1 Uses and Subversions of SimCity 2000 TM Mizuko Ito Stanford University and The Institute for Research on Learning mito@itofisher.com Paper Presented at the Joint Meeting of The Society for the Social Studies of Science The European Association for the Social Study of Science and Technology Bielefeld, Germany October 1996 Ever since beginning my fieldwork on children's use of computer games, I've fluctuated between mild and serious addiction to Maxis Inc's hit computer game, SimCity 2000 TM , a game that I began playing under the guise of research, but continue to play out of some sort of obsessive attraction to the tiny cities that I have designed and nurtured. In the words of Maxis's marketing department, SimCity 2000 TM is the "ultimate city simulator," "If this game were any more realistic, it'd be illegal to turn it off!" (http://www.maxis.com). SimCity 2000 TM is both authoring tool and interactive game. It offers an intriguing space of possibility for the user, providing a responsive virtual environment equipped with tools for users to build and administer an entire virtual city. The primary interface window is a grid that can be rotated or zoomed in and out. Starting with a blank landscape dotted with trees, water, and hills, the player chooses different tools from a toolbar running alongside the screen, building , bulldozing, and zoning. In addition, there are numerous informational windows that report on population, educational levels, pollution, industrial growth, and city budget, among many other factors. The basic progression of the game revolves around building roads, zoning districts, and providing city services such as power, water, schools, parks