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Holy Calamity! posted:Isn't 2 million pretty loving lovely for a title like Sim City? I mean apparently The Last of Us has already sold 2.41 mil and it came out nearly 3 months later. It's such an insanely missed opportunity, I can't believe they released it as-is rather than weighing the long term prospects of the IP and being sure to put out a decent product. Trying to compare SimCity to The Last of Us is kinda of nuts for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Naughty Dog has an insane cachet for quality after three Uncharted games. Maxis these days is really only know for crapping out Sims 3 expansion packs constantly. Also, keep in mind that this 2 million units is about 5 months after release whereas Last of Us has done 2.5m in roughly a month. Don Tacorleone posted:Have the Sonic Franchises recovered? To me, they're still a piece of poo poo wrapped in a box of mediocrity. I won't even look at a Sonic game no matter the price, and I grew up with the drat game being my all time favorite in the Sega Genesis. In the sense that Sonic games are still being made, it never really died. I want to say Colors was an ok game, but ehhhhh. I would refer you to this rant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaZo81-wuS0 
Zellyn fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 23:35
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Mr. Wynand posted:I can't even remember the last not-horrible (not even "good", just "not-horrible") Sonic. That said I get your point. Sonic managed to recover decently even after a massive gently caress up like 2006.
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Jul 24, 2013 23:36
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Simcity as an EA owned franchise is dead, or at least dead to us. My only hopes is that the genre, the "city sim" isn't dead and that someone finally makes a worthy successor to sc4, or any fun city/town building game.
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Jul 24, 2013 23:43
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Eh... I wouldn't write off EA just yet. They seem to cycle between "active disdain for their employees and customers and going out of their way to be assholes" and "some decent releases and pretty promising steps in the right direction". In the 80s and early 90s they mostly just made some very forgettable shovelware and they there were just getting started on sports franchises and other weird tie-ins. Then starting in 93 they put out SC2000, Syndicate and Wing Commander and it kinda gets good for a while. We get Ultima, Need for Speed, Crusader, BioForge, Theme Park and Command & Conquer. Then for the late 90s it's mostly poo poo, sports and flight sims for a while, though we get Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper in between. Then in 1999 we get (Best Game Ever Made Of All Time) Alpha Centauri, System Shock 2. Then it's basically utter poo poo (except, notably, SimCity3k and The Sims of course) until 2003 , when out of loving nowhere come BF1942, C&C Generals and SimCity 4 (THE BEST ONE). Then we're back to poo poo and disappointment (notable exception: BF2). Then in 2007/2008 there is Mirror's Edge, Crysis, Mass Effect (the good one), and Rock Band, which you might remember was more popular then Jesus (and gently caress da haters, it's still fun). We're definitely knee deep in poo poo-town again. Looking back, this one is actually longer then most. So I guess either EA is due another turn-around pretty soon or this might be the time it falls down and can't get up, like THQ did.
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Jul 25, 2013 00:17
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THQ didn't go down on making bad games in particular though but from being unable to budget their way out of anything.
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Jul 25, 2013 00:26
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Don't forget Dead Space. 2008 EA was awesome.
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Jul 25, 2013 00:27
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Happy Noodle Boy posted:Don't forget Dead Space. 2008 EA was awesome. I didn't care for Dead Space  Too much jump scares, not enough substance.
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Jul 25, 2013 00:38
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Don Tacorleone posted:Have the Sonic Franchises recovered? To me, they're still a piece of poo poo wrapped in a box of mediocrity. I won't even look at a Sonic game no matter the price, and I grew up with the drat game being my all time favorite in the Sega Genesis. Aaaaaaaah. Mr. Wynand posted:There's that irrational optimism - of course it hasn't! It's not going going to happen, forget it! Aaaaaaaaah. At this point, I have to wonder if the Sonic Franchise is presently perceived as dead because it was already perceived as dead. That is, people have given up on it because one game was utter poo poo, the games immediately surrounding it were terrible, and the ones a bit before that were below mediocre. Because people have given up on it, they don't even bother looking at the later ones, which are definitely improving. So, since the franchise was "killed", it remains dead to many, no matter what has actually happened with it. To tie that into Sim City, I think that's how it's going to go down here. This game was a failure on so many levels, and a good many people have either been burned on the Sim City name or retreated to the past games, to never look to the future again. Say they have a timely release on a new Sim City game. Say it's actually good. That wouldn't matter, because this game will have cast a pall over any future games to try and use the name. Say the next one is instead the hypothetical "perfect" city-building game; despite it, the only way people who were burned by this game would buy that game is when someone they feel has good taste tells them it's actually good, and who would be the person to buy it first and spread the word? Long point short, Sim City as a franchise is screwed. It'll be a long time and a long series of actually decent games before this game gets cleaned from the slate, and EA isn't likely to put forth that kind of effort.
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Jul 25, 2013 01:05
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Mr. Wynand posted:I didn't care for Dead Space I think that treating Dead Space as survival horror is a mistake. It's an action game that has freaky monsters. The only time I ever felt scared was during the immortal monster sequences when I got stuck and chewed up for a bit, but it was never genuinely frightening in the way a horror game is. As a 3rd person shooter I think it and DS2 were great. DS3 kinda...weird.
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Jul 25, 2013 01:42
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Mr. Wynand posted:Yes but that's across 3 or whatever platforms. Console games always outsell PC games by a as much as a factor of 10. You missed Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Not that it makes the list much bigger.
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Jul 25, 2013 02:06
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Gunjin posted:You missed Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Not that it makes the list much bigger. And all the WoW expansions Skyrim, TOR, and Battlefield 3.
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Jul 25, 2013 02:27
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Gunjin posted:You missed Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Not that it makes the list much bigger. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did not beat 2 million, it only matched them I have no idea how I missed Starcraft and Diablo... I may have read past them assuming lower numbers?  As for Skyrim, I blame Wikipedia. Yeah, it surely must have sold more then 2M - that game is massive. Maybe this has something to do with it: quote:Sales from digital distribution outlets such as Steam are also not taken into account. Subscription figures for massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft or Lineage are also not taken into account as they do not necessarily correspond to sales.
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Jul 25, 2013 02:33
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Not counting digital sales, especially Steam, makes that list pretty crap
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Jul 25, 2013 02:48
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Sim City isn't dead, and you would be a fool to think so. The reason why is simple: there are no other city building games. There are some similar games like Tropico/Anno XXXX, but they aren't focused on realism and are really more about supply chains than city design. Cities XL tried, but failed pretty miserably. Cities in Motion is too focused on transportation and doesn't scratch the same itch. Until another game comes out to give people something else to be excited about Sim City will remain the #1 city building franchise.
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Jul 25, 2013 02:49
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HappyHelmet posted:Sim City isn't dead, and you would be a fool to think so. The reason why is simple: there are no other city building games.
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Jul 25, 2013 03:26
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HappyHelmet posted:Sim City isn't dead, and you would be a fool to think so. The reason why is simple: there are no other city building games. Well, at least my view on the "death" of a franchise is more that all future entries would be poorly regarded based on this game. Games from before this one, like Sim City 4, are still going to be judged on their own merits, untainted by this serious mis-step. Back to my previous comparison, there is still a large number of people who solely swear by the Genesis Sonic games, despite '06 and any of the other 3D titles being the so-called "death of Sonic". Sim City will live, yes, and it will indeed remain the #1 City Builder, but only due to its past games. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, of course, but it's hard to put faith in EA or Maxis after this blunder.
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Jul 25, 2013 03:37
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Oblivion4568238 posted:I'd love to be proven wrong on this, of course, but it's hard to put faith in EA or Maxis after this blunder. Sim City was the final straw with me. I won't even buy another EA game.
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Jul 25, 2013 03:43
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Oblivion4568238 posted:Well, at least my view on the "death" of a franchise is more that all future entries would be poorly regarded based on this game. Games from before this one, like Sim City 4, are still going to be judged on their own merits, untainted by this serious mis-step. Back to my previous comparison, there is still a large number of people who solely swear by the Genesis Sonic games, despite '06 and any of the other 3D titles being the so-called "death of Sonic". Sim City will live, yes, and it will indeed remain the #1 City Builder, but only due to its past games. I agree with you, and I think a lot of people on here would too, but Goons are a very small portion of the gaming population. I think if EA came out and said they were working on Sim City 2 most gamers would suddenly get amnesia and start talking themselves into buying it.
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Jul 25, 2013 05:51
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WeaponBoy posted:You really think a million copies of the game got returned? I get that you really want EA to die horribly, but that is so laughably crazy. I'll put it this way: Enough copies of the game were returned that Amazon pulled the game. I'd wager at least a few hundred thousand.
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Jul 25, 2013 06:05
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I think that's still too high, people who got refunds were vocal but I think the vast majority just took it. And 2 mill might be a good number of copies sold but it's still a failure, measured in terms of how many people are still playing, how many want to buy DLC, and how many would preorder a game from EA again. Diablo III sold great, then it was released; I was a sucker to preorder that and even though Blizzard got my 60 bucks that time they can be sure it won't happen again.
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Jul 25, 2013 06:51
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Reason posted:Sim City was the final straw with me. I won't even buy another EA game. If Mirrors Edge 2 comes out not terrible Ill be all over that. Ive always liked mucking around in the Sims but im tired of being nickeled to death for the same features, so unless The Sims 4 comes out with an absolute metric poo poo ton of content then gently caress it. EA has nothing else in the pipe that even deserves my attention outside those, and ME is the only one I'd be willing to give any kind of pass to seeing as its the only good original franchise to come out of that black hole in like 6 years.
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Jul 25, 2013 07:20
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Consider EA just announced that they make more money off digital sales than anything else as of this year, paid DLC is only going to become more of a factor in their games. The numbers are seriously nuts: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/07/for-the-first-time-eas-real-life-money-is-mostly-from-digital-sales/ To the point that you need to think long and hard before buying anything with an EA logo on it, even before you consider whether the game you want is actually fun to play.
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Jul 25, 2013 07:29
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xzzy posted:Consider EA just announced that they make more money off digital sales than anything else as of this year, paid DLC is only going to become more of a factor in their games. DLC for simcity, I have no qualms with, and I don't think anyone here does. However, it is hard to enjoy them when the core game collapses spectacularly if you blow on it wrong. As for the ME nostalgia, remember that ME1 was not produced or designed under EA's eyeballs. It was the success of that title that helped bioware be purchased. ME1 was published by microsoft if I am remembering it correctly.
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Jul 25, 2013 07:54
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xzzy posted:To the point that you need to think long and hard before buying anything with an EA logo on it, even before you consider whether the game you want is actually fun to play. Since their games aren't available on Steam, I don't need to think about buying their games at all! 
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Jul 25, 2013 07:56
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xzzy posted:Consider EA just announced that they make more money off digital sales than anything else as of this year, paid DLC is only going to become more of a factor in their games. The problem isn't with DLC itself. I'm all for extra content that extends the life cycle of a game as long as it is good quality, has a good cost/fun balance (not specifically time as that's too nebulous a value to try and assess) and isn't too sleazy. There are obvious problems, for example the way BF3 Premium split up the playerbase is a bad thing (and some of the DLC just wasn't very good, *cough* Armoured Kill *cough*), but as an idea of how to deliver DLC to extend the lifecycle of a game, that's not bad. I just think it's silly to go 'EA + DLC = Eeeeeeevil' automatically. Of course, Real Racing 3 is just hosed up. I don't know how anyone plays that game and doesn't feel ripped off. JuffoWup posted:DLC for simcity, I have no qualms with, and I don't think anyone here does. However, it is hard to enjoy them when the core game collapses spectacularly if you blow on it wrong. Not exactly. EA bought Bioware one month prior to Mass Effect being released (Oct. 2007 vs. Nov. 2007). That's also not the sort of thing that happens in a weekend, so it was likely planned months in advance, but EA wasn't really involved in the game itself. Even afterwards, as far as I'm aware, Bioware retained a fairly high level of autonomy where they got to do what they wanted even if they were functionally a part of EA.
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Jul 25, 2013 08:32
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Happy Noodle Boy posted:Don't forget Dead Space. 2008 EA was awesome. Didn't Skate come out in '08 too? Holy poo poo.
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Jul 25, 2013 08:37
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Toussaint Louverture posted:Didn't Skate come out in '08 too? Holy poo poo. And Henry Hatsworth, if I remember correctly.
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Jul 25, 2013 09:22
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Some of the notes for upcoming patch #7 (he confirmed on Reddit these weren't in next weeks patch #6): http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9637389.page EA devs posted:New: Brand new tool to create bridges, overpasses, and tunnels when you draw your roads.
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Jul 25, 2013 10:02
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Isn't this second time they're fixing money gifting?
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Jul 25, 2013 10:06
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WeaponBoy posted:The problem isn't with DLC itself. I'm all for extra content that extends the life cycle of a game as long as it is good quality, has a good cost/fun balance (not specifically time as that's too nebulous a value to try and assess) and isn't too sleazy. There's really nothing wrong DLC as a general concept. It serves the same function as expansion packs used to, except instead of buying another box you just download it, and it generally comes in smaller chunks for smaller prices. The problem is with the seemingly endless companies that put things like critical bug fixes in DLC or just don't fix them at all because they're too busy pumping out masses of lovely DLC for already lovely games. And other companies who charge twenty bucks for a pair of terrible weapons and a player skin, or any number of other sleazy things companies do with DLC. I personally have nothing against DLC in general, it just needs to be not complete poo poo for a game that isn't complete poo poo to begin with and priced somewhere in the general vicinity of sane. Sadly, most DLC is none of those things because companies treat it as an opportunity to be massive assholes while thinking customers won't notice. And the sad reality is, far too many people either actually don't notice, or don't care and willingly buy things they know are poo poo for no really good reason.
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Jul 25, 2013 10:23
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It would be hilarious if EA released a horse DLC so they could then release a horse armor DLC.
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Jul 25, 2013 10:35
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Lucy Heartfilia posted:Isn't this second time they're fixing money gifting? If we include the initial "money no longer travels by truck" patch, I'm pretty sure this is the fourth.
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Jul 25, 2013 11:26
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EA Devs posted:Fixed an issue where the fire animation would sometimes continue when fire was extinguished. But... but... my eternal column of flame that commemorates the terrible NotGodzillaJustAGenericCreature™ attack in downtown! 
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Jul 25, 2013 15:18
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I think bridges might actually fix my first-ever city, I'll have to try it out when the patch hits. I think I stopped playing after patch #2, weird to see they're on #7 and still trying to fix traffic.
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Jul 25, 2013 15:56
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Toussaint Louverture posted:Didn't Skate come out in '08 too? Holy poo poo. And Mirror's Edge. I'm both happy and disappointed it didn't get sequalized into oblivion like Dead Space did. I'm hoping they put the same kind of love and attention into the reboot coming up. The fact that Faith never touched a gun in the trailer except to take it from a guard and throw it away gives me hope.
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Jul 25, 2013 16:00
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quote:New: Improvements for Traffic behavior to make it smarter. This should reduce the number of lines formed by all available vehicles converging on a single spot. This affects all vehicles including Police, Fire Trucks, Moving Trucks, Garbage Trucks, Recycling Trucks, Resource Trucks, Buses, Ambulances, and Civilian vehicles going home, to work, or shopping. Why are all these vehicles converging on a single spot in the first place? I'd like to think that this means that they'll take better routes than just ONE route that SimCity decided was the shortest, but since they don't specifically state they fixed that, I'm only expecting the worst.
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Jul 25, 2013 16:01
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WeaponBoy posted:The problem isn't with DLC itself. I'm all for extra content that extends the life cycle of a game as long as it is good quality, has a good cost/fun balance (not specifically time as that's too nebulous a value to try and assess) and isn't too sleazy. There are obvious problems, for example the way BF3 Premium split up the playerbase is a bad thing (and some of the DLC just wasn't very good, *cough* Armoured Kill *cough*), but as an idea of how to deliver DLC to extend the lifecycle of a game, that's not bad. I just think it's silly to go 'EA + DLC = Eeeeeeevil' automatically. Not arguing that DLC is fine. I love dropping money on new maps or expansions or whatever. But EA has been pushing it super hard since last year and they're putting so much effort into monetizing everything they can get away with that core game features are suffering for it. It's gone from "here's some cool new things for that game you were already having fun with!" to "we just sold you 75% of a complete product, please insert credit card to get remaining 25%."
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Jul 25, 2013 16:04
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Doctor Butts posted:Why are all these vehicles converging on a single spot in the first place? Because the agent system has no sort of reservation system and its logic consists of: Find Nearest Thing I Want to Interact With -> Plot Fastest Course to Thing. So every garbage truck targets the same garbage can, and they all plot similar courses to get to it, so they all end up in a single long line. I'd bet they probably just tweaked the traffic algorithm to sometimes choose less than optimal routes (though I have no way of knowing, of course). Based on all of the previous patches I doubt they've done anything to really make it "smarter," like having agents reserve their targets. kedo fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 16:28
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OatmealRaisin posted:And Mirror's Edge. I'm both happy and disappointed it didn't get sequalized into oblivion like Dead Space did. I'm hoping they put the same kind of love and attention into the reboot coming up. The fact that Faith never touched a gun in the trailer except to take it from a guard and throw it away gives me hope. And you had the DS and Wii game.
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Jul 25, 2013 16:50
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Croccers posted:Skate sort of got sequalized. Each game was about... a year and a half apart wasn't it? But in Skate's case, the sequels were dramatic improvements over the original. It's really, really hard to go back to the original after you've played Skate 3. Unless of course one prefers the simpler controls of the original. Nailing any specific trick in 3 requires some precision thumbstick work.
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Jul 25, 2013 16:59
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