Hasta La Gadget!

The problem with the always-on feature that many game developers are starting to adopt is that when you have an issue with your server, it affects everyone. This back to 2012 when Diablo 3 ran into a ton of problems at launch, resulting in a ton of complaints, and if you have been following the news, the newly launched SimCity has been met with similar problems as well. Naturally with all these problems putting players off, some want a refund on their money. After all since I am not getting what I paid for, shouldn’t I be entitled to get my money back?

Well one SimCity player certainly thought that way and citing an EA press release on the matter which read, “if you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can of course request a refund for your order,” that player tried to ask for his money back. While speaking to a customer service representative, the rep acknowledged the PR but later added a catch which was that refunds were given at their discretion, instead offering the player a 15% discount on the Origin store. The EA rep even threatened the customer, claiming that if he wanted to dispute the refund policy, his account would be banned. This sounds pretty bad and we hope that EA will respond to this swiftly and make this right.

Update – Origin has tweeted that they will not ban players who request for a refund, and that reports of such an act is simply a rumor. If that is the case, either Origin is trying to repair the bad press or this conversation this customer allegedly had with an EA rep was fabricated. In any case if you wanted a refund, it looks like you’re in the clear.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The 7th Guest: 3 Heading To PC, Mac and Mobile To Give You Nightmares Again, Boy Scouts Introducing Merit Badge For Game Design,

After a successful launch of Real Racing 2 towards the end of 2010, the racing simulator kept gamers’ interest for over two years, and now a third installment is back. However, there are a few changes that make this threequel noteworthy. First of all, the game is now completely free to download, which sounds almost too good to be true, but developer Firemonkey and publisher Electronic Arts have decided to take the freemium route this time around. Plus, there are all new cars and tracks to race your way around. I ended up spending some time with the game, attempting to make my way up to elite status, and there a lot of things I liked about it, but there were also a lot of things that I didn’t like. Let’s break it down now.

Essentially in Real Racing 3, you buy cars and compete in events until you beat the game. There’s also “Driver Level,” in which you are awarded a certain amount of experience points after every race that go towards being an expert driver. I don’t really pay a lot of attention to that, since my only goal is raise as much money as I can so I can buy a new car and race in more events. You rely on “R$” currency and coins to get you through the game. The coins are there so that you can basically buy your way out of having to wait on various things, which I’ll describe here soon.

You might have heard about “Time-Shifted Multiplayer” before. It’s a new feature in Real Racing 3 where you play against real people in every event. Granted, you’re not all playing each other at the same time (hence the “Time-Shifted” name), but the other racers are essentially AI-controlled players that have completed in the event in the past. It’s similar to racing a ghost, but the ghost is AI-controlled and will respond to your movements in the race. It’s a pretty neat feature, and it’s more enjoyable this way knowing that you’re not just racing against the computer.

There are numerous types of races to choose from, including cup races, top-speed challenges, drag races, sprints, and eliminations. There also tons of new tracks and cars, including real tracks like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Mount Panorama, as well as fake tracks that exist in real locations, such as Melbourne. As for controls, it’s nothing that we haven’t experienced before with Real Racing 2 — tilting your mobile device steers the car, and tapping on the screen is the brake. You can also change camera angles, which includes a cockpit view if you really want a realistic experience.

As for graphics, they’re not bad, but also not great. There’s absolutely zero anti-aliasing, which makes the game a pixelated nightmare, and scenery could be a bit better, especially in Mount Panorama, where you can get a good look out at the horizon. The mountains in the background look pretty horrible, and it makes you feel you traveled back in time to the late 90s. However, I can’t be too harsh on the graphics. For a mobile game on a smartphone, the game looks pretty incredible.

As for the freemium model in Real Racing 3, this is where things can get a bit controversial. Since the game is free, Firemonkey and EA rely on the in-app purchases of coins to make revenue. Whenever your car needs servicing or you upgrade parts, you have to wait a few minutes for them to complete, sometimes up to 10 minutes. Of course, you can speed the process up by spending a couple of coins, but once you’re all out, you have to buy more if you don’t want to wait for things to finish. Essentially, Firemonkey and EA are counting on your impatience in order to make money with this game, and my guess is that they’ll make a fortune.

You can buy more coins starting at $1.99 for 10 of them, and you can also buy more in-game currency for buying cars and upgrades starting at $1.99 for R$50,000. And considering that Real Racing 2 only cost $4.99, you can end up spending way more in Real Racing 3. However, if patience is your virtue, then you probably won’t have a problem with the game, but if you’re the type of person who wants upgrades now and wants your oil change and tire rotation right this second, prepare to spend a ton of money on the game.

Real Racing 3 for iOS Review is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I’d be willing to bet there are huge number of gamers out there who have fond memories of playing previous SimCity games back in the day. I know I spent many an hour building a giant city only to destroy it with a rampaging monster or some other catastrophe. It’s been 10 years since we’ve seen a new game in the SimCity franchise. EA has announced that the new SimCity game is now available at retail stores across North America and as a digital download via Origin.

This game has been one of the most widely anticipated launches of early 2013 and brings the game play we all remember along with significantly updated graphics and capabilities. EA says that everything is intelligently simulated in the new SimCity.

EA says that everything from the Sims in the city down to every kilowatt of power is intelligently simulated thanks to the powerful new GlassBox Engine. The game supports multiple city game play across regions giving players a larger field than some previous titles that limited you to a single city. The new game allows players to manage and play up to 16 cities at a time.

Each of the 16 cities can have a different specialization. A player’s individual cities can share services and trade resources. The cities can choose to help each other or hinder each other depending on the player’s mood. This is also the first SimCity game to support multiple player gaming with a players decisions for their cities impacting the city and the region. The game supports real-time updates and pushes updates to players with new challenges and achievements.

You can download SimCity Limited Edition for $59.99(USD) or the Deluxe Edition, which includes French, German and British city sets for $79.99 over at the SimCity website now.

Attention aspiring mayors, the long-awaited city-building simulator known as SimCity is ready for purchasing and downloading in North America. You can now get the game in-stores or online through EA’s Origin gaming service, which unlocked the game at 12:01 am earlier this morning. A new generation of city building has officially started.

However, the launch isn’t going as well as Electronic Arts and Maxis have hoped. Many users have been experiencing download failures, and not everyone was able to play the game when it was released at midnight. EA’s Origin said that because of heavy traffic, they’re having to slowly roll out the game to its users.

It turns out that due to the server load, it was expected that downloading the new game could take up to three hours, according to Origin. It’s also said that those who pre-ordered the game are having issues with the game unlocking for them, while those who go in and buy the game right now are able to unlock it right away.

According to Origin’s timeline, everyone who pre-ordered SimCity, should now have it unlocked for them. Overall, it seems like a nightmare of Electronic Arts, while it’s merely just a nuisance for gamers who want to play the game. Origin hasn’t updated their Twitter feed for eight hours now, so we’re guessing that most of the problems have been solved.

SimCity for PC available now in North America is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

EA’s Dead Space 3 was just released a few weeks ago to the delight of horror-game fans as the new title removed the strange multiplayer modes found in Dead Space 2, replacing it with a co-op mode. As of this writing, the game is currently rated between 75 – 80 on Metacritic, which means it should be considered a good game. Unfortunately, EA is reportedly killing the franchise today.

According to a source familiar with Dead Space 4 speaking to VideoGamer.com, the development for the game was stopped by EA due to poor sales of Dead Space 3. The game was already in pre-production at Visceral Games and Visceral Montreal, the latter was reportedly closed due to a company restructuring.

At this point, this is purely hearsay as no official word has come from EA announcing either the retirement of the Dead Space series or the shuttering of Visceral Montreal. Considering Dead Space 3 teased a sequel in its post-game credits sequence, we’d find it hard to believe the company would go through the trouble of teasing fans in order to cancel its follow-up game weeks after its release.

[Update: EA has responded to today’s rumor with the following statement: “While we have not announced sales for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and the franchise remains an important IP to EA.”]

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