Think about it for a tick: The Sims franchise is the best-selling game series ever. The Sims family has outsold any other game by something like a factor of ten. Ish. Over 55m copies sold, and that's last year's data - I can only guess at what the figures are now.

The Sims is huge. Do you ever wonder who's behind all these purchases? I wish I had an answer for you, because I wonder all the time. Look at the US top ten from two weeks ago:

During the week of April 16-22, the number-one finisher [The Sims: Family Fun Stuff] from the previous week stayed on top. In its second week of release, the Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff pack once again outsold its nearest competitor, the acclaimed role-playing game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. That put it three slots ahead of the Sims 2: Open for Business expansion pack (fourth) and four slots ahead of the original Sims 2 (fifth).

The Sims 2 - vanilla style - is still number 5 in the top 10 PC games. The mind boggles: it's almost two years old already, and it's still at number 5. Now , everyone knows that The Sims is supremely popular with female gamers. This is clearly a factor behind its staggering performance, but it must be noted, if The Sims were only mostly selling to girls then surely it would only do as well as a game mostly selling to boys.

No, The Sims must be performing so well because it appeals to both males and females together, and the aggregate sales means it stomps its rivals by a factor of Y. It's quite a staggering performance, and just goes to show what a game can do if it appeals to a broader market.

Last question. Why have I never met a chap who'll admit to playing The Sims? Are you a bloke with a secret Sims habit? The figures say there must be millions of you out there. Who are you?

The Sims Outsells Everything [GameSpot UK]

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