The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection

Well, It seems that The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection is already in my Origin account.  I haven't played Sims 2 in a long time.  Thought I would go ahead and start an install on it.  You need about 13 gigs of free space to install it, I forgot the exact amount.  I see that they also put a faq up.  According to Origin; The Ultimate Collection includes The Sims 2, as well as every single The Sims 2 expansion pack and stuff pack.  This would be great news for me as I lost half of my Sims 2 games one of the times I moved.

Oh here's a link to the Origin Fac:

http://help.ea.com/en/article/the-sims-2-ultimate-collection-faq/

No news yet on if this is going to be a for sell item on Origin or not.  I know a lot of people are wanting it.  I would think it would be, but who knows with EA...

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection

Another e-mail from origin came today.  This one for The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection, that I am apparently getting for free, whatever the Hello Kitty it is, because googling it yields no pertinent results

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection is yours for free! If you are having trouble viewing this email, please click here.

THE SIMS™ 2 ULTIMATE COLLECTION

Dear Origin gamer, Your current version of The Sims 2 will lose technical support on July 22, 2014. We want you to have the most up-to-date version of The Sims 2 in your collection, so you will see a brand new addition to your Origin library: The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. This is the most up-to-date version of The Sims 2 and the version that is still supported by Origin. It also features a lot more content than you may already have in your current version of The Sims 2. The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection will appear in your Origin library automatically. You'll need to download and install it to your computer to play it. You're free to continue playing your existing version of The Sims 2, but please note that it is an older edition of the game that will soon lose technical support. To continue receiving support on your progress of The Sims 2 — including Sims characters, houses, etc. — you will need to transfer your save files of The Sims 2 to the Ultimate Edition. To learn more about backing up your data, please visit http://help.ea.com/en/article/backing-up-your-sims-2-files/. Once you've migrated your Sims' lives to The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection, you can better organize your Origin game library by hiding your previous version of The Sims 2. Click on the tile for The Sims 2 in your Game Library for the option to hide it. If you need additional directions, we've got you covered. Thanks for your continuing passion for The Sims. — Team Origin

The Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo

I got an email today reading:

Hello bloodviolet,

As a dedicated The Sims™ 3 player, we're inviting you to try an early version of The Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo. The purpose of this trial is to perform a number of system-related tests in preparation for our game launch and to gather your feedback on our new game. 

You have been specifically selected for this trial because of your experience with The Sims 3 and because you have opted-in to receive communications from EA. 

The Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo will be available to download in your Origin™ “My Games Library” starting on July 10. 

Please note that this demo is still software in development and does not represent the final quality of the game. The Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo is only available on PC. 

Everyone here at The Sims Studio looks forward to your participation and feedback. We hope you have fun creating all new Sims! 

— The Sims Studio

Anyway, I went and downloaded it and messed around with it a little bit.  I'm going to have to say -- Not impressed as far as sim creation goes.

I was really spoiled with the create a style feature from the Sims 3 so the very limited clothing options depress be quite a bit.  You do get a few color options with each clothing piece but it's really just so inferior to Sims 3 in this regard.  The skin and makeup look ok, they seem pretty similar to what sims looked like in the Sims Medieval; but I don't know what's up with the hair meshes in this.  Seriously? Yuck!  They look like play doh to me.

I also tried to mess with the grab and pull molding that's supposed to be so great and one of the selling points.  Turns out; for me anyway it's really not that easy to use.  I couldn't manage to do anything much with it.  Sliders were so much easier to adjust.

The game play for the Sims 4 may turn out to be awesome and I'll probably get it sooner or later; but right now I know I'm not going to pre-order or shell out for this game until there is a major price drop or a few expansion packs come out for it.  90% of the enjoyment I derived from Sims 3 is in being able to design things in game to suit my personal taste and that just doesn't seem to be what they are going for this time around.