Maxis actually distributed a model of Kowloon as one of the original cities included with SimCity Classic (before it was called "Classic").
I recall that it was from the Japanese Fujitsu FM Towns version of SimCity, which included several extra Japanese cities that weren't shipped with other versions, but that I dug up from my archives and included with Micropolis, the open source version of SimCity Classic.
Tokyo was also one of the original SimCity scenarios, shipped with every version of the game. That was the one that caused Toho (Godzilla's owner) to sue Maxis because the scenario originally referenced Godzilla, and the box featured a picture of Godzilla. Maxis had to change it to a generic orange monster and call it a "large reptillian creature" instead, and change the Godzilla on the box to a tornado. Original versions of the box with Godzilla are valuable collectors items!
>TOKYO, JAPAN 1957: A large reptilian creature has been spotted heading for Tokyo bay. It seems to be attracted to the heavy levels of industrial pollution there.
Try to control the fires, then rebuild the industrial center. You have 5 years.
>The "Monster" disaster in the computer game SimCity depicted an unnamed green monster that resembled Godzilla. A scenario in the game: Tokyo, Japan 1954 parodies the original movie. The depiction of the monster in-game and on the boxart led to legal issues with Toho, with Maxis changing the Monster's design in-game and swapping it on the packaging for the "Tornado" disaster instead.
I recall that it was from the Japanese Fujitsu FM Towns version of SimCity, which included several extra Japanese cities that weren't shipped with other versions, but that I dug up from my archives and included with Micropolis, the open source version of SimCity Classic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_Towns
https://www.mobygames.com/game/fmtowns/simcity
https://www.retroplace.com/en/games/46874--simcity
Directory of original Maxis SimCity save files, including Kamakura, Kobe, Kowloon, Kyoto, Senri, and Yokohama from the FM Towns version:
https://github.com/SimHacker/micropolis/tree/master/Micropol...
Kowloon save file:
https://github.com/SimHacker/micropolis/blob/master/Micropol...
Tokyo was also one of the original SimCity scenarios, shipped with every version of the game. That was the one that caused Toho (Godzilla's owner) to sue Maxis because the scenario originally referenced Godzilla, and the box featured a picture of Godzilla. Maxis had to change it to a generic orange monster and call it a "large reptillian creature" instead, and change the Godzilla on the box to a tornado. Original versions of the box with Godzilla are valuable collectors items!
>TOKYO, JAPAN 1957: A large reptilian creature has been spotted heading for Tokyo bay. It seems to be attracted to the heavy levels of industrial pollution there. Try to control the fires, then rebuild the industrial center. You have 5 years.
https://imgur.com/z5gy9GW
https://twitter.com/dancingcrab/status/928792064736874496
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_in_popular_culture#Vi...
>The "Monster" disaster in the computer game SimCity depicted an unnamed green monster that resembled Godzilla. A scenario in the game: Tokyo, Japan 1954 parodies the original movie. The depiction of the monster in-game and on the boxart led to legal issues with Toho, with Maxis changing the Monster's design in-game and swapping it on the packaging for the "Tornado" disaster instead.