SimCity 5

[PieceOfMind]

Except that, as I've mentioned elsewhere, they FAILED to provide a MMO.

Except? I agree with you. I said a slightly multiplayer game that they choose to call an MMO. And yes, it's looking like MMO is a kind of buzzword for EA management at the moment (since Bradshaw made the same mistake). It may well be an honest mistake, thinking it means online game for example, but if so it really highlights the disconnect with the gaming audience.

 

[warpus]

Zero punctuation has done a review on simcity:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7053-SimCity

A funny and pretty accurate review imo.

I used to watch this guy's reviews all the time. I'm not sure why I stopped

 

[cybrxkhan]

Zero punctuation has done a review on simcity:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7053-SimCity

A funny and pretty accurate review imo.

I forgot Zero Punctuation did PC games too.

Good review, good review.

 

[Symphony D.]

Zero taxes means supersims that don't need jobs, water, power, or to poop.


Link to video.

Ongoing effort to breach the 1.8 million record.

Meanwhile, EA's Frank Gibeau says Maxis, not EA, is to blame for SimCity always being online, after EA's Frank Gibeau refused to greenlight any games without online components.

e: Oh, yeah: pedestrians teleport to their destinations because complexity in a simulation is evil, or something, and Maxis apparently never considered not having modular elements, as in past SimCity games.

 

[carmen510]

This is uh... quite the glitch.


Link to video.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Yeah, the thing I especially liked about that city is that the bridge is taller than the city is wide.

 

[sophie]

That is the most magnificent thing I've ever seen.

 

[civ_king]

It's amazing

 

[peter grimes]

Except? I agree with you. I said a slightly multiplayer game that they choose to call an MMO. And yes, it's looking like MMO is a kind of buzzword for EA management at the moment (since Bradshaw made the same mistake). It may well be an honest mistake, thinking it means online game for example, but if so it really highlights the disconnect with the gaming audience.

Yeah, I re-read your post. We're on the same page, obviously.

But I love the idea that the management simply equates MMO with 'online'

I won't play civ5 until they implement PBEM. But according to this rationale I'd be categorized as a civ5 MMO datapoint. Amazing!

 

[Maniacal]

Nobody is going to implement PBEM in modern games. Except maybe the rare indie dev.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Looks like Maxis-EA are testing out the DLC functionality with the release of a free "Nissan LEAF® Charging Station".

It was discovered fairly early on that this building was sitting latent in the code, so its release isn't a big surprise but it does seem to suggest that EA and Nissan had a contract a long time ago to do this.

As much as I hate to admit it, this sort of advertising is probably really effective. I would suspect by far the majority of players don't begrudge the fact this is an ad but rather would appreciate the added content regardless. However there are a lot of players who will think Maxis-EA have their priorities wrong, even though this has probably taken nothing away from whatever work they're doing on a patch.

 

[civ_king]

Looks like Maxis-EA are testing out the DLC functionality with the release of a free "Nissan LEAF® Charging Station".

It was discovered fairly early on that this building was sitting latent in the code, so its release isn't a big surprise but it does seem to suggest that EA and Nissan had a contract a long time ago to do this.

As much as I hate to admit it, this sort of advertising is probably really effective. I would suspect by far the majority of players don't begrudge the fact this is an ad but rather would appreciate the added content regardless. However there are a lot of players who will think Maxis-EA have their priorities wrong, even though this has probably taken nothing away from whatever work they're doing on a patch.

Implementing incentives for electric vehicles seems like a thing a city would do in real life. I remember achieving a high tech city in SimCity 4 and I just couldn't get the traffic pollution away, so annoying.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Do they model traffic pollution though? (in SC2013 that is, I know they do in 4)

On another note, here's a hard-hitting review by dustycartridge

A quote from it

why lie about it? Simple really. To give players a ham-fisted explanation of the necessity of server integration to assuage the consumer concerns relating to pervasive DRM. To mask the true intention of “discouraging” piracy and shoehorning in multiplayer while simultaneously eliminating user modding and establishing programmed obsolescence. It means EA don’t want you playing SimCity forever, because that isn’t profitable. They want to dictate how you play it and when you play it and how long you play it for. When it stops being profitable, they pull the plug on current servers so they can sell you the next one.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Looks like Maxis-EA are testing out the DLC functionality with the release of a free "Nissan LEAF® Charging Station".

It was discovered fairly early on that this building was sitting latent in the code, so its release isn't a big surprise but it does seem to suggest that EA and Nissan had a contract a long time ago to do this.

As much as I hate to admit it, this sort of advertising is probably really effective. I would suspect by far the majority of players don't begrudge the fact this is an ad but rather would appreciate the added content regardless. However there are a lot of players who will think Maxis-EA have their priorities wrong, even though this has probably taken nothing away from whatever work they're doing on a patch.

The Sims 3-style microtransations... BEGIN.

Only this time... no modded stuff alongside. That was EA's big mistake in terms of profits when they had Sims 3. They forgot about all the great modding stuff. They didn't repeat that mistake with SimCity.

 

[Maniacal]

I don't think the majority of Sim City players are in the market for a brand new electric new car,

 

[PieceOfMind]

I don't think the majority of Sim City players are in the market for a brand new electric new car,

Nor are the majority of the population, but it doesn't mean that advertising like this (which is almost entirely about raising awareness rather than influencing a purchase) isn't very effective.

I can't think of any reason a SimCity player would be less likely than any random person to be in the market for a new electric car.

 

[RD-BH]

Woohoo, I finally got flying cars !!!!


Link to video.

Well ... sorta

 

[Symphony D.]

EA's Peter Moore, COO, claims:

Many continue to claim the Always-On function in SimCity is a DRM scheme. It’s not. People still want to argue about it. We can’t be any clearer – it’s not. Period.

Possibly confused as to the meaning of DRM? The world wonders.

In other news, spin from EA headquarters is now powering most of Redwood City, California...

 

[Lord_Iggy]

They know it's DRM, they just know not to say that anything they do is DRM.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

The real tradegy here is that we do no longer have the faith to believe them.