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SimCity Returns as…SimCity

No number. Just SimCity for PC.

Of all of the “big name” classic PC franchises, this is one that I never got into. Not even sure why but I was never a SimCity guy. It’s slated to return in 2013 and here’s the PR from EA:

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) today announced that SimCity™ is breaking new ground (set for release in) in 2013. SimCity for PC, a brand new entry in the franchise is currently in development at Maxis Emeryville, and was revealed today during Game Changers @ GDC, a symposium that featured inspirational speeches from Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, and charity: water CEO and founder Scott Harrison.

“We’d like to thank the millions of fans who have helped make SimCity synonymous with the city-building genre. This is a franchise that means the world to us at Maxis and we’re happy to be bringing it back home where we are reimagining it for an entirely new generation of players,” said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President of EA’s Maxis Label. “Using our proprietary GlassBox Engine, SimCity for PC will equip players with the tools to play the most sophisticated simulation of its kind. We are dedicated to making sure the experience – no matter the platform – has the fun, flavor and playability that has been intrinsic to the franchise since its birth.”

SimCity, slated for release in calendar year 2013 for PC, is a true rebirth of the franchise that brings the depth of simulation that has been the series hallmark for more than two decades and marries it with next generation accessibility and a robust multiplayer mode, giving players the power to change a world together. Fans can catch their first glimpse of the rebirth of SimCity by viewing the extended trailer at www.SimCity.com .

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For more than two decades, the king of city-building simulators has sworn in millions of virtual mayors from around the world With its return in 2013, SimCity will engage an entirely new generation of PC gamers as they take charge of their own customized cities and build a world that co-exists alongside friends. For the first time in SimCity franchise history, players’ decisions will have long-lasting repercussions that will extend beyond their city limits. Together, players will address real global challenges such as climate change, the search for renewable resources and natural disasters. It’s up to the players to decide whether to compete or collaborate to shape the world of tomorrow – for better or for worse.

Powered by the GlassBox Engine, Maxis’ proprietary engine, the simulation comes to life in a way never before possible everything you see in the world we sim – Sims in each city will have jobs or can lose them, buy homes, be prosperous or be an economic drain on the city. SimCity is the city builder in which every choice powers real change that affects the character of your city, the state of your region and fellow players within the entire SimCity world. Original fans and newcomers alike will relish the opportunity to build visually and functionally unique cities that take on the character of their choices. Combining fun, addictive gameplay elements with an interface that encourages anyone to jump in and begin playing, SimCity will usher forth a new era of city-building simulation as players work to change a world together (be available in 2013.)

Bill Abner

Bill has been writing about games for the past 16 years for such outlets as Computer Games Magazine, GameSpy, The Escapist, GameShark, and Crispy Gamer. He will continue to do so until his wife tells him to get a real job.

11 thoughts to “SimCity Returns as…SimCity”

  1. It does look really cool. I never got into it because it was very confusing and daunting. Making it accessible and with an interesting idea for a multiplayer mode, I’m at least putting it on my radar.

  2. Yeah, city builders never seem to hold my attention for very long, even though they should be right up my alley. I always buy the latest and greatest, play it for a couple of days, and then move on. I don’t know why.

    1. I loved the old Impressions games, mostly due to time period. Modern day city builders never did much for me.

  3. I love SimCity (although I’m not particularly good at it), so hopefully this one works out. With no Will Wright at Maxis, I guess we’ll see. Still, nice to see them pulling away from the Sims trough long enough to put out a new SimCity.

      1. Here here!

        I’ll have to say that SimCity is solidly in the realm of sandbox games I admire, but bore me. Also, I find it was its best as a very simple little thing. The complications of later versions take away more simple charm than they add fun things to do.

  4. Is it going to have that crap where you spend 80% of the game trying to connect waterlines? That wasn’t much fun.

    1. water lines were fine, it was when you wanted to put subway under the waterlines you spammed earlier that there was problems

  5. I used to love SC. All those budding Urban Planners out there should give it a shot. I remember in University I was playing it in the lab one day *cough* and when some girl asked me what it was I explained it was a analysis tool for studying human ecology and environmental interactions, blah blah…

    she replied, ‘really?! That’s amazing!!!’

    I just stared at her wondering what she got on her SATs

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