Talk:Maxis/Archive 1

best-selling of all time?!
I have removed the text best-selling computer game of all time in relation to The Sims as i was under the impression that Myst was the best selling computer game of all time. discussion? &mdash; Nate | Talk 00:07, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)


 * Myst was the best-selling game of all time for quite a while. The Sims surpassed it quite some time ago.  Sorry.  Reverted your edit.   &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 22:40, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)


 * Actually, if I recall correctly, Diablo II passed the Myst record first, then The Sims. Coolgamer 19:09, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)


 * I never heard that. Diablo II was quite popular, but I doubt it was more popular than Myst.  It was an action-RPG&mdash;not exactly everyone's cup of tea.   &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 19:18, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)


 * Article on the topic. "Diablo II earned a coveted spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling computer game ever, with more than 1 million units sold in its first two weeks of release. Diablo and Diablo II together have sold over 5 million units to date." The original holder of that title was the Myst series. Later, The Sims overtook it. However, I was mistaken over the record of most UNITS sold. That still falls on Myst and The Sims. My mistake. Coolgamer 00:56, Apr 29, 2005 (UTC)

The Sims 3
Does anyone have the source for the info in the article about TS3? I'm personally curious if nothing else. Melissa Della 06:02, 5 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Well, Will Wright hasn't planned too much on the sims 3, working on a new project, I can't exactly remember the name of. he wanted to make better faster algorithms, however I am not very enlightened on the subject right now...R. Nix 20:31, 20 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Yes, I am aware of Spore; the Maxis team responsible for The Sims series are rumored to receive only direction from Mr. Wright and are nearly self-sufficient. In any event, I see that somone has removed the unconfirmed titles section, although I have seen increasing speculative information that TS3 is now in development. Ah well... Melissa Della 15:28, 23 January 2006 (UTC)


 * It's no longer speculation, it's official. I've added info on it in the article with citation and source. 72.49.194.69 22:07, 20 August 2007 (UTC) Joshua

Disney-Maxis connections?
Could someone find a source for this rumor? I wasn't aware of anything related to its reasoning -- specifically, the celebrity cameos... -- WC  Quidditch  &#9742;   &#9998;  02:14, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

More Unconfirmed Rumors
What is the basis of this speculation?: "Maxis programmers are currently working on five new The Sims titles, but only three of these releases are publicly confirmed. They will also be releasing five to seven expansion packs for The Sims 2 and a possibly release of the Sims 3 in 2009. By 2007, all future Sims games will not be called The Sims X, but it will be just be called Sims." If no citation is provided from a reputable/verifiable source, it should be removed. --Melissa Della 10:33, 27 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 14:40, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Concerns from EA
[The Sims was] Released despite concern from Electronic Arts that it would be a commercial failure Can anyone provide a citation for that? The fact that I smile when I say that (silly giant corporation, what fools, etc...), makes me worry about WP:NPOV. --Daev 15:12, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Will Wright said it in an interview once. It can probably be easily found through Google. — Wackymacs 15:13, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Well it was a reasonable opinion to have (Most gamers dtill frown upon The Sims) but what the sims did that I don't think many people saw coming was sell like hot cakes to an entirerly new audieance aka the casual gamer.Dog777 (talk) 01:41, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Robosport
Just noticed this page had no mention of the maxis game robosport. I'm not good at formatting articles, but it would be a good addition.


 * Done. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 14:59, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Should Klik n' Play fall under the "Related Games" section?
I know Maxis didn't make it, but they did release it, like with SimTower. Should it be added to the template thing? --BLuToRsE 12:41, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Has Maxis actually been disolved and where is the evidence of this?
How can one article on Wikipedia claim that Maxis exists and another claim that it no longer exits? Which article is correct? According to this article Maxis was closed this year in 2006 while on the Spore article it introduces Will Wright as the creator and EA Maxis as the developer of Spore. Additionally I do not see anything concrete that is supporting that EA has entirely disolved Maxis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(video_game)

Excuse me if I did this wrong. It's my first time. I just have an honest question abuot the accuracy of the article on Maxis.

Sissyangel 01:34, 6 November 2006 (UTC)


 * I fixed this in the article. EA just retired the brand name Maxis, but kept the studio open.  The development of Spore was probably initiated when Maxis was still a brand name, but is coming near completion under EA. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 19:34, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
 * In the UK at least, Maxis' logo features on the back of the Spore creature creator box.

I have found in various articles regarding Will Wright and documents on the EA corporate website that refer to Will Wright's Studio in Emeryville as a Maxis Studio, and the Studio located in Redwood City is refered to as the EA-Maxis Studio. If anything is changing, it may be that the Maxis label is following Will Wright to Emeryville. I don't believe they will disolve the company entirely as long as Will Wright is around, but if they do this would be very big news to the gaming websites i.e. Gamestop/EB Games, etc. We would be seeing huge write ups and articles about it, which has not ever occured. Until there is an official announcement, I believe no one should be declaring Maxis has been disolved. Therefore, I further edited the article so that we are speaking of Maxis in the present tense. To my knowledge it remains a thriving game design studio. Sissyangel 22:40, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

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Maxis Losing Respect?
It seems lately that EA Games is more of an annoyance to legit players than it would be to hackers, hackers can bypass all of the annoyances but legit players have to deal with it. Many players do not like that they have to be online to play a single player game in Battlefield 2142, especially since a hacker will just bypass that and play easier than the legit player could. Some are saying that if Spore is released with the annoying limitations by EA Games (must play online, must play within 10 days or be forced to reactivate etc) that they will never buy another EA game related product again. It appears that their [Ea Games] attempts at anti piracy don't work and will always have the capability of being bypassed by hackers, they only frustrate legit players and this seems to be causing people to lose respect for Maxis in the name of Ea's bad management choices. Maxis was once known for their innovations and giving the people fun enjoyable things, but with Ea being as controlling as it is this seems to now be counteracting the innovations and pushing would-be buyers away because they do not wish to deal with the hassle. Shouldn't there be a controversy section in the article for this?71.112.194.164 (talk) 22:11, 26 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Perhaps in the EA Games article, but what has Maxis got to do with that? They don't make multiplayer games, the only multiplayer game they did make wasn't a problem with hackers. Jammy (talk) 22:21, 26 May 2008 (UTC)


 * It has to do with it because Maxis is EA games now71.112.194.164 (talk) 22:34, 26 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Doesn't mean Maxis has anything to do with that though. If Hilary Clinton suddenly died, would we put that information on George Bush's article? No, because it has nothing to do with him, it'll have a great deal to do with the Obama article and Hilary's own article but George Bush has nothing to do with it as he's not part of the elections. Maxis has nothing to do with what problems EA have with other games, if it was to do with a Sims game then yes it would, but not with multiplayer games like Battlefield 2142. Jammy (talk) 13:12, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

a maxis game... that was cut in production
It was advertised on the sims and you could download some of the characters into it; it was around the time of livin large. --Ssteiner209 (talk) 02:44, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

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Maxis - both current and former?
Maxis is both listed as a defunct EA studio and a current one. Technically, this is correct as Will Wright's development studio is based in Emeryville, and the Maxis brand has been transferred with him. What was Maxis is now an EA studio. Perhaps some better delineation between 'old' and 'new' Maxis is necessary? Sslaxx (talk) 13:50, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * To elaborate - keeping the original founding date for what was the 'old' Maxis, and the date that the Emeryville studio was set up as the 'new' Maxis - any objections? 83.104.34.212 (talk) 20:24, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Llama fascination?
I don't see any mention of the quirky theme that Maxis holds dear: llamas. They appear in nearly every Maxis game. Shall we make a section? -ankØku- (talk) 02:14, 22 August 2009 (UTC)


 * They do? I don't recall seeing them in SimCity, The Sims or Spore. &mdash; Frecklefσσt | Talk 10:54, 22 August 2009 (UTC)


 * They appear in SimCity mostly, from what I remember: They appear in SimCity 3000 as the Tips "The llama suggests...", and I think some random llama messages appear in the ticker in SimCity 3000 and 4. Maxis45 (talk) 04:38, 16 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Don't forget, in Sim City 2000 (and possibly others), the speed settings are (from slowest to fastest): turtle, llama, and cheetah (and african swallow in the windows port!). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stelpa (talk • contribs) 03:21, 12 December 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't think that's notable enough to merit a mention. Especially if a verifiable ref for them can't be found. &mdash; Fr&epsilon;ckl&epsilon;fσσt | Talk 17:52, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, it's definitely a recurring gag/theme in the SimCity series, but I agree; a good WP:RS or two would be needed. Wonder if there are any interviews where it gets brought up.  DP 76764  (Talk) 18:00, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

The origin of the name
As per this interview, Will Wright himself said that the name actually comes from 6 AM read backwards. Hence, it is not a false rumor as claimed in the article. Dyaa (talk) 18:06, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, he said no such thing. In response to the question "what does Maxis mean", he stated that Maxis meant "six am" spelled backwards, but he never stated that this was the origin of the name.  Other sources do not agree with your interpretation. Indrian (talk) 23:31, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Maxis Location is Incorrect
Who ever said that Maxis is from Emeryville, CA is grossly wrong the company was in Walnut Creek within the California Plaza building next to Walnut Creek BART. I even toured there before EA bought out Maxis. Its true, play Sim City 3000 and look at the landmark section w/in the game, Maxis's California Plaza building is in the landmark section if you don't believe me. The only major software developer to come out of Emeryville is Pixar (well moved to Emeryville from Richmond) not Maxis. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.105.170.186 (talk) 01:20, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I removed the text that said "The present Maxis is based at Will Wright's studio in Emeryville, California.." Will Wright's studio that produced Spore used to be in Emeryville, and it was a Maxis studio, but is no longer there. Will left EA to work on his own company, the Stupid Fun Club, around April 2009. SFC is in Berkeley, near the border of Emeryville. While EA has invested in SFC, Will runs it independently, so it's not a Maxis studio or subsidiary of EA. (I used to work for Maxis and EA, and I work for the Stupid Fun Club.) Xardox (talk) 17:42, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Revamped logo.
Per http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztNWdhRdnw&feature=share - noticed that the logo has been altered, so the logo on the main article is going to need updating. Sslaxx (talk) 09:38, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Youtube footage kills spore?
This text currently appears within the article: "However, leaked footage on youtube featureing a demonstration of a beta version of Spore brought criticism from fans due to it being more realistic than the released version, and has all but nearly killed the online activity, if not the game itself."

I don't play the game myself, so I can't say what the online activity is like, but this reads like something an angry fan wrote, rather than a fact. Obviously the game has not been "killed", whatever that means. I'm new to editing so I've put a citation notice instead of deleting it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaydeecw (talk • contribs) 15:39, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

EA Play has been renamed to Maxis.
As per http://www.ea.com/labels - EA Play has been renamed to EA Maxis. What this means for SimCity 5 (being developed by which studio under EA Maxis? The Sims Studio or...?) and The Sims (returning to the Maxis label)? remains to be seen. Sslaxx (talk) 12:01, 1 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Yeah, EA Maxis label included these studios : Maxis (Emeryville), The Sims Studio (Redwood Shores) and EA Salt Lake (Salt Lake City). SimCity (2013) is done by Emeryville studio, The Sims 3 packs are still done by Redwood Shores studio. -- Iblis Trigger (talk) 00:45, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Maxis is dead !
Maxis is dead since they are in EA, since 2007 the Maxis logo was removed from The Sims franchise ! It's no longer Maxis but it's EA Games only.

The official site is redirected to the Spore site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.52.208.241 (talk) 13:30, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, I heard that the Maxis logo was removed from The Sims since Maxis didn't work on it anymore, as they started developing Spore.
 * The ORIGINAL Maxis might now be known as "The Sims", but the name and brand appear to have been transferred to Will Wright's new studio. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.104.34.212 (talk) 16:47, 14 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Maxis works now with SimCity AND The Sims 3, so its not dead anymore. The logo's are also added on this games . — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.170.114.19 (talk) 10:34, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Maxis founders
Page SimCity implies that Maxis had already been founded when Will Wright approached Jeff Brown with SimCity ("founder Jeff Braun of then-tiny Maxis agreed to publish SimCity as one of two initial games for the company"). Page Maxis says Maxis was founded to publish SimCity. Which one is correct?

Hi, I'm sorry if I'm doing this wrong, but I couldn't find the comment box. I blame Facebook and the BlogoSphere for always looking for just a comment box. Anyway, near the middle of the article, where The Sims (first version) is mentioned. It says the Maxis office was closed and the remaining staff moved to Walnut Creek in 2004 and that February was when the original The Sims title was released. I think the author was misinformed -- The Sims 2 (first sequel) may have been released in 2004 (I don't know for sure; though I do remember I was playing it when I was in college). But what I do know for sure is that the original The Sims title was definitely NOT released in 2004. I specifically remember playing this game through high school as well as some of my friends, and I graduated high school in 2002. I'm not sure of the actual year, I can't remember, when I started playing it but I'm quite sure a simple Google search would show it on the SERP. It had to be either 2000 or 2001. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.15.3.233 (talk) 04:17, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

Untitled
Maxis is not defunct. Someone needs to change that, I'm not really sure how without screwing things up. But Maxis Emeryville is shut down and the studio is being consolidated with OTHER studios. Maxis still exists, however. 66.87.115.131 (talk) 21:07, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Changing this page to the present tense
Why is the Maxis wiki page in the past tense? The studio still exists within EA, it was just relocated. I think that this page should be changed back to the present tense.

Buddyboyvilla (talk) 11:47, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Will Wright's focus on The Sims and SimCity 3000
The following sentence is not accurate:

Over 1998 Maxis was allowed to finish SimCity 3000 on its own time; following this, Wright's efforts were thrown into The Sims, [...] (the rest is accurate).

I started working on The Sims at Maxis in January 1997, and continued through the EA acquisition and worked on The Sims for EA until after the release of the game in March 2000. At the time I was hired, Will Wright's main focus was on The Sims, and he was only tangentially involved with SimCity 3000, which was being developed by another team at Maxis. He had been working on The Sims as an experimental side project for several years before 1997 (although it was called "Dollhouse", not "The Sims", and I was hired at the time Maxis finally decided to develop it into a product and focus Will's attention on it. The first time I saw a version of Dollhouse when it was just a side-project was when Will dropped by my office at Kaleida Labs with his hard disk drive, and ran it on my Mac, in 1994.

I don't think the wording "Maxis was allowed to finish SimCity 3000 on its own time" is particularly accurate, in a couple of ways. EA certainly compelled Maxis to finish SimCity 3000, and changed the design from the originally announced 3D version of the game (which was overly ambitious for the hardware of the time, and would never have been finished or work well enough to ship at the rate Maxis was originally developing it before EA bought them), to be a 2D sprite based game that was eventually released.

"Allowed" is not the right word to describe the motivations of EA and Maxis to develop SimCity, since both EA and Maxis were quite compelled to release that flagship product on a timely schedule, and it was not a matter of Maxis wanting to but EA being ambivalent, or of EA reluctantly giving them permission, as "allowed" implies. And Maxis did not "take their own time" to release it: they were on a tight schedule, driven by EA, they were not "allowed" to take as much time as they felt like with little or no pressure to release.

Secondly, Will Wright was not closely involved with SimCity 3000, neither while the 3D version of it was being developed at Maxis before EA acquired them, nor after the 2D version was developed and shipped at EA after the acquisition. His main efforts were focused on developing The Sims from the time I was hired (January 1997) until it was shipped. He occasionally consulted with the SimCity 3000 team of course, but he did not attend regular meeting or participate in the design. He had written the original design for SimCity 3000, which was an incremental improvement over SimCity 2000, before I was hired, and handed it over to the SimCity 3000 team, who basically threw it away and redesigned their own overly ambitious 3D game from scratch, which after the acquisition, EA eventually cut back and redirected into a 2D game more like what Will had originally designed.

This is from personal first hand experience, and I don't know off the top of my head any references to back it up, but much of it has been discussed in various interviews and SimCity and Sims post-morta, so I'm sure some of it could be substantiated with a bit of googling. But in the mean time, I don't see any citations that support the above sentence that I quoted. Perhaps that should be marked "citation needed" or rewritten to not make unsubstantiated claims about EA "allowing" Maxis to complete SimCity "on their own time" and Will not being focused on The Sims until after the SimCity release.

Here is one citation to a summary I wrote of Will Wright's 1996 talk to Terry Winnograd's user interface design class at Stanford, which provides some background information.

https://medium.com/@donhopkins/designing-user-interfaces-to-simulation-games-bd7a9d81e62d

Xardox (talk) 19:30, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
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 * Maxis 2022.svg

Link to wrong Jeff Braun
The link in the lead paragraph links to some Jeff Braun guy who was born two years after Maxis was founded, so I sort of doubt that he was a cofounder. I couldn't find the right guy to edit it to. 184.23.21.68 (talk) 04:10, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

Th Sims (2000) is no longer the best selling PC game.
I think that bit of information is outdated. Has been for a while. Games like Minecraft and PUBG have surpassed it by at least four fold years ago. The cited article is from 2002. World of Warcraft, Diablo III, PUBG and Minecraft have all surpassed The Sims in sales according to List of best selling PC games — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.68.84.5 (talk) 19:12, 9 August 2018 (UTC)