MySims

Game: Mysims
Genre: Simulation
System: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii

When I heard that the concept of MySims could be described as "The Sims meets Animal Crossing", I thought it might be all right. Even though neither of those games could be described as "hardcore" in their wildest dreams, they both still have a pretty decent fun factor. Naturally, EA’s latest life-simulating endeavor came out only on Nintendo’s casual-gaming machines, the Wii and the DS, but something went horribly wrong. Is it easily accessible and understandable? Yes. Is it fun? Not really.

First of all, for those who haven’t seen, the graphics have been taken to a ridiculous level of cutesy, so that the townsfolk look more like your Miis than actual people. This wouldn’t have been so bad if most of the character-creation options hadn’t been completely done away with. Instead of getting to create a character from scratch and make him or her look exactly the way you want to, which is one of the things that makes The Sims so great, you get to choose from a limited number of hairstyles and outfits, so that no matter how hard you try to make your sim stand out, it’ll still look kind of generic.

I was willing to overlook the insufficient customization, hoping that what the game lacked in creative options, it would make up in gameplay. Unfortunately, in what must have been a misguided attempt to make the game appealing to everyone, it has been ridiculously dumbed-down. Before you can even move into your house, you are made to perform pointless and menial tasks, making the game feel more like a chore than a fun activity. I really had to force myself to keep playing just to get through the first day in my Sim town, which I incidentally named "Loserville". Little did I know how fitting that name would be.

For a game that could have been a ridiculous and addictive distraction from real life, MySims instead managed to be an insult to casual gamers everywhere. I feel kind of guilty knowing that I even sold a few copies to poor Wii and DS owners this week. At least next week, I’ll know enough to warn them to hang onto their cash.