Despite EA’s less-than-stellar-launch of SimCity, the creator of the original game says he is quite pleased with the current interpretation of the classic title.
“I like it a lot. It’s interesting, in some sense it reminds me of the post-economic crash. It’s not about making your city big, it’s about making them not poor. I think they did a good job of balancing all the interrelated factors,” Will Wright told NowGamer.
“At first it felt a little claustrophobic, you know with the size of the land, but after playing for a while I think it really makes a lot of sense. By kind of focusing it in it feels more personal, and so I really do want to zoom down and get a sense of what it feels like on the street. I think the visuals are just amazing, I love the tilt-shift focal lens.”
Meanwhile, an internal memo from Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw that has been making the rounds reveals just how much the troubled launch of SimCity has negatively affected the developer.
“I’ll start by saying that I couldn’t be more proud of SimCity and the Maxis team that made it and are supporting it. The game launched with great reviews from both new critics and the veterans who have loved this franchise for so many years. SimCity is a software achievement that everyone at Maxis is extremely proud of.
“Then we launched it.The rollout in North America has been challenging. It’s also now evident that players across Europe and Asia are experiencing the same frustration. II’d like to say that it’s not fair — that the game score shouldn’t be punished for a server problem. But it is fair. SimCity is an online game and critics and consumers have every right to expect a smooth experience from beginning to end.”
Bradshaw also pledged to “quickly and dramatically” increase the number and stability of servers.
“Trust that we’re working as hard as possible to make sure everyone gets to experience the amazing game we built in SimCity,” she added.
