There are times when games get a ton of hype and fall short of expectation. There are other times when games that don’t make large blips on your radar jump up to surprise you. MySims Kingdom falls in the latter category. During my recent trip to EA, I got some hands on time with the sequel to the last year’s MySims.
Let’s be honest, the first MySims wasn’t all that terrific last year when it came out for the Wii and DS. Being the first Sims game on the Nintendo platforms, there was a distinct lack of polish. The gameplay was repetitive with recruiting various Sims to live in your town and there was a distinct lack of a story. Loading times were also very prevalent when entering and exiting buildings. These two big issues were addressed by the development team at EA with MySims Kingdom.
This past Friday, I had the chance to head on out to EA’s Campus is Redwood City, CA to check out a virtual cornucopia of new Sims games. Last year marked the jump for the Sims onto the Wii and DS with MySims. This year, EA looks to expand on that franchise with some new games for Nintendo platforms and PC.
Before I get into it, I have to say the EA Campus is pretty amazing. It spans 23 acres and has everything you’d ever want whether at work or home. Between the insane cafes, Starbucks and Blockbuster shops, you get a huge gymnasium with multiple full basketball courts, a top of the line workout center, beach volleyball and basketball courts. There’s even on-site day care, dry cleaning, and dental service. Yep, you basically never have to leave (EA really wants people there).
MySims take a big step away from the tried and true formula of all the Sims games of the past PC eras. MySims looks to focus more on building and the environment s and even changes the whole look of the franchise by moving to a super cute Japanese anime style and feel.
Presentation and Graphics: The environments, characters and buildings are all very colorful and fun to look at with different accents to help convey the emotions of all. The user interface was done very well and incorporates the Wii remote accessibility well into the game. 4 out of 5
Sound and Music: The music in the game is very cheery and gives the game a bubbly happy feel, which changes with the mood of the environment. The usual Simlish makes its return, which at times is funny and at others kind of annoying. This is probably the most constant category when compared to the older generations of the Sims games. The music stays true to its roots but it would have been great to have actual music or the ability to play your own tracks. 3 out of 5 Read More »
As most of you now know ths editor was invited to spend last Friday at the official EA compound where I got a chance to check out both version of the new MySims title on the Wii and the DS. Loot Ninja was invited as well as a few other sites, Destructoid, GamingSteve, GearDiary, WiiWiiTv, TechnaBob and BlogCritics and we all had a great time and a lot of opportunities to get hands on with both tiles.
I will start off by discussing ths Wii version. Let me start off by saying that the Wii version takes cuteness to a whole new level. The design of the new MySims is a 180 degree difference from the traditional Sims titles we are all used to, they are heavily inspired by Japanese anime have plenty of Nintendo flair. The most interesting thing is that the art direction was done by the saem gentleman that did the art for God of War, two totally different ends of the spectrum, but both looking very vibrant. Read More »
The cutesy appeal of this game can’t be denied and I think as a casual game it will do very well with it’s target audience, which is based on the Wii and DS.
We had a chance to sit down with the developers and ask some questions of them as they ran demo to show off the final build, here are some of the highlights:
Everyone wondered if there would be any wifi connectivity?
The answer is no, there will be no transfer of your Sims to anyone else.
Why did they choose not to use Mii’s?
The game was actually put into development back when the Wii was the Revolution and Mii’s didn’t even exist yet, EA also decided they wanted to stick to their own design and brand.
Why move away form the classic Sims look?
They tried to make this game look very much like a Nintendo game and was very influenced by Japanese art style.
As part of the days event, we took the EA campus tour and during this tour you learn just how much your job sucks in comparison. I can officially say I would sell my soul to work at EA. The campus is very expansive and includes a huge set of amenities, including and not limited to: haircuts on site, oil changes on site, dentist, child day care, beach volleyball, dry cleaning, full sized NBA basketball courts, outdoor basketball courts, wifi everywhere, game portals scattered throughout the campus, Starbucks, pool tables, ping pong, etc. The EA campus is really a playground for any adult that is a kid at heart, there is really no reason to leave the grounds or have a life. During the campus tour EA also stresses their love of creativity and their quest to have fun and not over work their employees. They provide all of these things for their employees so they don’t burn themselves out and it is the best work environment I have ever seen.
We were very excited to invited by EA to come visit them on September 14 to debut their newest title in their Sims Label, MySims for the Wii and DS. This is a fairly exclusive event with only a handful of Blog Sites being invited for the first ever EA My Blogger’s Day Event and they have been very secretive about what will actually go on but we did finally get an agenda to give us an idea what to expect. Looks like we will get an opportunity to tour their campus in Redmond California as well as get some hands on time with the final build of the game and meet some of the developers of the title. Here is a look at the day’s agenda:
8 – 9 AM: Breakfast at the hotel
9:15 – 10:15 AM: EA Campus Tour
10:30 – 11 AM: Introduction by Rod Humble
11 – 12 PM: Demo and Q and A by Tim LeTourneau
12 – 1 PM: Lunch with MySims Team
1 – 3PM: Hands-on Gameplay
Upon arrival at the Sofitel hotel in sunny San Francisco, I received the official EA tote bag, welcome information and the official EA keychain.
The bag is definitely not my style but hey I guess I will give to my wife, also I have to say the folks over at EA have to do a better job of taking price tags off their merchandise, lol.
The hotel is pretty swanky and I give EA props for the choice and for setting us up less than a couple of blocks from their headquarters, walking distance. I was also pleased to see the list of attendees and was surprised that aside from us there are only 6 other sites invited, don’t I feel special now. This event seems to be a cozy one between a few select blog groups and EA, I am definitely looking forward to this and hopefully some more to come.
EA is holding a Blogger’s Day event later this week for MySims for the Wii. Our very own taz8080 will be in attendance to cover the event as it happens. Make sure to check back Thursday and Friday as taz gets the scoop on the game and talks with developers over at the EA campus.
If you don’t know about MySims, it’s a Sims game for the Wii with a Nintendo flare. The game has a distinct look to match the Mii style Nintendo has created. You get to create your own Sim, design your own stuff, build and customize an entire town, and shape the community you live in, all utilizing the Wii motion controls.
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
MySims take a big step away from the tried and true formula of all the Sims games of the past PC eras. MySims looks to focus more on building and the environment s and even changes the whole look of the franchise by moving to a super cute Japanese anime style and feel.
As most of you now know ths editor was invited to spend last Friday at the official EA compound where I got a chance to check out both version of the new MySims title on the Wii and the DS. Loot Ninja was invited as well as a few other sites, 
We had a chance to sit down with the developers and ask some questions of them as they ran demo to show off the final build, here are some of the highlights:
As part of the days event, we took the EA campus tour and during this tour you learn just how much your job sucks in comparison. I can officially say I would sell my soul to work at EA. The campus is very expansive and includes a huge set of amenities, including and not limited to: haircuts on site, oil changes on site, dentist, child day care, beach volleyball, dry cleaning, full sized NBA basketball courts, outdoor basketball courts, wifi everywhere, game portals scattered throughout the campus, Starbucks, pool tables, ping pong, etc. The EA campus is really a playground for any adult that is a kid at heart, there is really no reason to leave the grounds or have a life. During the campus tour EA also stresses their love of creativity and their quest to have fun and not over work their employees. They provide all of these things for their employees so they don’t burn themselves out and it is the best work environment I have ever seen.
