One of my fondest memories of the first Sims game started rather innocently. There was a pre-packaged couple that came with the game that I clicked randomly. As the Living Large expansion came out at the time, I was very keen to try out the woohoo love bed. One thing led to another, and the couple had a baby.
But then something happened. The couple was depressed, going through a number of bad jobs and disasters in the house. After a while, a sad clown appeared, a minfestation of the couples depression. And, try as the couple could, they couldn't improve their situation due to the clown.
But then, the baby became a kid. His existence started to lift the spirits and motivations of his parents. After a while, and with much effort, the clown disappeared. It was touching, and the last memory I have of that playthrough was seeing a father bend down to hug his son, the young child who changed his life.
I don't know if I can ever replicate that particular playthrough. But I do not need to. What started out as a silly experimental playthrough on a random family ended up being one of my fondest video game memories. Its a reason why I believe the Sims 1 needs to be preserved for all time. The popularity of the Sims series under EA owes to the success of this first game, which influenced its sequels. But, even from an isometric perspective, and with the limited graphics, that memory stuck to me. I hope more people in future can have memories like it from this one humble game.