My daughter is a big fan of The Sims. Sometime back she described the game to me hoping I’d play it too. I asked her if I had to tell my sims when to eat, when to go to the bathroom, when to clean up after themselves, and when to go bed. Yes she replied, and added you even have to tell them what to wear. Sorry I said, but that’s too much like being a parent. I guess that’s why it’s so popular with the teenage crowd – while they may still be under mom and dad’s thumb, at least they can have complete control over a sim. She did persuade me to build a sim house – that’s more like what I want out of a game.
Now The Sims are going online. I’ve never gone the online gaming route — not even with Diablo — mainly due to a strong fear of getting my butt whipped by a nine year old kid who has the time to devote to games I can’t play as much as I want, but still play too much of. I suppose it will be different with The Sims since, as far as I can tell, there’s no way to get your butt whipped. I’m sure there is, and no doubt it will be in such a way that teenagers will pick up on it immediately, but us old folks will never divine. Like Phil used to say, be careful out there.
