Did the developers give this game the right name

[pennjersey83 25]

Instead of calling it SimCity they should have called it "Sims 3: Town edition". It seems like they focused more on the individual sims and buildings in this game then actually making a SimCity game. I don't care about the thoughts going on in my individual sims heads. I don't care to watch them on their route to school, or see a crime in progress. I play SimCity for the experience of city building and urban planning. Maybe if they didn't focus so much on the tiny details they could have actually given us a a game with bigger maps, maps that took days to complete, just like SimCity used to be. I imagine a Dowtown skyscrapper metropolis is going to look laughable on these tiny maps, but at least we'll get to know the names of the sims living in that house on the corner.

I know there is a large number of people who worked very hard on this game, but if people cared so much about the individual "sims" they could just go buy The Sims

[Fresse 2]

That are also my thougths after i watched a couple of videos. It look likes SimCity Social on a little larger scale

[macvirt 361]

It's properly named I think. The title is a break from an expectation of "next SC4" (which it is designed to not be), it still is visible as a title within the franchise of SimCity, etc.

Sure, it might have been more correct to call it "SimSocialZipcode", but that hardly sounds as a sales pitch does it.

[Herdervriend 46]

The Sims is quite a bit different in my eyes. Because there you are actually building the homes yourselves. It's also not really going in to building a city. So a city building version of it seems weird.

Though they could better have called it SimCity 5: Social Town. It's so small where you can build on. And the game is based on social connections so.

[SilverCyric 130]

Yeah, the maps are tiny!! I feel like as soon as I get going, the tile is filled up pretty much already! I'll probably buy the game to support the franchise, but only play it for a week or two, like I did with Societies...

[fiver 306]

Sim District 1

[packersfan 666]

Ha, Sim District. It is probably pretty cool to have more in-touch with the citizenry, but unfortunately the game lends itself only to that great feature...either really close or really far out by doing the resource trading...no in between with big city (and sorry a big city is 2km x 2km or whatever.) There are interesting new things in this game that I wish had been, could have been, implemented in a bigger scale game.

[pineapple132 35]

In my opinion, Simcity Societies 2. Not worth of the name Simcity 5.

[London-b 90]

Sim Village is the only true name. I'm not even trolling, I live in a village in the middle of England, all these little settlements surrounded by vast areas of green is a tad familiar!

The only difference being that building a high rise here would never happen and look awful, and we actually have farms.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I think it should have been named SimCity 2013 or as some Japanese naming schemes go SimCity:R(eboot).

--Ocram

[jcarlilesiu 37]

Instead of calling it SimCity they should have called it "Sims 3: Town edition". It seems like they focused more on the individual sims and buildings in this game then actually making a SimCity game. I don't care about the thoughts going on in my individual sims heads. I don't care to watch them on their route to school, or see a crime in progress. I play SimCity for the experience of city building and urban planning. Maybe if they didn't focus so much on the tiny details they could have actually given us a a game with bigger maps, maps that took days to complete, just like SimCity used to be. I imagine a Dowtown skyscrapper metropolis is going to look laughable on these tiny maps, but at least we'll get to know the names of the sims living in that house on the corner.

I know there is a large number of people who worked very hard on this game, but if people cared so much about the individual "sims" they could just go buy The Sims

Agreed.

THe game is too focused on micro details than macro urban development.

The glassbox engine has limited the size of the city, because of the level of detail applied to individual sims.

The only think I can figure is that in order for the engine to work, it needed to be monitoring each sim individually, which provides for a more accurate and realistic engine. As such, since the engine is already processing these details in the name of realism, then why not just show the outcome to the player?

A more realistic engine is a good thing. Simcity 4 had some serious issues with realism in the sims behavior.

As computers continue to process more information, the limitations should be reduced. I think the glassbox engine is a little ahead of its time, and thats why we are seeing some restrictions.

[Ma8thew 77]

In my opinion, Simcity Societies 2. Not worth of the name Simcity 5.

Lucky they didn't call it Simcity 5 then, I guess.

[Trigger86 0]

If you go on the EA Maxis forum they clearly say this game is not the follower of Sim City 4, which is why its not called Sim City 5. This is Sim City 2013, a totally new generation SimCity game.

  Edited January 28, 2013 by Blue Lightning  
Fixed grammar, formatting, and word choice.

[RyanMorgan95 144]

SimTown would be a more reasonable name.

[Xenocity 343]

SimTown would be a more reasonable name.

I actually owned this game back in the day it was quite fun to play.

So you guys need to insulting it.

Simcity 4 should have been called Simcity: City Builder edition, due to the heavy focus on cit buidling.

If anything this new Simcity is a better successor to Simcity 3000 than Simcity 4 could ever be (Simcity 4 was a mediocre simulator at heart).

[MariusMR 124]

They should have called it The Sims 3: City Living

[simlink 1,098]

From a purely marketing standpoint, they probably chose the right name. SimCity has brand awareness - developing a completely new title would have likely less meant less hype in the community.

As for branding it as sim-related, it probably would have alienated The "The Sims" community. It is, IMO, closer to SimCity than it is The Sims.

This isn't a sequel, but a reboot. So using the SimCity name makes sense because it is (trying) to be a next-gen city builder.

[Jim14409 448]

Yeah, the maps are tiny!! I feel like as soon as I get going, the tile is filled up pretty much already! I'll probably buy the game to support the franchise, but only play it for a week or two, like I did with Societies...

Support the franchise in what? In building more high priced, shallow throw-away games? Why not save your support for something you like and find to be a good investment for the buck? "The franchise" is not the only one who can ever make a city builder game. Find someone worthy of support and give them your all.

[Urban Cartographer 601]

Here is a good name for that game:

SimSuperBlockSurroundedByUnbuildableGreenSpace

[SilverCyric 130]

Yeah, the maps are tiny!! I feel like as soon as I get going, the tile is filled up pretty much already! I'll probably buy the game to support the franchise, but only play it for a week or two, like I did with Societies...

Support the franchise in what? In building more high priced, shallow throw-away games? Why not save your support for something you like and find to be a good investment for the buck? "The franchise" is not the only one who can ever make a city builder game. Find someone worthy of support and give them your all.

Not that I don't agree, you're right. But they won't even attempt to make another and maybe even better game, big maybe, I know, if nobody bought this one. From what I've seen it won't be a complete waste of $60-80, just won't last me 10 years like SC4... : ) But I still agree with your point despite my opinion...

[The Avatar 1,088]

I think they did. In my opinion, the biggest reason why people dislike the new SimCity is because they are looking at it from the standpoint of SC4. Maxis has stated their vision for this game; it is not a re-do of SC4, it is a completely new SimCity that Maxis intended to be playable for all gamers, not just the veterans. Think of it this way, if the new SimCity was a repeat of SC4 with better graphics, it wouldn't be that fun to play because most of us have already played SC4. Also, many people want more realism. My argument is that an ultra-realistic CBG wouldn't be as fun. After all, SimCity is a game; if it were just like real-life, the freedom to create that is a main part of SimCity games wouldn't exist. In addition, realistic graphics combined with the simulation engine would be very hardware-intensive and would limit what people with average computers could do. Overall, I think Maxis did a good job of balancing realism with fun. They wanted to re-envision the series, and while playing the beta, I felt like it was my first time playing a SC game. Even though I'm used to the regular aspects of SC - zoning, building roads, etc. - because they added new features, it felt like a new experience - and that was only from a very early point in the game. Granted, there are ways in which SC 2013 differs from SC4 that I do not like. For instance, I do not like how you cannot control the size of the zones. I also don't like how water and power are spread throughout a city with roads, not pipes and power lines placed by the player. On the other hand, I love the new Glassbox simulation engine and the new dynamic data maps. I can imagine running a large city with many complex interactions between simulation aspects would be fun and challenging. The graphics are another element of SC 2013 I like. I don't think they are cartoon-y; like other aspects of the game, I think they are balanced bewtween realism and gaming. While some core aspects of SC have been altered, I think Maxis has provided enough new aspects and challenges to create a balance that can please veterans and newbs alike. At least I hope so. One concern I have is that the game will not be challenging enough, or will be easily mastered because of its simplicity. I also think that the new region system and limited city tile size are the biggest disappointments, although I can understand why they limited the tile size, with the new engine and 3D graphics. Anyway, I'm ranting. All in all, I think Maxis has done good. I think SimCity is the right name for this game; not SC5 or SC4: 2. But that's just my two cents from experiencing only a small amount of the game during the demo.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I am glad they did not name it SimCity 5.

--Ocram

[Zukunftstraume 220]

The name all makes sense now...

This is a complete reboot! They're starting from scratch, taking an entirely different direction, and never going back...

The end has come guys

[Zukunftstraume 220]

If anything this new Simcity is a better successor to Simcity 3000 than Simcity 4 could ever be (Simcity 4 was a mediocre simulator at heart).

So, what was it that you didn't like about SimCity 4 compared to 3000?

Here's my list of things:

1) I missed the advisor animations from 3000

2) Surface level water (if you chose to have it)

3) SC4 not having any main menu, was kind of weird playing the game for the first time like that

4) No interesting side scenarios like The End of the World and Fall of the Berlin Wall

5) No Fusion Power Plant (the microwave was an unrealistic joke though)

6) And yes, they did away with the jazz-music which was very signature about that game

7) Okay, I'll admit, I actually liked some cute-graphical aspects about 3000 which were pure eye-candy

7b) Oh!!! And the Thanksgiving Parade!!!

7 extended) The new SimCity had graphics that were very reminiscent of 3000 and I was actually pretty excited to look at some photos and the color filter options looked amazing! People complaining about the graphics were baking the wrong pie.

Not going to list the things I liked more about SC4 compared to 3000 because such a list would go on for a light-year...

So, what were your particular reasons you liked 3000 more? (Sorry if I seem nosey, but you seem to be the most avid supporter of the new SimCity on these here parts, and I'd really like to see you're point of view)

[l_rubbo 34]

If it's not SimCity 5 then.. Why have we suffered so many inferior reboots for over 10 years. The question begs: "Where the frack is SimcCity 5 !?!"

[Zukunftstraume 220]

If it's not SimCity 5 then.. Why have we suffered so many inferior reboots for over 10 years. The question begs: "Where the frack is SimcCity 5 !?!"

One day, my friend, one day... Even if it means that someone else who isn't Maxis/EA will make.

One day someone with a good software development team and an understanding that there's an empty niche left behind by the demise of the largest city-simulation series ever, will come along to fill that spot. We'll get our game... eventually!!!