History Trivia / TheSims

* TechnologyMarchesOn: The first game (released in 2000) had Sims using landline phones to talk to each other at long distances, a black-and-white television available as the cheapest TV set, and newspapers as Sims' primary means of finding jobs. Computers were only used to play games and look at job listings, while cell phones didn't even exist. By the fourth (released in 2014), newspapers and landline phones were gone entirely, every Sim had a smartphone, cathode-ray-tube color [=TVs=] were the dirt-cheap options, and computers have a huge array of options including online shopping and socialising. Then the ''City Living'' expansion, released in 2016, added a Social Media career track, allowing Sims to work in an industry that did not exist in 2000. Going through the series, one can trace the evolution of consumer technology over the course of the early 21st century, and how people have interacted with such.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: The first game (released in 2000) had Sims using landline phones to talk to each other at long distances, a black-and-white television available as the cheapest TV set, newspapers as Sims' primary means of finding jobs, and computers being used only to play games and look at job listings. Cell phones did not exist. By the fourth, released in 2014, newspapers and landline phones were gone entirely, every Sim had a smartphone, cathode-ray-tube color [=TVs=] were the dirt-cheap options, and the ''City Living'' expansion released in 2016 added a Social Media career track, allowing Sims to work in an industry that did not exist in 2000. Going through the series, one can trace the evolution of consumer technology over the course of the early 21st century, and how people have interacted with such.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Each and every game in the series can be pinpointed to the year it came out by the things that date it, from furniture to technology to especially the fashion.
** In terms of technology, the first game (released in 2000) had Sims using landline phones to talk to each other at long distances, a black-and-white television available as the cheapest TV set, newspapers as Sims' primary means of finding jobs, and computers being used only to play games and look at job listings. Cell phones did not exist. By the fourth, released in 2014, newspapers and landline phones were gone entirely, every Sim had a smartphone, cathode-ray-tube color [=TVs=] were the dirt-cheap options, and the ''City Living'' expansion released in 2016 added a Social Media career track, allowing Sims to work in an industry that did not exist in 2000. Going through the series, one can trace the evolution of consumer technology over the course of the early 21st century, and how people have interacted with such.
** In terms of fashion, meanwhile, the clothing options available in the first game still reflected TheNineties, with a particular focus on clothes that would look and feel right at home in a DomCom from that decade. The second and third games, meanwhile, featured popular fashion items from the TurnOfTheMillennium, particularly with the prevalence of low-rise hip-hugging pants for female Sims designed to [[BareYourMidriff bare the midriff]], which were trendy among young women in that decade but experienced a major backlash in the next. Finally, the clothing in the fourth game reflects contemporary fashions in TheNewTens, particularly the {{hipster}} and [[WorkoutFanservice athleisure]] trends.
** While ''The Sims 3'' is canonically set several decades before ''The Sims 2'', it doesn't even try to be a PurelyAestheticEra, instead being firmly rooted in the late 2000s and early '10s. ''The Sims 4''[='=]s expansions seem fond of a heaping helping of Art Nouveau as well as the usual contemporary styles, but technology is more advanced and upgradable than ever before.

* AwesomeDearBoy: This is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb3X5Xq1Qcg how they manage to get]] so many musicians to do [[TranslatedCoverVersion Simlish covers]] of their songs for the games, even from genres like punk and metal that you'd never imagine being willingly associated with ''The Sims''. Not only is it cheap, effective promotion, many musicians are ''Sims'' fans and consider it an honor to be in the game.

* ThrowItIn: [[https://twitter.com/JustJakeSimpson/status/1375521050151161858 Simlish was entirely created by the game's voice actors on the spot]]. [[https://twitter.com/JustJakeSimpson/status/1375521048804745217 The voice actors watched the Sims do their animations and said up whatever gibberish came to mind from it.]]

* {{Jossed}}: The usually cited reason for why no game prior to ''4'' had teenage woo-hoo was because it'd cause a rating increase. This was debunked when ''The Sims 4'' introduced a woo-hoo equivalent for teens.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: For years, fans speculated that teens couldn't have a Woo-Hoo option because that'd lead to a ratings bump. ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' jossed this when a Woo-Hoo-like option was created for teenagers.

** While ''The Sims 3'' is canonically set several decades before ''The Sims 2'', it doesn't even try to be a PurelyAestheticEra, instead being firmly rooted in the late 2000s and early '10s. ''The Sims 4'' expansions seem fond of a heaping helping of Art Nouveau as well as the usual contemporary styles, but technology is more advanced and upgradable than ever before.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_Wiki The Sims Wiki]].

* UrbanLegends: For years, fans speculated that teens couldn't have a Woo-Hoo option because that'd lead to a ratings bump. ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' jossed this when a Woo-Hoo-like option was created for teenagers.

* UrbanLegends: For years, fans speculated that teens Woo-Hoo option because that'd lead to a ratings bump. ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' jossed this when a Woo-Hoo-like option was created for teenagers.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Every single game is filled to the brim with things that date it. Furniture, technology, and especially the fashion. Even ''The Sims 3'' is dated to the late 2000s - early 2010s despite being set several decades before ''The Sims 2''. ''The Sims 4'' expansions seem fond of a heaping helping of Art Nouveau as well as the usual contemporary styles, but technology is more advanced and upgradable than ever before.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_Wiki The Sims Wiki]].

* TooLongDidntDub: The only reason for Simlish's existence is because they didn't want to bother doing redubbing for other languages.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Simsville'' was announced in 2000 for a 2001 release, then held back to 2002 in 2001, only to be [[{{Vaporware}} cancelled]] later that year due to the mediocre reception of the game. ''Simsville'' was essentially a combination of ''Sim City'' and ''The Sims 1''. You had the ability to design your own town and create your own villagers who would live in a realistic economy. Eventually this concept was revisited, to a lesser degree, in ''The Sims 3'' when it introduced open towns to interact with.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Every single game is filled to the brim with things that date it. Furniture, technology, and especially the fashion. Even ''The Sims 3'' is dated to the late 2000s - early 2010s despite being set several decades before ''The Sims 2''. Sims 4 expansions seem fond of a heaping helping of Art Nouveau as well as the usual contemporary styles, but technology is more advanced and upgradable than ever before.

* NamesTheSame: Jordan Hamilton: University cheerleader who can fall so hard for your Sim or basketball star?

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Every single game is filled to the brim with things that date it. Furniture, technology, and especially the fashion. Even ''The Sims 3'' is dated to the late 2000s - early 2010s despite being set several decades before ''The Sims 2''.

* LyingCreator: Several times, creators have stated that new installments would include specific features. When the games were actually released, these features were nowhere to be found. For example, that Sims in ''The Sims 2'' would be able to recognize which bed was theirs.

* LyingCreator: Several times, creators have stated that new installments would include specific features. When the games were actually released, these features were nowhere to be found. For example, that Sims in ''The Sims 2'' would be able to recognize which bed was theirs.