In only eight years, the Sims ™ has gone from a brave new game to sales figures of over 100 million, official as of April 16, 2008, according to its manufacturer Electronic Arts, Inc.

Noted by Wikipedia as “one of the most successful video game series of all time,” the game can be played on a PC as well as popular game platforms like Wii, Playstation 2, and Nintendo. There is no specific agenda to the game—it’s an open-ended creative endeavor where players create characters and then take them through virtual lives, where they meet other characters, acquire homes and other assets, lose homes by not paying their bills, and experience other aspects of real life like birth, dating, marriage, even aging and death.

Although the creation of characters and life experience is similar to that in Linden Life’s Second Life, the latter has taken on much more the form of an alternate lifestyle for its participants, which the Sims remains much more recreational. The game has been published in 60 countries and 22 languages, and even has its own language called Simlish.

A fun fact provided by EA in its press release: if 100 million boxes of The Sims were lined up end-to-end, they would stretch from New York City to Moscow.

Based in Redwood City, California, Electronic Arts, Inc., has continued since 2000 to provide upgrades to the popular game, moving into full 3-D versions, with storylines, more gadgets and at one time, a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) that has since been downsized to another EA product, EA-Land. Players new and old can still hook up with other aficionados online at www.TheSims2.com to exchange information, hints, stories and get free stuff for their characters.
 
(Source: EA)