers for The Sims Online have your answer for you there. I have to admit, the tepid reaction to that particular simultaneously surprises me and yet doesn't surprise me. A lot of what gave The Sims (offline) its charm was that quite a few things were represented more abstractly, including speech and interaction. With an offline game, you really don't have that luxury, and I've seen quite a few people argue that this makes Sims Online less enjoyable than The Sims: it really becomes a glorified chat room. My chat room experience is such that people are already trying to score points, so to speak, so actually introducing a real scoring system to that activity just amplifies that tendency on the part of some people (and/or reticence on the part of others). |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 02-20-2003 03:21 AM
The other thing that occurs to me is that The Sims is all about control. You have total control over the neighborhood. Moving The Sims to a shared online world takes that control away. And it's not like Sims players need to build an online community - there's already a thriving one built around customizing and trading items. So the niche to be filled is really kind of narrow.The question is, will the Star Wars MMO game do any better? I think it will, but we'll have to wait and see. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 03-18-2003 05:57 AM
We'll have to wait a bit longer -- LucasArts announced that Star Wars Galaxies will be delayed, probably by at least a few months. I have to wonder if some of the problems with Sims Online didn't contribute to that decision. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 03-18-2003 07:58 PM
Call it a hunch, but I'm not sure the massively multiplayer thing will retain its popularity while there's a massively multiplayer war going on (or, as a friend of mine so eloquently puts it, "the new season of Survivor: World"). I could be wrong. It's been known to happen before. From time to time. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 03-19-2003 01:19 AM
I think the MMO games that are succeeding will continue to thrive, unless the economy tanks so bad that people can't afford the monthly fees. If anything, the state of the world is such right now that I'd expect diversions to be even more popular than usual, especially if there's some social element to it.I wouldn't necessarily expect a horde of new casual players to show up, but then, that's the consistent problem with MMO games anyway. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 03-19-2003 05:52 PM
Yeah, I'm not sure MMO games and "casual players" are mutually compatible.But I heard you on the diversions. Since I'm once again about to be attached to an IV drip of bad news at work, I've been stocking the DVD and CD shelves pretty well of late. Heck, if I get desperate enough, I may start watching Andromeda. Naaahhhhhhhh. |
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