The Sims 2

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The Sims 2
Sims2 logo.jpg
The Sims 2 logo
Studio United StatesUnited States Maxis
Publisher United StatesUnited States EA Games
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 September 16, 2004
platform Game Boy Advance , Nintendo GameCube , Nintendo Wii , mobile phone , Nintendo DS , PC ( Windows , macOS )
PlayStation 2 , PSP , Xbox
genre Life simulation
Game mode Single player
control Mouse , keyboard
controller
system advantages
preconditions		 CPU : 800 MHz

RAM : 256 MB
Operating system : Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.3.8
graphics card with 32 MB memory and 3D acceleration, DirectX 8.1
hard disk space : 3.5 GB

DVD-ROM - drive with 8x speed
medium 4 CDs / 1 DVD
language German
Age rating
USK released from 0
PEGI recommended for ages 12+
PEGI recommended for ages 7+

The Sims 2 is the successor version of the computer game The Sims . It was released on September 16, 2004 by Electronic Arts and includes a new 3D graphics engine . The complexity and the realism of the game compared to the predecessor have been increased. In the first seven days after sales began, over a million copies were sold worldwide.

Gameplay

In The Sims 2 , every Sim has genes that in some ways determine their life. If two Sims have a child, mental and physical characteristics flow into the child's "creation". In addition, Sims can now go through six ages: Baby (for three days), Toddler (for four days), Child (for eight days), Teen (for 15 days), Adult (for 29 days), Senior (depending on career path) Level maximum 31 days). After the time as a senior, death inevitably follows. Sims can die in a number of ways: from illness, drowning, fire, insects, electrocution, old age, satellite crash, fright, and starvation. With each death, the Sim's ghost is a different color. In addition, you have more design options in The Sims 2 when creating new characters. Among other things, it is possible to design the Sims' head according to their ideas. For example, you can also recreate people from film and television.

There are also reward items and wishes: whenever the player grants a Sim a wish, there are reward points for which special items can be purchased. If the Sim was successful in his job and has reached a high level, there is a special job reward. These rewards can help you build your most important job skill faster.

A DVD version of the game was released in September 2006, completely replacing the CD version.

In June 2009, The Sims 3 was the sequel to the game.

In June 2014, due to the end of support for The Sims 2 , a The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection was released , which contains all previously published expansion packs and mini add-ons.

Expansion packs

Expansion packs are games that only run with the main game of The Sims 2 and add other objects such as clothing or furniture, and sometimes new ways to play. There are now eight expansion packs as well as nine accessory packs and an additional CD.

Wild campus years

(University)

The first expansion pack for The Sims 2 , released on March 10, 2005, is about the college life of the Sims. There are three new campus neighborhoods and the new, optional “young adult” stage of life as well as a large number of new objects, mainly for the campus neighborhood. There are also four new careers (artist, scientist, paranormal and show business). The player can choose whether his students live and study in their own four walls as usual or do this together with other students in the dormitory. If the students live in their own house, this can become a student union . The Sims are now rated according to their mutual influence. As new job rewards there is a Sims-Eating Cow Plant (natural science) that produces a life-extending elixir, a wire to the Grim Reaper (reward for the paranormal career), through which a Sim can either be completely revived for a lot of money medium pay can lose many skills and rise again or return as a zombie with too little money, an antique camera (artist career) and an operating table (showbiz) where you can change the face of the sims. The Sims can now also get an MP3 player , handheld or a cell phone . From now on, Sims can use their mobile phones to make calls or make calls anywhere.

Nightlife

(Nightlife)

The second expansion package was released on October 15, 2005 in Germany and Austria. In Switzerland, the extension was launched on October 10th. This expansion pack is all about the Sims nightlife. The expansion pack contains more than 125 new objects and numerous new characters. There are the new careers "fun" and "grilled cheese" and each Sim has personal "turn on and turn off" that influence their flirting behavior. Another innovation are the vampires , who can bite playable Sims from a certain friendship level. You are almost immortal. At night the needs are “frozen”, that means they cannot sink, but in daylight their needs sink very quickly and they could turn to dust if they are not quickly put in the coffin. Against vampirism you can get a healing potion from the gypsy (marriage broker). There is also a downtown area that can be individually added to any other neighborhood. Adolescent and adult Sims can buy their own cars and no longer have to rely on taxis, carpooling and school buses when they want to go to town, to work or to school.

Open for business

(Open for Business)

On March 2, 2006, the third expansion package appeared in Germany. It offers the Sims the opportunity to open stores, restaurants, and other family businesses and make money from them. You can hire people and you have to keep customers happy. Beauty salons, toy shops, electronics stores, furniture stores, bakeries, flower shops and much more are new. The expansion package contains over 125 new objects, including elevators, manufacturing workbenches, hairdressing accessories and shopping bags. In addition to services, the game also offers the function of offering almost any object for sale with a marking tool. The player can set prices. As a new playable "creature", the robot Servo, known from The Sims, is added, which can be built on the robot workbench. Other workbenches are the toy workbench or the flower workbench. The products created on it can later be sold in your shop.

Pets

(Pets)

The fourth expansion pack was released on October 19, 2006. It is available for PC and Mac (no delivery date yet) for PlayStation 2 (October 19, 2006), Nintendo GameCube (October 19, 2006), Nintendo DS (November 2, 2006) , Game Boy Advance (November 9, 2006), PlayStation Portable (December 14, 2006) and Nintendo Wii (June 20, 2007), with the console versions not appearing in the form of an expansion pack, but as a new overall game. The expansion pack is about pets. In addition to cats and dogs with personalities and relationships that roam free in the house, there are also small animals such as the so-called Happaratten (similar to guinea pigs ), birds and a new set of fish (in a new saltwater aquarium). The Sims can go for a walk with their dogs and cats in the park, teach them new tricks, play games, change the behavior of the animal through certain interactions and even send it to work, because there are three animal careers. In the animal creation mode, similar to the sim creation mode, the player can create a family with animals, build a pure animal family that can be combined with a sim family or buy animals. To take care of the animals, there are new items such as scratching posts, chewing bones, cat toys, dog houses, cat baskets and food bowls. There are also new items and a new country music radio station for the Sims. There are both stray pets for the Sims to adopt, as well as wildlife like skunks and wolves. A new being is also added to this expansion pack, the werewolf . This occurs when a Sim is bitten by a wolf. You can get the antidote for the werewolf from the animal trainer.

Four Seasons

(Seasons)

The fifth add-on under the name The Sims 2 Four Seasons was released on March 1, 2007. The Sims now experience the four seasons of spring , summer , autumn and winter . Furthermore, not only the seasons are a novelty, but also different weather conditions - from sun to rain to thunderstorms and hail. In addition, the well- known activity of growing fruit and vegetables from the “ The Sims ” expansion pack has been integrated into the game. The new creature is a kind of plant sim. This happens when a Sim works too much with pesticides. There is a new clothing point with winter clothes in the sim creation mode. In addition, you can now choose a hairstyle for each clothing category. The order in which the seasons run can be freely designed according to your own wishes. With this expansion package, there is no new partial neighborhood (as with Nightlife or Open for Business ), but a main neighborhood whose name is "Auenhausen". There are also new careers: gamer, journalist, lawyer, music, adventure and education.

Good Trip

(Bon Voyage)

The sixth expansion pack was released on September 6, 2007. The focus is on travel. There are three different travel destinations: Canada (Three Lakes), South Sea Island (Twikkii Island) or the Far East (Takemizu Village), where Sims learn different folk customs and teach them to other Sims. Plus, the Sims can now go on their honeymoon. In each of the neighborhoods there is a secret piece of land that is only visible if you find a secret map while digging. There the Sims can have special experiences if they fulfill certain tasks. The largest object is a pirate ship with a pirate spirit. This expansion pack adds the ability to buy or wear the Sims jewelry. The new creature is a bigfoot that can be encountered in the forest. There are also new objects available such as saunas, ax throwing boards and much more.

Leisure fun

(Free Time)

The seventh expansion pack was released on February 28, 2008 in Germany. It revolves around the theme of leisure activities, with the main emphasis on the subjects of art, sports, dance, music and nature. With the expansion it is possible for the Sims to play soccer and basketball, dance ballet or repair or screw together cars. For example, a number of items allow Sims to make pottery pots or to participate in dance, video game, or cooking competitions. The new “creature” is a genie in a bottle that fulfills wishes (e.g. a lot of money).

Apartment life

(Apartment Life)

The eighth and last expansion pack for The Sims 2 was released on August 28, 2008 in Germany. This extension is all about living in rental apartments, which means that several households can live in different apartments on one property and visit each other. The expansion pack also gives the player the opportunity to transform his character into a witch or a wizard, who can then influence other Sims with spells and create certain items. So-called “social groups” were also introduced into the game.

Accessory packs

The accessory packs differ mainly in terms of scope from the expansion packs. They usually include new clothes, objects, wallpaper, floors, and the like. The Christmas pack is an exception to the so-called accessory packs . It includes around 40 new items, new interactions, and NPCs .

Christmas pack

(Christmas Party Pack)

On November 18, 2005, an additional CD was released in Germany. This includes over 40 new objects with which the player can celebrate Christmas with the Sims. In addition to numerous Christmas objects, Easter and Halloween objects, as well as Santa Claus, Father's Day or the New Year's baby were added. In addition, the player can celebrate a New Year's Eve party. Production stopped on January 24, 2006. The new edition of the Christmas pack - the Christmas season accessories - appeared on November 9th with 20 new objects. The Christmas pack was thus integrated into the regular accessories pack series.

Family fun accessories

(Family Fun Stuff)

The first accessories pack was released on April 13, 2006. It includes more than 60 new objects that revolve around the family theme. The player can design the children's room in a castle or underwater style or give the whole family a uniform item of clothing.

Glamor accessories

(Glamor Life Stuff)

The second accessories pack was released on August 31, 2006. It contains over 60 new items of clothing, objects, wallpapers, floors and more in the new fashionable style for the slightly wealthier Sims.

Christmas season accessories

(Happy Holiday Stuff)

The third accessories pack was released on November 9, 2006. It contains more than 40 items from the Christmas pack and over 20 new items. The interactions and NPCs from the add-on CD are also included.

Party! Accessories

(Celebration! Stuff)

The fourth accessory pack was released on April 5, 2007. It contains many new objects and items of clothing related to celebrations.

H&M fashion accessories

(H&M Fashion Stuff)

The fifth accessories pack was released on June 6, 2007. It includes clothing from H&M . It also includes objects (including new cash registers, clothes racks, changing rooms) and construction options to open your own H&M store and employ your own Sims with the "Open for Business" expansion.

Teen style accessories

(Teen Style Stuff)

The sixth accessories pack was released on November 8, 2007. It includes, among other things, new clothes, hairstyles and furniture especially for the teenage age group in the themes of “ Goth ”, “Surfer” and “Glamor Girl”.

Kitchen and bathroom furnishing accessories

(Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff)

The seventh accessory pack was released on April 17th, 2008. It contains over 60 new objects for the kitchen and bathroom in a romantic and modern style. It includes luxurious bathrobes and designer kitchen aprons to match the theme.

IKEA home accessories

(IKEA Home Stuff)

The eighth accessories pack was released on June 26, 2008. It contains around 60 new objects for the living room, bedroom and office from the range of the Swedish furniture store IKEA . As with the original, the objects are named with neologisms , such as the “Leksvik” coffee table and the “Vänna” mirror.

Villa and garden accessories

(Mansion & Garden Stuff)

The ninth - and final - accessory pack for Sims 2 was released on November 20, 2008. It relates to the design of houses and green spaces. Three styles are proposed: Moroccan, Art Deco and Victorian .

Mini packs

Christmas time mini pack

(Happy Holiday Mini Pack)

As Christmas time accessories contain over 20 new objects for the Christmas pack , these objects were offered especially for owners of the Christmas pack as a Christmas time minipack from the former Electronic Arts download service (EA-Link). It was released on November 9, 2006 together with the accessories pack of the same name.

Bundles

As with The Sims , The Sims 2 bundles are also available .

  • The Sims 2 Holiday Edition (contains the base game and Christmas pack ; not released in Germany)
  • The Sims 2 Holiday-Edition 2006 (contains the base game and Christmas accessories ; release date: November 9, 2006, not released in Germany)
  • The Sims 2 Pets Edition (includes the base game and pets )
  • The Sims 2 Deluxe (contains the base game, nightlife and bonus CD; release date: September 27, 2007)
  • The Sims 2 Limited Edition (contains "The Sims 2 Deluxe" and the expansion pack " Gute Reise " - release in Europe not yet known)
  • The Sims 2 Deluxe Gift Edition (contains "The Sims 2 Deluxe" and teen style accessories ; not released in Germany)
  • The Sims 2: FreeTime Limited Collection (contains "The Sims 2 Deluxe" and "Leisure Fun"; Release Date February 28, 2008 - Unknown release in Europe)
  • The Sims 2: Super Deluxe (includes the base game, nightlife , party accessories and bonus CD; release date: September 11, 2008)
  • The Sims 2: Best of Business (contains Open for Business , IKEA home accessories and H&M accessories ; release date: October 3, 2009 - release not known in Europe; previously only available for download on Origin )
  • The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection (includes all expansion packs and mini add-ons; release date June 16, 2014) - With the end of support for The Sims 2 , those affected will receive a free upgrade to The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection . This must be downloaded from Origin . On July 24, 2014, EA announced that it would be making the Ultimate Edition of Sims 2 available to all Origin users free of charge, provided that they had redeemed the code for it by July 31, 2014.

Trivia

  • A modification of the game published in 2005 , by means of which the characters could be completely undressed, called on conservative moral guards, especially in the USA.
  • Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet and the comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream served as models for the "Veronaville" that occurs in the game .
  • The "Grusel" family from "Schönsichtingen" is known as the "von Spinnweb" family from The Sims . Daughter "Kassandra" has grown up and has a brother named "Alexander". "Bella Grusel", in the first part of the game series "Julia von Spinnweb", was kidnapped by aliens and can now be found as an NPC in the city of "Strange Houses".
  • A wall calendar for The Sims 2 appeared in June 2007 .
  • The first time in 2007 at the Games Convention presented official The Sims 2 magazine was discontinued after only one issue.
  • In June 2014, The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection was released , which includes all previously published expansions and mini add-ons.
  • The Ultimate Collection, published in June, was available free of charge to everyone from July 23rd to 31st, 2014. The game could be accessed via Origin via the Origin promo code "I-LOVE-THE-SIMS".

Console versions

The Sims 2 - Stranded
Studio Maxis
Publisher EA Games
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 October 25, 2007
platform Nintendo Wii , Cell Phone , Nintendo DS , PSP , PlayStation 2
genre simulation
Game mode Single player
control Controller / buttons
medium 1 DVD / 64 MB module
language German
Age rating
USK released from 0
PEGI recommended for ages 3+

The Sims 2 also appeared for various consoles.

All console versions are level-based, as is typical of the console, many objects, for example, have to be unlocked first. Apart from the first version, they also allow a free game mode on the large consoles.

Since January 2005 there has been an implementation of The Sims successor The Sims 2 for seven platforms. These include the game consoles Playstation 2, Xbox and GameCube, the handhelds GBA, NDS and PlayStation Portable as well as mobile phones . The game differs from earlier console versions not only in terms of additional features from the new PC version, but also has a more free, i.e. less level-based, game mode.

Because of the great success of the mobile version, The Sims 2 Pets were released for mobile phones in late 2006 .

music

In 2004, the German singer Jeanette Biedermann re-recorded her song Run With Me for the appearance of The Sims 2 as an acoustic version. The accompanying single also featured Jeanette Biedermann as a sim.

For the game and its expansions, recordings were made by well-known artists who re-recorded their songs in Simlisch .

  • For the expansion Open for Business (2006): Depeche Mode with Suffer Well from the album Playing the Angel and Kajagoogoo with Too Shy .

Furthermore, artists who are relatively unknown in Germany have also recorded a selection of their songs in Simlisch especially for the game.

Reviews

GameStar awarded 89 out of 100 points for the fun of the game and judged “Thanks to the system of wishes, ingenious life sim”. PC Action rated the game fun with 89%. PC Games rated the fun with 90%. The magazine praised the game that “thanks to the unique versatility, the more variable daily routines and the sheer endless play possibilities, fun is provided until you can’t go”, but criticized “minor problems with finding your way” and the “positioning of furniture”, which they consider awkward look at. On October 8, 2004 the game was awarded the German children's software award TOMMI at the Frankfurt Book Fair .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IGN - Review on Cell: The Sims 2 Mobile
  2. ↑ The Sims 2: Open for Business (PC) in the test - GameStar.de. In: gamestar.de. Retrieved October 19, 2013 (German).
  3. ↑ Game Review: The Sims 2: Apartment Living - PC Windows. (No longer available online.) In: monstersandcritics.de. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013 ; accessed on October 19, 2013 (German). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.monstersandcritics.de
  4. ↑ http://store.origin.com/store/eade/de_DE/DisplayProductDetailsPage/ThemeID.1014200/productID.144991300
  5. ↑ The Sims 2 - End of Support, Free Ultimate Collection Upgrade . In: GameStar.de . Accessed June 18, 2014 (German)
  6. ↑ Niels Held: Sims 2 for free: EA is giving away the game & all add-ons - News - CHIP . In: CHIP Online . CHIP Digital GmbH. July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ How to get the The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. (No longer available online.) In: ea.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014 ; accessed on August 17, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / help.ea.com
  8. ↑ The Sims 2 (PC) in the test - GameStar.de. In: gamestar.de. Retrieved October 19, 2013 (German).
  9. ↑ The Sims 2. (No longer available online.) In: pcaction.de. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013 ; accessed on October 19, 2013 (German). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pcaction.de
  10. ^ The Sims 2. In: pcgames.de. Retrieved October 19, 2013 (German).