The Urbz: Sims in the City
Encyclopedia
The Urbz: Sims in the City is a video game for the GameCube
, PlayStation 2
, and Xbox
consoles, as well as the Game Boy Advance
and Nintendo DS
portable systems. It is the third Sims
game for video game consoles and is the second Sims game not to be released on PC
. The next release for consoles and handhelds was the console port of The Sims 2.
Hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas
provided several music scores for the game, which have also been translated into Simlish
. Members of the group would also appear as guest Urbz in the game.
In addition to gaining Rep, the player must also make sure that his or her character has its needs fulfilled, and to increase the character's skills by playing mini-games. The amount of money Sims can make at the various jobs in each of the districts is determined by what skills they've leveled up. As they progress through the game, players will get messages for rent from Darius, the Sim with the highest rep in the city, and get programmed messages to their XAM. Also, other challenges, like helping Sims (or Urbz) get money from people,
The player will be given different tasks depending on the District
they're in. The tasks are varied in nature, including fulfilling needs, furnishing an apartment, building reputation
, mastering a job, making friends, tagging an object, and helping others.
Apartments:
and require the player to complete missions to advance. The goal of the Nintendo DS and GBA versions is to complete the five missions. Like the other games of The Sims
franchise, an Urb has eight basic needs; Hunger, Sleep, Fun, and so on. In order to succeed in the handheld versions of this game, these needs must be kept high and steady.
In this version of the game, Daddy Bigbucks plans to take control of the entire city, tear down all of the buildings and turn the town into a totalitarian world where its citizens are forced to pay for the most basic necessities such as charging for every time a Sim would breathe the air. There are three districts that can be unlocked upon completing certain sets of goals. Once the player has beaten the game, they are free to live in any of the houses or apartments so long as they have enough money, the most expensive and last to unlock being the penthouse in King's Tower.
The player also has the opportunity to change what type of person they are of the four: Richies, Artsies, Streeties and Nerdies. By getting a high rep with the leader of each group, the leader will give the player a list of goals, and upon finishing them all and getting the highest possible reputation with that group, will become part of them.
:
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
consoles, as well as the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
portable systems. It is the third Sims
The Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
game for video game consoles and is the second Sims game not to be released on PC
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. The next release for consoles and handhelds was the console port of The Sims 2.
Hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
provided several music scores for the game, which have also been translated into Simlish
Simlish
Simlish is a fictional language featured in EA Games' Sim series of games. It debuted in SimCopter, and has been especially prominent in The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. The Sims development team created the unique Simlish language by experimenting with fractured Ukrainian, French, Latin,...
. Members of the group would also appear as guest Urbz in the game.
Console gameplay
The objective of the console games is to go to each of nine Districts and build their reputations (called "Rep", in-game). Rep is a measure of how popular a character is; as characters gain more reputation, they gain access to larger apartments and different Districts. In the end, the character will have the largest apartment and be able to visit any of the Districts.In addition to gaining Rep, the player must also make sure that his or her character has its needs fulfilled, and to increase the character's skills by playing mini-games. The amount of money Sims can make at the various jobs in each of the districts is determined by what skills they've leveled up. As they progress through the game, players will get messages for rent from Darius, the Sim with the highest rep in the city, and get programmed messages to their XAM. Also, other challenges, like helping Sims (or Urbz) get money from people,
The player will be given different tasks depending on the District
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
they're in. The tasks are varied in nature, including fulfilling needs, furnishing an apartment, building reputation
Reputation
Reputation of a social entity is an opinion about that entity, typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria...
, mastering a job, making friends, tagging an object, and helping others.
Districts (Console)
Public places:- Diamond Heights
- Skyline Beach
- Neon East
- Cosmo Street
- The Foundry
- Kicktail Park
- Central Station
- Gasoline Row
- South Side Bridge
Apartments:
- 98th Ave, 3rd Floor
- Blankwood Towers
- Darius' Penthouse
Handheld gameplay
The handheld versions are played as an adventure gameAdventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
and require the player to complete missions to advance. The goal of the Nintendo DS and GBA versions is to complete the five missions. Like the other games of The Sims
The Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
franchise, an Urb has eight basic needs; Hunger, Sleep, Fun, and so on. In order to succeed in the handheld versions of this game, these needs must be kept high and steady.
In this version of the game, Daddy Bigbucks plans to take control of the entire city, tear down all of the buildings and turn the town into a totalitarian world where its citizens are forced to pay for the most basic necessities such as charging for every time a Sim would breathe the air. There are three districts that can be unlocked upon completing certain sets of goals. Once the player has beaten the game, they are free to live in any of the houses or apartments so long as they have enough money, the most expensive and last to unlock being the penthouse in King's Tower.
The player also has the opportunity to change what type of person they are of the four: Richies, Artsies, Streeties and Nerdies. By getting a high rep with the leader of each group, the leader will give the player a list of goals, and upon finishing them all and getting the highest possible reputation with that group, will become part of them.
Reception
The game drew generally favorable reviews, with an average ranking of 70.6% according to Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
:
- IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
: 7.5 out of 10 - GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
7.3 out of 10 - GameSpyGameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
4 out of 5 - X-PlayX-PlayX-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
3 out of 5
- Note: These are the grades for the PS2 version only.