The casual/core dichotomy has existed for ages, but only recently has the premise become so pronounced as to become cliche. Before games like Wii Fit had Nintendo rolling in coin like Scrooge McDuck, there were a number of games that catered to the casual set that were arguably more hardcore than first imagined. For example, MYST looked and played like a mouse tutorial for octogenarians, but contained a great many innovations in narrative delivery that grandpa probably wasn’t patient enough to explore. The mixture between casual-appeal and core-longevity thrust MYST’s sales into the stratosphere, making it the top selling PC game of all time [DOT][DOT][DOT]
Until The Sims came along and dethroned it late in the year 2000.
I don’t need to introduce The Sims to you. If you can work a computer, you’ve played this game. What I feel I do need to justify is my complete adoration for the series.
I admit, it got off to a rocky start, especially if you’re trying to justify it as a game. It had many complex facets, but nothing like the interrelated systems of something like Sim City (which, if you own an iPhone and don’t have Sim City for it, you should be flogged in the street by a Residential zone). As a game that utilized my new (at the time) computer’s hardware, it was an entertaining enough distraction until I re-discovered Team Fortress Classic. There just wasn’t an awful lot of meat, you created a family and hoped some disaster would come along so you could clean up the mess.
The Sims 2 is where things got very interesting for me. I arrived late to the party, getting the game on discount after upgrading my PC in late 2004. That upgrade was worth it, though, because the new game saw a great technical and aesthetic overhaul from the previous entry. The Aspiration system gave the game some replay value as I sought to dabble in all of the different personalities I could create, from the loveable lech to the scheming mad scientist. There were goals to work toward, and plenty to see, and in general the game was worth my time and money.
As per usual, EA released a deluge of expansions for their cash cow franchise, many of which I saw fit to invest in. Up until Pets, a purchase I thoroughly regret, each expansion added many new activities to pursue. University took the sims to college, Night Life took them clubbing, and Open For Business (my favorite) let me create a small business assembling helper bots.
All said, I’ve invested a good amount of time in the series, which makes it logical that I would be anticipating The Sims 3 with bated breath. In fact, I was crestfallen when the game was delayed.
After reading a preview, the threequel seems to be getting several things right, like making the Sims more autonomous with their needs. No more pissing your pants in front of your boss, which for some people (NOT ME) might hit a little too close to home. It also makes the entire neighborhood seamless, eliminating the prohibitive loading screens which made the town centers feel about a million miles away. Most of all, it takes the Aspiration system from 2 and completely goes nuts with it, allowing you to assign lofty life goals to your avatars and gain tangible rewards for pursuing them.
What excites me about all of this is the possibility for (cliche ahoy) emergent situations. The game will let me follow a ladder directly into the depths of human depravity as I create cleptomaniac sims who mooch off of their neighbors and engage in illicit acts with their spouses or pets. Or I can go to great lengths to recreate the town of Twin Peaks and re-enact the entire series note-for-note. The series helped make mainstream the idea of customizing your game experience, and I can foresee myself getting lost in it all over again come June 2.
So, you know my dirty little secret. I like the Sims, and could be called “part of the problem” for continuing to feed my money to the beast. But, I’ve got no regrets about it because it feels like time well-spent.
As a postscript to this gargantuan writeup, I have to mention that the alternate title for this post could be “The Only Thing a 21 Year Old Male Has In Common With a 14-Year-Old-Girl.”
Preview: Sims 3 [Via Destructoid]
Thanks to your recommendation, I now enjoy the pleasures of SimCity for the iPod touch. This does nothing, however, to break the trend I set when I played the PC versions of the game: specifically, my complete inability to run a city in a way that does not lose money.
(Perhaps I should not admit this publicly. Opponents of my radio show will use this as evidence against my views on city of Cincinnati issues.)