MySims

MySims is a video game developed by EA Games for the and Wii console and based on Maxis' The Sims series. It has sold more than 1 million copies.

Gameplay
The Wii version of MySims begins with a character moving into a run-down town with a mayor desperate to bring residents back. The player's job is to attract business and 'townies' back into town. Players build houses as well as furniture, and in return are given special decorations, blueprints and outfits for their Sim. As the town's population increases, new areas of town are unlocked in which even more people can be moved in. Eventually the town is bustling with citizens again.

Unlike previous Sims titles, Sims in this game do not have needs or wants.

Features
Apart from creating a custom Mii-like character, players may also modify their houses and build furniture and appliances using a selection of building blocks. This gives the player more building options, allowing them to create objects by using blueprints, a change from the usual virtual catalog found in The Sims. There are 80 characters with whom the player may interact in the Wii version (30 characters in the Nintendo DS version), such as a mad scientist, a magician, a librarian and a chef. Some of these characters may ask the player to build things for them. As with previous Sims games, meeting people and forming relationships is a major gameplay focus. Becoming a Sim's best friend will earn the player either a special blueprint not available anywhere else in the game, or a style of clothing for their wardrobe. Players can also earn blueprints by preforming tasks for Commercial Sims (Sims who have their own businesses). Typically this involves building around 5-10 items for Sims, depending the Star Level (the 1-5 level) of the player's town and the essences they have access to.

A feature new to MySims is Essences. They can be found in various locations in town or by interacting with Sims or objects. Essences are used for a number of things including paint for the walls of houses, construction of items, as well as decoration.

Character design
Compared to previous Sims titles, MySims has a more anime-inspired look, with Chibi character designs. This was Emmy Toyonaga's idea; in Official Nintendo Magazine she remarked: "Well, Mario and other Nintendo characters are pretty short and stubby. Also, being Japanese, I'm used to the mindset that fun games should have shorter, stubbier characters. So these characters kind of came naturally".In Nintendo Power, designer Robin Hunicke said that the character designs also imply youthfulness, and that the aesthetic was chosen for world-wide appeal, while referring to the lesser sales of previous Sims games in Japan compared to other territories.

According to Official Nintendo Magazine one of the characters in MySims, 'Chaz', is based on their editor, Chandra Nair.

Interests and Essences
There are six Interests and several Essences for each. Each Sim has 2 Interests, one main and one secondary, and one Disinterest (an Interest they hate). Cute Sims: Bean, Beebee, Billy, Clara, Dolly Dearheart, Hopper, Jeremy, Ms. Nicole, Penelope, Pinky, Poppy, Renee, Shirley, Taylor Cute Essences: Happy (smiley face), Yellow Blossom, Rose, Plum Blossom, Sunflower, Puppy, Tina Doll, Kissing Fish, Tim Doll, Purple Crayon, Yellow Crayon, Red Crayon, Garnet, Gold Sims who hate Cute: Rhonda, Violet, Sir Vincent, Stephen, Master Aran, Travis, Stephen, Vic Vector Fun Sims: Annie Radd, Cap'n Ginny, Chaz McFreely, Daryl Handsly, DJ Candy, Master Aran, Odin Revolution, Pablo, Rhonda, Roger, Sandra, Summer, Travis Fun Essences: Clown Fish, 8-Ball, Musical Note, Magic Carpet, Angry, Soccer Ball, Tiger, Hopi Doll, Topaz, Beachball Sims who hate Fun: Elmira, Ray, Ian Arneson Geeky Sims: Brendan, Buddy the Bellhop, Clayton, Dr. F, Gertrude, Ian Arneson, Jenny, Liberty, Professor Nova, Rob Jarrett, Spencer, Star, Stephen, Vic Vector Geeky Essences: Mega Lizard, Video Game, Action Figure, Sapphire, Snake, Springs, Tire, Star, Tiny Shark, Rocket, Robot, Alien, Gears Sims who hate Geeky: Chef Gino, Mayor Rosalyn, Patrick, Cap'n Ginny Spooky Sims: Blaine, Brandi, Cassandra, Crystal, Esma, Goth Boy, Madame Zoe, Mel the Mummy, Morcubus, Raven, Ray, Sir Vincent, Violet, Yuki Spooky Essences: Voodoo Doll, Sad, Scary, Black Rose, Black Apple, Jack-o-lantern, Skeleton, Spider, Thorn, Amethyst Sims who hate Spooky: Poppy, Clara, Buddy the Bellhop, Dolly Dearheart, Bean Studious Sims: Abigail, Amelia, Eliza, Elmira, Gordon, Linda, Luis, Makoto, Matt, Mayor Rosalyn, Samurai Bob, Trevor, Yvette Studious Essences: Organic, Terra Cotta, Dark Wood, Light Wood, Pencil, Elephant, Moai Totem, Jade, Dinosaur Fossil, Globe, Stone Sims who hate Studious: Roger Tasty Sims: Chef Gino, Chef Watanabe, Chancellor Ikara, Edwin, Grandma Ruthie, Iggy, Jimmy, Karine, Maria, Noelle, Patrick, Roxie Road, Sasha Tasty Essences: Rainbow Trout, Cake, Chocolate Cake, Cherry Blossom, Gingerbread Man, Red Apple, Green Apple, Orange, Crab, Octopus, Bacon, Amber Sims who hate Tasty: DJ Candy
 * Cute (pink)
 * Fun (yellow)
 * Geeky (blue)
 * Spooky (purple)
 * Studious (green)
 * Tasty (orange)

Sims in the Wii version
Loves Studious, Likes Tasty, Hates Geeky Mayor Rosalyn P. Marshall lives in the Town Hall and is the first Sim you will meet in the game. She is counting on the player to bring the town back to life. Sayings: "Aha, deegaba!" (which probably means, "Aha, here it is!"; she says this while looking in a book), "Sool!" (Hi!) Loves Cute, Likes Fun, Hates Spooky Poppy owns a flower shop and loves flowers a lot more than her older sister, Violet, who is the complete opposite of her. Loves Spooky, Likes Fun, Hates Cute Violet loves dead flowers and although she loves her sister, Poppy, they are total opposites. Loves Tasty, Likes Spooky, Hates Geeky Patrick Rhino was a trucker until he tasted this town's food; now, this is his home. Loves Fun, Likes Geeky, Hates Tasty DJ Candy Supergroove owns a club and loves to have fun and boogie on the dance floor. She can juggle vinyl records. Sayings: "Shabuni?!" (DJ phrase), "Graneefa?!" (DJ phrase), "Dibby womp pan doo!" (DJ phrase) Loves Tasty, Likes Fun, Hates Geeky Chef Gino Delicioso owns an Italian restaurant and loves pizza. He can juggle tomatoes. Sayings: "Acheepa!" (unknown) Loves Geeky, Likes Tasty, Hates Spooky Buddy is the bellhop of the hotel. He doesn't get guests often until the town reaches a Star 2 Level, but he still loves his job, mostly because of the uniform. Sayings: "Eeboona!" (salute), "Daag da!" (salute) Loves Tasty, Likes Cute Roxie wears a bee costume and speaks in a high-pitched voice that might remind some of The Chipmunks and The Chipettes. She owns an ice cream shop. Her name is a pun on the ice cream flavor rocky road. She can balance three ice cream cones. Loves Cute, Likes Studious, Hates Spooky Clara loves playing with her Tina doll and sneezes very often. Her middle name is Belle, so her first and middle names are a pun on the name Clarabelle. Loves Spooky, Likes Studious, Hates Cute Sir Vincent Skullfinder owns a museum that displays Egyptian sculptures such as Sim Tut (a play on King Tut) and dinosaur skeletons such as Tyrannosaurus Rex. Loves Cute, Likes Fun, Hates Spooky Bean Bradley has a rainbow tattoo on his cheek and, like Clara, sneezes a lot. As a baby, he starred in baby food commercials. Bean also plays with his Tina Doll. Loves Cute, Hates Spooky Dolly Dearheart owns a costume shop and loves to play dress-up. Loves Studious, Likes Spooky, Hates Fun Elmira Clamp is a librarian who hates noise, mostly because she grew up surrounded by it. Her Auntie Crumplebottom taught her, "The best mouth is a shut mouth!" Loves Fun, Hates Studious Roger is very athletic, doing push-ups, running in place, and lifting weights. He often needs to stop to catch his breath. Loves Geeky, Hates Cute Stephen Albright is a Geeky Sim with an afro and buck teeth. He took Duct Tape 101 and Advanced Tinkering in school. He plans to build bridges in the future. Loves Fun, Hates Cute Master Aran is a martial arts master who teaches Sim Fu (a pun of Kung Fu). Loves Tasty Chef Watanabe has dedicated his life to the art of sushi. Loves Tasty Maria is a Tasty Sim who has food-related physical characteristics (cinnamon hair, peppermint eyes) and an orange dress. Loves Fun, Likes Cute, Hates Geeky As she was growing up, little Virginia wasn't like other kids; she was exceedingly rambunctious and mischievous. Ever since her grandma gave her a pirate hat and an eyepatch, Ginny has been seeking adventure all over the high seas. She owns a pirate-themed restaurant, Cap'n Ginny's. Loves Spooky, Likes Cute Yuki is a vampire who likes spooky anime and the British sitcom "May I Bite Your Face?" She loves to bite people, obviously. Loves Geeky, Likes Spooky, Hates Cute Vic is better known by his screen name, AwesomElf42. Vic owns an arcade and loves medieval-themed online games. Due to his love of medieval-themed games, it is supected that he may have some role in MySims: Kingdom, due to the fact that it will be more medieval based. Loves Spooky, Likes Geeky, Hates Cute Brandi is famous for her lies and all of her mischief-making. She tells everyone that it is undeserved, but then again, she's also considered a liar. She has a love of the colors purple and black as seen by her clothes and hair color. She can move in at Star Level 5 and her Best Friend Reward is a Bathtub- Spider Blueprint. Loves Fun, Likes Spooky, Hates Geeky An extreme sports legend, Chaz McFreely has done everything an extreme sports legend can do. Now, all he has left is to do everything to the max! He can move in at Star Level 5 and his Best Friend Reward is a Chair- Racecar Blueprint. He is supposedly based on the editor, Chandra Nair. Loves Tasty, Likes Fun, Hates Geeky If Iggy isn’t currently enjoying a snack, he’s preparing to do so. Mmm, a sandwich sure would hit the spot!
 * Mayor Rosalyn
 * Poppy
 * Violet
 * Patrick
 * DJ Candy
 * Chef Gino
 * Buddy the Bellhop
 * Roxie Road
 * Clara
 * Sir Vincent
 * Bean
 * Dolly Dearheart
 * Elmira
 * Roger
 * Stephen
 * Master Aran
 * Chef Watanabe
 * Maria
 * Cap'n Ginny
 * Yuki
 * Vic Vector
 * Brandi
 * Chaz McFreely
 * Iggy

Reviews
MySims has received fairly mixed, but generally decent reviews. It is known for having colorful graphics, and cheery and fun gameplay, but criticized for too many construction, and collecting essences. Its Nintendo DS counterpart is regarded as virtually a all new game in design. However, reception of its control scheme varied greatly. IGN said that "The problem is that nearly all of the objectives revolve around the same two tasks: the collection of essences and the construction of houses, buildings and items. All of the Sim management and social interaction elements of the previous games – well, you're not going to find much of that in the streamlined Wii affair". Gamespot praised the Wii game for it's Construction is intuitive and flexible and for Presentation is cheery and clean.

Controls
In the Wii version of MySims, the Nunchuk is used for direct movement, with the Wii Remote used for object moving and building.

Follow-Ups
There have been two sequels announced for MySims. They are called MySims: Kingdom set for release in Q4 2008 and MySims: Party set for release in Q1 2009. They will be released on Wii, Nintendo DS, and Windows (as MySims Gold)

In Nintendo Power issue: 229 the first look at MySims: Kingdom was included. It shows that the game will be set in medieval times and have more player interaction.