The Sims

So this is my review of The Sims for PC. Just to be clear, I've had some drink so please excuse me. Just to be awkward, I'm playing it on OSX. The Sims I mean. I hate Macs but I'm stuck on one. Don't ask. The expansion packs were really good although I stopped with Superstar which I thought jumped the shark. By this point it was also clear that EA were marketing the game more towards girls/women. Its annoying because when you look at the original, its not at all feminine, despite some of the implications of a domestic game setting. I liked building houses. The sequels were better in terms of gameplay, but they didn't have the same 'feel'. I hate using such vague abstract terms but its the only way I can articulate myself in this regard. Just listen to the build music in the original's OST and then listen to the build music of the sequels and you'll know what I mean. Too bouncy and pop-ish. I liked the regular plain blue menus and straight-forward icons instead of all these crazy things wizzing around. Don't get me wrong, the sequels have more interesting mechanics, such as the 'almost-RPG' aspects that gave the game a clearer goal. I didn't play them much because by the time The Sims 2 was released, I was completely burnt out on the original and its expansion packs. I really liked Unleashed which introduced pets. I always say I hate dogs because I'm very much a cat person. When I think about it though, I really don't mind dogs at all.

I've always had at least one cat and I'm really comfortable with them as pets. With dogs, I never know what to do. They vary in size so much, they're either pseduo-cats or massive things that knock you across the room when they pass you. I also think portraying cats as villians is bullshit. Even worse is just ignoring cats like they do in The Simpsons, even though I know on the commentary most of the writing staff prefer cats over dogs. So I say I hate dogs. Despite this, I always end up being the one who pets the dogs the most whenever I go round to my friends house. I guess I don't really hate dogs, I just feel sorry for cats for having the limelight taken away from them by dogs all the time. Kind of like how the BBC treat geordies as an alien race or something.

I've lived in the North East most of my life and although I am in no way a geordie, its my home and I recognise the prejudice against them. People ask me if my home is Newcastle. Well of course it bloody is. I may have been born in London but if you ask me whats going on there right now, I don't have a clue. When I go home from York I go to Newcastle, not London. How absurd that my accent carries so many implications and stereotypes although I'd be lying if I said I didn't benefit from it. No one wants to discriminate against accents but lets not kid ourselves here, we all have our own connections with different accents, both British and foreign. Anyway, my point is that The Sims is a very fun game.

10/10