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Does New SimCity Game Push Environmentalism?

Mar. 13, 2013 2:50pm Liz Klimas

New SimCity Game Has Environmental Leanings and Users Ask for Refunds After Initial Issues

Attendees look at a display at the EA SimCity Learn. Build. Create. Inauguration After-Party, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. (Photo: Nick Wass/Invision for EA/AP Images)

Last week, Electronic Arts Inc. released a new edition of its nearly quarter-century-old game “SimCity.” The reviews are out and among them are observations that the virtual city-building game seems to be pushing environmental preferences, like renewable energy.

The environmental aspect of the new SimCity by developer Maxis isn’t new news. Scientific American reported last year that creators wanted players to encounter true-to-life realities in their virtually created cities, like pollution and diseases. Here’s more from Scientific American at the time:

“The most important thing is the integrity of the simulation underneath [the game], the stuff that represents the systems that make up a real city,” wrote creative director Ocean Quigley in a recent online forum where game developers took questions from critics and fans. “I don’t want to enforce sustainable design principles in the game — I want them to emerge as natural consequences of your interaction with the simulation.”

In this image released by Electronic Arts/Maxis, a concept art image of an accident scene in an urban area is shown as concept art for the video game “SimCity.” (Photo: AP/Electronic Arts/Maxis)

What these environmental choices and consequences look like are out now that the game is being played. Popular Science’s Andrew Groen called them out in a post titled “7 Signs SimCity’s Creators Are Environmental Activists.”

Coal, for example, is true to its real-life attributes, like being cheap and effective, but cities using this as a power source are likely to see a cloud of smog and health conditions to go along with it.

(Image: SimCity screenshot/Andrew Groen via Popular Science)

Groen also pointed out “playful pokes” the game makes at some energy sources. For example, the description for Clean Coal as an option says, “This is as ‘clean’ as it’s going to get, bub. It is coal after all.”

Having a successful city is dependent upon things like taking proper care of garbage. Groen called it idealic of the game to drive people away from towns that are over-populated and garbage-filled, because it’s not technically true to life.

Groen also highlights what he considers an anti-big business sentiment and favoritism toward natural food sources, among what seem to be other politically driven aspects of the game.

(Image: SimCity screenshot/Andrew Groen via Popular Science)

Read all of Groen’s review here.

Watch SimCity’s video about “going green”:

In addition, issues related to the game have also had some players asking for refunds over the weekend.

Several gamers weren’t able to log on after “SimCity” launched, prompting some retailers to stop selling it temporarily.

Lucy Bradshaw, general manager at “SimCity” developer Maxis, said Friday more wannabe mayors logged on than they anticipated and that the developers have been increasing server capacity since the snafu.

“More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta,” said Bradshaw. “OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours, we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically.”

The problem was an “always on” component, which means it requires a constant connection to the Internet for play. The Guardian reported this week that there is a petition signed by more than 60,000 gamers to remove this component.

Bradshaw said EA would give players a free PC game to compensate for the hassles. Players who registered copies of “SimCity” will receive details on how to download the free game March 18.

Some gamers still were asking for refunds though, which the company was not honoring. The Guardian has more on why:

Meanwhile, those who bought the game via online download and now want a refund are running into one of the key issues of digital distribution: ambiguous consumer rights. As laid out in EA’s terms of sale, purchasers in the US are denied refunds outright, while customers in Europe are somewhat protected by an EU consumer rights directive, which gives consumers a 14-day cooling off period during which they can ask for a refund. However, EA’s terms suggest that outside of Germany, consumers will lose the right of withdrawal if the purchaser has started to actually download the product.

But the Consumerist reported some people did in fact get refunds using a tactic called the “executive email carpet bomb,” which is a technique where you issue your complaint directly to the company’s top executives. Can’t find their email addresses? Consumerist talks you through an executive email carpet bomb here.

“I am very happy with the support that [A.] provided me, but I am still disheartened that it took this much effort on my part to get the proper end result,” a gamer named Kevin who was successful at getting a refund through this method told Consumerist. “Any other dissatisfied gamers attempting to get a refund might attempt the EECB themselves and see if they get better results than normal Origin support.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments (48)

TRSFrancisco
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 11:08pm
This stupid game has always done crap like this. I remember some of the original iterations of this game when I was in middle school (over 15 years ago) did the same thing. For example, you could put a nuclear power plant in your city, but every 50 years, it would go all chernobyl on you, melt down, and cost you tons of money. Gotta turn kids into little hipster activist d bags early in life, start with video games and cartoons. TheRightSideBlog.com

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- PanicFire
  Posted on March 14, 2013 at 9:38am
  Yup it’s always been this way. But think about it, what fun would there be if it was like the real world? No emergencies to manage. It would lead to a really boring game.
  
  Heck, when playing the original I’d get bored and then spawn all sorts of disasters to destroy the city. LOL! Godzilla was one of my favorites.
  
  Report this comment
john12341
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 10:39pm
Well I care about the environment so much I pirated their game off of bittorrent. After all- credit cards are made out of plastic- which comes from oil- and oil is bad for the environment. I suggest everyone else do the same, we can all help save the environment by stealing their crappy game.

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Paulhgreenbay
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 10:32pm
Actually this one is also Agenda 21 heavy also in addition. The areas that you have to build your cities are small. Maxis is trying to get you to try and fit more dense buildings rather than be able to make a more spread out city like in the previous SimCity 4.

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kritacul
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 7:47pm
Maxis the developer has proven many times over that they are all about the environment and push their ideas on the gamers that play their games. Its really sad because the games are good but tired of these environmentalist and bashing things that are really not bad.

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pizzaman87
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 6:44pm
Does this game have the cheat like before, where you could basically get unlimited money to build your cities?

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- RayOne
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 7:09pm
  I wonder if tis game is like the Captain Planet cartoon, from years ago on Turner Network. My kids had me coloring them green for holloween.
  
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Dustoff
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 6:24pm
Yeah sure Free.

While O-dumber flies every-where in the fuel eating 747. Tell us again how you green-goons want others to live, but not yourselves.

Typical libs. Do what I say, not what I do.

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KyleD
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 6:21pm
The sim city franchise has always had a focus on pollution, but in a consumer fashion, not a global warming one. The game portrays real world concerns that citizens have about where they live. You’re not going to want to live in the middle of heavy industry because the air quality is low, you’d much rather live in cleaner areas, that’s the extent of the environmentalism in the game.

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mastice
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 6:01pm
This is nothing new from the Sim genre of games. They have been pushing the green agenda in their games for as long as I can remember. I just ignore it.

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- steelpanther
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 9:02pm
  Pretty much right, even Civ 4 has environmentalism as a civic. This isn’t really anything knew for empire sims sadly.
  
  And the Digital rights issue isn’t new either, just look up Steam. The stuff has ruined computer gaming completely, and I certainly can’t afford to buy a new console every 6 months when the cheap things break, and have low quality gameplay and graphics(latter isn’t all that important to me.)
  
  But, the DRM issue stems from the fact that the Feds have declared it illegal to resale software. Which is crap.
  
  Report this comment
Orphea333
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 5:12pm
I’ve been a simmer for many years (Sims 2, then 3, many expansion packs, etc.). And I played SimCity 4/Societies/RushHour before I went Mac instead of PC a couple of years ago. The same kind of “nudge” toward the environmental agenda existed in SimCity 4, especially with the energy production sector. These games are a lot of fun if you like urban planning, building and designing houses, etc. There’s a creative and strategic element that’s a kick for certain people, which makes it easy to overlook the eco assumptions built into the game–I just ignored it the same way I ignore those elements in most of mainstream culture. However, political correctness and left-wing bias is not the producers’ only problem. Users also should be aware any game put out by EA is rife with a massive number of technical bugs that, after a while, tend to make the games virtually unplayable. EA has the WORST customer service and, once they have your money, they just don’t care about fixing their product. In short, EA is not a good company. In fact, they were literally voted the Worst Company in America by Consumerist in April of last year, over the likes of Bank of America. EA sucks. Bad press is the least of what they deserve. Needless to say, I’m spending my money elsewhere these days.

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Dr.Fez
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 5:07pm
I would just built a sprawling, well-groomed city, put in a couple of nuclear plants, and set fire to them. Or, throw in a couple of tornadoes, meteors, and robot attacks.

SC4 is where I stopped.

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LandsAndGrooves
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:46pm
All the SimCity games have favored environmentalism. Nothing new here. I am sticking with SC4 – I just build the power plants and garbage dumps in the neighboring city and do a city deal to pay for their services. Keeps my city clean and green!

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Free_Thought
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:40pm
Does the blaze know how to post a headline for an article without a question mark?

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FeliciaJewel
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:33pm
Can’t I play a game and not feel like I am watching politics? Every show I watch, every channel I flip by, shows the crazies with propaganda and now my games????? Nudge, push, shove!

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- dndcrazy
  Posted on March 14, 2013 at 7:50am
  Agree 100% Yea, I bet the Simcity devs were thinking about Agenda 21 when the made this game lol. It’s just a game.
  
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Locked
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:21pm
I played Sim City 2000 years ago, and environmentalism was still a part of the game back then. Even the “cleanest” power plants needs to be rebuilt every 50 years; but hydroelectric and wind power plants never needed to be rebuilt and made no pollution. Granted, you also needed a ton of them to power a city. And solar power was next to useless, as it only worked half the time and also fell apart after 50 years.

Also, I seem to recall that once you built a bunch of futuristic domes, they would all launch into space when your city became too polluted.

Hmmm, wonder if I still have that game disc stuffed away somewhere…

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Two Sheds
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:21pm
Sim City 2000 was the best. Wonder if they have a ‘Big City Democrat’ version where everyone gets shot and corruption is key.

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- DissenterKnight
  Posted on March 14, 2013 at 10:51am
  That’s in the “Kwame Kilpatrick DLC”, being released in April… of 2033…
  
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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:15pm
Skyrim or bust. Now there’s a game where YOU the individual control YOUR “life” and accept both rewards and consequences for YOUR actions alone. Plus it’s right purty. :)

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- Locked
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:51pm
  That sounds like a good choice, Jefferson! I have some nephews who love that game.
  
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- mastice
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 5:59pm
  Oh that just get’s better… you will condone games like this but promote games like Skyrim? (wow)
  
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OniKaze
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:14pm
Quick question friends…

I LOVE Simcity 4 (made in 2003)… Was there a game between that and this new heap of garbage??

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- mastice
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 6:04pm
  >>I LOVE Simcity 4 (made in 2003)… Was there a game between that and this new heap of garbage??<<
  
  Yes, there was a game called Sim City Societies, developed by Tilted Mill instead of Maxis. (it wasn't well received – I never played it because it moved away from some of the core Sim City functions and went more towards social planning)
  
  Report this comment
- dndcrazy
  Posted on March 14, 2013 at 7:51am
  You could try Cities XL. It’s really not a bad game.
  
  Report this comment
YourVoiceMatters
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:09pm
I have all of the sim cities for the record…but this one i will not purchase….i am tired of all the agenda pushing…they do it in the sim3 too…why buy that crap! I think it is bogus in real life…so you think i will buy it in artificial life….I vote with my $$$$’s and common sense! What everybody else does is their business…but i do not swallow all that hogwash, it is only done to regulate your life more and more! Screw that! and EA

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- Devout Infidel
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:13pm
  But, but…. this is Mayor Bloomberg approved!
  
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- Free_Thought
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:48pm
  The pettiness of the right is getting worse and worse. Yes boycott the game because part o te play is building an environmentally city. What the heck do you want? Your city tonlook like beijing? Grow up. The right are becoming more pathetic daily. What a joke.
  
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- Devout Infidel
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 5:39pm
  @Free_Thought Please. Your pettiness from the progressive, communist left is very real. You live in a country that (while currently under siege from progressives as yourself), will never fall to your ideals. Those petty Americans on the right who believe and live the constitution have had enough of these daily attacks. Yes, this simply game is yet another affront to the American ideal and your ilk is being called out for it. I am not at all sorry that this strikes a nerve. KMA! Venezuela is currently in a power vacuum, go apply/move their. Your thoughts and very embodiment will be championed.
  
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wilbstal
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:01pm
get an Army and attack simcity blow it all to hell end of game. Life is simple if you think about it

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KingDork
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 3:58pm
It is also a really bad game too. They put all this junk in it to punish paying customers and the game itself is only a partial game with full intent of pushing mediocre content for more real money. Most EA games are like this and tend to be hyped up junk. Though thinking about it, this is a total comparison of what a gov game would be… pushing an agenda or two, slapping a high price on it. Withheld a ton of content so you can buy it for another high price. While being a poorly made game. Except the gov would try to force you to buy it….

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Al J Zira
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 3:56pm
Sims has been like that for years already, where have you been?

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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 3:50pm
Of course they are, duh. And think about it folks, it is a game about you, personally, building a city and micromanaging every single person’s life. These kinds of games (especially the Sim City/Civ types) are a control freak statist’s wet dream. Some resource games are good, if you assume a non-free framework, such as a military command (Starcraft) or what have you, but the Sim-series is built on the assumption that you are the God that all must answer to and that all decisions must come from a central authority that knows all and must be obeyed.

Hate the Sim-series types games, always have. Yuck.

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- mastice
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 5:58pm
  So what makes games like this *bad* is the fact that you control the game like *God*… even though there is little (to no) violence, blood, gore, cussing, sex, etc.
  
  Guess a good old family oriented game of San Andreas is just better all around right? (sarcasm btw)
  
  Report this comment
Politijack
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 3:47pm
Im an avid gamer both computer and Board/Tabletop gaming,been at it since i was a kid some 40 years back:)

I hadnt played any of the sims games for several years but after seeing some screen shots for the upcoming Simcity remake got me stoked so I preordered and hopped in ..well tried to get in that is.

Now on to my main comment.Simcity is really no different than many “New Release” online games out there as in its not unusual at all for the initial rush to overun the servers and put it out of action for several days.The only stupid ass part about that with SimCity is why in the he11 did they even require an online connection to play the game in the first place…this is a major problem in itself with alot of newer computer games that in the past have been mainly offline/solo games or used a server selection screen for optional online play.Seems like the “online option’ will no longer be there.Online play is becoming mandatory..kinda scary really.

As for the enviro slant to it.Yeah I would have to say that it is looking that way.Just the other day I was starting a new town(the original one I started got bugged up with all their release bugs so I couldnt reload it)and it wasnt very long at all that I was getting polution warnings from the ONE factory my little town had going.Also I started with a wind power plant to start with,knowing from past experience that the coal plant gives ya just about instant pollution warnings,lol.

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- YourVoiceMatters
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 4:24pm
  watch too how many computers you can put the game on as well and
  there will be a bizzillion updates and upgrades of the game & loader too
  so be prepared…
  unless you can play the game offline
  that may be the way to go!
  Me ~ i opted out this time around…i saw the trend in the TS3 game.. I do not know why they feel they have to bring all this crap (this political crap ) into a game…it is an escape for all the crap we are living in ~ so i am gonna go into a game with the same kinda crap to remind me of the he!! we are slogging through at this moment in time? i am done with hearing about it ….and i will keep my money in my pocket! all the same….wish more people would do the same…maybe we would see some imagination again in the games they are producing these days…really sad compared to what it used to be (better graphics these days not so much on content tho…) Used to buy games every week…now they are all the same…like everything else in the country these days….
  
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Halgar
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 3:36pm
Apparently they were more focused on green nonsense than making a proper game. I was looking forward to this game, despite the politically correct nonsense… but there are huge flaws with the design, particularly when it comes to pathing.

For example, traffic will follow the shortest route, even if that route is a small local road backed up for miles, while not a single car will take the quicker but longer route over the high capacity bypass road.

Citizens wander aimlessly most times, they go to sleep in the first house they come to rather than their own house… same with jobs. A citizen that starts off walking, say across a residential street to a park, will continue to keep walking, ignoring all other modes of transportation (including the green mass transit) even if his new destination is on the other side of the city.

Basically this game is trash covered up by some nice graphics and a green label.

So glad I didn’t pre-order it.

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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on March 13, 2013 at 3:34pm
Hey- I’m all for the environment. What I have found though is that it’s always the entitled type (Democrats) that are throwing beer cans, general trash and used oil into my beautiful Lake i live on. They could not care less about the environment. Algore could not care less about the environment. obama gallavanting around our corporate jet, leaving the oval office at 80 degrees could not care less about the environment. They exploit the environment for socialistic regulatory law making. They fool no one. They are the danger to the environment.

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- Free_Thought
  Posted on March 13, 2013 at 5:51pm
  Yeah because romney, cheney, bush, trump, koch brothers, murdock, ailes, hannity, gingrich, et al are definitely not the entitled crowd. And none of them have had their hand in proposing a repealing of the EPA. Jesus christ man. Dont be so thick
  
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