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GameTap is losing a handful of games (well, maybe a few handfuls) on December 11th including SimCity. If you are a Will Wright devotee and fear losing access to this antiquated city management simulator, don’t fear — a free, open source port is part of the XO-1 laptop, distributed by One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
Other than financially, I fully support OLPC.
The idea is that children in developing nations will be given easy to use, durable laptops, Internet-ready and loaded with software. The goal is to provide them with an education beyond what their countries can offer and afford, to provide them a source where they can express themselves, and connect them with each other.
While any donations are appreciated, they currently have an offer running through the end of the year where, for $399, a laptop will be sent to a child in a participating country (Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda) and a second laptop will be sent to you for a child you know.
It’s a noble endeavor. But, I’m not sure how well SimCity will play to this audience. I mean, these are countries which face oppression, famine, genocide, disease, poverty, and the likes on a daily basis. Now their kids will have to listen to virtual citizens whine about roads not being good enough, taxes being too high, and the lack of a decent stadium? And for many of them, the state they are in is due to imperialism. Handing their children a game where they play the role of a despot seems questionable.
