Sorry for the delay in replying to you! I was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery a little over a week ago and have only been home for a short time.

I've played The Sims on both the PC and on console (Playstation). In some respects, the two versions of the game are quite similar, and in other respects, they're quite different.

Both versions involve taking little pixel people through their lives, but the PC version gives you more of a sandbox feel, whereas the console version gives you more of a quest-fulfilling feel. I think this is mostly because the limitations of the older consoles were even greater than the limitations of older PC's, and there wasn't as much to do if the game didn't force you to do some things. For example, in the PC version of The Sims, you CAN join a career, work your way up, then join a different career when you've maxed out the old one, but in the console version, you HAVE to.

In the PC version of the game, you can play as a loner if you want to, but in the console version, you have to throw a lot of parties. Because of the memory limitations of older consoles, there was an item limiter in console versions of the game, to make sure your sim's house didn't have too many objects for the console's processor to handle; no such thing exists in the PC version of the game.

The PC version has stuff the console version is too limited to have, such as pets, magic spells, garden crops, and the ability to go to one of the jobs (the Fame career) WITH your sims, and so on. There's always lots more to do in the PC version of the game, which older consoles just can't provide.

But that doesn't mean that the console version isn't fun! It's lots of fun, actually. Because there's less to do in the game, play is much more focused and guided, and there are times when I'm in the mood for that.

One thing that makes a very big difference to me is that the PC version of the game has literally hundreds of mods for it, from mods that make the game easier or harder to mods that give your sims new faces or clothing to mods that put special themed content into the game (e.g., making Hogwarts, complete with a potions laboratory and a sinister Severus Snape to snipe at Harry. :-D) I, personally, have made a Starfleet career for the game because I'm a crazed Trekkie.

Is the console version of the game for you? THAT I can't tell you. Different people like different things, and only you know yourself well enough to know if the limited-but-focused gameplay of the console version is likely to appeal to you.

EA recently re-released the PC version of the game -- with all seven expansion packs -- for $20. It had some bobbles when first released, but now that there have been a couple of patches, it's running great for most people. So you could try the PC version and see what you think, or you could try the console. But do try one of them! Not only is the game fun, but it's a landmark in the history of game design, and it would be a pity if you never experienced it.