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63-823: The Sims is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts . The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the best-selling video game series of all time. It is also part of the larger Sim series , started by SimCity in 1989. The games in the Sims series are largely sandbox games , in that they lack any defined goals (except for some later expansion packs and console versions which introduced this gameplay style). The player creates virtual people called "Sims", places them in houses, and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires. Players can either place their Sims in pre-constructed homes or build them themselves. Each successive expansion pack and game in

126-525: A Free Play mode with classic, open-ended gameplay, the games contain a structured, linear story mode where players are required to complete a series of goals to progress in the storyline. Three games were released in the series. The Sims Medieval is an action role-playing spin-off game released in 2011. It is set in medieval times, and although it is based on The Sims 3 engine, it plays very differently. The Sims Medieval has one expansion pack, Pirates and Nobles . In December 2002, Electronic Arts released

189-522: A direct replacement or sequel to The Sims 4 but a separate project within The Sims franchise, reiterating that The Sims 4 would continue to receive updates and new content in the years to come. The Sims Stories is a series of video games from The Sims series released in 2007–2008 based on a modified version of The Sims 2 game engine . The modified engine is optimized for play on systems with weaker specifications, such as laptops . In addition to

252-465: A few pets at once. In contrast to artificial life games, digital pets do not usually reproduce or die, although there are exceptions where pets will run away if ignored or mistreated. Digital pets are usually designed to be cute, and act out a range of emotions and behaviors that tell the player how to influence the pet. "This quality of rich intelligence distinguishes artificial pets from other kinds of A-life, in which individuals have simple rules but

315-529: A more active role as one character living alongside other artificial ones, engaging in similar life pursuits as to make money or sustain their character while engaging in social interactions with the other characters, typically seeking to gain beneficial relations with all such characters. Several of these fall into the subgenre of farming simulations, where the player-character runs a farm in a rural setting, growing crops and raising livestock to make money to keep their farm going while working to improve relations with

378-421: A population of creatures over several generations, and try to achieve goals for the population as a whole. These games have been called genetic artificial life games, or biological simulations. Players are able to crossbreed creatures, which have a set of genes or descriptors that define the creature's characteristics. Some games also introduce mutations due to random or environmental factors, which can benefit

441-554: A press release issued on August 23, 2011. The game was shut down and removed from Facebook on June 14, 2013. The Sims was the game's first console release and shares the same name as the PC game. It was released for the PlayStation 2 , Xbox , and Nintendo GameCube . The gameplay is similar to the PC version but follows a mission-based storyline in addition to the sandbox mode found in the original game. Objectives are added which allow

504-417: A single row of pixels that are displayed on a scan line . To produce a two-dimensional shape, the sprite's single-row bitmap is altered by software from one scan line to the next. The 1979 Atari 400 and 800 home computers have similar, but more elaborate, circuitry capable of moving eight single-color objects per scan line: four 8-bit wide players and four 2-bit wide missiles . Each is the full height of

567-829: A solution to the problem: controlling each individual game element with a dedicated transistor . The rockets were essentially hardwired bitmaps that moved around the screen independently of the background, an important innovation for producing screen images more efficiently and providing the basis for sprite graphics. The earliest video games to represent player characters as human player sprites were arcade sports video games , beginning with Taito 's TV Basketball , released in April 1974 and licensed to Midway Manufacturing for release in North America. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado , he wanted to move beyond simple Pong -style rectangles to character graphics, by rearranging

630-449: A theme, rather than attempting to simulate. Sprite (computer graphics) In computer graphics , a sprite is a two-dimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene, most often in a 2D video game . Originally, the term sprite referred to fixed-sized objects composited together, by hardware, with a background. Use of the term has since become more general. Systems with hardware sprites include arcade video games of

693-560: A victory condition or challenge, and can be classified as software toys . Games such as Nintendogs have been implemented for the Nintendo DS , although there are also simple electronic games that have been implemented on a keychain, such as Tamagotchi . There are also numerous online pet-raising/virtual pet games, such as Neopets . Other pet life simulation games include online show dog raising games, and show horse raising games. Some artificial life games allow players to manage

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756-776: A virtual life", where players are given the power to control the lives of autonomous people or creatures. Artificial life games are related to computer science research in artificial life . But "because they're intended for entertainment rather than research, commercial A-life games implement only a subset of what A-life research investigates." This broad genre includes god games which focus on managing tribal worshipers, as well as artificial pets that focus on one or several animals. It also includes genetic artificial life games, where players manage populations of creatures over several generations. Artificial life games and life simulations find their origins in artificial life research, including Conway's Game of Life from 1970. But one of

819-567: Is "a plan to change this up a bit. For example, basic weather may be added to the core game for free, for everybody... It's important that with 'Project Rene' we lower barriers to play and give all players the broadest shared systems because that feels like the strongest foundation for us to grow from." This diversion from the typical purchase-structure follows The Sims 4 , which was made free-to-play in October 2022. In September 2024, EA vice president Kate Gorman confirmed that Project Rene will not be

882-542: Is called OAM (Object Attribute Memory). This also applies to the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS . The use of sprites originated with arcade video games . Nolan Bushnell came up with the original concept when he developed the first arcade video game, Computer Space (1971). Technical limitations made it difficult to adapt the early mainframe game Spacewar! (1962), which performed an entire screen refresh for every little movement, so he came up with

945-626: Is code-named Project Rene . The game allows solo or collaborative play and cross-play. Room customization works differently compared to The Sims 4 , with more customization options being presented for furniture. In this project, the buy-and-build mode is multiplayer and players can customize the buildings at the same time. As of July 2024, Project Rene is continuing development, with potential plans for "closed invites to small public playtests or early access options" for interested players. That same year, Maxis stated that Project Rene would co-exist alongside The Sims 4 , with both continuing development in

1008-456: Is prepared for the video output device, such as a cathode-ray tube , without involvement of the main CPU and without the need for a full-screen frame buffer . Sprites can be positioned or altered by setting attributes used during the hardware composition process. The number of sprites which can be displayed per scan line is often lower than the total number of sprites a system supports. For example,

1071-407: Is set 25 years before the original game and features an open, seamless neighborhood, improved Sim creation tools, enhanced build and buy mode functions, and the introduction of wishes and goals. The game introduced a new form of directed gameplay through small, step-wise goals presented as opportunities for the player to pursue or refuse. The Sims 3 sold 1.4 million copies in the first week, making it

1134-465: Is set some 25 years after the original game. For instance, the Goth family has aged significantly with Bella Goth mysteriously vanishing at some point in the 25 years. Because the entire game has progressed from 2D sprites to 3D models , all content in The Sims 2 had to be created from the ground up. Due to this, The Sims 2 was not made backward-compatible with any content from the first generation of

1197-911: Is the first free-to-play version of The Sims , and was released worldwide on December 15, 2011 for iOS devices, and on February 15, 2012 for Android . The game made it to Kindle Fire in October 2012, to BlackBerry 10 on July 31, 2013, and Windows Phone 8 in September 2013. Unlike other Sims games, The Sims FreePlay runs in real-time and takes real-time to complete actions. Players can progress through 55 levels and unlock new content, create up to 34 Sims, build town map buildings, and complete goals to earn Lifestyle Points, Simoleons, Social Points, and XP (Experience Points). All of these (except for Social Points) can be obtained by baking, planting, going to school (only for preteens and teens), or working. To get Social Points, players will have to go to neighboring houses or add their Facebook friends. The Sims Mobile

1260-503: Is the second free-to-play version of The Sims for Android and iOS , The Sims Mobile was announced on May 9, 2017, in a launch trailer with a soft launch for Brazil , and was released worldwide on March 6, 2018. It features multiplayer and story-mode elements in an attempt to offer a playing experience akin to the main Sims installments. The success of The Sims has resulted in Guinness World Records awarding

1323-439: Is used in the 1981 TI-99/4A . Sprites remained popular with the rise of 2.5D games (those which recreate a 3D game space from a 2D map) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A technique called billboarding allows 2.5D games to keep onscreen sprites rotated toward the player view at all times. Some 2.5D games, such as 1993's Doom , allow the same entity to be represented by different sprites depending on its rotation relative to

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1386-639: The Nintendo DS and the Game Boy Advance, which serve as a sequel to their predecessors. The Sims 2 , The Sims 2: Pets , and The Sims 2: Castaway have been released for various platforms including the Wii , PlayStation 2 , PSP , Xbox , and Nintendo DS systems. The Sims 2: Apartment Pets , considered a sequel to The Sims 2: Pets by Electronic Arts, was only released for the Nintendo DS. In addition, EA has released several The Sims titles for

1449-496: The Nintendo Entertainment System . According to Steve Golson from General Computer Corporation , the term "stamp" was used instead of "sprite" at the time. Signetics devised the first chips capable of generating sprite graphics (referred to as objects by Signetics) for home systems. The Signetics 2636 video processors were first used in the 1978 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System and later in

1512-471: The iPod Nano (3rd and 4th generation), the iPod Classic , and the iPod (5th generation). Some of these titles include: The Sims Bowling , The Sims DJ , and The Sims Pool . MySims is a series of console games created by EA for the Wii and Nintendo DS (with SkyHeroes being the exception). They feature Chibi -like characters (a tiny bit smaller and similar to the Wii's Mii avatars). The first game in

1575-399: The " God game " variety, Evolution: The Game of Intelligent Life and Spore , and within the arcade/RPG variety, a multitude of entertainment software products including Eco and EVO: Search for Eden . Social simulation games explore social interactions between multiple artificial lives . In some cases, the player may simply be an observer with no direct control but can influence

1638-630: The 1970s and 1980s; game consoles including as the Atari VCS (1977), ColecoVision (1982), Famicom (1983), Genesis/Mega Drive (1988); and home computers such as the TI-99/4 (1979), Atari 8-bit computers (1979), Commodore 64 (1982), MSX (1983), Amiga (1985), and X68000 (1987). Hardware varies in the number of sprites supported, the size and colors of each sprite, and special effects such as scaling or reporting pixel-precise overlap. Hardware composition of sprites occurs as each scan line

1701-403: The 1979 Elektor TV Games Computer . The Atari VCS , released in 1977, has a hardware sprite implementation where five graphical objects can be moved independently of the game playfield. The term sprite was not in use at the time. The VCS's sprites are called movable objects in the programming manual, further identified as two players , two missiles , and one ball . These each consist of

1764-596: The CPU. According to Karl Guttag, one of two engineers for the 1979 Texas Instruments TMS9918 video display processor, this use of the word sprite came from David Ackley, a manager at TI. It was also used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s. The term was derived from the fact that sprites "float" on top of the background image without overwriting it, much like a ghost or mythological sprite . Some hardware manufacturers used different terms, especially before sprite became common: Player/Missile Graphics

1827-505: The Maxis-developed The Sims Online , later named EA Land . It recreates The Sims as a massively multiplayer online game , where human players can interact with each other. The spin-off did not achieve the same level of success as the original. Reviews for The Sims Online were lackluster; many likening its experience to an enormous chat room . On August 1, 2008, EA Land was shut down. The Sims Carnival

1890-538: The Mind to develop a model for the game's artificial intelligence . The Sims was the first game in the series. Developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, it was released for Microsoft Windows on February 4, 2000. The game used dimetric projection and featured open-ended simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual people ("Sims") in a suburban area near SimCity. Seven expansion packs and two deluxe editions with exclusive content were released. It

1953-503: The Texas Instruments TMS9918 chip supports 32 sprites, but only four can appear on the same scan line. The CPUs in modern computers, video game consoles, and mobile devices are fast enough that bitmaps can be drawn into a frame buffer without special hardware assistance. Beyond that, GPUs can render vast numbers of scaled, rotated, anti-aliased , partially translucent, very high resolution images in parallel with

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2016-482: The aspiration system. Each Sim exhibits wants and fears according to their aspiration and personality. Consequently, the level of the aspiration meter determines the effectiveness of a Sim at completing tasks. The fulfillment of wants provides aspiration points, which can be used to purchase aspiration rewards. The game also features clear days of the week, with weekends when children can stay home from school and vacation days when adults can take time off work. The Sims 2

2079-438: The challenge's themes and limitations. Each competitors creation is judged by a panel consisting of YouTube personality Kelsey Impicciche , singer and songwriter Tayla Parx , and EA Maxis developer Dave Miotke, with the finalist winning a US$ 100,000 prize. The show is hosted by American Idol season 14 finalist Rayvon Owen . Life simulation video game Life simulation games are about "maintaining and growing

2142-544: The display—a long, thin strip. DMA from a table in memory automatically sets the graphics pattern registers for each scan line. Hardware registers control the horizontal position of each player and missile. Vertical motion is achieved by moving the bitmap data within a player or missile's strip. The feature was called player/missile graphics by Atari. Texas Instruments developed the TMS9918 chip with sprite support for its 1979 TI-99/4 home computer. An updated version

2205-642: The early 1980s, including Ms. Pac-Man . Movable Object Block , or MOB , was used in MOS Technology 's graphics chip literature. Commodore , the main user of MOS chips and the owner of MOS for most of the chip maker's lifetime, instead used the term sprite for the Commodore 64. OBJ s (short for objects ) is used in the developer manuals for the NES , Super NES , and Game Boy . The region of video RAM used to store sprite attributes and coordinates

2268-413: The environment of the artificial lives, such as by creating and furnishing a house and creating situations for those characters to interact. These games are part of a subcategory of artificial life game sometimes called a virtual dollhouse. The Sims is the most notable example of this type of game, and was itself influenced by the 1985 game Little Computer People . In other games, the player takes

2331-557: The first commercially viable artificial life games was Little Computer People in 1985, a Commodore 64 game that allowed players to type requests to characters living in a virtual house. The game is cited as a little-known forerunner of virtual-life simulator games to follow. One of the earliest dating sims , Tenshitachi no gogo , was released for the 16-bit NEC PC-9801 computer that same year, though dating sim elements can be found in Sega 's earlier Girl's Garden in 1984. In

2394-437: The franchise was announced in 2007. The Sims film rights had been purchased by 20th Century Fox in the same year. It was to be written by Brian Lynch and produced by John Davis , and the film remained in development hell for a number of years. In 2019, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney , the film along with numerous other video game-based movies in development at Fox were canceled. In March 2024, it

2457-412: The future. This is a deviation from past installments in The Sims franchise, where one installment typically replaces the previous. In addition, it was stated that Project Rene will be free-to-play and not require "a subscription, core game purchase or energy mechanics". Continuing its deviance from past installments in The Sims , Project Rene will have additional in-game purchases. Maxis stated there

2520-463: The game Spore was released, in which the player develops an alien species from the microbial tide pool into an interstellar empire. Digital pets are a subgenre of artificial life game where players train, maintain, and watch a simulated animal. The pets can be simulations of real animals, or fantasy pets. Unlike genetic artificial life games that focus on larger populations of organisms, digital pet games usually allow players to interact with one or

2583-399: The game had shipped 16 million copies worldwide. The Sims received seven expansion packs : Electronic Arts released The Sims 2 on September 14, 2004. The sequel, developed by Maxis, takes place in a full 3D environment as opposed to the dimetric projection of the original game. Sims age through seven life stages, from infancy to old age and subsequent death. Another major feature is

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2646-445: The game was in development by Maxis. The Sims 4 takes place in an alternative setting/timeline from the game's previous installments. Later in 2014, further details on features and gameplay were announced. The release date of September 2, 2014, was announced at E3 2014. As of December 2023, fifteen "expansion packs", twelve "game packs", nineteen "stuff packs", and twenty-five "kits" have been released, and updates have added content that

2709-543: The game. The directors at Electronic Arts , which bought Maxis in 1997, were more receptive— SimCity had been a great success for them, and they foresaw the possibility of building a strong Sim franchise. Wright has stated that The Sims was meant as a satire of U.S. consumer culture . Wright took ideas from the 1977 architecture and urban design book A Pattern Language , American psychologist Abraham Maslow 's 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his hierarchy of needs , and Charles Hampden-Turner 's Maps of

2772-535: The largest release in PC gaming history at the time. The Sims 3 is set 25 years before The Sims . For example, the Goth family is much younger, and Bella Goth , an adult in the first game, is a child and is named Bella Bachelor. Eleven expansion packs and nine "stuff packs" were released for The Sims 3 . In addition, many items are available online for additional fees at The Sims 3 Store. The Sims 3 received eleven expansion packs : Electronic Arts announced The Sims 4 on May 6, 2013. The announcement stated that

2835-446: The life of an individual animal whose role the player assumes (rather than simulating an entire ecosystem controlled by the player). These include Wolf and its sequel Lion , the similar WolfQuest , and the more modest Odell educational series. In addition, a large number of games have loose biological or evolutionary themes but do not attempt to reflect closely the reality of either biology or evolution: these include, within

2898-658: The local townspeople. Such games include the Story of Seasons and the Animal Crossing series, and Stardew Valley . Dating sims are related to this type of game, but generally where the play-character is seeking a romantic relationship with one or more computer-controlled characters, with such titles often aimed at more mature audiences compared to the typical social simulation game. Dating sims may be more driven by visual novel gameplay elements than typical simulation gameplay. Some games take biology or evolution as

2961-472: The main series; however, some objects and features from the original series were remade for the sequel. Eight expansion packs and nine "stuff packs" were released for The Sims 2 . Over 400 items were also released for the game via The Sims 2 Store. The Sims 2 received eight expansion packs : Electronic Arts released The Sims 3 on June 2, 2009. The sequel was announced by EA in November 2006. The game

3024-514: The mid-1990s, as artificial intelligence programming improved, true AI virtual pets such as Petz and Tamagotchi began to appear. Around the same time, Creatures became "the first full-blown commercial entertainment application of Artificial Life and genetic algorithms". By 2000, The Sims refined the formula seen in Little Computer People and became the most successful artificial life game created to date. In 2007,

3087-727: The option to play online, though EA no longer supports it. Separate handheld versions were developed for the Game Boy Advance and N-Gage , which allow the player to directly control the Sim character for the first time. The Urbz: Sims in the City is a game focused on Sims living in an urban setting within Sim City. The player must earn a reputation and complete tasks for characters. It was released for Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo GameCube. It features Black Eyed Peas as NPCs. Like The Sims Bustin' Out , separate handheld versions were developed for

3150-503: The player to unlock new furniture and locations. The Sims Bustin' Out is the second title in The Sims console series. Bustin' Out was released in the fourth quarter of 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. Much like its predecessor, the game features two modes: Bust Out Mode, which is mission-based gameplay, and Freeplay Mode which is similar to the original The Sims PC game. The PlayStation 2 version featured

3213-460: The population as a whole develops emergent properties ". Players are able to tease, groom, and teach the pet, and so they must be able to learn behaviors from the player. However, these behaviors are typically "preprogrammed and are not truly emergent". Game designers try to sustain the player's attention by mixing common behaviors with more rare ones, so the player is motivated to keep playing until they see them. Otherwise, these games often lack

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3276-560: The population as creatures reproduce. These creatures typically have a short life-span, such as the Creatures series where organisms can survive from half an hour to well over seven hours. Players are able to watch forces of natural selection shape their population, but can also interact with the population by breeding certain individuals together, by modifying the environment, or by introducing new creatures from their design. Another group of biological simulation games seek to simulate

3339-492: The rectangle shapes into objects that look like basketball players and basketball hoops . Ramtek released another sports video game in October 1974, Baseball , which similarly displayed human-like characters. The Namco Galaxian arcade system board , for the 1979 arcade game Galaxian , displays animated, multi-colored sprites over a scrolling background. It became the basis for Nintendo 's Radar Scope and Donkey Kong arcade hardware and home consoles such as

3402-585: The series augmented what the player could do with their Sims. Game designer Will Wright was inspired to create a "virtual doll house" after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and subsequently rebuilding his life. Replacing his home and his other possessions made him think about adapting that life experience into a game. When Wright initially took his ideas to the Maxis board of directors , they were skeptical and gave little support or financing for

3465-500: The series numerous world records, including, as of 2017, "Most Expansion Packs for a Videogame Series" and "Best Selling PC Game Series", with sales estimates ranging from 36 to 50 million units. The series ranks 10th among the best-selling video game franchises of all times, with a sales figure of over 200 million combining all the entries in the series. As of October 2019, all The Sims games combined generated lifetime sales of more than US$ 5 billion. A live-action drama film based upon

3528-456: The series was released in September 2007. MySims SkyHeroes , the newest addition to the MySims line of games, was released in September 2010. The Sims 3 , The Sims 3: World Adventures , and The Sims 3: Ambitions were released for iOS . In addition, The Sims 3 was also released for Android , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , Nintendo DS , Wii , and Nintendo 3DS . The 3DS version of the game

3591-720: The size of something like a Barbie movie". Margot Robbie , who starred in Barbie , is a co-founder of LuckyChap Entertainment. EA, in partnership with Turner Sports and BuzzFeed , created The Sims Spark'd , a four-episode reality competition television show that premiered on the TBS network on July 17, 2020. The series, filmed from December 9 to 14, 2019, features 12 contestants, selected from those known to feature The Sims in their online gaming channels, tasked with challenges within The Sims 4 to create characters and stories following

3654-456: Was a casual game brand of The Sims . It had two separate product lines; the first was an online community of crowd-sourced web games and the second was a line of packaged game titles sold via retail stores and digital downloads. Launched in August 2011, The Sims Social was a Flash -based game developed by Playfish for Facebook . EA announced the game was upgraded from Beta to Live status in

3717-479: Was a launch title for the console. The Sims 3: Pets was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS. Versions for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles were released on November 17, 2017. Unlike previous console ports, the console version of The Sims 4 has feature parity with the PC/Mac version, and also shares the same "expansion packs", "game packs", "stuff packs", and "kits". The Sims FreePlay

3780-459: Was a term used by Atari, Inc. for hardware sprites in the Atari 8-bit computers (1979) and Atari 5200 console (1982). The term reflects the use for both characters ("players") and smaller associated objects ("missiles") that share the same color. The earlier Atari Video Computer System and some Atari arcade games used player , missile , and ball . Stamp was used in some arcade hardware in

3843-463: Was announced that LuckyChap Entertainment and Vertigo Entertainment are set to produce a Sims film with Kate Herron as director and co-writer alongside Briony Redman. This was further confirmed by EA in September 2024, who announced that the film will be produced in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios . EA vice president and general manager of The Sims Kate Gorman cited Barbie (2023) as an inspiration, stating that they want to "make an impact

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3906-426: Was previously absent, such as basements, ghosts, pools, modular stairs, toddlers, new careers, terrain tools, additional skin tones, bunk beds and infants. The Sims 4 was made free-to-play on October 18, 2022. The Sims 4 has received seventeen expansion packs : The Sims 4 has received twelve game packs : On October 18, 2022, Maxis announced that they are working on the next installment of The Sims , which

3969-460: Was repackaged in several different formats, and different versions of it were released on several different platforms. By March 22, 2002, The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, surpassing Myst as the best-selling PC game in history at the time. The original game, all seven expansion packs, and the two deluxe edition content packs constitute the first generation of the PC release. Maxis developed all PC releases. By February 2005,

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