Everything about Maxis totally explained
Maxis Software is an
American company that was founded as a
video game developer and is now a brand name of
Electronic Arts (EA). Maxis' second software title was the seminal
SimCity, a city simulation and planning
game. Maxis is also the creator of the best-selling computer game of all time,
The Sims and its sequel
The Sims 2. These three titles and their related products are the brand's most popular and successful lines.
Most Maxis titles are simulation-based, though none are considered traditional simulations. Maxis founder Will Wright likens them as "digital dollhouses." Maxis has also released games developed by other production houses, such as
A-Train and
SimTower.
History
Origin and early acclaim
Maxis was founded in
1987 by
Will Wright and "idea guy"
Jeff Braun to help publish
SimCity on home computers. Before then, the game was only available on a limited basis on the
Commodore 64 due to few
publishers showing any interest in
porting it. The reason for this is because
SimCity wasn't a traditional game that had definite "win" and "lose" conditions. The title went on to become, statistically, one of the most popular and successful video games of all time.
The
SimCity series has since been updated to include
SimCity 2000 (
1993),
SimCity 3000 (
1999), (
2000), and most recently
SimCity 4 (
2003). (
SimCity Societies, released in 2007, wasn't developed by Maxis.) It also released some non-sim titles, such as
1991's RoboSport and the well-known
1995 3D Pinball for Windows, which has been included as one of the standard system games in many Windows releases.
After such success with the
SimCity series, Maxis tried various other
Sim- titles. Some of these attempts include
SimAnt,
SimFarm,
SimEarth,
SimLife,
SimTower, and
SimIsle. Maxis was also approached by companies to design business aids;
SimRefinery is one example. The success of these franchises varies, but none matched that of the original
SimCity. Maxis' hit
The Sims is the only notable exception.
Origin of the name
Contrary to popular belief, the company's name wasn't based on the words "six AM" spelled backwards. Rather, it was derived from a formula suggested by Jeff Braun's father: computer game companies should have two-syllable names and should include an 'x'. This is confirmed in an interview with a Maxis employee on a bonus disc released with . It was only later realized that the name is "six AM" backwards.
Decline
After the immense success of
SimCity, Maxis experimented with different genres. However, their new games, including
The Crystal Skull and
SimCopter, were commercial failures. They also acquired
Cinematronics to create a game called
Crucible. Heavy losses and lack of direction led Maxis to begin considering acquisition offers.
Acquisition by EA
Electronic Arts (EA) completed its
acquisition of Maxis on
July 28,
1997. Compared to other companies acquired by EA, such as
Origin Systems and
Westwood Studios, the absorption of Maxis has taken a slower pace, and the company has retained some of its original staff, including Will Wright. Products were shipped under the Maxis logo for several years, but in
2004,
The Sims 2 bore only the Electronic Arts logo on the box cover (although
Sims 2 displays the Maxis logo at game start, and on the reverse side of the box). As of
October 18 2006, and the release of
expansion pack, the Maxis title has been omitted from the game's start. Also, up until, the logo of Maxis was used for a button in the Options panel of the game to display the credits. In
FreeTime, the Maxis logo has been replaced by a symbol of the Sims
plumbob.
For many years, Maxis was a traditional studio located in
Walnut Creek, California (and before that,
Orinda, California), but in February
2004 the division was folded into EA's
Redwood Shores headquarters.
Will Wright's studio (currently developing
Spore) is located in
Emeryville, California.
The Sims
Maxis' most successful series to date and the best-selling PC game of all time is
The Sims (
2000). It has gone on to become the most successful computer game in history. Maxis has developed seven
expansion packs for the game as well as an online version (
The Sims Online). Maxis released
The Sims 2 in
2004, a sequel title that features a full
3D environment as opposed to the original's
dimetric engine. Seven expansion packs and seven stuff packs have been released for the sequel thus far.
The Sims 3 was announced in November of 2006 and is expected to be released in early 2009.
Note
Further Information
Get more info on 'Maxis'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://maxis.totallyexplained.com">Maxis Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
