As you may have already noticed, SimGlobal has updated itself for 2 years on the web. A few of these updates may have some problems to iron out, so tell us about them at webmaster@simglobal.net. Apart from our design updates, you will find that we have reorganized our control bar to the left as well as added several new pages, including an updated SimCity 4 Screenshots page, a Community Spotlight page, a Press Release page as well as an entirely new The Sims 2 section.

The new The Sims 2 section provides a wealth of information including all of the latest screenshots we have found on the web, all the latest media as well as links to some great previews and a quick fact sheet to give you all the details.

You may also notice that we have added SimGlobal Mobile Edition. This page was designed mainly for use on PocketPC Mobiles, giving anyone "sim" news on the go.

Apart from the redesign and added content we would like to thank all of the sim community for helping to make SimGlobal possible for the past 2 years, as well as all of our visitors, and a special thanks to the SimGames.net team. Thank you for your patronage.

Dj over at The Sim Extreme has discovered an interview with the Senior Producer of The Sims 2, Margaret Ng. Check out the video at Fragland.net here.

Yes, that’s right, it seems as though expansion pack number 7 for The Sims may be on the way. Find out more about The Sims Spellbound at Amazon.com. The real puzzling thing is that EA Sports seems to be the publisher. Look for Spellbound to hit shelves October 15, 2003.

We know that every SimCity player out there has always dreamt of putting the The Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia in their city, and now you too can make it a reality. Get the temple here.

Want to get the very latest news on sim games? Then head on over to TheSims Choice. At TheSims Choice will find a large amount of content with more being added every day. Currently at TheSims Choice you can check out all 5 of their strategy guides ranging from Sim Economics to How to Become a Superstar. Never played The Sims? Then look at the full fleged tutorial on how to raise your sim properly.

Along with this you can find descriptions of all of the current sim games as well as those yet to come out, as well as cheats, downloads and a history of The Sims. Run by 20 dedicated staff members, TheSims Choice is dedicated to continue expanding with new creative and different content.

Contact TheSims Choice Webmaster

After being down for close to two months, SimCity Central, Version 3.1, is finally back up. Glad to have you back Martin.

Taking a look at Amazon.com, we find that SimCity 4 Mac edition by Aspyr is now slated for a June 16th release, delaying the game for half a month. However when searching for the Mac edition of SimCity 4 on Amazon.com we also discovered a version by a supposed "Micronet". Has the publisher changed? Taking a look around google, it would seem as though it has. Get the latest news on this breaking story here on SimGlobal.

Yes, thats right, SimCity 4 on Linux. Kevin Stange over at SimPage.net managed to pull this feat off using Linux with accelerated X video drivers, Transgaming WineX 3.0, SimCity 4 for Windows, SimCity 4 Update 2, and a No-CD crack. Kevin hopes to soon have instructions up. Read the full news item here.

Update: Kevin now has full instructions up here on how to bring SimCity 4 to Linux.

At Gamespy.com you can now find a Will Wright interview which covers Wright's work on The Sims 2, The Sims Online, and secret project that should be revealed in two years time. Read the entire interview here.

Make sure to keep a close eye on SimGlobal in the coming weeks as we come close to our two year anniversary online, with some new any upcoming features on the way.

Want to find a list of some of the best SimCity sites on the web? Look no further than David Villa's SimCity 4 Resources, which not only lists SimCity sites, but also helps you choose the best one to check out based on several symbols indicating a range of features that the site offers.

Even though The Sims 2 may be quite a few months away, it has already managed to take home IGN's Best Simulation Game of E3 Award. You can find all of IGN's awards here.

Yes, you too can now add the grace and beauty of this ancient structure straight from Athens Greece. Download here.

Yes, that is right. In less than 2 weeks EA is planning to announce The Sims for Gameboy. As you might expect it is slightly lacking from the original The Sims in the graphics department, however screenshots at IGN.com tell the whole story. Read the preview here. Whats next? The Sims Pocket PC? We will have to wait and see...

IGN.com now has up a full preview of The Sims 2 in their E3 coverage. The article gives a taste of the game saying,

It almost has that Unreal Technology-like suave and polish to it where everything is vividly colored and there is a lot of detail all over the place, from the fully 3D, multi-story environments to the plugs that connect plasma screen monitors, to the detail of a Sims' shirt and shoes.

As well as some good news for the sim community,

This engine also supports tremendous scalability. This means two things: 1) Sims 2 will likely have even more expansion than its father. 2) Sims 2 will be very, very moddable.

Read the entire article here.

Although we are still lacking in getting any new screenshots, E3 has brought the sim community a video previewing The Sims 2, and all we can say is wow. Watch it for yourself at IGN.com.

Yes, now you can finally follow your sim to work with the release of The Sims latest, and perhaps last, expansion pack, The Sims Superstar. If you haven't kept up with all the buzz around this latest addition to The Sims family, you can get the idea in the EA Press Release.

Yesm now you can follow SimCity 4's expansion pack "Rush Hour" with the brand new SimCity 4 Rush Hour site. Along with this, 2 new screenshots have been added bringing the total to 5. One feature that has not been seen since SimCity 2000 that seems to be reappearing is the ability to place signs, as well as label streets and physical features. Come back soon for the rest of the E3 coverage.

Want the best price for your sim? Now you too can comparison shop at www.tsoshopguide.com for all of your The Sims Online items, whether your sim lives in Alphaville or Blazing Falls. Discover new shops with the best price for items with 50% or less wear.

For those of us who have not yet taken the dive into The Sims realm, when you purchase The Sims Deluxe edition and The Sims Superstar between May 1st and June 28th you can receive a $20 rebate from EA. Simply print out the form, fill it out and send it back by July 12th with receipts and UPC codes and receive your $20.

The Electronic Arts fiscal year ended March 2003, with the full report arriving just a week ago. During the 4th quarter, SimCity 4 did very well selling over 1 million copies between its release and March 2003.

The Sims Online, however, is a different story with only 97,000 subscribers, continuing to remain weak in sales and below expectations. The company hopes to have 125,000 subscribers by March 04', however prospects seem dim.

Along with several EA Sports releases, EA is expecting its The Sims Superstar expansion pack to be a strong start to the June quarter, hopefully to be the last expansion pack in The Sims franchise before The Sims 2.

The Sims 2 was the second most requested game at GameSpot.com today, following only Eidos' Thief III. Although right now we are only limited to the several screenshots accompanying the press release, you can expect a plethora of them to be arriving on May 14 with the beginning of E3 Exposition.

Yes, if you haven't noticed, The Sims line of games does seem to be bustin' out with a new expansion pack on the way, The Sims 2 to look forward to, and now yet another console version of The Sims. The Sims Bustin' Out will take console players to a new level with a new interface, new neighborhood as well as 80 new social moves. Bustin' Out will be busting its way into all of the current three top console systems simultaneously in early 2004.

Although it is yet to be seen whether or not this game will be a sequel or The Sims 1.5 for console, the development speed in comparison to even The Sims first expansion packs is quite a bit ahead of the PC version. You can read all the details in the EA Press Release.

Inside Mac Games has a recent SimCity 4 Preview up, again confirming the previously given May release day for SimCity 4 Mac. Hopefully this release date will hold, although some doubts are cast as the game still seems to be in its beta stage. At least the wait time for Mac users will not be the same excruciatingly long one they had for SimCity 3000.

The sequel to the most successful game, The Sims, is on its way. The Sims 2 is scheduled to arrive on shelves in January adding a wealth of features ranging from aging sims to the ability to pass your sim's "DNA" onto their children.

You can find all the details in the EA Press Release. Or, have a look at some of the screenshots.

Yes, the SimCity expansion pack saga has began. You will now have added commuting options for your Sims, with new avenues or the ability to created elevated train networks. You will see a barrage of new disasters from train wrecks to UFO attacks. You can read the entire press release at simcity.com. Check out several SimCity: Rush Hour screenshots.

The highly anticipated SimCityscape is now up, as explained on SimCity.com:

SimCityscape™ offers SimCity™ 4 players the chance to grab cities from a region game board, play them, and then upload them to the board for the next Mayor to develop or evolve. Players work independently from each other on their cities in Mayor Mode, and by participating you will contribute to the collective picture of the region game board. Update your Mayor's Log to track the progress of your city, and view other Mayors' Logs to learn the tricks of the trade.

Check it out at http://simcity.ea.com/scape/.

One of the first of its kind, Simtropolis' Builderman has created a mod/patch for SimCity 4. This mod increases commute times for sims as well as commute capacity. Along with that, health clinics, elementary schools and disease research centers now have more "logical values". You can get the mod here.

Remember, any third party mods/patches may damage SimCity 4 or your computer. Use at your own risk. Now that that is out of the way, you can always find assistance for this patch at Simtropolis' forums.

After an extended absence of just over two months, SimGlobal has returned from the server dead. A great thanks to Karl Zimmerman and Kevin Stange as well as all the help from the SimGames.net team. There are still a few things to iron out such as our forums as well as some spring cleaning, but we hope to be fully functional in a week.

Apparently, NoZone's host told them that he didn't feel like he could host us properly. The server then remained offline for many days before we were able to contact the host again. When Karl reached him, we were informed that the hard drive was causing all of the problems we had had, and that the system would no longer boot.

Anyway, all is good now. We're on better servers, and you should notice they're faster than the old ones. Thanks to everyone who has helped out along the way.