At the turn of this month, we speculated as to whether Sim City 5 (at least that was the next logical title most folks thought up of, considering how Sim City 4 was the last in the series) will be released next year. Well, rumors are one thing, but getting it from the horse’s mouth is another – and Maxis senior VP Lucy Bradshaw said, “The rumors are true. SimCity is back.” I guess the next iteration of Sim City is on track for a 2013 release then. After all, it has been nearly a decade or so since Maxis rolled out a core Sim City title, and with the amount of processing power that most folks carry in their pockets these days, we won’t be surprised to see a mobile version roll out as well. The new Sim City that is slated for next year will also be the truly 3D entry in the series. I mull over whether it will elicit that sense of wonder when I first played the PC-based Monopoly that allowed you to walk the streets of Mayfair.
There will definitely be new visual features thrown into the mix, such as dust clouds that kick up when a building is dropped, adding a level of “tactility and physicality” when you play. Not only that, the next Sim City will also carry a careful balance of gameplay so that it will not end up too complex, and they are looking at a “what you see is what we sim” system. Are you stoked?
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