If Uncle John were to create a simulated house, there’d be a bathroom in every room—even in the closets. And, of course, every bathroom would have a bookshelf.
DIGITAL REALITY
What’s the bestselling computer game of all time? Is it a wild car-chase game? An auto theft game? A bullet-ridden blood-and-guts game? Guess again—it’s The Sims, where players build a home, create a family, and design a neighborhood.
Players control the digital people and get them to do exciting things like take out the garbage, go to work, or make new friends. They marry other Sim people and even have Sim babies. The goal: To simulate life and build a healthy, sane world.
MEET MR. WRIGHT
And who came up with this brilliant idea? A guy named Will Wright. Wright has been creating simulations ever since he was a kid. He started out playing with model ships and airplanes and then got into computers so he could build robots.
The first computer game Wright designed was a helicopter action game called Raid on Bungeling Bay. That was in 1984. He discovered he had more fun building the levels for Bungeling Bay than flying the helicopters. That gave him the idea for SimCity, his first Sim game.
He spent two years trying to sell the idea for SimCity—The City Simulator, without success. So Wright and a partner, Jeff Braun, formed their own company, Maxis, and built SimCity in 1989. It was so successful that Wright followed up with SimEarth, SimAnt, and Sim-Copter. The Sims appeared in 2000 and with all of its expansion packs has sold 18 million copies to date.
Now, with Sims Online, practically everyone can play it—and can play together. Your digital family can interact with other digital families online. Wright says, “There’s a lot more of SimCity in this game than Sims. Instead of playing in a small neighborhood of about 10 houses, you’re playing in a large city of around 30,000 and building an entire city—kind of a collaboration with everyone. You can form businesses or a household with other players.”
HOW A GAME DESIGNER RELAXES
What does Will Wright do with his time? Besides working on more Sims creations, he surfs the fan sites every day and downloads cool things that Sim-maniacs have created. “It’s really ironic,” he says. “Now it’s the fans out there who are entertaining us, the developers, with their creations.”
Wright feels that playing games is not just for kids, it’s for everyone. He rides around his office on an electric scooter, still builds robots and, along with his daughter, Cassidy, is a frequent competitor in TV’s BattleBots tournaments.
Avoid the stairs: Mt. Everest is as high as 20 Empire State Buildings.