Production, Marketing, Distribution, Consumption 'The Sims 2'

Production
The Sims 2 is a 3rd party simulation game developed by Maxis and produced by EA. The sims 2 was released September 16th 2004 and is the second part to 'The Sims' franchise taking _ years to make; it not only allows your sims to age but focuses strongly on detail allowing you to customise each feature to precicity, choose exactly what they have for breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert and even what kind of bath they have. The games engine used is called 'The Sims 2 engine' because it has been designed especially for the game this means it will be more efficient.


Marketing
The Sims 2 has been marketed using various different media including the net where trailers, official and unofficial trailers can be shared and watched on sites such as youtube, they have online groups on sites like facebook where fans can join, there is even the official website http://www.thesims.ea.com/ amongst other sites created for fans. They have also used up spaces in magazines (usually targeted for a female audience) and billboards not to mention word of mouth alone is strong on games with such popularity.


Distribution
The Sims 2 was released 4 years after the hit PC game The Sims in Febuary 2000, this allowed time for the game to gain a huge fan base before bringing out the sequal almost to garentee a hit from the beginning. The Sims 2 proved to be popular as it sold more than 1 million copies in just 10 days and it was anounced in April 2008 that 100 million copies of the game had been sold worldwide; from this they then decided to bring out two types of extras packages, stuff packs (add ons) and expansion packs which brings a whole new level to the game, these usually get released every couple of months and dedicated fans will go out and buy every one even if it's a bit naff. Overall there are 8 expansion packs including pets, nightlife, freetime. There are also 10 stuff packs including H&M fashion, family fun, glamour life.


Consumerism
Fans can log onto the website where they can share their designs and download special add ons for the game. On facebook the sims group allows fans to discuss and chat about the sims with eachother but The Sims 2 is a game designed only for one player use, this means there is no online chat and discussions must take place outside of gameplay.

(I need to find the information to fill in the gaps, will get that done for friday)