Get a life…inside your phone! The Sims go mobile!

When Will Wright first suggested swapping the big picture of the Sim City games for a more up close and personal look at his little computer people it’s fair to say there were a fair few sceptics. However these dissenting voices were rapidly silenced by the resulting title. A truly delightful mixture of digital toy and virtual soap opera, The Sims proved both critical and commercial success wowing reviewrs and taking up a permanent residence in the best sellers charts.

When Maxis studio announced the decision to port franchise to mobile the doubters were back questioning everything from screen size to memory, but if our first look is anything to go by the nay-sayers have got it completely wrong again as The Sims 2 Mobile looks set to increase the innovation stakes of the series yet further.

Whilst the producers promise a comprehensive level of depth and detail to explore (including the opportunity to create a sun or upload them from the PC game), rather than try to port the PC title, EA have set out to deliver a ‘Sims experience’ that makes the most of the mobile.

Hence, although the essential premise remains on managing the life of your little computer person as they take jobs, furnish homes and interact with neighbours, the game structure will be split into bite-size gaming tasks each requiring around 3 minutes each to complete. Depending on how these missions are carried out you’ll boost your in-game rating (known as SimQ) which in turn will open up other challenges and opportunities. As with the PC version, there’s a whole host of objects available which also open up new activities and diversions.

The game will take advantage of your phone’s connectivity too, hooking into your address book enabling you to send messages to other players and trade objects or even Sims over SMS. Indeed you’ll be positively encouraged to hook up with other Sims players to form your own neighbourhoods from single blocks to bustling boroughs, eventually involving in a little local politics as you jostle for control of the neighbourhood. Just as crucially, there’ll be 3 different versions of the title tailored to different phones, so if you’ve got a high end handsets you can be sure it’ll make the most of it and if you haven’t you’ll get a version of the game that works.

With the game due for release in Autumn it’s a little early to be too bullish, but if the mobile version contains even a fraction of the appeal of it’s PC cousin it should prove to be Sim-ply irresistible!