UPDATE (6.02pm): THE servers hosting Aussie gamers trying to play SimCity have crashed causing nationwide outrage.
On its Facebook page, EA Games announced that it was "aggressively undergoing maintenance on the SimCity servers and adding capacity to meet demand".
"Performance will fluctuate during this process," it wrote. "Our fans are important to us, and we thank you for your continued patience."
Gamers are understandably furious at the server issues that have been plaguing the game's global launch. The US experienced similar problems during the American launch on Tuesday. EA promised they were working to ensure it prevented a repeat performance during the global launch today. Sadly that promise was broken.
"Want to fix SimCity EA? Get rid of the stupid DRM and servers!
"It's a poor excuse to combat piracy as it makes people pirate and break your game anyway.
"Get of your frickin' high horse. Stop being such a Scrooge McDuck. It doesn't combat piracy in any way."
Once you get past the errors and the glitches, the game itself is addictive, according to IGN. Picture: EA
Another person wrote: "Release game with "Always online DRM" wonder why consumers freak out when their servers fail. I love EA's logic."
EA Announced its servers had crashed about 40 minutes ago and it has already accumulated more than 100 reply comments, mostly negative.
The company released this statement to news.com.au:
"We are experiencing extremely high server volume and it’s preventing some players from gaining access to the game. Our server team is working around the clock to resolve this issue so that we can get the rest of our fans into the game. We are aggressively undergoing maintenance on our servers to add the necessary capacity to meet the demand. Players may continue to play throughout the weekend but we want to note that performance will fluctuate during this time. We thank our fans for their continued patience."
SIMCITY has limped into existence after a series of server issues crippled the systems, bringing any attempts at gaming to a halt.
The remake of the original game, which was first released in 1989, launched in the US on Tuesday, amid technical problems. The game is rolling out to the rest of the world today and signs aren't good.
"Due to the high demand for SimCity, Origin has experienced delays impacting a small percentage of users. We're working non-stop to resolve," the company tweeted yesterday.
"We're making changes to prevent further issues, and are confident that Origin will be stable for international launches later this week."
Despite this, the global launch of SimCity seems to have been disastrous.
Part of the problem is caused by the fact that you need an internet connection to play. Technology blog Tech Dirt called this decision "ridiculous and seriously inhibited playability".
"For one, no one's internet connection is perfectly reliable. Secondly, SimCity was going further than most games, allowing only server-side saves, meaning that players could easily lose progress if their connections dropped," it wrote.
On top of that, every game is multiplayer, whether you like it or not. Not every user is going to want a social gaming experience. Also every game requires a server slot, meaning that an internet connection isn't the only thing standing between you and the game.
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One Reddit user wrote: "I figured from everything I'd read that the always-on part of the game simply required an internet connection, not a slot on a server like I'm about to PvP or something. I'd be more understanding if I could just play my private region by myself like I intended."
SimCity is also a PC-only game that doesn't work on Macs. This is driving people bonkers.
Users are being locked out of playing games they have already purchased, and others are still waiting for it to download.
According to TotalBiscuit's video review the performance is so bad that people who pre-ordered the game are rebuying it because new purchases are unlocking immediately, while pre-purchases are taking a long time to load and organised people are having to wait longer for their purchases to be validated.
Server issues are continuing to plague gamers.
Users are reporting that they can't actually log in to play the game. Others say the game itself is broken.
One user @TheSimSupply tweeted this morning: "Yeah the game is broken, can't do anything, the tutorial doesn't work, I can't make my own city, I can't place roads, or anything."
One user @caflynn wrote that they were only able to play once in 24 hours due to server issues. "@ea Fix. Your. Servers. #failuretolaunch," said the tweet.
Another user @nickstires tweeted that they bought the game more than a week ago but said it wouldn't show in their Origin account.
Luke Reilly, IGN Australia's news editor told News.com.au that it was disappointing that SimCity had been "hobbled" by connection issues.
"It's not surprising for a game that requires an always-online connection to be crippled on launch due to the stress of so many players – we saw it happen with Diablo III – but it's certainly frustrating," he said.
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Mr Reilly said EA has explained the reason for the always-online requirement is that portions of the computing behind the region simulation in Sim City is done on the server-side, rather than on users' computers.
"Multiplayer has always been a focus for Maxis with this SimCity but perhaps EA should have looked into some sort of straightforward, single-player mode that didn't require this sort of connectivity," he said.
"Gamers have been worried about the impact this always-online guff would have on the game and, at least at the moment, their concerns were justified. Some people just want to play SimCity by themselves, whenever they want, just like they did back in 1989.
"Of course, it's not as if EA wanted to launch of SimCity to be problematic but as digital distribution skyrockets publishers need to get better at making it work from day one. "
IGN's Dan Stapleton is blogging his experience of playing SimCity, as he plays.
Check out the video below to find out what it's like to actually play the game.
Or visit IGN for his detailed notes.
EA has been contacted for comment.
Once you get into the game, the experience is great, according to IGN.
The executive editor of IGN PlayStation, Greg Miller said he was initially worried that SimCity had "grown up too much" due to its focus on things like waste removal and traffic patterns but said his fears were unfounded.
"SimCity is as deep as it is charming, but the game ramps up so smoothly that when I got to worrying about where all of my citizens’ poop was going, I had a handle on the insanity," he wrote.
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Unlike previous versions of the game, SimCity starts with roads. You can choose between dirt roads or asphalt, multi-lane highways or single lanes. However, the roads decide what kind of buildings that area can support, so if you want skyscrapers next to a dirt road - that's probably not going to happen. (Though we can't imagine why you would).
The game seems to be based on macroeconomics and the goal is to expand. So if you build a healthcare clinic, then you can buy ambulance garages for the property and then in turn expand the healthcare's reach, he wrote.
"Once your garbage dump starts getting overrun, you can add multiple incinerators to deal with the trash. When your Town Hall is placed, you can plop down departments that give you access to different buildings and perks."
It's a fascinating experiment in real-world town planning that has the potential to make people think about gaming solutions to real world problems.
Source: Supplied
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