Better than the real thing?

58 million copies of The Sims have been sold making it the most popular computer game ever. Who would've thought a game based on real life, a game that involves housework, and employment, would be the number one game in the world?

My friend's sons who are in their 20s and flatting with friends, have a virtual flat on The Sims with themselves as characters and they spend time "flatting" virtually. Wot???

When I was flatting it was always, who's turn is it to cook and is there anything on TV tonight worth walking down to the pub to watch? We didn't OWN a TV between us. We did have an old atari that we could play Pong on IF we had a TV to connect it to. (If you don't understand that last sentence please leave this page now).

Our flat was on Marine Parade at Mt Maunganui tho. We had a white beach with rolling waves at our doorstep. We had cars cruising nightly outside our front verandah full of scantily clad 20 somethings... we only needed a TV in winter... and a warm pub with a nice fire (once Mt Manganui emptied of the summer crowds) was a much better place to watch it. I remember that we used to sit out on the verandah discussing our strategies for surviving a Tsunami (Mt Maunganui is a peninsula sticking out into the sea with a little dormant volcano on the end) or how to achieve world peace and end poverty... at least until someone stopped by with a better topic. BUT I'm sidetracking. My point is, that when I was flatting, I don't think I would've virtual "flatted". I suppose since Pong was the greatest invention of the computing world at that time, I would've been pretty impressed by The Sims but if we couldn't even afford a TV to play Pong, we certainly didn't have the money to play The Sims.

Now that people do have the money, the TVs, the computers, why do they choose The Sims? Is it that life is simpler and more controllable in The Sims? Does it fill some need for order? I suppose it is fairly compulsive: you want to get ahead, to achieve the game's purposes... but aren't the game's purposes the same as real life's purposes? By spending time playing The Sim's aren't you giving yourself less time to achieve those relationships, educational degrees, job interviews that will help you achieve in real life? Or is it just so much easier to dump a boyfriend, change career paths, keep in touch with your parents on The Sims and therefore... more rewarding?