AATG: How did the idea to do a game with animal Sims come about?
SP: On the Sims label, we have about 320 people or so and obviously our bread and butter is the PC audience. My Sims introduced us to the Nintendo audience and so we’re always trying to figure out ways to get more people exposed to the idea of The Sims. The PC game tends to appeal to teenagers and up whereas this game and the My Sims games are more aimed towards gamers aged 8-16 and not all of them have experienced The Sims. They’re certainly as creative as our PC players, but they hadn’t really had a vehicle to express themselves, so these kind of games give exposure to the toolset you can play with and tell your own stories. The idea behind SimAnimals is so broadly appealing, because you know everyone has a favourite animal. There’re 34 different animals in this game to play with, so people will pick out their favourites and tell the kind of stories they want to tell.
The fundamental philosophy of The Sims is entirely based on the player’s creativity, having a good time and doing things in a silly way, and hopefully SimAnimals will teach them a little bit about nature at the same time.
AATG: How did the idea to do a game with animal Sims come about?Gamezone – Interview with SimAnimals composer Winifred Phillips
SimAnimals – Behind the scenes video
