The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff Pack

Holiday, Celebrate!

Okay Maxis, you claim that The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff will grant me access into throwing the most elegant swanky par-tay! Whether that party is a wedding party, birthday party, or outdoor party I will have all the tools and décor to be the most popular Sim party house on the block.

Hmm, I’m doubtful Maxis, I really am! You really lost my trust this winter with the holiday pack. Hmph!

So what’s in this new pack? Why do I keep buying them? I have burned by this company before on stuff packs, yet keep on keeping on, and buying them all.
Is it because I enjoy being ripped off? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just that I’m expecting something, that even though I know won’t be there, might be. So as a Sims fan, I can’t miss out. Yeah, that’s why.

Anyways I installed the game quite simply. Stick the disc in my computer wait for the installation screen, type in the key code that can be found inside of the box on the back of the manual. Wait about 4 or 5 minutes and tada, I’m ready to roll.

I was excited to perhaps see some new things. I figured that Maxis may have listened to fans this time around, and realized that they have really been jacking us with their crummy stuff packs.

Now keep in mind, ‘stuff’ packs offer nothing new to the Sims 2 game play. It’s just stuff, hence the name.

What did I find in The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff?

Clothes-

Um, where?

Oh yeah right there. Yay for me! I got 2 new dresses. They’re more like gowns though. Ugly ones, they actually look more like a clothing mesh missing the pattern? What gives!?

What about the fellas?
Yep they get some new clothes too, New suits with a little carnation flower on it.

But but but… they look the same! The mesh used to create these new suits are the same meshes used to create all of the other suits from ‘Glamour Life Stuff’ only these suits have a flower!? Hmph!

Furniture-

Oh-wee, would you look at that, some new party furniture! A lawn table, lawn chairs, some new plants, some ridiculous looking balloon arches, hmmm what else?

Oh, a round table with some matching chairs. That’s kind of nice. Okay, I like that at least.

What else!?

Man it’s hard to find! There’s so little to work with here. Oh there it is a new bar. Awe an umbrella! Gez, I have been waiting for one of these, oh wait, I already downloaded that on a fan site. Sigh.
This umbrella is ugly though. It looks cheap, and my Sims prefer the most luxurious things.

What else have I found?

More balloons, same as the balloons that came with the original game, only re-colored and some new helium balloons. Yay, they still pop and make a mess. Eh hemm, “MAID”.

I also got a rug that looks like shredded newspaper too. It is meant to be a wedding walkway runner. Looks like shredded doggie newspaper to me though. Oh well.

Hmm what’s that bulky thing with a pig drawn on the outside? A new grill for outside of course with same function as any other grill, just more bulky and box shaped.

Wall Decorations:

A pointless addition to the stuffs pack. Or any pack for that matter.
Like I have said so many times before, it is virtually impossible to play the Sims with the walls up. Therefore wall decorations are useless seeing how they disappear when you have the walls down. They only count towards ‘environment points’

Wall decorations that come with this new stuff packs include wedding theme garland, birthday theme garland, and some lantern lights.

Lights-

You can now add some tea lights to tables and counter tops. They’re so ridiculously small however don’t expect there to be a romantic glow added to the room you have placed them. They give off barely any light, and they’re practically invisible. You have to do a really close zoom in to see them in all their glory.

There are also some new hanging party lights. They can be compared to those round tracing paper party balls people hang from ceilings. They’re round like globes, and I must say are a nice addition.

Paintings-

You can find a few new paintings hanging around in the paintings category. Nothing really sticks out in my mind as being fabulous; as a matter of fact this is always the last category I check for new items.

Cakes-

There are a few new cakes in the party category. One cake in particular is designed for a wedding. It’s a tiered cake, only without the tiers. The thing looks plastic. All of the new cakes look plastic for that matter.
Now that I think of it, almost all of the new items look like shiny plastic.

Carpeting-

None of the carpets that come with the celebration pack are pleasing to the eye. They’re all very tacky, but do stick with the ‘celebration’ theme. All of them look like confetti was thrown on them. I personally don’t like them, seeing how I don’t intend on making my entire home a full-blown party theme house.

I was hoping to see some new bushes and trees with this pack. I’m so sick of using the same rose bushes on my lawns. Grrr!

WHAT’S GOOD?

Anyways, I could go on and on about what will disappoint you in The Sims 2: Celebration Stuff. I figured it will be easier to mention what you ‘will like’ in the new pack.

You will enjoy some new decoration for the home. There are some floral arrangements that are really nice, and will blend well with everything else you may already have in your home; all of them have many color choices as well.

There are also a few new lights, which you may enjoy; the lack of different lighting was a bummer in the game so I was glad to see some new additions in the lighting category.

There is also a table and new matching chair which I mentioned earlier that is very nice looking. It will look nice either inside or on an outside deck or patio.

This pack also comes with some new ground covers. You can make your lawn look as if it has little flowers growing in the grass. Some of flower colors you can expect to see are pink, white, orange and more.

I know, not much to work with. But if you’re a Sims fan, you too will find yourself purchasing this addition, and feeling ripped off when you see how little it has to offer.

It wouldn’t be so bad if Maxis perhaps would be a little more realistic with their pricing. $20 is far too much money for what is being given to the purchaser; now $10 would be more reasonable, and less Sims fans would find themselves feeling angry and ripped off for buying it.

Now I’m going to share some awesome information here for all you Sim 2 fans out there. Sick of Sim 2 pay sites charging you $20 a month for access to their downloads? Visit http://paysites.mustbedestroyed.org/ Whether or not you believe in file sharing (I prefer to keep my personal feelings about this site to myself) or not is up to you, I’m just passing along the info. Enjoy.

*Rated Teen* Like all Sim 2 games and their expansions. The Sims will do the dirty dirty (no visuals of course), so you may want to avoid giving this and any Sim game to children.


System Requirements, taken from the box:
-OS: Windows Vista, XP, Me, 2000, or 98
-Installed: The Sims 2 for Windows
-CPU: 1.0 GHz or faster
-RAM: 256 MB or more
-Disc Drive: 8x or faster CD/DVD drive
-Hard Drive: At least 350 MB of free space
-Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible
-Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible Video card must have 32 MB or more memory and one of these T&L capable chipsets:
ATI Radeon 8500 or greater; NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or greater.