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A Positive Prognosis
"I just tend to think about how I want to change people's impressions of their environment," says Will Wright, when asked why he develops games. When you hear a similar line from some designers, you might question whether it's a meaningful statement. With Wright, the statement rings of the truth. Just look at his track record. It's doubtful you'll ever see Wright do a run-of-the-mill 3D shooter - it's just not his style. "Will has played a large part in legitimizing computer games as a form of entertainment that can be enlightening, constructive, and deeply involving," says fellow legendary designer Sid Meier. "In a medium all too often characterized by blood, gore, and mayhem, this is a fantastic accomplishment."
Will Wright (back) prepares his Julie-Bot for competition in Robot Wars.
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But don't for a minute think that Will doesn't have a little Calvin in him, too, as he might aptly put it. He spends time away from the computer working on hobbies such as robot design. A few years ago at the Robot Wars competition in San Francisco, Wright created Julie-Bot, which featured a talking doll's head and a jackhammer spike that impaled other competing robots in the ring. And now, Wright has turned his 12-year-old daughter onto robot design too - although he admits to building most of her robots himself at this point.
"[I have a] deep appreciation for how incredibly stupid Wall Street is."
- Will Wright on Maxis' public stock offering.
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Building games like SimCity 3000 is a team effort, and walking along the halls of Maxis you get a sense that the whole company has had a tremendous weight lifted from its shoulders now that SimCity 3000 is a certified hit. Does Wright look back with regret over his years at Maxis? He's not one to be mawkish and throws out the boilerplate response: "It was a good learning experience." However, he does have a message for Wall Street: "Going public gave me a really deep appreciation for how incredibly stupid Wall Street is. Having to live under its rules was very scary."
Without question, what's in the future for Maxis is a number of exciting projects and a renewed focus under the EA umbrella. Barthelet promises that Maxis "will be much more proactive in keeping the SimCity franchise alive in the coming years." But as to where Maxis goes beyond The Sims and SimMars is just about anyone's guess. Barthelet isn't smug in his analysis. "In the PC industry, you aren't very sure what's going to be in the game box until you are just about to close it," he deduces. "But we're putting a lot of rational thinking into our games, and the magic is starting to come back."
The front office at Maxis today in Walnut Creek, California.
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That mysterious quality of enchantment is beginning to return to the Maxis aura. Once again, the employees are proud to say they work for Maxis, and those that survived through it all are even prouder still. No one can predict the future of any game company; the nadir of the valley of discontent is always just a few bad decisions away. But it appears that Maxis has reached equilibrium. Nestled in the arms of Electronic Arts, innovative ideas are finally beginning to hatch again from creative minds like Will Wright... and chances are, next time he has a unorthodox idea, people won't roll their eyes, but open them with capricious zeal. Just what will he think of next?
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