Modern Urbanites! A Game for the Alternative Crowd

"Mr. Sean, here are your three pre-ordered copies of the Sims: The Sims: Urbz. Enjoy the game."

"Thanks."

Sean took the three beautifully packaged, perfectly weighted boxes and waved to Robert and his daughter outside the line.

He seemed to sense some of the effects of the stock market crash.

Even the GAMENOVA section, which is usually like a zombie apocalypse, is still at an acceptable level today.

At least it wasn't as crowded as it used to be.

It seems that even Gamenova's influence cannot reverse the current pessimistic sentiment in the market.

Sean glanced at the game character dressed in a gorgeous outfit on the box.

Perhaps this is also due to the game's unique positioning.

Its core user base doesn't overlap much with GAMENOVA's.

This was a bold attempt.

"Um----"

I just don't know how the attempt will go.

"Then I'll have to bother you~"

Sean swaggered into Robert's house, his mind completely absorbed in the new game in his hands, having long since forgotten all about social niceties and intricacies.

Robert's lips twitched slightly; he was used to Robert's impetuous and headstrong nature.

Young people, if they weren't spirited, what kind of young people would they be?

Perhaps it is precisely because of his attitude that he is able to lead everyone in his group of old-timers to get better and better.

When they came out of the store earlier, seeing that Sean was planning to ride his rickshaw all the way home through the heavy snow, Robert simply threw his rickshaw into the bed of his pickup truck.

It doesn't matter where you go for fun, you can come to my house and they can even help take care of my kids.

"Hurry, hurry, I really can't wait a second longer!"

Faced with this game that is clearly geared towards the family, Sean, a veteran player accustomed to the exhilarating carnage of Quake, was actually more excited.

Yuli was also looking forward to it, but her feelings towards GAMENOVA were just so-so.

I wouldn't say I hate them, but I'm not a huge fan either.

Pokémon is fun, Pokémon are cute and cool. That's enough to know.

As for who its developer is?

Sorry, I have dyslexia, please don't show it to me.

Perhaps this is just a glimpse into the bigger picture.

Different player groups, due to their vastly different gaming styles, will give rise to different gaming culture circles.

Unlike other players who have followed Gamenova all along, Yuli wasn't as fanatical as they were, almost like a religious figure.

Sean raised an eyebrow as he opened the box.

No wonder it felt so substantial on the way here; it's definitely the deluxe version.

This place has a complete set of small items.

Everything mentioned in the pre-order information was included, including Barbie endorsed by pop diva Madonna and her record.

There's also a new issue of Attitude featuring her on the cover.

Yuli's eyes lit up as she snatched the record, examining it from all angles, clearly delighted with it.

Madonna's rise to fame is almost entirely synchronous with GAMENOVA, and they are even both completely fictional stories.

A capricious, avant-garde, and rebellious pop diva, she has become a dazzling presence that the world cannot ignore in just a few short years since her debut in 1983.

She is also the world's best-selling female singer.

Lin Lixin and she actually met at the 29th Grammy Award.

Last year, Madonna was nominated for Best Pop Female Solo Performance for her single "Papa Don't Preach," but unfortunately she didn't win.

In any case, the collaboration between this maverick pop diva and GAMENOVA was surprisingly a perfect match.

Two rebellious madmen met.

"Let's look at the game first, we can talk about the record later."

Sean quickly pulled Yuli, who was already in a state of near madness and contortion, and gestured for her to sit down and play the game first.

Robert, on the other hand, picked up the magazine listlessly and lay down on the sofa.

He planned to kill some time casually, and also try to replenish the energy he had lost after being dragged out of bed by Yuli in the middle of the night.

"Buzz----Buzz-"

The disc was read by the disc drive, and after a long loading time, the game screen finally appeared.

The fluorescent powder in the CRT was activated, and vibrant colors instantly filled their eyes.

Thanks to NovaXeno's impressive graphics performance, even its title screen is incredibly colorful.

Although the resolution is low, the exquisite color scheme makes it easy to spot that this is some inconspicuous corner of the city.

A magenta light sign was flashing on the wall.

The electronic screen on the left, filled with snowflakes, displays the game's main title.

[TheSims: Urbz]

The title has a very Game Nova-esque feel to it; anyone else would probably have no idea what this completely neologistic title means.

However, Sean was a long-time fan and easily understood the meaning of the title.

Urb definitely stands for "Urban," and the addition of a "z" at the end is a common technique among non-mainstream individuals.

-z is a very common and trendy way of writing it, and it has a youthful, hip-hop, and rebellious vibe. It is used to replace the plural form -s.

Very rock and roll, very gamenova.

Simply put, the title means "Urban Traveler".

By combining the environment of the title screen, one can guess the game's world background.

It should unfold in a modern city.

This kind of setup is truly rare in the gaming world.

After all, video games are an art form based on fantasy, and realistic themes actually limit their potential.

A speaker is connected to the NX's external sound card via an audio cable, playing a piece of urban music with a particularly strong rhythm and electronic feel.

Even before the game officially started, the attitude and visual style that the game wanted to express, which were already refreshing to the two of them, had already impressed them.

Sean completely forgot that he was a guest in someone else's house and started playing with it without any hesitation.

Yuli, who was about to take the controller and enter her character name, paused, then shook her head helplessly.

Sean's gone crazy again.

Creating a character should be a routine step.

But Sean spent more than ten minutes on this step.

It's not that it's difficult to operate, but rather that there are just too many things that can be adjusted!

From things like gender and skin color, which were unthinkable in the past, to hairstyles, hair color, clothing styles, and clothing colors—

The game is so detailed that even clothing can be adjusted with separate primary and secondary color schemes.

And of course, there's the color of the pants and shoes.

The sheer freedom in the character creation process alone is enough to keep him entertained for quite some time.

Sean remembers once hogging a plane for three hours in the arcade just to unlock a hat for Indiana Jones.

If the store manager hadn't intervened and mediated, he would have loved to sit in the store all day.

Being able to let your character wear clothes they choose is already pretty cool.

This work seems to have taken this gameplay to a whole new level!