Directed, edited and music composed by
Addictive TV (Graham Daniels, Morf & Mark Vidler)
Produced by Nick Clarke

Creating the launch advert for one of the best selling games on the planet was by no means a simple task – especially given the nature of the somewhat all encompassing game itself. For those unfamiliar with the The Sims, it’s a strategic life simulation game that allows users to create virtually any person imaginable and give them a unique and pretty realistic personality which can then influence their behavior as they roam around a ‘living’ neighbourhood.

EA Games wanted to encompass the whole concept of life-cycle and of choices in life - to include marriage, children, careers and multiple job opportunities and even death. Hence the unfortunate character who gets electrocuted in the piece, plus the appearance – for those who know the game – of the hooded character of Death itself.

Addictive TV are audio/visual artists and we create music from diegetic audio - sounds that you can see the source of. So while building music from all manner of sound effects within the game, we also had to think of the images accompanying those sounds to tell the 'story' as it were - which had to represent everything from the mundane of cooking with a microwave to the surrealism of dancing policemen - plus the inclusion of The Sims theme tune itself! It’s always a great challenge balancing artistic practice with commercial sensibilities!

Graham Daniels, 2011

Now in its 11th year, The Sims is one of the best selling computer games of all time, having sold more than 100 million copies. Published by Electronic Arts, it was created by games designer Will Wright, who was the man behind SimCity. EA asked audiovisual artists Addictive TV - known for their film remixes and AV performances - to create this commercial by sampling and remixing The Sims 3 game itself in advance of its release in June 2009.

In keeping with game, which offers a whole world of creative possibilities, EA gave Addictive TV game assets and full creative freedom to make this unique audiovisual track.