Tag: ea

Simcity’s Sudden Stop

Simcity 2013

I’m one of the lucky few that has managed to put in some decent time with Simcity. This makes me both a target of envy, admiration and hatred for certain people, but I am okay with that. It hasn’t been a smooth ride the entire way so far, but I’ve managed to keep my cool and have a lot of fun with it.

But what strikes me as problematic is the size of the land you are given on which to build your city. It’s small. This is nothing new: it has been a concern for quite a while, going back to early previews of the game. But here we are, not even a week out and my city’s space is at capacity, with a population of just over 50,000. Granted, this is my first attempt at a city and I imagine the next attempt will be more efficient and better suited to increasing the population, but I can’t help but wonder if the smaller cities is a detriment to the overall experience. Continue reading Simcity’s Sudden Stop

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 64: Dead Cast

the gamersushi show

With Dead Space 3 firmly in our rear view mirror, Anthony and I thought it would be a good idea to give the series a send-off in podcast form. This is something we’re looking in to doing more of as a site where we dedicate an episode to our favorite games or series, so let us know what you think.

Fair warning, as we’re talking the Dead Space series as a whole, this podcast will contain a ton of spoilers for every game in the franchise, so beware if you haven’t played them yet. Also, I’d like to apologize up from about the stress my microphone put on my “s” sounds. What you’re hearing is after I’ve tried to reduce the noise, so you can image how painful it was at first.

Anyways, listen to the podcast, rate the podcast and be sure to leave any parting thoughts on Dead Space if you wish. Until next time!

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GamerSushi Asks: Sim City’s Launch Woes?

Sim City

So you guys might have heard about this game called Sim City that came out this week. Apparently lots of people are playing it, and everything that EA has done with the launch has been so brilliant that people are throwing parades for it, both in their game’s city streets and in real life. It’s being heralded as the way to do a launch right, and a bastion of hope for how to do an “always online” DRM.

OK, none of that is true. At all. In fact, lots of people can’t even play the game yet.

In what might have been a worse launch disaster than Diablo III, Sim City points to a somewhat grim future for “always online” single player games on the PC. The game’s servers have been so overloaded that people are having trouble playing, saving cities, seeing their friends and more. In fact, EA is having to turn off features that supposedly made “always online” necessary in the first place, just to help people connect. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Sim City’s Launch Woes?

All Future EA Titles To Have Microtransactions

DS 3 Bench

It’s Stop The Presses Thursday!

The announcement that Dead Space 3 has a microtransaction option was merely the opening salvo in what appears to be an all-out assault on your wallet by EA. The publishing giant revealed today, via Develop, that they plan to make microtransactions a major part of their strategy by including them in all future releases, at least for the foreseeable future. But let’s face it, much like an unwanted house guest, once these things get in, they are never going to go away.

CFO Blake Jorgensen, speaking at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, said:

“We’re building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way, either to get to a higher level to buy a new character, to buy a truck, a gun, whatever it might be, and consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of the business.”

Continue reading All Future EA Titles To Have Microtransactions

Review: Dead Space 3

Dead Space 3 Review

When Dead Space 3 was first announced at E3 last year, it was met with a chorus of skepticism. With the addition of co-op and a revamped combat system, this formerly slow-paced horror game looked more like a Gears of War knock-off. Although Visceral games has said repeatedly that Dead Space 3 will still adhere to the series’ roots, developers are known to embellish a little.

The final act of a trilogy carries a lot of expectations, especially when the people making them add a bunch of new features and try to rework tried and true conventions. How does Dead Space 3 fare under the microscope? Continue reading Review: Dead Space 3

Cliff Bleszinski on the Evolution of Franchises

Cliff Bleszinski

Like many franchises before it, Dead Space 3 has been coming under fire for its sudden shift in tone. Where the first two games were heavily geared toward survival horror, Dead Space 3’s added co-op partner and upgraded arsenal supposedly give players more ways to take down armies of necromorphs than ever before. Even though our very own Mitch insists that the game still has its own share of scary, there are others who disagree.

Naturally, there are pockets of gamers that are extremely upset over this change in mechanics to a game that they love dearly. To some, it’s “selling out.” But Gears of War honcho and former Epic Design Director Cliff Bleszinski has some different ideas about what’s happened to the Dead Space franchise. In a recent Dead Space 3 blog post, Bleszinski calls the game an evolution of the franchise, and uses that term endearingly. And according to him, “You can either fight it or embrace it.” Continue reading Cliff Bleszinski on the Evolution of Franchises

Sim City and the Nature of Addiction

Sim City

To continue our theme of What We’re Playing Monday, I thought I’d take us on a dismal tour of my future, one in which I gain 100 pounds, lose my job and become a hermit that only plays Sim City.

OK, so maybe the future isn’t set in stone yet, but seeing as how much I enjoyed my time in the closed beta this weekend, there’s certainly some kind of dark timeline where all of this takes place. Although, considering how much fun the game is, maybe it’s not necessarily a dark time line after all? Continue reading Sim City and the Nature of Addiction

Dead Space 3’s Workbench Will Have Microtransactions

dead space 3 microstransactions

Dead Space 3 will be hitting our screens very soon, but some news about the game dropped this week that may sour your anticipation. According to Eurogamer, Dead Space 3’s new workbench, where you can custom-make your weaponry, will include a microtransaction store for buying some additional resources.

While players will still be able to scavenge the materials for themselves or use scavenger bots to gather crafting resources in-game, real-world money can always be used to circumvent the collection process. This doesn’t mean that eager players can drop a ton of cash at the beginning of the game and get all the top-tier weaponry; they still have to wait for those guns to be unlocked as part of the narrative progression.

Even though this is the first instance of microtransactions in Dead Space, giving quick boosts for cash is nothing new in EA titles. Mass Effect 3 had this, as did Battlefield 3 and I wouldn’t be surprised if SimCity has something similar. What do you guys think about this? Is this a harmless addition for those of us flush with cash but strapped for time? Is it a foul on EA’s part to try and get their mitts into your wallet after you’ve already bought the game?

Source – Eurogamer

Battlefield 3: Aftermath is the Expansion We’ve Been Waiting For

battlefield 3 aftermath review

Continuing my trend of reviewing the DLC for Battlefield 3, like Close Quarters and Armored Kill, I’m going to sit down here and rap with you for a bit about Aftermath, DICE’s newest contribution to the steadily growing stable of post-launch content for their combined-arms FPS.

Like the previous two pieces of DLC, Aftermath has a “theme” to go along with it, and in this case it’s picking up from the single-player story by giving us four new maps set in a post-earthquake Iran. This means rubble-strewn pathways, and in the case of Epicenter, aftershocks that will shake your camera around a little bit. It’s not too noticeable that it will affect your aim, but you do have to compensate for it a bit.

The new maps are more in the style of the vanilla BF3 maps, having several choke-points leading to wider areas for you to mess around in. Coming off of the Armored Kill maps, which sometimes felt a little too big, this is a welcome change of pace. The maps are more suited to infantry combat, as tanks are a rare sight even on 64-player Conquest. The new hotness is the customized vehicles, which are basically civilian vans and Humvees with a grenade launcher and a machine gun bolted on. They’re a ton of fun to rip around in, and in a nice change of pace from the armored jeeps of the main game you can actually kill the occupants with a few bullets or a grenade. Continue reading Battlefield 3: Aftermath is the Expansion We’ve Been Waiting For

Mass Effect 3: Omega is a Non-Essential Side-Story

mass effect 3 omega review

As excellent as Mass Effect 2’s Lair of the Shadow Broker was, BioWare might have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to post-release DLC. While it would be unrealistic to expect that every piece of Mass Effect DLC would be up to the same standards, it kind of laid the implication that any quests given to the player outside of the main game would advance the story, or at least fill in some background information.

To BioWare’s credit, Mass Effect 3: Leviathan did dredge up a more fleshed-out history of the Reapers, but the newest effort for Mass Effect 3 DLC, Omega, doesn’t add anything new to the story, or change your perception of the established characters you’ll be interacting with.

Shepard is contacted by Aria T’Loak, the Pirate Queen of the space station Omega, to help her take her throne back from Cerberus, who threw her out before the main campaign of Mass Effect 3. Because of Aria’s dislike of your squadmates, you’re going in without any familiar faces from the Normandy. I’ve never bought into the character of Aria as much as BioWare seems to want me to, and being saddled with her for a couple hours just demonstrates how one dimensional she is. While the end of the Omega campaign has her softening a bit, for most of the time she grunts and threatens her way through dialogue sections, being so predictable that a new character, Nyreen the female turian, calls her on it. It doesn’t help that the voice actress behind Aria, Carrie-Anne Moss, sounds like she’s collecting a paycheck for most of her lines, only occasionally dipping into having any emotion besides bored anger. Continue reading Mass Effect 3: Omega is a Non-Essential Side-Story

Today’s WTF: Mass Effect Trilogy Doesn’t Include Paid DLC

mass effect trilogy dlc

It’s almost like EA is goading us on purpose now. The recently announced Mass Effect Trilogy collection sounds pretty neat and looks even cooler (what with the unified designs on the disc labels) but it will only include the DLC that came free with the various Online Passes associated with the game, and you’ll have to pay for the other bits.

I’ve never heard of a collection of any work where parts of it were purposely left out and you had to buy them separately. Hell, George Lucas kept adding stuff when nobody wanted it. For those curious, here’s a breakdown of what you will get with the package in terms of DLC:

On PC, Mass Effect will include Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station on disk. For Mass Effect 2, Cerberus Network will be included which features Zaeed – The Price of Revenge, The Firewalker Pack, Cerberus Assault Gear, Arc Projector heavy weapon, and Normandy Crash site mission. For Mass Effect 3, Online Pass will be included granting players access to co-op multiplayer.

On Xbox 360, Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station are not included with Mass Effect, however they are available as stand-alone downloads through Xbox LIVE. For Mass Effect 2, Cerberus Network will be included and Online Pass will be included for Mass Effect 3.

Information on PlayStation 3 DLC will be available soon.

Not bundling Mass Effect 2 with Overlord and Lair of the Shadow Broker is baffling, because those two add-ons were fantastic, and in the case of Lair, essential to the series’ story. Arrival I can take or leave, but regardless, I think that all the DLC should be bundled in.

What do you guys think about this? Should EA throw in the DLC or am I just making too much of a fuss about this? I get that EA is a business, but this just seems like an unnecessary cash-grab.

Soruce – Mass Effect Trilogy

Ten Years of Battlefield

battlefield 3 tenth anniversary

If there’s any franchise that I have an unrequited love for, it has to be Battlefield, DICE’s multi-arms warfare FPS. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s been ten years since 1942 introduced us to an almost new style of gameplay with wide-open playgrounds and a multitude of vehicles. When you look back at the release dates for the Battlefield games, they actually came out at a fairly fast clip (one every two years for the most part) but the wait between each game felt like a long time to my young mind.

My favorite game in the series is a tie between Battlefield 2 and 2142. It’s kind of funny to look at my stats for both 2 and 2142 because it felt like I played them for hours, when in reality I’ve spent more time in Battlefield 3. Battlefield 2, 2142 and Bad Company 2 were all played in groups with friends, with the numbers slowly dwindling over time. As people move on and computers get more expensive to upgrade (for some of us), my BF crew got whittled down to myself and my friend Chris, with occasional guest appearances by Eddy and his brother.

While Battlefield is best played with friends, the game still offers up plenty of sublime moments even if you’re playing solo. No Battlefield game is perfect (by any means, all of them have been heavily patched and still launch with some pretty glaring flaws) but DICE is up to the challenge of balancing and fixing their games, sometimes completely changing the way the game feels and plays.

Do you guys have as long and storied a history as I do with Battlefield? Anything to say on its tenth anniversary? What are you hoping for in the future of this franchise? Go!

Battlefield 3 Armored Kill DLC Impressions

battlefield 3 armored kill impressions

Battlefield 3’s third expansion Armored Kill dropped last Tuesday for Premium members, and because I am part of such a prestigious club, I’ve been playing the maps and have had enough time in them to form a pretty solid opinion.

In a big change from the last DLC, Close Quarters, Armored Kill is good old fashioned Battlefield fun. I’m talking Battlefield 2 type of action here, with huge maps, tons of vehicles, and lots of carnage going on everywhere. The four new maps, Death Valley, Alborz Mountain, Armored Shield and Bandar Desert, feature big swaths of open terrain, with Bandar Desert being the largest Battlefield map in the series history. It doesn’t hurt that these maps are really good looking either, from the rural countryside of Armored Shield to the almost Skryim-esque landscape of Alborz Mountain. DICE also removed the damn blue tint that really downplayed this game’s otherwise great style, so props to them for that.

Armored Kill adds a couple new vehicles to the mix, namely the AC-130 Specter Gunship and the new Tank Destroyers. The Tank Destroyers are great fun as they’re essentially Infanty Fighting Vehicles with a huge cannon strapped on top, meaning they have greater maneuverability than the MBTs and can take out a full-health tank in a couple of shots. Being based on a lightly-armored chassis, they’re fairly vulnerable themselves, but a tank push with a couple Destroyers for backup can devastate an enemy position.

The AC-130 was one of the features that was touted the most leading up to Armored Kill, but it isn’t as big of a deal as you may think. Sure, in Rush mode when the attackers have the gunship and are railing the mostly static positions of the defenders it can be a little infuriating, but in Conquest mode, getting killed by the gunship is more of a momentary annoyance than anything else. The gunship is available to each faction, they just have to hold and control the capture point associated with it (denoted by a little plane icon beside the flag). I’ve only had a couple kills with the gunship, as it’s such a big target for jets and AA emplacements that it doesn’t stay in the air long.

If you were hesitant about the BF3 expansions after Close Quarters, rest easy because Armored Kill is DICE at the top of their game. Ripping around gorgeous maps with explosions going off all around you, shooting down fully-loaded transport helicopters with a Tank Destroyer and parachuting in from the circling AC-130 is all classic Battlefield. While playing the maps one after the other (especially on high ticket-count servers) can be a little draining, once they get inserted into rotation with the vanilla and Back to Karkand maps, they’ll be a great compliment to your BF3 experience.

Has anyone played Armored Kill? What do you think of it?

Mass Effect 3 Goes Deep with Leviathan Single-Player DLC

mass effect 3 leviathan dlc

We’ve gotten a hefty share of free (and excellent) multiplayer DLC for Mass Effect 3, but outside of the Extended Cut, the single-player add-ons have been a little lacking. There have been rumors floating around for a while about single-player DLC and at EA’s Summer Showcase, BioWare officially announced the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3.

Taking place during the mid-game, Leviathan features Shepard and crew hunting for an ancient construct that is said to be a Reaper killer. Obviously Shepard and co. would like to have that in their back pocket, so you get to take the Normandy on a Lair of the Shadow Broker-sized adventure to recover Leviathan and use it in the war against the Reapers.

The DLC will add in new areas on the Citadel and a couple new weapons, the AT-12 Raider Shotgun and the M-55 Argus Assault Rifle (both of which were previously only available as pre-order bonuses). Leviathan has no firm release date other than “summer”, but when it drops it will be 10 dollars, or 800 Microsoft FunBux.

Despite the misgivings about Mass Effect 3’s endgame, the combat is engaging enough that I wouldn’t mind embarking on a new aventure with my bro Garrus. BioWare is said to be tuning Leviathan to address concerns that Mass Effect 3’s combat was too easy, so we’ll see whether or not I bring my Insanity Shepard into the fray. What about you guys? Are you going to take the Plunge when Mass Effect 3’s Leviathan DLC drops later this summer?

Source – BioWare Blog

Dead Space 3 and the Voice of Reason

You might have noticed today that Dead Space 3 is in the news for comments coming from EA that they thought the first two games were “too scary”. The Internet at large, being the hyperbolic creature that it is, jumped to all sorts of conclusions about the direction the game is taking and the changes EA is forcing on it.

But is that actually what was said in the interview? Apparently not, as the headline associated with the article in question is quite different from EA’s comments. The original story over at MCV had the headline EA research said Dead Space 1&2 were too scary, but right down in the article, this is what the EA rep being interviewed, Laura Miele, actually said: Continue reading Dead Space 3 and the Voice of Reason

Let it Snow with the Battlefield 3: Armored Kill Trailer

Oh, Battlefield 3, what a strange relationship we have. First I liked the game, then I hated it, and now I like it again. Fanboyism is a fickle beast (just ask BioWare and Blizzard), but as long as DICE keeps making quality expansions, I’ll be happy. Just don’t ask me about Battlefield 4.

Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Armored Kill DLC, thundering your way in September. Snow maps, everybody!

I think I posted on a Halo: Reach DLC trailer that I never expect the games depicted to turn out the way the trailers advertise, but with Battlefield, I can totally see everything happening. Charging through a rocket barrage while helicopters, jets and gunships clash overhead is just a normal game in BF3. What do you guys think? Excited? Sick of my roller-coaster affair with Battlefield 3? Come at me, bro.

Today’s WTF: EA Leaks Battlefield 4 Beta on Origin

Battlefield 4 beta leak

Everyone on here knows that I love Battlefield just as much probably more than the next guy, but it’s not a game the benefits from having a successor so soon, considering that the latest version was released under a year ago. Add in the fact that Battlefield 3 Premium meant that customers bought the game twice, advertising the fact that there will be a Battlefield 4 Beta included with a Medal of Honor: Warfighter pre-order is a bit much.

I tried to grab a screenshot of this myself, but EA’s crack team of monkies running Origin seemed to have nipped this in the bud. The Internet is always quicker than you think, though, as Reddit user krov grabbed this screenshot of the Battlefield 4 Beta being advertised on Origin. Add this to the fact that IGN has their own screengrab and it’s looking like EA accidentally spilled the beans on Battlefield 4.

It’s fairly obvious that EA is positioning Medal of Honor and Battlefield to trade off on a yearly basis, but seeing one of my favorite franchises essentially working the digital street corner is disheartening. I try not to fall pray to the whole “gaming is ruined” thing, but it’s looking pretty ugly out there. What do you guys think about this? Is it actually legit? Should EA at least wait until Medal of Honor: Warfighter actually comes out before pimping the next Battlefield?

Source – Reddit, IGN

Dead Space 3’s Co-op Gets a Chilly Reception

There are no secrets in the video game industry, which is why we knew about Dead Space 3’s co-op mode almost a week before its official debut at the E3 press conference. Even though we knew it was coming, we didn’t know what it would look like, so the six-minute on stage demo was enough to get a good idea. Here’s that demo so you can watch for yourself:

So what do you guys think? Is it a little too action packed for your taste? How will Visceral Games maintain the horror with two people running and gunning? How does new character John Carver compare to Isaac Clarke? Speak up!

Rumor: Battlefield 3 Premium Fact Sheet Leaks

battlefield 3 premium fact sheet

Poor, poor EA. You know, I do kind of feel bad for them at this point. Between all the stuff with Mass Effect, trying to launch an much-maligned digital store and Battlefield 3, they really have been getting the short end of the stick recently. Not that they don’t deserve it, but still, it must suck to be the new punching bag.

As another addition to EA’s recent list of slip-ups, a rumored fact sheet for Battlefield 3 Premium has appeared, listing everything that should be coming with the service. As I speculated on The GamerSushi Show, it is a “season pass” of sorts, getting you access to all the DLC and a few goodies for a flat $50 fee. Here’s a quick and dirty read-out of what you get:

  • All Battlefield 3 DLC (up-coming and previously released) with two week early access
  • Unique in-game knife, dog-tags, soliders camos and gun camos
  • Stat reset option
  • Server queue priority
  • Exclusive events, double-EXP events and videos
  • 5+ unique assigments
  • Stategy guides
  • Additional bonus content

In addition to all that you also get some new platoon decal options and the ability to save Battle Reports. Battlefield 3 Premium is shaping up to be pretty decent, considering that all told you get a $10 discount on the DLC. What do you guys think? Are EA and DICE going back on their Call of Duty ELITE trash-talk by offering up a similar service? Will you be picking this up?

The GamerSushi Show, Episode 42: My Videogame Girlfriend

Welcome back to the GamerSushi Show, ladies and gents. Due to some scheduling and life stuff, we’ve gotten a tad behind on releases, so this episode was recorded a few weeks back – on Anthony’s birthday, no less. Because of that, Mr. Taylor skipped out to go celebrate getting a year closer to death, while the rest of us drank things and talked about video games.

The main topics we discussed were the Mass Effect 3 demo, fixing the Zelda franchise and great endings. Beyond that, we play a game of Buy/Sell about topics like Team Ninja, Apple gaming and more – all of which result in my inevitable and recurring victory, as always.

Listen up! Rate! Be merry! Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Episode 42: My Videogame Girlfriend

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