EA: 'SimCity' This Week, 'Need For Speed' Delayed Until 2009
posted by arn on December 15th, 2008 4:55 AM EST in Upcoming GamesSounds like a busy week. Besides Rolando and Radio Flare, we will also be seeing the release of EA's SimCity.
According to EAMobile's Craig Law, EA will be submitting SimCity to the App Store on Monday night. Law has provided some screenshots of SimCity to this Flickr set and promises more photos to come.
Click on thumbnails for larger image:
While great news for SimCity fans, those waiting for EA's much anticipated Need for Speed racer will have to wait a little longer. Originally scheduled for a December release, Law posts that he "can say with certainty that NFS [Need for Speed] won't be releasing until next year." He does add that he believes "it'll be worth the wait."
Sigh… Maybe we'll get to play Duke Nukem Forever before Need for Speed is released.
No NFS before 2009 – LAME!!!
I REALLY hope for EA it will be worth the wait, seems like they really dropped the ball on this one – in the article it says it was originally supposed to be out in December – Actually as far is a I remember, the first official release date that was mentioned was "sometime in November".
Man… I was waiting for SimCity! Think it'll include multi-touch gestures so that you can zoom in and stuff…
Can't wait!
I had a feeling that this will happen. There would be no need to have all these previews in Apple Stores otherwise.
Let's hope that all it will indeed push the standard of iphone gaming up a notch, as pressure on EA is now getting tense.
Has anyone heard what ID Software is developing for the iphone?
@ Fyre Vortex
I just double tapped on the screen to zoom in-out. Also, to clarify, it's PC counterpart is SimCity 3000
@Peter321
Yeah, street dates change all the time.. these things just happen for one reason or another.
Hang in there, I don't think you'll have to wait too much longer.
@Kyser
I hear what you're saying about standards but disagree that the pressure on EA is getting tense. I personally think that EA getting involved with Apple in these events can only raise the profile of iPhone gaming, don't you think?
'Law also clarifies that the iPhone version of SimCity is the same as the PC version, and not a miniaturized adaptation.'
Does it mean that it will look better than the NDS version?
@Craig Law: thanks for keeping us posted!
- Although SC3K?? That SUCKS! I was REALLY hoping for 2K's arcos
@Alex
Without question.
@mavis
If your a SimCity fan, I think you're going to like this. I'll post more screens this week so you can get a better idea of what it's all about.
I would rather them delay the game by a month than release something which we all immediately feel let down by and generate bad-press.
if they can tweak the gameplay/graphics or whatever and release a really polished title then we'll ultimately be happier won't we?
@Craig: yeah, I'm sure I'll like it! And yes, I'm a huge SC fan. It's just that I miss arcologies big time. I mean, there was nothing like having dozens of mini-cities in your city.
@ Jamie
Well said.
Just to remind everyone – this is a game that's being developed from the ground up….it's not a watered down port. From what I saw and heard at the Apple store event, it'll be worth it in the end.
Now I go to bed
@ Craig
thanks for the update on this. Of course I agree that it helps Apple to have EA in the store, to help selling iphones and ipods – and to brand the platform as a superior gaming device. Of course EA is just EA, with the a few "most wanted" games in their pipeline.
But postponing release dates are never appreciated by the probable customer, especially since we were all counting down days fromt he first glimps at the Apple event to November, later December, now most certainly until 2009.
If the game doesn't live up to the hype it is creating, I will be disapointed to a much greater degree as usual. After all, I wanted to spend a few hours with it when sitting in an airplane for christmas travel.
Why is it taking them so long? They have already changed the release date twice now. I hope they have it in the App Store by the beginning of January.
@ Jamie
I totally agree, but it should have benn communictaed in a better way.
if they dont put in the new nfsu tap control it will be a big FAIL!
i hate motion sense control ! you cant play when you lie down
you need to sit and hold the iphone down
EA pls dont fu*k it
I don't mind that it is SimCity 3000. What I really hope is that all the options of the original are available on the iPhone. I'd like to be able to shut off some of the more annoying disasters.
Those screenshots make the interface look awfully cramped when the buttons are visible. Are they visible all the time?
Will there be a demo?
Wow, people are really critical of things around here.
Firstly, thanks Craig, for popping in and responding to comments. I love it when developers and such do this.
Simcity looks awesome! I can't wait! As for NFS, as one person sensibly mentioned, I'd prefer a slight delay than a port or buggy release.
And EA promoting their games in Apple stores is a great thing for both companies, and only supports the iPhone OS as a viable gaming platform.
Pass on my congratulations to your coders.
I really don't think nfs is going to be worth all of this. It's to much hype over a ten dollar app. While waiting for quality is a good thing.
Price drops, delays, lack of updates has really left a bad stigma on the appstore.
They've gone from enticing people to suspese to frutrating and finally let down.
Somthing tells me we will hear more "all this hype for this" rather than
"it was worth the wait"
I hope I'll be wrong but I don't think I will be.
….Probably they got pressure from Apple to hold Need for Speed, with the grand idea of presenting it for public release on Macworld 2009. They'll be short on novelties, so they'll want to use the occasion to announce the most anticipated -and expectedly standard-setting- game of the platform.
I'm glad SimCity is published tonight! I've waited for so long it seems and it suddenly appears. I would like a rough price if anyone knows? preferably in GB£ please!
and to those negative people who complain about NFS, it says released 2009 but if you think about it, that's about 16 days- not too long to go without a game really, is it? and also, I don't think people realise what goes into making a game? you know how long it takes to make one mesh for a car?- weeks. then multiply that by however many cars in the game, i heard 30. then for each of those cars you have to create:
The car's basic Mesh (wireframe/structure)
Textures
Car Performacnce
Car's Identity
Engine/Horn Sound files
Background/Vidwall/Logo Images
Dash views, etc.
then there's 80 miles of track to create over 4 citys to be made. if you ask me, that's a lot of work, no wonder it takes a while.
Now, if only we could lobby Apple to push this through the App Store approval process quickly…
All i hope is that it has actually Multiplayer mode! not just that Lan crap..if thats whats delaying it and making the gameplay longer..then ill wait till spring!
What I want to know is how does it take a week after submission of an app to appear
but it seem that dev's just call apple and say "hey joe drop the price on this" and before you can blink it's dropped
Why don't we have a way of telling if a price drop is emminent?
redstar: Apple doesn't have to approve price changes. devs can tweak the price at any time.
Played the Sim City game at Apple store Sunday in San Francisco.
Awesome!
For instance, you can swipe a la album view to see the different power plants to select the one you want to place. Roads one placed can be expanded or picked up to move for better placement. Full game. Yes, I asked and you can turn disasters off. Saw a city of 325,000 people demo guy was playing. You have four times double tap view option to zoom in and out.
@Arn:
Have you or anybody else head weather or not SimCity will "live" while the device is in sleep mode?
An option to turn this feature on or off would be awesome!!!!!
@Sam: The likely price will be £5.99.
@da: hopefully, cos it's EA, Apple might move a little quicker than with some of the other developers.
C'mon! I've been waiting for this game for two months!
Will be $9.99 in the US.
Hmm… NFS set for 2009 heh? lol I think I just lost 90% of my interest in the game. I was very excited when I heard about it at first, because I have been quite a fan of the NFS series, however they keep pushing back the date. I still might pick it up when it comes…eventually.. lol but at this rate I hope they have it VERY polished, because they lost a lot of their potential buyers, no?
I think they lost some peoples interest when it was said there would be no breaks!
The no gas thing isn't that big of a deal cause your suppose to go..go..go
But the ability to tap breaks when getting cut-off is somthing your gonna want.
I want to play SimCity today!
Dear EA:
You royally suck. Thank you.
What the hell is this now? 2009? What happened to November? Then December? Now it's delayed again. No. It's not worth the wait any more. I had a gift card burning in my Inbox since September. It's gone to Dizzy Bee 2, and now it's going to Cro-Mag Rally and Enigmo. Screw this waiting.
I'm really, really looking forward to seeing this as I found the DS version a total disappointment. The fact that its the full game already places the game above the DS version in my rankings!
Now we need a GOOD Mac/PC version!
*refreshes search for SimCity on iTunes AppStore*
Wow. Who invited the children? Just sayin\'.
For the little ones: Making a game is REAL hard, children. It takes TIME. Sometimes, estimating how long a BIG project takes to build on a NEW platform is difficult, no matter how big a team you have working on it. It\'s kind of like the first time you built a castle out of construction paper and glue. You envisioned what it would look like and how the drawbridge would work INSTANTLY, but you got frustrated and had your Mommy do most of the work. The team working on NFS doesn\'t have a Mommy that can do it for them. Does that help you understand, children?
I\'m real sorry for that. I\'m feeling sick and ornery and this thread was surprisingly inane. Especially when someone like Craig takes the time to comment. It\'s embarrassing.
Sim City DOES look great and I missed playing that one, so…
Personally, I have little interest in NFS. Does everyone know that it\'s just another racing game? Just making sure.
Sorry, again, it\'s the cold talking and the lack of sleep.
See, I got instant judgement sent at me via apostrophe. Need… cold… medicine.
and in the meanwhile, Gameloft has been lauching Asphlat and Ferrari GT. My bet is that these two titles are are the reason why EA has to postpone their NFS… because NFS couldn't bear the comparison …
Guys, I feel sorry for EA now. Don't get childish with your comments, let's hope EA is working it out – fast – I am sure we will all ending up buying this game, despite the release date.
BUT on a more professional level:
Yes I also do not like that NFS has been postpone, truly speaking, I regard this as bad communication to begin with, but of course when presenting an early beta at the ipod event more or less demanded a release date by Apple – a date which seemed "politically" correct, perhaps.
I know guys it is tough to create a game, but guess what, most of us have a professional working life on the main side (ok, at least I do), and none of my clients care about how much work I have to do to deliver what I have promised.
So maybe you just like us know why you think it is neccessary to wait a little longer. if you had said "Due to the request of the people testing the game, we have decided to add another feature, or balance the KI a little better", I think we would all have reacted in a different way.
SimCity is available on the iTunes Japan store.
I haven't decided whether or not to purchase, but if everyone in this thread donates $2 to my paypal account, I'll gladly be the first to download it and give a review…
OK, I felt like a jerk after that last comment, so I went and downloaded the app. I went through the tutorial, and I can report that the graphics are AMAZING, and gameplay seems very deep indeed. The controls took me a little while to get used to, as they require a fine touch, but I was proficient soon enough.
I haven't played SimCity since the very first version for the Mac, what, more than 20 years ago? It seems things have become considerably more complex. There are plenty of online help screens, which I will have to go through later.
Right now I have to get some actual work done, but I think I will definitely be spending some serious time delving into this game. There is a learning curve, at least for someone not already knowledgeable about the game, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Yes, confirmed, live in the UK too, downloading now
This game crashes at the title screen every time i try to run it for 3 days now. I have never been able to play it. I did everything right, rebooting my iphone after installation plus re-downloading and re-installing it many times. Total Rip Off!!!!
For People About The Price,
There is a $0.99 App called AppSniper. It tells you which are on sale for how long, and you can "snipe" an app, and should it go on sale, you will be notified
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ThaVMan