Video gaming doesn’t really have too much of a source of reality TV, outside of competitive shows that just can’t keep up with the likes of Survivor and Big Brother. But maybe it doesn’t need its own devoted TV programming, as there’s a game series out there that manages to whisk them away into their own curious reality: The Sims.

Electronic Arts has announced that the long-awaited The Sims 4 will finally ship for PC next month, providing a number of new opportunities for users to create characters and neighborhoods, then watch with hilarity (and some cringing) as they go through day-to-day situations, ranging from the abnormal to the all-out wacky.

The Sims is a social experiment,” said Rachel Franklin, executive vice president of Maxis, the development studio behind the popular sim series. “People are fascinated with human life, we all want to watch each other. You see it with reality TV – what is that person doing Why are we fascinated with a fisherman working off the coast of Alaska It’s because it’s a life we’re not familiar with – we want to know and understand it.”

With the game, players will find tons of opportunities with creating characters, situations and areas, then watching everything unfold – sometimes even in unpredictable fashion.

“It’s all about opportunities,” said Franklin. “You’re creating this personality and providing it with long-term goals that will give it impetus throughout its life. Then you’ve got them interacting with their environment, with their need states – what if they’re hungry how does that affect things Then you have them interacting with other Sims, and there’s this exponential explosion of personality possibilities – that’s really exciting.”

Franklin also believes that new behaviors open up from the game, thus adding to the already-provided situations. “With the multitasking element, we were surprised out how much more the Sims were socializing. In previous games, there was a lot more balance and order – now you can have a sim playing a game on a tablet while sitting on the couch, in a conversation with another sim. And because talking with other Sims is compatible with many other actions, they’re much more social creatures. A new style of play has emerged from that.

“And also, the neighborhood Sims, the non-controllable Sims that inhabit the world with you, are fully functioning AI characters too. Sometimes, you’ll see someone stomping angrily by, perhaps with a little kid jumping happily behind them, and you’ll wonder, what’s the story there There’s this immediate connection with the Sims that I don’t think we ever had before.”

The Sims 4 will release for PC and Mac.

Source: The Guardian