Xenocity

I am running the Mac version on my late 2011 MBP with 4GBs of RAM, 512MBs graphics card, and 2.2Ghz iCore 7 CPU. I am fully able to run this game on high settings with no issues and it runs better than my Windows version on the same MBP (the Windows version runs very well). It also does not suffer from the random glitch that caused me to get booted back to the main menu very so often on the Windows version. The only issue I have encountered is the new city I created to night does not recognize the Solar Farm, causing me to build a powerplant.

Has any Simcity game ever had a demo? Maxis rarely makes demos and if they do make one it will be very limited with a certain amount of times it can be accessed (So you cannot abuse the demo). The last Maxis game to have a demo was Spores. I suggest you try running a kickstarter to raise the money. If that doesn't suit you, I suggest you try: finding odd jobs mowing lawns babysitting garage sale or a part time job if you are old enough

I couldn't agree more. Plays well to a point and then the simulation seems to fall over. Still plenty of fun to be had though while it is going though... SimCity 4 is analogous to this. The gameplay starts out very smooth, but once you build your city up and out and your population soars you start encountering the bugs and oversights in the game design: traffic congestion becomes overwhelming because sims take the shortest and not the fastest route, buildings are abandoned or degraded either due to commute time or due to no discernible reason at all, you have to build 3 hospitals on every block because the individual capacity is too low, etc. Basically, the Maxis testers only play out the game to a certain point, and they don't bother with the problems that appear past that point. Exactly. Simcity 2013 is coming along, it still needs a few more patches to make it fully stable. Don't complain about patches until you've owned/played Bethesda games.

How did you end up with a non English Language version of the game?

Actually Simcity 4 just didn't sell and wasn't even popular Not once did EA or Maxis blame piracy for the low sales of Simcity 4. Simcity 4 sadly though was well noted for being a near broken game when it launched in 2003. Remember before Rush hour and Modding/NAM we had to deal with: Constant crashing of the game due to poor debugging and unoptimization Zones being abandoned due the pathfinding the sims used to travel Traffic issues Land value issues Graphical issues Loading issues Rush Hour fixed most of the chrasing, graphical and loading issues NAM fixed the pathfinding and traffic issues making your sims travel realistic distances Modding helped fix the land value issues and the pollution issues. You'd be surprised how many issues plague game in its original form. Seriously go play an unmodded/unNAMed version of the game and see how long it takes you before you give up due to frustration. It literally took 7 years for the game to become stable and fully enjoyable. We know there is a at least 500k regular users who play daily. Many users including myself typically play on the weekends or days when we aren't busy. I'm busy with many things, so I haven't played in a while. I am also waiting for the Mac version to come out before jumping back in. To be fair, most games experience a huge drop off in players after the second week. People including gamers quickly lose interest in sandbox and simulation games. They also quit playing other games once they beat them or reach a certain point. This has been noted by market research time and again. Call of Duty and Halo are two games that somehow keep a large portion of their owners playing long after the release. The point is, if half of the people who bought the game are regularly playing, then that is really good number that most games are unable to hit.

They are true numbers but they also included: Simcity 2000 GBA Simcity SNES (Wii VC release) Simcity Societies Simcity DS Simcity 64 (N64 in Japan only) Since then 2007 the following Simcity games have been released: Simcity iOS Simcity Deluxe iOS The Simcity Box Simcity DS 2 (Simcity Creator DS) Simcity Creator Wii Simcity 2000 PSN release Simcity Social Simcity 2013 The numbers include every game sold under the Simcity name. Simcity 4 contributed at least 1 Million sales to that number, maybe a bit more.

Please provide a source for these numbers and please indicate the date of the source. They are from EA's financial reports (Simcity 2000 and Simcity 1 are from the Maxis reports) which as mentioned were posted in previous threads regarding the same topic. EA quit reported sales of Simcity 4 in 2008 because it was selling so little. Obviously EA quit reporting sales of Simcity 3000 by 2005 due the product being discontinued. Seriously do Simcity fans not pay attention when EA/Maxis announces sales data and press releases? Here is the link to the press release about the launch sales for Simcity 2013 at 1.6M on May 7th. The game still manages to chart on the UK, EU, and US top 20. Sadly we do not have access to sale data from these charts Or you can read this Standford paper for Simcity 3000 and before. The paper was published in 2004. EA released a press release in 2004 when Simcity 4 passed 1 million mark, which you may be able to find via google. We have no PR statements regarding Simcity 4 sales after that. Based on 8 years and Steam data it is an assumption that Simcity 4 hit 2M, though there is a good chance Simcity 4 never did. Games always get a press release when they clear 2M sold though Simcity 4 has not had such press release yet. Since EA/Maxis has been silent on EA's sales post 2004, that is a troubling sign. Don't speculate about the numbers. I want accurate evidence and sources for these numbers, not estimates based on unsupported assumptions. I read the Stanford article you linked to: [As of 2003] Sim City 2000: The market’s reaction to SimCity 2000 reflected the game’s merits. SimCity 2000—finally released in January of 1994—received rave reviews and sold more copies in three months than the original version did in its first two years (Perkins 4). Within six months it was clear that SimCity 2000 would become the top-selling game of the year. It went on to ship over 3.4 million copies, and Maxis projected revenues of thirty-five million dollars for 1995. [As of 2003] Sim City 3000: But this, apparently, was exactly what consumers wanted. SimCity 3000 quickly topped the charts, and the market eventually snapped up 4.6 million copies (Bradshaw). Like its prequel in 1994, SimCity 3000 was the best selling title of its year. With the success of SimCity 3000, Maxis rose out of ruin “like a phoenix from the ashes” (Keighley 1). According to this all Sim City games since SimCity (1989) have sold 17 million but this was in 2007: http://simcityds.ea.com/ Here's the problem: There have been many editions/expansions of each game: ie. Sim City 3000 Unlimited, Sim City 4's Rush Hour expansion pack / Sim City 4 Deluxe. You cannot get accurate sources because most websites do not keep archived data public for more than a few years due to the costs of maintaing it. Companies are also known for giving shipped numbers instead of sold to appease investors. They aslo skew and hide numbers to avoid stock market reactions. The 17 million sold includes all the games released under the Simcity brand inlcuding iOS, Android, Handheld, consoles, etc... We do know that Simcity 4 passed 1 Million sold and then sales bottomed out (NPD stated this in 2005). EA has never issued another press release or released the standalone sales for Simcity 4, due to how bad the post 2004 sale were. Like I posted, Simcity 2013 sold 1.6 Million as May 7th. EA/Maxis noted is the fastest selling Simcity to date. When the Mac version launches we will get an update on sales. For game sales in general this how it goes: UK top 10 sales charts are released weekly though it only counts physical retail sales. NO NUMBERS are given! Nordic Top 10 sales charts are released weekly though it only counts physical retail sales. NO NUMBERS are given! Mainland EU charts and sales data are never released publicly U.S. sales data is given monthly by NPD, though it only counts 5 major retailers and does not count online and digital sales. It only accounts for 40% of the market currently. NO NUMBERS are given. Japan sales data is released week with complete breakdown by M-Create. It actually has numbers! All other countries not listed here aren't tracked including Canada and Mexico. Digital sales aren't tracked anywhere Companies do not have to release a complete breakdown unless forced by courts or investors. This is why we do not have accurate numbers!

Please provide a source for these numbers and please indicate the date of the source. They are from EA's financial reports (Simcity 2000 and Simcity 1 are from the Maxis reports) which as mentioned were posted in previous threads regarding the same topic. EA quit reported sales of Simcity 4 in 2008 because it was selling so little. Obviously EA quit reporting sales of Simcity 3000 by 2005 due the product being discontinued. Seriously do Simcity fans not pay attention when EA/Maxis announces sales data and press releases? Here is the link to the press release about the launch sales for Simcity 2013 at 1.6M on May 7th. The game still manages to chart on the UK, EU, and US top 20. Sadly we do not have access to sale data from these charts Or you can read this Standford paper for Simcity 3000 and before. The paper was published in 2004. EA released a press release in 2004 when Simcity 4 passed 1 million mark, which you may be able to find via google. We have no PR statements regarding Simcity 4 sales after that. Based on 8 years and Steam data it is an assumption that Simcity 4 hit 2M, though there is a good chance Simcity 4 never did. Games always get a press release when they clear 2M sold though Simcity 4 has not had such press release yet. Since EA/Maxis has been silent on EA's sales post 2004, that is a troubling sign.

EA's profits and revenue have been shrinking over the past 7 years while their costs have been growing or flat. EA invested in million of dollars in well reviewed games that have sold poory including Mirror's Edge. EA has also spent millions on acquiring studios which haven't produced huge amounts of profit over the past 15 years including: Maxis (Well everything but Sims) Bioware DICE The other Canadian Studio Popcap Other mobile studios EA has also been stuck a 3 year turnaround plan for 6 years now. EA non EA sports games have generally seen falling revenues and sales Battlefield 3 failed to keep pace with Call of Duty Simcity 4 failed to meet the promised sales even after a decade on the market Mass Effect DLC has failed to meet expectations in terms of revenue Etc... EA's stock price has collasped to ~$12 a share now from around $40 at 2004. EA has also failed to generate enough revenue from Simcity 2013 to meet investors expectations. The investors are furious at EA for their inability to cut costs and grow profits. Most major 3rd parties are suffering from extreme pressures from furious investors, causing major problems. As for expansion packs, there is nothing wrong with them if they priced according to content. I mean Simcity 1 had at least 3 expansion packs, Simcity 2k has 2, Simcity 4 had multiple expansion packs planned though they were never finished due to the low sales of Rush Hour. World of Warcraft has had over 10 expansion packs.

Umm you do know Apple shareholders are currently suing Apple Inc. and their management for: Damaging the company's value by hiding Steve Jobs health problems Failing to maximize profits for the shareholders Failing to maximize dividends to the shareholders Failing to enter new markets (such as the low end markets) Failing to release products fast enough There is a good chance the shareholders will win against Apple forcing a massive change. Best Buy's management is fighting the shareholders as well, because shareholders claim Best Buy is selling products and services too cheaply, which is hindering shareholders value. I won't even post the lawsuit Dell shareholders launched over the buyout of Dell by Microsoft and Mr. Dell. The precedent was set in Dodge Bros. VS. Ford Motor Company where the Federal Courts ruled the company must maximize return to the shareholders first and foremost. The Dodge Bros. weren't happy that Ford suspended dividends to build the new factory. The Dodge Bros. won the suit and the Federal Court ordered a ~$50 million pay out to the shareholders because the shareholders come first before any other action. The River Rouge Factory was delayed a few years due to this ruling in 1916.

According to EA (which has been posted in other threads a while back) the game sold ~1.6M copies during launch week. The game is now between 2-3 million worldwide and should break 3 million when the Mac version releases in August. We won't get anymore numbers until they announce how much the Mac version has sold for its launch week in August. This is how much the mainline Simcity games have sold: Simcity 3000 (both versions combined) - ~5M (4 years) Simcity 2000 ~3.5M (4 years) Simcity 2013 between 2-3M (4 months) Simcity 1 - ~2M+ (Half of which were the SNES version. it also took 4 years to sell that well) Simcity 4 (All versions combined) sold ~2M (it took 9 years for it to hit 2M) Simcity 4 is the slowest and lowest selling mainline Simcity game to date. Simcity 2013 has over 2M in 4 months time, making it the fastest seling mainline Simcity to date. If the sales hold to their current rate it will become the best selling Simcity by the end of the year, dethroning Simcity 3000. Game sales are traditoinally only released at major milestones, quarterly reports, and yearly reports. EA: Happy with the sales EA sharholders: Unhappy with how low the profits are from this game.

Each Dorm holds 500 students. You get 3, guaranting 1,500 students every day in your university.

This will probably come as an expansion pack by the end of the year. I mean Rush Hour came out less than a year after Simcity 4 did. So they have two choices on releasing this: Release it Rush Hour style and charge $20 for the expansion and $30 for Simcity Deluxe (With expansion included) Release it Simcity 3000U style by having Simcity Unlimited as new game release at full price with no standalone expansion. Though this would mean existing users would be forced to upgrade for the new content and the Unlimited version would use a new file format for saves rendering your existing cities incompatible. I would love to see the Asian city sets come back. If it comes in under $30 I won't mind. I mean here is how Maxis handled the previous Simcity releases: Simcity 1 had 11 different retail versions within 5 years (3 of which were Windows versions, 2 where Mac versions) each containing different content. There was also few expansion packs as well. Simcity 2000 had 8 different versions within 4 years each containing different content (2 were Windows versions) and there was one expansion pack Simcity 3000 released in 1999, Simcity 3000 Unlimited released with added content at full price in 2000 (less than a year after the original). Simcity 4 released in January 2003, Rush Hour released in September 2003 for $20 (it contained one of the major patches), Simcity 4: Deluxe released on same day as Rush Hour for $30. Maxis has always milked Simcity hard, it is nothing new. One last point, EA's shareholders are angry at EA for not generating more revenue from their products. EA is currently trying to prevent a shareholder revolt and possible lawsuit.

Same here. I had my plastics and alloy lots fill up faster than they were being sold in one city. That city was making ~200k a day selling them allowing me to run between 5k-10k budget deficits. This allowed my University city to flourish and meet the high demands of the sims without raising taxes. It lasted a good few simulated years until an earthquake took the recycling centers out forcing my city to go bankrupt. I did manage to restore the city to a large degree, but it was expensive and time consuming.

I'll wait to for the next big Origin sale to decide. I bought the Deluxe Upgrade for $10 at the last sale. This Airship port allows me to finally have a German city (yes they use Airships in Germany as public transportation).

Microsoft just announced that Xbox One will launch at $500 at their press conference. Sadly the conference was horrible.

This! Solar Farm is well worth it.

@ Lexus Wii has: Nearly all the mainline Call of Dutys (the Wii version had the best controls) Every Lego Game Manhunt 2 (the most violent game to date) Bully Godfather Nearly every iteration of EA sports (granted a 2009 and 2010 were awful) Dead Space Extraction (which was given away as a preorder bonus with Dead Space 2 on PS3/360) The best version of RE4 Ports of RE0-RE3 RE:DC and RE:UC (they cost $15 as a pack on PSN) Best version of Okami TvC (the best Capcom vs game) Numerous other good but niche 3rd party games Plenty of good Sega games The best version of Goldeneye Quite a few Square-Enix RPGs including Dragon Quest (we are awaiting 10 here in the West) It had better 3rd party support than N64 and Gamecube. Also Nintendo released more games than on GC and N64, which reviewed higher or equal to their N64 counterparts. At least 4 of the top 10 highest rated games are Nintendo made Wii games. Outside of Mario, Zelda and Metroid these first party games were worth playing: Battalion Wars 2 Flingsmash Sin & Punishment 2 Xenoblade Pikmin 2 remake Excite Truck The Last Story Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn Wario Land: Shake It 2 Kirby games Fortune Street Punch Out!! Donkey Kong Country Returns Others... Wii U currently has the following game scheduled for the rest of 2013 from Nintendo includin: Pikmin 3 New Super Luigi The Wonderful 101 Bayonetta 2 (yes Nintendo co-owns the IP now) WindWaker HD Remake 3D Mario New Mario Kart Yakuza 1&2HD DQX (in the West) The number should increase when they announce their full 2013 line up on Tuesday's Nintendo Direct. 3rd parties since SNES have complained they cannot compete against Nintendo's first party software, because said software steals their sales. They are complaining about it now regarding 3DS. Also EA said they have games in development for Wii U, just not as many as the other consoles. EA scaled back production because: Mass Effect 3 bombed on Wii U (you were able to buy Mass Effect Trilogy for the same price a week before it launched, also the Wii U version of ME3 lacks DLC) Madden 13 and FIFA 13 bombed on Wii U because they lacked key features compared to the other versions Need For Speed bombed because EA decided to delay the Wii U version from launch until March to get gamers to double dip. It also lacks DLC On the other hand Capcom, Sega, and Ubisoft are happy with their Wii U software sales.

Well there you have it you need permission from publishers to trade in your games or share them with your friends. Publishers can also ban you from sharing your games and from trading them in. Sharing and renting games will not be available at launch.

I think most 3rd parties ignored the Wii because of its substandard hardware for graphics and processing power, not because of the weird controls (as you could just turn it into a regular controller as well). Which is not the case for the Xbox One. The hardware itself is less powerful than the PS4, but not by that much, thus making cross platform games very likely and relatively easy to make. And again, you do not need Kinect to control the game, it just has to be there. And both Origin and Steam collect user data, which is by itself not against EU law. As long as the information remains anonymous and you agree to it in the terms and conditions its generally fine. Anyways, since the thing is not out yet we'll see how that works and whether or not this just people making a fuss over nothing. Actually 3rd parties listed these 4 main reasons why they skipped Wii: The Wii Remote The userbase (they claimed it was "casual") Nintendo releasing too many 1st party games, crushing 3rd party sales Lack of 3rd party sales They openly talked about it With Wii U 3rd parties are claming the following: Userbase demographics Tablet controller Low install base Nintendo refusing to buy 3rd party support. these are the reasons why many 3rd parties skipping Wii U (EA being the exception). Sony and Microsoft pay good money for 3rd party support the previous 2 gens. This time around Sony doesn't have the money to compete with Microsoft on buying 3rd party support. Nintendo doesn't have the money to outbid Microsoft for 3rd party games. The main point is, 3rd party games go to the highest bidders.

Which is why the Wii sold so much more consoles than the Xbox or PS3. The controller puts no one off if the games are interesting, because gamers care about games way more than they care about controllers. And where does it say the EU or Germany is investigating the Xbox One? But most gamers and 3rd parties ignored the Wii in part due to the controls and the "casuals". Because of the userbase and controls the Wii has smaller library of games compared to 360 and PS3. They cannot actually do much until the system releases. Having Kinect collect data while the system is on with no opt out, is against German and EU law. Microsoft has claimed there is no way to turn this feature off or opt out of it. You'd think Microosft would be tired of being fined and penalized by the EU.

Just because its there plugged in doesn't mean you can't use your controller, nor does it mean that all games are forced to use it in some way. Again, just minor annoyances that I will completely forget about if the games are good. And they did say they would be investing 1 billion dollars into Xbox one games. As well as promising 15 Xbox one exclusive games in the first year. Wii U should have 15 exclusive games by November `18th if all goes right (that is when the first year ends) By the end of June Wii U should have 10 exclusive retail games. PS4 should also easily have 15 exclusive games within its first year. The point it is 15 exclusive games in the first year is a very easy task to complete. Also $1 billion is the amount Microsoft spent on games for 360. Kinect does collect market data on the player with XO in order to help Microsoft know who is playing the system. This is why the Germans and the EU are starting to investigate XO for breach of privacy. One last note: Gamers are also put off when a console uses more than just a traditional controller and hate consoles that target the mass market.

Actually Microsoft is at fault for the issue surrounding used games because they are giving conflicting answers. At the very least you will have to buy a download a code to activate the used game. You do have to connect XO to the internet once a day, to ensure all things are legit. Kinect is required to be plugged in at all times to use the system and cannot be turned off as of now. Lastly many companies already require you to activate a code by connecting online to gain full content. WB is the most notorious of them (see MK9, Batman, etc...(

Most people who post on here including you and I repeat the same stuff. The blantant blind hate for Simcity 2013 is unwarranted as is the blind love for the equally broken Simcity 4. I'll stop when the Simcity 4 mafia ends is crusade against all the other Simcities. Those who accuse others of trolling are trolls themselve. Now will you finally admit of being part of the Simcity 4 mafia?

very little of this is true. Simcity 4 was worse than Simcity 300U. Simcity 3000U was worse than Simcity 2000. Simcity 4 requires NAM to make the game play correctly... This says a lot on how bad the game is to this day. Also you forget it took 10 years for Simcity 4 to hit 2M sales. Simcity 4 fanboys...