Simulated Social Networking

January 24, 2012 Games No comments

This picture was done by the artist AlexGarner at DeviantArt for Bioshock Infinite. Click on it for more detail and information. I really liked it and am looking forward to playing this new game from Irrational Games. According to Amazon, its release date is December 31, 2012. I figure, as quality as the game promises to be, it will come later than its due date. I don’t think it will come earlier and I imagine at E3 this year, it will be one of the top contending games of the show.

Did not find much happening at Twitter today. On the other hand, I did not spend much time at Twitter today, either. Instead I put my four CD collection of Skyrim OST on my iPod. Then I had to work on adjusting my sound system to pick up the rich tones of the music. For some strange reason, the bass on my system was turned down to zero. I have no idea why when it is bass that I love. I also boosted the treble a touch. Now the living room is rich in sound.

Also today . . . I broke down and bought all Stuff Packs for the Sims 3. Once again I was at  SimCookie drooling over the new world he is creating. It is called Parisian Life. The world uses all the Stuff Packs and I am pumped to play it. I might regret buying all those Stuff Pack. It means uninstalling my expansion packs to install everything in order. But I do love getting new things for my Sims.

Even though I wrote yesterday that I wouldn’t buy Showtime, truth is, this morning as I took out my night guard, I imagined my best friend and me sharing Sims with one another on the Showtime stage. She’d get to see the little Sim I created and nurtured to stardom. I can be a hypocrite? But not really. I believe in giving new things a try.

Speaking of trying new things, I decided to give Sims Social App on Facebook a go. There are 22,200,000 registered socialites at Sims Social. That is a HUGE number of accounts! I am always intrigued fascinated by big numbers of people and what they find interesting and exciting. On the other hand, I skeptical of that number. Does it represent spam accounts, dummy (test) accounts? How many of those accounts were created and are now inactive. Still, I’m sure EA has no complaints. Here’s the link: Sims Social on Facebook.  If you have a Facebook account, you may be asked to install a plugin. I chanced it and was taken to a setup page. I haven’t done it yet but I will give it a test drive, just to keep the macrothinking active. I think of it as an exercise to avoid growing old. Don’t want to be set in my ways so much so that I don’t want to try new things. The social network is like a new gadget; something exciting to mess around with.

Up & Running

January 23, 2012 EA Games, Showtime, Sims 3 One comment

Today I spent on this site, Macrothinker, doing up the WordPress theme, getting it just how I want it. For those of your who remember my old site, you will recall I created the website design using iWeb. I have given up on iWeb. I cannot figure an easy way to make for comments from the reader using that program. I decided to switch to WordPress. It has taken me about a day to get the files uploaded to the server, transfer the static pages of the original site to here, and get feeling comfortable with the change.

I won’t write much today. It is 4:00pm and my brain is normally dulled by the afternoon. I will leave you with a few thoughts about EA Games and the Sims 3.

I actually thought about purchasing the Sims 3 new expansion pack, Showtime, but it plays into a direction I have no desire to explore: social networking and stage entertainment shows. As I watched this YouTube video, I got the real feel of what this expansion pack is all about:

EA (Electronic Arts), the publisher of the Sims franchise, is no longer building or pleasing an adult fan base. They are aiming at underage kids. I am of the over 30 crowd. I am not into X-Factor/American Idol/Karaoke kinds of socializing and entertainment. I enjoy these shows in limited quantities on TV, but in a Sims game? Come on EA. This direction is juvenile. It is unappealing to a fan base that took over a decade to build.

The Sims franchise is extremely popular with kids. I know of a six and eight year-old who fight for turns at playing it. If this younger age group make up the majority of Sims fans and they buy into this Katy Perry, bubblegum Showtime, I predict EA will have a huge hit on their hands. If the majority of buying fans are from the old school Sims, EA stands to lose a ton of money because I think these fans will protest and not buy Showtime. Is EA banking on the younger generation to keep their franchise profitable while the older aged fan base gets disgusted and walks away?

I am disappointed. I am saddened. I am angry. A game I have loved for more than a decade is moving away from what I always adored about the Sims, what kept me coming back for more. The Sims’ simple formula of meeting up, dating, falling in love, marrying, making a family and seeing these tiny dollhouse people grow old has been lost in a sea of careers, glitz, disco balls, and bad singing.

I am positive this new expansion pack will be a hit with kids under 13. It may even be a hit with the 20-something crowd. These groups do not have a working memory of what the Sims once were. By creating an expansion pack that alienates the older generation of Sims fans, EA has effectively cut away a huge number of buyers. I think this marketing decision from EA business analysts is not only a big gamble but also a big mistake. I do not see the social network fad propelling EA’s profits. EA will miss the mark. The sales returns in March will prove it.

I am going to protest EA’s new “Cherry Chapstick” direction. No matter how tempted by my addition to collect more Sims 3 crap, my dollar vote stops at this expansion pack. Showtime will not grace my shelf.