SimCity
EA has officially announced that it will be shutting down three of its Facebook games, The Sims Social, SimCity Social, and Pet Society, all of which have been struggling recently to find an audience.
Well over a month after the game's disastrous launch, EA has finally announced that "Cheetah Speed" will be making its way back into the game. Additionally, a new update will also be arriving soon.
Electronic Arts has never been one for subtly, but this is a bit much even for them. A new piece of free DLC has been released for SimCity, and it features a not so understated piece of product placement.
Recently, I delved into the causes and concerns raised by SimCity's always-on debacle. However, the controversial mechanic was by no means introduced by that game. Always-online systems might be a relatively new development in the industry, but even in its short time, it's already made waves.
There are few words in game development as controversial as "always on." If you're not familiar with the term, it refers to "always online DRM," also known as "persistent online authentication." Simply put, it is the requirement that the game always maintain a connection to the company's servers in order to function. These sorts of games will not run without an active Internet connection that allows a constant stream of data to be sent back and forth between the game client and the remote servers.
It finally looks like the SimCity situation is on the upswing. After weeks of server and playability issues, Electronic Arts and Maxis seem to be zoning in on the last few bugs.
As the SimCity debacle finally inches towards a close, EA has revealed the list of free titles it will be offering to owners of the game as an apology for the appalling lack of functionality over the past two weeks.
The lead designer for SimCity, Stone Librande, has posted a new blog explaining how the game's pathing system works, and how the studio is working to fix the issues.
The so-called "SimCity-gate" scandal continues, as a modder announces that he's successfully circumvented the game's "always on" DRM requirements.
Yesterday, Maxis reported that SimCity's much talked about launch problems are "almost behind us," but the developer is not quite ready to give the all clear yet.
Despite the major headache that has been SimCity's major connectivity issues, early reviews of the game have been fairly positive overall, although almost all of them cited the always-on features as the biggest negative.
Somehow, the grand fiasco that is the latest SimCity is stretching into a fourth day. A new online petition is now demanding that the "always on" DRM that came included with the game be removed.
The SimCity fiasco continues, as Electronic Arts continues to struggle to get the game's servers functional. Despite the constant assurances before and after the game launched that the company had things under control, the situation continues to worsen.
After nearly a decade since the last numbered entry, SimCity is finally back. The recently released game features a brand new engine, the GlassBox, which will allow for more interactive cities and more complex visual elements.
SimCity, previously referred to by fans as SimCity 5, is officially being released today. The game is technically the sixth major installment of the franchise and will see the implementation of a number of new features.
