Though it seems like a lifetime ago now, cast your mind back to May 2004 and Nintendo’s E3 unveiling of its DS handheld. Though many of the doubters now deny it, the reaction was not just one of doubt – it was outright ridicule. This author lost track of the amount of times he heard the word ‘doomed’ bandied about that day.
The same too can be said of the Wii. Whether it was the controller or the name, there was hardly a soul on the planet who thought the machine was going to be a success. Yet both machines have gone on to achieve just that.
Similarly, when Will Wright’s The Sims was first shown off to publisher bosses the game was mocked, with no-one believing anyone would actually want to sit down and devote time to it. However, Wright never gave up on his idea and eight years on from The Sims’ debut the series is the most successful the PC has ever seen.
Part of the genius of Maxis and EA’s model for the franchise is in its expansions – purchasing The Sims 2 really is just the start of a gamer’s love affair. Though the standalone title on its own is enough to occupy people for an uncountable number of hours, it’s once owners get a taste of the variety on offer from the expansion packs that The Sims bug really begins to bite.
“The packs have held different appeals to all the different kinds of players of The Sims 2,” EA’s Sims marketing manager Claire Ridley tells MCV. “Our first point of contact is always the community and we ask them what additional gameplay and features are most highly desired. The Sims development team are also exceptional at delivering innovative content. For example, The Sims 2 Open for Business added new features that made the expansion stand out in its own right as innovative business management gameplay.”
When you consider the brand’s casual-orientated audience, it’s maybe no surprise to learn what the most successful expansion to date has been: “I think it’s fair to say that The Sims 2 Pets has been the most successful in terms of pure commercial success and it also delivered furry pals to the base game – which is a key feature players have been asking for since we launched The Sims 2.”
Looking specifically at Apartment Life, this latest add-on focuses on the trials and tribulations of being forced to share your living space with others. “Every expansion pack is about delivering new gameplay to The Sims 2 base game experience,” Ridley explains.
“In The Sims 2 Apartment Life, your Sims are going to be experiencing the dramas of living in an apartment and dealing with the consequences of living in close quarters with roommates. Sharing apartments means forming social networks to make new friends, advancing careers and looking for love. This new expansion pack also delivers more challenging gameplay by adding a new ‘reputation’ meter – without a good reputation it’s going to be tricky to find the right friends to achieve goals, so it’s going to be delivering a new challenge to players.”
So whilst it’s sad news for Sims 2 fans that Apartment Life will be the last expansion for the series, that news in itself could see sales of the add-on perform above expectations – and of course, the evergreen nature of the game means that any shelf sporting the complete Sims 2 range is bound to get plenty of attention.
Advertisement
