The series is introduced mainly for three segments of the market: those who wish to play The Sims 2 on their laptops (which usually have lower specifications) those who wish to engage in other activities such as instant messaging while playing the game, and those who are new to the franchise. As such, its system requirements are lower than that of The Sims 2, but it can still be played on desktops. The modified game engine is optimized for play on systems with weaker specifications, such as laptops. The Sims Stories was a series of video games from The Sims series released between 2007–2008, based on a modified version of The Sims 2 game engine.