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{{Era|URBZ}}
{{Pagecover
|image=urbzpromo.jpg
|gen=TU
|pagetype=Third console title in [[The Sims (series)|''The Sims'' series]]
|toc=
}}
{{Infobox game
|name = The Urbz: Sims in the City
|image = [[
|caption= NTSC Nintendo GameCube cover art
|developer = [[Maxis]] <small>(GCN, Xbox, PS2)</small><br />[[wikipedia:Griptonite Games|Griptonite Games]] <small>(GBA, DS)</small>
|publisher = [[Electronic Arts]]
|series = [[The Sims series|The Sims]]
|platforms = [[wikipedia:Nintendo GameCube|Nintendo GameCube]], [[wikipedia:PlayStation 2|PlayStation 2]], [[wikipedia:Xbox|Xbox]], [[wikipedia:Game Boy Advance|GBA]], [[wikipedia:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]
|
|genre = [[wikipedia:Life simulation game|Life simulation]]
|modes = [[wikipedia:Single-player|Single-player]], [[wikipedia:multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
|ratings = {{vgratings|ESRB=T, E <small>(GBA & DS)</small>|PEGI=12, 3 <small>(DS)</small>|OFLCA=M, G <small>(DS)</small>}}
}}
{{For|the handheld version|The Urbz: Sims in the City (handheld)}}
[[File:The Urbz Logo.png|left|75px]]'''''The Urbz: Sims in the City''''' is a video game for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox consoles, as well as the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS portable systems. It is the third game in [[The Sims series|''The Sims'' series]] for video game consoles and is the second game not to be released on Windows or Mac OS X. The next release for consoles and handhelds was the console port of ''[[The Sims 2 (console)|The Sims 2]]''.
Unlike other games in the series, Sims live in the city of [[Urbzville]], divided up into nine districts with each of them containing their own style and unique Sims. The main focus of the game is building "rep" with other Sims in order to gain fame, entry to VIP rooms and advance to new districts.
R&B group [[Wikipedia:The Black Eyed Peas|The Black Eyed Peas]] provided several music scores for the game, which have also been translated into [[Simlish]]. Members of the group also appear as guest Urbz in the game.
''The Urbz'' is the first game in ''The Sims'' series to have weather. Weather was eventually featured in the PC/Mac games, appearing for the first time in ''[[The Sims 2: Seasons]]'' and ''[[The Sims Castaway Stories]]''. Weather also appeared in successors to ''The Urbz''', such as ''The Sims 2'' for console, ''[[The Sims 2 Pets (console)|The Sims 2: Pets]] for console'' and ''[[The Sims 2 Castaway]]''.
''The Urbz'' is the chronological sequel of ''[[The Sims Bustin' Out]]''{{fact}}.
==
===
The objective of the console games is to go to each of the nine
In addition to gaining
===Features===
* '''Weather:''' The Urbz features real time weather.
* '''2 Player mode:''' Like the earlier games, players can play in 2 player mode, It requires 2 Urb Slots to play and 2 controllers.
* '''[[District relationship|District Relationships]]:''' People from some districts like and dislike people from other districts.
===Tasks===
The player will be given different tasks depending on the
*'''Needs''' – The first task that the player will have to perform and will continue performing throughout the game is fulfilling his or her character's needs.
*'''Adding Furniture''' – At each apartment, the player will be asked to spend a certain amount of money on furniture in order to unlock a different pet animal to live with them.
*'''Build Reputation''' – In each
*'''Master a Job''' – There's a different job to master in each
*'''Make Friends''' – The player is required to establish friendships with the residents of each
*'''Use a Powersocial''' – As one makes friends, the Urb will earn powersocials.
*'''Tag an Object''' – After becoming friends with
*'''Helping Urbz'''
*'''Villains'''
==Handheld gameplay==
{{Main|The Urbz: Sims in the City (handheld)}}
The handheld versions are played as an adventure game and require the player to complete missions to advance.
The goal of both the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions of ''The Urbz'' is to complete the five main missions. Both versions also include optional rep missions, but only the Nintendo DS version has the special Splicer Isle based mission.
==
*'''Hunger:''' – Satisfied by
*'''Hygiene:''' – Satisfied by taking a shower or washing hands.
*'''Energy:''' – Satisfied by sleeping on a bed, couch, or bench.
*'''Bladder:''' – Satisfied by using a toilet (or peeing on the ground).
*'''Fun:''' – Satisfied by using various objects like the television, trampoline, dance floor, etc., etc.
== Characters ==
===[[Skyline Beach]]===
*[[Lil Bit]]
*[[Toots Sweet]]
*[[Ridiculous D.O.G.]]
*[[Isis Ice]]
*[[S.A. Loco]]
===[[Gasoline Row]]===
*[[Pork Chop]]
*[[Duke Headbutt]]
*[[Sharky Splitz]]
*[[Suzie Mack]]
*[[Jet Rockit]]
===[[Central Station]]===
*[[Kidd Chaos]]
*[[Scary Mary]]
*[[Frag Grrl]]
*[[Beelzebob Jones]]
*[[Genghis Lincoln]]
===[[Kicktail Park]]===
*[[String Bean]]
*[[Rolanda Skye]]
*[[Trang Hang]]
*[[Skid Mark]]
*[[Alley Stile]]
===[[The Foundry]]===
*[[Crispin Black]]
*[[Bella Ciao]]
*[[Neo Flange]]
*[[Roxanna Hardplace]]
*[[Arthur Pop]]
===[[Neon East]]===
*[[Professor Chewy]]
*[[Mazuiko Jackson]]
*[[Loop D. Loop]]
*[[Venus Moonflower]]
*[[Sara Tonin]]
===[[Cozmo Street]]===
*[[Will.i.am]]
*[[Apl.de.ap]]
*[[Fergie]]
*[[Polo]]
*[[Taboo]]
===[[Diamond Heights]]===
*[[Diva Roma]]
*[[Babbette Couture]]
*[[Sophie Couture]]
*[[Pootie Fads]]
*[[Cash Monet]]
===[[South Side Bridge]]===
*[[Louie Bricks]]
*[[Luke Laruffle]]
*[[Babs Margarita]]
*[[Pamela Sneer]]
*[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]
===Service [[NPCs]]===
*[[Scotty Almost]]
*[[J.J._Bradley]]
*[[Officer Sludge]]
*[[Captain Catastrophe]]
*[[Slim Freddie]]
===[[Villain]]s===
*[[Kiki Blunt]]
*[[Urangoo McBain]]
*[[Harry Snivel]]
===Other===
*[[Jayde]]
*[[Darius]]
*[[Bobo]]
*[[Robot Street Performer]]
==Development==
Development for ''The Urbz'' started in early 2000s, when ''The Sims'' was considered a success. However, due to staff issues, development of ''The Urbz'' was delayed sometime around ''[[The Sims: Makin' Magic|Makin' Magic]]'' was released.
''The Urbz'' was also intended to be the first ''The Sims'' game released for consoles, but Edge of Reality released the console port of ''The Sims'' earlier. ''The Urbz'' was the second ''The Sims'' title not to be released on Windows or Mac OS X.
Ports to the PlayStation Portable, Dreamcast and PC were planned, but the development of these ports was cancelled due to various reasons. Development for the Dreamcast was canceled due to the ill-fated discontinuation of the console in spring 2001.
The PlayStation Portable port was slated to release in 2005 but got canceled due to poor sales. According to some images found on a beta website in 2008, the game would've had a similar gameplay resolution to ''The Sims 2: Pets'' and ''The Sims 2: Castaway''. Eventually, ''The Urbz'' was one of the original launch titles for the Nintendo DS.
==Differences between The Urbz and other titles==
''The Urbz'' is different in several ways from ''The Sims'' and other console games games that came before it. Some of the changes between other titles ''The Urbz'' were later incorporated into later games, including games in the main ''The Sims'' series.
''The Urbz'' is the first ''The Sims'' game to feature Sims living in a big city. Cities (often [[SimCity]] specifically) are referenced in other games, but the games themselves take place in mainly suburban areas; [[Bridgeport]], in ''[[The Sims 3: Late Night]]'', is considered the first "urban" world in the main ''The Sims'' series. It is also the first game in the series where [[time]] passes on all lots; this feature would not re-appear within the series until ''The Sims 3.''
''The Urbz'' is the only game where the subtitle ("Sims in the City") is trademarked; all other expansion, stuff, game, or compilation pack titles and subtitles are not trademarked. It is also the only game released in a [[The Sims|prior game era]] after the beginning of a [[The Sims 2|new era]]; as despite releasing after ''The Sims 2'' on PC, ''The Urbz'' is still based on the original ''The Sims''.
==Appearances or references in other games==
*In ''[[The Sims 2 (console)]]'' when a Sim uses a metal detector, they might find a copy of ''The Urbz''. They will then throw it away in disgust.
*In ''The Sims 2 (console)'', there is a painting of a woman with purple hair who looks a lot like [[Jayde]] from ''The Urbz''.
*''The Sims 2'' for console borrows many resources from ''The Urbz'', such as animations, objects and sounds.
== Cancelled franchise plans and sequel ==
''The Urbz'' was also intended to start a spin-off subseries for ''The Sims'' franchise, so it could give Electronic Arts more profit. There would even be merchandising, including product placements and even figurines that were originally sold when the game came out.
The half-developed sequel got cancelled due to poor sales, which only sold 2.4 million out of 5.0 to warrant a sequel. As such, all future sequels and franchise plans for the subseries were scrapped.
=== The Urbz 2 ===
''The Urbz 2'' started development in the summer of 2004, about a few months after ''The Urbz'' was originally revealed by Electronic Arts. It would've introduced new features, such as online play, multistory housing, and children, and would've seen a release on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox consoles in 2005.
The plot for ''The Urbz 2'' took place directly after the first game, after the player's Urb got famous in Urbzville. After that, the famed Urb moves to SimCity (With the city itself actually making an appearance physically) and they suddenly find themselves without money or fame. Luckily, the player's Urb is offered a place to stay, and they need to get enough money and rep to make themselves famous again.
This game also would've featured a plot, involving [[Daddy Bigbucks]] trying to buy out the city while [[Jayde]] (who would've made her actual appearance as a character) would've worked as the main Urb's sidekick. It also would've featured characters from the [[The Sims: Bustin' Out (handheld)|handheld]] [[The Urbz: Sims in the City (handheld)|games]] for the Game Boy Advance such as [[Dusty Hogg]] and [[Nora Zeal-Ott]]. Characters from the first game (including The Black Eyed Peas, which would've lent some of their musical scores to the game) would've made an appearance there as well.
Also, several locations old and new would've made an appearance in the game which would've had multiple stories, subway entrances, clothing/furniture stores and workable jobs just like the original game.
Due to poor sales of the video game, it got cancelled around December 2004 and the project was turned into what would later be [[The Sims 2 (console)|''The Sims 2'' for consoles]]. As the game had to be closer to the Windows counterpart, several features like the XAM, workable jobs and furniture/clothing stores were all removed.
Online play was also removed due to declining usage of ''[[The Sims Online]]'' and ''[[The Sims Bustin' Out (console)|The Sims: Bustin Out's]]'' Online Weekend and certain technological problems with the new engine for sixth generation consoles. Even though it was scrapped from ''The Urbz 2'' project, it was originally considered for inclusion in ''The Sims 2'' for consoles during development, but was later cancelled.
Although, an in-house LAN test was done and worked perfectly, which explains several features relating to server data in the PlayStation 2's code.
Other features like children and multistory housing were removed due to technical limitations, even though references to them can be found in the files.
Even though ''The Urbz 2'' was completely cancelled, a lot of things were retooled for console platforms. Characters like [[Candi Cupp]], [[Felicity Usher]], and [[Betty Buttercup]] were originally characters from ''The Urbz 2'' before they were redesigned. Also, locations like [[8 Rockpile Rd]], [[Jugen House]] and [[HMS Amore]] were originally from the project even though very few things changed in the locations like the removal of multiple stories (Jugen House originally had 5 floors) and subway entrances.
As an "apology" to developers and other staff for wanting another ''The Urbz'' game, a few references like a portrait and an EyeToy filter of Jayde were added in.
Through the files of ''The Sims 2'' for consoles, tons of leftovers from ''The Urbz'' can be found, ranging from textures, XAM ringtones, and even some NPC thumbnails.
==Trivia==
*The feature that the player could have other Urbz join his/her crew and allows the player to control other Urbz is similar to a Genie's Enscornel interaction temporary having control of a Sim in ''The Sims 3: Showtime''.
==Gallery==
<tabber>
Screenshots =
<gallery>
Two Urbz kissing.jpg|Two Urbz kissing each other.
Urbz-sims-in-the-city.jpg|Urbz in a jacuzzi.
Create an Urb.jpg|Creating an Urb
</gallery>
|-|Videos =
<gallery>
The Urbz Sims in the City PlayStation 2 Trailer - Trailer
</gallery>
</tabber>
==See also==
* ''[[The Sims (
* ''[[The Sims Bustin' Out]]''
* ''[[The Urbz: Sims in the City (
* ''[[The Sims 2]]''
==External links==
* [http://urbzsims.ea.com The Urbz Official Website] (Shut Down 12-1-11)
* [http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/920432.html The Urbz: Sims in the City on GameFaqs]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040930215111/http://urbzsims.ea.com/index_flash.php%7C Official Urbz Website on wayback machine need flash to see more of it.]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbz}}
{{Wikipedia}}
{{S-urbz}}
{{Sims|state1=uncollapsed}}
[[fr:Les Urbz : Les Sims in the City]]
[[es:Los Urbz: Sims en la ciudad (consola fija)]]
[[de:Die Urbz: Sims in the City]]
[[nl:The Urbz: Sims in the City]]
[[pl:The Urbz: Sims in the City]]
[[pt-br:The Urbz: Sims in the City (console)]]
[[ru:The Urbz: Sims in the City]]
[[Category:The Urbz| ]]
[[Category:Games|Urbz: Sims in the City, The]]
[[Category:Console games in The Sims series|Urbz: Sims in the City, The]]
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