I was doing some research this morning as I turned on my computer, and I stumbled across this posting on this SimCity blog back in February (Wow I can’t believe it’s March already!). They’ve answered this one question a lot during the daily livecasts (http://letsallbemayor.com/en/event/burn-some-coal is today’s), so I thought there might still be some people having trouble finding the information 🙂
[flickr id=”8521483316″ thumbnail=”medium_640″ overlay=”true” size=”medium_640″ group=”” align=”center”]
(And graphics are way nicer, even if it is mostly text)
Along with that…
I had a question for you simmers and mayors out there; How many of you are planning on picking up either SimCity or The Sims 3 University next week? I’ve pre-ordered both myself (I’m a sucker for bonuses), but I know a lot of you don’t enjoy Origin, or would rather wait until they go on sale.. etc.
I’ve personally got a conundrum, which to play first? They both come out on Tuesday for me, which means a whole week of eye strain! Give me some feedback!
What about Southeast Asia?
Won’y be getting Sim City despite how good it looks as the Internet requirement and online save are a total deal breaker for me. So annoyed with them!
@ItsMarvinAbel- I’m having a hard time tracking that info down, and I know it’s not the best answer, but I would say sometime later in the Spring as that’s when the Mac releases are schedule for.
@UtterlyUnzipped- Yea, the always online thing is a drag! In my apartment the internet drops everytime someone buzzes up to us to be let in, so I’m hoping the reports of a server-delay buffer are true. Otherwise I’m going to be hella unhappy!
Are you checking out University instead?
@MapleSim
The game syncs every few minutes, and if you disconnect you get a few minutes to re-connect. Not sure how you stand if you disconnect just before it syncs.
Yes, I’ll be getting University on the day of release via Amazon.co.uk!
@Spon1Player: When my internet goes down it usually last 10-15 minutes all the way to a few hours depending on the cause. Also I dread to think how long saves take as I get virtually no upload bandwidth on my package.
For me the always on Internet and Internet Saves are both too inconvenient and give to much control to the company. Servers can and do go down regularly as is evident from many gaming forums. Also there is the fact that most affordable broadband packages come with usage caps and throttling.
I do not trust companies with my data both privacy wise and safety wise. I do regular and multiple backups so now how safe my data is.
I don’t believe the Internet infrastructure is anywhere near advanced enough yet for all these things to work how they say they should. Maybe in 20 years time it will be ready.
Finally there is the whole issue of running the game on a laptop. When going on holiday it is usually way to expensive to pay for a hotels Wi-Fi for an hour let alone always on. Plus if you travel by train alot there is no internet on 99% of trains.
The world isn’t geared for always connected software yet and won’t be for a long while. There are many places that have barely even started rolling it out yet, others where only the rich can afford it.
SimCity 5 is the first SimCity I won’t purchase, or at least I won’t purchase until it drops to bargain bin prices. Always online is already a big deal breaker; not being able to load an earlier save to revert some bad decision or some bit of fun with the disasters is another.
I might purchase it when it drops to about $5, but not before, unless the always online requirement and the limits on saving and reloading are both removed.
The no revert to previous stage is another deal breaker as we all make mistakes!
I suspect that after the initial surge of sales Sim City will effectively flop in terms of long term sustained sales. Which will inevitably lead to EA closing down the servers and all those who bought it being left high and dry.
I’m sure they’ll try to put a positive spin on it as that’s what they pay all those marketing people for.
In many ways I hope it does flop to send a message that forcing these kind of limitations on people is not acceptable.
@Spon1Player @MapleSim
Great news! I can start downloading tomorrow (March 4th, 11pm). 😀
I’m from Southeast Asia, by the way.
I will be playing University first for two or three hours and then Simcity. 🙂
I’m only picking up Uni next week.
I’d say play Uni, complete one or two sims with Uni then spend the rest of the weekend playing SimCity.
Yea, I’m still conflicted over which to play! I will be honest and say that I haven’t played my Sims family in quite a while, but it may just be time for them to go back to school… 🙂
They mentioned Republic of China but not Hong Kong. Is Hong Kong too small to be considered?
@P2FX: Hong Kong is now part of the Republic of China.
@UtterlyUnzipped I think you mean people’s republic of china. That’s different.
I am getting both The Sims 3 Uni and Sim City and will start out with Uni. Can’t wait to get them both.