Oh my goodness!

This Sims 2 blog has been a bit  slow - well, OK, REALLY slow - for a long time now…, the reason why is because we had a computer problem and had to reformat the entire hard drive, and after that I never got my Sims 2 reinstalled again…

Well, really soon I’m hoping that I will be able to get down to doing it, and install all the extension packs and stuff packs that I’ve gotten since the computer conked out. It will be like a whole new game, with all the new stuff I have to explore. I just can’t wait - and trust me, this blog will DEFINITELY pick up then.

But even with all the excitement over getting my old Simmies back into my life (it feels like a family reunion coming up, almost), I got even MORE excited when I found out that Sims 3 is coming out next year - yes, you read it correctly, I said SIMS 3!!!

So what’s so special about the new game then? Let’s look at the information given at the official Sims 3 website, shall we?

* * *

What if you had to live your whole life in one location… and then one day, suddenly, you could step outside and go anywhere in the whole neighborhood?

The Sims 3 lets you immerse truly unique Sims in an open, living neighborhood just outside their door! The freedom of The Sims 3 will inspire you with endless possibilities and amuse you with unexpected moments of surprise and mischief.

The Sims 3 gives you the freedom to create unique Sims and immerse them in your own living neighborhood of endless possibility!

New Seamless, Open Neighborhood - Explore the neighborhood freely.
Your Sims can roam throughout their neighborhood, visit neighbors’ homes, and explore the surroundings. They can stroll downtown to hang out with friends, meet someone new at the park, or run into colleagues on the street. If your Sims are in the right place at the right time, who knows what might happen?!

New Create A Sim - Create any Sim you can imagine.
New easy-to-use design tools allow for unlimited customization to make truly individual Sims. Determine your Sims’ shape and size, from thin to full-figured to muscular - and everything in between! Choose your Sims’ facial features, their exact skin tone, hair, eye shape and color and select their clothing and accessories.

Create Completely Unique Sims

Create Sims who look like you or anyone you know. The all-new Create A Sim is easy to use and more powerful than ever, letting you completely personalize your Sim’s appearance and personality.

Fine-tune every feature on your Sims face, customize their hair style, select the exact shade of their skin tone, and determine much more to make realistic Sims. Outfit your Sims with infinite fashion, make-up, and accessory styles. It’s never been easier to make Sims that are thin, full-figured, muscular, and everything in between!

Designate your Sims’ personality based on an innovative trait system. Select from dozens of personality traits and combine up to five traits to make a variety of interesting characters, who live in the neighborhood. Will you create an idealistic, creative dreamer who relishes taking risks thanks to his daredevil streak? Will you make an insensitive, drop-dead gorgeous socialite who neglects her romantic side and whose deepest secret is that she is actually a certified genius? It’s entirely up to you.

New Realistic Personalities - Every Sim is a unique person, with a distinct personality.
Create realistic Sims with distinctive personalities. Select from dozens of personality traits and combine them in fun ways. The combination of traits you choose - brave, artistic, loner, perfectionist, klepto, romantic, clumsy, paranoid, and much, much more - help shape the behavior of your Sims and how they interact with other Sims. Your Sims can now rise above their basic set of every day needs. They are complex individuals with unique personalities.

New Unlimited Customization - Everyone can customize everything!
Build your dream house or design the ultimate home. Customize everything from floors to flowers, shirts to sofas, wallpaper to window shades. It’s fun and easy to change colors and patterns giving you endless personalization options. Or you can populate your Sims’ neighborhood with pre-designed buildings and furnishings. Which of your Sims will live in high-end mansions, cool bachelor pads, ultimate dream homes or low-cost cottage?

Create A Home

Design and build homes with complete freedom to customize everything and make your very own neighborhoods. Infinite possibilities to design the interior furnishings of your Sims. Select any color or pattern you can imagine to furniture. Match all your furnishings with the same pattern & color, or mix patterns & colors of the furnishings to create your very own look. The possibilities are endless for creating your Sims home of their dreams.

* * *

WOOHOO - finally the Sims will be able to go from one house to the other without the hassle of calling for a taxi or driving, finally they will be able to REALLY go over and visit one another!!!

And if we can customize just about ANYTHING in the game, the options and possibilities are almost never ending - oh, this is going to be so much FUN!!!

It comes out next year (I am assuming the release will be at the END of the year), and until then AT LEAST I will continue with the Sims 2 blog and I will reinstall my game and get reacquainted with my little Simmies again…, I mean - I can’t just let them all disappear, now, can I?

The H&M stuff pack that we pre-ordered and recently picked up from the computer game store here hasn’t even been installed yet, and we get the word of YET ANOTHER expansion! Last up the Sims got to experience the change in climate in Seasons - now it’s time for your Sims to go on a vacation! Yes - Sims 2’s next expansion pack will be “Bon Voyage“!

(I was wondering when this expansion was going to come, since the Sims 2 Stories have a game they call “Castaway” - the Sims get to live pretty much like Robinson Crusoe… I was wondering when the REAL Sims 2 game was going to get something similar, and now it is on the way!!!)

Take a look at the pictures, and see what this next expansion is about - the details are still kind of brief…, when we hear more, we will post it here!

Hmm, tents and a camp fire - yey, maybe we will be able to sit around the fire and sing camp songs like we could in the FIRST Sims game. Notice the man taking a picture with his camera in the background - have your Sims fill their photo album with vacation pictures, maybe?

And doesn’t that seem like a hot spring in the background there, in front o what seems like a hotel building?

Ah, yes - an outdoors restaurant, catching some rays on the beach while staying at what seems like a very luxurious hotel… Seems nice, doesn’t it?

A Japanese garden - it appears to me as if we will be getting a whole lot of new things, I for one look forward to all the plants and trees!

OK - now for the OFFICIAL DETAILS on this new expansion - well, I guess it is time for you to start planning where you are going to take your Sims when they need a little R’n'R!

ENJOY, and keep posted for more details!

(The release date is set for September 19, 2007…)

About The Sims™ 2 Bon Voyage

Whisk your Sims away from their everyday routines and take them on exciting trips to three exotic locations! Whether relaxing on a lush tropical island in a luxury suite, camping outdoors on a pristine mountaintop, or exploring the culture of the Far East, your Sims will enjoy all-new activities to relax and rejuvenate them. Send your Sims packing for the trip of a lifetime! More info to come…

Official United Kingdom announcement

Another Stuff Pack is on the way - this time it is the H&M Fashion Stuff!

For me and the Little Ranter, this is extra fun, since H&M is one of the stores that we actually shop at in REAL LIFE!!!

We have pre-ordered the game, and it will be released to stores tomorrow… we hope…

(We can’t really figure out these release dates, some stores say the games always hit the shelves on Thursdays, but the date you’re given when you pre-order is NEVER for a Thursday!!!)

Anyway - here’s a little preview of everything we will get with the new pack!!! I for one can’t wait!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juV5YpmDXyQ]

Dress up your Sims in the latest H&M® clothing collections for men and women with The Sims 2 H&M® Fashion Stuff*!

Your Sims can choose from contemporary fashion essentials including flirty short dresses, casual but striking dress shirts, and other head-turning outfits, complete with accessories-all inspired by real H&M® designs. Design your own store modeled after the sleek interiors of the trendsetting retailer. Your all-new retail-themed items include mannequins, clothing racks, cash registers, fitting rooms, and more. Design a fashion runway where your Sims can showcase their favorite outfits on the catwalk. Whether wearing bold new styles, spotlighting the stylish collection on the runway, or shopping for the latest trends at a store that you design, your Sims will show off their superior sense of style with The Sims 2 H&M® Fashion Stuff.

*Requires The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition, or The Sims 2 Holiday Edition to play.

The Sims™ 2 Celebration Stuff

New stuff is on the way… For now, all we can do is look at the pictures and dream…