The Sims Online

"It's about nothing." --George Costanza, Seinfeld

Rarely has a game had so much hype: the cover of a national newsweekly, articles in every newspaper from L.A. to New York, comments that The Sims Online--or TSO for short--will save PC games from console-game encroachment. The Sims earned such attention because the concept was brilliant. The Sims was less a game and more a fun software toy, with no way to win. The Sims Online follows the same formula. Unlike other online games, TSO was specifically designed to not have traditional rewards such as gold, power, or magic items. There are no levels to attain, or princesses to rescue. Instead, players take joy in little victories--maybe your Sim cooperates with others, and all four of you manage to bake a pizza without burning it and then sell it. Or maybe you throw a party, and all the cool kids show up and have a good time. The core reward for playing the game is nothing... nothing more or less than the joy of playing.

Unlike the original Sims, where you created a number of Sims and controlled them all as a god, in TSO you create and control only one Sim at a time. This is a significant change, as you can't direct one Sim to perform a time-consuming task and then switch to another Sim until the task is complete. Instead, if you want your Sim to do anything in the game, you have to watch him do it in tedious real time (the fast-forward button, so vital in the original Sims, is gone). For example: when your Sim is sleeping, you have to sit and watch him sleep for the five minutes it takes him to refresh. This real-time aspect is excruciating. The game designers probably thought that a group of ten people, while watching their Sims work out in an exercise room together, would alleviate the boredom of watching Sims pump virtual iron by striking up a conversation (the chat aspect gets a lot of comment from TSO designer Will Wright). The problem is that unlike a chat room, where a topic or passion is already shared by everyone in the room, the only thing a player has in common with other folks in TSO is that everyone is watching their Sims power up. Such basic commonality doesn't spark quality conversation. The best you can hope for is some idiot inevitably commenting "nice grunt" or making some other silly sexual innuendo (often with *%$^@*# fake words generated by the much-needed obscenity filter).

If you're willing to put in the time, there's still the issue of paying month-by-month to access your Sim. For this reason, word of mouth, which caused The Sims to rocket from obscurity to the Best-Selling PC Game of All Time, is working against TSO. Casual game players loudly criticize the idea of paying for both a game and a game service, despite the fact that many of these same players are comfortable shelling out hundreds of dollars for cable, magazines, TiVo, and other monthly subscription-based entertainment services. The overall trend toward pay-per-month-of-play service is generally accepted by the hardcore gamers who play dynamic online adventure games like EverQuest, where gamers can see their monthly tribute at work in the form of fancy new spells and labyrinths. But TSO is a quietly suburban diversion for mostly casual gamers, filled with objects that are mundane by design. In TSO, you putter, you work out, you chat with others in the real world via your avatars. To put it another way: you live a slightly zanier version of everyday life, and frankly, that costs a lot already.

TSO still has the core elements that made the first game a classic: obsession with the minutiae of daily life, amusing content from the game designers, and the mind-bending thing that happens when you've been playing too long--that the real world starts to look exactly like The Sims. (Couch shopping caused that surreal "Is it Sims, or is it real?" experience for a friend.) TSO may still prove to be the Goliath the media predicted it would be thanks to the nature of ever-changing online games. Ironically, the monthly fees that bother so many new TSO players will pay for the improvements those same players crave. For example, EA plans to release new functionality that will allow players to design clothes and objects (a big hit with players of the original Sims).

TSO is fluid, and the game reviewed as it is at launch may be very different from TSO in a year, when the designers are able to respond to player requests. Even until that time, there are good things about this game. When your character is "greened up," dressed in disco finery and looking to hit it lucky with the dice, TSO can be a blast. But the tidal wave of hype may have done more harm than good for a game that has a simple, Seinfeldish heart. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Pros:

• Gameplay similar to The Sims
• Wide variety of social interactions, including a deep menu of dance moves
• Persistent online world lets you share the Sims experience with others

Cons:

• Lack of fast-forward feature is a drag
• At launch, too few in-game money-making opportunities
• At launch, game world seems empty--there's not enough to do
• Players of The Sims, used to easy money through cheat codes, may balk at having to actually work for in-game cash

The Sims experience explodes to a new level of fun with the added features that Sims fans crave and the endless imagination of you and your friends. Experience a whole new life of enhanced power, wealth and reputation as you create your dream home, build your own business or throw the most outrageous parties. The random behavior of your favorite characters, including pets, maids and gardeners, adds comedic mischief and unpredictability to The Sims Online. And, for the first time ever, your Sims embark on a whole new venture of employment which includes fun and entertaining mini-games to earn money, achieve status and strengthen the Sims community. This vast online world just got even bigger and better.

Current Features

• Unique Characters: Create your own unique Sim by choosing from litteraly hundreds of characteristics.
• Homes and Business: Build a home, a shop, a dance club or whatever you imagine in this fascinating online world.
• New Friends: Make friends as you design houses, neighborhoods, businesses, museums and more.
• Never-ending Entertainment: Experience new happenings everyday as the players control the outcome of the game.
• Secure Trading: For the entrepreneurs at heart. Trade or sell objects with other players to find the ultimate bargain or top off your crazy flamingo collection.
• Casino Objects: Feeling lucky? Manage your own casino, while guests hit the slot machines or roulette table.
• Clothing Racks: Ready to wear! These clothing racks provide a new look and feel for your Sims… everything from swimwear to formal wear. Get ready to shop till you drop!
• Death: Spook. Possess. Mourn. Revive. Yes, it’s now possible for your Sims to die! But a Sims sort of death: whimsical and fun while still being a little, well, morbid.

• Jobs: Working has never been so fun! Get paid as your Sims work in unique new jobs designed as mini-games. Choose to be a Waiter, Robot technician, DJ and more.
• Pets: It’s raining cats and dogs! These favorites and more from The Sims create a new level of mischievous behavior!
• Service Characters: Need help around the house? Just hire some maids, gardeners and repairmen!
• No Credit Card Required!