Sims is awesome! I'm surprised if some people are seriously saying that Sims wouldn't be a real game. I've heard it more when people talk about Candy Crush etc. but even regarding games like that, people seem to have accepted them as games.
But maybe I don't hang around with gamers enough, as I wouldn't be surprised that there's a lot of gatekeeping what's "real gaming" and which ones are accepted as "real games". People tend to be dumbasses for no reason, just to make them feel better and more "real".
RE: When they say that Sims is not a "real game"