Don't like the game :)

I just think it sucks for people that will be affected by the requirement. I actually see Poit's point and how many people will view it the same way as an MMO-esque game.

Hope the last bit about EA/Origin and XBL does not see the light of day.

Heh, I wasn't sure if the :| meant sarcasm or disapproval.

While the multiplayer is indeed just part of the game, it is a heavily-marketed and central part of the game. I mean, when you start playing (after the landing screen), the first thing you see is the interface to join an existing public region.

In a couple days, the post-launch issues will be resolved. Then, hopefully, people will start realizing that the always-online thing does actually have some benefits. For instance, if offline regions were a thing, then there would be people with offline regions complaining that they should be on the leaderboard, but aren't because they weren't online.

Granted, sandbox regions aren't eligible for leaderboards, so it would be nice if those could be made offline. Or perhaps you could tick a checkbox to say "I want to play offline, and I understand that I won't get achievements or qualify for leaderboards". I wonder how much of a performance hit it would be for the server-side processing to be done locally.

That's exactly it...

It would be LESS taxing on their side of things, more taxing on the user. However, it then comes down to meeting minimum requirements that are printed on the box, since you wouldn't need to worry about being connected.

They are out for any lil $$$ they can get (which is fine, they are a business). If, for example, my ISP was down because the wind blew the wrong way, no game for j0o! Just so many reasons that a user may not have a connection at any given point that could keep them from playing. Or, if EA decides to shut down the servers for the game, you have a neat paperweight :)

I hope it does work well and people enjoy what they paid for. I just hope that this trend does not continue and DEFINITELY hope it does not hit consoles.

If the ISP goes down more than likely your power went down too so you couldn't play anyways.

You've never been on Comcast, I see.

I am on Comcast, so I confer with you here, as much as I may not like it.


Even if the power goes out, one can still wardrive and get on another wireless connection :)

the amusing thing is that this really ought to be the default state.

The other amusing thing is that they're disabling shit like leaderboards, currently, which means the forced online element will have even less meaning to people who aren't intent on playing with others.

It looks like they really screwed the pooch on this one.

I really hate it when the easiest things go overlooked or under-valued. So many issues could be solved if people just cover their bases. Gonna call it the 'Key Hook' effect. Oh you keep losing your keys? Get a key hook for your wall, dumbass.

Good enough name as any for the phenomenon, I suppose.

I mean, seriously, at this point in time who couldn't see this one coming?

EA. And famously Ubisoft once upon a time.

Daily News - SimCity Edition
1) EA pledging to be adding more servers for SimCity over the next couple of days to help alleviate the long queues and connection problems.
http://www.destructoid.com/ea-will-b...s-248029.phtml

2) EA also announces they are disabling non-essential features (achievements, leaderboards, etc) as a temporary way to help reduce server issues for the time being.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/simcity-sadness/

3) Amazon has pulled the game from their store with the official reason being due to EA's servers being too unstable for the game. They will start reselling the game once those issues are fixed.
http://www.destructoid.com/amazon-ha...e-248072.phtml

4) While EA is claiming to offer refunds for the game, people are claiming those refunds ends up generating bans from Origin due to the chargeback being issued.
http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/1...h-origin-bans/
https://twitter.com/OriginInsider/st...83718321590273

What's fucked up is how people will forget the very next month and will not have a problem pre-ordering the next SimCity.

The whole "ban" thing appears to originate (no pun intended) from a gy threatening to stop payment.

Even that seems like dubious grounds for a ban, but it's a lot less stupid than the prior.

Next SimCity? They've probably already pre-ordered whichever the next always online game is. Because pattern recognition? What the fuck is that?

Sim City news edition?

Slow news day or something, Smelly?

Somewhat. There was a lot more notable SimCity news than regular non-thread worthy news that I could find for today.

Probably the biggest non-SimCity news would be EA managing to snag the lead designer of Watch Dogs and Far Cry 3 away from Ubisoft.
http://www.destructoid.com/watch-dog...a-247947.phtml

Whoop-dee-do for EA.

Pretty much can't wait for Japan centric game news come E3 and TGS, and anything from Nintendo.

The leaderboards aren't really important yet, because the first leaderboard challenge doesn't start for another... 12 days, I think?

What I'm more irritated about is the disabling of achievements and cheetah speed.

EA does it again. Sad too, they have some great games, but always fuck up the delivery. The Strike Series on the 32bit systems come to mind (Desert, Jungle and Urban Strike; good delivery, good times)

Exactly. And this sucks because the industry giants will continue with this methodology.

This!

The leaderboards will be useless anyway. There will be massive exploits in order to be at the top, everyone will end up with the same "max" in whatever categories they have, and it will all be for naught anyhoo. But yay anti-drm online only policy, amirite? :shifty:

Football player rants at EA over SimCity.

Daily News:
1) More SimCity news involving EA telling people to stop promoting the game, EA's PR claiming the reason the servers are crashing is because people are having "too much fun", and EA officially not offering refunds on Origin.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ting-the-game/
http://www.destructoid.com/ea-simcit...--248186.phtml
http://www.destructoid.com/no-simcit...n-248135.phtml

2) Nasdaq has issued a stock delisting warning to Majesco with the demands of they must improve their stock value to the $1 minimum within the next 180 days. Majesco's stock value has been hovering between the 50 cents to 60 cents range for the past month.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/7/4077...medium=twitter

3) Microsoft has quietly discontinued offering the Xbox Live Gold Family Pack which gave a year of Xbox Live Gold for up to 4 accounts per console for the price of $100.
http://www.destructoid.com/microsoft...k-248141.phtml

4) A recent episode of the PBS "Inventor" series dealt with Ralph Baer who is considered as the "father of video games" due to his work with the Odyssey.
http://www.destructoid.com/pay-your-...s-248119.phtml

EA are giving a free game to anyone who has SimCity now. Guess they really have to.

I ended up getting it for £10 and played for 5 hours hours without issue yesterday and it is fantastic when it works... But I'm in a queue this morning.

You showed them.

Since there was so much in this thread about SimCity, here's some more Jim Sterling.

<embed src="http://cdn2.escapistmagazine.com/media/global/movies/player/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.12.swf" flashvars="config=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/config/6978-568ee0c59c278407d7d510810b743047.js%3Fplayer_version%3D2.5%26embed%3D1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="opaque" height="391" width="650">The Escapist : Jimquisition : SimShitty

Daily Gaming News:
1) While Valve stated there won't be a standard price for the Steam Box, the first confirmed version of the console will cost about $1000 and is being made by Xi3.
http://www.destructoid.com/first-ste...0-248385.phtml

2) According to a recent rumor, more teases regarding to a potential new game in the Crash Bandicoot series appeared and could tease a release on the Wii U, Xbox 360, and the PS3 (or PS4).
http://mynintendonews.com/2013/03/10...ming-to-wii-u/

3) The debut of Battlefield 4 could be occurring later this month during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) based on some teases from EA.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ield-4-reveal/

4) According to sources with Kotaku, a downloadable prequel to Star Wars Battlefront III called "Star Wars First Assault" is currently in development although a strong possibility it may not be released due to current status of LucasArts. It is also rumored if the game is released and sells well, Disney and/or LucasArts might approve Star Wars Battlefront III to be developed next.
http://www.destructoid.com/downloada...s-248397.phtml
http://kotaku.com/5989910/leaked-sta...ii-source-says

Xi3's piston, which was announced quite a while back, isn't really "the steam box" so much as "a steam box."

Didn't Nerd Jesus himself confirm that?

Think its only been recently that the actual prices have been announced with Xi3 being the first.

Before that it was mostly speculation or people theorizing how much the initial Steam Boxes would cost.

Hahhaha it's failed because it's a success. Nice EA logic.

Well, the main problem is insufficient server "space," isn't it?

Battlefront 3 is another game I would really love to be a good one.

Daily Gaming News:
1) Update to Xi3's "Steam Box" as Valve states the "Piston" is not an approved version of the Steam Box nor do they have any current ties with the company to allow them to use the Steam Box name.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/stea...on-involvement
http://www.destructoid.com/valve-dis...n-248483.phtml

2) According to several Sony Store locations, Sony has unofficially discontinued the 3G model of the PS Vita with the handheld currently being sold for $200 ($100 discount) at most of those stores.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...t-sony-stores/

3) The ESRB has changed several rules in regards to trailers for M-rated games with the changes being similar to how R-rated films are shown to the general public. The rules also remove the requirement for age gates as long as the trailers are approved by the ESRB before being shown online.
http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/es...ide/1100-4602/

4) Activision announces a micro-transaction system for Call of Duty Black Ops II will arrive tomorrow with the Xbox 360 version to be the first to have the new service.
http://www.destructoid.com/microtran...i-248467.phtml

Activision doing things in a shockingly subtle way.

Huh.

Would you not need a PC for the steambox? It is basically for people without the ability to hook the computer into a TV?

"Steambox" as a Valve invention is designed to be optimised for family convenience with yet-unknown functionality. "Steambox" as a general term is a PC built around big-picture mode by a third party which may lack the bells and whistles (if any).

The steambox is the PC. It's just a specialised one designed for people who aren't PC people. Kind of like Macs, except for casual gamers instead of yuppy douchebags.

I'm explaining this from the assumption that you think the "steambox" is a peripheral of some sort.

It's a console for PC gamers who hate consoles.

I saw one in pc gamer for 6,500.

GET IT

Is anyone getting darkstalkers?

Not interested.

Pretty heavy into SoulCalibur V and Street Fighter x Tekken for my fighting fix, and Tekken Tag 2 will soon make a comeback for us. I'll certainly give a next-gen Darkstalkers a try when it comes around, but I don't have any emotional or casual interest in the series enough to get older titles.