Will Wright, the creator of the Simcity series and one of the most respected video game designers in the industry, recently spoke to GamesIndustry International to discuss his feelings about the latest Simcity's launch (which he was not apart of), as well as DRM in general.
Simcity released in a disastrous fashion, as the game's always online internet requirement forced players to flood the servers and essentially shut down the game while EA scrambled to get the game in working order. Wright spoke about the launch, and how he understands the anger that arose from it:
"I could have predicted - I kind of did predict there'd be a big backlash about the DRM stuff. It's a good game; I enjoy playing it a lot..It was kind of like, 'EA is the evil empire, there was a lot of 'Let's bash EA over it,' That was basically inexcusable, that you charge somebody $60 for a game and they can't play it. I can understand the outrage. If I was a consumer buying the game and that happened to me, I'd feel the same."
When asked about the rumors that the next-gen Xbox would always be online, Wright compared it to Simcity, and the stigma that is attached to a game that is always online.
" ...I think there are some very valid concerns about it. Also there's a perception; I don't expect to play World of Warcraft on the airplane, because my perception is it has to be on the 'Net. Sim City was in this very uncomfortable space, like the uncanny valley, almost; [it was caught] between was it a single player game or was it a multiplayer game?"
Wright no longer works for Maxis, the studio that crafted many of his ideas into reality, such as The Sims, Spore, and SimCity. The legendary developer now has a company known as Stupid Fun Club.
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