SimCity.com has announced some news about SimCity 4 Rush Hour... It seems as though the confirmed retail price of the program will be $19.99, and previous owners of SimCity 4 will be able to get a $10 rebate from EA. With a free shipping offer from EA, pre-ordering sure seems like a good idea!

The second SimGlobal Screenshot Analysis of The Sims 2 is now up! This long awaited second analysis can be found on our screenshots page, and gives much more information about the development of The Sims 2.

After a lot of consideration we have decided to add an Articles section. Here you find some insightful tips and tricks about Sim games, and maybe you will learn something that you never expected.

Our two first articles will show you how to improve your SimCity 4 scrolling performance and playability if you own a Radeon 9100 or 9200. Soon we hope to have up many of our classic articles as well as new findings.

Basically The Sims Deluxe with House Party, Double Deluxe will be a good start for those out there who have not purchased The Sims. Apart from The Sims and The Sims Deluxe, Double Deluxe will also have The Sims Creator and new Asian and Afircan furnishings only available in Double Duluxe. You can read the press release here at SimGlobal as well as at EA.com.

There is a new U-Drive-It article, featuring over 20 screenshots and a comprehensive look at one of the most innovative features of the expansion pack on SimCity.com. The article talks about all the vehicles and facets of the U-Drive It feature in SimCity 4 Rush Hour. Check it out here.

The Aspyr.com SimCity 4 support section has increased quite a bit since the game was first released for Mac, although it is still a bit lacking. The support section mentions that their will be a Mac patch coming soon, technically patch number 3 as the Mac version of SimCity 4 already incorporates the patch 1 and 2 data. Download wise, Mac users will also have to wait a bit before they can get the official landmarks released on SimCity.com, as Aspyr.com has yet to post them.

Over the past few weeks Simtropolis members have added two new mods that fix several engine problems. You check out these two mods as well as many others in the Simtropolis mod section. Remember, all of these mods are unsupported and may damage both SimCity 4 or your computer. Neither SimGlobal nor Simtropolis are responsible for any of your property damaged by these mods. Now that that is over with, you might want to check out the Pathfinding mod which enables your Sims to find the quickest route to their destination rather than the most direct.

A new Rush Hour video has been released to SimCity Community Members (i.e. those registered at SimCity.com). This "hella cool" new video shows all sorts of fun stuff, from tanks and helicopters, to boats and explosions. The 17.6 mb video can be found here. Also, some new Rush Hour screenshots have been released, showing some of the new architecture in the game. The screenshots can be found here.

In a... strange move by Maxis, just a couple of months before SimCity 4: Rush Hour is to be released, EA has announced plans to make SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition, which will include SimCity 4 and Rush Hour, all in one. The move baffles me, since The Sims: Deluxe Edition didn't come out until well over a year after the first expansion pack. However, more info can bee found in EA's press release, which is in or PR page, as well as SimCity 4 Deluxe's home page.

EA has finally officially anounced The Sims Makin' Magic with a Press Release and some new screenshots. You can see the press release on your PR page, and the screenshots over at TheSims.com. It certainly looks like Makin' Magic will be unlike an previous expansion for The Sims. It also seems that Makin' Magic will be the official title (previously, it was just a "working title").