Blarn to blarn!
Amazon’s Alexa is pretty handy for getting a party started. Just shout out a random genre and it will start playing songs from its user-generated playlists. If you’re in an “I hate the world” mood, you can shout Taking Back Sunday and let your family know that they JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND, MOM! Or, if you really want to drive your family insane, you can now put on a seven-hour Sims playlist made by EA.
For whatever reason, EA has teamed up with Amazon to curate a playlist with 140 songs from each iteration of The Sims. This will include things like the build mode songs and even the hilarious covers of popular pop songs. Not content to just limit things to musical entertainment, you can also ask Alexa to start up some Sims trivia and test your knowledge of the franchise with over 200 questions. Alexa will even inform you of random Sims trivia if you ask nicely.
As for the actual Sims game, EA has included an Alexa knock-off in The Sims 4 for you to adorn your virtual house with. Called Lin-Z, this digital PDA will mimic the features of Alexa for your Sims to annoy their own families with. It can tell jokes, play trivia, adjust your home’s lighting and even order take-out. Now you can watch your virtual self become a lazy slob while you become an even lazier one!
The Lin-Z update is available for The Sims 4 on PC and Mac. There is no mention if it will come to consoles, though I’d imagine it would in the future.
Alexa, Play The Sims [Electronic Arts]
