With Maxis still hip-deep in Spore's primordial ooze, EA's decision to hand the next game in the storied SimCity franchise over to Caesar IV devs Tilted Mill was understandable, if not entirely welcome given the game's move away from being a 'realistic urban simulation,' a shift decried by fans to the tune of "you killed my baby!"

In keeping with the forthcoming SimCity Societies' touchy-feely approach, which looks to abandon simulation gameplay in favor of 'social energies,' EA has announced that the game will also include 'climate education' through "low-carbon electricity choices and carbon emission monitoring" thanks to a partnership with 'green minded' alternative energy organization BP. The goal, says EA, is to give players an "accurate" look at some of the causes and available solutions to the inconvenient truth of global warming, no doubt giving Al Gore reason to smile as he continues to tango with Mizuguchi.

Thankfully, according to EA, the game will not shove any eco-friendly environmentalist perspectives down players' collective throat. Instead, Societies will offer choices on how players wish to power their cities, leaving those of us who feel less at home hugging trees than we do while shoveling coal into the furnace free to do as we please when the game ships for the PC this November.

On stage to discuss the game development process during Grasshopper Manufacture's 'Snake vs Zombie Vol. 2' event Saturday, Lumines producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi was instead questioned about his rumored involvement in an unannounced Al Gore project. Coy about details, Mizuguchi did confirm, "It's not going to be a video game. The concept derives from video games, and its something which the gaming generation will appreciate."

Like last year's film An Inconvenient Truth, the project will focus on environmental issues, including energy conservation. Mizuguchi hinted that the effort will play on our perspective of Earth. "I think that we would need to see our own planet from outer space. We see that there are no borderlines between the countries and simply notice how beautiful it is. And maybe then, we will be more conscious about the environment. It's about gaining a new perspective, like when we moved from 2D to 3D," suggested Mizuguchi.