EA erecting SimCity Creator on Wii, DS

Building and managing virtual cities is one of those genres that doesn't seem to lose popularity. The SimCity series started in 1989, designed by Will Wright--also the creator of the Sims--and since then a slew of sequels and similar titles, including City Life and Caesar, have followed.

Today, Electronic Arts announced a new game in the series for the Nintendo Wii and DS. Billed as an "accessible and light-hearted" title, SimCity Creator will let players customise their cities into a variety of regional styles. These will include American, Asian, and European city styles, although EA isn't prepared to get country specific just yet.

The gameplay for the Wii version sounds as if it will be similar to previous titles in the SimCity series, with the gamer playing as the city mayor and allocating city zones in areas such as business, retail, or residential. There will be a redesigned interface for the Wii Remote, and "hero" buildings will also be available, with some becoming unlocked depending on the current day or the time period.

SimCity Creator DS, on the other hand, will have players guiding their city from ancient times into the future. There will be four game modes: Challenge, Free Play, Chance Encounter, and Gallery.

SimCity Creator will be released on September 19 in Europe and in Australasia and on September 22 in North America. It is the second SimCity game for the DS, after SimCity DS, and it also follows the Wii Virtual Console rerelease of the SNES SimCity.