Interesting ... Ok, I understand why people might be upset, but we are not without possibilities yet. First, New expansions are still coming in for Societies, so they aren't finished developing that game yet, releasing SC5 while releasing expansions for a similar game is economic suicide. Second, Simcity Creator has a very familiar Maxis feel to me in terms of the interface and style overall so It could be in-house developed, and yes probably using SC3K as a base but still looking for fun in the game and not just driving relentlessly down the realism track (possibly the only good argument for even trying SCS in the first place). I know there are a lot of you out there that are looking for more realism, and I completely understand, but not at the expense of gameplay. Which leads me into the marketing angle, opening up the player base for a game like this is difficult, exemplified by the sheer weight of anger that SCS took (rightly or not) and the perceptions of the game in the marketplace built up over (lets face it) decades. Releasing a game for the two Nintendo consoles makes a bit of sense, they can test a new idea or approach (ie. looking for 'the fun' in particular) without treading on the toes of what is already out there in SCS, all really good moves in researching the markets and making a tidy profit on the way. So what does it all mean? Well, it could mean anything. It depends on EA really, if Maxis can prove one or all the concepts for widening the play base, they might try to incorporate those concepts into one game while still making forward progress on obtaining a certain amount of realism, the target being a game that is realistic to the eye, but still has a sense of fun that can be enjoyed by a wide audience. Alternatively they could just promote one of the ideas from SCS or SC Creator and start a new development path, which will be met by the appropriate amount of grumbling from the existing player base. All that we can really say is be patient, you never know whats around the corner. Pinkyoz
