Seriously, can the Sims sales go on like this forever?

[Tyjenks]

I predict that just after The SimsOnline comes out there will be enough expansions for an All Sims top Ten.


NPD's list of the top ten best-selling PC games for July 21-27:


1. Warcraft III from Vivendi Universal
2. Sims from Electronic Arts (EA)
3. Sims Vacation Expansion from EA
4. Neverwinter Nights from Infogrames
5. Backyard Baseball 2003 from Infogrames
6. Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault from EA
7. The Sims: Livin Large Expansion from EA
8. Grand Theft Auto 3 from Rockstar
9. Zoo Tycoon from Microsoft
10. Sims: Hot Date Expansion from EA

I definitely see the attraction to the game, but this type of popularity blows me away.

[Tyjenks]

Check out the top ten PC games for July 7-13, and the top twenty for June:

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2875615,00.html


Morrowind got bumped out of the top 10 pretty quickly I must say. For a game that took 4+ years to complete, Bethesda Softworks has to be very very disapointed about the sales of this game. I bet the game cost them a ton of money to produce.


(snip)


I have a feeling that Neverwinter Nights will also have a brief stay in the top 10. It's allready down to number 4 and it will probably continue to slide down further in the coming weeks. And this game took 4+ years to complete also. I'm sure it wasn't cheap.

No offense Aim, but, "I fart in your general direction, you son of a motherless goat and silly English K-Nigget."

Note: Monty Python aficianados please pardon me as I probably mangled and did not precisely quote John Cleese.

[JT]

Does anyone here play these games?

[Mike Cathcart]

Seriously. The Sims Online, Everquest 2, and Galaxies are going to be the end of civilization. The aliens at the end of AI are just going to find a planet of skeletons hunched over computers with some uneaten twinkies sitting next to them.

[Chris Floyd]

Does anyone here play these games?

What? The Sims? Of course! I'd be more surprised to hear that there are people on these boards who *haven't* played it. Personally, I think you're really missing out if you haven't at least given it a try. Is there something so distasteful about The Sims?

[Rob O'Boston]

I was over a buddy's house the other day, and his 13 year old daughter and 17 year old sister and 12 year old step son were all talking up a storm about who was going to get to play the sims that night and how their people needed a new dresser. Now that's the demographic right there: 12-17 year old boys and girls. Especially since the girls are probably only interested in the Sims and no other games. It sure beats the extreme minority of pasty white 30 year olds buying all other computer games (white is not meant to represent race here but more the lack of sun enriched bodies).

[Tyjenks]

What? The Sims? Of course! I'd be more surprised to hear that there are people on these boards who *haven't* played it. Personally, I think you're really missing out if you haven't at least given it a try. Is there something so distasteful about The Sims?
I played it for a couple of months and had my fill. I do this with many games and there are precious few I play for as long as the Sims has been out. I am not saying it is a terrible game. I am just saying that I cannot believe how many folks are just now discovering it, buying it, and keeping it so high on the sales charts. Also, the fact that these expansions (or new clothes to dress-up your dolls in, as I like to call them) add so much to the experience that all Sims owners get every expansion and keep them on the charts as well. It all boggles my mind.

Any fun I make of the Sims aids in relieving the frustration over my own lack of understanding of The Sims phenomenal popularity. Whew, that's a mouthful. :)

[Jack]

I know I'm probably an oddball about this, but I found the Sims pretty darn boring. I played it off and on for about a month and got tired of managing some cyberperson's life when managing my own takes enough effort. :-)

I truly don't understand the rabid appeal for this game. Building an interstellar empire or coaxing a civilization from stones to nukes or making a kick-ass RPG character is much more interesting than keeping Joey's hygiene level in check with his daily 45 minute shower....

[Desslock]

>know I'm probably an oddball about this, but I found the Sims pretty darn boring.

I've never played a game, which I actually installed, less than the Sims. After about an hour and a half I wanted to throw it out the window, as I was overcome with the same concern I get if I'm tricked into watching a sitcom -- that I'm compleletly and utterly wasting my time doing something pointless.

Of course, then I'll go drinking for 10 hours or spend 6 hours writing synopses of the books in Morrowind and feel so much better, heh. Different strokes, I guess.

[JT]

Is there something so distasteful about The Sims?

No, not at all. I've tried them. But after a few hours of buying furniture and turning the fake TV on and off I got a little bored. I'd just be surprised if all the geeks here were still hooked on buying hot tubs for their Sims.

[Jason McCullough]

'spend 6 hours writing synopses of the books in Morrowind'

Is there somewhere you can read the books in, well, a readable format? The in-game interface stinks, and there's no damn way I'm copying each individual one out of the editor to an HTML file.

[Desslock]

>Is there somewhere you can read the books in, well, a readable format?

I didn't mind the in-game interface. You can use the mouse wheel to scroll pages, which I don't think is documented.

[Anonymous]

I absolutely adore The Sims (so I guess I can be lumped in with Steve Bauman on this one).

No, I am not surprised that so many people are still discovering the game.

Do the math... how many households in America that own a PC? Let's say 40-50 million.

How many copies of The Sims have been sold, Maxis says 6.3 million, but that's throwing in all the add-ons, right? So since you need the original to play any of the add-ons, let's just say 3 million actual copies of the original Sims have been sold. That just means anywhere between 37-million and 47-million more households to conquor.

It's surprising, because The Sims is by far the biggest mainstream hit to hit PC gaming, but it also shows just how much more potential there is in this industry.

[Jason McCullough]

>Is there somewhere you can read the books in, well, a readable format?

I didn't mind the in-game interface. You can use the mouse wheel to scroll pages, which I don't think is documented.

Sure, it works, but there's like 10 words a page. It's icky.

[Mark Asher]

Jason, I know some site has at least some of the books in text files. I visited it.

About the Sims, count me among the non-fans.

[xahlt]

If I had to buy a computer game for anyone that it is not a gamer, with the conditions it needs to be pretty fun, pretty easy, and extremely accessible, there are only two good options I can think of: The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon. Of the two, I think the Sims is a bit easier to manage.

I completely agree that it's not surprising the game continues to sell (and Rollercoaster Tycoon for that matter).

[deanco]

RCT kicks the Sims butt, rips down their houses, and installs a go kart track in their place. Seriously, RCT is the first game in a long time which gave me the old 'I am totally addicted to this game and can't stop playing it' feeling. OK, I'm burnt out on RCT now, but the Sims never did that to me. No contest which is the better game.

DeanCo--

[xahlt]

Yeah, RCT was (is) a blast. Unfortunately, it is milked almost as hard as the Sims. I dislike how the fact that RCT2 has the exact same graphics engine and interface was couched in one preview as a move to keep players from feeling alienated. Yeah, sure, gamers hate when you improve a game engine from 1998. They get all confused by things looking pretty.