So, you suffer from PEPS?

What was that you said? PEPS? Random acts of spontaneous enthusiasm? What is that? And how possibly could you suffer from that?

Well, since you asked, I'll expand upon this thing known as PEPS. Oh, and for those of you that know what this is, just play along and enjoy my pitiful revelation. Yes, that is right, I came to the revelation that I suffer from PEPS.

A few years ago, as some of you may know, EA Games released a new version of their hit game The Sims called, get this, The Sims 2. Now, I am not the first guy to jump onto a new game unless it has something to do with sports. And in those cases, I've been known to knock down pimpled faced teenagers to get my copy. However, being a guy who has spent his fair share of time playing video games, I had heard a ton of hype around the original Sims game and figured I'd give this new game a whirl. Well, I enjoyed it.........very much. So much in fact, I began a new purchasing habit. I started picking up Sims games for every gaming console I own. Suffice it to say, this means I have purchased a few Sims games. But being a new Sims gamer, I was not privy to the joys of periodical releases to the game which, once purchased, brought a whole new aspect to this world of minions that you basically get to play god with their lives. So, when the first one came out after the original Sims 2, I picked it up a month or so after it was on the shelves and came to learn about this amazing new aspect of gaming. So began, PEPS.

After purchasing the first couple add-ons, I began to notice myself actively investigating the next release in the line and planning on what each would bring to my simulated worlds. Would there be keg parties in University? What type of product could I sell in Open for Business? What clothes would come in Family Fun Stuff, Happy Holiday Stuff and Glamour Life Stuff? Would there be bars for me to relive my early legal drinking years in Nightlife? Could they really have a rottweiler in Pets in spite of the over hyped negative press against them? All of these questions began to stir in my very soul. I began a cycle of not just thinking about these things but even dreamt of what each would be like. The obsession finally hit a crescendo this week with the release of The Sims 2 Seasons.

Now Seasons is unlike just about any other add on I've seen. This completely changes not just what your characters can do but it also changes their entire environment with the implementation of seasonal weather conditions. My little Sims would now have to wear coats to protect themselves from the winter cold or come in from the pool unless they wanted to risk sunburn in the summer. They could grow vegetables in the warmer seasons and make snow angels in the colder ones. This is what an add on should be all about and I am all about this add on.

As an owner of the game, I am also a member of TheSims2.com. Being such, I am also inundated with information and advertisements for all of these new add-ons. Additionally, I am subjected to all sorts of offers for bonus gifts for pre-ordering them. With Seasons, I gave into the pressure and pre-ordered the game which was scheduled for release to stores 2/27. However, once I completed my pre-order and looked at the countdown clock to when I would be able to access the game, I came to the realization that I would not be able to get it until 2/28 @ 1:00 PM. WTF?? All I could think was "This must be a mistake". Nope, no mistake. To make matters worse, come the evening of 2/27 people were able to pick up the game in stores and were ever so kind to share their experiences with the suckers like me who were still waiting for their "pre-ordered" games. My blood began to boil and I took action. I wrote to everyone associated with the game. I told friends. I complained to my wife. I was a man suffering from unrest and there was no hope. I had a full blown case of PEPS - Pre-Expansion Pack Syndrome. This affliction only seems to reveal itself in obsessed gamers with no lives. So strong is this ailment, that support groups of like sufferers have formed on-line to help each other get through those agonizing months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds leading up to the release of the newest expansion pack. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a Sims 2 gamer and I suffer from PEPS. Please don't try to understand this, just pray for me that I may be able to control this disease.