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Posted by GameTrailers Jun 05 2012 17:01 GMT
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More details and background emerge on the brand new SimCity revamp in this All Access Live walkthrough with Lead Producer Kip Katsarelis!

Posted by Kotaku Jun 05 2012 00:00 GMT
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#simcity The new SimCity, set for release on PC early next year, looks delightful. More »

Posted by GameTrailers Jun 04 2012 21:01 GMT
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Construct worlds and simulate populations with a friend in SimCity.

Posted by Kotaku Jun 04 2012 20:27 GMT
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#simcity Here's a new trailer for the upcoming simulation game, which EA will release next February for PC. Pretty, eh? More »

Posted by Kotaku Jun 03 2012 18:00 GMT
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SimCity is slated for a release in February 2013, according to an email touting Electronic Arts' lineup at E3, reports Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Meantime, Maxis is promising that E3 will showcase SimCity's multiplayer for the first time. [RPS] More »

Posted by Joystiq Jun 01 2012 17:32 GMT
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A press release (available after the break) detailing Electronic Arts' full E3 line-up has revealed a launch window for Maxis' forthcoming reboot of SimCity: February, 2013. Previously, we were left to ponder over a woefully vague "2013" release window for the reboot.

Knowing that SimCity's lunch won't happen until next year is actually super helpful, as it gives us plenty of time to collaborate with city planners, come up with street names, figure out efficient public transportation solutions and then construct a golden throne from which to watch it all burn.

Posted by Joystiq May 09 2012 16:15 GMT
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Domain registrations suggest that EA is planning to follow up its hit Facebook game The Sims Social with a Facebook-based SimCity. Last September, the publisher registered (or re-registered) "SimCitySocial.com," "SimCity-Social.com," and "SimCityFacebook.com," which, put together, provide evidence of a Facebook game called "SimCity Social."

Additionally, as SimsVIP reports, you can spot a Playfish SimCity Social URL ... if you load up http://apps.facebook.com/simcitysocial/ in Google Cache, stop the page before it redirects to Facebook, and view source. It's a lot of crazy steps to take in order to see some shaky, uncertain evidence, but it works.

Even if this game turns out to be real, there's no telling when EA will launch it. Outernauts will likely be EA's big Facebook launch this summer, and the publisher has been sitting on these URLs for months. Perhaps it'll be released next year alongside the other new SimCity.

[Thanks, Victor!]

Posted by Kotaku May 03 2012 23:00 GMT
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#gameaudio We're living in something of a golden age of chiptune music. The last five or so years have seen a popularity explosion for the classic electronic sounds that most gamers associate with the games of their youths. More »

Posted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun Apr 27 2012 16:00 GMT
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Shortly after seeing the new SimCity in its full bendy-road glory, I had a quick chat with one of its architects, EA Maxis’ producer Jason Haber. Tackled – its lengthy development, why we’ve waited so long for a sequel, why it’s a ‘real’ Sim City, difficulty, whether important content is being sectioned off for pre-order bonuses and DLC, and how a traffic jam could make your whole city burn down. (more…)


Posted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun Apr 20 2012 17:00 GMT
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You’ve probably heard that SimCity will come tethered to a pesky always online requirement. You might have heard that we don’t like it very much. But then – like an absentee father – it’s really only an absolute necessity on start up, so things could be worse. Still, though, I like playing games when I’m thousands of feet in the air, in the middle of nowhere, or punching my incredibly spotty router for yet another hour of downtime.  ”Why,” I’m instead forced to bellow at SimCity, slumping to my knees in defeat. “Why can’t I play you in a car, on a tree, in a box, or with a fox?” “Piracy!” replies the roving Internet peanut gallery. Maxis, however, claims it’s prepared to prove everyone wrong.

(more…)


Posted by IGN Apr 18 2012 18:36 GMT
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In SimCity you not only have to raise structures and provide employment and housing for your citizens, but also build infrastructure. After all, it's not called SimDarkAges, so a happy populace is one with electricity, garbage service and, most importantly, running water. To learn more about ho...

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Posted by Kotaku Apr 18 2012 05:20 GMT
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#simcity For everything right the SimCity series has done over the years, there's one thing I will never forgive them for: water. I hate it. It's boring, it's a pain in the ass, and while it might be "realistic" to expect "cities" to need "water", it was never fun laying all those pipes. More »

Posted by Kotaku Mar 30 2012 20:30 GMT
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#simcity A few weeks ago, EA pulled a bait-and-switch at a press event in San Francisco. My fellow reporters and I were there to see the reveal of SimCity, but after the brief game announcement, we were cued up for a series of talks by prestigious activist speakers—Davis Guggenheim, director of An Inconvenient Truth and promoter-turned-charity: water activist Scott Harrison. Oh man, were we grumpy and bored! We walked out after Guggenheim. More »

Posted by Kotaku Mar 29 2012 01:00 GMT
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#simcity Maxis and EA's upcoming SimCity game looks pretty cool, but Joystiq is reporting that the game will require an internet connection to play. More »

Posted by Joystiq Mar 28 2012 14:00 GMT
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The last game EA Maxis launched in the SimCity series was SimCity 4, almost ten years ago. It's still being played today, thanks in part to a Steam launch in 2010, but mostly thanks to the modding scene. However, EA Maxis will not launch the new SimCity in 2013 with mod support.

It's not entirely off the table, though. EA Maxis creative director Ocean Quigley said the ability to support mods is already built into GlassBox, the new engine powering SimCity, so there's potential for mod support down the road -- just not at launch.

"Right now we've got our work cut out for us to build the product up to the quality level it deserves as a SimCity," Quigley said. "Then after we ship, we'll make decisions about how we can and when exactly we'll support mods. But it's worth pointing out that the reason people are still playing SimCity 4 almost ten years later is because the modding community essentially re-created it and filled it with new content and fixed bugs and made it as much of a hobby as it is a game.

"We're very cognizant of that -- we're not idiots."

Posted by Kotaku Mar 28 2012 12:01 GMT
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#simcity SimCity has always been a game that is viewed from two distances—up close and far away. You would start with the camera zoomed out, able to see the entirety of your creation; a city or cities on a grid, little smokestacks pouring out smoke, tiny airplanes droning over the hills. More »

Posted by IGN Mar 28 2012 12:00 GMT
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Maxis Software's ultimate goal for the SimCity franchise has always been to make you think about game ideas in the real world. From dealing with natural disasters like earthquakes, to making sure city-funded services such as garbage and electricity are provided, the simulation should be fun and also...

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Posted by Kotaku Mar 20 2012 16:20 GMT
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#watchthis Here's a neat behind-the-scenes glimpse at Glassbox, the engine powering EA's upcoming SimCity, the fifth game in developer Maxis's popular sim series. More »

Posted by Kotaku Mar 09 2012 01:30 GMT
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#simcity When EA first showed off the new SimCity, it didn't show a snip of gameplay footage. It was all idealised, stylish stuff. Leaving many to wonder, hey, what does this game actually look like. More »

Posted by Giant Bomb Mar 07 2012 16:15 GMT
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It was rumored for the better part of a couple of weeks, and finally found itself revealed last night at one of the more tweeted-about press events in recallable memory (and not because of the game, mind you). Yes folks, there really is a new SimCity game coming from Maxis, and yes, we have details.

Fortunately, the ability to build fire stations isn't reserved as a pre-order bonus...yet.

Intriguingly, most of those details came not from last night's event--where apparently the games press was treated to a brief announcement of the game, followed by hours of aggressively altruistic gibberish from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone (yes, that's his real name) for no discernible reason--but rather by an EA Origin page for the game that just happens to reveal a bunch of stuff you'd typically reserve for, you know, press conferences about video games.

Regardless of the method of delivery, the information is out there, and is also pretty out-there. While the idea of multiplayer in this newest SimCity has been mentioned previously, the scope of that multiplayer hadn't previously been revealed. According to the Origin page, up to 16 players will be able to build their cities within the scope of what Maxis refers to as "Social Flow." The Social Flow methodology is designed to make the development of players' cities have an affect on other players' metropolises. Purportedly your decision-making, as well as how you manage your resources and develop technology, will have great impact on the overlying world around you--or, presumably at least, the up to 15 other cities around you.

The idea of individual Sims being in the game, and communicable to the player, was acknowledged at last night's event, as was the notion of special downloadable content involving a superhero named Maxis Man, and his arch rival, the Evil Dr. Vu. According to the Origin page, content pertaining to these super-Sims--namely, both their lairs--will be included in both the retail Limited and Digital Deluxe editions of the game.

The remaining details mostly pertain to that Digital Deluxe edition, which evidently features a number of pieces of exclusive content that EA will probably just release as paid DLC somewhere down the line anyway. In EA's own words:

As well as all the great content in the Limited Edition, the Digital Deluxe includes three European City packs. Recreate European inspired neighborhoods in the center of your city! Place world renowned landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Brandenburg Gate or Big Ben to help your tourism business in your city. Receive exclusive missions, complete unique achievements and earn big bucks as waves of Sims visit the landmarks. Watch as the businesses, homes and vehicles around your landmarks start to take on the flavor, style, and architecture of those countries.

  • Signature Landmarks: Be the envy of your region by placing exclusive landmarks to give your city district a fresh new look. Sims will visit your city to see the beautiful wonders.
  • Change in the Streets: Watch the streets, homes, businesses, and vehicles around your landmarks start to take on the flavor of those countries.
  • More Ploppables: Move your Sims in style with new transportation ploppables. Double Decker buses from London, High-Speed Rail from Germany, and police and fire services from Paris.

Hell of a thing, all of that.

The Origin page also includes details like system specs and whatnot, so it's worth taking a trip over there if you want to make sure your PC will run this damn thing. As for the information itself, it certainly does give one the impression that this SimCity will be fairly ambitious. I just can't help but hope that large swaths of that ambition won't be broken up into microtransactions, as EA is so often wont to do these days.


Posted by Joystiq Mar 07 2012 03:00 GMT
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Above: purported concept art from SimCity -- we're still waiting on official screenshots!
"We're building a simulation that really captures the world we live in today, where your decisions go beyond the boundaries of the city." Speaking at an EA press conference in San Francisco tonight, Maxis Senior Vice President Lucy Bradshaw shared some of the high-level goals for the new SimCity game, coming to PC in 2013.

Bradshaw recalled shipping the first city builder in 1989, and described the return of Maxis to the franchise proper with great enthusiasm. "It's been about ten years since we shipped the last, true SimCity by Maxis," she said. Despite that passage of time, the developer still seeks to impart inspiration in simulation. "The buck stops at the simulation," Bradshaw said.

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Posted by Kotaku Mar 07 2012 02:03 GMT
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#simcity Sure, it was leaked all over the internet last week, but tonight at the Game Developers Conference, EA has made it official: SimCity is back. More »

Posted by IGN Mar 03 2012 00:06 GMT
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Earlier this week we reported that German magazine GameStar revealed SimCity. While there hasn't been an official world-wide announcement, IGN has translated the GameStar pages and gleaned the following details...

Posted by IGN Mar 02 2012 21:50 GMT
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Maxis, creators of PC franchises like The Sims, Spore and more are revealing a "mystery game" during next week's Game Developer's Conference. While we've confirmed that EA and Maxis are indeed working on another SimCity, the first details you can read about here, EA is unable to confirm that this is...