Retronauts Delves Into SimCity's History
On this week's episode of USgamer's classic gaming podcast, learn about the urban planning series that made us all mayor for a day.
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
Few series declines have been more tragic than SimCity's. What once existed as a ubiquitous element of everyone's desktop PC gradually faded into irrelevance before dying with the unfortunate—but not particularly terrible—2013 reboot.
But on this episode of Retronauts, we gather not to mourn SimCity, but to praise it. Few game developers have the chance to create honest-to-god genres, and Will Wright did just that in 1989—and expanded the idea of what games could be as a result. And while his Sims series would make for an even bigger hit than his urban planning simulator, SimCity's focus on pretty dry subject matter makes it feel a bit more respectable than Wright's stuff-getting simulator—which isn't without its charms. In any case, we cover the entire SimCity series on this full-length episode of Retronauts, so if you've been in the dark—or just need a refresher—you're in for a treat.
Joining us on this one is Vidjagame Apocalypse host Mikel Reparaz, and our own Kat Bailey, who hosts USgamer's From Us to You! and Axe of the Blood God. And our cover art comes courtesy of Nick Daniel. As always, you can keep up with the latest Retronauts news via our Twitter and Facebook accounts, and check out some of our video content over on our YouTube page. And, in case you forgot, Retronauts is fully funded by our Patreon campaign, so if you can afford to donate even a dollar a month, please consider it! Every little bit really helps our cause.
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