Software:The Sims: House Party

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The Sims: House Party
European cover art
Developer(s)Maxis[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts (PC)
Aspyr Media (Mac)
Platform(s)Windows
Mac OS X
ReleaseWindows
Mac OS X
  • NA: July 30, 2001[3]
  • EU: October 2001
Genre(s)Social simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The Sims: House Party is a 2001 expansion pack for The Sims developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The expansion introduces the gameplay features and facilities for players to hold parties and gatherings in their Sims' homes. Upon release, House Party met an average reception from reviewers, with praise directed at the new objects and mechanics that aided social interaction and variety of visual styles, and criticism at the limited scope and lack of changes to core gameplay. Many of the objects and gameplay mechanics in House Party would be reintroduced in Software:The Sims 2: Nightlife.

Gameplay

House Party introduces party items, including campfires, allowing multiple Sims to interact at the same time.

House Party introduces the option for players to hold parties. Parties are started by using the phone to throw a party, in which a random group of Sims will visit the lot. Players can also hold parties by inviting a large group of Sims over to the property. The mood of guests will influence the arrival of special Sims, including characters that crash the party, or a mime that lowers the mood of guests at a party where the Sims have a low mood. The expansion introduces several communal objects that allow multiple Sims to socialize at once, including a punch bowl and campfire, as well as entertainment objects including a mechanical bull and dance floor.[4] Other features include services that allow players to purchase pre-prepared meals and catering tables, and hire catering services over the phone. House Party also adds new decor, music tracks, costumes, and floors and wallpapers in the build mode with a country, tiki culture and disco motif.[5]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic74/100[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGW4.5/5[5]
GameRevolutionB−[7]
GameSpot8.3/10[4]
GameSpy77%[8]
IGN7.0/10[10]
PC Gamer (US)73%[12]
PC PowerPlay80%[11]
PC Zone50%[13]
Games Domain6/10[14]

Sales

House Party was a commercial success. In the United states, House Party was the fifth best selling computer software title of 2001,[15] and the seventeenth best selling title of 2002.[16] House Party peaked as the highest selling computer software title of the month in Australia,[17] and the second highest-selling computer software title of the month in the US and UK.[18][19]

Reviews

House Party received an average reception, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[6] Critics generally praised the inclusion of the new party gameplay mechanics and objects, with several praising the focus of gameplay additions on the social aspect of gameplay.[9] John Dewhurst of PC PowerPlay highlighted the "entertaining" conceit of the expansion and found it to complement the base game.[11] Computer Gaming World found the new items to be "well-designed" and highly useful for meeting the social needs of Sims.[5] Marc Saltzman of PC Gamer commended the "architectural styles and multitude of objects" for their detail and variety, and noted the addition of new music to the game added more genres of music than the original game.[12]

However, several reviewers critiqued the limited scope of gameplay and content additions in House Party, with some questioning whether it justified commercial release.[10][8] Many critics noted the expansion did not change the basic structure of the game or add significant gameplay additions.[4][11][8] Vincent Lopez of IGN described the expansion as a "filler" that failed to take the gameplay to new places, writing that the concept was "never fully utilized" due to its failure to introduce new locations or spaces for Sims to party.[10] Michael Lafferty of GameZone noted that parties were constrained by the "time and financial management" limitations of the broader gameplay.[9] Several reviewers also observed that the depiction of parties in House Parties was largely sanitised, including the omission of alcohol from the mechanics.[14][13][12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Mac OS X version developed by Westlake Interactive.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2001 releases". http://www.eurogamer.net/release-dates.php. 
  2. ↑ "The Sims: House Party". http://pc.ign.com/games/16115.html. 
  3. ↑ Cohen, Peter (July 30, 2001). "Aspyr releases The Sims "House Party" expansion pack". http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0107/30.houseparty.shtml. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Park, Andrew (17 May 2006). "The Sims: House Party Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-sims-house-party-review/1900-2701554/. Retrieved 16 January 2023. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "My Sims Want to Party All the Time!". Computer Gaming World (204): 86. July 2001. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_204/page/n89. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "The Sims: House Party". https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-sims-house-party/. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 
  7. ↑ White, A.A. (April 2001). "Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's $29.99!". Archived from the original on 10 June 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010610001312/https://game-revolution.com/games/pc/sim/sims_house_party.htm. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Hamuersen, Tina (2001). "The Sims: House Party". Archived from the original on 22 May 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010522054318/http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/may01/houseparty/. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lafferty, Michael (13 April 2001). "The Sims House Party Expansion Pack". Archived from the original on 17 April 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010417144945/http://www.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r17881.htm. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lopez, Vincent (30 March 2001). "The Sims: House Party". Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010413092320/http://pc.ign.com/reviews/16115.html. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Dewhurst, John (June 2001). "The Sims House Party". PC PowerPlay (61): 73. https://archive.org/details/PCPowerplay-061-2001-06/page/n71. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Saltzman, Marc (June 2001). "The Sims House Party". PC Gamer (85): 58–59. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Hill, Mark (June 2001). "The Sims House Party". PC Zone (103): 77. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_Issue_103_2001-06_Dennis_Publishing_GB/page/n75. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "The Sims House Party". Games Domain (16): 24. May 2001. https://archive.org/details/games-domain-offline-16/page/24. 
  15. ↑ "2001: A Sales Odyssey". Computer Gaming World (213): 38. April 2002. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_213/page/n41. 
  16. ↑ "Who Plays What?". Entertainment Software Association Essential Facts Reports 2003. Interactive Digital Software Association. 2002. p. 5. https://archive.org/details/esa-essential-facts/IDSA_2003EssentialFacts. 
  17. ↑ "Inform: The Official Australian Games Chart". Hyper (93): 97. July 2001. https://archive.org/details/hyper-au-093/page/96. 
  18. ↑ "The ChartTrack Top 10". PC Zone (104): 20. June 2001. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_Issue_104_2001-07_Dennis_Publishing_GB/page/n19. 
  19. ↑ "The Top Selling Games Today". PC Gamer (87): 29. August 2001. https://archive.org/details/UneditedPCGamer_marktrade/PC_Gamer_087u/page/n31. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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