Discover the Ultimate Secret
Please note I'm currently working on the new site. I didn't want to take the site offline though, so you can still visit it. However me working on the site while it's still online means a lot of the pages will appear wonky. But not to worry, it won't take too long. 
Monday, October 12, 2009 - 23:20
Hi, this is Rawson, the producer of SimAnimals Africa for the Nintendo DS.
I was fortunate enough to grow up three miles from a zoo and spent my childhood watching the rhinos, elephants, giraffes, hippos, cheetahs, lions, gorillas, and, well, because it was Texas, I also saw armadillos, bison, javelinas, and prairie dogs.
As zoos go, it was pretty awesome, and yet it was most entertaining when something unexpected happened. There was the time when the lazy lion instantly perked up and stared down a little red-haired toddler. The kid and the mom thought it was funny; the lion, undoubtedly, was thinking that the girl would make a nice-sized, red-headed appetizer.
And there was the time a friend tossed a peanut at a monkey-I'm not sure you're allowed to do this, but I think that the statute of limitations has long since passed-and the monkey walked over to the peanut, picked it up, and threw it right back at my friend, hitting him square in the nose.
So we knew that we wanted an unexpected twist, a discovery of a deep, dark secret for SimAnimals Africa. We wanted a little reminder that animals live in a world completely apart from ours, but are powerful enough to stare back. We wanted the jungle to cry out with a mystery, something that you could solve.
Plus, the word "safari" comes from the Swahili word "safar" which means "journey." Today it has basically retained that meaning but has added the qualities of "exploration," and "adventure."
When we started SimAnimals Africa for the DS, we thought about a journey down a river. From the dry and bleak grasslands of Meerkat Meadow to a Nile-like River's Edge and up the hills and deep into the jungle. We wanted that story to unfold in such a way that you could tell your own story while playing the game.
Like my favorite childhood visits to the zoo, we wanted to throw in something unexpected. We wanted a mystery for this journey. The potential of discovering the ultimate secret of the jungle ruins drives you through the entire game.
And, no, I'm not going to tell you what it is. But it can't be found at the zoo!