On March 4, the highly anticipated downloadable online version of SimCity was released by Electronic Arts, and if anything could go wrong, it did and more.
Gamers were up in arms over horrendous waiting times to get onto game servers, losing connection during game sessions, and the “always on” mode of being linked to the servers continually or in other words, no off button for the game.
But true to its word, EA is saying “We’re sorry, man” by offering free games to all those who went through SimCity Hades, and released a list of free games today, for gamers to choose from.
Pretty good selection
The offer is only good to those who experienced the server meltdown issues, and only one game can be selected from the list, so for those dreaming about expanding their game library with oodles of free swag, that’s not going to happen.
According to Electronic Arts today, here is the official game list:
• Battlefield 3
• Bejeweled 3
• Dead Space 3
• Mass Effect 3
• Medal of Honor Warfighter
• Need For Speed Most Wanted
• Plants vs. Zombies
• SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
There seems to be something for just about every type of gamer in this list from casual gaming to hardcore shooters, and even space-action RPGs.
When it will happen
Gamers located in North America will get their shot at the free downloads sometime during the afternoon on March 20, that is, if the servers don’t crash or stall from the sudden influx of traffic.
Those located in Europe will be able join in on the free-fest on March 21, and those in Asia and South America get their chance on March 22.
Still selling a truckload
In spite of the false starts and extremely low review ratings seen on Amazon.com for the game, SimCity has sold over 1.1 million since its release.
But gamers are still incensed at the various bugs, small maps or plots, and requirement to be always connected to the game servers.
One user review on Amazon.com seems to have summed up some of the frustration regarding SimCity:
"I love the Sim City franchise, but EA completely blew it this time. EA must have known that this was going to be a huge game and yet their servers have been off and on since launch. For those of you that don't know yet, you have to be online on EA's server to play the game.
"This is a natural progression I understand, but if the experience is going to be marred due to the online experience, maybe they should have waited for Sim City 6."
Via Forbes
via Examiner National Edition Gadgets & Tech Channel Articles http://www.examiner.com/article/ea-reveals-free-game-list-for-simcity-gamers-to-apologize-for-server-fiasco?cid=roadrunner