The Sims 2 is a 2004 strategic life simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in The Sims series and is the sequel to The Sims. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 14 2004 and a port for MacOS by Aspyr was released on June 17 2005. Eight expansion packs and nine "stuff packs" were subsequently released between 2005 and 2008. In addition versions of The Sims 2 were released on various video game consoles including the PlayStation 2 Xbox Nintendo DS and GameCube and mobile platforms including the Nokia Ovi Store. The three handheld versions of the game are completely different among themselves unlike the home console versions of the game which are virtually identical to each other. All three handheld versions take on more of a linear storyline. A sequel The Sims 3 was released in June 2009