I hope it shows the economic impact of a carbon tax?

British Petroleum really wants you to believe that it is a "good" energy company bent on saving the planet. They have taken corporate greenwashing to new heights, though, through their collaboration with EA Games and one of my very favorite gaming franchises, SimCity.

The new SimCity Societies hinges on the question of what kind of carbon footprint will your city leave. You have a choice, of course, as one review on Yahoo explained:

Bernstein is specific about how the developers wanted to implement choice. "We didn't want to impose a direction a city should go. We wanted to put out enough power alternatives to make a very green city or a heavily polluted one or something in between."

New, updated visuals help create not only a wide range of new cities, but do a much better job of modeling the effects of energy reliance. Put a series of smog-belching plants on the ground and the city will soon be literally draped in darkness. The warming effects of massive CO2 output can lead to natural disasters which, if exaggerated, are pretty obviously related to the way the city lives. By way of massive contrast, green-leaning societies look clean and livable, and we haven't yet seen a wind turbine fall over to crush a swath of Sims.

Global warming is a given in the game, and if you put too much carbon in your city then your city bares the cost in the form of droughts, etc. Amazing, the new micro effect of carbon, but I guess it is only a game.

BP is of course branded throughout the game - or at least on the renewable energy sources. I haven't read if nuclear is an option or if you only get to choose between evil coal and or luscious wind and solar.

To get a real taste of what SimCity has done, watch this video. I can't say I didn't see it coming, but I'm still flabbergasted.

Despite the stupid preaching about energy by BP in the game, though, it looks really fun.