Editing SimCopter (section)

== Nintendo 64 version ==
[[File:SimCopter 64 E3 1997 build gameplay footage.png|thumb|A gameplay screenshot of the E3 1997 build. The poor [[draw distance]] of the title was criticized by the press at the time, and would be a key factor in the cancellation of its North American release.<ref name="IGN_Cancellation">{{cite web |title=Sim Copter Crashes |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/03/10/sim-copter-crashes |website=[[IGN]] |publisher=[[Future US|Imagine Media]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000312225252/http://ign64.ign.com/news/7241.html |archive-date=12 March 2000 |date=9 March 1999 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
A [[Nintendo 64]] version was announced by Maxis on May 22, 1997, a few weeks before [[E3#Events|E3 1997]], where a playable prototype was presented.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maxis Enters Picture with SimCopter |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/05/23/maxis-enters-picture-with-simcopter |website=[[IGN]] |publisher=[[Future US|Imagine Media]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000411200106/http://ign64.ign.com/news/817.html |archive-date=11 April 2000 |date=22 May 1997 |url-status=live}}</ref> On October 9, 1997, Maxis announced that the game would instead be ported to [[64DD]] peripheral, with an explicit intention of being a North American [[launch game]] for the platform, and with [[Electronic Arts]] being announced as its publisher;<ref name="IGN_64DD">{{cite web |title=Sim Copter Shuttles to 64DD |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/10/10/sim-copter-shuttles-to-64dd |website=[[IGN]] |publisher=[[Future US|Imagine Media]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001020060009/http://ign64.ign.com/news/1348.html |archive-date=20 October 2000 |date=9 October 1997 |url-status=live}}</ref> however, years later in an interview for the [[Video Game History Foundation]], Akifumi “Aki” Kodama (president of Maxis K.K., developer of the conversion) and Jeffrey J. Feil (associated producer in ''SimCopter 64'' for Electronic Arts, owners of Maxis) said they never saw a 64DD build, with the former also saying that interaction with other games was never implemented at any point.<ref name="VGHF">{{cite web |last1=Salvador |first1=Phil |title=Flying High with SimCopter 64, Maxis' Lost N64 Game |url=https://gamehistory.org/simcopter-64/ |publisher=[[Video Game History Foundation]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227190048/https://gamehistory.org/simcopter-64/ |archive-date=27 February 2023 |date=14 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> When asked about the 64DD in an issue of ''[[Nintendo Power]]'' from January 1998, [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] mentioned that the game would have an integration with ''[[Mario Artist]]'' and ''[[SimCity 64]]'',<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Nintendo Spaceworld '97 |url= |magazine=[[Nintendo Power]] |volume=104 |location=4820 150th Avenue NE, Redmond, Washington, 98052 |publisher=[[Nintendo of America]] |date=January 1998 |editor-last=Tilden |editor-first=Gail |editor-link=Gail Tilden |quote=In SimCopter you'll trade information with SimCity. If a fire breaks out in SimCopter, you'll fly to the location through a city that you have created in SimCity 64. This is also a big part of Mario Artist. You could paint a picture on the side of a building in SimCity using art from Mario Artist.}}</ref> in earlier interviews he also mentioned integration with ''[[SimCity 2000]]''.<ref name="IGN_64DD"/> The game was unofficially canceled on March 9, 1999 following the repeated delays of the peripheral.<ref name="IGN_Cancellation"/>

There are at least two surviving prototypes of the port, one being the E3 1997 build, dated June 16, 1997; which was released by the Video Game History Foundation on November 14, 2022.<ref name="VGHF"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Carter |first1=Justin |title=A lost console version of SimCopter 64 has been found and preserved |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/console/simcopter-64-maxis-lost-version-found-preserved |website=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]] |publisher=[[Informa PLC]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201063949/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/console/simcopter-64-maxis-lost-version-found-preserved |archive-date=1 December 2022 |date=15 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lane |first1=Gavin |title=Unreleased 'SimCopter 64' E3 Prototype Preserved And Detailed In New Deep Dive |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/11/unreleased-simcopter-64-e3-prototype-preserved-and-detailed-in-new-deep-dive |website=[[Nintendo Life]] |publisher=[[Hookshot Media]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129015344/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/11/unreleased-simcopter-64-e3-prototype-preserved-and-detailed-in-new-deep-dive |archive-date=29 November 2022 |date=15 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The other prototype is dated December 26, 1997, and as of 2024 hasn't been publicly released.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hagues |first1=Alana |title=Playable Build Of Cancelled N64 Game 'SimCopter 64' Discovered |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/05/playable-build-of-cancelled-n64-game-simcopter-64-discovered |website=[[Nintendo Life]] |publisher=[[Hookshot Media]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706232342/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/05/playable-build-of-cancelled-n64-game-simcopter-64-discovered |archive-date=6 July 2022 |date=26 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Donaldson |first1=Alex |title=Playable SimCopter 64 build appears, revealing a mysterious canceled N64 title |url=https://www.vg247.com/simcopter-64-playable-build |website=[[VG247]] |publisher=[[Gamer Network]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115090356/https://www.vg247.com/simcopter-64-playable-build |archive-date=15 November 2022 |date=25 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cryer |first1=Hirun |title=Unreleased SimCopter 64 build turns up over 25 years later |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/unreleased-simcopter-64-build-turns-up-over-25-years-later/ |website=[[GamesRadar+]] |publisher=[[Future plc]] |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115090403/https://www.gamesradar.com/unreleased-simcopter-64-build-turns-up-over-25-years-later/ |archive-date=15 November 2022 |date=30 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>