The Sims - can anyone explain what I need please

[friendly]

My daughter would like 'the Sims' for her birthday. I looked on amazon but was a bit confused. I remember a friends teenager saying I needed 'the first one'. I just want a simple one. She's going to be 8. There seem to be so many. Please help!

Do you mean for the PC?

There is a choice between "The Sims" (quite old so not so easy to find now) and "The Sims 2". These are the 'base packs'. You can have one without having played the other. Each has add-on packs available which give you extra locations or outfits etc but these aren't needed really.

If your computer supports it then the Sims 2 is probably the one to go for.

Right. Assuming you need it for the PC, "The Sims" is the original game. You can then get expansion packs that you can buy to extend the original game. They have new scenarios and items and characters. You must have the original Sims in order to play these. They are a lot cheaper than the Sims game, but you can't play them by themselves.

There is also "The Sims 2" and all the expansion packs for this. It is more of the same but more up to date. It is a separate entity to the original "The Sims".

You can also buy multipacks with the main game and expansion packs in.

You do not need the expansion packs to play the main game. If she is 8, you are best off with just the main game, though you may find at this point that it's not worth it, money wise, not to buy a multipack, IYSWIM.

Phew.

If you want it for a console, not for the PC, you can just buy a game. They are stand alone.

Is it for the pc you're buying? if so i'd say to get this one.
There are a lot of expansion packs which add things to the basic game. But this one is the latest version of the main game.
btw I just grabbed that link cos I had the page open but I'm sure you could find it cheaper than that

Good luck

Oooh everyone posted while I was typing! lol

Thank you all. Yes, I meant to say for the pc. Base pack, that's what I need. Great.

And don't play it yourself. If you ever want to be able to remove yourself from the PC, that it

CHECK the ages for the expansion packs, some of them are quite rude!

I would get The Sims, not Sims 2. IMO The Sims is much better and far more fun and playable.

Is My Sims coming on on PC format soon? That would be even better.

Maybe The Sims 2 is different for the PC. I have it for the DS and really don't like it. I refer the original format.

And the original sims can be picked up really cheaply...ebay... so if she doesnt like it you havent spent a mint.
You can also get it for playstation too.

Yes I'd agree, go for the original Sims. If she hates it, you've not wasted much money. If she likes it, you could get her version 2 later.

Oh and be careful to buy them fire alarms and teach them how to cook very quickly - when we first bought it, we made the "Janeite Family" and one of them burnt to death - NOT good for the children to see!!!!

You can get a multipack of the original Sims with the base & expansion pack reasonably cheaply now.