The Sims: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a retail copy of the PC computer video game The Sims by Will Wright, published by Electronic Arts and developed by Maxis. It is a life simulation game that allows a user to participate in many elements of everyday living for virtual inhabitants, including living conditions, relationships, and careers. The object includes a CD-ROM containing the software for the game, a CD jewel case, and a title card insert for the jewel case, which states "The People Simulator from the Creator of Sim City" and also shows the EA Games logo. On the back of the jewel case is an advertisement for Will Wright's 1999 game, Sim City 3000. The CD-ROM indicates the game has an ESRB rating of "T" for teens and up. Also included are a 107-page user manual, which describes how to play the game, and a 15-page reference card, which gives technical specifications for running and troubleshooting the program. The minimum specifications for operating the game on computer hardware are: Windows 95 or 98 (operating system); 233 MHz or faster Intel Pentium (processor); 32 MB RAM (memory); 4x CD-ROM (600k/second transfer rate) drive using a 32-bit Windows 95/98 driver (disk reader); High Color (800x600 resolution) capable 2MB PCI or AGP video card with DirectDraw compatible driver; 230 MB free hard disk space plus space for saved games (additional space required for DirectX 7 (supporting software) and Windows swap file; DirectX 7 compatible sound card; keyboard, mouse.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 2000
• maker: EA Maxis
• publisher: Electronic Arts
• Object Name: video game
• Physical Description: plastic, metal (cd-rom material)
• Physical Description: plastic, paper (jewel case material)
• Measurements: cd-rom: 4 3/4 in; 12.065 cm
• Measurements: jewel case: 4 29/32 in x 5 19/32 in x 7/16 in; 12.446 cm x 14.224 cm x 1.143 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: 2016.3016.33
• nonaccession number: 2016.3016
• catalog number: 2016.3016.33
• Credit Line: Judy Gradwohl
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.