G&C Podcast - Episode 221: The Games That Shaped Us #19: Urbz: Sims In The City (Console)!

[00:00:00] Hey everybody! On this episode of Gaming And Collecting, me and Alex are going to be talking about another episode in our Games That Shaped Us series, this time talking about the console version of Urbz Sims In The City. One of the weirdest Sims spinoffs, but it was a damn nostalgic game for us back in the day. But anyways guys, on with the episode.

[00:00:38] Is mayonnaise an instrument? No. No Patrick Horserad, it's just not an instrument either. You're my favorite. I still think that is the best Spongebob episode ever. Yeah, what was it called? Bangeeks? Bangeeks. Well it's also the one time Squidward wins. Like the one time he actually gets a win. And like, you feel good about it too. You're like yeah, Squidward deserved that win right there.

[00:01:08] Then that fucking song. That they should have played at the Super Bowl. Still mad. Yeah. Oh yeah, didn't they only just like show like the clip and then it went to like a bad rap? They showed a clip with brand new animation. Started it and then switched to some rap song and it was like great. Ooh, yeah. Yeah. And then NASCAR gave them the middle finger by making this really cool like Daytona 500 promo using the Spongebob music. Oh, like use the do, do, do, do, do, do.

[00:01:38] Yeah, they used, they used Sweet Victory. Sweet, Sweet, Sweet, Victory. It was a promo for the Daytona 500 and the, all the, the footage was from like Daytona 500s from over the years. But they would jump scare Spongebob in the background repeatedly throughout it. It is such a bizarre. It was a time capsule of 2018. That's all I will say. This is off topic, but when did you become the collector of bullshit? Oh yeah, that was from, uh, so.

[00:02:06] I just looked, I was like, when the fuck has that been there? So, uh, hi everybody. This is Gaming Collecting. How you been? Um, so the collector of bullshit thing for those. Yeah, we're doing a podcast. Um, yeah, for those, obviously there's no video for this one. So people won't know, but under, under my little name thing on stream yards, there's usually, it usually says GNC Podcast Studios.

[00:02:28] But a couple, a week ago we had done a, uh, a thing for the Superpod Network and I usually, whenever we do Superpod Network group things, my, my little like slogan thing I always put under my name is collector of bullshit. Was life just the last time we recorded or? No, no, no. I added it literally right after we had recorded. Okay, I wasn't sure if I like, just missed it last week or, I don't know. Ugh.

[00:02:56] Yeah. No, that, that's, that, so, normally when we record Superpod things we use, um, a different, um, our friend Aaron from, uh, from the network, our boss. Um, he, uh, usually uses, um, uses Riverside, but his internet's been poopy lately. So, um, he had asked one of us to do it, so I hosted it on, uh, StreamYard, so I had to make a whole setup for it and everything. But, yeah, that's why it says collector of bullshit. I'm just gonna leave that there now. All right.

[00:03:24] It's actually funny when I did that guest appearance on, um, uh, shout out to, uh, Dr. Retro Gamer. He's a, he's a podcaster on YouTube who does like interviews with, um, collectors. I, I guest appeared on his episode. Oh yeah, I remember seeing that. Um, when I first hopped into the room cause he was using Riverside, I had forgotten that I had left collector of bullshit in the thing. So like we started talking and I looked at him like, oh shit, I should probably change that. Shouldn't I? He's like, yeah, if you could.

[00:03:53] Oh, that's funny. I think my name also said like Yukiko Stan, which is a joke from the previous thing we'd recorded. Yeah. It was, it was funny. Nice. But, uh, yeah, how you been? I've been good. It's been my second week at my new job and I'm really liking it. Um, it's pretty, it's pretty cool. Still a lot for me to learn. Uh, and I'm bouncing between two facilities. So I'm like having to double learn. Uh, but it's been really good. I've been a much happier.

[00:04:23] I definitely feel so much less stressed. I've been sleeping better. I'm just, I just feel better. Like, it's like crazy what like getting into a rut can just really bring you down. Um, so I've been doing a lot better, which I'm really glad about. How about you? How are you doing? Oh, I am sore and tired because I've been, um, uh, we're, I'm actually busy at work right now.

[00:04:51] And I've been doing this, uh, one job, which is like, I have to tap a, like a whole bunch of holes, but they're like really big holes. Yep. Uh, for those who don't know, tapping a hole is I'm putting the threads on the inside of a hole. It's, it's a process where you have to do it by hand. And I, I've been doing this for full, I'm going to be going on my fourth day straight doing this. And thank God they're, they don't really time us on anything. So I've been just kind of taking my time. But like today by like the midway point, I was like, I am fucking beat.

[00:05:20] Like I was so tired and I was like, Oh, I still have like 12 of these things to do. Hmm. Yeah. Almost done. Or yeah, I've got, I've got like three more to do in the morning and then I should be done. And I can move on to the next step of the operation. Cause I'm not even like halfway done with this job, but. Oh, wow. That's fine. It's just a, no, sometimes it's just there. They can be really intense, you know? Well, normally we do them in sets and a set is usually like eight at most.

[00:05:50] Yes. Time they dropped off three sets and I was like, okay, I'll be doing this for a while. So that sucks. Yeah. It's work. Hmm. Well, I look busy and they stay off my back. So that's all that matters. If you look busy and they leave you alone, you go home, you get paid. It's all that matters in the end. Yeah. Oh, yeah. But playing any, oh, playing anything, not. So I've been playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night.

[00:06:20] Okay. On the Saturn a little bit for a project we might be doing on 3DO. Uh, 3DO at some point in the future. Cause you're running out of content. Oh, no, we're not actually. We still got a shitload for 3DO to start the cover. Oh, okay. We just, I really. So shout out to our show 3DOnt, which is our new spin-off series that me and us. 3DOnt. Shout out to Tony for coming out with that name. You and Thrackelmore. Thracconator. Thrackelmore.

[00:06:52] Anyways. Um, yeah. We think basically the reason that show started is cause we wanted to do some other games that, um. That shaped you? No. Well, no, that's for this show. Basically it was so we could cover games without. Sure. You, you just want to cancel this show, don't you? No, the reason we're doing it on 3DO is so we don't do an episode of GNC without you. Because it's a game that you wouldn't want to cover.

[00:07:19] Or in the previous one's case, it was cause we've already talked about it on GNC. I see how it is. Oh, my. I was trying to cancel the show. Bleh. Yay. No. That's what's happening right now. What? Anyways. What did you just say? How have you been otherwise? You've been watching anything? I know you, you, you, you, you, trauma over the weekend, a week.

[00:07:50] What? You, you've been watching trauma this week. Yeah. I was, well, it stinks cause I went from watching like a very like silly, concept show to some. What was that? Did you open the drink? No. It scared me. It was so loud into the mic. We'll discuss this after. Well, I watched, um, well, first I watched Backstreet Girls Goku Dolls, which was a time.

[00:08:19] Yeah. You sent, you sent me that fucking plot synopsis and I just went that sure something. That was probably some of the funniest shit I've watched in a while. Just cause of how fucking stupid it was. Like they barely animated it either, but it was just, that's what I've heard. The concept is just so funny. It was worth it. Um, that's a show that would never, would never work back in the day. Like that would have never got dubbed. Look up the concept and you'll understand it. It's a time.

[00:08:48] It's very much worth it. It's only like 10 episodes. So it's like quick. See, my favorite part is you sent me that and I read what's funny is you sent me the live action movie first. And I was like, what the fuck is this? And then I was like, yeah, I didn't realize what I sent at first. And then I found it. And I was like, I was reading the summary and I just went, it was like an eyebrow raise. I was like, that's, that's a thing. I was like, I'm like, that sure is something. Yep. It was pretty funny. Uh, we're with the watch.

[00:09:15] And then I watched, uh, I'm going to butcher how to say this, but there may Romey, no way, I believe is what it's called. And this one was actually really fun. Uh, the plot was really silly. Uh, but it's set in ancient Rome. Um, where, um, basically like where bath house were like a really big thing at the time, because obviously not everyone just had running water in their house.

[00:09:44] So people went to bathe at a public bath house. So they had like this, I can't remember the term, but these architects that basically specialized in bath houses and it's all centered around this guy who is an artist, a bath architect. Um, and he basically is going to get fired because he can't come up with anything new. And he gets, uh, sent to Japan through the bathtub. He gets sent to Japan in a different time.

[00:10:13] Uh, so he gets, uh, maybe, maybe, but not, not really. And then as he goes to Japan, he like takes their ideas and incorporates them into his time period in ancient Rome. But it's interesting. Cause like, he doesn't always go back to the same exact point in time. And he discovers different parts, like different aspects of bath houses in Japan, which was really interesting.

[00:10:38] Um, because at the end of each clip, at the end of each episode, there's actually an educational perfect portion where the kind of educational it's going over like the history of the bath house and like what cons they actually go and see an actual physical concept that was put into the show with the actual. Oh yeah. My reaction was like, this sounds like a PBS show. No. Yeah. With the actual manga who's leading around. So it is like, you have to read the subs, but it was actually really interesting.

[00:11:06] Cause they actually go to the places where she was inspired of. And she actually, for each one shows a drawing based off of where she went as well from the manga, which was really cool. It was honestly. That reminds me of, um, you know what that reminds me of? That reminds me of fucking Arthur. Like we're like, they'd have the cartoon and then they'd really have the live action segment where they'd learn where you'd learn afterwards. And I don't expect it's so random. It kind of is, but honestly, like it was a really enjoyable show.

[00:11:31] Like it was, it not like it was going anywhere crazy, but it's just kind of fun to do watch a refreshing watch. Uh, there is a lot of man ass though. So just be prepared. Cause it's men in bath houses, but you know, it was a good time. Um, but it was, yeah, kind of, but also not at the same time. Cause like sometimes like they weren't afraid to draw some people ugly. We'll just go with that. Like the main character though, whenever he goes back to, um,

[00:12:01] um, when he goes to Japan, they're all like, Oh my God, look at that handsome man. Like, because he's like, looks like a Greek, like, like almost like a Greek statue. Cause that's what they're kind of basing it off of. So yeah, it was funny. Uh, but then I like decided to hate myself and watch Japan sinks 2020. Um, which I just watched it cause I was like, I picked it and I was like, Oh, like this might be interesting. Uh, and I haven't, I was telling Bill before we started recording.

[00:12:30] I haven't like audibly gasp while watching like an anime, probably since attack on Titan, where it was just like, blah, like what? Like, did that just happen? Um, shots and Oh my. Yeah. And I mean, similar to attack on day, no one was safe. Like literally no one was safe and it was just really depressing. So I mean like watch it.

[00:12:56] It wasn't like, it was bad, but like, I didn't enjoy it either because it just kind of made me sad. Oh, so it was like, well, we'll talk. We're going to talk about in the next episode. I won't say dislike, but it was like me watching attack on Titan where I was like, I don't know what to think of the show. Well, the thing is too, is like, unlike attack on Titan, which is like several seasons long and the story is well written and like, you know, fully thought out.

[00:13:26] This was crammed into like, I think 10 or 12 episodes. So you're putting all of this, you're giving us all the, though I will say they did at least like make you attached to most of the characters before. Oh, to make it even more heart wrenching. Yeah. Which I think is like frustrating about it. Like, but like there was to Kaizen method. Yes, there was somewhere that I don't really care. But there was definitely some where I was like, oh, fuck.

[00:13:52] Like, and then like just the other stuff, the ending was at least the ending was a little happy. But yeah, I was like watching. I was like, God, fucking David. This is the one I signed up for. So it's one of those ones that you're going to be thinking about for months. No. Yeah, honestly, like it. Oh, like it's all right. Spoiler warning. I know you're not going to watch this. So do you care? All right. Well, spoiler and skip ahead if you don't want to be spoiled.

[00:14:22] What happened? So like they start leaving, like basically they're trying to escape to a different part of Japan because where they are, it's like a typhoon is about to hit. So they're trying to get inland because Japan is literally sinking like it had an earthquake and it's literally fucking sinking. So they're trying to get in. They kind of leave in a big group, but then the group kind of splits off and centered around the main group of characters, which are mostly centered around an older sister who's a teenager and a younger brother. And then they're kind of family unit.

[00:14:53] So they're going, they're traveling, and they started like looking for food at one point. And the father is digging in the ground to look for yams, like sweet potatoes. And they don't look at where they're fucking digging. And guess where they're fucking digging? A graveyard. Nope. A minefield. Oh. So guess what happens? They go boom. Yeah, they notice the sign as the father's digging.

[00:15:24] And I audibly guess when it went off and you just see a hand fly away and fall in front. I think it falls in front of the little brother or the mother. And it's just, I was just like, huh? What? It's this kind of show? I thought it was going to be like, we're digging in a graveyard. Oh no, no, no, no. They're digging in a minefield and the father who was basically leading the charge.

[00:15:51] And basically like the mom and the father, like the two kind of keeping everyone together, keeping everyone grounded and kind of happy go lucky in the situation. And then boom, he's dead, like fucking explodes. And all they got is a hand of him. I just had a really dark memory. What? Right. So do you remember that fad of like putting the Benny Hill theme over like, like things to make them funny? Yes.

[00:16:17] Do you remember the one that was like that British like PSA about minefields in like, and it was like a song during a like a girl's soccer match and someone edited the Benny Hill theme over it. It's like, this is one of those things that's really fucked up, but you can't help but laugh. Oh my God. I don't know why that just popped into my head. No, it's like so. I mean, this one, like he was like, there was no escape. Like he was in a hole in the ground, like when he hit the bomb and you see the realization. I was like, this fucked me up.

[00:16:47] And like everyone just keeps dying. Like there's another girl. And like, because like Japan has changed so much just with like it sinking, like the geography changed. There was like a bunch of gases that were coming, like basically poison gases that were coming from the earth. They went to go pee fucking dead. She just dies from the gas instantly. Great. She dies. Then the mom dies. Cause she has a, she has like a heart. Um, what's it called? Pacemaker. Yeah. A pacemaker. She can't charge it because there's no power.

[00:17:17] So she goes and saves the kids by they get, they find a boat at one point and they're trying to get away because the island's basically fucking over. Um, Mount Fuji erupted. Like a couple other people died in between this too, but they weren't as important. Uh, the mom was more important, but she like goes and swims to free the boat and then just fucking has a heart attack and dies. And I'm just like, fuck you. So it's just her and the kid. And then another guy dies. And then the girl was like a track star and she got a cut at the beginning of the movie.

[00:17:47] And then her leg has to be amputated because she never treated it the whole time. I was like, fuck you. Like this movie sucks. Like, no, it wasn't, it wasn't a movie. It was a show. It was just like, Oh, you fucking kidding me? More trauma each time. Like, Oh, all right. Rant is over. Rant is over. I mean, like, I would say like it was very well made and very well animated and well voice act like everything else was great, but I just didn't want the trauma.

[00:18:20] Yay. It's like me when I was a child and saw perfect blue for the first time. Yeah. I love that movie now. But at the time I was like, well, I think looking back on it, I can agree that it was very well done. And it is good, but I'm not happy about it. Bill, what was that in your hand? You know, it's been really funny.

[00:18:48] So now that I'm back at work, I've been going back and listening to all the podcasts. And my favorite thing, listening to it again and again, it's just you going, hey, every time we do this. Yeah. Is the music playing? Yes, it is. Oh, I can't hear it. Oh, well. Oh, that's why you didn't react to the carnival music earlier. Okay. Yeah.

[00:19:17] I can't fucking hear it. Okay. Yeah. When you were all like, what'd you fucking say? I had made a joke about what that's going on in your head and you didn't hear it. So that's why you were freaking out for no reason. But I'm drinking the same thing I drink every week. One of these sparkling ice things. This one is tea and lemonade flavored. Oh, that's different. Yeah, I was I grabbed it. I was like, sure.

[00:19:47] Why not? It's made with real tea. That's my fact. Thank you. That was a good fact on a scale of 20 Shreks in a swamp out of 30 donkeys in an outhouse. What would you rate it? Five freakish dragon donkey hybrids. Is that good? It's whatever you want it to be. Okay. It's okay, though. It tastes like tea.

[00:20:17] All right. I'm gonna try that because I love me some tea. Are you gonna ask me what I'm drinking? What are you drinking, ma'am? I am drinking a Snapple. Are you gonna complain about the cap again? No, no, that was only the mini bottles. This is a regular sized bottle. I am drinking a Snapple. Kiwi strawberry. I hate strawberry. Zero sugar. Strawberry.

[00:20:47] Zero sugar beverage. I like it. It's actually pretty good. I actually will say that whatever sugar substitute works better with this flavor than apple. Apple ones were funky. I wouldn't recommend those. But this one, I recommend it. It's actually not too bad. For a second, you said the ABBA ones were funky. I'm like, okay. Sure. Apple. Um.

[00:21:41] Yeah. Flavored. Water. Citric. Aspartame. Aspartame. Aspartame. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh.

[00:22:09] It's better than a kidnap act. So. True. You knew where I was going with that one. Yeah, I did. Knuckles. Anyways. So. On to. Thanks so much for watching the gaming and collecting. I guess. Wrong. The gaming and collecting. Wrong. I win. I win.

[00:22:39] I win. I win. You unmuted me. So. That's also one thing about going back and listening to them is how many times you mute me because I do that often. Anyways. So. For this episode, we are talking about another game that shaped us. It is. It is a game that Alex wanted to play a lot of back in the day. Yeah. And Bill never let me because he hogged the PlayStation all the time.

[00:23:05] Well, also because save data on those memory card because we're talking about a Sims game that was on the PlayStation 2 and fun fact about saving a Sims game on a PlayStation 2 memory card. They took up like a quarter of the fucking memory card. Yes. And it was like, I can't have another save. But yeah, that and to be fair at the time, this game was interesting.

[00:23:33] So we're talking about the herbs Sims in the city, not the DS version, which we've gone on multiple times in the past. We're talking about the console version featuring the black eyed peas. You have to mention that because it's explicably stated on the cover. Hmm. So this game was one of the many console versions of the Sims. Mm hmm. And the console versions of the Sims were always interesting because they always had like this

[00:24:02] weird tendency to try and think of something different to do that would keep the series interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So I feel like to probably also because it is hard to duplicate the full package of the Sims PC game onto a PlayStation. So they had to change it a little bit in order to make it playable because realistically, if

[00:24:27] they had tried to make like the whole regular Sims on that you would have probably had to use a full memory card just to play it. It also wouldn't have run because it let's face it. Um, we didn't, we wouldn't get a full true port until the Sims four on PS4 and Xbox one. So, but, um, yeah. So Sims, not not Sims herbs Sims in the city. This is such a mid two thousands fucking game. Um, yes.

[00:24:56] I mean, the fact that the black eyed peas were a big selling factor adds to the time this came out. They were a, I don't want to say a selling point, but they were definitely a interesting oddity to say the least, because I'm not going to lie. When I played this game, I've got this game because I really liked the DS version, which one fact they're not similar at all. No.

[00:25:25] Um, the DS version is a fucking action adventure game on adventure, almost RPG. This is a very peculiar watered down version of the Sims. Yes. Um, it is very similar. So apparently Maxis made this game. I'm not sure what part of Maxis, but supposedly they made this. Um, according to Wikipedia anyways.

[00:25:51] Um, so it's very similar in vain to, uh, the previous Sims one and Sims busting out on PlayStation as well. These were also on like Xbox and I think GameCube. Um, and they, for the most part would try to replicate the Sims gameplay, but of course it was heavily watered down and truncated. Yeah. And usually they try to have like a story or like some sort of background thing that you

[00:26:19] could follow just to condense it and make it like a game. Mm-hmm. And in the herbs, the whole plot was essentially you're, you're moving into the city and you kind of like get to hop from how penthouse to like apartments and stuff. And you can visit all these different districts and you want to like get your rep points up so you can become like popular in certain districts. And then you unlock other districts by befriending people from said districts.

[00:26:47] And every district has their own unique style. And like, it was very much very mid two thousands. Also, it was very much based on kind of like, I mean, hence the title, the herbs. It was kind of based on a lot of like urban style choices. Um, you can definitely see that the character designs are much more stylized in this game versus your traditional Sims.

[00:27:13] Um, I mean, even just looking at the cover art, like these aren't your typical Sims, right? Like these are more like eccentrically designed characters. I think we can all agree. Um, which were more just going towards a fat, the urban kind of fashion trends. Also, the best part about this game by far, the fucking soundtrack has a ton of black eyed songs, but they're redone in Simlish. Yes. I just love the fact that they-

[00:27:41] Right da da da da da da da da da. Yeah. It's the greatest fucking shit. It is so stupid, but I love it. I just love the fact that they had to, they went in the studio and recorded all that. Um, like that's just so great. And then I love too that like, so some of the like places. So there was the skyline beach, the gasoline row, central station, kicktail park, the foundry, neon East.

[00:28:10] I didn't realize how many places there were, uh, Cosmo street, diamond heights and south side bridge. And in each location, there was about one, two, three, four. There was a five. I think there's always five characters that you could interact with that were kind of in that social group. What did they call them? Like what are they called clicks? I think they were called rep groups, rep groups. Uh, but Cosmo street, that's where the ball is. Black eyed peas were. And your job boss was will.

[00:28:39] I am himself, which is so I love how you can click on for like Fergie has her own character page on the Sims wiki. Wiki. Yeah. And one of the gimmicks too, in each area was not only did you have like rep points. So it, um, it wasn't like in the handheld version where you were permanently like shoehorned into a group. Uh, this one, you could just kind of go from place to place. And one of the things you would do is you would have to a build up enough rep points to

[00:29:09] get an invite to the secret club. Um, yes. And to get to the secret clubhouse room. Yes. But even just getting enough points to go to the secret clubhouse, you would also have to look the part cause you could get the invite and then you'd go to the bouncer and the bouncer be like, you're not getting in look like that. Yeah. Like the, um, I always remember it, the like diamond Heights, like that one was the fancy one.

[00:29:36] So if you showed up wearing like street wear diamond Heights, yeah. Or biker gear, I would do that. Or even like the neon, like, I think there was one where they dressed up in like, which I think was a play on, um, some actual, um, the neon, uh, the neon district was very much like the traditional, like Asian style, like district. Yeah. Well, it's like a certain style in, it's a hard juke of fashion. I can't remember the exact name of it, but it is a very distinct fashion.

[00:30:05] So, which was interesting that it was kind of pulling some of these different concepts to, um, from different cultures and stuff, which was neat, but diamond Heights was like the rich people. So if you showed up, you know, anywhere else, like they wouldn't let you in, but it same apply. If you showed up in the fancy outfit to like, um, the, I think gasoline row was the biker place. They were not letting you in there either. So it, you actually had to be pretty creative in order to, you know, actually unlock these

[00:30:35] places and make those connections. The fun part is though, like in a, once you got to a certain like rep, like popularity, I think once you maxed out all of them, you could just go wherever. Yeah. Cause I would always, by that point, I'd just be like in the fucking fancy place in the biker gear and be like, yeah, what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? Huh? Cause one of the things you would do in each area is you'd want to meet the most popular guy in the city was, um, the character named Darius. Yes. Who's also in the handheld game. Yes.

[00:31:04] Uh, but he has completely different character in this. And basically his plot here is that he is the most popular guy ever. And, um, you would, the only place you could ever run into him was in the, the special club house in each area. Yeah. Cause he was special. So what you would do is you'd have to get there and then you'd have to like chat it up with him and he'd give you a piece of this machine that he had. Um, and you'd basically have to collect a piece from each of the districts.

[00:31:33] And as you're going through this and building up the thing, you also have your main hub where you can like, obviously do your SIM stuff, like build your house, like furniture and everything, which starts off as this little shitty apartment. Then you get a slightly bigger apartment. And then eventually once you max everything, you get Darius's penthouse, which is just this massive area where you can just do whatever. You know, what was my favorite character model in the herbs? Which one? The bouncers.

[00:32:02] I love the bouncers. Do you remember the bouncers? Like they're just like these, they look so out of place with all the other characters in this game. Like their model just looks so fucking stupid compared to everything else. There was also like the, the, the typical like a punk character. Like, like they would, they would kind of wander from area to area and they would basically just cause trouble wherever they went. Well, I didn't realize there's villains. There was villains in this game.

[00:32:28] Cause there was Kiki Blunt, Ringo McBain and Harry Snivel. Yeah. And they looked like villains. They looked exactly. They looked exactly what, what you'd expect a mid two thousands, like bully character to look like. Um, like they'd fit in perfectly in the subway with all the punk characters. Let's just say. Um, yes.

[00:32:56] Well, no, just two of them. The, the girl and Rangu do, but Harry Snivel kind of looks like a type, like kind of looks like Shaggy with the hat. She scoop. Um, yeah, but, um, Shaggy had a villainous brother. That's who, uh, that's who he is. Yeah. I always remember though. Was Bobo monkey?

[00:33:27] Maybe. I don't really know. It's a guy with a, it's a guy with a, a strainer on his head. Oh, good for him. Did you ever run into Bobo? Probably. Yeah. Um, there was also like little mini games that you could play in each area. Like I know in like the, the gasoline row, you could, um, you could grill hot dogs. Bikers like hot dogs. Well, cause that was the, oh, they do.

[00:33:57] Oh, there's a biker bar near us. Yeah. And I looked to look, I didn't realize it was one because the name is slightly misleading. Uh, not it's, I guess it's not if you're local, but you would read the name and be like, Oh, that might be a nice place to go. And then no, it's a biker bar and they only sell hot dogs. Anyways, off topic. Yeah. Um, yeah, you could make grill hot dogs cause you'd have to grill hot dogs for, um, to, uh, to feed all the bikers.

[00:34:27] And then you could also like strip down like bikes, like tear off all the stuff for parts. And my favorite thing you could do in the bike district is, um, there was this line of bikes and you could admire them. You don't want to admire them because that will knock them all over and then you'll get the shit kicked out of you by all the bikers. Or you can do it on purpose and then fight back. Depending on how your Sim was. Yeah. Sorry, your herb. Herb. Yes, they aren't Sims. So you know what?

[00:34:55] One of my, my favorite parts about this game was. What? You could play multiplayer. Cause that's how we played. Yeah. And the thing about multiplayer was, it was interesting cause you'd share a screen, but it would still go split screen. And this was the early style Sims on consoles where like, rather than letting you just control your Sim directly, you'd have to like use that little pointer thing, kind of like a mouse, but not good. Mm-hmm .

[00:35:27] And I always remember because like the way it would work when in multiplayer was, um, because you shared a screen. If you say went to go change your outfit, you would, uh, go, when you go to like say the clothes place, it would go to a different screen to let you change like clothes and stuff. The problem was in multiplayer, you'd have to take turns. So you'd be changing clothes and player two or one would be sitting there like, read the fuck up. Like, come on.

[00:35:57] Hurry up. Change. Yep. And you would always have to go through every option imaginable. I like to have my Sims looking great, Bill. Which is hilarious because nowadays you'd probably be, I'm pretty sure I still have that saved. I'm pretty sure we could see your, your wonderful creation. I don't want to see that. I'm good with not seeing that. Um, I just thought you'd probably be like, ew, what was wrong with me? Yes.

[00:36:27] I'm trying to remember. What were some of the other games? Um, I don't remember. I know the skateboard, the skate park, you, it was like a skateboarding one. Did every area have a game or was only some? Everyone did. Cause I know in Nia in a neon Heights, it was like a, a runway. I would always, I would always do the runway in my full biker gear. Because you can. Um, yeah, there's the goofy stuff like that.

[00:36:57] I know there was one that was like, it was like a rooftop setting and it was like, there was like boards going across the rooftops. I'm like, that's safe. It's fine. I just remember this game being super stylized. Like I think the, uh, in the neon district, like it was like a weird, like video game thing that you could do. Well, it's funny. Like looking at the wiki, they have a lot of the concept arts and you can tell they really had fun with this game.

[00:37:27] Um, like in terms of the designs and stuff. Um, yeah. I'm trying to see if it says they were inspired by like Harajuku fashion. I feel like it definitely was, even if they don't say it. Um, but it is interesting. Like you should really like take a look at, um, let me see. I'll come time. Diamond Heights. Oh, cause if you scroll to the bottom, if you're on like the Sims wiki page, you'll, they'll have the concept all there. Oh, so fun.

[00:37:56] Very style. Fun fact. There actually is a very small connection between the console game and the handheld game. Oh, there is. Um, at the end of the game once, uh, because this game takes place in SimCity, supposedly, um, at the end, at the end of the game, once, um, once you, uh, unlock Darius's penthouse,

[00:38:21] is he actually leaves in a, in his personal blimp to travel to Minneapolis, which is the setting of, uh, the handheld game. Yep. So there's a very slight nod there. Cause you do meet, uh, Darius pretty early in the game as well. Yeah. That is funny how they're connected. Is there any information about why the black eyed peas like were in?

[00:38:50] And also was there versions without the black eyed peas in it? So it's unclear. Uh, I don't believe so. I'm because every version I've ever seen has the black eyed peas on the cover. Okay. Um, yeah, I'm looking through some of the development.

[00:39:14] Um, apparently the black eyed peas were always, um, they were just on board. They're like, yeah, let's do it. So apparently according to the development notes, they wanted to get the game more publicity. Um, so they had, EA had actually reached out to the black eyed peas. Um, cause they were pretty big in the mainstream at the time.

[00:39:39] Um, cause it was right after they were got a Fergie in the bed and they released, uh, L funk. I think it's the name of the album. I think it's the one with that. Yeah. Um, so they ended up recording the majority of the soundtrack, including, um, Simlish versions of the song shut up and, uh, let's get it started. The let it, let's get it started is, is the one that I always think of just cause it's so, it's so iconic.

[00:40:07] It works too well in Simlish for some reason. Honestly, sometimes I kind of feel like it sounded better in Simlish. Yeah. It's right. Right. Right. Um, interestingly enough to this game. Um, got surprisingly better reviews than I thought it would.

[00:40:33] Cause I thought from, from what I remember, these games were not always well received the console ports, but this one got mostly 70s, like eights and sevens. Yeah. The DS version has the lowest, which is bullshit. Cause that game's fucking great. But yeah, that's kind of weird. Well, cause at the time they were like, did you do the stupid handheld port? That's not even a Sims game. And I'm like, yeah, that's why it's cool. Hmm. Um, yeah, other than that though, it's an interesting.

[00:41:03] Put note in Sims lore these days. Cause apparently they were supposed to be like the herbs was supposed to be like a running series. A running series. And then just, it only had two games, right? Technically one, if you count the handheld version is just a, a version of the original. Yeah. There was a, there were plans for an herbs too, but they were scrapped. Um, probably because this game didn't sell particularly well. Oh, it didn't.

[00:41:33] Well, that is one thing I will say is like, I I'm kind of surprised mom got this for us based on the cover art because no, no, no, she didn't. Um, okay. She got us the handheld version and then I wanted this version later. Oh, okay. Yeah. Cause looking at, but I definitely could say just looking at the cover art.

[00:41:53] I mean, I know now we're a little more progressive, but when this came out, um, girl in like, it's, it's a more revealing outfit compared to some of your Sims. I mean, the whole stomach show. Oh yeah. This was the low rider, low rider era. Yeah, no, this was low rise jeans. And then like the guy covered in tattoos at the time, like, you know, now it's a lot more like so acceptable people with tattoos can like work, but there was a time where like, if someone had tattoos, they might not get a job.

[00:42:22] Now it's a lot more like, in some cases. No, in some, yes. In some, they still might ask you to cover it up, but like, you still might have a chance, you know, like at this time, like this probably wasn't the most kid friendly looking game. Um, cause honestly, if it wasn't, didn't say the herbs or Sims on it, I'd almost kind of think it was like a grand theft auto game. Just looking at the cover art.

[00:42:48] Like I wouldn't necessarily associate it with the Sims, which I feel like is probably what happened to which didn't help the sales. So you know what made the Sims bigger? Yeah. You know, it's also kind of fun. Apparently the soundtrack for this game was released digitally on last dot FM. If that still exists, I have no idea if it does or not, but, um, apparently because of conflicts with A&M records, all the black ID songs are

[00:43:18] removed. So there's like, it's like at that point, who cares? Yeah. Um, you can find them on YouTube if you're really curious, but, um, apparently EA wanted to release a physical soundtrack, but it was canceled because the game did not sell well. Oh. Like this game sold worse than the Sims one version, um, Sims busting out, even the Sims, the later Sims two console version. Like it was just a weird. Really? No.

[00:43:48] Yeah. It's probably because of the fact that the Sims is very not prominent. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean like if you are just looking at, I feel like they should have added, you know, even if they had added the diamond, like the green diamond, I feel like it would have helped to identify that. Oh, that's a Sims game. I recognize that icon. Um, I feel like it was probably just some poor marketing choices.

[00:44:18] I did see, I was scrolling through pictures and there was a, um, cover art. It looked like it was of a different, like a Japanese cover art, um, which looks so different. I don't know if this is it, but it's not look like a Sims game, but I'm not sure this game even came out in Japan. So, oh, this is I toy. Oh yeah. The I toy, the I toy. We have to talk about that. Okay. Good thing. I brought this up.

[00:44:48] There was an I toy integration. It wasn't prominently displayed on the cover like the Sims two version of game was, but you could use your I toy and it was the dumbest integration ever. You can take photographs with that shitty ass webcam of yourself and put yourself in the game. And we, yeah, and me and you did this and it was bad. Yeah. I'm pretty sure you did like stuck your tongue out.

[00:45:17] And we're like, yeah, it was bad. I wonder if those are still saved on that memory. I got a God. You got to delete that. You had to break that memory card and get rid of it. No, those things are fucking expensive. I do that. Um, also another thing I wanted to comment on is I'm just looking at the, um, like the Sim builder screen. And why the fuck did they give the men Popeye arms?

[00:45:44] Um, but it's like opposite where it's not big up here and you just have a giant like four. Cause the Sims aren't realistic. They wouldn't become realistic till Sims three. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it just looks so, it looks so silly. You know what the best was too, though? I think you could put your face on clothes like the Sims could wear. So you could just have a fucking shirt with your face on it.

[00:46:12] Cause be that much terrible fucking nihilist or not nihilist. Egotist or whatever. That's awful. I do remember like one thing that was kind of fun about the character design, um, screen was they also made that style, like very stylistic as well. So like when you were choosing like clothes and like choosing the different colors, they almost had it look kind of like a mosaic of different colors, which, you know, might've been confusing in hindsight.

[00:46:40] I'm just picking the colors, but it looks nice. So when I look at the images, see, when I think of, um, another thing I always think about this game too, is like the way you would get skill points was the worst thing ever. Oh, I can't remember how, how did you get skill points? There was only three things. There was creativity, uh, body and logic, I think. Yeah. I think logic.

[00:47:08] And you would have to buy these three specific items from the store. And fun fact that things were so fucking big, they generally would not fit in your fucking house. So it was very hard to train, but, um, I always remember these things because the way you would train up skills is it wasn't like a mini game. It was just mash the fucking X or square, whatever button it was. And you would just, it was a button masher and it sucked.

[00:47:33] And I remember seeing that and be like, fuck this. And I got a turbo controller and said, no, and just, you're like, yep. I also, I think there's cheats that you could do. Cause I'm pretty sure I used to cheat to get through a lot of this. Was it like using like the game? Didn't you have like game shark? No, I think there was actually built in cheats for these games and you have to like get a turbo on the menu.

[00:47:56] I know Sims two definitely had that. Um, but yeah, I think I did that just to like, not have to, it was probably, it was probably like debugging cheats. They just left in there. But yeah, I always did that because fuck, fuck doing that. Another thing we didn't mention is like the main menu, like as you played the game and like you pick things was your, your phone. Yeah. Very two thousands.

[00:48:23] And it was very much not an iPhone. It was very much a phone of the period too. This is a unreal kind of related, but not to the game. I was on Reddit yesterday and I saw a, it was the subreddit. Damn. That's interesting. Um, it was just a video compilation of just all the different cameras on old cell phones and how like the weird fucking ways that you would use to have to do shit with your phone to get the camera out. And I was just like watching it. I'm like, this is fucking fascinating.

[00:48:51] You're like, huh, time has really changed. Like my favorite one is like one had this like little probe that would like pop out the side of like the camera. Yeah. Or like some, like you'd like turn the entire phone, like, go be like, and like turn it around and be like camera. Like what the fuck? Like some of these were interesting. They really, uh, now it's an iPhone. Just everything is right there. Now it's just screen.

[00:49:16] But you know, what's funny is history repeats itself and they're making folding phones again, which I still feel like it's a bad idea if you get one, because I'm just thinking about it. You crease something so many times, even a screen, there's going to be a line in that screen. I just know it. One of my coworkers has like the one that it's not the one that like folds like a flip phone. It's like the double wide phone. Like the book. Yep. Yeah. And I, I see it. I'm always like, that is interesting, but I know.

[00:49:44] No, thank you. I will stick with the same phone, which I'm still figuring out. Yeah. Same. I mean, I have the older one. I'm still getting used to the fucking new plug. Um, that's yeah, but hey, we're at least we're in the modern era now. Yeah. And you are using face, uh, face. What's it called? Face ID. Face ID, which sometimes it just doesn't work. And I'm always like, yeah, I have to enter your code anyways.

[00:50:12] Well, maybe I was trying to trick you to see if you thought my screen froze. Did you think it froze for a second? Well, it's been freezing periodically, so I've just kind of been going with it. But, um, yeah, the Sims herbs, same thing. Um, this is a weird, such a weird footnote of a game. I was trying to do it again. Did you fall for it?

[00:50:37] No. Um, I feel also, I heard, wait, can you put it on the water bottle music again? Just, just so I can dance for a second. That's all you get. I'll take it. I'll take it. Yeah. So the herbs. The herbs. What a time. Wait, so what do you think? Like, do you think they should have made the second game?

[00:51:07] Or do you think it's probably good they didn't continue? Honestly, did it need a second game? No, I don't think it did. I think it served its purpose. Well, the problem was apparently it was supposed to be like the only console Sims, like the first console Sims game. And that was just, they were going to do console Sims games differently. Oh, and just have them be kind of herbs franchise would be the. Yeah, apparently something like that.

[00:51:36] But then they ended up making in the time it took them to make the herbs. They made like two other Sims games before it. Yep. Because they are different studio made the Sims one console version. And then I forget who made Sims busting out. But that was also the console game that came before. I forgot that the console version. Yeah. Well, yeah, because the handheld games are its own thing. It's weird how the cop, the handheld herbs game, I think, has more of an impact because it's just such a bizarre.

[00:52:06] I had to like the Sims busting out service story. It is, but even the game itself is just really interesting. Yeah. When you look at it now, it is because it's like, why was this so deep? Yeah. Like, was this meant to be Sims game? I think it was. I just, I think they literally took. They literally realized we could never make a Sims game on Game Boy Advance and make it work well. So let's just do something fucking weird.

[00:52:34] And then they make this really unnecessarily deep story. Yeah. About a fucking rich billionaire. Play the herb Sims in the city. Watch our episode. Yeah. Watch our very old episode talking about that game. Oh, yeah. That was like one of our first ones. That was season one. Ew. Yeah. That was season one. Yes. Let me look at my. Hey, I have the first 200 episodes on the wall now.

[00:53:02] I don't have any on my wall. Oh, there it is. Oh, no, no, no. No. It was season two. Oh. It was season two. So it was slightly better than it wasn't as terrible. Sure. But yeah, that's that's really about it for. For the. Could you hear that? That was me making a weird noise.

[00:53:32] As I do. Plane. Do you hear that? No. You don't hear it. I'm in my basement, ma'am. I'm upstairs. I didn't think that through. How can I hear it? It's loud. Nope. What the fuck? Anyway. But yeah. So anyways, guys. Cheater banner. Cheater banner.

[00:54:02] I'm. I'm not even free. Anyways. Super pood network. Super pood. Super pood. Anyways, guys, once again, thank you for joining us on the gaming collecting podcast. You can find the gaming collecting podcast on all your major podcasting platforms, particularly Apple podcast and Spotify. Only available. Get you up.

[00:54:29] And be sure to check us out over on the super pod network. That is super network.com. Awesome site where you can find a whole bunch of different shows, videos, podcast blogs. We're doing a series on a. Classic PS one games. We also did that. I mentioned at the top of the show, we did that. Super pod special where we talked about this. The Nintendo switch to news. So yeah, check that out if you want. And yeah, once again, guys. Thank you for joining. I should probably.

[00:55:02] Nevermind. We're only available on sketchy websites. That's it. Nowhere else. Just the sketchy ones. Well, Spotify is a little sketchy, so no one's not. Spotify is great. I love it. Meh. Anyways, guys, once again, thank you for joining us and we'll see you all later. No, no, no, you won't. No, you won't. You won't see me later. I'm in your walls, Bill.