SimCity jumps on bandwagon, preaches about global warming

[Icarusintel]

... or is that "climate change" now?

"Since their inception in 1989, SimCity games have served as excellent creative and educational tools to convey complex subjects. 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, Vice President 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."

The game does not force players to power their cities any specific way, but allows them to make choices, each of which come with advantages and disadvantages. Similar to real-life, the least expensive and most readily-available buildings in SimCity Societies are also the biggest producers of carbon dioxide, an invisible gas that contributes to global warming. Should players choose to build cities dependent on these types of sources for power to conserve their in-game money, their carbon ratings will rise and, at reaching critical levels, the game will issue alerts about the threat of the various natural disasters like droughts, heat waves and others that may strike their cities.

Alternatively, players can strive to create a greener environment and avoid hazards caused by excessive carbon emissions by choosing from a variety of BP Alternative Energy low-carbon power options. Using hydrogen and natural gas plants to wind farms and solar power, SimCity Societies encourages people to learn about some of the causes and consequences of global warming in an engaging, educational and meaningful way. While these power sources maintain nearby property values and keep the cities' citizens safer from disaster, they also mimic real-life in that they cost players more of their funds, and do not produce as much power as less green options that take up similar space. Informative real-world snippets about power production and conservation will also be available in-game, informing players of global warming issues both virtually and in reality.

"The time was right for this partnership. EA was developing the next iteration of the SimCity series at the same time that we were looking for opportunities to raise awareness about low-carbon power choices," said Carol Battershell, Vice President, BP Alternative Energy. "EA has a powerful reach to the next generation and BP has a suite of low-carbon power alternatives. In our collaboration through this innovative game, we can provide education on the issues surrounding climate change, its association with carbon emissions and the ability to take early positive action through low-carbon power choices."

I'm glad the developers care about the environment, but I'm rather put-off that it's featured in the game as it is. They should feature a toggle button for those of us who aren't convinced that mankind is the sole perpetrator of global climate change or that climate change is even really happening.

 

[No Limit]

If you aren't convinced yet that we are a major contributor to the problem then I don't think science could do much more for you. Do you still live in the mind state that the earth is flat?

This is kind of funny though, an energy company demonstrating what effect energy has on our climate. This should be totally fair and balanced, thanks EA.

 

[Icarusintel]

If you aren't convinced yet that we are a major contributor to the problem then I don't think science could do much more for you. Do you still live in the mind state that the earth is flat?

This is kind of funny though, an energy company demonstrating what effect energy has on our climate. This should be totally fair and balanced, thanks EA.

I certainly believe we're destroying the environment, but I've seen too much conflicting evidence to believe we're the main reason for any sort of global warming.

Maybe some of the profits from this will go towards ethanol, since we all know that's the smart gasoline alternative :upstare:

 

[CptStern]

heh somehow somewhere I think at some point there'll be a group of holdouts sitting atop the tallest building watching as the giant wave rushes towards them ..one will inevitably say "shit maybe they were right about this global warming thing"

 

[Icarusintel]

heh somehow somewhere I think at some point there'll be a group of holdouts sitting atop the tallest building watching as the giant wave rushes towards them ..one will inevitably say "shit manybe they were right about this global warming thing"

Then they didn't deserve to be up there in the first place. We have no room for wishy washy types.

 

[CptStern]

well personally I'd prefer we give them boat anchors and toss them in the river before all of this ..but, you know ...there's those stupid laws interfering with my amusement again

 

[Icarusintel]

well personally I'd prefer we give them boat anchors and toss them in the river before all of this ..but, you know ...there's those stupid laws interfering with my amusement again

A little bit of healthy debate keeps the lunatics from taking over. Well, at least hopefully it does. Though, from history that seems to not be the case at all. At least it leaves someone around to say "I told you so."

 

[CptStern]

can we combine the two and just say "I told you so" as we throw them boat anchors instead of flotation devices?

 

[No Limit]

I certainly believe we're destroying the environment, but I've seen too much conflicting evidence to believe we're the main reason for any sort of global warming.

Maybe some of the profits from this will go towards ethanol, since we all know that's the smart gasoline alternative :upstare:

If you believe there is conflicting evidance you haven't done enough research. See where that conflicting evidance is coming from and then get back to me.

There is conflicting evidance that smoking causes cancer, but that doesn't mean much when that conflicting evidance comes from tobacco companies. That's why I find this kind of amusing, you are giving a company with the arguably the worst eviromental record of all time access to such a huge medium to demonstrate how clean their energy is. Unfortuneately I'll still be buying this game, its like crack to me.

 

[Icarusintel]

can we combine the two and just say "I told you so" as we throw them boat anchors instead of flotation devices?

Oh, Stern. I'll be the one laughing when we find out what's going on is actually good and perfectly normal for the earth. :thumbs:


That, and I'll make a killing off of abandoned beachfront property.

EDIT:

If you believe there is conflicting evidance you haven't done enough research. See where that conflicting evidance is coming from and then get back to me.

There is conflicting evidance that smoking causes cancer, but that doesn't mean much when that conflicting evidance comes from tobacco companies. That's why I find this kind of amusing, you are giving a company with the arguably the worst eviromental record of all time access to such a huge medium to demonstrate how clean their energy is. Unfortuneately I'll still be buying this game, its like crack to me.

Oh, I'll buy it too, since I love SimCity games.

So, where is the ultimate, damning evidence that shows mankind is to blame? I'd honestly love to see it. Really, I'm open to believing it, I just haven't seen anything that has made me believe it. I did for a little while, but I'm trying to take a jury's point of view. If there's reasonable doubt, then you shouldn't be giving a guilty verdict.

 

[CptStern]

oh you're such a killjoy .."boat anchors for teh stupids" will be my new motto

 

[No Limit]

So, where is the ultimate, damning evidence that shows mankind is to blame? I'd honestly love to see it. Really, I'm open to believing it, I just haven't seen anything that has made me believe it. I did for a little while, but I'm trying to take a jury's point of view. If there's reasonable doubt, then you shouldn't be giving a guilty verdict.

Its all over the place. Start off on wikipedia and the scientific concensus that there is on global warming. You will find that the only research that disagrees that we contribute to the problem came from the oil lobby. And we really can't afford to play this like it were a trial by jury in this country. As we saw the jury in this country doesn't work too well sometimes. I think we should stick to common sense and science instead.

 

[Ridge]

Scientists say that the oxygen levels on Earth today are the highest its been since the planet's creation...

 

[No Limit]

Scientists say that the oxygen levels on Earth today are the highest its been since the planet's creation...

:|

.....

 

[Jintor]

I just hope SimCity 5 won't take shitloads of system resources like SimCity 4 did.

 

[Kyorisu]

Well I wasn't going to buy this version of SimCity anyway because I thought it was a load of crap. Now I know it actually is a load of crap.