The Sims 2 Store Edition

The Sims 2: Store Edition was a client for The Sims 2 that enabled users to use The Sims 2 Store content.

Players were able to shop at The Sims 2 Store online using real money to purchase items from expansion and stuff packs. Exclusive store items are also released for players to purchase using SimPoints. Players can purchase SimPoints with the rate being $1 = 100 SimPoints. Items range from 25-250 SimPoints. The store closed while in Beta.

The client was able to be downloaded from EA officially, or was pre-packaged with Apartment Life, Fun with Pets Collection, University Life Collection or Best of Business Collection. Although being worthless now, it is still packaged with all new copies of these expansions.

Support
It is possible to run it in Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows Me and Windows 7. It does not work on Mac OS X, but Boot Camp can be used to run it. Although The Sims 2: Store Edition is only available in the US and Canada, it is possible to run the game outside of North America in regions such as Europe and Latin America.

The Sims 2: Store Edition requires Pets to be installed. If other The Sims 2 games try to run, the user receives the error dialogue that he/she is running the wrong version of The Sims 2. The player is then prompted to start The Sims 2: Store Edition instead.

The Sims 2: Store Edition can no longer be downloaded from EA. However, players purchasing certain The Sims 2 expansions on Origin, such as Seasons or Pets, will see Store Edition appear in the download list, although it is still useless.

Before the closing of The Sims 2's official site, players were greeted with a screen saying that the Store had closed whenever attempting to access it. This is similar to how The Sims Carnival told users to visit The Sims 3.

As with all EPs and SPs, The Sims 2: Store Edition will delete saved games when it is uninstalled, and games in The Sims 2 Store are unreadable by prior versions of The Sims 2.

The Sims 2: Store Edition is unsupported as of March 31, 2011, which is the date that The Sims 2 Store closed.

Installing
The Sims 2: Store Edition requires the user to have The Sims 2, any expansion from Pets onward and the EA Download Manager installed.


 * Recommended System Requirements for EA Download Manager


 * Windows XP OS, Win64 OS or later with admin rights
 * Internet Explorer 6 or later with Javascript enabled
 * Broadband connection (cable, DSL, or faster)
 * Free hard drive space

Trivia

 * This is the one of two games that does not require a CD/DVD key in the drive to play as it is a download version. The other is Holiday Party Pack.  However, the DVD of the collection (University Life Collection, Best of Business Collection or Fun with Pets Collection) is required when The Sims 2 Store Edition is selected during installation.
 * As with other The Sims 2 products (with the exception of The Sims Stories and The Sims 2 collections) on Windows, The Sims 2: Store Edition can be run on Windows 98 SE, Windows Me and Windows 2000 but EADM most likely does not support these versions of Windows.
 * Due to being in released in US and Canada exclusively, this is the only game of The Sims 2 that was not released in the European Union. However, it is possible to install and run it on European PCs since The Sims 2 is not region locked.
 * When The Sims 3 Store was launched, all countries were able to buy SimPoints and purchased items from The Sims 2 Store.
 * The Sims 2 Store Edition supported English, French and Spanish languages.
 * The Sims 2 Store shut down in March 2011 so that the Store Edition could not be used, although still packaged with Expansion Packs.
 * The game executable is Sims2SC.exe with the product name The Sims 2: Shopping Edition and the EADM install folder is named Sims 2 Club.