Best Buy has always been a place of wonder and enchantment from me, even from my earliest memories. Whether we needed a new computer because someone pushed the wrong buttons (hint: it was probably me) or my brother tried to sneakily coerce my mom into buying him an overly-expensive Prince CD with PARENTAL ADVISORY upon the front of it, as though it was a scarlet letter. For me, it meant the chance to maybe get 1) a Backstreet Boys _____ 2) a movie from the cheap area or 3) that little portable black and white TV I had saved all my gift money and begged for literally every time we went there. Video games were something we reserved for buying at Babbage’s, Target, or Toys R Us. More often than not, they were my brother’s choice--not mine.
By the time the year 2000 rolled around, my brother had moved out since he was eight years my senior. This left me with my N64 and a PlayStation, as well as my parents’ PC. Most of the games I’d played on the PC were “educational” (I was homeschooled, after all), with Roller Coaster Tycoon and SimCity 2000 installed for good measure. When playing them during the day, I would often say that I was learning business principles, and my parents would leave me alone. Perhaps I missed my calling as a lawyer.
On one rainy day, as my parents contemplated the purchase of a new PC at Best Buy, I meandered the aisles of the store in an attempt to entertain myself. The ritual of CDs-movies- then-games rarely changed but was not observed this day. Something had pulled me to the gaming section.
It was in that moment my entire life changed forever.
Released in February 2000, twelve-year-old me fell in love with Maxis Studios The Sims. Having previously been a fan of SimCity, my parents seemed eager to purchase the game for me. My dad even commented on how it looked fun and cool to him, which helped me skate across the whole T rating issue. From there, a love story was born. Well, of course it was Bella and Mortimer Goth’s but it was mine, too. I had found a game that let me be creative and weird and tell stories. It was beautiful.
Seventeen years and many new editions and expansion packs later, I am still playing. This, of course, means I am much older now, but my need and adoration for The Sims is as strong as its been. From the PS2 version, I learned about nudist’s colonies, from the College edition of The Sims 2, I decided I never really wanted to live in a dorm. The Sims 3 helped prepare me for marriage and home-decorating...at least, that’s what I’ve told myself.
More importantly than learning things from Sandbox games, its the experience. When something bad happens to a lovingly crafted Sim, it hurts. When the blue screen of death appears out of nowhere and you lose the home you’ve been lovingly crafting, it hurts. Not to liken something as insignificant as losing a game file to bankruptcy, but the game did help me when that happened to my parents in 2008. It helped me cope with horrible relationships and self-esteem, as I could create whoever I wanted to be and the life that I had always dreamed of. The Sims gave me some kind of power that I never knew I had, something very few others game have ever done.
Here’s to seventeen more years, The Sims. Please go back to open world style gameplay in your next update, though. This Sim-fiend would be grateful for it.
