Meet The Sims
BORED WITH YOUR humdrum life? Why not watch others go about theirs? Let's face it, we have all done it. How else would you explain the popularity of local infotainment television shows such as Hong Kong Today and I-Files, in which 'real people' bare their souls (and sometimes more) in front of the camera? Or why thousands around the world would subscribe to VoyeurDorm.com, a Florida-based Internet site, to monitor six female students sharing a house installed with 40 web cameras? Or the success behind Big Brother, a Dutch TV game show in which eight strangers are put under constant surveillance around-the-clock in a locked house for 100 hours? Welcome to The Real Truman Show where everyone is a star, though none of them have to be famous . . . or real for that matter. A new computer game called The Sims is all about, well, other people's lives. Designed by Will Wright, the same American who gave us SimCity, the game was released earlier this year and has since been a best-seller in Britain and the United States, where it has been nominated for this year's Interactive Achievement Awards. Its Chinese version is now available in Hong Kong.
And this is how it works. After installing the disc, you are inside the Sims Neighbourhood. Two ready-made families - the Newbies and the Goths - come with the game and the former helps you set up your characters. The Sims speak in gibberish, a weird mix of French and Japanese. Once you create your characters, you can instruct them to do things by clicking on objects. For instance, if you want a Sim to cook, then you click on the microwave, and if you want it to take a bath, click on the bathtub. The game starts when you have 'created' your Sims - one or an entire family - and move it, or them, into a property you buy with your start-up budget.
The point of the game? This 'people/life simulator' allows you to play God. Meaning you can create your own virtual people, run their lives or simply leave them to their own devices. Watching a bunch of digital mortals going about their daily chores - washing their hands, paying the bills, cooking and watching television - may sound too much like our own lives to be riveting viewing. But its popularity suggests otherwise. Curious, I forked out $375 for a copy to check it out - and before you could say 'get a life!' I was hooked.
DAY ONE My first task after installing the game is to 'design' my own Sim. Using the Sims' Dressing Room, I can choose its gender, age, nationality, marital status, physique as well as personality and zodiac sign. A friend suggests my first composition is likely to reveal a lot about myself, that my Sim will probably be someone I aspire to be. Interesting, that. Because I have created a complete slob - albeit a playful and out-going one.
Dave the Unemployed is my first Sim. He loves socialising, dancing, reading and never flushes the toilet. First, I must find him a job because I have taken the liberty of spending about 80 per cent of his original savings on furnishing his bachelor's pad. Well, someone has to buy the TV set, stereo, Andy Warhol art, and a settee for cosy evenings.
I click my mouse on the newspaper so Dave will read the classified ads. He takes on a job as a junior policeman. In the virtual world of the Sims, time passes very quickly. In a week - several hours our time - Dave learns how to cook without setting anything on fire. He even gets a promotion. My Sim also starts body building because he needs to be physically fit to move up his career ladder. I buy him some weights so whenever he exercises, he gets an extra unit on his 'Body' metre. Sim's well-being also depends on having an active social life so Dave also needs to make friends with his neighbours. All is well until one night he refuses to do anything. My creation is angry.