When I was a wee one, one of the earliest computer “games” I programmed was the proverbial lemonade stand. The general concept of the game is to simulate a lemonade stand over the course of a summer to see how much money can be earned. It applies some rudimentary logic to simulate sales based on several criteria, such as weather, price, and “tastiness” of the lemonade.
The lemonade stand is but the bottom rung of a tremendous ladder of simulation games. Of course, the simple lemonade stand is not enough for most people. It wasn't long before dev shops were pumping out life simulators in all shapes and sizes. From the macro-level SimCity to the micro-level The Sims, people having been endlessly struggling to control the lives their simulated counterparts.
In any case, my wife recently rented a game that is yet another installment in the long line of simulation games called Harvest Moon. In this game, you play a farmer. And what is it you do in this game? Chores, lots and lots of chores.
You have to feed the chickens, wash the sheep, milk the cows, tend your crops, defend your cattle from a mad scientist who thinks cow flatulence is depleting the ozone layer, etc. This game is one big chore. It doesn’t change. It's as repetitive as a Barney song.
To make matters worse, my wife got hooked on the game (personally, I think it’s a result of subliminal messaging). Rather than buy an old, outdated version, she decdied to purchase the sequel. As it turns out, the sequel is the EXACT SAME GAME!!! The only real difference is the lead character is female instead of male.
This is a low blow even for Nintendo. I know they had those series of Pokemon games that differed mostly in the color of the cartridge, but they at least had a bit of a difference to them. The “sequel” to Harvest Moon didn’t even bother to change the basic layout of the village or your farm. This is the kind of thing in the PC world we refer to as a patch or add-on; certainly not an entire game unto itself. Frankly, I feel sorry for anyone who got suckered into buying both these games. Shame on you, Nintendo. Shame on you!!!
So why do people love the simulation games so much? Personally, I think it has to do with people having a bit of a God complex. We enjoy preventing our Sims from getting to the bathroom so that we can see them wet their simulated underpants. We thrive on building rides that will ever increase the prevalence of puke in our simulated theme parks. We enjoy the taste of power and sim games give us a nice big bite.