February 6, 2006

The Sims Video Game.

The Sims is a simulation game where the player controls the virtual characters thay have created. They build their homes, control the characters' basic activities such as eating, sleeping and bathing, as well as their relationship with other characters.

Images from the Sims:

As the characters interact with each other, or 'socialize' they get plus points for their social life. If they don't socialize, they become grumpy, exhausted and life becomes difficult for them to cope with. Similarly, if they fight with others their social points decrease.

The Sims is a very popular video game. Why do we enjoy modifying these virtual characters' lives so much? What makes us so interested in this game? To what extent are we like the Sims?

Sometimes when I look around myself, I feel as if I'm a part of the Sims community. I want to find more about the Sims game, how it evolved, and what the inspirations for this video game was.

Other inspirations for my thesis include Lost in Translation (a film by Sophia Coppola), Miami-Havana (a documentary by Estela Bravo), When Nietzsche Wept by Irvin Yalom, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.