The Sims 2

The Sims 2 is a strategy/simulation computer game from Maxis and is the sequel to the popular game The Sims. It is a vast departure from the previous version and various updates. It is fully 3D, and, unlike in the first installment, characters age and have genetic traits that can be passed on to their children. The game was officially released on September 17 2004. Customers who pre-ordered The Sims 2 received their copy on September 14 2004. A port to Mac OS X was done by Aspyr and was released on June 12 2005. The DVD edition will not be available outside of the United States.

Humour and in-jokes

Veronaville

The neighborhood Veronaville is supposed to be a spoof of Verona (the Italian city in which Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare, takes place). In this neighborhood, there are two families who are supposedly conflicting with each other: the Capp family and the Monty family (obviously reflecting the Montague and Capulet families in the play). Supposedly (according to the story of the neighborhood) the conflict started when the leader of the Capp household broke a promise to the leader of the Monty household. The memories of Consort Capp and Patrizio Monty suggest that the broken promise may have been to help Patrizio out in time of need. Instead, Consort apparently conned Patrizio and the result was that Consort became a CEO and Patrizio got fired. Just like in the play, there are two lovers from each family: Romeo and Juliet. The other teens from either household are named after actual characters in Romeo and Juliet, except for Hermia. Her character (as well as a third family, the Summerdream family) was pulled from A Midsummer Night's Dream, another Shakespearean play. Characters from other Shakespearean plays can be found in the family trees in Veronaville. Although these spoofs are supposed to parallel the plays they parody, the Romeo and Juliet parody is significantly less tragic than the actual play. (E.g., Tybalt cannot kill Mercutio to initiate the conspiracy and suicide of Shakesphere's play, but can still laugh if he Mercutio dies from a satellite falling on his head, etc...)

Related Topics:
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Llamas

Llamas are the trademark animal of The Sims (as well as other Maxis games). Speculation suggests that this is an in-joke due to one of the producer's love of Monty Python movies (specifically, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where its opening credits credited llamas for the movie's production). Cows are also seen in "University".

Related Topics:
Llama - Monty Python - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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Michael Bachelor

Should one take a look at the Goth family's family tree, they can find out more about Bella's branch of the tree. As it turns out, a Michael Bachelor is her brother (now deceased). The Bachelor family was one of the pre-packaged families that came with the original The Sims. Only one person was in that family... a man named Michael.

Related Topics:
Family tree - The Sims

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Mary-Sue Pleasant

One of the characters living in Pleasantview is named Mary-Sue Pleasant. This is probably a reference to the term "Mary Sue," which is used to describe an idealized character in a work of fan fiction.

Related Topics:
Mary Sue - Fan fiction

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