Interior Design in Virtual Worlds: The Sims

I recently came across this article:

“Signifying Play: The Sims and the Sociology of Interior Design,” by Charles Paulk in the Game Studies journal (Vol. 6, Issue 1, Dec. 2006. Web). Click here to view the article.

The author describes the emergence of The Sims and its widespread popularization since the year 2000. He comments on its then- unique subject matter—“virtual domesticity”—and describes its more gender-neutral appeal as compared to other games dominated by masculinity. He proceeds to analyze the “democratization of interior design” which refers to how interior design has developed over time into more of a do-it-yourself activity. 

I was surprised by the amount of depth the author goes into his analysis and research, because he even references Baudrillard’s The System of Objects (which I intend to read myself… perhaps the author has a background in sociology?) Basically, Paulk refers to Baudrillard to point out how objects like furniture are becoming increasingly commodified, “disposable,” and reduced to being an element of restructuring an environment, absent of its historical symbolism.

 (Link to image source)

I found this article to be an enjoyable read. It does bring up some interesting thoughts of my own, however, some of which relate to my own personal experience of playing The Sims:

I played The Sims when I was in 5^th grade. Everyone plays it in their own way, some being forced to give up their Sim children to Social Services (is that what they're called?) due to neglect and poor childcare. It was entertaining to experiment with different building structures and decorative elements for the home which Paulk discusses more in depth in his article. It is interesting to look back on my experience, because I was not using it by saving up my Sims money or being careful about my purchases. Instead, I used codes my friend taught me which gave me instant money in my balance, which I could then use to choose the furnishings and architecture on purely aesthetic grounds. I eventually lost interest in the game, but this gaming experience demonstrates Paulk's arguments in the way I played the game, and my identity as female, because I'm not really a gamer. Also note that the time I used the game was before the newer variations of The Sims which caters to different niches of players, including an Interior Design version.

The possibilities for analysis of The Sims and its relationship to sociology are copious-- I could go more into the issue of gender or virtual identity, but my comments end here and I recommend the article.