The Hype: The latest, long-awaited entry into the beloved SimCity franchise, in which players can build up their own expanse with gorgeous new visuals and a brand new engine. The series hasn't failed fans up this point, so there's not a thing to worry about. What Happened?: EA and Maxis' insistence that the game have a persistent online connection resulted in a cataclysmic launch, in which players were unable to play the game they'd paid good money for, saves would be deleted without rhyme or reason, random crashes and disconnections would hamper play, and even the much-hyped GlassBox engine would cause countless bugs. Fans and the gaming press were naturally outraged, and an update to make the game playable offline wasn't released for an entire year, which when pirates were able to play the game properly on day one, is both embarrassing and disgusting. Yes, the core gameplay was fun enough when it worked, but the whole experience was damaged hugely by this ill-advised infrastructural decision, as by the time the patch had been released, many players had either claimed refunds or simply moved onto games that actually worked out of the box.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
