*****

-- Please note that this review may contain spoilers --

Family Fun Stuff is a 'stuff' pack that consists of a number of new objects and outfits made specifically towards a child friendly and family based theme.

All stuff packs are far smaller than actual Expansion Packs and contain much less content; however, they do fill a niche that is left out in the actual expansions.
These packs are quite expensive so it is all down to consumer choice; whether or not the niche that is being filled is important to you or not.

Like my other stuff pack reviews, I will explain the 'facts' surrounding the pack first and then follow up with my personal opinion.



-The Facts-


-Specs

The stuff pack requires at the very least:

OS: Windows Vista, XP, Me, 2000, or 98

Installed: The Sims 2 for Windows

CPU: 1.0 GHz or faster

RAM: 256 MB or more

Disc Drive: 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Hard Drive: At least 350 MB of free space

Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible

Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible
Video card must have 32 MB or more memory and one of these T&L capable chipsets:

ATI Radeon 8500 or greater;
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or greater


-The Order

Although not necessary, all eps and stuff packs should be installed in the order of the date they are released. This is because each pack contains a patch for the previous game.


-Buying & Building

Family Fun Stuff, despite the name, has more to do with 'children' than family. Most of the items are designed around fantasy bedroom sets for children such as medieval and underwater themes. Amidst these delightfully colourful items are a number array of adult room decorative objects such as a floor-standing globe, carnival wall masks and model ships.


-Clothing

Most of the new clothing in this pack is made for children; there are some interesting outfits including dragon and mermaid costumes as well as some more ordinary outfits for children. There are also a few new outfits for adults including identical tropical shirts for the whole family (I'm beginning to see the American influence here).



-My Opinion-


-Specs

As mentioned in my H&M review, the specs listed on the box can be deceiving. Meeting the minimum specs alone will not allow for decent game play, if at all. In my experience, the Sims 2 requires a computer that is as powerful as possible. It is common Sims 2 community knowledge to take the specs they give you and multiply them to provide the 'real' minimum specs. Below is a more accurate estimation of the specifications you will need:

OS: Windows Vista, XP, Me, 2000, or 98

Installed: The Sims 2 for Windows

CPU: 2.0 GHz or faster

RAM: 1 GB or more

Disc Drive: 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Hard Drive: At least 1.5GB of free space

Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible

Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible
Video card must have 32 MB or more memory and one of these T&L capable chipsets:

ATI Radeon 8500 or greater;
NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS or greater;



-The Website

When considering buying a stuff pack, the Sims2.com website proves especially useful. It provides individual pictures of most items contained within the pack so it can help you decide whether or not the stuff pack will meet your tastes or requirements.


-The Order

Personally, I insist that my games are all installed in the order that they were released. This ensures that the patches are linear and should help to avoid bug problems. While this isn't entirely necessary, I would advise doing the same if possible.


-Buying & Building

Personally, I am not overly fond on sim children; in fact if I am completely honest, they drive me freaking crazy with their little annoyances. As such, the idea of building rooms specifically for children, or having sim children in my game at all, is usually a passing thing and the novelty can wear off very quickly.

It should also be noted that sims don't remain children for very long unless you use cheats, so is it really worth decking out a bedroom with fantasy items for the sake of 5-6 days?

Although some of the new items designs are very clever and well thought out, I usually don't find myself using many of them on a regular basis, but that just reinstates that stuff packs are based around the type of player you are, and they will not appeal to everyone.


-Clothing

While I'm sure you are already yelling 'bah humbug' at me right now, I have very little interest in letting my sim children parade around in a silly costume for a few hours, just so I have to make them get changed back again. While these items of clothing are well designed and quite novel, most of them lack substance so their playability is quite low.


-Conclusion = So is it fun?

As mentioned earlier in the review, the purposes of stuff packs is to fill a niche and their worth depends entirely on how interested a player is with the contents of the pack. Again, this is a pack that exists to fill a niche, but that is ALL it does, and it provides very little to add to the overall gameplay.
The worth of this pack depends entirely on how the player uses their game. If you really like sim children then this pack should be perfect for you.

I was able to find the pack relatively cheap (5.98 from ASDA with free delivery); I doubt that I would have been impressed had I paid the full 9.99 recommended retail.