Time to watch TV -- click! There are a handful of channels to choose from, but I click on to the Yummy channel for its cooking shows. By watching it, my Sim will learn how to cook. Here's the kicker: if you pan the camera down and zoom in on the TV, you'll see a little video playing on there. There are actually several cooking programs on the tiny TV set. I watched a little guy in overalls host a barbecue show, and not only did he tell you how to cook hamburgers in "Simlish" ... but you could hear his accent. Then some commercials. And then a program that was clearly the Sim equivalent of Iron Chef. Unreal!

A working TV is only the beginning. If The Sims franchise is all about being a virtual dollhouse, then Sims 2 is the most incredibly detailed dollhouse you can find. When two Sims sit down together to play chess, you can actually watch the game -- they'll move the pieces, and it's a real chess game. When Sims sit down to play a videogame (and they particularly like SSX 3 from EA -- go figure!) you can watch them play the game on the TV screen. When another Sim picks up the controller, they go to split-screen.