I Like: Building everything- houses, businesses, and furniture. Don't Like: Simplification. It just needed a little more content for the price. It's been a while since I picked up a game for the Wii. That's why when my wife came home with MySims, I was interested to see the Wii in use again (I've been on a GTA spree lately) but I can't say that I was as interested as I usually am when she returns with a sims expansion pack for the PC. After updating the Wii's firmware (which did little but give us an ugly clock we didn't need) we sat down and watched the intro. I was soon absorbed back into my book but my wife was soon fully engrossed in the game the way she is with the PC version. Well.. that's a bit of an overstatement, but she does enjoy it. I would look up every once in a while, especially at an exclamation of frustration or joy (which were both equally forthcoming) but couldn't watch for more than a couple minuets before finding something else to do. Even though it didn't seem terribly interesting, when the Mrs. and her friends went to get their nails done on Saturday, I took it as my chance to take a crack at the game. While it certainly wasn't anywhere near as detailed or deep as the Sims 2 on the PC, I enjoyed making my character. You get to choose only the basic elements to modify but get a crack at choosing a voice which is a first for the series. I'm still not sure if it was worth the sacrifice of choosing a sex (I guess it's based on clothes, voice, and hair) personality (unnecessary since it's the only character you control), or physical features beyond mouth, hair & eyes. Where I became absorbed however, was with the building. It was always my favorite part of the PC game but here it's completely different yet much simpler. As an observer I thought it was trifle, unsophisticated, and tedious (as you have to build everyone's house/shop with large blocks) when compared to it's PC parent. However, when you're actually putting together the blocks to build and decorate your new resident's houses', it's allot more fun than you would think. Rather than erecting and decorating segments of walls, you're given blocks to fit together in a square plot. While this is a bit limiting if you're expecting the full sims experience, I still found it very satisfying and enjoyable. You can make the buildings as big or as small, then decorate every square inch or go minimalist. The end product doesn't effect the experience in the building which remains exactly the same weather you use all the space for building blocks or only erect a small shack with a huge lawn. Building furniture is what you'll probably spend most of your time doing. When you interact with the sims in your town you only have the choice of being nice(gets you essence), mean (also gets you essence and maybe a fight), joining their activity (which is different for each character and differs from indoor to outdoor I notice), or talking. Talking to a new character will most likely involve you accepting a mission to build them something they'll need for their shop. At your workshop (situated next to your house) you are able to lay blocks onto a ghost image (or go freestyle) of the item your friend needs. There is some frustration involved when a block just won't settle where you want it to but that's usually remedied by zooming in. When your done building the item, you then need to paint/decorate it with the essences you'll find around the town. Each essence gives you a couple of complementary colors and a couple of designs so even if your friend wants a table that's all apple, you won't be stuck making a completely monotone apple-red table. Some have expressed disdain at collecting the essences but I don't quite understand why. They're quite easy to find and don't require allot of time or effort to collect weather you're shaking them from a tree, fishing for them, or digging them up. Just by exploring and playing around, I found that I usually already had the required essences when it came time to painting people's items with them. The times I was short on an essence, I usually collected it pretty quickly as the character who you're making the item for will point you in the general direction if you talk to her more. All the buildings serve to improve your town and I have to admit that it is satisfying when your town ups a star rating. More areas are opened up and more people will want to move in. While I have enjoyed myself with the game, it does deserve a good share of criticism. Primarily, like almost every new Wii game, it's just too small. I can't say short, because it could go on forever but you can max out the city's star rating pretty quickly and allot of the things which deepen and prolong the Sims 2 experience aren't there. It just doesn't give enough game for a $50 price tag. Once it settles into the $30- range, it will be well worth it but for now, it appears that the best value games are still the wiimakes. The graphics leave a bit to be desired from as well. While I appreciate the graphic style (resembling a strange combo of Mii and Lego style) the jagged and pixilated edges are a little too apparent sometimes. We know from other Wii games that it could've been a bit smoother. So, what am I trying to say here? If you really like the sims (but don't get too wrapped up in cultivating families and their stories) you're going to enjoy this game. Yes it's a Saturday Morning version of the Sims but it still retains enough elements to keep it fun. You may want a Saturday Morning version of the game if you often find yourself in a moment where you want to play Sims but you only have a half hour. Is it ever as satisfying as the PC Sims? No. But it's certainly something that'll put a smile on your face. You just might want to wait until the price drops.
I used to have the original Sims, and all the expansions on my Mac. I spent 95% of the time I played that game building the worlds. I didn't care much about keeping my Sims happy, that's what hacks were for. Give me t... Read Full Review
At first, I thought the game would look a little too childish for me. But I decided to pick it up just for kicks, and I couldn't put it down. The graphics are pretty smooth, except when it has to load lots of informat... Read Full Review
