I've written my fair share of intros which begin something along the lines of: "The Sims, eh? They've been bowling, out on hot dates, on holiday, on stage, to university, now they're off to [insert yet another usually mundane life event here]". Obviously I usually try to make them sound a bit better than that. It's my enthusiasm. I just can't help it.
It seems I'm going need to keep trying to express my surprise at the announcements of new Sims spin-offs for a while longer, though. Today, it's the turn of The Sims 2 Apartment – which follows Castaway and Life Stories in offering a bit of a subtle tweak on a standard Sims game.
In this one's case, that's done by imprisoning your Sims in a flat. The Sims 2 Apartment Pets for DS, EA says, will bring close quarters apartment living to your Sims. Which just sounds like we've gone full circle back to the original Sims when they couldn't go off to the park or the local nightclub whenever they felt like it, although to be fair there are some differences.
Namely that downstairs from your apartment is a pet spa, where you'll be spending time looking after a variety of different animals. In exchange for caring for the neighbourhood's array of birds, cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits and even snakes, you'll be rewarded Simoleans which can then be spent on pet accessories such as hats and shoes and furniture for your living space.
In addition, the game features different mini-games to play – including a snake charming affair where you blow into the DS microphone to play the musical pipe.
The Sims 2 Apartment Pets will be exclusive to DS, but there is a PC game, The Sims 2 Apartment Life, also in the making, which suggests potential further instalments in this sub-series. The game is out on August 22nd.
