You have to post a review! I don't receive my copy until monday (pre-ordered since last december).

Hi from Addison, TX!

Damn. See you in...what? A week? A month? Damn, damn, damn.

But at least it isn't Civilization IV, so I'm pretty sure you'll be back this calendar year. ;-)

I dunno, Jim. This new Sims is pretty freakin' awesome.

For me, I was always playing The Original Sims by building the perfect home. I didn't really give a crap about my Sims. NOW, with this game, I'm actually falling in love with the game again. I actually CARE about this creatures. When my Sim had her first baby, I even got emotional. Gawd, I'm such a dork. But seriously, the addition of the Sims "knowing" their family members, DNA, and more Sim-to-Sim interaction, I have been playing this game a. Lot. In fact, I'm hurrying through my dictation so I can get back to it.

I can't speak for Ilyka, but I know I'm re-addicted to this damned game. (!)

What is your budget and how heavy duty are your gaming needs? The current sweet spot for most bang for the buck in video cards is around $200 but that can be overkill if you aren't big on fast 3D action.

Can you blow up your neighbours?

I always wanted to do that...

I bought the GeForce FX 5500 256MB (Overclocked). I also had to have a bigger power supply to run it. I got it basically because I could -- I have 2 gigs of RAM on this MF'er and 100 gig hard drive; so it was just "to be safe." I can't remember how much I paid for it, but it was very reasonable, I thought.

As for the neighbors, Pixy -- you can't blow them up, per se. But, you could conceivably catch their house on fire, put them in the pool and take out the ladders, all kinds of deviant behavior. My son is famous for the removal of ladders trick when a Sim pisses him off.

Yeah, Eric, $200 would be the most I'd want to spend. Of course, now Margi has me thinking about the power supply, but that shouldn't be too bad.

Well, since it's difficult to find a video card that costs more than $30 that isn't at least a GF2 equivalent, I don't think meeting minimums will be difficult.

If you're willing to spend the $150-200 for a plausible card, my last reading of the specs and test results suggests the hottest ATI card you can get is probably the best bet.

I haven't priced lately, but probably a 9700 or 9800 Pro or something like that is in that range - certainly ought to be more than enough for Sims 2 (and workable for Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 if you're into that sort of thing... me, I'm drooling over Dawn of War at the moment, but that's a personal issue).

Buy.com rocks for stuff like video cards and a power supply to run it. ;o)

I just bought an ATI 9600 XT AIW card (128MB) and so far I'm pleased... It was represented to me as about as far as you could go without risking having to upgrade your power supply...

The AIW version is a little over $200 but has the additional capability of being an analog to digital coverter for those who want to play with video...

I have the 9600XT as well (though mine's the standard version), and it's a damn good card. I'll be Sims-testing it tonight. :)

Margi, you have 2 gigs of ram? I only upgraded to 2 gig as of yesterday!

Good lord, woman. Turn the game off and come up for air!

One week my ass...

;-P