The Sims: A Participatory Culture 14 Years On

Read this academic journal article - The Sims: A Participatory Culture 14 Years On. Answer the following questions:

1) What did The Sims designer Will Wright describe the game as?

Will Wright describes as  ‘a train set or a doll’s house where each person comes to it with their own interest and picks their own goals’

2) Why was development company Maxis initially not interested in The Sims?

When Wright pitched his latest game concept to the development company Maxis and used the descriptor of ‘a doll house’, he was met with little enthusiasm. The board of directors thought that  ‘doll houses were for girls, and girls didn’t play video games’

3) What is ‘modding’?

'Modding' is a practice which enables players of the game to manipulate code and modify the game programme

4) How does ‘modding’ link to Henry Jenkins’ idea of ‘textual poaching’?

The idea of 'modding' links to Jenkins idea of 'textual poaching' because users are participating in the 'Sims Culture', dedicated fan websites, modify the game etc. 

5) What examples of intertextuality are discussed in relation to The Sims? (Look for “replicating works from popular culture”)

Since the early days of the game’s release, modified skins depicting characters from popular media such as Star Trek, Star Wars, The X-Files and Japanese anime and manga were extremely popular. 

6) What is ‘transmedia storytelling’ and how does The Sims allow players to create it?

The Sims offered a form of 'transmedia' storytelling, which is a process where the primary text which is encoded in an official product could be dispersed over multiple media, both digital and analogue in form. The Sims space provided a playground for cult media fans, a stage for enacting fan driven stories which could later be shared (via the game’s in-built camera

and photo album) with other players who had similar interests.

7) How have Sims online communities developed over the last 20 years?

By releasing new versions of the game, with different functions, updated graphics, DLC packs and downloadable content. The game has grown new audiences, but has also managed to keep a core fanbase who grew up with the original version of the game, players who have stayed loyal to the first Sims game.

Extension

Read this Henry Jenkins interview with James Paul Gee, writer of Woman as Gamers: The Sims and 21st Century Learning (2010).

1) How is ‘modding’ used in The Sims?

Modding is used in The Sims to create new challenges and gameplay that "is simultaneously in the game world, in the real world, and in writing things like graphic novels

2) Why does James Paul Gee see The Sims as an important game?

He says that The Sims is a real game and a very important one because it is a game that is meant to take people beyond gaming. She helped me see that how women play and design is not "mainstream" but cutting edge, the edge of the future" 

3) What does the designer of The Sims, Will Wright, want players to do with the game?

Wright wants to "empower people to think like designers, to organise themselves around the game to become learn new skills that extend beyond the game, and to express their own creativity."  This means that he wants players to be free to express their creativity and do anything in the game they would dream of doing or creating in real life.

4) Do you agree with the view that The Sims is not a game – but something else entirely?

I don't agree with the fact that The Sims is not a game. However, I believe that The Sims is an example of post-modernism. The game allows players to make their own choices, control a world that is theirs, and they can take it in any direction they want, it allows a freedom, and a personalisation that not everyone has. It is easy to understand why there are some people may see it as more than a game, especially if they are fans of the game who have created incredible houses or lives on there, made a world that they can only live on The Sims. This is especially true for the newest version of the game,  Sims 4, where content you create online can be shared on forums, and be made downloadable for other people. The rise of the internet age allows normal people to share their experience with The Sims on video sharing sites such as YouTube, and potentially gain a following through it.