The MySims (Wii, 2007)

MySims for Wii plays and looks less like a typical Sims game and much more like Nintendo's own Animal Crossing, which may be a good or bad thing depending on what you hope to get out of the game. If you're looking for a title with a cute, colorful style and with a constant stream of structured missions to complete, not to mention an addictive construction component, you may really enjoy what EA's new Wii-exclusive effort has to offer. But if you come to MySims seeking the social experience of a traditional Sims project or the bulk of community management tasks these games encapsulate, you will leave town unsatisfied.

The objective of MySims is simple. You, as a handy builder, are tasked with the challenge of restoring a zero-star town to its former five-star rating. To do that, you'll need to construct houses and buildings, interact with the townsfolk to take on new assignments, search of essences, and more.

EA very clearly wanted to create a streamlined, easily accessible version of The Sims with its Wii endeavor, and for the most part it has. Take, for example, how quickly and hassle-free you can create your Sim, name your town, and begin. Using the Wii remote, you merely point to an on-screen character model, choosing face and hair types in addition to various outfits, and tap a button to cycle between a robust selection. It can be done in a matter of seconds, not minutes or hours, and anybody will be able to pick it up. The intuitive means in which MySims utilizes the Wii remote carries over into the game itself, whether you're interacting with the environment or building objects.

At the same time, from the moment you delve into the character creation process, you will be left wanting more. You can't individually tweak or customize facial eyes, noses, or mouths, for example - you can only select a full set. By comparison, Nintendo's notoriously simple Mii creator is deeper, which is disappointing. Limitations like these are noticeable throughout the experience and they clash with the very nature of the franchise, which has flourished in part because of its depth.

We prefer to think of MySims is an enjoyable, if slightly flawed alternative to the Animal Crossing franchise. Once you create your character and enter the town, you meet up with a variety of people, all of whom have unique issues and problems that they (naturally) require you to fix. You might be called upon to construct a restaurant for an Italian pizza chef or a dance club for a DJ, or maybe you'll need to build a bed and other furniture for another Sim. These tasks are satisfying to perform because the process is uncomplicated and straightforward. You merely collect the correct essences and then go to your workshop to design and fabricate the objects.

Using the Wii remote to customize and construct items feels very good because you can very easily grab and rotate building blocks with the device and then point and click to add a wide assortment of essence colors and patterns. While you're given a basic 3D blueprint for every item that you construct, you're also free to add to the design and give your creations your own style. We really liked to add nonfunctional, but nevertheless interesting exhaust pipes to everything we created, be it a refrigerator or a podium. You may prefer to paint all of your creations in a flower pattern. The game is designed so that you have that freedom, which is great. Likewise, portions of the town are surprisingly customizable.

As a huge fan of Simulation games, I couldn't resist diving into the Wii's attempt at a Sims genre. While it has some very unique aspects, it turns out to be a very simplified version of other classic Sims game...

+++ POSITIVES +++

+ Cute graphics - the super-deformed characters are a unique twist to the Sims genre than the human-like characters we're used to.

+ Lots To Do - Make no mistake, you'll be busy in this game. People are always asking you to perform tasks for them and to help spruce up the town. At any given time, you could have half-a-dozen things to do.

+ Lots To Discover - At first, it seems that the limits of the town will quickly bore you, but as the game advances, LOTS of areas unlock for you to explore and discover! A great incentive to keep playing!

+ Laid Back - One thing that I didn't like in previous Sims games was time constraints. In My Sims, several days can elapse with no consequences. Your Sim doesn't need to eat or sleep, which allows you to go at your own pace. This is nice if you need to set the controller down to go do something else and come back several minutes later.

--- NEGATIVES ---

- Slow Loading Time - This is my biggest pet peeve of the game. Just moving from inside to outside, you'll wait anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds for it to reload. It felt like waiting for Sims 2 on my slow PC computer.

- Numerous Glitches - There are several spots in the game where the animations will stall or skip frames, making it appear choppy. C'mon this is supposed to be an advanced gaming system which should avoid things like that (and the slow loading time)!

- Limited Dialogue - While the graphics may seem Animal Crossing-esque, there is typically only a few lines that any one person will converse with you. Fortunately, there are lots of chracters, so this isn't much of a problem, at first.

- Critical Sims Themes Missing - Part of the fun was to try and juggle the many things of your Sim that humans do in real life, like sleeping, eating, getting a job, making money, and even going to the bathroom! All of these aspects are missing from My Sims, which makes it a bit more laid back, but makes the challenge a bit too easy.

OVERALL:

While other Sims games focus on helping Sims live out their lives (in the complex way that we all do), My Sims is more focused on task-management and architecture than the social aspect of everday life. In other words, while other Sims games may feel like real-life for some, My Sims feels more like an ordinary game.

If you've played previous Sims games and found them to be a bit to overwhelming, you may find the right mix in My Sims. If you're a hardcore Sims player who wants to challenge an complexity that other Sims games offer, you won't find it here...

I did not particularily like this game at all. When I first bought it, I was under the impression that it would be like the other sims game, which would have been great. Instead, it is nothing at all like any sim game I have ever played. I think its an insult to even call this a Sims game. The main reason why i didn't like this game was the gameplay. Unlike the other sims games, you don't have to manage your sim. For example, there are no stats involved like fun, hunger, social, hygiene, etc. You don't have to eat, sleep, shower or anything. You can't get a job, you can't upgrade your house, or get married. The main thing you do is create furniture and housing for the people of the town. It was a good idea, but it becomes very repetitive. It is cool though that you can build and fully customize your own furniture by connecting smaller pieces and shapes together, but I found this to get boring quickly. Another thing that I really didn't like were the graphics. They were very childish looking and I felt stupid playing it, and embarrassed if my friends saw me playing it. Overall I thought this game only deserves a below average rating due the the disatisfaction I experienced with it.

Explore a whole new world with MySims - it's your world to transform. Move to a town that has been struggling lately. With a little creativity and some help from the locals, you can make this place thrive. Improve the town to attract new characters, from the Italian Chef and Florist to the Kickboxing Instructor and DJ. Discover what the residents want and need, so that you can help them enjoy life in their town. Design a hot tub or a jukebox from scratch, build homes and businesses from the roof to the front door. Uncover special decorations and patterns as you explore the growing town. From the furniture and objects to the buildings to the town as a whole – each of your creations is unique. In MySims, what you make... makes all the difference. Your town is your own unique creation, from the flower shop to building a mad scientist's laboratory, and beyond. It's your call who lives there and who moves out. Who will you befriend? Who will you ignore? Socialize with the locals and uncover all sorts of useful or surprising treasures hidden throughout the town. It's a cinch to personalize your Sims appearance from head to toe with the Wii & Nintendo DS controls. Unlock cool new clothing and accessories as you befriend the neighbors. Decorate with your very own furniture and accessories, then customize your creations with things you can grow, harvest, or discover around town.

This is a fun little family game. You can create a total of 3 characters. You tasked with rebuilding a town from the ground up. As people start to move in to the homes you build they will give you various tasks in order for their homes and businesses to flourish. Really simple. My 9year old loves it and that's who it's meant for, the younger kids.
The graphics are cute and the gibberish they speak can be quite funny at times.
A few BIG draw backs from a game standpoint. The load times are Horrendous. Not only are they really bad but there’s a lot of them. Even switching from menus takes you to a load screen. There's also a lot of 'freezing' spots in the game but those too are due to loading issues.
If you’re able to put up with all that when it comes to building stuff it can get a bit frustrating. For whatever reason the designer has you character come up using the item your building while building it which just gets in the way. If you can pick this game up at a really good deal I would. I certainly wouldn’t pay full price for this one though.