Prerelease:The Urbz: Sims in the City (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
This page details pre-release information and/or media for The Urbz: Sims in the City (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox).
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The Urbz: Sims in the City spent a whopping four years in conceptual stages and development in comparison to other early Sims spin-off related projects, originally going into limbo during the first few years. It had also planned to be a spin-off for franchise, where Electronic Arts wanted to release multiple ports and merchandising but was cancelled due to sales not meeting their expectations.
The first preview wasn't shown until Summer 2004 due to the developers having to spend time working on the new engine; previews at the beginning were shown from the cancelled Windows version instead.
The game was released to a lukewarm reception, praising the unique gameplay elements but critcizing the repetition within tasks and relationship-building. The sales wasn't also enough for a sequel, therefore the next Sims console title was heavily retooled.
Retrospectively, while this game and its handheld counterpart is praised for its sporadic yet stylistic direction for the franchise, the console version is seen as not aging well in several ways, but is passable as a whole.
Contents
Development Timeline
2000
- Mid-Late 2000 - The Urbz is first pitched.
- Late 2000 - The Urbz begins development for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast.
2001
- Mar - The Sega Dreamcast version of The Urbz is dropped, due to the console's fated discontinuation.
- Sep - The Xbox and GameCube versions start development.
2002
- Jun - Development is suddenly put on hold due to the cancellation of SimsVille and limited developers working on the game.
2003
- Mar - Development for The Urbz is resumed.
- Sep. - The Sims: Makin' Magic goes gold, whereas the team working on the expansions is merged with the members that worked on The Sims console and The Sims Bustin' Out.
- circa. Late Nov - Development for The Urbz: Sims in the City begins near the end of development of The Sims Bustin' Out, where they had begun prototyping the gameplay and new engine.
- Dec 11 - When asked about Weather as a feature in The Sims: Bustin' Out, the developmental team said they were considering it for "the next console game".[1]
2004
- Jan. - Prototyping for the engine is finalized.
- Mar. 25 - former Maxis employee Jean-Luc teases an "all new console title" coming in fall.[2].
- Apr. 16 - The Urbz is teased by EA, with the working title Urban Sims.
- Apr. 21 - The Urbz, which was the working title at that time, is officially revealed by Electronic Arts, with a Fall 2004 release.
- May - Gameplay is shown at E3 2004.
- Jul. 17 - EA Hosts the Hot Summer Nights event, showing the new, finalized logo.
- Nov. 9 - The Urbz is released in North America.
Early Development (2000-2003)
After the massive initial success of The Sims in 2000, Electronic Arts wanted to bring the game to consoles in order to make more profit. Though rather than do a port, they wanted to make a spin-off hoping it would evolve into a sub-series for the franchise.
They also wanted to explore a new completely location and setting for the Sims, where they wanted a place that had "a rich tapesty of cultures, locations and new things to do". Their best option was described as "The City", where they refer to the Sims that live in the city "Urbz". The game is meant to appeal to players of The Sims while attracting new players interested in the gameplay of The Urbz.
The game was pitched a few months after the first game's release and started development in late 2000, around the time when the Livin' Large expansion pack came out and was originally supposed to be developed for the PlayStation 2 and the Sega Dreamcast with a 2001 release window. It had suddenly entered Development Hell due to the cancellation of SimsVille in late 2001, the ill-fated discontinuation of the Dreamcast in March 2001 and the lack of developmental resources where they only had less than 200 remaining staff.
At that time, development was broken up into three groups; one to focus on The Urbz project, one to focus on The Sims 2, and one to focus on the expansions for The Sims. Not much work had been done on The Urbz at that time, where development had slowed drastically in comparison.
Development wouldn't pick up until late 2003, where EA decided to merge both teams working on the The Urbz and The Sims expansions after the latter's concluded development on Makin' Magic. It was also when Bustin' Out had finished development after 6-7 months.
Concept Art
=Factions
=
2004
April
Announcement
The Urbz was officially announced by Electronic Arts on April 21, 2004, with a release date stated to be later in the year. Though a trailer was shown, it was actually that of the cancelled Windows version so it won't be listed here. In the press release, it is confirmed that there will be working jobs and EyeToy support for the PlayStation 2 version.
04/29/04 Chat
A chat was held on April 29, 2004 with three Maxis employees.[3]
- It is confirmed that clubs will be in the game, but many of them are restricted to VIP areas in the final.
- Mulitplayer is confirmed to be in the game.
- It is confirmed that the game has a new graphical engine.
- HDTV support for the Xbox version is confirmed.
- When asking about any possible further delays of The Sims 2, the developers confirm that there are two different teams working on The Sims 2 and 'The Urbz.
- A cut "online shopping" feature of the XAM is mentioned, where furniture is bought straight from there in terms of Buy Mode in the mainline games, as well as buying from stores in Districts. In the final, furniture is only bought at shops in several Districts.
- It is confirmed that Urbz will have places where they can live in each Districts, such as beds.
- A day/night cycle and weather is confirmed for the game.
- Pets are confirmed to be in the game, including the bulldog.
- When asked about Online Play, they said they wanted to focus on the gameplay aspect detailing Reputation, Motives and Jobs rather than online connectivity. They furthermore teased about online features in The Urbz "next year", tying into the cancelled Urbz sequel.
- Villains are teased for the game, in the form of "things going missing in the city".
- It is confirmed that the city will be diverse.
- Clothing stores are confirmed to be in the game.
- Apartments and "posh pads" are confirmed.
- It is confirmed that NPCs will dress like the player's Urb if they get enough reputation.
- A new skill system is confirmed, matching like in the final.
- It is confirmed that there are 12 locations in the game; 9 Districts and 3 Apartments.
- Marriage was confirmed to be in the game, but Urbs cannot marry one another in the final.
- It is confirmed that the game starts with the player choosing a District to live in.
May
E3 2004
June
Four rare images dated June 10, 2004, recovered from GameSpot.
- This location in the image appears to be an early version of Neon East, judging from the Asian architecture, though the fourth image appears to show the main road that matches up with Cozmo Street.
Images dated June 30, 2004.
- Harry Snivel had a thinner, muscular body, different shoes and hairstyle at this point in development.
- Venus Moonflower had no makeup or glasses and lacks clothing detail and accessories.
- A cut character known as "Tiny" can be seen in the Central Station picture.
- Kidd Chaos had a different hairstyle and clothing style while Genghis had a lighter skin tone.
- The stairs leading down in Central Station aren't present in the final.
- The bulldog from 98th Ave, 3rd Floor can be seen, despite Pets being restricted to Apartments in the final.
- In Skyline Beach, the seats were different, the fighting cage wasn't present in the final and the Ferret Packing job was moved to another part.
- The last image appears to depict an unknown location, likely the early layout of Cozmo Street. The main building looked completely different and the bulldog was still present.
July
Screenshots
Posted on July 13, 2004.
- The Political Art Statement wall decoration originally resembled the Union Jack flag, but was changed to a similar green/yellow pattern in the final.
EA's Hot Summer Nights
August
September
October
Scrapped PlayStation Portable Port
A PlayStation Portable version was planned for a release in 2005, but it got cancelled due to poor sales. According to some lost leaked screenshots found on a portfolio site in 2008, the game was pretty much a port of the PlayStation 2 version except with lower-resolution graphics and draw distance. A Sims game for the PlayStation Portable using The Urbz engine would eventually come out in 2006 as The Sims 2 Pets.
Resources
- Press Release
- Former Edge of Reality employee
- GameSpot Interview
- GameSpot Screenshots (Archived)
- [1]
