[rrherr]

> However, it's not like Sim City is expected to include every single aspect of city development and growth as a factor, nor is it expected to be some kind of acceptably accurate depiction of city development.

Agreed, but SimCity was marketed for realism and used for education. The OP writes:

> Over and over, the SimCity series invoked “realism” as a selling point. SimCity 2000’s box playfully warns: “If this game was any more realistic, it’d be illegal to turn it off!”

> SimCity has been used and is being used as educational tool ... shaping the way a lot of people understand or misunderstand city planning.

[nolvorite]

That's what they want you to think. However I strongly doubt that people think they have the city-macrocosmic simulation down to an exact science.

It's like saying that playing racing car video games makes you think you're good at driving in a race in real life.

[nopeYouAreWrong]

I am pretty sure I would be a great city planner based on my extensive collection of utopian simulations in Cities Skylines. Though I would have to take a huge payout to do far more important work, so I will have to pass.