The Story of SimCity - How Will Wright Created a Phenomenon | Kim Justice

[@Kim_Justice]

What are your memories of being captured by SimCity? Thanks, and hope you enjoy the vid -- it's been a good while in the making! :)

[@thepavl]

I remember my self playing sim city on a 286/20 pc in my fathers office. I was ten years old in 1991 and I was enthralled but I didn’t actually understand what I was doing on. I really played the game in sim city 2000 on my 486/40. It quicklybecame one of my all time favourites and I was trying to beat the various campaigns it had (I remember the rebuilding of Oakland after a fire).

[@markveganism5003]

Me and my mate made Birmingham, on atari st

[@bujler]

Great video. First had it on the Speccy. Friend had it on the Amiga, but he didn't have the copy protection, just he just go earthquakes all the time.

[@nialllappin4159]

@@Funknutz420024 He sounds like a good guy

[@annapocalypsezero4719]

I saw it first on a atari computer was like wow a city builder on a computer?! I know it seems no big deal now but at the time it really was something different. After that I wanted more and played every follow up till EA ruined it pretty much.

[@LGR]

This was fantastic, that hour really flew on by. You covered all of the story that I expected -- and tons that I'd never heard before! Awesome work, Kim 👍

[@NeilRoy]

Agreed, I was glued to the video the whole time. It was very well put together.

[@explodingmonad4535]

I love that you are as much of a connoisseur as us other viewers and you are watching Kim's channel. When I found Kim's channel I saw so much talent in her and that was at perhaps 20-30k subscribers. I thought the channel would blow up, but I guess life in all its complexity is not that easy. And Kim (and LGR), love your content.

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

If you didn't read it in Duke Nukems voice; do you even LGR?!

[@fredo1070]

Memories of playing SNES SimCity in the 90s and realising it was dawn.

[@CraigRobinson1979]

100% my early teens.

[@huhabab]

Sim City played such a huge role in my life, unlike any other game. Even when I couldn't play the game I somehow played it. From drawing 10meter wide skylines on endless paper to creating building stamps and creating images of cities in Mario Paint. I still remember how hot the Sim City SNES cartdrige was after not turning it off for days.. Thank you Kim, for this awesome video, really enjoyed it! Eagerly ooking forward to the Sim City 2000 follow-up, my second favorite (#1 being Sim City 4, although Will Wright didn't work on that one anymore iirc)

[@SoylentBlack1]

i can't believe that was an hour long. The time just flew by while watching this fabulous documentary

[@taionalmeida5337]

Must say that even when Your gaming documentaries theme about games I didn't played much Its FASCINATING the amount Of information and cultural context these vídeos bring. Sim City is one Of the most influencial games Of ALL time and was a importante step on making games being considered potentialy serious stuff. At the least a potential incriease for inteligente om a higher level ... Maybe a form Of ART? And, must be praised, there's something so chill and relaxing with the game and the rythm Of your narration that make great compeling to watch the documentary from start tô finish. Amazing Job Kim 💜

[@FPLHaveABeer]

I had this on the SNES, which I think saved your game just before you switched off the console or reminded you to save. I remember I had finally built a decent city after months of trying, and then my mum suddenly came in to my room and took us away for the weekend for a "surprise" visit to some relatives I didn't like (I was like 9 year olds). We came back about 2 days later and I found my city in absolute deterioration as I hadn't turned the SNES off/saved the game...I think I actually cried!

[@bryangarcia5599]

...Damn. And here I'd always thought Wright's sole inspiration for the game was his having caught the song 'We Built This City' on the Afternoon Rock Block that one time.

[@RatelHBadger]

If that were the case, Sim City 2000 would be "We Built This City on Cool Jazz"

[@SledgeFox]

Your documentarys are a class of it's own, absolutely outstanding and brilliant, thank you very much!

[@roythomson555]

I spent an insane amount of hours playing this on the Spectrum during 1990. Sometimes through the night. This was possibly one of the first 'god' games.

[@DeadDinosaur]

Fascinating story. Never knew the game had such a rich backstory.

[@mindphaserxy]

As an American male who was born in 1980....SimCity is a game that captured and enthralled. Of course my first experience with the game was the remarkable SNES version in 1991 when it released. By the time I was a little older and SimCity 2000 released we had a great 486 powered VGA MS-DOS computer that could run the game. I spent hours and hours playing SC2K. Building cities on every type of map and terrain. Those years were the high point for Maxis if you ask me. SimCity 2000 and all the games around that era. SimTower, SimCity Network Edition, Streets of SimCity, SimEarth. There was just SO MUCH to play.

[@H1KE]

Remember playing SimCity on our first PC, an old 286 back when I was about 5 or 6 years old. It actually helped me learn a lot just through playing. Great video as always, Kim!

[@GazTheKitman]

Kim, my friend you have SMASHED this out of the park, a fantastic, brilliantly researched history of the man, the company and the game - which was a huge part of my early teens with the original - playing at school on the Archimedes computer to going round my pal's house to play SimCity 2000. I hope one day I can make docu-videos as well as you do. Brilliantly inspiring!

[@erikkarsies4851]

An advice for the people trying the ATARI ST version of the game. It's neatly progammed in GEM so it's sluggish but it can be faster by using the NVDI driver or even a multitask OS for the ATARI ST like MagiC. Both have optimized 68000 assembly routines for the GEM video operations which replace the slower ones in GEM itself. It made the game a lot more fun to play on the ATARI ST anyways. (But I do think you need at least a 1 Mb machine then and a Hard Drive also)

[@jrherita]

Very interesting - I assume a blitter alone wouldn’t make a difference for this game (i.e STe with TOS 2.06)? And does NVDI basically replace or patch GEMs drawing routines? Thanks

[@davelister1]

Kim does another fantastic documentary, Remember getting this as part of college work in the early 90's

[@hovermotion]

Superb vid...very well edited and put together..I remember playing sim city for the first time on a dos 386 pc at my friend's house. I was hooked on it for hrs and then days..then I got my first desk top PC to play Sim City and Doom...Day of the tentical...Good days.

[@craigix]

So much work and quality to this. Damned strange you don't even have 100k subs yet. It's the Kimspiracy.

[@HoldandModify]

You blew my mind with this overview. For real. I loved Raid on BB. Never knew of the connection. As I never “got” SimCity.

[@isprobablyjobhunting]

Public library had it on there computers. When all your party died in oregon trail 2 you'd switch over to sim city auto load a city and wreck it with disasters. Good times.

[@MrSpanielson]

Thanks for the brilliant video. I remember I had Sim Earth as a kid and my experiences were the same as yours - much too complex for me, but I'll have to take another look at it and some other old sim games after watching this. SimCity 2000 was my favourite growing up, a really brilliant game.

[@elblanco5]

Having a rough week see a new Kim Justice video it's on Sim City it's over an hour long immediately stops everything and pulls the video on like a nice warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa on a cold day

[@Pikaroth]

Far, far too many others have said this over the years, but I want to now: you absolutely deserve more subscribers. I've been subscribed for... I don't even know how long at this point, but I cannot wait for you to get to that magic 100k number. You have earned it and deserve it. Thank you for all that you do.

[@CaptainSlowbeard]

I'd totally forgotten that I first played SimCity on my trusty old speccy, years before getting addicted to SimCity2000! Thanks for unearthing that memory. The brief mention of the Sims also reminded me about one of my favourite games when I was a kid - Little Computer People. Have you done any videos that mention it? I'd love to know about it's development.

[@MattyHerrod]

What a well thought out, thorough and entertaining video. Well done Kim I was completely engrossed 👏

[@grahamcurran8744]

Loved it as a kid went back and played it for hours and days on end, When we had to isolate last year

[@skijumpnose]

What a ground breaking game, I first played it on the Amiga then the Snes, Love it and Sim City 2000!

[@southilgurl2003]

Thank you for this wonderful look at the history of SimCity. I first played it on the SNES, and it got me through a tour of duty in Korea. But I have to admit, the imported SimTower remains my all time favorite!

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Never played Sim City but played (and still play) Rollercoaster Tycoon and its still in my Top 10 games of all time.. Will Wright is a *don* I also love Cities: Skylines, which obviously owes a lot to the great man and his marvellous creations!

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

Fantastic video Kim, knocked it clear out of the Kimsville Stadium and clear into the next county!

[@voltron983]

I played a lot of SimEarth and SimTower as a kid, but sadly never got the chance to play SimCity. Eight year old me had hours of fun with SimEarth even if I never got very far with it. Great documentary as always Kim.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Super informative and enjoyable as always Kim!

[@davecurtis86]

Great work, never really got into sim city, but was definitely a pillar of the industry

[@onomatopoeia7505]

And just when you think you know everything about SimCity, this amazing video comes along. I learned a lot, and all of this being told by someone with one of the best voices on the internet is simply bliss. I was aware of SimCity on PCs, but was never able to play it. My first real experience came with the SNES version. I still leaf through the manual once in a while, and play it on my original SNES (or on the Wii if I want to save my city, as the battery backup is not an issue on there).

[@ricochetpig]

Great stuff Kim, love your long form docs.

[@alexmills9369]

The SNES version was the first version I owned and played it to death. Many fond memories!

[@daveangelew]

The level of research put into this and Kim's other videos is absolutely top tier

[@GGBatigol]

Absolutely superb, Kim! You're a lost talent in mainstream journalism. Brilliantly written and executed 👌🏼

[@CatWeazle21]

Thanks for this great video Kim! Its easy to forget how far back Sim City went, right back to the 8 bits.. Looking forwards to a possible future look at The Sims!

[@King_K_Rool_]

Seeing and hearing the Snes version gets me right in the feels every time with memories of playing it with my Dad as a 6-7 year old ☺️

[@cupofcustard]

Would love to see you do a video on the sims. That was a big part of my early teenage years! Mega early 2000s nostalgia.

[@guss1309]

A very interesting story well told;. well done. A video on Wright and the Sims would be a great follow-up. Encore!

[@AcornElectron]

Detailed, well researched and enjoyable. Keep up the good work Kimble and stay safe!

[@RapideWombaticus]

I always look forward to your feature length history reviews - thorough and very insightful. You have taught me alot about the gaming industry and entertained me. Thank you Kim

[@ChrisThomas-lt8jd]

Great work Kim, the research you must have done for this. Some great insights in there into how this all came about. Sometimes, the game editor, is more fun than the official game, it seems :)

[@codylamp6814]

Didn't wake up expecting an hour long SimCity vid from Kimmy J. Good stuff!

[@cartas_]

Nice inclusion of the Dune soundtrack at 13:50! Would never have expected that in a video about SimCity.

[@mattw8332]

Fantastic! In 1997 I borrowed a friend's Super Nintendo for a few weeks, which had a copy of Sim City and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Remember playing the "Detroit 1972" scenario a few times. I got my first PC in October/Novber 2000 and some time after that I purchased a copy of Sim City 3000. I was hooked! Entertained me for all the reasons described in this video. Loved the jazz music that accompanied it as well. 🙂 I tried my copy of Sim City 3000 on my current PC a few months ago but alas its no longer compatible. 😕

[@darrenklein6090]

Terrific documentary, Kim. Thank you for sharing your talent and hard work!

[@Notester82]

Woooow, awesome overview of SimCity! I'm happy for Will Wright after it initially felt like his idea wasn't going to take off, and "taking off" almost feels like an understatement! c:

[@hairmachine1284]

As usual, top tier work. Would love to see a documentary on The Sims at some point.

[@Peranor79]

Great video as always! I would love to see a video dedicated to SimCity 2000 as well :)

[@mustardegg2]

Did anyone else initially hear “Godzilla gets sucked off” @44:19 ???

[@CaptainTurbo]

Really enjoyed this and hopefully you get the itch to continue on with this series in the future.

[@OperationPhantom]

Will, it's certainly a great game in it's own Wright!

[@stanislawignacy]

I love these videos that haven't got lots of views but are so well-researched and thoughtful! thanks!!

[@TheBauwssss]

Thank you for making this video! I can't wait for the SimCity 2000 and The Sims video!

[@jamesholden658]

Another masterful piece of work Kim 👍🏻

[@zockroach]

Hey Kim thank you for this your work is incredible. This video is inspiring to say the least.

[@Frieslick]

Great video… 100% do the sequels. I can’t wait for that one. 👌🏻

[@Tasarran]

Love the subtle Sim City game music in the background

[@robinbrowne5419]

This is classic Kim, telling the story of a classic video game in a fun and interesting way 👍

[@ACameronUK]

Really interesting and well made video ☺️ “You’re the best there is at what you do - and what you do, is quite nice” Wolverine (sort of)

[@mikeyandwho]

Been looking forward to this! Amazing video, always been a bit scared to try Sim City but we'll have to give it a go now 🤩🤩

[@ZombiWorkshop]

Cant wait to see the things you'll find out about The Sims! :D

[@Risperdali]

Great video! Sim City was the first time I played till 4am on my Acer 286 PC!

[@scottcoulter9324]

Another work of art. Love it.

[@shabmaster7128]

Hooray! New video by Kim and it's SimCity. Thumbs up

[@patrickbennett439]

I first played sim city on super nintendo and then played the pc sim city 2000. I was hooked! Il still play a city builder from time to time. I had no idea of all these previous versions. Even the nintendo one I had no idea of till youtube. Great video.

[@shabmaster7128]

Holy crap, Buddy Cianci, never though I'd hear Kim talk about him. My inner Rhode Islander is groaning.

[@shabmaster7128]

And no, it didn't have any effect. Both the people and the mob loved Buddy.

[@andrewfrost8866]

Wow! This really brought back memories!

[@darharharhar1484]

I really enjoyed this game back in the day lol. I remember first playing it at school and then I picked it up at home a bit later.

[@supremelordofpizza210]

You're great at what you do. Loved the video and had no clue about Sim Refinery,

[@Frieslick]

Lord only knows how many hours of my life I burned through on SimCity for the SNES as a kid, before doing it all again on my first PC with SimCity 3000 as a teenager. I never did get a chance to see Sim City 2000, so would be nice to see how it stacks up to the other two when you go over the sequels. It was absolutely gutting when they ballsed up the series after that with always online requirements and pay to play. EA suck. Great job on the documentary.

[@codyguindon2090]

Kim Justice makes me so happy

[@terminus8497]

excellent history on a remarkably visionary work of art

[@KabukiKid]

Loved SimCity... spent most of my times with SimCity 2000. Such a time-sink of a game! :-D

[@The_Oracle]

These documentaries are the best!

[@misterwetz268]

Such an good video... Subscribed! Thanks a lot!

[@neptronix]

Amazing video, thanks so much!!

[@davidinark]

My favorite version is the C64 because it is wonderfully minimalistic. Graphics never really mattered to me in most games. I spent hours and hours building cities in the c64 version. Its interface was to the point and players knew exactly how things were developing as we played. I would love a c64-style version today. In fact, maybe I’ll make one in godot for fun.

[@StephenOKane]

Mainly played it on the snes and loved it, glad that's the one I got hooked on as it's clear it was the best. Had a friend who kept wanting to borrow it so he could use the cheat code, build a huge city quickly and then wreak havoc with the disasters Recently played sim City 2000 via GOG and dosbox, and just didn't enjoy it the same way as the original

[@ChristesII]

I'd love to see a video on the sims pick up where this one left off!

[@neojeets]

Quality work, KJ!

[@speakertreatz]

brilliant Kim, thanks

[@explodingmonad4535]

I walked to my local nerd book store and bought the Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem today because of this video.

[@ohstooshy]

Fantastic video Kim

[@CraigRobinson1979]

Brilliant. Good knows how many days I water away on SimCity on the SNES.

[@scootmcgee42069]

Awesome. I played simants & simfarm back in high school computer class on the Mac.

[@Feasco]

I think I first heard about the SIM games in Space Quest 4 with its joke about Sim-Sim, a sim-building game that allows you to create your own sim-building games

[@r66f80]

I've played the SimCity, SimFarm, SimTower & SimCopter games & I really liked them.

[@thegreathadoken6808]

Even though I got Sim City first for the Amiga when I was like 10, I lost the instruction manual early on which also served as an anti-piracy check so I could not play it. At that age I doubt I would have much understood it anyway, same as other games I had at that age but didn't udnerstand such as Populous and a game I remember called Portal (not that one). My first dalliance with Sim City for real was on the Super Nintendo. The cutesifying of the game really worked well, my 16 year old spotty past-self loved that game, and so did my cool, non-gamer friends (gaming was very much for nerds back then), one of who bought my copy from me for £15. Sim City 20000 for the Playstation was the ultimate. I have since tried newer versions as well as stuff like Cities Skylines, but nothing matches the SNES Sim City and the PSX SC2000 for sheer addiction-causing goodness.

[@joedent3323]

Hello Kim. Great video, as usual. I've watched everyone of yours since I found them earlier this year - and I turned my best mate onto them too, and he rates them highly. I wanted to know: can you consider doing a video on "The Sims"? I hate it, but it's my sisters favorite; and I would like to present her with one of your videos, tailored to her. Cheers mate, Keep up the good work, "LiL'JpD."

[@josephbradshaw6985]

One of my favorite games of all time.

[@jameswaddington9764]

Always informative and interesting kim cheers.

[@joseagripino8664]

Fantastic video, Kim! You DESERVE more viewers! Let's get to 100k subs!

[@sebastienberruyer4110]

Merci Kim!

[@Rosscotas]

You do such a good job

[@AudieHolland]

It wasn't very realistic, indeed! My city airport suffered plane crashes about twice a year. It became such a hazard that I then practically surrounded it with firestations. The game didn't like that much, because in the next plane crash, one of the firestations actually exploded.

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

I zoned out for a second in the comments and forgot I was watching a Sim City video.. That first paragraph really got me like *WHAT?!*

[@siimplydolores2395]

I don’t understand… Are you real or just joking-

[@AudieHolland]

@@siimplydolores2395 Were you replying to me? In that case, of course I was real. Sim City did have so many aircrashes. So did Transport Tycoon though.

[@krissymarklewis1793]

wicked vid, loads of info I didn't know about the game.