Brian Deppiesse is director of development for "The Sims 2." His 13-year-old daughter thinks the game is awesome, and that's what Deppiesse says makes his job great. Never mind that the teen re-created her family in "The Sims 2" and killed her younger brother in the game.

Deppiesse's daughter is a great example of how some players use "The Sims" to act out, said John Suler, a professor of psychology at Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. "One big draw of 'The Sims' is that a person gets to create characters, a world, it is a God-like thing," said Suler, whose research expertise is psychology of cyberspace.

Many Sims players create reflections of their lives in the game and use it to play out scenarios. "They create a microcosm of their own life, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, working through issues in their lives and injecting them in the game," Suler said. "It is like playing with dolls, but a computerized version."

While "The Sims" attracts players of many ages and both genders, Suler's experience is that the game is most popular among adolescents who use the game to find and express themselves. "I have seen kids who created alter egos of themselves. One girl re-created herself and her boyfriend, then created another, more evil version of herself and competed for her boyfriend."

Judging by the albums of Sims pictures created and shared online by players, the game is clearly being used for therapeutic purposes, said Tim LeTourneau, a senior producer for "The Sims." "There is a story of a woman who created her diseased husband and herself as a couple of Sims. She could go into the game and pretend that he was still alive and still there with her," he said.

While Suler knows of no example of "The Sims" actually being used for therapy, playing the game can be therapeutic, he said. For others, "The Sims" is a pure venting of emotions. Players have been known to torture their Sims, for example by putting them in a swimming pool and removing all the ladders or locking them up in a room without food.

"The Sims" can be very addictive. Some players spend countless hours building a dream home for their Sims, getting them on the right career track and directing their social lives so they get hitched and procreate. Playing God is a full-time job.

However, as players feel in control and have all their fantasies fulfilled in the simulated, simplified world of "The Sims," there is a danger that they could lose touch with the real world, Suler said. "People may get involved pathologically and spend too much time in this imaginary world. They retract from the real world and could be isolated socially."

Deppiesse doesn't worry about his daughter killing off her brother in the game. "It is only good fun," he said.

IDG News Service

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