I know, it sounds wacky, but EA is considering taking The Sims… Online.
A senior executive at Electronic Arts (EA), the company which owns the Sims franchise, said that in light of the popularity of virtual worlds and other computer games which allow players to compete with each other via the web, the Sims may soon become a multi-player game.
In other news, EA’s DICE subsidiary also considering making the Battlefield franchise playable over the Internet.
#1 by Merlyn on July 2nd, 2008
….Did we just step through a time warp?
I could’ve sworn there was a game called “The Sims Online” that EA just closed recently.
#2 by JuJutsu on July 2nd, 2008
/scratch head
#3 by David McGraw on July 2nd, 2008
Ehhhh… Yeah, exactly Merlyn… And the last time I checked, they’re shutting it down, like, right after they renamed the entire thing to EA-Land. O_o
#4 by Merkwurdigliebe on July 2nd, 2008
I really, really miss the old EA of The Bard’s Tale era.
#5 by Ogrebears on July 2nd, 2008
Well i think what there doing is trying a different model. The first sim’s online was a pay monthly model and that didn’t work well at all.
I think what there going to end up doing is following more of a Second Life, or a lot of the other free online games that have poped up. It is free to play online, but you have to pay for thing in game.
#6 by Horse on July 2nd, 2008
The larger point is that most technology news largely consists of the reprinting of press-releases, with little critical analysis taking place.
#7 by D-0ne on July 2nd, 2008
EA is evil. That explains a lot, really.
#8 by Vetarnias on July 3rd, 2008
What puzzles me most is that the Times reporter seems to have written it all down without batting an eyelid.
As for EA, though displaying such selective memory is perhaps par for the course for them, how could they not expect that some of their Sims Online subscribers would come forward and remind everyone of the existence of the previous game despite an awkward name change? Especially since those subscribers are all but putting the blame for the failure of The Sims Online on EA’s dropping the ball a few years ago?
Frankly I have never quite understood the appeal of that franchise. Though I loved the SimCity titles, The Sims always looked to me as little more than an unhealthy amount of Generation-X self-indulgence blended with a touch of nineteen-fifties middle-class consumerism (mostly evoked by the soundtrack of the original game), and with as little sociological depth as your average reality show, featuring vacuous, one-dimensional people living vacuous, one-dimensional lives. Based on that premise, the MMO version sounded like more of the same, just exponentially worse.
Until Second Life came about, I was convinced that the model of trying to replicate reality was doomed to failure for lack of escapism; no real-life Army private would want to join an MMO set in the army just to discover that his only task involves peeling virtual potatoes. As for socializing, there are probably better venues.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if EA failed a second time?
#9 by Brian 'Psychochild' Green on July 3rd, 2008
I think The Sims online game could sell 1M+ units! Alert Newsweek!
#10 by Laag on July 3rd, 2008
Electronic Arts (EA) Q2 2000 Quarterly Report, filed 8/14/2000
Form 10-Q, Securities and Exchange Commission
“We Have Very Limited Experience with Online Games and May Not Be Able To Operate This Business Effectively”
#11 by Robert on July 3rd, 2008
I can’t believe that an the author actually wrote in the article: “To date The Sims has been a single-player game, meaning that players cannot meet and interact with one another ‘in game’”
This means he has such low journalistic integrity as to having done no research on the article (*cough* corporate puppet marketing release *cough*) subject matter at all.
To the author of the article: This isn’t a school paper, it’s your freaking job.
#12 by pharniel on July 3rd, 2008
yup. more classic people getting a check and not doing any work.
#13 by VPellen on July 3rd, 2008
*tilts head, looks confused*
#14 by Ryan Shwayder on July 3rd, 2008
If The Sims Online had not already been canceled… twice… this would be BIG news.
#15 by Baroo on July 3rd, 2008
Someone linked to this rather informative article on /. the other day discussing the role of PR firms and their influence on the media… http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html
#16 by rbtroj on July 3rd, 2008
’bout time!
#17 by TPRJones on July 4th, 2008
Oh, no, you have it all wrong! There is no Sims Online, there never has been a Sims Online. The closest thing there was to Sims Online was EA-Land. I know this is true because the Records Department of their Ministry of Truth told me so.
This is a fresh and new idea that has never been tried before!
#18 by jason on July 7th, 2008
I suspect this will be an online version of The Sims 2, as opposed to the original The Sims Online which was an online version of The Sims. So this game is not a sequel to The Sims Online, which would have been called The Sims Online 2, but instead is an online version of The Sims 2, which should be called The Sims 2 Online. This is not confusing at all.
#19 by Slyfeind on July 7th, 2008
Why didn’t anyone think of this before? All you haters are just jealous. This is going to be great!