The Sims 2: FreeTime

Monday, December 10, 2007

Ok when I accidentally stumbled onto EA’s website this morning, (totally by accident mind you, redirected from another site I was on) I noticed the latest expansion pack to one of our favourite PC games, The Sims 2 FreeTime. Now what got me super excited is that yesterday, while playing The Sims 2: Bon Voyage , for almost a full weekend too, I turned to my beloved better half and said that I have the perfect idea for a new expansion.

My idea was for extra activities, for kids as well as grown ups. I mean, kids normally have a hectic schedule, lots of after school activities, they could make one expansion with lots of different activities, objects and interactions, I mean after all, that’s what the Sims fans are after. I was thinking activities like ballet or pottery. And how about competitions? I mean our kids like to compete don’t they? Sports. Science fairs. Baby pageants. Spelling bees.

Lo and behold, I stumble across the latest Sims expansion pack not 12 hours after I daydream about this would be expansion I had thought of, I discover that the next expansion for our beloved Sims is being released next Spring and it’s called The Sims 2 FreeTime.

The Sims 2 FreeTime is basically new activities for you Sims. These activities are fun though, as well as rewarding. These new Sims hobbies award skill points, just like with the current fishing, gardening, sales, etc. and there are lifetime rewards available too, unlocking new aspirations and even secret lots. The secret lot idea, which EA started with The Sims 2: Bon Voyage , is actually a clever idea, if at first you don’t find it, it sure will make a nice little surprise a couple of months into the game, if you think you’ve seen it all.

As you start to excel in your chosen Sims hobbie or activity, you can even enter competitions. And what I really like is how these hobbies are all group activities and they’ve even added a few for toddlers, so now your whole Sims family can join in on the fun. From sports, like football and basketball to music and dance, like the violin and ballet, there’s also building train sets, restoring cars, pottery, making teddy bears, searching for alien life in outer space… I just hope they pack as much into this latest Sims 2 expansion pack as I’m hoping.

The arts and crafts bit is quite interesting, as you can actually make things which Sims use in their day to day lives, like pottery or even the teddy bears. Oh and another part of Sims which I love is the little Sims moments, like the first kiss, first woohoo, births, etc. You can expect some unexpected moments with The Sims 2 FreeTime as they go about pursuing their hobbies and passions. A few examples; go hiking and get poison ivy, create a lopsided jar while using the pottery wheel, sew a bear with only one eye. Oh yes, I predict many fun hours with this new expansion.

So now it’s left to us to wait it out… good grief, when the heck is spring anyway? I’m sure gona be counting the days. Odd isn’t it, when a grown up can be as excited for a new game as any kid. I suppose Will Wright is to blame… well no, to thank, most definitely to thank, for creating such a marvel. When I was 9 years old (ok now this was many, many years ago) I remember playing a dumb arcade machine and thinking how nice it would be if there was a video game where you just had to control a little person, build their house, take them to work and make sure that they’re fed, clean and happy. I was obviously terribly excited when years later, I discovered the Sims 1. I remember playing it at work, while my boss was out, which thankfully was a lot.

Now of course, it’s a little more tricky, my current PC, a monster of a machine it may be, is starting to give serious problems in the performance department, when it comes to Sims. While on my little excited rant about the expansion I think should come out next, I mentioned that I’ll definitely need an upgrade first, I doubt she’ll be able to take another expansion and even so, it needs to run 100% smoothly, such an awesome Sims creation, not just barely

C’mon maxis speed it up, these month long teasers are enough to drive any one person nuts I remember just after the release of Sims 2, I actually sat and daydreamed of another Sims 2 expansion, one which involved your Sim actually owning a business, whereby they use the money earned as income, instead of going to work each day. I was thinking something like Sims 2 Entrepreneur or something. Yeah, full of excitement I was, when I read about Sims 2: Open for Business that year!

I have a few more ideas, floating about, one in particular, which I’m thinking of blogging about, maybe tomorrow

Happy Shopping!