Simulation has a few definitions but perhaps this is the one I had in mind.
Simulation: Reproduction or representation, as of a potential situation or in experimental testing.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
The Sims is simulating real life something of which I get a heavy dose of every day and does not need simulating for me.
