April 2001 News Archive

Thursday's update at TheSims.com was the "Camfire Haunts" comic strip, in which "two party hosts improve their storytelling skills and stir up the dead".

Sound spooky? Judge for yourself by clicking here to check out the comic strip.

End-of-the-month releases like Black & White, House Party, and Tribes 2 can't shake the virtual-life game out of the top slot on the monthly list of best-selling games.

I could not state any better than the above quote that The Sims and it's expansion packs are still the dominating top-selling charts of the gaming industry.

The top-selling games of the month of March are as follows:

1. The Sims
2. The Sims: Livin' Large
3. Roller Coaster Tycoon
4. Black & White
5. NASCAR Racing 4
6. Diablo II
7. Hoyle Casino 2001
8. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
9. Command & Conquer Red Alert 2
10. The Sims: House Party
11. Tribes 2
12. Roller Coaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes
13. Sim Theme Park
14. Age of Empires II: The Conqueres Expansion
15. Half-Life: Counter-Strike
16. Combat Flight Simulator 2
17. EverQuest: Ruins of Kunark
18. SimCIty 3000 Unlimited
19. Who Wants To Be A Millionare 2nd Edition
20. Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition

The top three games hold the same places as they did last month. Tribes 2, TheSims HouseParty, and Black & White are totally new on this list.

The following is another best-selling list, this time covering the week of April 8 to April 4. TheSims HouseParty is in 1st place, as it was last week. Here's the list for the best-selling games from April 8-14:

1. The Sims: House Party
2. Black & White
3. The Sims
4. Tribes 2
5. The Sims: Livin Large
6. Roller Coaster Tycoon
7. Lego Island 2
8. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
9. Road Thrills
10. Command & Conquer Red Alert 2

You can get a clearer, more descriptive picture of these list over at GameSpot , by clicking here .

"Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's $29.99!"

Game Revolution has a new review o HouseParty, giving the game a B-. The reviewer was shocked to see how incomplete the furniture themes were.

Here are some of the pros and cons of HouseParty that the review gave:

+ Cool new party items
+ New styles of music and dance
+ Rap in Sim jargon
- Incomplete furniture themes
- Big, expensive and impractical items
- $29???!!! It's just an expansion!!!

The following is a quote from the review:

"All in all, there are a few wonderful new items added to enhance the lives of us Sims, but they're novelties rather than staples and they won't exponentially increase your Sim's appreciation for their environment or your appreciation for the game - and for $29, it should. If the content of Livin' Large and House Party were combined, the price would seem far less steep. If you're a faithful Sim fanatic who has run out and bought each release in new condition, this expansion tips the scale to over $100 just for software - no guidebook of any note, no mug, no tee shirt, no decoder ring. But then again, as long as you folks stay hooked on this unique title, we Sims will never lack for tacky furnishings and disco will never die. "

You can check out the review for yourself by clicking
here.

"Party hearty should be the motto of House Party, The Sims' second expansion pack."

A HouseParty review at the Dallas Morning News gives the game three and a half stars. The following is a quote from the review:

"With House Party, the materialistic Sims get new decors such as rustic Western or disco for entertaining in their homes and new objects to make bashes a success."

Below is a list of the top-selling games for the week ending April 7, 2001. The Sims House Party is now first, and The Sims has has been replaced with Tribes 2.

1. The Sims: House Party
2. Black & White
3. Tribes 2
4. The Sims
5. The Sims: Livin' Large
6. Roller Coaster Tycoon
7. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
8. Diablo II
9. Half-Life: Game Of The Year Edition
10. NASCAR Racing 4

You can find a much more in-depth article about PC DATA by clicking here.

Posted on April 16th, 2001 by an author named "Jar0d", a new article at Stategy Planet is about how the author loved Simcity 2000, and we he liked it. It shows the "Classic Simcity Story" of somebody that is addicted to Simcity:-), and the great features that Simcity 2000 has. You can find the article here.

Tim Gowa posted a thread over at the SC3000.com Forums to inform people of a petition that Kevin B. (aka Lokey) has prepared for submission to Maxis and Electronic Arts.

The purpose of his petition is to convince Maxis and EA to return their focus to SimCity 3000, the SimCity series and its large fan community, which many believe have been neglected since the release of The Sims in 1999.

At last check the petition has received over 45 signatures, and gains many new signatures each day. If you agree that Maxis should be putting more energy into maintaining the SimCity series and its community, you can take a look at the petition for yourself, and sign your name.

Click here to see the petition.

Jeremy Mikola of Simz Online has decided to call it quits after nearly three excellent years of running a truly amazing website. He explains that he has chosen to close Simz Online for personal reasons, and that no one else is responsible for the decision.

He explains:

I've merely grown tired of this hobby, and it would hardly be responsible to continue investing time into this website while disregarding more important matters. This was neither a painless decision, nor was it something not given significant thought. In fact, I had been considering leaving for a few months prior to April.

Jerm extends his thanks to all that have supported his site, and suggests some other sites in the community that he feels deserve recognition.

You can read Jerm's full letter by clicking here.

The community will truly miss this great site which always kept us up-to-date on news, and offered us content of the highest possible caliber. I wish Jerm good luck in whatever he decides to do next.

Jerm of Simz Online has announced the possibility of hosting problems that could cause a temporary or perhaps even long-term shut down of the site. He is currently involved in a dispute in which he is trying to get the popup advertisements that annoy both visitors and himself removed, as well as to obtain ownership of his domain names, which early on, were placed under the ownership of his host, rather than himself.

SimPage.net is prepared to offer full coverage of this tricky situation as it develops, should Simz Online be placed out of service for a few days.

Bil Simser officially released version 1.0.0 of blueprint on Sunday. This version can export single-tile objects, and reportedly works fine with House Party. The FAR compilier has now been integrated into the application, allowing you to generate FAR files for use within the game. Future plans will include the addition of SimExplorer, an object browser.

Bil promises to work on some blueprint tutorials over the coming days to explain how to use some of blueprint's features.

The 1.36 MB installer can be downloaded here.

The latest PC data stats are basically unchanged. Maxis holds slots one and two again with The Sims and Livin' Large respectively. No other Maxis titles are currently in the top ten. Here's a look at the list:

1 The Sims
2 The Sims Livin Large Expansion Pack
3 MP Roller Coaster Tycoon
4 Hoyle Casino 2001
5 Diablo 2
6 Sierra Sports: NASCAR Racing 4
7 Microsoft Age Of Empires II: Age of Kings
8 MP Roller Coaster Tycoon Loopy Landscapes
9 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
10 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood Of Steel