Electronic Arts has announced two new games in its gazillion-selling The Sims franchise. The first, The Sims 2: Apartment Life, is an expansion that sees Sims moving away from dull suburbia and beginning the hip lifestyle that only an apartment building can provide. There will also be a happenin’ new neighborhood for your Sims to explore. Exciting new locations like “coffee shops” and “playgrounds” are just waiting to provide hours of entertainment.

Apartment Life also adds the ability to control multiple Sim households, new character types, and a reputation meter. The latter allows your Sim to finally get the respect he or she deserves by making it easier to attract new friends.

The second game, The Sims 2: Apartment Pets for the Nintendo DS, also allows players to experience apartment life, but with a focus on caring for animals. Doing so will earn you new furniture for your apartment and accessories and toys for your animal friends. Oh, and there’s also a snake charming mini-game.

The Sims 2: Apartment Life will be releasing for the PC on August 22. There will also be a Limited Collection that includes The Sims 2: Double Deluxe, for those of you that are lacking the core game. Are any Sims fans planning on picking either of these up? Does the Destructoid community even have any Sims fans?

GUILDFORD, UK — June 5, 2008 — The Sims™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Label, today announced the first details for The Sims 2 Apartment Life for the PC, and The Sims 2 Apartment Pets exclusively for the Nintendo DSTM. The Sims 2 Apartment Life brings the adventure, fun and drama of close quarters of apartment living to your Sims. Launching simultaneously, The Sims 2 Apartment Pets places your Sims in their very own apartment with a variety of pets. Also, just downstairs from your Sims apartment is their own pet spa where they must take good care of a variety of visiting animals, including their own personal pets. Both titles are due for launch on August 22nd.

The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack* for the PC
This expansion pack for The Sims 2 takes your Sims out of the suburbs and into a brand new busy apartment building! Adventure, fun, and drama await them as they explore their new neighborhood, mingle in coffee shops, visit a playground, meet new friends, and much more. Because there is now the ability to control multiple households in The Sims 2 Apartment Life, your Sims can live in happy harmony, or comical conflict.
New social networks and character types, including artsy bohemians, sports fans, gadget-loving techies,spice up your Sims life. And, with a new reputation meter, your Sims can build up the respect they deserve from other Sims to be the most admired – or least-desired -Sim in the neighborhood. The better the reputation, the easier for your Sims to find the right friends to help them achieve their goals.

Make your Sims’ space look great in The Sims 2 Apartment Life! Five new building types that range from converted lofts to roomy and posh studios or luxury apartments with their own butler add to the creative and customized adventure. Enjoy a myriad of new decor options, including spiral staircases and lofty, high ceilings. Your Sims will get a whole new kind of experience through the drama of close quarters living!

The Sims 2 Apartment Pets for Nintendo DS™
In your Sim’s new apartment adventure on the Nintendo DS, care for a variety of local pets, including loveable cats and dogs, slithery snakes, hamsters, colourful birds, and cuddly rabbits to make sure they receive the right treatment so that they stay happy, healthy and looking good. Simoleans earned can be used to furnish the perfect apartment and buy fun pet accessories like hats, shoes and toys. Players can use the Nintendo DS touch screen and stylus to play cool mini games and unlock new objects for their Sim and their pets. And in one mini game you can charm a snake by blowing into the Nintendo DS microphone, which serves as your musical instrument.

“The Sims 2 Apartment Life and The Sims 2 Apartment Pets are two new entertainment experiences that put your Sims in the midst of all the drama and humour of busy apartment life,” said Rod Humble, Head of Studio for The Sims Label. “These two games reflect an aspect of real life that players can relate to, and now for the first time, their Sims can explore that same lifestyle in The Sims 2 Apartment Life on the PC and make pets part of the fun in The Sims 2 Apartment Pets for the Nintendo DS.”

Bring on the night and celebrate with your Sims! Also available in August, is The Sims™ 2 Apartment Life Limited Collection, which includes The Sims 2 Apartment Life and The Sims 2 Double Deluxe (which consists of The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack, The Sims 2 Celebration Stuff and a video DVD with a host of tips and tricks). A great value to get your apartment life started, coming in August, 2008!