• On GameFAQs: Is it OK to lay my Wii down on its side?
December 18, 2008 7:10 AM PST

'SimCity' arrives on the iPhone

by Jonathan Skillings

To the stable of games for the iPhone, you can now add the legendary SimCity.

Electronic Arts' city-building game, priced at $9.99, is now available for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Users can take advantage of the touch-screen technology to design and construct their vision of an urban landscape.

SimCity on the iPhone

SimCity on the iPhone.

(Credit: EA Mobile, via Apple's App Store)

MG Siegler at VentureBeat, who's had a chance to play with the game for a while, waxed enthusiastic about the touch-screen qualities and more--"SimCity is a very impressive game on the iPhone"--but warned of some lingering bugs from the game's demo period:

While some of those issues have been fixed--the game runs fairly snappy now, when loaded--I'm experiencing the game crashing and a slowdown in actions like zooming. From the early reviews I'm seeing on SimCity's App Store page, I'm not alone in experiencing this.

And unfortunately, loading even the more bare-bones previously saved city takes a long time (I'm talking minutes). Maybe for some, that will just add to the nostalgic experience--I remember this was an issue on my old PC back in the day as well. For others, it'll be annoying.

Jonathan Skillings is managing editor of CNET News, based in the Boston bureau. He's been with CNET since 2000, after a decade in tech journalism at the IDG News Service, PC Week, and an AS/400 magazine. He's also been a soldier and a schoolteacher. E-mail Jon.
Recent posts from Crave
Beamer, the iPhone case for night owls
This week in Crave: Day of the Droid edition
Verizon's LG Chocolate Touch is nice but nothing new
Popular iPhone movie app flops on BlackBerry
Top 5 most popular products for November
Ridiculous new Peeks inspired by TwitterPeek
Hands-on with the Nokia Booklet 3G
Battle of the international power plugs
Add a Comment (Log in or register) (13 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
by sanenazok December 18, 2008 7:59 AM PST
Too bad they used the graphics from Sim City 3000, guess it's the best that could be done on the platform.
Reply to this comment
by paulsecic December 18, 2008 9:45 AM PST
Isn't the Iphone a bit small for a game like Sim anything?
by D3vildog699 December 28, 2008 3:14 PM PST
I think THE SIMS 2 could be done, i have it on my Behold, and its fun, but needs a bigger screen... bam iphone.. i hate the iphone, but i see that it would work better on it than my behold.
by Andres_A December 18, 2008 8:41 AM PST
I would think Sim City 4 would be way too big of a game for the app store, 3000 was a good choice to make for the iphone, and it also is easier to use than 4 on PC in my opinion since I have both.
Reply to this comment
by infernalman7 December 18, 2008 9:12 AM PST
Tried it... well it doesn't keep me occupied like Fieldrunners does.
Reply to this comment
by moretroops December 18, 2008 11:09 AM PST
Fieldrunners is about to get me fired from my job. Reedik.
by sting7k December 18, 2008 10:43 AM PST
I'm not even sure they should have used Sim City 3000, maybe 2000 would run better on the iPhone. Still I'll probably give it a spin, I think 3000 was my favorite one and I still play it on my PC from time to time when I'm bored of other games.
Reply to this comment
by play7 December 20, 2008 5:07 PM PST
What worse is a game called Second Life........THat is being played on Cellphones ( or said to be world wide ) .But But really its not possible or true. The "SIMS" atleast has some possiblities unliek the Linden Lab BS
by zcollvee December 19, 2008 12:23 AM PST
Sim City is probably the best time waster I've seen around. I could play it for hours!
And now that its on the ipod/iphone it would be even better.
Reply to this comment
by h--dawg December 19, 2008 12:12 PM PST
I'd love for them to make a Sims game.
Reply to this comment
by Waam December 20, 2008 9:51 PM PST
9.99 is totally an impulse buy for a quality name title like Sim City.
Reply to this comment
by hellmalm December 31, 2008 4:37 PM PST
Simcity is super on the iPhone, I think it's even better then on a regular computer.
Have had it since it was released and I really love it.
Reply to this comment
by someguynamedbob January 5, 2009 7:12 AM PST
sim city 3000 kicked ass!
Reply to this comment
(13 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
advertisement

About Crave

The name says it all. Crave is our blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. If you would like to contact Crave with a tip or comment, please write to: crave@cnet.com

Add this feed to your online news reader

Crave topics

FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade

Readers still have lots of questions on just which version of the software they need to buy in order to upgrade their PC. CNET News tries to offer some answers.

N.Y. lawsuit details Intel's 'largesse' toward Dell

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's federal antitrust case filed Wednesday alleges a longstanding symbiotic relationship between Intel and Dell.