The Sims 2 (Mac)

The Sims 2 (Mac)

Binding : DVD-ROM
ProductGroup : Video Games
Manufacturer : Aspyr Media
Brand : Aspyr
Label : Aspyr Media
Publisher : Aspyr Media
Model : 10880
Platform : Macintosh
Studio : Aspyr Media
ReleaseDate : 2005-06-13

List Price: USD $49.99
Lowest Used Price: USD $35.79
Lowest New Price: USD $37.90

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.

Features:

• Lifestyle simulation where you manage your Sim's dreams and fears over a lifetime
• Mix Sim genes and see physical and personality traits through the generations
• Control the camera and capture the action into mini movies
• Generate unique Sims with the new Create-A-Sim feature
• Build dream homes and design neighborhoods with new building options

Product Description
The Sims 2 is an incredible sequel to the best-selling PC game of all-time! You'll get to direct an entire Sims' lifetime, and try to get them to reach their goals in life. Will they have a long, successful and happy life - or will they end up poor and heartbroken?
Amazon.com
The Sims was one of the most popular games ever made. In it, players micromanage the lives of a family of virtual people, or Sims, and influence their paths toward success or something akin to a nervous breakdown. Its open-ended blend of cartoonish behavior and everyday living is unique in an art form otherwise obsessed with carnage and sports. With The Sims 2, longtime fans now have a deeper game with lots of ways to customize and share their experiences. The game will also attract first-timers because the goal-oriented gameplay and the luridly fun starter families make it easier to get into the action right out of the box.

Now Sims are born with the traits of their parents, families grow, and Sims grow old.

The People in Your Neighborhood
The game starts at the neighborhood level. Here you can create a housing development from scratch or start with one of three premade neighborhoods, each with its own theme. From there, you'll settle on a house and a family of Sims to control.

Create your own Sim (above) or your own house (below) from scratch with advanced tools.

Aside from the basic needs carried over from the previous game, Sims now have aspirations, wants, and fears. The wants and fears are the day-to-day things that occupy their minds, like wanting to see friends or get married and fearing death or being rejected for a kiss. Satisfy their wants, and they become more efficient at completing tasks you assign them. Realize their fears, and Sims become lethargic, cranky, and unresponsive to your commands. Aspirations are the big-picture things, like raising a family, becoming wealthy, and gaining knowledge. Succeed here and you'll be able to buy odd gifts for your Sim to improve his or her life, like a money tree that pays dividends or a "fountain of youth" water cooler.

What Else Is New?
Of course, you wouldn't be able to juggle all that if it weren't for the improved "Free Will" option, which makes it easier for Sims to fulfill their basic needs. The artificial intelligence of the game is noticeably improved; they won't turn on radios just as a family member is going to bed but, strangely, they do occasionally put their dishes on the floor.

Another big change in the series is the concept of the lifespan. Now Sims are born with the traits of their parents, families grow, and Sims grow old. Not only does this go hand in hand with aspirations (growing up is the first aspiration that a baby Sim will have), it provides a limited time with which your Sims can achieve their goals.

The Universal Control Panel helps you manage your Sim family.

A Family Affair
The Sims 2 not only lets you create just about any type of Sim in any type of family, build elaborate houses, and even create a neighborhood from scratch, but it also allows you to start the game in medias res, with premade households. These families all have backstories that are smart spoofs of soap-opera plots--lots of scheming, romance, ghosts, and family fighting. Parents of teens shouldn't worry, though, because nudity is tastefully blurred out and "woo-hoo" between Sims takes place completely under the covers. The ESRB has given this a Teen rating. If The Sims 2 were a film, it would likely land between PG and PG-13.

The makers have included some nice tools to help share the universe you've created. For example, you can capture in-game stills and video to show friends the private moments, family interactions, and house parties of your Sims. You can even package a household to share as a blog or an album on a special Web site.

The Sims 2 is for patient gamers. Like life itself, the game is filled with mundane details, like getting ready for work and doing dishes. The game also demands a level of creativity from its players that the run-and-gun game genres wouldn't know what to do with. But those who stick with it will be rewarded with an absorbing, amusing diversion and a virtual family history that they've created themselves. --Porter B. Hall

Set Up a Sims 2 Machinima Studio
Amazon.com contributor Porter Hall reveals how you can make movies using the Sims as your actors. See his guide to setting up a Sims 2 Machinima Studio.

Customer Reviews

Fun for those that like to design people, houses, and lives. (2009-03-07)
Sims 2 is a game where you can actually create a life!

You design people, choosing their personality,clothes, complete facial features [with limitless options] their wants and aspirations, and their family.

You completey design houses for your sims you create to live in. You choose if it is a Contemporary Mansion, a Royal Castle, a small Ranch House, a Beach House, even an Archetecture Masterpiece! When you are done with the design, you can go into the house and completey create the interior the way you want with hundreds, if not thousands, of options.

You can also create stores, parks, spas, officies, etc.

The best part, is that you are in control of their lives! All their aspects, like daily needs, romance, friends, school, jobs, everything. You tell them exactly what to do, or let them do whatever they want. You can make them work out, dance a solo to a sound system, watch t.v., read a book, study, kiss, hug, shop, everything.

The thing is, you have to wait a while for it to load to go to different stores and saving takes a bit more then a typical game.


Either way, I am sure that anyone with a passion to design or live virtual lives will love this game.

Should run on Intel Macs (2009-02-24)
I feel compelled to write a review because while researching the specs for this game, I found that none of the reviews here had my exact hardware/system software combo. While I ran the Aspyr Game Agent and passed the specs, I still saw that some people here had done the same and yet could not run the game. One review even distinctly tells Intel Macs owners to beware, especially those with Leopard 10.5, which is exactly what I have.

So I was apprehensive, but ultimately trusted the Game Agent, bit my tongue and bought it. And now, I am SO GLAD I DID!! I can say this much, the game is awesome, but more importantly, it works very well on my system. I also downloaded the Universal Binary patch from Aspyr.com and noticed a marked improvement in performance. Animation is consistently smooth and loading times are reasonable. In short, I am impressed, but perhaps only because these reviews lowered my expectations. I don't even have to quit other applications for it to run well.

For those with Intel Macs & Leopard, do some research into your graphics card, but on the whole you should be fine. I have a MacBook Pro, running OS X 10.5.4, 2 Ghz Intel Core Duo, with 1.5GB SDRAM and as said before, the game runs very well. I would download, use and trust the Aspyr Game Agent. Good luck!

fun game, but won't work (2009-02-24)
I bought this game a couple of months ago, and it was just as fun, if not more fun than the original sims games that I remember playing years ago. But then while studying for test and things I didn't have a chance to play it for about a month. When I went to play it again it just wouldn't open. The icon would bounce in the dock and then do nothing. So I tried to reinstall it and nothing happened. I still have no idea what do about it and having finally just given up. $40 wasted because EA games has yet to successfully put their games on macs.

Sims (2009-02-12)
The game is fun, additional game extensions would make it more fun, such as purchasing the Sims Dating or any other one, which I am planning to do.

Enjoyable game (2009-02-09)
I have always been a fan of The Sims games. I have been looking frantically for one that is compatible with my macbook. The game now has better graphic and new interplay making it even more addicting than the original! If you like to control your own world it is the perfect game!

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Product Information and Prices stored: March 26 , 2009, 01:26