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The Sims 2
- Sequel to the hit lifestyle simulation
- Manage your Sim's dreams and fears over a lifetime
- Mix Sim genes and see physical and personality traits inherited down through Sim generations
- Movie-making feature lets you control the camera and capture the action into mini movies
- Also available in DVD Edition
The Editors Desk:
The Sims was one of the most popular games ever made. In it, players micromanage the lives of a family of virtual people, or Sims, and influence their paths toward success or something akin to a nervous breakdown. Its open-ended blend of cartoonish behavior and everyday living is unique in an art form otherwise obsessed with carnage and sports. With The Sims 2, long-time fans now have a deeper game with lots of ways to customize and share their experiences. The game will also attract first-timers because the goal-oriented gameplay and the luridly fun starter families make it easier to get into the action right out of the box.
Now Sims are born with the traits of their parents, families grow, and Sims grow old.
| The People in Your Neighborhood
The game starts at the neighborhood level. Here you can create a housing development from scratch or start with one of three premade neighborhoods, each with its own theme. From there, you'll settle on a house and a family of Sims to control.  | | Create your own Sim (above) or your own house (below) from scratch with advanced tools. |  | Aside from the basic needs carried over from the previous game, Sims now have aspirations, wants, and fears. The wants and fears are the day-to-day things that occupy their minds, like wanting to see friends or get married and fearing death or being rejected for a kiss. Satisfy their wants, and they become more efficient at completing tasks you assign them. Realize their fears, and Sims become lethargic, cranky, and unresponsive to your commands. Aspirations are the big-picture things, like raising a family, becoming wealthy, and gaining knowledge. Succeed here and you'll be able to buy odd gifts for your Sim to improve his or her life, like a money tree that pays dividends or a "fountain of youth" water cooler. What Else Is New?
Of course, you wouldn't be able to juggle all that if it weren't for the improved "Free Will" option, which makes it easier for Sims to fulfill their basic needs. The artificial intelligence of the game is noticeably improved; they won't turn on radios just as a family member is going to bed but, strangely, they do occasionally put their dishes on the floor. Another big change in the series is the concept of the lifespan. Now Sims are born with the traits of their parents, families grow, and Sims grow old. Not only does this go hand in hand with aspirations (growing up is the first aspiration that a baby Sim will have), it provides a limited time with which your Sims can achieve their goals.  | | The Universal Control Panel helps you manage your Sim family. | A Family Affair
The Sims 2 not only lets you create just about any type of Sim in any type of family, build elaborate houses, and even create a neighborhood from scratch, but it also allows you to start the game in medias res, with premade households. These families all have backstories that are smart spoofs of soap-opera plots--lots of scheming, romance, ghosts, and family fighting. Parents of teens shouldn't worry, though, because nudity is tastefully blurred out and "woo-hoo" between Sims takes place completely under the covers. The ESRB has given this a Teen rating. If The Sims 2 were a film, it would likely land between PG and PG-13. The makers have included some nice tools to help share the universe you've created. For example, you can capture in-game stills and video to show friends the private moments, family interactions, and house parties of your Sims. You can even package a household to share as a blog or an album on a special Web site. The Sims 2 is for patient gamers. Like life itself, the game is filled with mundane details, like getting ready for work and doing dishes. The game also demands a level of creativity from its players that the run-and-gun game genres wouldn't know what to do with. But those who stick with it will be rewarded with an absorbing, amusing diversion and a virtual family history that they've created themselves. --Porter B. Hall Set Up a Sims 2 Machinima Studio
 Amazon.com contributor Porter Hall reveals how you can make movies using the Sims as your actors. See his guide to setting up a Sims 2 Machinima Studio.
Avg. Customer Review: 
 The Sims 2: The #1 game of all time......I hope
The Sims 2 (TS2) is said to become the best pc game of all time. With all of it's new items and genres i believe it. Features:
.6 Life stages infant, toddler, child, teenager, adult, and finally elder
.3D version unlike The Sims 1 which was in 2D
.New camera modes Lets you see everthing at 360 degrees of angle
.More and better social interactions
.You can now make houses 3 story with a walkable attic at the top
.You can now marry Non Playable Characters (NPC) including maid, gardener, firefighters, etc.
.They now have birthdays
.There are weekends from work and school
.Kids don't go to military school if they are bad
.They will keep their memories in a ''memory box'' Their memories include first kiss, first birthday etc. Well thats all I can remember now. One more not so good thing is your computer must run very good and it must be very new. No Windows 98 will work with TS2. Although The Sims 2 is rated T for Teen, it has no violence, guns or any other weapon. The reason it is rated T is, because they can ''Play'' in bed but you see nothing of it, and they do get naked when they bathe, but it has a blurry sign in front of it. So all of you adults who don't want their children to get this game until they are Teens it IS okay for them to play this game. Also it is educational in some ways, because it teaches the children how to save money and pay bills (yes Sims have bills) in order to buy better things in the future. Well anyway The Sims 2 is set to be a GREAT game. I hope you liked my review.
Sound like the best game ever
The sims2 sounds like the coolest game. There are many new things making it way better than the sims1. Here is a list of some of the cool new things.
Your sims now age. They are a baby, toddler, kid, teen, adult, and elder.
The sims have birthday's now.
Since the sims age, they can die of old age.
Houses can now have more than two stories. There can be 3 stories and an attic.
You can change the sims hair style and make-up using a mirror.
There are community lots where you can shop for clothes and groceries or go to the pool.
Getting married is a much bigger thing.
There are weekends so kids and adults can get time off from work and school.
Sims have fears and wants.
They remember their first kiss, marriage, things like that.
Everything is in 3D.
There is a new film making option where you can get on tape what happens at a part of their life.
The camera is way better. You can see and take pictures at many different angles. Even in the pool!
You can marry the maid, burgler, firefighter, ect.
If your sim gets bad grade, he/she doesn't have to go to military school.
More social interactions including family hug (or was it kiss?).
The sims can cook many different meals. Well I hope this helps you out. Just to let you know Maxis will be making a sims3. (I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars because the isn't out yet).
5 stars inspite of...
the freezing up. It is a really great game. Well, worth the price. The Sims was a really great game and this steps it up sooo much. There are so many more options and things to buy. The parties are cute and so are the aspirations, like to make woohoo with 3 people...and in public. It's not for every age, but for those of us who are old enough to "woohoo", I say go for it. I couldn't play it at first (I have Windows ME), then I found this website that said to right click on the the game, go to properties, go to the end of the target line, press the space bar then type -w and voila I was able to play. I was so excited and have been staying up to the next day playing it like I did with the first one. I highly recommend it if you can stand it freezing up on you from time to time. The requirements are not all that they are cracked up to be. I don't have the right video card but with that trick that I mentioned above I am still able to play. Be clear, I'm not saying that every computer is exempt, though. If you have an extra $50.00 have fun!!!
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