Summer at Maxis: First Look
A glimpse into my internship at the company behind the hugely successful city and people simulation games
By Wren Weburg
8/4/00
I'm well into my third month at Maxis, Inc. as a summer intern. At this point, I've met a lot of people behind the games and Web sites of Maxis, have made many new friends, and look forward to the rest of my internship as I work to hopefully give a little something back to the company I have gotten so much out of over the past decade.
For those of you that don't know me too well, I'm Wren Weburg, the sole Webmaster here at SC3000.COM and have always been a huge SimCity fan, from the original on to SimCity 2000 and finally to SimCity 3000. I, like so many others, am always looking forward to the next installment of the series. I've also enjoyed other games put out by the company (The Sims, for example) and am anticipating the next generation of games (SimsVille). So when I got the chance to intern at the company as part of the Web Tech team, I decided to go for it. The rest is, well, SimHistory.
Of course, having been a Minnesota boy all my life, just getting out to California - specifically the beautiful Walnut Creek area with easy access to San Francisco and within site of the rolling hills - was a major departure and welcomed excursion for the summer. I've been temporarily stripped of my primary mode of transportation (read "pickup truck", although the BART system is a great alternative in the Bay Area), my laundry facilities and downstairs restaurant (read "mother"), and some of my comfortable environment (my family and friends back in Minnesota, not to mention the rent-free roof over my head). But the things I've gained out West, such as knowledge of both the company and the gaming industry I work within, and of myself having discovered the simple pleasures in life again, has been worth it.
In the huge, silver-glassed California Plaza, on the 6th floor overlooking the beautiful Mt. Diablo, I spend much of my time doing the same types of things I did before I arrived. Writing HTML, developing Web applications that interface databases, and so forth. After all, what else would I be doing besides Web work? I'm no hardcore programmer or PR expert. Maxis has very competent people to do those things. The specific department in which I reside is, as I've mentioned, the Web Tech team, responsible for designing and maintaining the Web sites for the Maxis SimGames, specifically TheSims.com and SimCity.com, among other upcoming titles. With sites as large as the aforementioned, it can get very busy as content is developed and published, live chats are held, and pressing issues are dealt with. But things are always under control, the team is calm, and the Llamas are asleep in the pastures nearby. Ok, I just threw in that last part for spite.
Job title aside (to be honest, I don't really have a job title... I'm an intern), the atmosphere at this gaming company is a lively one. SimCity 3000 buildings adorn the colorful halls, awards ooze off of the award shelves, a result of so many industry achievements. Vision statements, current events, posters and charts proclaim the high status of the company's current product lines. It's elegant, laid back, and busy all at the same time. But then, to be accurate, the busy vs. laid back elements really depend on where you are standing and whether or not a product is about to ship. As I type this, The Sims team is readying the release of The Sims Livin' Large expansion pack, so you can bet that a walk through The Sims development area during the day will net you some excitement as milestones are reached and Maxoids cheer, e-mail being fired through the pipelines to tell everyone that a product has passed its beta cycles. It's pretty exciting to be a part of it, or at least to witness it and get an inside look at what goes on during a product cycle. The whole place and the way everything comes together makes it really feel like one big family, especially when everyone gets together at the TGIF event every Friday in the multi purpose room to hear the week in review from Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw. Not to mention having a few drinks and playing the tables (pinball and foosball tables, that is; Maxis doesn't yet have an in-house casino).
Going back to the laid back thing, because this is what I really love about Maxis: if you walk around, you'll eye things like train sets, nerf guns, and other gadgets. Walk past other peoples' cubes and offices, and you'll see even more toys inside (coincidentally, most toys are toys you can build things with, with the exception of the occasional chess set). The first thing I noticed is that it's easy to tell you're in a gaming company, with creative minds at every turn, tinkering with these toys, taking a break and letting the creative juices simmer. Ah, you can almost hear the cranial engines hum with imagination. Either that, or Will Wright is zooming around the office on his red electric scooter again.
Speaking of Will, I had the great opportunity to listen to him speak with a group of EA interns that were visiting this past Friday. Actually, it was more of an interactive session, with Will fielding questions about The Sims, explaining concepts behind the simulator and other industry trends. There's no mistaking his intelligence, and the ideas he explains are well presented and very interesting to follow. It was a great honor to have been there!
To wrap things up, it has been very much like a childhood dream come true to work for Maxis. I remember back when I held the shrink-wrapped packages containing SimCity Classic and SimCity 2000, having absolutely no idea I'd somehow be a part of that very company one day. It's fun, exciting, and most of all, it's more than I could have hoped for.
When I arrive back from my internship at Maxis, I'll be sure to close with a summary of the summer's events. For now, I've got code to construct, pixels to push, and more memories at Maxis to manufacture.
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