Will Wright, Sims 3 creator and the man behind Sim City and Spore founded his own company Maxis in order to release games that other publishers wouldn’t touch – and proved them completely wrong. Although Wright describes himself as “obsessive”, others are more charitable, considering hima genius, a towering influence of classic proportions and one of the few individuals to truly influence video games across all platforms.
Born January 20th, 1960, Will Wright was educated at a Montessori school - an establishment focussing on child-centered, alternative educational methods that saw the young William Wright enjoying creative tasks and problem solving. This unusual start in education certainly seems to be visible in Wright's games, especially his earlier worlds.
Will Wright’s first video game (created after leaving college) was Broderbund Software’s Raid on Bungeling Bay, an interesting top-down helicopter action game pitting the player against an evil empire whose factories had to be bombed for the player to win. The game engine Wright built for Raid on Bungeling Bay gave him more pleasure than the actual game itself and inspired the development of what would become Sim City.
