Software:SimCity DS

From HandWiki
SimCity DS
Developer(s)EA Japan/EA Partners
AKI Corporation
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
SeriesSimCity
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: February 22, 2007
  • NA: June 19, 2007
  • PAL: June 22, 2007
Genre(s)City-building
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

SimCity DS (シムシティDS, ShimuShiti DS) is a city building and management video game and the first Nintendo DS installment in the SimCity series. It was published by Electronic Arts (EA) and developed by the AKI Corporation and EA Japan.

Gameplay

Screenshot of SimCity DS, displaying a city on the top screen and the city's map at the bottom screen

SimCity DS inherits SimCity 3000's graphics and uses the handheld's dual screens to display additional interfaces. Console-specific features are also prominent, such as the use of the systems' integrated microphone, which is used to blow out fires and the touch screen which is used to control the interface. Before beginning a city, the player must choose a location in the region, one of five advisors and then sign the town charter using the touchscreen and stylus. The upper screen of the DS displays the city and news ticker, while the map, advisor, information and buttons are shown on the touchscreen.

Advisors and petitioners

SimCity DS features five advisors who help players make proper decisions in the game by providing recommendations and advice. As opposed to previous versions of SimCity, the player must choose only one advisor to help them when they sign the town charter. The different advisors include Julie McSim, Ayako Tachibana, Kaishu Tachibana, Servo 3000 and a secret advisor named Alien.

There are also petitioners, many of which are citizens of the players' cities, that approach the player with problems and request solutions or to modify city policies, such as lowering tax rates, or neighbor deals (old coot offers to take trash for $250 per month, Granny Agnes offers to buy water for $500 a month, both last 5 years). They may also give the player rewards or request certain structures to be erected in the city.

News ticker

In addition to the advisor, a news ticker scrolls along the bottom of the upper screen, displaying pertinent information about the city in the form of news stories, such as indicating that the city needs improvements in certain areas, or how well a particular city department is functioning. Generally, when things were going very well in a city, the news ticker displays headlines which are comical, or even nonsensical and often seemingly useless to the player.

Landmarks

Independent real-world landmarks (and one fictional landmark) are also prominent in SCDS, but must be unlocked in play or by using passwords. Real-world landmarks featured in SCDS include the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Big Ben, Statue of Liberty, White House, Grand Central Terminal, Palacio Real, Moai, Capitol Records Building, United Nations Headquarters and Hagia Sophia. Bowser's Castle from the Mario series of video games is also featured. [citation needed]

Disasters

The game features a number of disasters which the game can inflict upon a city, including earthquakes, fires, giant ape attacks, and UFO attacks.

The game also features a "Save the City" mode in which the player must help one of several cities recover from a disaster and reach a specific target to succeed.

Research

There are a number of buildings that can only be obtained by spending money on research (found toward the bottom of your exp. budget sheet). Each building grants certain benefits to the city. They require both water and power to function. Research takes both time and funding. For example, even if you devote 200% funding to research you will still not obtain a nuclear power plant if the year is 1909.

Zones

As with other SimCity games, the player sets zone types, either residential, commercial, industrial, seaport, or airport. Each of these zone types, except for the airport and seaport, can be built in light, medium, and dense varieties. The zoning colors are different from other SimCity games residential is yellow instead of green, commercial is purple instead of blue, and industrial is red or orange instead of yellow.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic69/100[1]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM6.33/10[2]
Eurogamer6/10[3]
Famitsu31/40[4]
Game Informer8.25/10[5]
GameSpot7/10[6]
GameSpyStarStarHalf star[7]
IGN7/10[8]
Nintendo Power8/10[9]
Pocket GamerStarStarStar[10]
VideoGamer.com8/10[11]
411Mania8.5/10[12]

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[1] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.[4]

Sequel

AKI Corporation went on to develop a Nintendo DS version of SimCity Creator that is treated as an official sequel to SimCity DS in Japan. It was first released there as SimCity DS 2 in March 2008, several months before it was released in the rest of the world along with its Wii counterpart.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "SimCity DS for DS Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/simcity-ds/critic-reviews/?platform=ds. 
  2. ↑ EGM staff (July 2007). "SimCity DS". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (217): 93. 
  3. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (July 7, 2007). "SimCity [DS"]. Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/simcity-review. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "シムシティDS" (in ja). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=2948&redirect=no. Retrieved March 3, 2022. 
  5. ↑ Vore, Bryan (August 2007). "SimCity DS". Game Informer (GameStop) (172). http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200708/R07.0619.1154.35691.htm. Retrieved March 3, 2022. 
  6. ↑ Dodson, Joe (June 26, 2007). "SimCity DS Review". Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/simcity-ds-review/1900-6173158/. 
  7. ↑ Di Fiore, Elisa (August 1, 2007). "GameSpy: SimCity DS". IGN Entertainment. http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/simcity-ds-/809993p1.html. 
  8. ↑ DeVries, Jack (June 25, 2007). "SimCity DS Review". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/06/25/simcity-ds-review. 
  9. ↑ "SimCity DS". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 218: 88. August 2007. 
  10. ↑ Erickson, Tracy (June 25, 2007). "SimCity DS". Steel Media Ltd. https://www.pocketgamer.com/simcity-ds/simcity-ds/. 
  11. ↑ Freeman, Will (July 8, 2007). "SimCity DS Review". Resero Network. https://www.videogamer.com/reviews/simcity-ds-review/. 
  12. ↑ "SimCity DS for Nintendo DS (2007) MobyRank". Blue Flame Labs LLC. https://www.mobygames.com/game/simcity-ds/mobyrank. 
  • Short description: Video game database
MobyGames
Logo since March 2014
Screenshot
Frontpage as of April 2012
Type of site
Gaming
Available inEnglish
OwnerAtari SA
Websitemobygames.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedJanuary 30, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-01-30)
Current statusOnline

MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] The site is supported by banner ads and a small number of people paying to become patrons.[2] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It is currently owned by Atari SA.

Content

The database began with games for IBM PC compatibles. After two years, consoles such as the PlayStation, were added. Older console systems were added later. Support for arcade video games was added in January 2014 and mainframe computer games in June 2017.[3]

Edits and submissions go through a leisurely verification process by volunteer "approvers". The approval process can range from immediate (minutes) to gradual (days or months).[4] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copyediting.[5]

Registered users can rate and review any video game. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own subforum.

History

Logo used until March 11, 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999 by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, then joined by David Berk 18 months later, three friends since high school.[6] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[7] This was announced to the community post factum and a few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.

On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San-Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[8] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel.[9]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[10] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[11][12]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ "MobyGames Stats". https://www.mobygames.com/moby_stats. 
  2. ↑ "MobyGames Patrons". http://www.mobygames.com/info/patrons. 
  3. ↑ "New(ish!) on MobyGames – the Mainframe platform.". Blue Flame Labs. 18 June 2017. http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,3/dgm,237200/. 
  4. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  5. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32856/Report_MobyGames_Acquired_By_GameFly_Media.php. 
  8. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  9. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/207882/Game_dev_database_MobyGames_getting_some_TLC_under_new_owner.php. 
  10. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  11. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site’s Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  12. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 



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