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SimCity Coming to iPhone in December for $9.99

posted November 19th, 2008 7:00 PM EST by Blake Patterson in $9.99, iPhone games, iPod touch games, Simulation, Upcoming Games


PC version screen

"SimCity for the iPhone may ruin my life (in a good way)."  So says MG Seigler of VentureBeat.  He had a chance to spend some time with Electronic Arts' upcoming iPhone version of its hugely popular city-building simulation game.

He liked what he saw.

I got a chance to play a near-complete version of it today; it looks great. Fans of the series will recognize the SimCity 3000 look and feel, but the addition of touch screen controls makes sense for things like zoning (creating a certain type of building zone). Using the multi-touch capabilities of the iPhone to do things like zooming in and out of your city also makes the game a good fit for the device.

Siegler points out that the iPhone demo exhibited loading time issues, but EA indicates they'll be ironed out by launch.

SimCity for the iPhone is expected to make its App Store debut in December for $9.99.

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  • Snow Mani

    So will this be a "full" version or a cutdown version like Spore? And will it be available outside of the US iTunes store (unlike some of the EA titles)?

  • http://sidearmdesign.com Karl Peterson

    Simcity is still one of my all-time favorite games. Can't wait to have it on the iPhone. I've been pretty disappointed with the replay value most of the games for iPhone. Hopefully this game will change that.

  • mek

    @snow mani

    given EA's track record..I wouldn't expect it in the UK store at launch..but eventually..but that is just from what they have done with their other games

    looking forward to this..

  • sam

    Ok.. it _looks_ good, BUT: The problem with detailed games is, well, the finger. We humans have fingers, not tiny pointers that are a millimeter across. Some simulation games I've seen are just impossible to play with a touch screen. There can only be a certain level of detail before it goes beyond 'fun' and becomes frustrating.

  • http://www.appbank.net/2008/11/20/iphone-news/2273.php 今日のiPhoneニュース斜め読み的なコーナーを設けることにしました。2008/11/20 ver 1.1 : iPhone AppBank

    [...] SimCity for the iPhone may ruin my life (in a good way) » VentureBeat [via: Touch Arcade]iPhone [...]

  • applesauce25r624

    i wish it was just simcity 1

    this will be fun as crap, though ^_^V <3

  • http://www.twiddlegeek.com Tony

    I love Sim City, but I've got to see how well the interface will work with touch controls before I buy.

  • http://www.3Dave.com 3Dave

    sam, I think that's a PC screen shown in the article. Anyone have any actual iPhone screens?

  • http://www.blakespot.com blakespot

    Have a look at SimCity DS - also an adaptation of SimCity 3000.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IUBQpEfcHA

  • http://forums.mactalk.com.au/56/59779-sim-city-comes-iphone-3.html#post693208 Sim City comes to iphone! - Page 3 - MacTalk Forums

    [...] this. I couldn't help but chuckle actually - as I saw then, I popped up my RSS reader and saw this on Touch Arcade. In short - in the next month or so, and for $9.99 US. I've still got my fingers [...]

  • Joe

    Where is Monopoly??

  • hkiphone

    Blakespot,
    The video for SimCityDS looks good but you can see alot of the gameplay centres on very fine controls like picking out humans being abducted, and I would imagine alot of sliders to configure tax rates, police budget, etc. These can easily be done with a stylus, but iPhone requires fingers (unless you bought one of those special stylii that does work only for iPhone/ipod, which isn't many of us)
    Also, anyone worried like me about how much computational power this is going to need and how quickly it'll drain off the batteries?? We don't have a Apple Store in HK and thus replacing the internal batteries will not be an option. :(

  • http://www.connect.de/connect-Forum/apple-iphone/5404-tips-software-fa-rs-iphone-5.html#post31492 Tips: Software fürs iPhone - Seite 5 - connect

    [...] Startlöchern: Sim City auf dem iPhone. Touch Arcade hat schon mal einen Blick hineingeworfen: SimCity Coming to iPhone in December for $9.99 | Touch Arcade Almi [...]

  • Oliver

    Sim City DS is unplayable crap. I bought it and returned it to the store after a few hours. The graphics are ugly as hell, scrolling completely undoable, it laaaaags and every 5 minutes some people come in and tell you what to do. It hated it. I never was so disappointed with a game.

  • Rob

    Oh, this had better come out in the UK. This is my single most anticipated app for the iPhone ever, I can't wait.

  • http://www.chelleburt.com/wordpress/?p=328 Freeing My Inner Genius » Archive » My God Complex Goes Mobile

    [...] Last Christmas, Todd bought me my iPhone. Not since my kitty Abbey have I adored a gift quite like I adore my iPhone (don’t worry Abbey, you’re still my very favorite gift!) This December, my phone will be the ultimate gadget, as SimCity is released as an iPhone app. [...]

  • Anthony

    I hope it's not the same as the DS version. I too purchased it and returned it a week later.

  • http://www.katiebauer.com/itpblog/?p=501 Outerspace/ Innerspace » Blog Archive » great. now i *have* to get an iPhone!

    [...] “’SimCity for the iPhone may ruin my life (in a good way).’  So says MG Seigler of VentureBeat.  He had a chance to spend some time with Electronic Arts’ upcoming iPhone version of its hugely popular city-building simulation game.” view article [...]

  • 1337brian

    if it's anything like simcity DS it wont be worth more than a $1 for me

  • Brad

    I'm gonna have to get this game just for the nostalgia value. While I've played both SimCity 2000 and SimCity 4 (and still play SimCity 4 occasionally), SimCity 3000 is the game that first got me into the series (and simulation games in general), and I spent a lot of my childhood playing this game. And I'm always a sucker for stuff that reminds me of my childhood.

    I just hope the game works well (controls, stability, etc.).

  • effzehn

    @Joe:

    I double that. EA said it's supposed to come this month and I am checking TA every day (okay, I am checking it daily, anyway).

  • http://www.freewebs.com/iphoneipodtouchapps Blake

    Now, I think THIS is a game for my iPhone I would pay $10 for. :-)

  • Ahiru

    can't wait!

  • http://foro.applesana.es/68/16619/simcity-iphone-diciembre.html SimCity para iPhone en Diciembre

    [...Como me alegra leer noticias asi en oucharcade, espero que sea verdad y en Diciembre tendremos juegos como SimCity en iPhone..]

  • 1337brian

    Ok it's December where is it??? *Frothing @ Mouth*

  • Jason

    I got the sim city game yesterday but it never asked me to pay for it. How do I pay for it?


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