GAME
Once you start, you simply can't put down the Palm version of SimCity. Although the game doesn't look as good as it does on a PC, it's actually more fun. The Palm becomes your Tamagochi as your virtual cities grow or fail even when the device is in your pocket. I found myself addicted, especially during one long coast-to-coast trip when Darrenopia was booming.
SimCity for Palm has all the tracking features, as well as city construction and planning issues that burden seasoned mayors. The downside is that you can see only a small sector of your city on the Palm's screen - you have to keep shifting around to check on the integrity of roads and power lines. Also, a simulated city won't evolve unless the program is live, so I had to adjust the Auto-Off setting to Max and press the On button when it timed out.
I found I could check my municipal statistics in sync with my flight check-in, boarding call, and seating. And it's more soothing to spend time in the air managing a made-up city than attending to the real challenges hiding in the Palm's To-Do, Expense Reports, or Calendar apps. After all, interest rates are more stable in the virtual plane. And if a tornado or a monster swooped down on my real life, I might actually be pissed, whereas on the Palm, it's just another day in the city.
SimCity for Palm: $29.95. Atelier: +1 (612) 253 8400, www.atelier.tm.
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