Wednesday 19 June 2002

Pic of the day: Attack of the puppets! (From The Sims on Vacation.)

Sock puppet deathmatch

You can learn many things from New Scientist, the UK magazine of popular science. (And not always just popular either – the thing is filled with job ads where more glossy pop-sci mags have full-page ads for brain machines and sensual toys. So I tend to take New Scientist slightly more seriously.) A small fraction of my article yesterday owes a debt to "The X factor", an article on how human intelligence may be caused by the mating preferences of prehistoric women. I have touched on that topic before, but without knowing that a disproportionate number of the IQ genes are on the X chromosome. X-bound genes are a particularly good target for sexual selection, since any deficiency or excellence in the gene is displayed unfiltered in the poor male. (The woman can always hide behind the better of her parents.) The logic was corroborated with a study that showed women to be particularly attracted to playful men in the days they were most likely to conceive.

Then again, some women are known to be more playful at certain times too. It varies. And here, dear reader, is the link to the other article in the same magazine (May 25, for you collectors). To my horror I discovered that The Sims had been on course to be released under the name "Dollhouse". Imagine the world history if that had happened! The best-selling game of 2000, 2001 and probably the next few years too, reduced to a niche product for underage girls. Now instead, thanks to the age & gender neutral name, it is spreading its message of benevolent coexistence to all races, sexes, ages and corners of the world. (Besides teaching you that the best way to get rid of irritating neighbors is to remove the ladder while they are swimming in your pool. Not that I would ever do that even to Sims, of course. I generally do unto my creations as I want my Creator to do unto me, except that they get less snacks and more dinner.)

***

Yes, I have been playing The Sims again, as you may have guessed. I was a bit sickly and home from work. I did shoulder exercises and played the Sims and read up on mysticism. Mostly Sims though. I have an expansion pack to explore, after all.

Well, the vacation part was really a let-down. I may want to go into detail on that later, if I'm still around, but suffice it to say that a good computer will induce far more happiness in your Sims than a vacation. As for the player, however, the variation may have some value. For instance, I think this is our first encounter with snow in that game. However, the pack also introduces new stuff, and new behaviors, especially among children. But also adults seem to be slightly tweaked. I wonder how much of this is in preparation for the upcoming Sims Online. More about that if I get it – it's not even finished yet.

I've played on the portable today, where I installed the Norwegian language version. No, I did NOT translate it, though I expect rumors to that effect to start circulating because of certain references to local South Coast places. (Vennesla as the cultural and social center of the region leaps to mind.) Foreigners, don't ask ... you really don't want to know.

Anyway, playing The Sims made me remember why I thought friends were fun. As usual I have made a Sim that is suspiciously like myself, both in looks and attitudes. He is quite introverted and even when in the city, he will hesitate to contact people who he doesn't already know. However, in this game not one but two girls he didn't know came up and challenged him to a sock puppet deathmatch. Or whatever. That's certainly what it looked like, the hand puppets jabbing at each other and babbling wildly. I'm not sure if this is really the way to approach strangers, but it sure worked on "Mags". He really liked it.

And now that I think about it, it seems a disproportionate number of my friends have been girls who have done weird but harmless things in front of me. I guess it's kinda hard to be a stranger after a heated hand puppet fight. And it's not like they can help it - they're programmed to do that. Well, the Sims. I'm not so sure about the others. Sociobiology is not the most exact of sciences. But if it can explain spontaneous sock puppet battles, I guess it's worth a chance.