You wouldn’t go to Spring Training and expect to pay regular season prices to see a sluggish baseball team play a half-assed game. If you go to a preview of a new musical — where they might not be in full costume or have to stop and start a song halfway through — you don’t pay the same as someone going to the theater after opening night. And there’s a reason why the “dinged and discounted” section of the furniture store isn’t asking for the full sticker price. But when it comes to video games, consumers are increasingly paying a premium to be de facto beta testers for unfinished and broken games that aren’t ready for the market. [More]
simcity
One Year Too Late, EA Finally Rolls Out Offline Play For SimCity
By 3.18.14
Part of the reason that video game goliath Electronic Arts won its second Worst Company In America title in 2013 was its disastrous launch of the highly awaited new SimCity game, a title that forced users to be online in order to play (but for which the company failed to provide enough server support, meaning no one could play because everyone was trying to play). Now, a full year and another WCIA nomination later, EA is finally letting users play the game without going online. [More]
EA Finally Decides You Don’t Need To Be Online To Play SimCity
By 1.13.14
When reigning two-time Worst Company In America champ Electronic Arts released the hugely anticipated SimCity game in April 2013, it unleashed a hornets’ nest of bad publicity by not only requiring that players be online in order to use the game but also grossly underestimating its ability to deal with all of those users trying to play the game at the same time. Many owners of the game were unable to play for weeks until EA resolved the issue, but the company stood by the ill-advised decision to require an Internet connection. Now, ten months and ten updates later, it’s finally relenting. [More]
EA: SimCity Is Coming To Mac (For Real, This Time) Aug. 29
By 8.5.13
Isn’t it funny how a company like Electronic Arts (our Worst Company In America for two years running, don’t forget!) can say one thing and then do another? Like when it said the Mac version of the newest SimCity would be released on June 11. It wasn’t, but now the company says the long-delayed game will finally arrive in a digital-only version on Aug. 29. [More]
EA Releasing First Patch For SimCity Today: Mansions For Mayors, Still No Offline Mode
By 4.22.13
If you’ve been holding your breath for Electronic Arts (our Worst Company In America 2013, everybody!) to update SimCity with an offline mode, well, keep holding it. The company is releasing a patch today at 4:00 p.m. ET with a few new things and a variety of fixes, but that offline mode players have been wishing and hoping for is nowhere in sight. [More]
EA Will Have Another Chance To Botch A Game Release With SimCity For Macs Coming In June
By 4.10.13
Fresh off the heels of its two-peat as Consumerist’s Worst Company In America with the 2013 win (nominated and voted on by you, our dear readers), Electronic Arts is giving itself the chance to botch yet another game release with the impending launch of SimCity for Mac users on June 11. [More]
Probably No One Is Shocked That The First Free Downloadable Content For SimCity Is An Ad
By 4.3.13
Money makes the world go ’round, even if that world happens to be a virtual one like EA’s much talked about new SimCity. And nothing brings the dollar dollar bills rolling in like advertising, which is why we’re completely unsurprised that the first bit of free downloadable content (known as DLC) offered up for SimCity boils down to an ad. [More]
EA Didn’t Give Me A SimCity Refund, But Agreed To Switch It For A Game I Can Actually Play
By 3.19.13
Yesterday Electronic Arts offered up a list of freebie games for disgruntled SimCity customers (and oh yeah, its CEO announced his resignation), but from what Consumerist readers are saying, the options are at best “meh” and at worst, laughable. Reader L. hadn’t had much success playing SimCity but realized his chances of getting a refund were more than slim. [More]
EA Unveils List Of 8 Free Games It’s Offering To Disgruntled SimCity Customers
By 3.18.13
UPDATE: Electronic Arts has announced that CEO John Riccitiello is stepping down. His last day on the job will be March 30. Maybe he didn’t want to have to accept another Golden Poo? [More]
EA Disabling User Accounts Because It Thinks Any Contact With Amazon Must Be A Refund Request
By 3.18.13
UPDATE: Electronic Arts has announced that CEO John Riccitiello is stepping down. His last day on the job will be March 30. Interesting timing, eh? [More]
EA Says It Rejected Offline Play For SimCity Because “It Didn’t Fit With Our Vision”
By 3.15.13 — Updated: 3.18.13
The brouhaha over Electronic Arts’ decision to require an Internet connection in order to play its highly anticipated SimCity 5 game continues, and the latest words from the company executive at the center of this mess probably won’t do much to calm matters. [More]
EA Insists SimCity Must Be Connected To Servers, Gamer Figures Out How To Run It Offline
By 3.15.13
For the swarms of angry EA customers ticked off at the company for forcing players to play the new SimCity in an always online mode, the slow, problem-riddled servers have been a huge annoyance. Calls for EA (our Worst Company In America 2012) and Maxis to allow gamers to play in offline mode have been dismissed by the company as not possible, but lo and behold, one game modder is claiming it is quite possible. [More]
Using The EECB Gets Me A SimCity Refund, But What About Everyone Else?
By 3.12.13 — Updated: 3.13.13
Consumerist reader Kevin was one of many SimCity gamers ticked off last week (likely plenty are still fuming this week), but unlike many of his fellow players, he was able to procure a refund for the deluxe digital edition. What in the what? “But EA doesn’t seem to be giving out refunds!” you might’ve just yelled at the screen. Kevin attributes his success to the executive email carpet bomb, or the EECB. [More]
EA: We’ve Solved A Bunch Of Server Issues But SimCity Isn’t Going Offline
By 3.11.13
Last week EA and its subsidiary Maxis were up to their eyeballs in complaints from gamers who purchased SimCity and then were unable to play it due to widespread server problems. Amid the furor were cries from customers who wanted to do away with the “always-on” DRM feature. While EA has been busy apologizing and offering free games, it sounds like that offline mode is going to remain but a dream. [More]
EA Admits Its Own Stupidity, Will Give Away Free Games To People Who Bought SimCity
By 3.9.13
After days of being the gaming world’s punching bag for its failure to foresee that it was woefully unprepared for the number of users who would want to begin playing the long-awaited latest edition of SimCity, the folks at EA, the reigning Worst Company In America, are apologizing and admitting they made a stupid mistake. [More]
New In The SimCity Saga: Maxis Promises More Servers, Refund Rumors Abound
By 3.8.13 — Updated: 3.9.13
Here’s Why The Launch Of SimCity 5 Ticked A Lot Of People Off This Week
By 3.7.13
On Tuesday, EA released the highly anticipated newest iteration of SimCity, a game that fans have been waiting years for, eagerly counting down the days until they could flex their god-like creation muscles and craft fresh societies as they see fit. Except SimCity 5 can’t be played offline, unleashing a torrent of complaints about crashing games and slow and wholly unavailable servers. Consumerist’s Worst Company In America 2012, everybody. [More]
Backlash: Anti-DRM Protesters Trash Spore's Amazon Rating
By 9.9.08
Spore, the long awaited new game from SimCity creator Will Wright, has been critically well-received, so what’s up with its Amazon.com score? As of this posting, the game, despite being #1 on Amazon, has 1,494 one star ratings from gamers who are upset about the game’s DRM. Here are some excerpts from the angry reviews:
