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July 2025 - The Sims

Recently I played the sims gamecube. Surprisingly, I was unable to find much community content or discussion about this game. Perhaps it is because of poor search ability since all sims games are called “the Sims” and it’s hard to differentiate between the gamecube / console sims and the original Sims 1 for PC.

My History with The Sims

I grew up playing Sim City on Super Nintendo, which was my first video game console. My mom taught me how to play Sim City, where to place the industrial zones and so on. My mom loved simulation games, I believe this and ALttP were one of her most played titles for the SNES. During a weekend trip to blockbuster I picked up the gamecube version of The Sims. It was in the generic blockbuster box with no cover art, and had the description of the game typed in plain text on the back. I remember it saying something about even having to make your sims use the bathroom!

I remember very distinctly driving home, holding this box and imagining what it could possibly look like. I was so used to that 16 bit Sim City that I could only imagine it being a static camera angle with simple graphics. (I dont think I had ever seen footage of the sims 1 on PC at this point) When I got the game home and loaded it, I was blown away by the full 3d graphics. Not only were there such detailed character models and furniture, but the camera system was very impressive to me. I spent so many hours designing sims and houses.

Later on in my gameplay, after I had purchased the title for myself, I attempted to complete the story mode. I was not able to complete it until I was a teenager. I remember never being able to keep my moodlets up, keep the house clean, or get very many skill points. I also never hired a maid for some reason. I think I didn’t realize that it was actually the most efficient way to play the game, I was scared to spend the money on the maid.

I have replayed this title countless times intermittently throughout my teens and 20s, both on original hardware and emulation. I believe the most recent time I replayed this would have been 5 or so years ago on my old CRT and Gamecube. It was not the best experience because the CRT I have is very discolored and needs repaired.

My Current Gameplay

Now, I am playing through a freeplay household with no cheats (except MIDAS). I named my main sim Ash and chose the Entertainment career path. I started with just this one sim and I quickly realized that I was struggling to make money, get promotions and keep my moodlets high enough to even get skill points. I failed to woo a sim and get them to move in with me so I created a roommate girl named Candy to move in and made her a horrible second bedroom.

My Sim, Ash

I attempted to romance some default sims around the neighborhood again. I had a relationship with Bob Newbie, who was married to Betty. Betty looked like a lesbian so I figured it was a mutual understanding sort of relationship. I also attempted to romance Chris Roomies, but she always rejected my advances because my house would be too small and disgusting to keep the “Room” moodlet in the green.

My house later into my gameplay.

My initial house was so small and I had no TV. I would throw parties constantly to maintain my friendships. After my roommate Candy moved in, I had her make other friends to lighten the load. For some reason I could not get Candy promoted, She was going to work with three green positive mood and a surplus of skill points. I made her switch careers several times and restarted my game a few times to eliminate the possibility of there being a bug. Finally she got promoted while in the Military career path.

Candy (blue hat) hosting a party in the disgusting kitchen.

At this point I am thinking about the genesis of The Sims; When Will Wright’s home burned down in the early 1990s, it had inspired him to create a home building simulator. The Sims is a great experiment with scarcity, work-life balance, and satirical capitalism. You force your sims into this rigid, efficient pattern to maximize skills and friendships to score promotions that give you simoleons to buy nicer things that allow you to further maximize your moodlets and skills. God forbid the hot tub breaks during a critical party and all the sims moodlets crash because nobody is having fun and the “kiss” option is immediately rejected which causes further social degradation.

Update: I have successfully reached career level 10, Superstar. When my sim came home I invited Chris over to see if I would be able to propose to her. After one hamburger and one joke, I selected “kiss”. It was actually successful. So I ran with that, and selected “propose”. Rejected immediately. A Superstar who owned a sonic shower, hot tub, and had level 10 creative was rejected by Chris Roomies! I was sure all our moodlets were in the green. Succeeding in a proposal will be my next challenge to overcome.

Sucsessful kiss after promotion to Superstar.

Moments before disaster...

Rejection.

Passing out from exhaustion over the whole ordeal.