GP writer Marcus Estrada explains how the future of always online games is looking grim in light of the DRM hindering Sim City's launch.
Some games force online-only measures onto people. It sucks! Especially when some titles, like these seven, 100% didn't need it.
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 5 of The Secret History of Mac Gaming, “Simulated.”
EA has something of a reputation when it comes to awkwardly handling much-loved franchises. Here are 7 that Screen Critics feel they ruined.
Need for Speed as well. Here's to hope that the new one will be a return to form for the franchise.
It's unfortunate that EA had to go and make the single player online-always. They really should have an option to log in online (just to authenticate if they're really worried about it) and then play offline so you don't have to worry about servers going down. That's essentially what they did with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, and while it isn't as good as being able to play totally offline, it's better than always-online DRM.
The concept of having all cities connected with one another in an online world is cool and all, but it's a shame it had to go so terribly wrong once the game was released. According to Will Wright, he's had more fun with this installment than he's had in a very long time, so it's not a bad game in itself. Hopefully things work out soon, because I really would like to try it out for myself.
While I love the general idea they were going for, I just don't think it should mean that you have to always be online to play. Offline play for this game seems to be a must. Though EA doesn't think so.
Should have been an optional thing. For example, if you were online, you could get certain benefits, or do as they originally intended.
If they were going to do such a thing, they needed an open beta, or something to stress test. But figures. As usual, game publishers fail to comprehend the basics.
If we refuse to buy these games then the market will be small and publishers will not produce for them. Unless governments act to regulate the industry sales models, the onus is on us to make wiser spending decisions. Supporting DRM-free games like The Witcher 2, which also had free dlc will teach publishers to return to the traditional games-as-art model of development. If governments continue to sleep, we'll have to take responsibility ourselves, unfortunately.