Simulating Wine

Posted by Tom Wark on Sep 25, 2007

Word is that Nintendo is about to release a new "wine game" for the Nintendo DS. According to Decanter, "the educational game features a glossary of wine terms, several quizzes, wine advice and tips on etiquette."

Somehow I don’t think the Nintendo folks have any hope of creating much of a stir with this game, nor much of record of sales.

If any of the game console folks really want to create something cool they should create a winemaking and wine marketing simulation. While this kind of a game would, like the soon to be released Nintendo "Beginners Wine DS", fail to make any kind of a significant audience, it would be an interesting thing to try and create.

I remember some time ago the folks at Maxis that made the SimCity games put out SimFarm. One of the crops you could grow and sell were grapes, which you sold to wine producers. But that was the extent of it. I recall playing the game and thinking it worthy of a 7/10 score. It just didn’t rise to the level of SimCity, which of course does get a 10/10 score as one of the most innovating and time sucking games every created.

What variables could a real wine making/wine marketing sim include?

-Where to plant?
-Cost of land
-Cost of winery vs. custom crush
-How’s the weather?
-What’s the market like for various wines
-How do you plan on selling your wine?
-What scores do you get from reviewers?
-How much do you spend on marketing vs. winemaking?
-Pricing.

Admit it, this would be fun…albeit for a very very small group of gamers. Any game developers in among the readership that want to make me happy and lose a great deal of money??