Capitalism 2

by Ubisoft

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005QB9M
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 18, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,851 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC | Edition: Standard

Create and control the business empire of your dreams. This in-depth strategy game covers almost every aspect of business that could be encountered in the real world. Use marketing, manufacturing, purchasing, importing, retailing, and more to become a corporate CEO.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great business simulation, January 3, 2002

By 

Matthew P. Cashdollar "r00tbeer" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Capitalism 2 (CD-ROM)

Capitalism II is a simulation of running a corporation, with you acting as the CEO. You make the decisions about what products to produce, where to sell them, how much money to spend on research, how much to spend on advertising, who to buy raw materials from (or to harvest them yourself), where to build your stores/factories/headquarters, and so on. It one of the most complex games I've ever played, and undoubtedly the most thorough business/economic simulation available to the general public. Every variable is controllable, from the amount of dividend your stock pays out to the price of eggs in your grocery store.

Many scenarios are available for you to play through, and it is also easy to make your own victory conditions, or just play an open-ended game. In addition, there is a multiplayer mode so you can compete against other human-operated corporations instead of the usual AI-operated ones (although human opponents are currently few and far between).

As you might expect, Capitalism II has a steep learning curve. Even after playing through the entire tutorial campaign, there were things I was unsure about. I then read through the User Manual, which unfortunately is small, repetitive, and lacking an index. Next I did a web search to see if I could find a web site with some hints or a FAQ. No such luck. Only after playing a few open-ended games and experimenting a lot did a feel that I had a good grasp on how to win at the game.

The technology of the game is acceptable, but not what I would call modern: The music is annoying (don't worry, you can shut it off), and the few sounds are repetitive (especially the farm animals -- cute idea, but tiresome). The graphics are very pretty, but low-resolution (feels like 640x480). The interface feels clunky at first, but once I got used to it I found it efficient. Fortunately, the type of person who plays this sort of game is probably not a person who will be too concerned about graphics/sound quality, so long as they don't interfere with the gameplay.

Overall, I give Capitalism II a 4 star rating due to it's originality, enjoyability, and surprisingly low price. It has some areas where it could be better, and it is probably not something you will still be playing a few months from now, but the simulation is excellent and I imagine many economics and business classrooms will find it to be a great learning tool.

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Comprehensive Business Sim, September 17, 2002

By 

Robert V. Head (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capitalism 2 (CD-ROM)

There are almost as many different ways to make money in Capitalism 2 as there are in real life. The game models the complete manufacturing chain -- from raw materials such as coal and iron, to intermediate goods such as steel and plastic, through consumer products such as PCs and leather jackets -- for over 80 different products. You can buy products from other companies and focus on retailing, or get involved in any or all stages of the manufacturing process. (Of course, the biggest profits can be had by seeing a product all the way from raw materials to the retail checkout counter.) There's a stock market, commercial and rental properties, and three different advertising media.

The game's economic model is highly sophisticated. There are a number of factors that determine how well a product will sell. Of course, the price and quality of the product relative to its competitors is very important. Product quality is based on a combination of the quality of the input goods and the quality of the technology involved in the manufacturing process. (You can open research centers to improve your manufacturing technology levels and can also buy and sell technologies with your competitors.) For simple products such as bottled milk, the quality of the inputs (namely, milk) is the dominant factor. For high-tech products such as mobile phones, the manufacturing technology is much more important.

Other factors in the economic model include brand recognition (which is increased by advertising and also increases naturally over time if the product sells well), brand loyalty, the location and type of the store (there are about 16 types of stores ranging from mega-warehouses to specialty boutiques that only sell a few products), and the overall economic climate of the city (during a recession, luxury items will suffer but people will continue to buy staples such as food items.)

I'm sure I've failed to mention a dozen cool features of the economic model, but hopefully this is enough to whet your appetite.

As impressive as the economic model is, the true brilliance of the game lies in the interface. The game presents you with a staggering amount of data about your corporation, your competitors, and the markets in which you're competing. The complexity could easily become overwhelming, and it does take a while to familiarize yourself with all of the reports that are available, but the information is organized in a way that makes it easy to quickly hone in on problems that require your attention. Although the game features enough numbers to warm the heart of any accountant, the most important information (profitability, supply, demand) is also presented in graphical form. You can quickly flip through all of your businesses and read the vital signs of each business with just a glance. If you detect a problem, you can dive deeper into the vast ocean of data to determine the cause.

The only minor complaint I have about the game is that the AI is fairly weak. In particular, the AI companies aren't aggressive enough about acquiring natural resources. For example, you can easily buy up all the iron deposits in the game world and lock your competitors out of the lucrative steel and electronics markets. Also, the AI companies never seem to buy media firms, which are extremely powerful because they effectively allow you to advertise for free.

Nevertheless, even if the AI doesn't present much opposition, it's still fun to see how much money you can rack up. The game features a "Billionaire Scoreboard" that compares your personal fortune (and that of the various AI personalities) with real-life tycoons. It's very satisfying to knock Bill Gates out of the top spot.

Although the graphics are fairly good, all cities, from Beijing to Boston, are depicted using the same generic city graphics. It would've been a nice touch to have different architectures for the different cultures, or at least throw in some distinguishing landmark for each city.

In summary, I heartily recommend this game to anyone who's even the slightest bit interested in business-oriented simulations.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the magnificent set of a real corporation, December 23, 2001

By 

Leonardo (Mexico City, Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capitalism 2 (CD-ROM)

Whether it's manufacturing, or retaling, mining or farming, or focusing in real estate or media, this game has proven to be perhaps the best business simulator of all times. I, myself, have been searching and looking everywhere i nthe web for a decent game that could bring strategy, real economic life and fun alltogether, but I was never able to satisfy my search. Yet this December, a new game publñished by the same company which published the first series, I found myself immediately buying the product which turned out to be outrageosly fabulous. The financial engine is magnificent, the graphics are incredible, and there's a number of details that will make you wish for this as you read: You may build mansions, you may take control of the nespapers the television the radio, you may buy and sell land, build headquarters, build houses and buildings and rent them, you may even hire a team of professional executives who will charge you for jobs such as Chief operating officer, chief marketing officer, chief technical officer, etc.. This game has taken me into a worl of finance no other have ever done, if you are reading this review to make up your mind about this product, I hope I may have been of some help on giving you the opportunity to invest in this.
This is far beyond any other product ever seen in the market open for everyone!

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