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SimCity comes to the iPhone

by Megan Lavey-Heaton Dec 17th 2008 at 11:20AM


Electronic Arts has released a version of its famous SimCity game for the iPhone. SimCity now joins other EA-released games such as Spore, Scrabble, Monopoly and Tetris.

SimCity is the gateway drug into the Sims universe. Created by Will Wright and originally released for the Mac and Amiga in 1989, the game gives you the ability to create your own city. You're suddenly the mayor, City Council, zoning commission, public works department and school board all at the same time. You can craft a small town with a bunch of farms surrounding it, or your own Metropolis or Gotham City (sadly without associated super heroes). You also have the power to destroy your creations through UFO attack, tornado, fire, earthquake or toxic cloud.

SimCity (link opens iTunes) is now available for $9.99USD through the App Store. A full review of this game is forthcoming!

Thanks to all those who submitted this tip!



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Electronic Arts has released a version of its famous SimCity game for the iPhone. SimCity now joins other EA-released games such as...
 

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Jesse

Cannot get the water to start flowing ... anybody know it this is a glitch?

December 23 2008 at 1:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
George

So pissed off! This doesn't run at all on my 3G fully up to date phone. It opens at the Sim City splash screen, then goes right back to the home screen. I rebooted, did a hard reset, uninstalled/reinstalled, etc. NOTHING. I can't believe this.

December 19 2008 at 3:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to George's comment
Justin

Yeah, i crash after the splash screen everytime, even with that game Rolando. I tried rebooting the phone (home+sleep button), turning it off regularly, reinstalling, recharging it. Its on latest 2.2, unjailbroken phone.

This is silly. i can run other games (fieldrunners)

Any other suggestions?

December 20 2008 at 8:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ted Severe

Same thing happening to me. Anyone? Please?

January 27 2009 at 5:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ed

No words can describe my disappointment...

"The item you've requested is not currently available in the UK Store"

...this is just sad, seriously. I can't even bother complaining further.

December 18 2008 at 2:13 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kyle Derouen

Crashed twice when building roads, but I didn't restart. I'll try that, hopefully it'll help. This and spore are my only 'big' games.

December 17 2008 at 6:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ty

Hmmmm, first time I've had an issue with an app. Downloaded it via wifi, then turned iPhone off and restarted. When I touch Simcity, the logo appears for a few seconds and then goes back to the iPhone menu. Turn off phone a few more times, but still happening.

Any suggestions?

December 17 2008 at 6:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Ty's comment
Steve

You really need to do a re-boot. It will de-fragment memory and then the next time you launch Sim City (I suggest you do that first) it will work fine.

To re-boot, simultaneously hold the round button on the front bottom of the iPhone and press-in the top button. Hold them both down even past when the iPhone asks if you want to Power Down. Ignore the power down request and then when you see the screen blank again, let go of the buttons. You will see the white Apple logo. Wait for the phone to come back on-line and then run Sim City. It works great.

December 17 2008 at 9:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joe Stebbins

Under the "parks" setting there are both English and Spanish language listings. Do I need to learn Spanish to play this game? lol

December 17 2008 at 4:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Joe Stebbins's comment
bendem

Tú necessitas.. :P

I just downloaded SimCity. Just gotta wait a few days until Christmas until I get my iPod Touch. The Sims 3 is coming to the iPhone too, but it will most likely be watered down.

December 17 2008 at 5:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
heytpn

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR MONTHS TO GET THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW IT IS. IT LOOKS AWESOME, CAN'T WAIT!!!

December 17 2008 at 4:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
steve

Quick Review after about 30 minutes in:

- It's Simcity 3000 on the iPhone. A full, faithful port for the most part. Not a watered down version. Electric grid, water system, schools, 3 zoning densities, traffic/crime/density/land value overlays, underground view, you name it, it's probably there.

- Terrain is always flat, which is a bit odd but makes building and zoning a lot easier.

- Controls are good, and a confirm system helps prevent placing something where you really didn't mean to place it.

- Stable so far for me.

- Terrain generator allows you to set % water and trees, although neither seems to work all that well as far as I can tell.

- All the budgeting, ordinances, and advisors that you remember from SC3K return.

All in all, it's a great iPhone game. Simcity fans will love it.

December 17 2008 at 2:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to steve's comment
cupit

On my initial run I found everything to work great. I rebooted right after I downloaded, and never had any problems... until I tried to load a saved game.

I bought the game yesterday, played for a while, saved the city, and exited the game. When I tried to reload it today the footprint and all the stats (time, money, population) were the same, but 70% or more of my actual buildings were just gone. No power, no water, no police, no fire, etc. The terrain still showed the zoning for everything and the spots where city services were placed but the buildings were just gone. The second the game was "un-paused" the pop shot down 50k (because the housing was suddenly non-existent).

I'm fairly sure this is an actual glitch in the game and not with the iphone. Has anyone else experienced this?

December 18 2008 at 10:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
caleb

Yes! One step closer to seeing Starcraft on the iPhone/Touch.

December 17 2008 at 1:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alexander

It is in all these international stores, but it's a different version... Just search for "simcity" on the app store... (at least that's what did work in the Dutch store)

December 17 2008 at 1:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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