Following EA's announcement that it plans to bring Madden NFL 2003 to Sony's PS2, EA have taken their commitment a step further. At the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show in Los Angeles, EA announced that they also plan to arrange The Sims' first console outing, on PlayStation 2 in the fall of 2002. In order to fully support and utilize the online capabilities of the PS2, EA have commited themselves to providing the console with additional EA SPORTS and EA GAMES franchises.
With 15 million Sims-related titles already sold on other platforms, Sony are bound to benefit by expanding their user base.
We are thrilled to have Electronic Arts announce online support for PlayStation 2 as we firmly believe that well-known franchises are key to bringing the console gamer online, said Andrew House, senior vice president, Sony Computer Entertainment America. Our goal is to help lead the PlayStation 2 customer base online with an experience that is consumer friendly and content driven, requiring little or no additional investment. In keeping with the open environment of the Internet, our approach to PlayStation 2 connectivity will encourage the creative community to drive and determine content offerings, as well manage its own customer relationships and distribution models. With EA on board we are one step closer to making this a reality.
The Sims first appeared on the PC in February 2000 and never looked back. Since then a variety of expansion packs have also been released, including The Sims House Party, The Sims Hot Date and The Sims Vacation.
They have gradually acquired one of the most devoted fan bases and many unofficial patches have also been released, including various Adult Sims Patches.
