The N-Judah Chronicles

Give Google credit for one thing – if you use their Google News Alerts to track certain subjects, they sure do a good job of finding things you’d never think existed. Today I present to you one of my all-star Google Alert finds: a Muni Bus/Cable Car simulator all the way from Germany. Apparently it’s brand-new – when I first saw the Torrent link I assumed it’d been out for a while, but I was wrong.
Oddly enough, the Google Alert found a BitTorrent site, so I took the time to find the game’s publisher, Astragon, and to a site devoted to just the game. (I didn’t want to link to the BitTorrent site directly since that’s kinda like condoning stealing) After looking at some of the screenshots and the videos, it does look pretty good. Sadly, it seems you can’t drive an N Judah all the way to the ocean, nor can you short turn said N either. However, you CAN operate a cable car, and any one of a number of PCC streetcars and buses on various routes, real and imagined.
I found it interesting that part of the game was to make money via fares. Maybe someone should show this game to Muni, and to Supervisors who like to play games with Muni’s money, and educate them a little. My only regret is that this game doesn’t have any westside lines to try out, nor does it feature the infamous Bredas.
Then again, you can still buy model BART trains, some old model Boeing trains, and even PCC-style Muni cars, but I have yet to find anyone that offers a model of San Francisco’s one-off Bredas that grind away day after day. Maybe as a sequel, the can have a simulator of the MTA board, which would allow for some Grand Theft Auto-like responses to stupid things Muni does. (I kid.)
I don’t have a PC so I can’t play this on my computer, but if anyone tries it out, post some comments and let us know how you liked it! For now, check out this video and enjoy the rest of your weekend! Also, July 4th is the LAST day you can get 17.76% off your Muni related T Shirts at our online store with the code “LANDOFTHETEE”. Buy one today!