SimCity people come to life

The explosion in Tamagochis and other gadgets that require nurturing has prompted a new take on SimCity. The team that created the aforementioned classic have turned their attention to The Sims, which will see the player looking after a whole neighbourhood of people from SimCity. Your task is to make sure all the inhabitants under your jurisdiction are well looked after. But your remit stretches further still. Their lives are in your hands, their careers, family, friends, romances and happiness all down to your ability to select the correct character traits.

The game has architectural tools that enable you to build houses (and furnish them), and you can choose from 10-12 pre-generated families or customise your own, right down to their physical features. There are 10 career paths for the folk to pursue, including all the usual ones like astronauts and acting (yeah, right). You can even make them criminals, or better still, mayor of SimCity. Perhaps the real fun to be had will be in creating the dysfunctional family who live like Wayne and Waynetta Slob. Maxis expect The Sims (PC only) to be complete by the summer.