The truth is I spend most of my leisure time playing with my computer, my favourite genders are Strategy and the one named Rising -empires (Caesar, Cleopatra, Zeus), dictatorial states (Tropic) -but with no doubt one of my favourites is a so-called social simulator, The Sims, and its extensions; Livin' Large and House Party.

Eminent psychologists announced that an excessive addiction can induce the disconnection between the individual and his enviroment among other things, which sounds like the typical crude foolishness found at the Mass Media when role-playing games or manga are mentioned. But what these psychologists have not seen are the awesome virtues contributed by this game. Let's see what to do with all that restrained rage against that teacher who has prevented you from passing the last subject you have left to become a graduate...Easy! You create a character with all his characteristics together with some insignificant details of your own, such as you didn't buy him a freezer, so he will starve to death, or if you prefer create it with absolutely no taste for cleanliness and make him live happily surrounded by garbage. :-)

The possibilities are multiple, especially of revenge... If you have played the game you will have realized that a great amount of time is spent building and decorating the house of your dreams for your sims. The quantity of furnishing, kinds of floors, wallpapers and decorative stuff, make this a very entertaining task. Each new game extension includes dozens of new decorative objects, many of them created by game players and that can be located at websites such as www.thesimsresource.com. Regarding this, The Sims proves to be a good program for design of interiors, how would that fuchsia wallpaper you saw combine with a zebra-skin moquette...? Check it playing.

NOVELTY

The Sims (V): Unleashed

When we weren't still recovered from our vacations, Maxis releases the fifth extension for The Sims. After the different extensions, making friends was becoming more and more complicated, so Maxis' developers decided to take pity of the players. What's the easiest way of getting a loyal friend who will never abandon you? Exactly. Buying a pet. Because this new version is just about that; the sims have pets, and not only dogs and cats but also parrots, monkeys in addition to the existing fishes and rabbits. But taking care of a pet is not easy because as the title goes these little friends are unleashed and if you are not careful they can tear your house to pieces. So take good care of them, buy them toys and special food at the new pet shops, and if they behave badly send them to the pet trainer to be trained.

Also five new profesional careers have been added to this version; animal care, fashion, cooking, education and the more interesting, the world of circus.

EXTENSIONS

The Sims (IV): Vacation

The fourth expansion for the social simulation game developed by EA Games arrived. If enjoying your sims buying, eating or binding together in town wasn't enough, now you can take them on vacations. To their neighbourhood has arrived the wonderful Vacation Island where they will be able to choose among exotic beaches, deep forests or spend some time at one of the ski stations. Each one of these new settings introduces unique activities, such as playing volley or throwing snowballs, going in for archery.... The only problem is that like in the real life, this holidays can ruin you if it last too long. Don't forget to send a postcard to your friends while you are out, and above all buy them some picturesque souvenir from your holidays, when you go home you can give it to them as a present or keep it and place it in a shelf at home. Let everybody know you went on vacations...

One piece of advice, in case you travel with children you must be careful with their behaviour because they tend to lose control slightly... and that can get you in trouble...

The Sims (III): Hot date

After some delay the new update for The Sims; Hot Date, was finally released in the Spanish market, with the novelty that the characters can go into downtown where they will find shops, restaurants and new places for binding together. Your sims not only can take a stroll through their neighbourhood -or one of the six new neighbourhoods available, but also travel to downtown. Really, each neighbourhood -now ten of them- has its own piece of downtown to be built as you prefer. You can create shops, restaurants, gardens, swimming pools and beaches. All these new places support interactivity and allow a great deal of new activities such as buying clothes, complements or magazines.

The aim of the game is, like life itself, finding love :-) Really, the character interactions are much more complex, making friends turns out to be very difficult and costly, but with no doubt it is an interesting challenge. To go to downtown you just have to call a cab and choose your destiny. That easy. Subway hasn't arrived to The Sims yet.

The Future

The Sims on-line

It will be in this year when the new on-line version of this game will be available, thousands of participants at the same time.;-). Here you are some screen captures in advance.

More information at: http://thesimsonline.ea.com/home/

The Sims for Play Station 2

And the game, as usual, changes platform and goes over to PS2. The main news, to be able to play with 3D characters and sets, and the multiplayer option, allowing more interactivity.