Apocalypse Then: SimCity 3000

Earlier on in the month, I talked about the fact that it was Will Wright’s 50th birthday (the 20th of January). On this day in gaming, the 31st of January, 1999, one of the titles in one of his most successful franchises was released: SimCity 3000.

The game, a city-building simulation, and the sequel to SimCity and SimCity 2000, was developed by Maxis and published by EA, and released for the  PC, Mac, and Linux. Later on a special edition of the game was released under different names in various countries.

The designer was credited as being the legendary Will Wright.

I got the game and played it myself for a while back in 1999 when it was nearly brand new. I remember once I left the game running on my dad’s PC in the study for the whole night because I hadn’t figured out how to save a game or something and so I didn’t want all my effort going to waste by exiting the game.

Although I’d even played the original SimCity years before, this was likely the best one I’ve played, and I haven’t even touched it in years. To be honest, I prefer The Sims, a series which started a little over a year later.

It was eventually succeeded by SimCity 4, which made a cameo appearance of sorts in The Sims 2, or rather the expansion, SimCity 4: Rush Hour, did.

You can pick the game up here if you want to play a classic.

Apocalypse Then: SimCity 3000

It’s Your Birthday: Will Wright

Yes, today, January 20th, in 1960, Will Wright was born. He turns 50 today.

Who’s Will Wright? One of the most recognised names in the video game industry. Shame on you.

Will grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and stayed there until nine years of age, when his father, Bill Wright Sr., died of leukaemia. His mother, Beverlye (Beverley?), then took the family and moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, her hometown. There he finished high school at 16 and went to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech, and then the New School University. Wright didn’t ever get that degree he wanted.

Will Wright is the main man behind Maxis, the company who made games like SimCity and The Sims, the most popular series, as well as many other titles with”Sim” included in them. He co-founded it along with Jeff Braun. The company was later bought by Electronic Arts in the late nineties.

The next major title that was designed by Will was Spore.

Since then, he’s left Maxis, and gone on to found Stupid Fun Club, another video game company.
Interesting stuff about Will:

• He is a collector of leftovers from the Soviet space program.
• After five years in college, Wright didn’t get a degree.
• Will has more fun designing and building games and levels than playing them.
• Will hasn’t ever been involved in developing mindless, violent video games.
• Will stated once that one of his motives behind The Sims was his own lack of social skills.
• Will has been given awards, including a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Game Developers Choice Awards, and inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame, and the PC Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a fellowship in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs).
• Stanley Kubrick is one of his idols.
• As a child, he was interested in model making.
• Will became an atheist in high school.
• Among others, some of his interests include computers and robotics.
• Will is held in high esteem by many people, and compared to peers such as Roberta Williams and Peter Molyneux.
• Once, Will participated in and won an illegal street race.

It’s Your Birthday: Will Wright