The Sims: I am Stuck Inside a Video Game (Travis)

## Introduction

Plato once stated through his character Socrates that "their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within." Plato's "Phaedrus" is the most pivotal argument of written literacy. For hundreds of years it was argued that writing would only cause forgetfulness and thoughtlessness. In Plato's work, he is arguing that writing will only make society worse off. One of his main reasonings with this was because he believed words cannot defend themselves. He believed they could only say one thing, and when questioned, could only answer back that same thing. Yet, as we see with its continued use for the past thousands of years, written literacy has, in fact, done the opposite of Plato's predictions. Written literacy has given us a way to capture life from thousands of years ago. We have been able to record history and commnicate with others. Without the written word, there would be no Bible, dictionary, or even the Declaration of Independence. The written word allowed us to expand our knowledge and preserve it for future generations. The only way we could know Plato's arguments today is through his use of writing it down. It is completely contradictory, but it proves that his argument is false. While Plato's oral words did not live on forever, his writings did, and through this we can use it as a testimony for many of the arguments that are discussed today.

The overuse of technology is a very touchy subject that people question. In Nicholas Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" he states that "what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles." Carr believes that the internet is the cause of his mind's inability to retain information. Consequently, he argues that old media suffers due to the innovations of new media. Yet, we see from Walter Ong's "Orality and Literacy" that this belief is an understatement of the truly wonderful affects of new media. In his writing, Ong states that "technology, properly interiorized, does not degrade human life but on the contrary enhances it." His statement argues with Carr's by saying that when technology is used properly, it can enhance that which old media gives us. This can correlate with the argument Plato constructed with written orality. Writing, when used properly, can enhance human life. It enhanced human life in Plato's time, and it enhances human life today through new technological innovations. The arguments of Plato and Carr are one-sided. They only view the downfalls technology can create when abused, and fails to praise the intellectual capabilities that it can shed onto its users.

As society has progressed with its technology, new ways have been developed to interact with literature. In Plato's time there was written orality, and in our modern time there are movies, ebooks, and cell phones. As we progressed with our technology, we developed a new and exclusive way to interact with literature: Electronic Literature. Electronic Literature, as defined by Katherine Hayles, is "generally considered to exclude print literature that has been digitized, is by contrast "digital born," a first-generation digital object created on a computer and (usually) meant to be read on a computer."  Electronic Literature was developed to exclusively be read on computers. It is impossible to interact with it on paper because there is no way for it to respond. Electronic literature is a companion to its reader. It responds to everything the reader says. It can back itself up and can trigger actions and thoughts into the reader's mind. These two accomplishments defend the arguments against Plato as well as Carr. Plato argued that written word could not defend itself, and when questioned, could not respond. Electronic Literature is alive. It responds to the readers wishes, and can provide the reader with information that is more in-depth than what a human could provide orally. It gives visual, which is something that a human can only limitedly give. Carr argued that the Net chipped away at his brain, causing him to lose the consciousness and focus that he once had when reading traditional literature. Electronic Literature defends Ong's statement that technology can enhance human life. Instead of degrading the mind, electronic literature challenges it. The mind is put to the test with Electronic Literature, and through its use of questioning, can expand the mind rather than degrade it.

Electronic Literature greatly relates to video games, another type of category in technology. Electronic Literature can provide moving graphics that challenge the reader, which is something that video games commonly do. Like a puzzle, each piece of literature must be judged in order to gather information. The difference between the two is their credibility of being considered an art. Video games, just like written orality in Plato's time and the internet in more modern times, are questioned for their authenticity. Movie critics like Robert Ebert argue that video games are not a form of art because "no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets."  He believes because it is not "great art", it is not art at all. On the other hand, writers like James Paul Gee believe video games are feeding the creativity of humans. Gee states in his work "Why Video Games Are Good for Your Soul" that gaming "can lead to the imagination of new worlds, new possibilities to deal with those perils and pitfalls, new possibilities for better lives for everyone. Our emotions and imagination- our souls- need food for the jouney ahead."  Like Electronic Literature, video games are feeding the mind's imagination. They expand the reader's mind and give it new ways to interoperate what it receives. Just like any good form of art, it takes time for it to develop. The written word has had thousands of years to become the great source of literature it is today. Throughout this time, it had developed into new art forms. It has become books, poems, paintings, movies, television series, and stories on social media. Video games are just another category of literature. They just need time to develop into the great art form that they have the capability of becoming.

In principle, video games have many characteristics that any form of art possesses. Such categories include knowledge communities, remediation, and interpretive disputes. The Sims game collection is a perfect example of how these characteristics of art are shared amongst video games. When The Sims was created in 2000, no one could have ever imagined the vast expansion it would cause. Like a virus it spread across the world. It infected people's computers, and caused an addiction that spiraled into a community of Sim lovers. This game has left many of its users stuck inside the video game, living as tiny simulations of themselves. It can be understood why many critics could argue why video games are not a form of art whenever they first view them. If someone were to play a game for only thirty minutes and talk about their experiences, they would probably say they wasted thirty minutes of their life. This is because they only scratched the surface of what video games are capable of doing. When digging deeper, we can see that video games have many hidden treasures than cannot be seen by simply scratching the surface. When digging deeper, you can see that video games, like any other art form, develop fans. These fans come together and find ways to give life to The Sims through knowledge communities, remediation and interpretive disputes. This things change the way people view video games, which is something that art does as well.

## Giving Life to A Sim

### Knowledge Communities- It Is No Longer Just A Game

#### Is it Really Supposed to Be a Human?

The very first Sims game was released in 2000. For the most part, this two dimensional game had terrible graphics. Most of the faces were blurry, and they looked far from real-life. If there was one thing about this life simulating game, it was that it did not simulate what a human looked like. It ate, slept, talked, and used the restroom, but it did not possess the visual characteristics of what a human looked like. The game was very limited, and there were not many loopholes to make it otherwise. When The Sims 2 came out, a whole world of creation was released. The Sims looked more like humans, and the life-simulating creatures could actually be considered realistic. The game became a three-dimensional sandbox. Players could create a world in the palm of their hand. They could create a blonde genius that lived in a tiny shack, or an unintellectual player that inherited all their parent's money and mansions. They could create towns in deserts and cities near the ocean. The options were endless, yet somehow, they still felt limited. While The Sims 2 had life-like features that gave players the opportunity to do more human-like things, their looks were still very limited. There were four eye and hair color options, most of the faces resembled each other, the outfits were very outdated, and they still looked like a cartoon character. While the problems faced in the original game were still appearing in this new release, The Sims 2 gave its players loopholes, which was something that the original Sims game did not have.

#### Cracking the SimCode

Of course, this power was not handed to its users. It took computer experts to discover these loopholes. These experts found ways to create customized content, known as modifications, and add them to their games. These experts created new clothes, hairstyles, houses, decorations and more. They allowed The Sims 2 to look almost life-like. This power did not come from one person. It took multiple people that came together and found ways to make these modifications come to existence. These people spread they knowledge to each other, and eventually created a network of Sim fans that had a passion to make modded content. The network more than likely started on The Sims 2 website, which no longer exists. The website created forums for players to discuss their games. It also allowed players to upload their own families and stories. This application of the website allowed the experts to upload their customized content. As the news of customized content spread, new websites were formed. These new websites allowed Sim users to upload even more customized content, as well as share information about the game.

#### Customizing Content

Before customized content, Sims looked like they came out of a nineties movie. Their clothes looked very outdated, and most of the houses proved it. When expansion packs came out, it allowed players to get new clothes and house decorations, but the clothes were not of the highest fashion trends. Thanks to custom content, Simshad a chance to step out of their nineties comfort zone. They could wear some of the latest trends, and look like the most popular celebrities. The creations were endless, but what they could upload to The Sims 2 website was limited. Because of this, Sim players started creating new websites. These websites allowed players to upload whatever their Sim-hearts desired. They could upload anything from new hairstyles to dance-moves. As the popularity of customized content began to grow, more people began wanting to make their own content. However, they did not have the skills that the modifying hackers had. As a result, The expert players began showing other players how to create their own content. They post videos on Youtube that show players the step-by-step process of what they do to make their sims look exactly the way they look.

It turned out that sharing how Sim players created their custom content worked for the better. As more players created content, the better the quality of the content became. The Sims 2 was now being used to its full potential, and it was proven through the new quality of the game. For the experts, the game was a lot more fun to play, but for the players who did not want to create their content, they were left in a bind. How were they able to collect the content that the experts created and add it to their games? This problem was solved through the new websites created as well as video tutorials on how to download and add the custom content to the game. One of the largest fan-based websites of The Sims 2 is The Sims Resource. This website is the hot spot for Sims 2 content. If you want anything from victorian furniture to elf costumes, this is the website to get it from. According to the website, there are over 905,000 different downloadable items to add to your Sims game.  Websites like The Sims Resource made it easy for players to access loads of custom content. The players did not have to worry about making their own content. Instead, they could just go to this website and fin whatever items they wanted to add to their games. If players did not know how to add the content to the game, they could jut google how to and find different Youtube tutorials on how to do it. When The Sim 3 and 4 came out, it was a lot easier to create custom content on the game, but players could still add their own customizable content that could not be created on the game. Just like for The Sims 2, The Sims Resource allowed players to download Sims 3 and 4 content onto their games, and Youtube videos were also made for these websites as well. Players of The Sims helped each other out by forming these communities for the games. No player was left in the dark on how to fid the loopholes The Sims offered. The knowledge community became as close as a neighborhood as any Pleasentview or Veronaville in the game.

#### Sims Cheats

Any expert Sim player could tell you exactly what "MoTHERLoDE" and "boolProp testingcheatsenabled true" stand for. They are cheats that can be used to enhance Sims gameplay. Cheats allow players to change the age of their Sims, change their appearance, give their Sims money, and even kill their Sims. When any game first comes out, one of the first things players do is find a way to cheat the game. It did not take a genius to figure out how to use the cheats because they were given on The Sims 2 website, but because the website was taken down, there was no longer access to the cheats. Just like with the custom content, the community of Sim fans found a way to help each other out by sharing the cheats. Cheat Code Central gives players a list of all the cheats along with a full description of the cheats.  This allows new and old players both the opportunity to know all of the cheats that are available for their game.

#### Why The Sims is No Longer Just a Game

Through modifications and cheats, Sims players have the opportunity to come together for the common purpose of sharing information. When a player first buys a Sims game, they pop open the box and put their game into their computer. At this point, their game experience is singled to only the player. Through the communities built from the loopholes the game gives, their game experience can be shared with hundreds of thousands of different players. When these players come together, they not only share their knowledge and experience of the game, but they also remediate the entire game. They create it into something that has nothing to do with the object of the game. Instead of it being just a game, it is a lifestyle for these people.

### Remediation- Is it a Sim or a Human?

When The Sims first came out in 2000, no one really knew what the goal of the game was. This was because there was no definite goal. According to Tysaksa, a user on GameFAQs, she says to "think of it like playing with your toys as a child. Lego is the best example due to the whole building thing. The user uses their imagination to create scenarios and goals for their sim(s) and see how things turn out." The Sims is a sandbox game. It allows the players to do anything they want. They have a technological world at the palm of their hand. They can create families, cities and stories. The possibilities are endless with this game. If there is any object to the game, it is to keep your Sims happy and healthy. However, through the communities built off of the game, this is not always the object of the game.

#### The Sims Before Knowledge Communities

Before the presence of knowledge communities, the relationship of the game was specifically between the player and the game. The player had the option to focus on building houses and towns, creating new Sims, or playing the families that were already on the game. When building, the player could build any type of house they wanted. They could build a beautiful lake house or a small cabin in the woods. It was a sandbox of options. When creating Sims, their options were slightly limited, but with the help of modifications, they could customize their Sims into anything they wanted them to be. When playing with the families, it was important to take care of their needs. These needs consisted of entertaining, socializing, eating, sleeping, cleaning, and using the bathroom. The player could give their Sims jobs, friendships, and materialistic things such as cars and cell phones. It was like they were living their lives through a tiny simulation of themselves. A lot of players liked to create different scenarios of their Sims and give them stories. They would make a family and create a story about them growing old together, or they could make a single man ready to start his love life. The stories were limitless. However, what was the point of the story if they couldn't share it?

#### How Communities Expanded Gameplay

Players wanted to share their stories with other players. The most effective way they could do this was through the internet. With the internet, players could share their stories in different types of forms. They could make videos, written stories, and even picture stories. They could make up entirely new stories that had nothing to do with the game. This expanded gameplay because it allowed the players to extend the relationship of the game. Instead of the game being between the player and the game, it was now between the player, the game, and other players. The Sims allowed people to come together in a new way to share stories. Instead of a story by mouth, book, or movie, it was a story told through gameplay. Rather than worrying about the needs of their Sims, they could instead focus on sharing a personal story of their life told through their Sims. The players took the game that was given to them and made it into something that had nothing to do with the game. It was a new way of exploring what the game had to offer.

#### How the Stories Are Told

One way of sharing your Sim's stories is through videos. Players can record their game play and share it on video sites like Youtube. Players can make a single episode or a series of videos. The opportunities are endless. They can make music videos of the most popular songs, and can reincarnate movies. By simply going on Youtube and typing "The Sims" a person can find thousands of different videos that are created by fans of the sims.

Another way players can tell stories is through forums. Players can go on websites like wordpress and make up stories about their Sims that others can read about. Alice and Kev is a story created by Robin Burkinshaw that talks about the life of his Sims being homeless. In the story, he moved them into an abandoned park and removed their money. The Sims were allowed to roam freely and do as they pleased. It was an experiment created to see if the Sims could attempt to survive on their own.  Another website that players can share their stories on is Reddit. NinjaDude5186, a Reddit user, asked what the worst thing was that a player had done to their Sims. He received many answers, but the most interesting was by a user named Vsanna that stated "I made a guy who was a compulsive neatfreak. Put him in a really surreal little house with a wedding buffet and a hamster or something, deleted the door. Eventually he went insane from lack of cleanliness and depression over his little rodent friend dying, and starved to death once the banquet rotted. I put the resulting urn in the room. I then repeated an identical scenario several times, always keeping the urns in the room. Eventually the tenth iteration of this guy is up all night, every night, terrified of a parade of ghosts of himself."  Another way stories can be told is through pictures. A popular way to share these stories is through Tumblr. Players write their stories on different websites, and will use tumbr to grab the attention of readers in hopes to attract them to their websites. Tumblr is a popular way to share pictures because so many people use Tumblr. Agentscully, a user of Livejournal, uses Tubmlr to sharee pictures of her stories. She adds captions to her pictures that draws attention to her readers. She gets likes from many Tumblr users because they like the eeriness of her stories.

The examples above show just how popular it is to share stories created by The Sims. If there is anything Sim players love more than playing the game, it is seeing the stories that others create through playing the game. It is interesting to see the things that people create by using the game. The game is already a sandbox of ideas, but through the communities of its players, an even bigger sandbox is made outside of the game. The game is just a tiny sandbox inside an even bigger sandbox of the internet. The sandbox of the internet not only allows the players to share stories, but it also allows them to solve the many mysteries given in the Sims. One of them being the mystery of Bella Goth.

### Interpretive Disputes- The Mystery of Bella Goth

In The Sims, there is a family that stands out from others because of their Adam's-family-like resemblances. They are dark, mysterious, and should have been born in the Victorian Era. They are the Goth family. The family changes throughout the course of the games. While their family is quite a character, their story is even more intriguing. The Goth family is truly a unique family in The Sims. They have gathered a group of fans that have come together to create stories and solve mysteries of this family. One of them being the mystery of Bella Goth.

#### The Sims Goth Family

In the original Goth family consists of Bella Goth, the young mother, Mortimer Goth, the father, and Cassandra Goth, the daughter. In The Sims, Bella and Mortimer are a young couple. Bella is a stay-at-home wife that loves to spend her time learning about the paranormal. She has a lot of free time on her hands because Mortimer works and Cassandra goes to school. When playing the game, Bella shows interest in the piano and painting. She is always seen wearing a red dress, which differs greatly from her husband and daughter's dark, gothic attire. According to an article from Gamemoir, "it is important to remember their age because it varies throughout the game series." It is important to remember because in The Sims 2, times have changed, and so has the Goth family story.

#### The Sims 2 Goth Family

In The Sims 2, The Goth Family lives in the sweet neighborhood of Pleasentview. It is set approximately twenty years after the Goth family of the original Sims. Times have changed since The Sims, and so has the family. Mortimer is now an old man, and Cassandra is an adult. Bella and Mortimer have a young child named Alexander, but there is no Bella. One of the biggest mysteries of the game is what happened to Bella. According to the story given in the game, she was last seen on Don Lothario's porch, but no one knows what happened to her after that night. This is the last time she has been seen by the Goth family, but she makes appearances in Strangetown, another town included in the game. An aspect of the family that stands out is Mortimer and Bella's age. Mortimer is an elderly man, but when Bella makes appearance in Strangetown, she is a young woman. This is the reason why it is important to remember the age of the family from the first Sims game. The age of the family is a question of interest for the players. Why is Bella so much younger than Mortimer? Why does Bella live in Strangetown, and not with her family?

#### The Sims 3 Goth Family

In The Sims 3, The Goth Family takes on a new spin. They live in a town called Sunset Valley, which was what Pleasentview was one called. While they lived twenty years into the future in the Sims 2, they live over twenty years in the past in The Sims 3. In this spin-off of the Goth family, Mortimer and Bella are only children. They are best friends, and they live in different houses. Bella lives in an average-sized home with her parents Simis and Jocasta Bachelor, and her brother Michael. They are a medium class family with an income of 3,000. Simis is very family oriented and his wife is quite the loner. Michael is you average athletic, high-school jock. Bella grew up in a very average household. On the other hand, Mortimer lives with his parents Gunther and Cornelia. Gunther is the CEO of a company while Cornelia is unemployed. They have an income of 50,000 Simoleons. They are one of the richest families in the game. They live in a gothic mansion right next to the town's cemetery. Gunther and Cornelia's grumpy trait passed onto Mortimer, which is the opposite of Bella's brave and good characteristics, yet somehow they become the best of friends. With story progression, the two can end up together, but there is no sign of Bella's disappearance nor any sign of them having a family together.

#### The Sims 4 Goth Family

In the Sims 4, the Goth family greatly resembles the original Goth Family. However, according to the Sims Wikia page, the family lives in an alternate universe of itself. In this game, Mortimer is much older than Bella. This stands out to the Sims and Sims 3 games, but makes sense comparing it to The Sims 2 where Bella is younger than Mortimer. This is the only game where the family lives together in harmony. The family consists of Mortimer, Bella, Cassandra, and Alexander. In this version of the Goth family, they live in a three story home, unlike their usual mansion with a graveyard. The family appears to be normal for the most part. The family's bio mentions Bella's disappearance, so it leaves its players wondering about Bella's return from the Sims 2. It makes sense partly with the age differences, but also leaves confusion because Mortimer is old and Bella is young in The Sims 2. It makes it seem like this game is set before her dissapearence, but this is false because it mentions her disappearance in the family's biography. This strikes much concern for the players of this game, and leaves them feeling confused about what happened.

#### Coming Together to Form a Solution

The Goth family is very interesting and causes many interpretive disputes all forming around Bella Goth. Many of the game's fan communities have come together and created different stories for her disappearance. According to TrisTheActor on The Sims Forums, she believes the Caliente sisters somehow cause her to be abducted by aliens. The Caliente sisters are part alien, and so they would have the perfect connection to do so.  While this is a well proven argument, Imogen wrote an argument on FemHype that proved Bella Goth was not abducted by aliens. Her argument was that Mortimer and Cassandra saw Bella be abducted by Aliens, but how can this be true when she was last seen at Don's house and not with them? While we may never know the true story of Bella Goth, it is clear to see that the fans of this game do care. Through knowledge communities and remediation of the story, fans can come together and try to solve this mystery on their own.

When relating this video game to art, it can clearly be seen that this interpretive dispute can amount to any interpretive dispute to art. It may not be an argument like what happened to the eyebrows of Mona Lisa, but it is one that strikes concern to its interpreters. While Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, he probably considered how his fans would interpret the woman's missing eyebrows, but he never could have imagined songs, videos, and books being created because his creation, and this same speculation goes for The Sims as well. The creators of The Sims knew its fan would be intrigued by Bella Goth, but they could have never imagined the disputes that have been caused through their creation. This same example goes for all video games in general. The fans of these games have taken what has been given to them to a new level, and it has caused video games to become something greater than what they were once made to be.

## Additional Links

The Sims Wiki

The Sims Forums

The Sims YouTube

The Sims Reddit

Mod The Sims

The Sims VIP

## References

1. ↑ Plato, "Phaedrus." Course Readings, HUM211
2. ↑ Nicholas Carr, "Is Google Making us Stupid?. Course Packet, HUM211.
3. ↑ N. Katherine Hayles Electronic Literature: What is it?
4. ↑ Roger Ebert Video Games Can Never Be Art
5. ↑ James Paul Gee, "Why Video Games Are Good for Your Soul." Course Reading, HUM211.
6. ↑ The Sims Resource: http://www.thesimsresource.com
7. ↑ Cheat Code Central: www.cheatcc.com/pc/sims2.html
8. ↑ GameFAQS: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/714064-the-sims-4/70134262
9. ↑ Alice and Kev: https://aliceandkev.wordpress.com
10. ↑ askreddit:https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/30r1l8/what\_is\_the\_worst\_thing\_youve\_ever\_done\_in\_the/
11. ↑ My Neighbor Is My Enemy: https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/sims-stories
12. ↑ Gamemoir: http://gamemoir.com/opinions/goth-family-sims-4/
13. ↑ Goth Family: http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Goth\_family#The\_Sims\_4
14. ↑ What Really Happened to Bella Goth:http://forums.thesims.com/en\_US/discussion/807017/what-really-happened-to-bella-goth
15. ↑ The Unsolved Mystery of Bella Goth in 'The Sims' Franchise: http://femhype.com/2015/09/11/the-unsolved-mystery-of-bella-goth-in-the-sims-franchise/