PsiBorg6

The biggest irony of all is that although I stated in my comments that I have not yet played the game, I have since received it and can't even install the damn thing. Tried all weekend, installed about 2Gb from the disc, Origin downloads a 73Mb file, I hit install, it seems to install, then repeats the install request on the same file, so infinite loop and no game. I get rid of everything, Origin, SimCity, registry entries, retry through downloading the game only, and it downloads a 260MB (ish) file and goes into the same loop of looking like it's installing, then failing with no play option, just an 'install' option. I can't see through googling various forums that this is a particularly common problem, and I sure as hell can't find a fix, so it's currently winging its way back to Amazon for a refund...it'll be ineteresting to see if I get a refund, as it's still in my Origin games list... Oh, and I'm in the UK where the release was supposedly smoother than the US launch... Given up.

Agreed, and I think that's the main difference between the two. Maxis do know what should make SimCity a great game and (again, not played it yet) the underlying game mechanics should be sound. Fixing bugs, tweaking the formulas and adding features to a sound game foundation will improve it much more than what is arguably the flawed foundation of Civ 5, which kind of lost the message of being a 'civilization' builder as opposed to the rather ropey war game it has actually become.

This whole thing is reminding me of the release of Civilization V. It was released to tremendous backlash, especially from online fans. Even now, after a couple of years and an expansion pack, there is still a regulalrly updated Civ V rants thread sitting in the top 20 threads on CivFanatics. Civilization V was divisive to say the least, and time has solidified that division, not weakened it. I feel the same will happen here. The server problems will get fixed, updates and/or expansions will add things we want (bigger cities and so on, perhaps offline play), but it will still be divisive. There will still be a large number of people who see SimCity 2013 as a scab on the franchise along with Societies, and that SimCity 4 was definitive (which it is IMHO). I for one, have not played it yet (hoping to tonight once Amazon have delivered it), so I can't comment on the game itself, it's just that the trend is very familiar with what happened in the Civilization community. I for one hated Civilization 5 by the way, and Gods & Kings did little to improve it for me, and I'm back on Civilization 4 and its' many, many great mods. However, there are a lot of people who love Civilization 5 and I expect in a couple of years, the trend will be very similar for SimCity 2013 and SimCity 4. JM2C Oh, and hello by the way!