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The addition of a new friend is guaranteed to enrich the daily lives of your Sims! Not only will players have the opportunity to choose from a variety of existing breeds, and hot designer mixes, but they’ll also be able to personally design their new friend with the Create-a-Pet feature. The ability to customize gives fans the opportunity to create their ideal pet by choosing their body shape, unique markings, even their pet’s personalities! With so many different animals to choose from, there’s no telling what unpredictable experiences could occur!

Players will also be able to teach their pet new tricks, take them for a romp in the park, outfit them with new pet accessories and even give them a job! As in real life, your Sims’ pet will require care and training. A neglected cat with an urge to scratch might claw up your new couch if you aren’t careful, and leaving your dog unattended near a freshly planted flower bed probably isn’t wise!

• Sims Have New Friends - Pets! Sims can share their lives with their new pets and add more fun to the Sims experience. From dogs, cats, caged animals and more, your Sims share new friends to experience life’s precious moments. With so many different animals to choose from, there’s no telling what unpredictable experiences could occur!
• Create-A-Pet: Choose from dozens of dog and cat breeds or customize features for a one-of-a-kind pet. You can even modify your pet’s body shape by choosing from specific colors and unique markings. Don’t like the way they act? Change their personality – from smart and sweet to silly and sloppy – anyone can create their ideal animal friend in The Sims 2 Pets.
• “Sit, Spike, Sit”: Your Sims can encourage and discipline pets, training them to shake, roll over, play dead, and more. Unruly pets might dig in the yard, claw the sofa, or topple the trash. Thankfully, a little training can go a long way.
• Classic Sims Open-Ended Gameplay: Create and control digital characters over a lifetime, setting their goals in life from popularity and romance, to fortune and family– their stories are in your hands.
• Share unique Pet unlocks: Use special codes to share unlockable pet accessories, fur types or markings with other The Sims 2 Pets players.

• Friends for a Lifetime: Your Sims’ pets are members of the family and share all of life’s great moments – whether it’s kids training puppies, teens playing fetch in the park, adults watching TV with their cats, or elders enjoying a sunny day in the park with their long-time companion!
• Create a designer breed: Your Sims pets have genetics, allowing you to create the latest designer pet, including popular hybrid breeds like the Labradoodle, Puggle and Schnoodle! Like what you’ve created? Register them to appear in Create-A-Pet as a unique pedigree!
• Bring Home the Bacon: Sims aren’t the only ones with careers anymore! Skilled pets can earn a living from three career tracks – Show Business, Security, and Service – and work their way up through five job levels.

• Stroll the Central Town Park: Take your Sims and their pet for a romp at any of the nearby park areas, or head to the Central Town Park which is a favorite of pet owners.  While there, watch your pet play well with others while your Sim can meet others and socialize with fellow animal lovers.
• Shop ‘til you drop: Visit the adjoining Town Center, a great gathering spot for Sims that evolves over time. Once you’ve seen the latest styles and decided on a purchase, deck your pet out in the latest clothing and accessories around. From geek to chic and cool to casual, your Sim can customize their pet’s look with one stop in the Town Center. It’s sure to be the coolest pet in town!

• Manage a Pet Care Center: Pamper, preen, and nurse all the neighborhood pets at your new Pet Care Center that you create and customize.
• How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? In a pet store that you own and operate, you can help other Sims pick out the perfect pet. Earn extra Simoleans by selling the pet products that include the latest pet fashions and accessories!

• Give Your Sim a Career in Pet Care: Take care of the town’s pets by being a veterinarian, a world-class pet trainer and more. Players can even choose from a variety of cat and dogs to adopt as their very own. Whether they are healing pets or just taking them for a stroll, there is always something to do in the pet-friendly town of Barkersville.
• Toys, treats and tricks!: Sims can teach their pets cool and amazing tricks and then compete in the World Championships to be the best in show! 

Transforming the traditional Sims gameplay for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms, MySims moves the player to a delightful but disorganized town where – thanks to the easy and unique controls – they can re-shape everything and make it their own. The town is rundown, but the player can make it much more dynamic. Using a selection of building blocks, unique patterns and engaging creativity tools, players can design furniture and appliances, architect new homes and businesses, and re-define the entire MySims landscape!

As players explore and build up the town, they will get to know dedicated, long-time residents like the always-busy Mayor Rosalyn P. Marshall and Buddy – the mostly-lazy hotel Bellhop. Once things start to look up, they’ll meet and choose from a variety of colorful, would-be residents. Will they build a restaurant for Gino Delicioso the Italian Chef, or will they help Ocean Breeze set up his Yoga studio instead?

Design is everyone’s domain in MySims. From building a new Pizza Oven for Gino to putting the finishing touches on a new roof for Buddy’s busy hotel, each completed task will help the town grow. As it expands to new areas, players will receive special building blocks, decorations and patterns which help customize their unique creations. From furniture and buildings to the town as a whole, every choice informs how residents and visitors feel and behave.

This trailer for "Wii Sims" just hit, and if you can spot the similarities between the previous Sims games you win a secret prize. The new visual style is interesting, though I can imagine some flack for looking a bit like Animal Crossing.

I hadn't thought of it, but the Wii's pointer-style remote does open some doors for mouse-driven game styles (like Sims) that usually have to suffer a shoddy adaptation to analog sticks. Could we see some RTS games next? Or punch-the-monkey flash banner ads?

Electronic Arts has announced a new expansion for The Sims 2, The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff.

The expansion pack will include 60 new items for your sims including crazy new costumes, decorations and more. Some examples of the new items include cruise ship replicas, castle beds, a desk lamp and a trunk. The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff is scheduled to ship in April 2006 for the PC.

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Electronic Arts has announced that they have shipped The Sims 2: Open for Business for the PC.

Open for Business allows the sims to find their dream jobs and flourish in the business world. Players can create various types of establishments including boutiques, restaurants, salons and more. The game will feature over 125 items along with new gameplay elements. Players can also create floor plans, sales displays, hire and fire employees and set prices for their businesses.

Don Laabs, senior producer for The Sims 2 said, "The Sims 2: Open for Business opens a limitless world of new gameplay for Sims fans...This is one of the most open-ended expansion packs we have created and we encourage fans to discorver their irreverent, quirky business personalities."

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.