Using Technology and Innovations to Simulate Daily Life

I knew something was up when I saw my daughter shouting at our computer , scolding one of her Sims—a simulated male who kept making a mess of his house. To undo the damage , my exasperated daughter had to give him specific and detailed cleaning instructions. Just like a guy! Yet hers must have been the sort of reaction Will Wright dreamt of when he first settled on the concept of The Sims several years ago: to create a synthetic dollhouse and embody it in a computer game. Besides topping sales charts and generating endless discussions among computer gamers, The Sims has received attention from such prestigious publications as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, where Dean Taka-hashi (9 July 1999, Page B1) points out that " In an industry best known for blood and gore, computer-game designer Will Wright is an alternative thinker. Intellectual may be more like it. " Far more than a dollhouse, The Sims evokes comparisons to a Greek myth in which you can play the deity, manipulating the lives of unaware humans. The trouble with this model—and what makes the game so intriguing—is that just like mortals in Greek mythology, your Sims often frustrate your plans with their own autonomy. Moreover, Wright's game demonstrates how game development can influence computer science. The Sims achieves its success through both advanced computing technology and an understanding of its users. It brings players into the game through a combination of great technology, a believable simulation environment , a superb user interface, and a fun game design. The Sims recalls two previous efforts: the 1986 Commodore 64 game Little Computer People and the 1996 Tama-gotchi Virtual Pets. In Little Computer People, developed by David Crane and Sam Nelson for Activision, you control the life of a minute person who has come to inhabit your computer. You interact with your guest by typing keywords. Activision still sells a version of the game for Windows, and a shareware version can be found at Debuting first in Japan and a year later in the West, the Tamagotchi Virtual Pets were sold in toy stores as tiny handheld LCD video games attached to a key chain or bracelet. The game's object is to simulate the proper care of a virtual chicken, accomplished through performing the digital analog of certain parental responsibilities that include feeding, playing games, scolding, medicating, and …