Wowza… EA ended the Superheroes Sequel and then walloped us with the return of the Monorail for everybody. Any tapper who knows me should know how thrilled I am to see the return of this for the game. I actually finally built some track in my town although I’m not completely happy with it and still considering a complete redesign so I can make it pretty. Anyhoo… like most take-downs recently, EA decided to tease some possible future stuff in their update message.
But what the heck does this all mean. Sure it could all just be a joke from the designers but there is usually a kernel of truth within the farce. I decided to do a little thinking and see if I could come up with episodes that might bring stuff to us pertaining to these hints. Here’s what I came up with.
First up… a random set of summer sports. Let me be the first person to say that I see no need for a Tapball Sequel event but somehow this is what I smelled when I saw this dialogue. That event brought us a lot of different sports squeezed into one doozy of an amalgamation.
This event was the very definition of a random set of summer sports. I’m hoping EA has some different ideas but only time will tell. Regardless of how this idea would be delivered to our games… I put on my thinking cap and came up with a list of sports:
1) Softball from “Homer at Bat” (S3:E17) – this is Alissa’s favorite episode. Could EA finally be tipping their hat to our favorite moderator? We got Softball Burns in Tapball so maybe we’ll get more goodness?
2) Hockey from “Lisa on Ice” (S6:E8) – before you try to point out that hockey is a winter sport, I’ll be the fuzzball who will point out that the race for Sir Stanley’s Cup happens during the summer… well, May to June. Sure summer starts a week or two later but I’m the guy from a sunny state who roots for the Kings of hockey so I vote for melty ice skating, checking, and boarding year round.
3) Bowling from “Team Homer” (S7:E12) – okay, bowling may not be a sport but ever since we got Pin Pal Apu I’ve been hoping for the whole team to be included in the game. Bowling could also finally bring us Jacques. He’s been missing ever since Shorty’s arrived in the game.
4) Football from “Bart Star” (S9:E6) – do I really need to plug all the kids playing some foosball? Nelson arrived previously is shoulder pads and helmet so other kids could join the game.
5) Skateboarding Tony Hawk from “Barting Over” (S14:E11) – summer always makes me think of the X-games and unless you really want the Cross Games from “The Food Wife” (S23:E5), I think the episode which included Tony could bring vert ramps and other extreme goodness to the game. Bart and skateboarding are synonymous so more of this would be amazing.
Heck… I’d settle for Grampa having a tasking on a ramp. I know there’s a lot EA could do with this idea.
6) Soccer from “Marge Gamer” (S18:E17) and “You Don’t Have to Live like a Referee” (S25:E16) – Homer already has his ref outfit and Lisa got her soccer outfit so this seems like something that could appear. I’d be a happy walking carpet if EA brought Ronaldo into the game. Also be fun to incorporate the soccer riot.
7) Little League Baseball from “MoneyBART” (S22:E3) – sort of the same idea as pee-wee football for me. Lots of skins, lots of fun, and a tribute to a movie starring Brad Pitt. Seriously, Jonah Hill proved he could act in it.
8) The Duff Extreme BMX Vert Competition from “Barthood” (S27:E9) – yes please. I think I sort of covered my love for extreme sports in #5.
Next up, an invasion by doppelgangers from another dimension. You know, this one was a tough one for me. I had a couple ideas (read #1 and #4) but did a quick search and found a great list over at WikiSimpsons. I don’t often plug that site but they do some good work over there. If you want to see their full list just type in ‘simpsons doppelgangers’ into your search engine. You can also find a funny article about 21 real people who look like Simpsons characters. I cherry-picked ones I liked from the wiki.
1) Guy Incognito from “Fear of Flying” (S6:E11) – the original doppelganger and my personal choice for this tease. I don’t know what dimension he might be from but I’d love to have him wandering my town and can imagine some funny dialogue.
2) Squeaky Voiced Australian Teen from “Bart vs. Australia” (S6:E16) – Australia is sort of another dimension, right? They have drop bears and different seasons than the U.S.
3) Bart, Lisa, and Maggie’s inbred freak doppelgangers in “Lady Bouvier’s Lover” (S5:E21).
3) Apu doppelgangers like the Speed-E-Mart owner from “Lemon of Troy” (S6:E24) and Li’l Valu-Mart clerk from “Summer of 4 Ft. 2” (S7:E25) – honestly these ones weren’t even on my mind but I find them funny so I included them.
4) Lester and Eliza from “The Day the Violence Died” (S7:E18) – my second pick after Guy. Totally weird doppelgangers who derailed Bart and Lisa when they tried to help out. If anyone is from another dimension, it’s these two.
5) Brazilian Yes Guy from “Blame it on Lisa” (S13:E15) – I’m seriously laughing as I imagine people (including my own mother) cringing at another character drawing out the word ‘Si’. I mentioned soccer so a doppelganger from Brazil isn’t a complete stretch.
6) Simon Woosterfeld from “Double, Double Boy in Trouble” (S20:E3) – his family’s hotel is already in the game so why not.
7) Canadian Nelson and Milhoose from “Boy Meets Curl” (S21:E12) – Canada is definitely on a different plan of existence than Springfield. I know a lot of tappers here who would like to see some more Canuck love in the game. TSTO could use an event that is red and white but never blue. Maybe you don’t agree but sorry not sorry.
8) Female Moe from “The Blue and the Gray” (S22:E13) – poor Moe could really use a love interest and although I still cast my vote for Maya, this female version of Mr. Szyslak made me giggle when I first saw it. Proof that “for every man, somewhere out there is one woman” and for Moe it’s somewhere in Europe. Hopefully she’s as bad at offing herself as Moe.
9) Many different Bart and Lisa Doppelgangers from “Homer Goes to Prep School” (S24:E9) – this episode is worth a watch as Homer looks for his kids at Smart Tykes: Dump Your Kids in the Learn Zone! and just finds doppelganger after doppelganger. I’m pretty sure Lester and Eliza were one pair. While I don’t really want these in the game, an event where you had to tap on these a la criminals because of some sort of inter-dimensional rift caused by Frink might be fun.
10) Honestly, the Tracey Ullman show incarnations of our favorite family feel like doppelgangers nowadays. “Treehouse of Horror XXV” did a fun episode with the current and old versions interacting in “The Others” segment.
It also ended with a ton of doppleganger options for the family. I like the Adventure Time version the best. The Minions make me laugh too. Maybe all our doppelgangers will be the result of “an evil marketing entity” like the Marketing Agency in Springfield Heights?
Last up in this round of speculation, the brand-new outlet mall. This one seems really clear… will we finally get the Towne Centre at Springfielde Glenne? We already have a few of the stores (Blocko, Gold Navy, Mapple, Abercrombie and Rich, Banana Dictatorship, Spiffany’s, and Vulgari) from here so why not?
I guess we could also get the Ogdenville Outlet Mall from “Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield” (S7:E14).
So there you go friends. Some fuzzy ideas from yours truly about what the future might hold based on 21 words from EA. What do you think is coming? Any ideas besides mine that you thought of? Would you be ready for another round of Tapball? Sound off in the comments and happy tapping friends.
TTFN… Wookiee out!
“random summer sports” sounds more like the Olympics. As your picture shows, there’s bowling in Tap Ball, but I don’t think that’s very summery at all.
“doppelgangers”. But does “another dimension” mean that literally and not just culturally? Could it be more like the Clones even (of which I know zero about)? I’d like to think that Frink cracked open another dimension and let through these doppelgangers.
Not exactly a doppelganger, but Homer was in another dimension behind the bookshelf in the 3d world…
“red and white but never blue”. I like that. Is that why Canadians seems so cheery?
For the “outlet mall” I guess it’s going to be an outdoor mall. If the event is too uppity, I don’t know how I’ll feel.
Since Tap-Ball plays exactly like the last Event we had, The Super Sequel, I would hope that EA wouldn’t put these two events back to back. The Tap-Ball event would become so mundane after the first week. No, please. I hope the next event plays much differently from the last.
Olympic Event. Springfield did host once in an episode
Waltdigity
Please no Tapball! I really disliked that event and I’ve stored everything we got as part of it
Awww, I was hoping for a mini-olympics event. Could still happen?
anything can happen…
Actually, given the patterns that events have been following of late, I’d suggest it’s likely that we get a mini event around Olympic time. I’d say there’s a good chance of it.
I would agree except that we got the monorail back. They might be considering that the mini event.
Please not a TapBall sequel – that was the only event i have disliked ever since i started playing on Halloween 2014
I believe that a sporty mini-event, of some kind, will hit Wednesday which gives us a two week mini event before the OS change. That is my speculation and nothing else 😊
Is Wookie going to add something on what the ‘visit from D-list celebrities?’ could mean from the Amazon description? Please Wookie
Wookie? 😢
Sam, he’s working.
Oh, sorry Wookie! Sorry Alissa!
Thanks for pointing out the other description. (I only found the old event’s description on my Google Play!) “A visit from some D-list celebrities?” replaces the sports one. I was hoping it would replace “doppelganger”, then that would explain who was doppelganged. Amazon’s description could be taken as a group and it would all be about the mall being invaded by d-list doppelgangers. But it doesn’t work so well as a group when it comes to random sports…..
Don’t really have time Sam. Speculate away comment section.
Thank you for this post 🙂
1. The summer sports + Dopplegangers from another demension does smell like Tap Ball Sequel (if so I hope we see WuLuigi again).
2. With the Demand to upgrade to a higher OS for August 16th I don’t expect anything to hit until then, also with the demand will we play a Bowling mini game? Or some air hockey/Hockey/Soccer/pong mini game? Or will we get an exterior option to the Outlet Mall (buying various mall stores, like the Leftorium and Cockamamies?)
3. (I need help with placing the name of the character and which mall) there was an episode of a Mall purchased by a Billionare whom looked a bit like Paul McCartney, who was Mr. Burns nemesis. (That’s what I thought off when they mentioned the Outlet Mall).
4. Again with the Upgrade of the OS, will we see a doppleganger (of sorts) from a 3rd Demension? from a Treehouse of Horror episode with spheres, cones, and cubes?
Arthur Fortune! can’t remember the name of the mall though
The Fortune Megastore. “It’s not just a store, it’s a megastore. Mega means good, and store means thing.”
The Homer in the 3rd dimension skit from the THOH is one of my all-time favorite Simpsons. I took a VHS as a kid and recorded it so I could re-watch whenever I wanted 😀
I think the sporting clue indicates a sports related mini event that will correspond with the Olympics. That seems like an obvious thing to me.
I think the outlet mall will be an outrageously expensive Gil deal.
Halloween is a couple of months away, but I think the doppelgänger clue is in reference to the Halloween event.
‘Nuff said, and mark my words.
The outlet mall could be a new SH building that you can earn new currency in
You’re right! I think the outlet mall is the SH expansion. 🙂
I took the EA teaser that they were going to do mini repeats of previous events like what is happening with the return of the monorail right now.
The curling event hits two of the three hints, with sports and doppelgangers. Also touches the Olympics, albeit from six years ago and the wrong season.
“Sí” is Spanish, the Portuguese word for yes is “sim”.
I’ll confess that “doppelgangers from another dimension” immediately reminded me of Kang and Kodos disguised as Bill Clinton and George Bush in one of the THOH episodes. Although that wouldn’t make much sense because they’re already in our games.
Portuguese is a doppelganger for Spanish.
I’ll slight the fact that, as a native English speaker, you obviously have no idea what you’re talking about 😉
It would make more sense to say that Portuguese is a doppelganger for Galician, and Spanish just a phonetically reduced abstraction of all other Latin languages (though mostly Italian and Galician).
There is a really slim chance but we might get a second Springfield were we have to start over but all the characters are doppelgangers but certain characters could go like if you are visiting Kland. So we might get a whole ton of random characters that could be like Princess Penelope and Sea Captain were we need the expansion but they can be in Springfield.
You’re insane.
I like that. 😉
If we had doppelgangers we could redo past events with them! lol
When I saw “doppelgangers,” I thought of the Shelbyville ones we had in the bracket challenge. I think we’re overdue for a Krustyland style Shelbyville expansion, which would make it easier for EA to give us more buildings, etc., without having to give us more land or make the game more taxing on our devices (with item limits and such). Plus, Shelbyville should be a bus ride away!
I don’t want to hear anymore about Shelbyville. I don’t want another Krustyland. Besides its a show about Springfield- not Shelbyville.
Come on sillyboy, you know you want shelbyville milhouses 🙂
As Smithers once said: “I want it. I want it. I want it”. 😜
It’s called “The Simpsons” not “Springfield”. So, wherever the Simpsons go that’s where this game can go. Whether SH, KL, or even the moon! (Okay, they didn’t go to the moon, but space!) Even Shelbyville, too.
Hee hee….just saw that you and I posted almost identical responses! 🙂
What about Bart’s Moon Mansion from Outer Space with R2D2 playing the bass?
No – it’s a show about The Simpsons (it’s right there in the title), wherever they happen to be.
I’m thinking LEGO episode doppelgangers … to tie in with the Lego Batman movie coming out… OK that one may have to wait. Its not until 2017
Now’s good. I’d love that!
LORD Stanley, not Sir Stanley. Go Pens!
No more sequels please. The only thing worse than a return of tapball would be a return of Clash of the Clones.
Oops, you had a typo there…..it’s Go SENS :))) And yes, Lord Stanley.
Blackhawks.
That is all.
Still feel like we’ll end up with an Olympics mini-event, where some Tap Ball items will come back, as well as a few new things.
Then again, Halloween is approaching. Maybe they’ll make the next event a full one so that it takes us up to the start of Halloween…hmmmm…
I can see where it might get boring for those of you who have been around since the start. But for me, I’m Lvl 58, quest line Lvl 36,37,38, so I’d be perfectly fine with a month or two of “downtime” from special events. Especially with the new monorail addition.
There has never been “a month or two of downtime” in this game (at least in the two years I’ve been playing)… We’re lucky if we get two weeks!
The olympics start real soon. So any Olympics themed mini event will also be coming soon.
There used to be more downtime. Maybe you were still working through the levels, so you didn’t notice. I know when I reached the max level (at the time (which was probably around the time you started)), a month or two between content updates was not uncommon.
I remember having at least a month or more of downtime between events during the first year I played. I do wish they’d revert to that & stop scheduling these events so darn close together! Seems like we never get a chance to catch our breath & design our towns in between events these days.
I fervently hope the next event is something new & NOT another sequel. Starting yet another event sequel directly after having one would really be a drag!
I’m was hoping for a summer-themed event, but it may be too late for that now. I’d like more water and perhaps some sort of water/ocean themed event. An X Game-type event would fit in nicely; I like the #5 idea with more skateboarding etc. This would be an ideal time for a college-themed event also.
But please: no more Tapball! That was my least fave event. If they brought that back I would seriously consider taking a long break from the game which I don’t necessarily want to do. RachelS
With their new format, they run the risk of event fatigue. I know I was feeling it towards the end of SH2. I like having new content brought into he game, but I welcome a break every now and then. And I’m with you, I hope whatever is next is new, and not another repeat.
You must have read my article on the subject of event spacing. I didn’t term it in that exact way (“event fatigue”) but I was alluding to it as one of the possibilities. Maybe it’s less that and moreso sequelitis. 😉
Would you find it better if you knew more when the next event would hit (not just one random time like for the upcoming event) and therefore how much space you’d have to breathe, or do you need MORE time to breathe? How much?
It’s about 3 weeks not counting minor events. Would 4 weeks be better? Or would 2 or 3 weeks be fine if there were no minor events during those weeks?
I would love to have an event schedule/calendar to know when to expect something new. That way I could take a break and not worry about missing out on anything.
A week or two, with no new content, would be fine every once in a while. I wouldn’t want a break much longer than that, though. These last two long events (Wild West and SH2) weren’t very enjoyable to me. Maybe if they had been, I’d be feeling different right now. But I do know after six weeks of an event, no matter how much I might have enjoyed it, I’m ready for something new.
Interesting! But it seems to be the nature of the world (certainly during my lifetime) that the pace of things only increases. I’d be absolutely shocked if EA ever gave us 6 weeks of downtime (even 4 weeks would be a bit of a shocker).
Darn, when I saw the title I thought the Furball was going to tell me my Dream Event might come true. Oh well… I guess it would be kind of weird for TSTO to have a licensed event, but would it be illegal for them to put characters like Jim Jam Bonks in our games?
I also liked Tap Ball, but don’t think I’d want a sequel of it. Well…not unless EA did something spectacular with it.
Forget Tap ball. It will be based on the Olympics.
What about the Heavenly Hills Mall from “Lisa the Skeptic”?
Tapball is too similar to our last event with the battles. I want a sports event with the baseball theme. How about we finally get Dancin’ Homer? I’ve already got Burns the manager and baseball Jasper. Let’s do this!
I second the baseball theme! 🙂
Don’t you think maybe an Olympics tie-in would be in the works?
I think if we get something Olympic wise it’ll be a short thing, not a full blown event… (my own personal take)
Yeah, my first thought with the “summer sports” phrase was the Olympics. Maybe a Tapball Olympics?
Everyone please stop with the Tap ball posts. It will be about the Olympics. Not silly tap ball.
Do you work for EA? How do you know? (and I’m pretty sure if you did work for EA you’d be fired for revealing future content, since things are usually under embargo) Everything is speculation..people are allowed to speculate so let them 🙂
I’m clairvoyant. I’m sorry if I offended anyone, and I don’t work for EA (as far as you know). 😉
But seriously- I hope to heck that it’s not a Tap ball sequel. Yuck! We need something fresh and original for the game.
Clairvoyance? Is that some sort of pink dessert?
Mmmmm….. Clairvoyance…… *ghghllll*
” I know a lot of tappers here who would like to see some more Canuck love in the game.”
Amen!
Oh dear – we have to work on Safi’s north of the border training…
Eh-men!
I don’t think it will be tap ball perse, but I could see some sort of Olympic tie in.
Oh I hope it is not a new sports event… I don’t like repeat events. It would be nice if we finally had some activities in the water!
Water skiing and such? Hah, yes! An obstacle course in water. New flowing one-block items!
Indeed!
Sports tie in… worst event EVER. An Olympic sized NO from me.
PS – Wookiee, excellent post, informative as ever! My ire is directed solely at the onslaught of news – mostly negative – surrounding the impending Olympic games. From poorly constructed facilities, eco disasters and Russian doping scandals to the Brazilian economy, extreme poverty vs spend on the games, I’m tired of the media barrage.
Does an Olympic sized NO mean that you;re only against the idea every 4 years?
@Safi – yep, they can roll it out every year but on the fourth one, I throw a Maggie and toss the five rings, and flaming torch, out of my pram.
hehe…”pram”. 🙂
Please no more tapball!!!
Love this post Wookie! Alissa told me, down on TOuk, that you were going to have a speculation post up today and I started to get super hyped.
Speculation is my thing! I love to dream, imagine and come up with update ideas. I often write down, in full, how I would create an event. I love all your posts but my favourites, due to my love of speculation and coming up with TSTO ideas, have to be your speculation posts and WAWW!
In the Amazon app description it changed the bit about summer sports to “a visit from D-list celebrities?” which could be hinting at a Hollywood/Movie event – which I have always wanted!
And the only Outlet Mall, that I know of, is the Ogdenville Outlet Mall! Maybe an Ogdenville mini event is coming. It is featured and mentioned in a few episodes and because it is mentioned in ‘Marge VS the monorail’ as a town that Lyle installed the monorail on, we can assume – based on the sight of North Haverbrook and what nearly happened to Springfield – that the Monorail crashed and caused havoc. Could an Ogdenville mini-event contain a crashed monorail – similar to the one at North Haverbrook – along with an Ogdenville sign, the Ogdenville football team and barley patches.
Wow! I had a lot of ideas that I needed to get out. What do you think Wookie?
Would love to write an Addicts post getting all my ideas out
Now Sam if you wrote a post like that, what would Wookiee write? 😉 (plus we also JUST ran Robobot’s post about event ideas…)
lol 😉 was kinda joking!
Can I do a post about rebooting Squidport or Krustyland? Or a post about what we know about Season 28 so far?
Sam you know how to get a hold of me outside of the comments here lol
LOL!
I’m unpopular for saying this, but I liked Tapball.
Me too. There, you’re not alone.
I still have 2 skins locked from that event since i don’t have tatum and jasper.
Let’s get her, fellas!
I did, too! (And I especially liked the glitch at the end that made it possible to earn a ton of bonuts 😉 )
I don’t know what my tablet did but this should have been posted here: “I also liked Tap Ball, but don’t think I’d want a sequel of it. Well…not unless EA did something spectacular with it.”
Just, as others say, not two sequel events in a row. I’d say, maybe just one sequel event per year, like summer reruns.
I recall liking Tap Ball more than I should being a person that doesn’t particularly like sports. By the end maybe the play system was pushing my nerves (I don’t actually recall anymore) but overall it wasn’t that bad.