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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: 
 Maxis #1 All Time Sims 3D-Game Ever!
I believe this game will be the best Pc selling game ever!
Why?This is all the options that we will enjoy and have for thesims 2.
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Building Options - Create mountains, build multiple story homes, with basements, put doors and windows on diagonal walls. Calendar - The new sim calendar will work by the week instead of month. (ie your kids birthday is next Monday). Cameras - Now you can place cameras all around the room to capture a party from all angles. Careers - For adult sims, there wi.ll be 18 careers, with 10 levels each. For teen and old sims there will be 7 careers, with 3 levels each. Also elderly sims will receive a pension upon retiring. Diaries - Now you will be able to create video as well as snap shot diaries of your sims life. Family - The family limit will still be set at 8. But new to TS2 is the ability to create all ages, except infant, in the create-a-sim area. So you could start out with a Mom, teen, and toddler if you wanted. Leaving the house - The only option to leave the home right now, is to send your sims to their second home, which you can also create. However a communal area is being considered. Life Moments and Big Decisions - These will effect your life score, and also have an effect on your sim as they get older. Some of these included: Toilet training, first step, first kiss, first crush, getting a job, getting married. Will Sims actually get pregnant? Will they still have to kiss to have a baby? - Yes! Sims will get pregnant but instead of kissing, a 'play' feature can be used in a bed or hot tub. What is the Create-a-Sim tool? Is there going to be a demo of it? -The Create-a-Sim tool is a program that will allow you to completely customize every aspect of your Sims facial featurues. This will allow you to make any Sim you want! Even yourself! And yes, there is to be a demo release of it between August & September. What about clothing customization? - Clothing articles will now be seperate from each other! Meaning that a pair of pants will be seperate from a shirt, creating alot more ways to mix & match! Can you customize hair/make-up, too? - Yes! In the Create-a-Sim program you will be able to change hair color & style, & apply make-up to your sims. You are also able to do this during game play using special objects such as mirrors. Will there be more than 2 floors? - Yes! I've seen as many as 3 floors, plus a basement, for a total of 4! And More...
Amazing!!
When I say amazing, I mean more of the fan response this game has gotten. There are 200 responses to a game that is still months from coming out. That's truly extraordinary but I guess when you're the sequel to the most popular game of all time, that's to be expected. Let me just say, as a hardcore Sims fanatic, I am eagerly awaiting the Sims 2 which I think is going to just as amazing, definitely better than its predecessor. I'm glad the people at Maxis are not only improving on the Sims but also taking it forward by adding many fan requests (i.e. different types of food the Sims can cook) and also keeping some of the great aspects of the previous Sims and the expansion packs (the expanded neighborhood and community lots from Unleashed and the butler from Superstar). There are so many fansites out there showing screenshots and movies for the new game that it just makes me even more anxious to play the game. Luckily I will have enough time to upgrade my laptop before it comes out and double the memory as well as the video card. A lot of people are complaining about the wait and Maxis constantly pushing back the release date but I don't really mind. Think about it, if it came out when it was supposed to we wouldn't have weather (which they're still trying to work out) and a basement (they just recently managed to make it possible to have a cellar!). And let's not forget the many bugs that came with the expansion packs when they were first realeased. I would rather have to wait to get a near perfect game than get a game now with lots of problems.
I love this game!
I love this game so much! I had gone over to my friend's house and played it for the first time. After that I was obsessed! I kept begging and bribing my mom to lend me the extra money. She finally let my brother and I go in on it. Since then, I play it everyday after school. My friends also beg me to let them come over and play it. I think this game is awesome, and definetely deserves 5 or more stars.
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