Thursday 15 August 2002

Pic of the day: Detail from an officially released preview screenshot from The Sims Unleashed.

No pets here

I consider myself highly resistant to advertising. (Then again, don't we all?) Well, I have the lack of trendy stuff to prove it. There is however a back door to my fortress: If I already have a positive attitude to a product, I am likely to view advertising for related products favorably. In the past I have taken this to extremes with my love for Hewlett-Packard handheld computers and equipment. I would even read ads for products I already had, just to remind myself how great it really was. I guess that's not a world record, but it is certainly unusual.

Today it is the Sims. I think I haven't visited all the vacation lots in the latest expansion pack yet, and I am already looking forward to the next expansion pack coming this September. The name is "The Sims unleashed", and it brings high level pets into the game. (The Sims already have goldfish, and a hamster which causes disease unless you follow strict hygiene procedures.) The new expansion pack introduces several new species, but with focus on cats and dogs. Cats and dogs become family members, even though you can't control them directly. They can have social relations with their owners or with guests or with other pets. Looks good!

***

Except that I don't even like pets. Even though I grew up on a farm with animals as my best friends, including a dog. But they don't fit into my life now. Cats and dogs are hairy and unhygienic. They need attention and give nothing back, except attention of their own; and who needs the attention of lesser creatures anyway? They are all emotion. And if I wanted to talk to someone who don't understand me, I could talk to my computer... Oh wait, I already do. That's what I'm doing right now, using a microphone and Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software. And like a pet, it gives no intelligent feedback. At least it purrs. But anyway, I have changed since my childhood. I would prefer the company of someone who knows their fermions from their bosons, so to speak.

I didn't grow up with just animals, you know. My parents and brothers were all more intelligent than I. These days, that kind of company isn't easy to come by. But creatures that behave like goats or dogs... OK, that's not fair. Still, I easily tire of watching the antics of those less intelligent than I am. And even if not, I guess I would have bought a TV. From the popularity of sitcoms and other comedies, I assume that many people feel better and perhaps more intelligent when they watch others acting dumb. I will not swear that this is not the reason why I play The Sims, but I don't think so. The Sims are indeed stupid, as can be expected from a bunch of pixels; but I can guide them like some overeager guardian angel so they become happy anyway. (Or at least as happy as pixels can be.)

And because I like The Sims, I already expect to like their pets. The nice guys and gals at Maxis tend to make things enjoyable. And not least, computers don't shed.