If you\u2019ve been a Sims fan since the very beginning, then you completely understand the process of creating a Sim. Men can be skinny or fat, muscular, and have a varying selection of male-sounding voices while women can choose from sweet, high-pitched speaking voices and boob size. It\u2019s all been very black and white in The Sims\u2014until now.<\/p>\n
Just today, Maxis announced over 700 new and different features for men and women in Create-A-Sim, allowing men to have long hair, women to have deep voices and so forth. Maxis stated on their post,
\nThis means you can now create Sims with any type of physique, walk style, and tone of voice you choose \u2013 regardless of their gender.<\/p>\n
We’ve also made clothing, hair, jewelry, and other visual options available to all Sims. Over 700 pieces of content previously only available to either male or female Sims, have now been made available to all Sims regardless of initial gender selection. This includes content from The Sims 4 base game and previously launched packs.<\/p>\n
This is a revolutionary update in the Sims universe, for things have always been very gender-specific, like the women\u2019s formal attire was always dresses of some sort while men wore only a suit (of varying colors).<\/p>\n
When I played The Sims, I guess I never stopped to think that I ever wanted to wear a tuxedo or that men should be allowed to have long hair. But can you imagine how many people did think about this, constantly? Enough to make EA want to change how things work.<\/p>\n
I think this is both a bold and very progressive and influential move on Maxis\u2019 part because we don\u2019t live in a gender-specific society anymore. Today, the lines are blurred more than ever and I think it\u2019s about time creative games like The Sims finally get on the bandwagon. It just goes to show how EA and Maxis are really working to keep up with its fans. Because, as I\u2019ve always said, it\u2019s ultimately the fans who will be playing the game and if they aren\u2019t happy, well then you\u2019ve got a problem. Maxis ended the blog post by saying,
\nThe Sims is made by a diverse team for a diverse audience, and it’s really important to us that players are able to be creative and express themselves through our games.<\/p>\n
That last statement is exactly why more games need to take this into consideration, because really certain games aren\u2019t making a product for one type of person. They want their entire fan base to enjoy the game. It\u2019s also admirable to see EA and Maxis doing something I\u2019ve never seen in another game that includes a create-a-character screen. Typically, these kinds of games will have very specific gender-based options for appearance like, women can have long and flowing hair and men can have beards, etc. And for those who aren\u2019t too happy about it, you don\u2019t have to make your Sims like this. It\u2019s just great to know those options are now available, along with the everyday options for creating a Sim. Hopefully, EA and Maxis have started a trend, one that other similar games will soon start to follow.<\/p>\n