It would seem as though WorldSims has just recieved a tip from Judhudson at SimPrograms that Gamestop is already listing an expansion pack for The Sims 2, which can be pre-ordered here. Whether or not Gamestop is taking orders because of yet unreleased news or purely by speculation is anyone's guess, however many Sim gamers are sure to jump on the early expansion pack bandwagon for The Sims 2.

The Mac version of SimCity 4 Rush Hour has gone Gold and is now in the duplication stages, as can be found on the Aspyr status page. It will be interesting to see if there is any performance boost for this version as many Mac users complained that SimCity 4 was not playing well even on top machines. However, as of yet there has been no official announcement on a Mac version of The Sims 2 although you can be quite sure there will be one in the coming months.

Shipping overnight last night, The Sims 2 has arrived for those luck people who chose to get overnight shipping from various gaming outlets. With the SimGlobal copy in hand, we hope to get some TS2 related news and content up soon, so make sure to check back once you get your copy!

Along with The Sims 2 out, Maxis has launched a revised TheSims2.com preparing for the rush of new TS2 content along with the creation of a BBS system. You need a registered copy of The Sims 2 to access much of the content, including a few unexpected suprises.

Inside Gamer Online now has a The Sims 2 review up, a day before we expect the game to start falling into gamer's hands. For those of you who need your TS2 fix before the game arrives, check it out! Along with the review, Inside Gamer Online is also sponsoring a contest for a copy of The Sims 2 for those of you who have not preordered. Check out all of the details and rules here.

If you want to see more, head on over to Another Sims 2 Site where you can find some TS2 photo montages of Sim aspirations.

New buildings for SC3KU by Dany, Bev, and Andro have been added to the SimGlobal gallery.

I probably should have found eleven more before making this announcement. ;)

Our friends over at Another Sims 2 site have just redesigned with a new layout, make sure to check out their extensive TS2 content!

Also, they have picked up that you can now use the Windows Game Advisor to check your system for The Sims 2 just in case you want to make some last minute upgrades over the weekend before the game touches down next week.

Thanks to an earlier release, The Sims 2 Strategy Guide by Prima is now being shipped, and should be appearing in stores. I highly recommend this guide as it contains 366 fact filled pages that cover ever detail and topic. Since my guide arrived via FedEx this morning, I am now pleased to post some of our first The Sims 2 content, The Sims 2 cheat page! Of course you won't be able to use it until next week, and I certainly hope that you don't jump straight to it when things turn dire. Until then, Enjoy!

With a little luck, we should be seeing copies of The Sims 2 hit shevles a week from now, with many retailers reporting a release date of the 14th. The question many gamers are asking is whether or not the game will be shipped out the 14th, or if retailers will get it earlier and make it availible the 14th. In the case of SimCity 4, several lucky people got the game ahead of time because of a delivery error, so it is hard say whether or not that will happen again...