I have always loved the SimCity series. It appeals to the urban planner and architect in me. If I recall correctly, at the end of the SimCity 2000 manual, there was a list of recommended books for those who wanted to learn more about city planning and urban design. It gave me plenty to read when I wanted to avoid studying.

I remember spending many hours building many cities. My favorite town was Beansville (original, I know), a seaside community of 250,000. It had an efficient mass transit system, a robust parks system and plenty of libraries and schools. It even had an island where sims could spend the day at the zoo or the baseball stadium. Maximizing the sims' happiness was forever the goal of anything I tried. When SimCity 3000 Unlimited came out, Beansville was upgraded and it prospered until the great hard drive crash of 2002.

I am now recovering from my addiction to the Maxis simulation machine (that includes The Sims). But with the advent of SimCity 4, there is a great temptation to fall off the wagon. If I do, I will blame it all on Will Wright.