SIMphoni

An interactive multiplayer version of The Sims is coming to Facebook.

Just three days following the release of the latest expansion pack, the fourth for the Sims 3, Generations, Electronic Arts on Friday released a video trailer for the next: The Sims 3: Pets.

From FastCompany:

IBM Launches Its Version of SimCity BY Ariel SchwartzMon Oct 4, 2010

Virtual city planning is fun; just ask anyone who has spent hours entranced by Will Wright’s classic game, SimCity. That’s why it isn’t just professional urban planners who will be excited to see CityOne, IBM’s new city simulation game. It’s intended to help officials, agencies, and developers solve real-world problems ripped from the headlines–such as climate change, electrical grid management, banking and retail supply chain crises. In total, there are more than 100 scenarios in the game.

Unlike SimCity and its sequels, which allowed players to start from scratch, CityOne lets you navigate a fully-formed city. It makes sense–in the real world, city planners don’t usually get to build new landscapes from the ground up. They have to deal with already-messy realities.

A sample scenario, courtesy of IBM:

Water Crisis Management: A city is struggling as water usage increases twice as fast as the population, supplies are becoming strained and possibly polluted, and the municipality is losing almost half of its water through leaky pipes. On top of all that, energy costs continue to rise. To complete the mission, players must come up with a way to deliver the highest water quality at the lowest cost in real-time.The free game is proving to be popular. Over 8,000 people have pre-registered since it was announced in May, and hundreds of players across the globe have started playing since CityOne launched on Monday.

Can we harness our love of games to make real change? Decide for yourself–CityOne is available here.

CityOne

Ariel Schwartz can be reached on Twitter or by email.

Gamesradar reports on the newest expansion pack for The Sims 3.  For the first time, Sims are able to leave the suburbs and live the high-rise lifestyle downtown!.  Excerpt:

The Sims 3: Late Night – Good clean debauchery

The Sims franchise has always taken place in an idealized world, with your Sims enjoying huge houses with nice yards in a relaxed neighborhood with a small town feel. But it’s always been limited to the suburban ideal – what about those of us who want to vicariously live the big city fantasy? Enter the Late Night expansion for Sims 3, where you can design a penthouse in the sky with a hot tub on the roof, the perfect spot for skinny dipping with vampires…

For more, see the original Gamesradar article at http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/the-sims-3/preview/the-sims-3-late-night-good-clean-debauchery/a-20100813154719339066/g-20061106113750640058.  Then, discuss in our Simphoni Forums.

We just caught up with this, as reported by GameSpot:

Maxis hiring for PC online simulation game

The Electronic Arts-owned Maxis studio will announce an action role-playing game set in the Spore universe at Comic-Con 2010 next week, but the developer is also seeking to employ an individual to work on a new online simulation game for the PC.

Might Maxis attempt to resurrect The Sims Online?

A job listing spotted by Superannuation asks for a development director for an unannounced “next-generation online simulation game” at the Maxis studio in Emeryville, California.

The rest of the article can be seen at http://www.gamespot.com/news/6269152.html?…mp;subj=6269152
The EA job listing can be seen at https://jobs.ea.com/search/view.do?id=a0z50000000IafoAAC

Gregory of Monte Cristo Games announced in a post at Simtropolis on Tuesday that Monte Cristo will be closing its doors within the week.  The license for the sale of Cities XL has been purchased by a third-party publisher, who will be identified soon.   The news was also reported Thursday at Big Download.

Empire builders at Simphoni rejoice as our member usman today found out at Gamespot that Civ5 is on its way. Firaxis released an official statement confirming the story:

Civilization V takes this definitive strategy game series in new directions with the introduction of hexagon tiles allowing for deeper strategy, more realistic gameplay and stunning organic landscapes for players to explore as they expand their empire. The brand new engine orchestrates a spectacular visual experience that brings players closer to the Civ experience than ever, featuring fully animated leaders interacting with players from a screen-filling diplomatic scene and speaking in their native language for the first time. Wars between empires feel massive as armies dominate the landscape, and combat is more exciting and intense than ever before. The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines, challenging players to develop clever new strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield. In addition to the new gameplay features debuting in Civilization V, an extensive suite of community, modding and multiplayer elements will also make an appearance.

Definitely sounds worthy of looking forward to! The official site is in the air as well at http://www.civilization5.com/ 

Release is scheduled for this fall.

In addition to Civ5 another game was announced as well:

In addition to Civilization V, Firaxis Games is also currently developing Sid Meier’s Civilization® Network™, a Civ game for Facebook. With Sid Meier leading design, Civilization Network will offer yet another option for world domination to both the casual gamer and the biggest fan of the series. It’s another way to access the famously addictive world of Civilization.

There’s plenty of drivel to go around, so strap yourself in and (try to) enjoy the ride! This will likely be the final episode of the podcast unless there are any major developments or announcements concerning the city building genre. Rex and I discuss this in more detail during the show. This week we talk about the current status and future of the podcast, reception and development of Cities XL, the future of the city simulation game, holiday plans, personal happenings and movies.

Click here to listen to episode 30 (50.0 MB, 54:38, mp3).

If anyone has questions or comments, please feel free to post them here or send us an email to podcast@simphoni.net. This episode was produced, recorded and edited by me. It features Trixin as host and Rexer as co-host. We wish you all the very best over this holiday season and in the coming new year! Thank you all very much for tuning in and supporting the podcast over the past two years!

Our friend Dirk over at Simtropolis has reviewed CitiesXL on his blog. It’s a great and very informative read, so I encourage you to head on over and check it out. One spoiler: Dirk’s final verdict is 7.5 out of 10