Sims urbs in the city

The Urbz is the first The Sims game to feature Sims living in a big city. Cities often SimCity specifically are referenced in other games, but the games themselves take place in mainly suburban areas; Bridgeport , in The Sims 3: Late Night , is considered the first "urban" world in the main The Sims series.

It is also the first game in the series where time passes on all lots; this feature would not re-appear within the series until The Sims 3. The Urbz is the only game where the subtitle "Sims in the City" is trademarked; all other expansion, stuff, game, or compilation pack titles and subtitles are not trademarked.

It is also the only game released in a prior game era after the beginning of a new era ; as despite releasing after The Sims 2 on PC, The Urbz is still based on the original The Sims.

The Urbz was also intended to start a spin-off subseries for The Sims franchise, so it could give Electronic Arts more profit.

There would even be merchandising, including product placements and even figurines that were originally sold when the game came out. The half-developed sequel got cancelled due to poor sales, which only sold 2.

As such, all future sequels and franchise plans for the subseries were scrapped. The Urbz 2 started development in the summer of , about a few months after The Urbz was originally revealed by Electronic Arts. It would've introduced new features, such as online play, multistory housing, and children, and would've seen a release on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox consoles in The plot for The Urbz 2 took place directly after the first game, after the player's Urb got famous in Urbzville.

After that, the famed Urb moves to SimCity With the city itself actually making an appearance physically and they suddenly find themselves without money or fame. Luckily, the player's Urb is offered a place to stay, and they need to get enough money and rep to make themselves famous again. This game also would've featured a plot, involving Daddy Bigbucks trying to buy out the city while Jayde who would've made her actual appearance as a character would've worked as the main Urb's sidekick.

Characters from the first game including The Black Eyed Peas, which would've lent some of their musical scores to the game would've made an appearance there as well.

Due to poor sales of the video game, it got cancelled around December and the project was turned into what would later be The Sims 2 for consoles. Online play was also removed due to declining usage of The Sims Online and The Sims: Bustin Out's Online Weekend and certain technological problems with the new engine for sixth generation consoles.

Even though it was scrapped from The Urbz 2 project, it was originally considered for inclusion in The Sims 2 for consoles during development, but was later cancelled. Although, an in-house LAN test was done and worked perfectly, which explains several features relating to server data in the PlayStation 2's code.

Other features like children and multistory housing were removed due to technical limitations, even though references to them can be found in the files. Even though The Urbz 2 was completely cancelled, a lot of things were retooled for console platforms.

Also, locations like 8 Rockpile Rd , Jugen House and HMS Amore were originally from the project even though very few things changed in the locations like the removal of multiple stories Jugen House originally had 5 floors and subway entrances. As an "apology" to developers and other staff for wanting another The Urbz game, a few references like a portrait and an EyeToy filter of Jayde were added in.

The Urbz: Sims in the City. Main article: The Urbz: Sims in the City handheld. The Sims 4. The objective of the console games is to go to each of the nine districts and build their reputation called "Rep", in-game. Rep is a measure of how popular an Urb is; as an Urb gains more reputation, they gain access to larger apartments and different districts. In the end, the Urb will have the largest apartment and be able to visit any of the districts.

In addition to gaining rep, the player must also make sure that his or her Urb has its needs fulfilled, and to increase the Urb's skills by playing mini-games. The amount of money Sims can make at the various jobs in each of the districts is determined by what skills they've leveled up. As the player progresses through the game, they will get messages for rent, from Darius , the Sim with the highest rep in the city, and get programmed messages to their XAM.

There are also other challenges like helping Sims or Urbz get money from people or taking pictures of Urbz. The player will be given different tasks depending on the distirct they're in. The tasks are varied in nature, but most fall into a certain category:. The handheld versions are played as an adventure game and require the player to complete missions to advance. Both versions also include optional rep missions, but only the Nintendo DS version has the special Splicer Isle based mission.

Unlike in most games of The Sims franchise , Urbz have only five basic needs: hunger , hygiene , energy , bladder , and fun.

While the social need does not exist in the game and does not change the mood of Urbz, reputation degrades over time, and can be increased by socializing. Development for The Urbz started in early s, when The Sims was considered a success. However, due to staff issues, development of The Urbz was delayed sometime around Makin' Magic was released.

The Urbz was also intended to be the first The Sims game released for consoles, but Edge of Reality released the console port of The Sims earlier. Ports to the PlayStation Portable, Dreamcast and PC were planned, but the development of these ports was cancelled due to various reasons.

Development for the Dreamcast was canceled due to the ill-fated discontinuation of the console in spring The PlayStation Portable port was slated to release in but got canceled due to poor sales.

According to some images found on a beta website in , the game would've had a similar gameplay resolution to The Sims 2: Pets and The Sims 2: Castaway. The Urbz is different in several ways from The Sims and other console games games that came before it. Some of the changes between other titles The Urbz were later incorporated into later games, including games in the main The Sims series.

The Urbz is the first The Sims game to feature Sims living in a big city. Cities often SimCity specifically are referenced in other games, but the games themselves take place in mainly suburban areas; Bridgeport , in The Sims 3: Late Night , is considered the first "urban" world in the main The Sims series. It is also the first game in the series where time passes on all lots; this feature would not re-appear within the series until The Sims 3.

The Urbz is the only game where the subtitle "Sims in the City" is trademarked; all other expansion, stuff, game, or compilation pack titles and subtitles are not trademarked.

It is also the only game released in a prior game era after the beginning of a new era ; as despite releasing after The Sims 2 on PC, The Urbz is still based on the original The Sims.

The Urbz was also intended to start a spin-off subseries for The Sims franchise, so it could give Electronic Arts more profit. Get important friends and make a lot of friends in The Urbz: Sims in the City. As we mentioned before, this title is pretty different from your average Sims games. While in The Sims 2 building your house is one of the main aspects of the gameplay, here is pretty much insignificant.

In The Urbz: Sims in the City it's all about social interactions, and there are much more than ever before.

Unlike any of the previous Sims games, your Sim will spend much more time out in the streets, and you get to really play what they are doing. The Urbz: Sims in the City shouldn't really be compared with your average Sims games. They're only similar thanks to the characters, the title, and the fact that they are both simulation titles. This game could be greatly improved by getting a PC release for better controls and visuals. Graphics and visuals: The game looks nice and bright. The bright lights of the cities are there, and there are a lot of Sims on-screen which is great.

Oddly, the characters are still Sims, and they contrast a little with the rest of the game. But overall it's pretty visually solid. Gameplay: The gameplay would be favored if this was a PC game.