Gamecenter report about The Sims Livin' Large

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The Sims Livin' Large Announced

By Glenn Rubenstein
May 12, 2000, 03:00 PM PT

The biggest game of 2000 (so far) is getting an expansion pack. The Sims Livin' Large adds new objects, locations, and careers to the massively popular game about nothing--not to mention a dash of tongue-in-cheek humor. Set to ship this fall, Livin' Large will provide hungry Sims fans with a plethora of new thrills, and hold them over until SimsVille ships next year.

The Sims Livin' Large will give players twice as many new objects as were in the original game. Maxis is making an effort to keep most of these additions a surprise, but at E3 they teased that chemistry sets, robots, voodoo dolls, and cockroaches were just a small sample of what will be available in the final game. One aspect they are hyping is that the more unpredictable nature of these objects will figure in heavily (similar to the potentially germ-infested guinea pig available for download on their site). During a demo, they showed a young boy looking through a telescope. Thinking along the lines of the original game, one would assume that this would give the boy logic points and boosted intelligence. Instead, aliens descend upon he and his family, vaporizing them into oblivion.

Among the new locations that were shown were a castle and a tacky honeymoon (read: charges by the hour) hotel, complete with vibrating bed. A male and female character actually disrobed (with blurred-out areas over appropriate parts), got into bed, and started engaging in some under-the-covers activity. At that point, another female (who presumably was the male character's wife) came in, and a catfight ensued.

Another scenario being shown included a mad scientist and his chemistry set. Apparently you can bargain with a Grim Reaper character in the game, and in the process you get turned into a zombie. The scientist was trying to cure his zombie friend by mixing a variety of potions. On a failed attempt the potion made him invisible.

Five new career paths will also be available in Livin' Large. Not all have been divulged, but the three confirmed are hacker, journalist (specializing in the area of game reviews), and work involving the paranormal. It was also revealed that the tragic clown character, who appears in a painting in the original game, will be a character in this game, so you can share his pain.

Maxis is playing up the humor aspects of this title, and you can bet there will be even more surprises in the finished product when it hits stores.