Redwood City, California – In a move sure to ripple throughout the industry, Maxis today announced plans to divorce itself from the 3D technology that was going to be at the heart of their upcoming Sims 2 video game.
« Have you ever tried to make a modern, 3D videogame?, » asked Lucy Bradshaw, Sims 2 Executive Producer. « That stuff is, like, totally hard. And technology moves so fast! One month it’s vertex this, and per-pixel that and however many polygons per character, and then just a little later you’ve got something new that comes along and changes everything. Enough, already!, » an exasperated Bradshaw told reporters.
« The executive team and the marketing team sat down, » Ms. Bradshaw explained, « and after several days deliberation, we decided ,’hey, 80’s nostalgia is in really hot right now, and it’s here to stay. Let’s explore that avenue a bit more, but from a technical standpoint’. »
Bradshaw then wowed the press corps in attendance with screenshots of the new, revamped look of the game. « That large orange block with the small green square over it – well, that’s my Sim. I built her myself in our new Sims 2 Blocky Shop – she could be any color, but I chose orange. »
Bradshaw then had her Sim interact with a series of other large, colored blocks.
The Sims 2 is presently scheduled to hit stores shelves later this year, but industry experts now feel that the move to 8-bit technologies could impact the release of the game.
Originally published on April 1, 2004 · via Official site