That quote was painful to read.

It'll sell millions!

I can hear the evil laughter spread from both IKEA stores near me right now...

...and as an IKEA fanatic (I have to be you know... I'm from Sweden after all) this almost forces me to get that ... abomination...

BUT - will it blend?

Seriously I slept 4 hours this night, I'm tired. This will probably sell among the fanbois, it always does.

Now that would actually be logical product placement. Games that revolve so much around Material-Everyday-Objects can get away with this kind of "team-up"

Something that i've never seen anyone really notice. Look at all the guns in FPS's, Surely everyone knows that the P90, Desert Eagle, Dragunov, even the M1911 are all real guns made by real companies that you can go out and really shoot should you feel the urge to. I'm sure every shooting range has a bunch of famed guns from Movies, Books, TV and obv Video Games.

Its just like Gran Tourismo selling Cars, it just makes sense.
(as in unlocking a car one may never stumble upon and really taking to it)

Maybe all those nutjob politicians do have a point, VG is really trying to blur what is real and what is fake. These blatant ads are bad. Next thing you know, with micro transactions on the horizon, not only do you have to buy a real couch for $500, you have to buy one for your Sims for $5. Not only do they advertise, they get you to pay for it too, just like Tommy Hilfiger shirts. Sounds like a highway to hell

@Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.: I agree... this is product placement that adds reality to the game. But hopefully it will be a bit more subtle than having every piece of furniture with their full name...

You want to buy an "IKEA Ektrop Sofa With Blekinge Pink Covering (Art. No. 10143857 and 70040601)" for your Sims? Click here to buy one for yourself!

At first, I actually thought this was a joke...
I feel a sudden urge to post this video, while we're on the subject.

+ Watch video

Why would i pay for ads?

That would only be worth it if your Sim has to actually PUT TOGETHER the furniture.... Frustration and hilarity would ensue.... Here are some real Bullet points:

* Some Sim would get something that looks nothing like the original product, leaving little to no spare parts.

* Some Sims would Get angry at the pile of wood and defecate on it, even if they have a fully working bathroom.

* And on some rare occasions The Sim would actually complete it properly, only to get angry for the blisters inflicted on said Sim's fingers and then burn it in retribution.

* Fun for the whole family!

@Actaeus: Ya beat me to it.

@LuppyLuptonium: now THAT my friend, is a god complex =P

or should i say, devil-complex =O

@LuppyLuptonium: I can only hope that that appears on the first patch bugfix list

@LuppyLuptonium:
I don't get that. I have a lot of IKEA furniture and I have never had any problems putting them together. Just follow the drawings and everything will be fine.

As its been mentioned in posts above, it sorta makes sense with ikea furniture. People get angry if there's a bmw look-a-like in a car game, but dont if there's a real bmw. Obvious product placement but no thats hush-hush. Why do some (note, SOME, not all) get upset if there is "real" furniture in a game where you build houses? Make's sense when you think about it. But personally i still feel its a bit too much product placement, since we all know the sims marketing strategy.

So, the real question is, does your sims have to assemble the furniture themselves and get frustrated over missing pieces and hard to understand instructions booklets?

I don't really see the difference between this and the car manufacturers in Gran Turismo or the guns in a Rainbow Six game. The people who are into these games are probably familiar with fashion clothes and designer furniture. I don't play The Sims myself, but I think it would be awesome if Bauhaus or Vitra did their own expansion for The Sims. Designer funktionalism ftw.

That aside, I still don't understand why so many people think it's extremely hard to put togheter something from IKEA. Put the sides togheter with the top and bottom and you're basically done. How hard can it be? :E

@Rexter:
(sorry for double post)

Ok looks like i was too slow and someone else made the joke :p

@zlimness: "That aside, I still don't understand why so many people think it's extremely hard to put togheter something from IKEA. Put the sides togheter with the top and bottom and you're basically done. How hard can it be? :E

You tell me... my apartment is like 80% IKEA (like i said: I am from Sweden after all) and I put it all together myself and besides the cheap Billy bookshelves that can become a bit wobbly if you move them carelessly, nothing is even close to fall apart after moving up to 4 times. I love IKEA stuff and putting them together is the best part.

Me too, i love assembling stuff and never had trouble with my ikea furniture (i cant mention ONE item in my two rooms that ISNT from ikea, and im not even swedish :P though close)

I'll get it if it come with some swedish meatballs.

Mmmmm... Swedish meatballs...

Yay, IKEA. From the could country of Sweden. Smorgosboard, meatballs and IKEA.

@Vetterli:

Nice David Lynch quote.

---

F*** off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.

@jesp3r:

fan-boy (fan' boy) n. 1. anyone who likes something that you don't like and expresses so in an online forum

Ah, this warms my swedish heart. If they could only add the ABBA profession and have your sim be picked up by a Volvo car, I would never have to leave my computer again.

I OWN THE RED CHAIR IN THE PICTURE lol

...co-worker (belfast) opening present

...good shit

It is true. I play the sims to design houses and put furniture in them. Same as the other guy that plays it in my WoW guild. But...not buying that. Ikea furniture is very minimalist, and there's TONS of free versions of it out on the internet already on various gigantic sims download sites.

@mangajunky:

Nice Fight Club quote ;)

@zlimness:
@The Whaleman:
@Rexter:
Hear hear!

Still waiting for a working patch for the expansion pack released in February; they had to recall the last patch because the patch was buggy, too.

This isn't a shock - they already did an H&M Stuff pack that had logos all over it. Why should this be any different?

@LuppyLuptonium: And the first interaction of them all, "Find...Allen Wrench."

Of course, as far as I'm concerned it's not really realistic until, if you buy any of the Ikea furniture, you somehow end up buying more than you intended and it takes six hours to do.

Well, you can't spell IKEA without EA!

haha haha.. ha... haa...

I apologize for the lame joke. I'm sorry, It totally got out of control.

@Burneout: And I own the dresser. Haha, kind of weird! Maybe I could recreate my Ikea-filled apartment...although I doubt the game will let me shove as much stuff into my virtual apartment as I have in real life.

Ith all this advertising, we're passing the savings onto you! That's right, we're putting in a 1.00 and Ikea product (with a value of $399.00 or greater) So buy it now for only 19.95

@blackmanfu:

Now go back to your den!

Does that mean the "Iseeya" furniture in the default Sims furniture will spontaneously disappear?

We have that POANG armchair, except in blue, not orange. Heh. And I gave the huggy heart pillow to a friend who lives hundreds of miles from an IKEA.

(bork bork bork)

That quote was so pathetically awful, I had to double-check the source to make sure it wasn't a parody of some kind.

Oddly enough, this add on costs as much as each piece of ikea furniture in my apartment.

This might be too real for me.