Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 12th Mar 2013 22:35 UTC
"In all the fuss and mess of the disastrous SimCity launch, one refrain has been repeated again and again. While legions may be begging for an offline mode, EA representatives have been abundantly clear that this simply isn't possible. Maxis' studio head, Lucy Bradshaw, has told both Polygon and Kotaku that they 'offload a significant amount of the calculations to our servers', and that it would take 'a significant amount of engineering work from our team to rewrite the game' for single player. A SimCity developer has got in touch with RPS to tell us that at least the first of these statements is not true. He claimed that the server is not handling calculations for non-social aspects of running the game, and that engineering a single-player mode would require minimal effort." This keeps getting worse and worse for EA. It's also clear that Maxis' own developers are not happy with EA's meddling.
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Member since:2006-02-22
Member since:2006-01-03
You don't have a right to pirate it, though. If you don't like it, don't buy it. You don't have a God Granted Right to run SimCity. If you think that as it is, it is shit, but it could become better by sprinkling some pepper on it, well, that will not be your problem unless you buy it.
Now, if you buy it, I think it is ethical (though not necessarily legal) to modify it to suit your needs.
Member since:2005-10-13
I disagree. I believe this is already happenning and is actually the cause of the problem.
1. People are pissed off with EA for some intrusive DRM and stop buying their games.
2. EA says "Oh noez, sales are down, it must be all of those pirates."
3. Increasingly obnoxious DRM "to combat pirates".
4. GOTO 1
I am not pretending to have a solution. I think that in the long run, the only developers left will be those who respect their customers... it just might take a while and the transitory period will be tough.
Edited 2013-03-13 08:40 UTC
Member since:2006-04-10
The REAL way to win is to quit buying games from EA. There are plenty of companies out there that are worth your attention, after all.
Check out civitas on kickstarter:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop...
Member since:2006-02-15
"The REAL way to win is to quit buying games from EA. There are plenty of companies out there that are worth your attention, after all.
Check out civitas on kickstarter:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop... "
On that same note I probably should mention Good Old Games ( http://www.gog.com ) and their "Pick 5 games. Save 80%" - promo at http://www.gog.com/pick_5
I'm sure almost everyone here who cares is already aware of GOG, but I just thought to mention it just for the sake of promoting DRM-free gaming.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
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Member since:
2011-05-13
I disagree. Cracking this game to allow it to run in SP offline mode still means someone paid for the game in the first place.
The REAL way to win is to quit buying games from EA. There are plenty of companies out there that are worth your attention, after all.
Edited 2013-03-12 23:56 UTC