Ignore things that make money...

[landicine]

I actually find a trend in video game design and game discussions interesting. I read an article at Forbes today since Ultima Online is mentioned at #10 of "revolutionary games" since it was an early MMO and the first one that got attention leading to the more popular games that followed. The Sims was mentioned. It was mentioned 11th on the list after PaRappa the Rapper (first "music" game) and Wolfenstein (first 3D shooter) and UO ("first" MMO):http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/07/video-games-wii-technology-revolutionaries-09-games.html

It was good see the game on the list. It often gets ignored despite showing high volume of sales on this list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_selling_video_games

The list also shows it is the 4th largest game franchise, losing to Mario, Pokemon, and Tetris. It is a freakin' huge player in the game market, despite mismanagement from EA. Why is it so frequently ignored by designers? Why aren't there a 100-million clones trying to take some of that money? There are so many first person-shooters that fail each year. There so many MMOs out there that basically pop in and then die trying to claim a very limited market:

http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/091203.html

Yet, the Sims is ignored at best, mocked at worst. I had a friend who wanted to go into game design who sat there insulting it for a good five minutes while my Sims-fan wife glared at him. Why is this?