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The Sims 3: Ambitions review (iPhone)
The Sims 3: Ambitions adds a few new things to the mix that you couldn't do in previous versions. It beefs up your Sim's career paths and options, including firefighter, chef, musician, athlete and artist. EA's also added the option to have babies in this new iPhone iteration. Other than that, however, The Sims 3: Ambitions is a streamlined affair with good enough but not astounding graphics, and, if you already play The Sims, a completely expected progression of gameplay. And for us, that progression is fairly addictive. The streamlined version of the full game focuses on the life and career of just one Sim, with a far more limited range of things you can do. Like the previous iPhone version of The Sims 3, life inside of a mobile device is a little more lonely than it was on the desktop: for some reason, my Sim finds less things to do with her time, has less friends, and spends a few minutes at the end of each day sort of just milling around waiting to be tired enough for bed. Fulfilling her whimsical wants (why she wants to kick over garbage cans has never made any sense) is a fun time-waster, but we've always tried to keep our focus razor sharp when honing our Sims, so hobbies have usually come second. Of course, my Sim is also learning to be a gardener. Since her chosen career path was chef, Charlotte (who is named after the author of Jane Eyre and has the honor of being my fourth Sim to bear this name) thought that gardening would be a fitting hobby to cultivate. I haven't yet gotten Charlotte to either the top level of her career or chosen hobby, but I'm fairly certain it's a goal I can achieve... and that's the whole point, isn't it? For those unfamiliar with the franchise (if that's even possible), this new iteration is probably a great starter kit. For diehards like ourselves, the open-endedness of this is a great, enjoyable time sink, to be sure, but it's also a tiny bit disappointing. Obviously we don't expect the full features of desktop versions of The Sims 3, but we can dare to dream of a day when the iPhone version hooks into the actual game, allowing us a little midday peek into the more fascinating lives of our smaller, incoherent selves. Regardless, EA's glorious franchise loses nothing by wasting our precious downtime in yet another way, and while the mobile versions of The Sims may never replace their full counterparts, these games certainly push the limits of the 'casual' gaming category.
Sims 2 Store live today, microtransactions abound
Hagimona pana! Guranda epska tali tari ta. Eska, eska, esti toni wa?*turns on Simlish to English translator*Better? Good! EA announced that its Sims 2 Store is now live for US and Canadian shoppers. The online retail location practices the fine art of micro transactions by offering items available in Sims 2 expansion packs and "all-new exclusive" content.The store works by converting real money into "SimPoints" at an exchange rate of $1 for 100 SimPoints, and most items we saw appear to be between 75 - 100 SimPoints. Sims 2 fans can decide for themselves if it's worth micro-transactioning through the Sims 2 Store or picking up the full expansions at retail. The store seems like the type of thing that's perfect if your Sim just needs to have that new shower head and nothing else.[Via BigDownload]
Get lost in The Sims 2: Castaway screens
If there's one thing we don't like about The Sims 2: Castaway, it's the game's lack of modern convenience. Yes, we get that they're castaways, but we can't tell you how many times we've become frustrated with our little Sim, only to take our aggression out by trapping them in a structure lacking doors and having them keep using the toaster oven until a fire broke out. Hey, don't look at us like we're monsters?Anywho, check out these new screens with us and be sure to take part in our random, yet completely appropriate, screaming of "Wiiiiiiilson!"
Wii Warm Up: Port authority
EA just announced that the Wii is getting The Sims 2: Pets and really, we can't say we're particularly thrilled. In fact, we're officially torn. The Wii, as a system, is terribly young, despite all the SuperCube remarks some folks like to make. The Wii only has a couple of years behind it, after all. Because of that, we're trying to be patient. One can't expect a revolutionary control system to immediately take root and manifest itself in awesomeness. So we're waiting. And while we appreciate the urge to throw us a few bones while we're waiting, we think we may speak for everyone when we say that, really, we have enough ports. Games that released year are ... well, they're pretty much last year's games, and if we wanted them, we probably played them then. Sure, we understand that if there's a buck to be made by printing a few more discs, someone's going to rush in to make it, but it just seems more and more gratuitous with every new generation. Enough already!Or are we alone in this sentiment? Maybe we just don't have enough love for the Sims any longer. It's hard, when we're so busy thinking of MySims.There is one thing that's interesting about The Sims 2: Pets, and that's the possibility of online features. Hurray![Thanks for the Sims tip, Limpit!]
EA announces The Sims Stories
Just in case you haven't had your fill of being an insidiously manipulative being who rearranges the furniture in a man's house while he sleeps, EA has announced a trio of new Sims games. The Sims Stories is composed of three different standalone titles, namely Life Stories, Pet Stories and Castaway Stories. Getting all three will presumably allow you to follow the journey of a stranded couple forced to eat their beagle and flee from vicious seagulls intent on pecking their eyes out.That's not true, but it should give you another idea of what the standout feature is for The Sims Stories -- it's, umm, a storyline! According to EA's website, "the new and engaging directed Story mode" promises to "take your Sims through a unique and entertaining storyline full of romance, conflict and dramatic twists." We're guessing said twist involves the the entire universe being uninstalled.EA is labeling the games as "laptop friendly," which really means they don't require fancy 3D graphics cards to run. Get involved in a compelling, virtual love story on your laptop this February.[Via The Last Boss. Thanks Tom.]
Sims 2 goes Universal, Apple posts University trailer
These must've slipped past our radar, but last week Aspyr Media gave Universal Binary powers to The Sims 2. A patch has been released that will update any previous version to 1.0 Rev D. Along with UB support in this patch is also a list of fixes that I found over at Inside Mac Games, like zooming with the Mighty Mouse scroll ball and fixing a crash when running the game on 10.4 with some NVIDIA video cards. You can grab the update at Macgamefiles.com.Also on the Sims 2 topic is a trailer Apple posted for University, a new pack that brings the college years to your Sims characters complete with a college town, partying and the obligatory pranks. The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack can be had at the Apple Store.
