The Sims by Rachel Palmer Game Information: I observed a male playing The Online Sims game. Electronic Arts is the creator of this program. The company is one of the largest developers with over $3 billion in sales in 2007. I was able to download a trial version of this game. To purchase the game there is a $9.95 monthly charge. Game structure and teaching: The objective of the game is to create a virtual identity and survive in a virtual world. There were not any clear educational uses stated. Upper middle school and high school students could play this game fairly easily. The player does learn to make economic choices in this game. I could see this game used in a high school accounting class. Game Play: In The Sims players don?t die. You could play the game forever. The objective of the game is to create and sustain a ?Sim?, or virtual person. The player had a week to use the trail version of the game. During that week the player was able to create one Sim, purchase a property, find a job, and create two friendships. The player had to maintain levels of certain functions for the Sim such as fun and hunger. Critique: The reason I chose to observe a man playing this game, is because this is considered a female game. This particular player seemed more interested in set up a home and getting a job than in meeting other players. When the player was approached by another player, he was not interested in creating a relationship. Instead the player wanted to gain information from the other player. Posted by rkpalmer ( Oct 01 2007, 10:05:01 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]