That’s fair. I agree.

I guess I was vaguely alluding to the fact that patent fraud stuff did start after Palworld got big. But what you’re saying makes a lot sense.

Why do you think it’s a conspiracy theory to assume the patent fraud strategy was only implemented after Palworld got big?

I know the OG statement was a bit more provocative and sensationalist, but I think the high level logic holds.

Genuinely curious.

Turns out I have a copy of this from the EA period. Might have to quickly check this out.

The academy part is what caught my attention. There is a lot of potential for interesting strategies.

I did find the construction to be a bit strange, but my initial test session was very short; it’s possible that you get used to the room construction.

Save Scamton! Buy the latest JPEG!

Another SQ42 newsletter? Why even bother? It’s just going to be random gibberish.

Been meaning to check this out in more depth (tried it for under an hour in EA), I think it has a lot of potential.

This is actually what I’ve been playing recently.

Roadblocks make Caesar 3 so much more coherent and enjoyable.

They should have stuck to the engine business and not gotten involved in spam/adware schemes.

Got to disagree with you on #6 unless you explicitly mention that it’s a DIY replica.

If one is buying a PC box, you expect the original from when it was released, not a DIY GOG package (which you can do yourself).

The scamseeker.

Stuff before ~2000 is retro. It’s from the previous century after all.

Worth pointing out that Capitalism Labs is an evolutionary refinement of Capitalism II which was originally released in 2001. The original Capitalism was released in 1995.

I haven’t Capitalism Labs (been meaning to try it out, but it is rather pricey with all the DLCs), but Capitalism II is a very solid business simulation game. Although the UI/UX can be really annoying.

Beyond These Stars is developed by Balancing Monkey Games, who previously released Before We Leave.

Before We Leave was a solid effort, if a bit flawed. I got bored in the early mid-game as the building mechanics and lack of space made the it feel more like a puzzle game.

Of course there is, capacitors go bad, other parts stop working.

The only fully guaranteed method of preservation is via emulation.

I think it was included in the intro as well. For some reason I associate it with my Simcity 3000 purchase.

It seems that there were multiple CD box releases in the US.

The attached scan of the back of the jewel case was labelled “alternative US release” on MobyGames. The screenshots on the jewel case show a pretty late stage version of The Sims; more in line with trailer in my OP.

Got to disagree with you on this.

This might be a regional thing, but in Europe, my copy of Simcity 3000 (purchased in 1999) included a trailer that looked closer to the one I posted (I am going from memory). It was definitely not the one you linked.

The trailer was definitely available before The Sims 1 was released in 2000.

This youtube video of my OP video states that:

Trailer video (TheSims.mpg) came from the “demos” folder from SIM Theme Park installation CD.

Sim Theme Park was released in 1999.

It honestly does sound very unique and compelling. This seems the like kind of game that makes me stick to mostly indie titles.

Yeah, the water mechanics and 3D building completely change the gameplay dynamics. You can build elaborate structures and cityscapes with complex water management networks.

It does take a while to build out a city where you have enough resources for such creative endeavours, but that’s part of the fun.