The Sims 2: Double Deluxe (PC, 2008)

I bought this game because...
I love this game. It works with vista too,

+EDIT+

for the cheat box to come up, you need 2 hit CTRL + Shift + (windows logo) + C. It works on XP w/o the windows logo, when my cousin wanted to turn off aging, the cheat box wouldn't show up as it did on her pc. Found out about it when I used sims 3.

There is even body shop, a body building software where you can customize your sims, clothes, and everything else you could possibly think of making. You can start from a scratch, or use a prototype, or clone and edit a previous sim.
It comes with Nightlife, which is a fun game as well. Go downtown and hang out with family to bowl, or go out with your friends. You can even make community property and make it better than your house. You can't live there, but you get everything for free. FREE use of any item you want. I have yet to go there, since I want my sims to get a vacation first, or to all be off at the same time, but when I create another family, I know it will be fun.
This game is expandable, as with all Sim games.
It's a very addictive game.
It's rated teen for a reason...
Unlike the previous sims games, where there are hints at sexual content,
and where if you kiss you get the option to have a baby,
you actually have sex...(WooHoo as they put it)
They are under the covers, but when they do it the first time, the first scene is more detailed. They grab butts as well, especially when making out.
I would recommend this game for people who have been introduced to sex, and know how babies are born, because, they have the option to try for a baby (which is wooHooing) and the sim mother gets pregnant for 3 sim-days (representing the 3 parts in a trimester?)
This is a very fun game as long as you are old enough.
I would respect the EA rating of teens though. Not recommended for young children. I would suggest a parent play the game first before giving it to their child, and see the scenes I speak of and use your own discretion as to weather or not you think it is suitable material for your child.
There is absolutely no nudity, as with all sims games, and after the first time, they are just moving under the covers, and the sims icon over their heads do dances, but they won't know exactly what happens if they don't know already.

You can take pictures, and shoot videos.
you can make a story based on these videos, and have a sim draw something you took a picture of, and even use your own pictures with a bit of inventiveness with the computer. You need to pause the after taking a picture, then find the file with that picture and replace it, then have the sim draw that. There is a better detailed explanation on thesims2.com. You can also listen to your own music by adding it to the directory. the general area where it could be is documents-EA Games-the sims 2-Music- then there are subsections. You can choose whatever. If you want to listen to something else while building, and another while creating a sim, select the appropriate one. you can even change the radio songs that play in each station. Select the proper station, and copy your music files there. Do make sure that you don't delete the song...wonder what they would dance to then. DON'T DELETE ANYTHING there. When you start your game normally, go to the options screen and audio, the speaker, then select the station you want, and select which songs play, and which don't.
You can do this with tv stations too. there is a limit written in the manual

The Sims 2 is focused squarely on nearly every aspect of the family. Sims don't just get old and die, they get born and grow up, and it's your responsibility to figure out how well or how badly those Simbabies mature. No one is saying you have to toilet train your kids, but your Sim parents will have to live with the results. If kids are nurtured, they'll grow up happy, competent, and probably possessed of quite a few skill points to get them started in their careers. If they're neglected, well, the fistfights in The Sims 2 are pretty fun to watch.

There's a lot to manage, so you'll really need to make your families function as a unit in order for everyone to thrive. Thankfully, Maxis has built-in days off for every career's workweek, letting you use the time to let a pregnant Sim catch up on sleep, giving you a chance to increase a crucial career skill to help bump your Sim up to the next career level, calling your friends over for a raging party at 10:00 in the morning, or letting you take the whole family for a relaxing day at the water park.

The 3D graphics in the game are simply outstanding. A seemingly endless series of facial expressions and body movements have been modeled to bring every moment in your Sims' existences brightly to life. More than anything, this is a game about small defining moments. The Sims 2 is about first kisses and falling in love; it's about morning sickness and cheap showers that scald when a nearby toilet is flushed; it's about blossoming family trees, cheating spouses, deadly lightning strikes, and alien abductions that leave Sim men pregnant. What's not to love?

For all of you who played the sims 1 will feel a familiar touch without things getting too complicated. Theres even a tutorial that only covers the new things, specifically for Sims 1 players, I loved that.

I think the biggest improvement in this game was the lasting appeal. The sims 1 would quickly end once you got a decent income but the Sims 2 has brand new features such as Aspirations, where you can get items from the "Money Tree" to the "Elixir of Life" from satisfying your Sims "Wants" and avoiding their "Fears."

This also bring the biggest lasting appeal feature in my opinion, known as the "Lifetime Aspiration," or their lifelong dream. This is very challenging to get, and can range from "Being the chief of staff in the medical career" to "Having 6 children and getting them all married." but nonetheless you will find yourself playing day after day fulfilling these. If you do, your Sim will be happy forever, boosting severely productivity etc.

With nightlife the expansion pack you can go "Outing" which is a feature that is fun at first but will get boring after you do it for the 4th or 5th time.

--Why YOU would like it--
I think those who are Sims 1 players will love this game, and will not be disappointed or confused. You can have kids, family trees, up to 4 stories, a basement, a car, a bowling alley, and get promotions, which are much easier to get than the sims 1, which would require 15 family friends to get to the 5th promotion.
You can also do many things just for the heck of it. You can make your sim stronger and let him pick fights with everyone, you can cheat on your wife just to see what happens, and even influence others to start fights! You can drown people in the pool, and burn them in fires. Theres no end to what you can do in this game!

Alas, when you have your dream house and your dream careers, you are spanking rich and theres not much you can do, you can create your own neighborhood and create more families, each with different attributes! Make your own story!

After THAT, you will be enticed to buy the expansion packs, because I know I am. This game will last a long time but not forever.
--
Pros:
Very high lasting appeal

Not Innapropriate for kids, body parts are censored, and even when your sims go to "woohoo" you don't see much other than fireworks and sparks flying everywhere.

You can take pictures and create your sims stories, like an illustrated book, in a sense.

Sims age, so you can follow a sim through his early childhood all the way until he dies, but for those of you who don't like this you can drink the elixir of life and gain 3 days of life or turn it off VIA cheats.

Your sims will have jobs, can get promotions, and can get fired. Your kids need good grades, and if so can get into private school. Very realistic but still a fun touch to it (You can get abducted by aliens, etc)

Very good range of looks, there are millions of combinations you can make your sims look like.

--

Cons:
Not too many possible careers until you get many more expansion packs, only about 9 or 10 to begin with.

Weather always stays the same, until you get the expansion pack "Seasons" where you can grow crops, go fishing, etc.

Parties, outings and dates are timed, and are very short so you have to make everyone happy fast.

Overall, I enjoyed the game. Very entertaining, very new without being TOO new. I enjoyed it and I know you will too. Happy Siming !

The game was in great shape, I hear it is fun to play and never gets boring. Unlike some games this game really has no ending, you could play it for months and still do something different. If you like building stuff then go build a complex house and fill it up with furniture, just be careful it can get so expensive you might have to use cheat codes to be able to afford to move into it.

All around fun for all ages, go get one today!

Personally for me, as a more "hardcore" gamer...the Sims 2 is my favorite as a more casual game to play. There is no pressure of goals to achieve, unless you want to be hardcore with the Sims, and you can take your time and really design your heart out on it.

Beyond that, the game is very well designed, quite humorous (I think Will Wright has a brilliant comedic streak in him, he's the designer of the game if you didn't know ;D). And the game appeals to people who have never played before, it's quite simple. Though when it comes to designing the homes for your Sims, well that's less simple. That's why EA has the Sims 2 website where you can exchange designs by others, which are beautiful by the way. Custom content can go a long way in making a beautiful world come to life.

So! Don't get too into the game and just enjoy it!