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Wiki #1: Micropolis-Simulating Detroit, A City with Cars and Crime but No Races

Micropolis Development

Micropolis, previously the open-source version of SimCity [1], was a popular city-building simulation video game designed by Will Wright. Maxis released SimCity in 1989 on the popular Commodore 64. Electronic Arts (EA) currently owns the rights to the SimCity brand, and on January 10, 2008, the SimCity source code was released by EA under the free software GPL License and the game was redubbed Micropolis, Wright’s original name for his city simulation.

Micropolis—and SimCity before it—was popular amongst citizens in the late eighties early nineties because it was one of the few videogames ever to have portrayed a relatable scenario geographically and chronologically such as Detroit. The object of the game was for the player to reduce crime and save the city by rebuilding its industrial base within the allotted time of 10 years. This is a simulation game so one can control their player to run and to fix cities teetering on the brink of disasters.


Author's Main Argument

In this article, Mark Sample clearly demonstrates a huge differentiation between entertainment and reality. He argues that the key problems that led to and result from the recession of Detroit’s automobile industry are more complex than what is displayed in Micropolis. Sample believes that it is more specific issues, such as unemployment and race, that are the underlying results to a plummeting auto industry, not crime.

Sample is aware that simulations have many limitations and are typically stripped away of their factors and variables. Though race, in Samples opinion, is an obvious and necessary one to be incorporated into this simulation video game due to Detroit’s past.

For example, Sample touches on Detroit's 1967 12th Street race riot[2], which is simulated to a point in Micropolis. This historical riot was sparked by a police raid of an after hours bar that catered to activists in the Black Power movement. The National Guard even had to be called in to control the riot, which resulted in dozens of deaths, thousands of arrests, and hundreds of destroyed stores and homes.

The game Micropolis uses this moment in history where crime is out of control, there is an emergence of mobs and the National Guard is called upon when necessary. Though they leave out the vital race issue that contributed to it all To an extent, Sample believes that, without race as an issue, crime, mobs, and aid from the National Guard would not be necessary in a city like Detroit.


Political, Cultural or Social Importance

Micropolis also has much social and cultural importance. In 2008, this game was donated to the One Laptop per Child (OLPC)[3] project by EA as free and open source software. The goal of OPLC was to empower children of developing countries to learn by providing every school-aged child with one connected laptop, therefore spreading the notability of the game.

Sample talks about the cultural and social importance of this video game through the highlighting of the automobile industry. As displayed in Micropolis, he mentions indirectly how this industry can either make or break such a dependent city such as Detroit. He even brings in the commercial with Clint Eastwood describing how Detroit is fighting back to get to that once booming automobile city. Sample also eloborates on the failed contribution of race and unemployment that are not embedded in the game which is an important factor that should be considered in Sample's eyes.


Comments

Though not much, Sample’s post did generate controversy. Every commenter on this post applauded the author’s opinions, though some, respectively, had some differing viewpoints.

The commenters Jeremy Antley and John Brindle argue that there are purposeful reasons behind the many oversimplifications in Micropolis, and other simulation games. One being that it would only overwhelm players to allow the full range of elements that go into a ‘true’ simulation, such as all of the factors that contribute to the devastation reality of the situation in Detroit.

Also, Antley and Brindle mention that the player’s imagination and common knowledge of a targeted area is thought to be one of the objectives in the game. For instance, instead of addressing sociological, cultural or demographic issues, designers allow players to ‘fill in the blanks’ with what they believe to be the larger issues at play. So while the game frames conflict in the broad terms of ‘Crime,’ it is left up to the players to determine that this ‘Crime’ is actually ‘Race’ or any other type of criminal contribution.


Personal Opinion

I have never played the game Micropolis or SimCity though I have played The Sims. By previously playing a simulation game, I have come to agree with both sides of the Micropolis argument. The author, Mark Sample, portrayed a very intellectual viewpoint of the importance of incorporating more detailed historical issues of race and unemployment into this video game simulating Detroit. I agree that it would take so much more than repairing the automobile industry to help rebuild the city. Also, coming from someone who has grown up around Detroit, I believe there are more individual problems that have resulted from the collapse of the automobile industry instead of the broad answer of ‘Crime’ that should be adressed. Though I do think that this is important, especially for those citizens who are familiar with Detroit and all of its issues, I do think it is also smart on the designer’s part to leave out these key facts.

I say this because, people, especially nowadays, need to use their imaginations and apply common knowledge into modern forms of entertainment. It is not necessary for a game to lie out every single detail and factor for players. Really, people should be able to actually think and look at the general goal of ‘combating crime’ in Micropolis as ‘combating the race, drug, unemployment, gun…etc. problem.’ Applying imagination and general knowledge is important because it forces players to make motivated and artistic choices about what to simulate and how to simulate. This is what ultimately makes games more fun, and can also turn entertainment into educational purposes, in my opinion.


Works Cited

Sample, Mark. "Simulating Detroit, A City with Cars and Crime but No Races." Play The Past RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2013. <http://www.playthepast.org/?p=2474>.

"SimCity (1989 video game)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 04 June 2013.<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_(1989_video_game)>.

"One Laptop per Child." One Laptop per Child (OLPC): Mission. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 June 2013.<http://laptop.org/en/vision/mission/>.









Wiki #2: Final-Copyright and Piracy Legislation

SOPA




PIPA (Protect IP)



Anonymous


Hackers relate to movements to protect online privacy



Edward Snowden?



Personal Opinion


Workes Cited

Stop Online Piracy Act. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 June 2013. Web. 26 June 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Havey, Jason (2012) A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP (read) http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html

Protect IP Act. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Aug. 2013. Web. 26 June 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_IP_Act

Anonymous (group)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 June 2013. Web. 26 June 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)

Norton, Quinn (2012) 2011: The Year Anonymous Took On Cops, Dictators and Existential Dread (read)http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/anonymous-dicators-existential-dread/all/1

Zetter, Kim (2013) Reddit Cofounder Calls on Google’s Larry Page to Oppose CISPA (read)http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/category/cybersecurity/

Sottek, T.C. (2013) The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act: CISPA explained (read)http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/27/2976718/cyber-intelligence-sharing-and-protection-act-cispa-hr-3523