Games for Lunch: SimCity Creator

In a nutshell: A pocket metropolis
10/17/2008 5:03 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: Sept. 22, 2008
Systems: Nintendo DS (reviewed), Wii
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

0:00 I was a huge SimCity 2000 fan back in middle school, but I haven't touched the series since. Here's hoping this brings back my latent love of virtual urban planning.

0:01 "Build a city for the ages," says a plain white text message on a stark black background. Then a title screen in a penthouse office.

0:02 "Welcome! To the world of SimCity (tm)!" Why! Are you speaking like that!? "Out of all the games you could have bought, we thank you for choosing SimCity Creator." I don't have the heart to tell her I got my copy for free from EA.

0:03 The woman disappears and in comes the bespectacled, anime-styled "Mister! Maxis!" in a puff of smoke. "I've had my eye on SimCity ever since SimCity DS." That's some subtle name-dropping there, mister.

0:04 The measly six letters allotted for the city name aren't enough for either "Kyleton" or "Orlandia." I go with the more generic "Kville," but they change it to "Kville City." D'oh!

0:06 I get six more characters for a slogan. They suggest "Hello." I enter "E=MC2." How scientific, eh?

0:08 I can draw a town seal, too. I start with Mr. Maxis' face, except I erase half, and replace it with a more crudely drawn version. He looks like he's been in an industrial accident. "Oh! That's awesome!" says the real Mr. Maxis. He's very ... enthusiastic.

0:09 I decide to start in the Challenge mode, because it seems the most "game-like." The loading screen tells me the basics of building ... tap an icon, then tap where you want to put the road/building/etc.

0:10 Mr. Maxis is in a caveman outfit. "At the dawn of civilization ... the single most important thing to do, and yet the most difficult one, was simply to STAY ALIVE." That was almost grammatically correct! I'm impressed!

0:12 Mr. Maxis recommends Residential zones near hunting and fishing spots. I'm surprised cavemen are so concerned about zoning ordinances. Access to forests is crucial for developmental wood. Heh. "Developing wood." Ahem. My first goal is to get 5,000 Sims in the village.

0:13 Right off, I like how the bottom screen gives a high-level zoning map while the top has the details of buildings and such. This split view is a natural for this series.

0:15 I zoom in to the "personal" view and see a silhouette of a cave-woman. "Mom ... scary but ... strong. Also kind ... I love her," she says when tapped. Think about it ... someone had to write that...

0:17 I add some Residential zones and add an extra path to the fishing grounds. Time freezes when I'm building, which I like. When I resume, the area slowly fills with huts and small shacks.

0:19 This entire minute spent saving my progress. No, I'm not exaggerating.

0:20 Quote of the moment: "Someday ... I hunt game!"

0:22 I just noticed that there are some other developable areas amidst the dense forest. I add a new Residential site around some fertile hunting grounds to the northeast. I'm out of lumber for now, so I just wait and watch the growth. Ho hum.