Global Warming an Inconvenient Truth in SimCity
Carbon emitting energy will cause climate change in latest city-builder.
By Kris Pigna, 10/10/2007
Natural disasters have always been a part of the SimCity series, but now the latest entry will tackle what a majority of scientific research says is a growing cause: climate change. Electronic Arts has announced they've partnered with British energy company BP to include climate change education in SimCity Societies.
The game won't force any particular type of energy to power your cities, but offer various choices with realistic costs and benefits. If you use cheap sources of energy with high levels of carbon dioxide emission, you'll save money but your carbon rating will rise. If it reaches a critical level, your city will be at a high risk of natural disasters, such as droughts and heat waves. Or, you could go green with a variety of BP-branded alternative energy sources with lower carbon emissions, but they'll be more expensive and produce less power.
"With SimCity Societies, we have the opportunity not only to demonstrate some of the causes and effects of global warming, but also to educate players how seemingly small choices can have a big global impact," said Steve Seabolt, VP of Global Brand Development for The Sims Label at EA. "BP was one of the first major energy companies to publicly acknowledge the need to reduce carbon emissions and begin taking precautionary measures. As such, they are the perfect partner to help educate people on this important social issue in SimCity Societies."
Adding to the edutainment will be snippets of real-world facts regarding climate change and energy consumption that will help inform players of the dangers, both in-game and in reality. Now you should go ahead and inform yourself on SimCity Societies by reading our recent hands-on preview.
SimCity Societies ships on November 15.
This is nothing new. I've read reviews of earlier versions of Sim City games, which mention that if you for example build nuclear power plants, you have to check them regularly. If you don't, they may blow up and cause radiation over large areas of your simulated city.
