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SimCity Launch Plagued by Locked Games, Download Issues and Server Queues

This morning at 12:01 AM Eastern time, my copy of the SimCity digital deluxe version unlocked in EA’s Origin service. For the next 20 minutes I experienced download failures, until finally the game began to come down the pipes. While it updated I napped, and when I woke at 3:30 AM the game was ready…

Hey, SimCity, Fix Your Servers so Francis Can Get His Free Disaster

SimCity launched overnight, if by “launched,” one means “was as inaccessible as it was the day before.” For some, anyway. Here to give voice to their rage is Francis, who’s upset that billions of simoleons in vital public infrastructure is needlessly delayed by EA’s inability to offer preloading. Sit back, take a pull on a…

50,000 People Used To Live Here. Now It’s a Minecraft Town.

Minecraft aficionado Tsarcorp is the one responsible for this gigantic, 42 square mile map of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It incorporates an almost 1:1 replica of the Pripyat area, just as we’ve seen in the latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The signature locations (Modern Warfare anyone?) of the abandoned city are all shown in the video, as well…

This Remote-Controlled Mako Is A Smooth Ride, Unlike The One From Mass Effect

Remember the Mako in the first Mass Effect? It could brave insane terrain, sure, but that also meant it was far from a smooth ride. This remote controlled Mako by Laura Ducros, though? Smooth as butter. To be fair, it’s also just traversing flat terrain. Who knows what would happen if it was rocky alien…

The Tomb Raider Reboot Was Going To Be A Lot More Like Shadow of the Colossus

Plenty of game developers profess their love for Team Ico’s beautiful PlayStation 2 games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. But few of them have made games that bear the traits of those quiet, lovely adventures. The folks behind the new Tomb Raider tried to do that. And then shifted course. That’s revealed in a…

The Critics Mostly Love The New Tomb Raider

Tombs! Puzzles! Guns! Jumping! More guns! The setpieces are all there, but does Tomb Raider manage to scratch that treasure-plundering-and-adventuring itch? Reviewers say it does. Survival horror-esque hiding and sniping goes hand in hand with mountain climbing and cover shooting in the franchise reboot. But what was it, in particular, that sent critics over the…

The World Deserves A Great Calvin & Hobbes Documentary. Maybe This One.

If you’ve got a heart beating somewhere in that bruised, battered chest of yours, you probably love Calvin & Hobbes. A couple of weeks ago while perusing a bookstore, I walked past the new complete collection of Bill Watterson’s famous comics. I saw Calvin on the cover, balancing on a fallen tree alongside his faithful…

This Nervous Guy’s Interview With Mila Kunis Went Incredibly Well

Actress Mila Kunis was supposed to be answering questions from BBC Radio 1’s Chris Stark about her new movie, Oz the Great and Powerful. But he was really, really nervous. And she was—is—a great sport. A few minutes into this most unusual interview it seems that, off-camera, someone in a position of authority starts thinking…

Scientific American has taken a look at the science of time-travel in Ocarina of Time

Here’s the official statement from IGN about the IPL6 tournament cancellation—including how to get your money back.

The Dramatic Palm-Slice: A Fantasy Trope I’ve Never Understood

We all know the scene: It starts when a character in a fantasy story swears an oath. An oath… in blood. He dramatically unsheathes a knife, places it across his palm, and makes a fist before running the blade through his hand. Yowch. If you’re anything like me, that’s probably your first thought every time…

Unofficial Mock-Up Shows What Wind Waker Could Look Like On The Wii U

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is coming to the Wii U this fall, but some people just can’t wait that long. The folks at cubed3tv have devised this mock-up to show how the cartoony Zelda game could play on the Wii U GamePad. The real version is a total graphical remake, so it…

Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that, as we reported yesterday, Jason West has left the studio for family issues

This Assassin’s Creed IV Rap Drops Rhymes From Kingston To Bristol

If you follow video games, you’re probably aware of Dan Bull, the Brit rapper who drops sick rhymes about the hottest new video games. Or, you know, “sick,” if you’re not that into this sort of kitschy thing. But I gotta say his latest for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has got some good stuff…

Holy Crap, The Zerg Are Attacking France

Watch out, France. There are mutalisks in your cities. Either this is a fake video created by Blizzard to help build up hype for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (out March 12 for PC (and, hey, is that Day9?)) or France had seriously better get their stim packs ready.

Introducing ‘The Multiplayer,’ Your Weekly Destination For Games We Play With Each Other

Rules, mechanics, interaction—games are complicated beasts. And so are we, the players. When we play games with each other—that’s when truly fascinating things happen. We can’t help ourselves: anything we touch becomes a messy affair. Games are no exception. Sometimes what happens is poignant—like finding and losing a friend in Journey Sometimes it’s ridiculous, as…

The Madworld-meets-Shank-style beat ’em up Aztez has a new teaser trailer. Punch! Kick! Slam!

The Most Atmospheric and Relaxing Aquatic Locations In Video Games

Water levels can be pain in the ass, especially when unnecessarily complex gameplay mechanics meet blurry, monotonous graphics. But that’s not always the case. Truth is, there are water levels (or places where water plays a key role) that look really refreshing, relaxing, and that might even possess a special, eerie atmosphere (several parts of…

Nixed My Little Pony Fighting Game Gets Help from Friendship is Magic Creator

Shut down by the lawyer-mans at the beginning of February, the My Little Pony fan-made fighting game still lives. The glum backers and developers of Fighting is Magic may have to go on without using MLP art or characters—but they will have the creator of the current animated series in their corner. “Mane6,” the coalition…

EA Got My SimCity Back, So I Killed It With a Giant Fire-Lizard

Following a struggle with the tech folks following a fault in the SimCity press servers, the lost city of Fahey’s Folly—aka the SimCity on the Edge of Forever—was found once again. In celebration, I unleashed red-hot dino fury. Since I’ll be using my own Origin account and retail servers for our upcoming SimCity review, Fahey’s…