Nintendo DS Fans Think The Sims 2 Is Haunted
It's hard to believe it's been 21 years since we first started babbling rubbish with The Sims, but all these years later, Maxis' showstopping simulator shows no signs of slowing down. Away from the recent release of The Sims 4: Cottage Living, we're delving back into the archives for a bizarre look at the Nintendo DS port of The Sims 2.
For many, The Sims 2 was the best Electronic Arts had to offer - which helped it become one of the best-selling PC games of all time.
The OG Sims might've had Hot Date and Makin' Magic, but The Sims 2 offered up the likes of University, Pets, and Nightlife, as well as the opportunity to be impregnated by aliens in the core game. The question remains though, is The Sims 2 haunted.
Why do Nintendo DS players think The Sims 2 is haunted?
For those unfamiliar with playing The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS, it wasn't your typical port. While the console edition of The Sims Bustin' Out brought the base game and its expansions to the PS2 and Xbox 360, The Sims 2's DS release was commonly referred to as The Sims 2 Hotel and had more of a story than your standard port.
Things start off weird, with players taking control of the rundown Strangetown Hotel when the manager mysteriously vanishes. You're brought here when your car "accidentally" breaks down - suggesting there's more to this than meets the eye. To be honest, it sounds like the start of a Hitchcock thriller.
Over on a resurfaced Reddit thread (via Kotaku), fans have praised the batsh*t premise of The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS, but also shared their memories of this haunted hotel of horrors. Discussing alien invasions, mummies in the desert, and haunting music that played on a loop, the OP asked others to reassure them they weren't going 'mad'.
As it turns out, The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS is even more haunted than you might remember.
Gamers pointed out how the hotel would gather mountains of desert dust that you could never get rid of, having to turn into a superhero to battle a villainous robot in the penthouse, and how feeding cows chocolate would create chocolate milk. One redditor simply wrote, "American Horror Story: Hotel (Sims Remix)".
Is The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS really haunted?
Click to enlargeNamely, most commented how Strangetown was a ramshackle place in the middle of nowhere. Aside from the seemingly grand hotel, there are only a handful of buildings knocking around. In the first few levels alone, you had to do tasks for the Tony Soprano-esque Frankie Fusilli, who even asked you to blow up the Mayor.
The idea of a video game being actually haunted are slim, however, we would question what the developers were on when they came up with the idea of The Sims 2 Hotel. What's wrong with a good old-fashioned port of The Sims 2 like everyone else got? One fan rightly added, "I had pretty much every other Sims 2 port, but this was without any shadow of a doubt the strangest; I'd argue it's the weirdest Sims game, period".
At the end of the day, The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS brought the fun and the frights in equal measure. When you weren't summoning Horus Menhoset IX to banish the cow-worshipping cult, you were mopping up vomit when guests had gone "Loopy". Not everyone was a fan. A disturbed player concluded, "I’d say I’m pretty interested in weird and creepy stuff, but Sims 2 on DS was too out there for me as a kid".
With The Sims 5 supposedly on the way, we say there should be a full-blown sequel to this hotel management madness with The Sims 5 Hotel. Well, we can dream.
