Thursday, November 15, 2007

"Simcity Societies", or rather "The Sims Society"


EA released SimCity Societies yesterday. SimCity Societies was expected as the next iteration in the SimCity Franchise. However Societies, according to die hard fans, is nothing like a "SimCity" game.

A "SimCity" is a game loosely consists of a formula of micro managing aspects of city planning, follow graphs/charts of your progress/failure, adapt to any changes, and then watch the evolution of the city you created. Thats the definitive game style which has evolved over the years and reached its pinnacle in SimCity 4.

Begrudgingly, I actually agree with those die hard fans, to an extent.

I would agree that this game really shouldn't be called or even branded a "SimCity" game. The feeling I get is that its more of an off shoot of The Sims.

The game itself feels more akin to "The Sims" in which you place down pre-made, non evolving objects, to see how your sims "interact" with those objects. Where as in a "SimCity" game you are placing down certain objects and then seeing how those objects react to the inhabitants(called sims), not the other way around.

As I stated in the title, the game really should be named "The Sims Society" and branded with "The Sims" brand. In general my opinion is that this EA is just using the "SimCity" brand (for good or evil hasn't been determined yet, but leaning toward evil of course!) to sell copies.

I think the game has merit in of itself and its unfortunate that they tried to tie it to the "SimCity" franchise. I'm sure in the end this was a cause of some clueless marking decision based on a focus group.

With that said, I have certainly enjoyed playing the game since purchasing it. I would even recommend the game to others who like playing any of The Sims games, and the games expansions.

*Factoid* Back in the day, I even helped with the beta test/release of the one failures in "The Sims" franchise called The Sims Online! Pizza's anyone? That game was one of the precursors to "Second Life".

I would only preface any recommendation with If you are expecting a "SimCity" game experience then your likely going to be disappointed, but if your expecting a more expansive The Sims experience then you'll be pleased.

Also the game is very beautifully rendered. The only true nit I have so far is the inability to regulate the volume of the sims speech, which is a type of gibberish. Yah you can turn it off entirely but i'd prefer a control to soften it at times so you can still hear your sims if you'd like and at other times, e.g. cheer squad, zone the gibberish out

Googl'n around, I did find a video, on the website game videos, reviewers/editors of another site 1UP casually talking about the game experience.

Inter spliced in the video are a few comments from Rob Humble, the head of the Sims Division at EA. He explains their thinking on this take on the franchise and how things ended up where they did. However Rob even admits that

this may be an an off shoot, and if the game isn't received well by the SimCity community that "it'll be back to basics for sure" in the next version of the franchise.

I for one would like to see this game evolve on its own track, but would also like to get a "back to basics" SimCity experience with evolving buildings, water pipes everywhere, trash burning plants, and AI tweaking galore, and of course more buildings and effects to choose.

Frankly I think there "could" be some crossover from each of the different game audiences. So I can imagine a Sims<>SimCity audience bridge if anything.

Ok enough chatter, here is the video:



Thursday, November 8, 2007

Portal in 18m 05s *Complete and Utter Spoiler*

DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO OR ITS SIBLING IF YOU EVER WISH TO PLAY THROUGH THE ORANGE BOX'S GAME CALLED "PORTAL" IT WILL RUIN YOUR EXPERIENCE!!!!

This was pulled from Youtube of course and is a "speed run" of the game "Portal".

Enjoy the Cake!

Part 1



Part 2




Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Lego Star Wars Codes for the Wii



Picked up the Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga yesterday at Best Buy. Pretty fun game so far, only have played a few of the chapters in story mode and free for all mode.

In the cantina there is an area for entering in codes to get "things", which could be items characters, hints, etc. In the manual it states that you won't find them in the game but will have to search for them elsewhere. So with a bit of google'n I found a few codes.

Some of the codes are for the xbox or playstation previous versions of the games but the sites I culled this info from didn't explicitly state that they would or would not work for the wii version. Also the codes dont mess with achievements, you still have to purchase the character from the cantina after it is unlocked. The codes just makes them available to purchase. I've included the "store exclusive" codes as well.

So with out further ado here is a start of the codes for Lego Star Wars The complete Saga:

Exclusive Store Codes
EVILR2 = r2-q5 droid (game stop exclusive code)
CLZ738 = Force Grapple Leap (game stop exclusive code)
HUT845 = Imperial Shuttle (toy r us exclusive code)
PMN576 = General Grevious (toy r us exclusive code)
HHY697 = Boss Nass (target exclusive code)
INT729 = Tie Interceptor (target exclusive code)
QRN714 = Captain Tarpals (best buy exclusive code)
AAB123 = Droid Tri-Fighter (best buy exclusive code)
GIJ989 - IG-88 (fry's electronics exclusive code)
BRJ437 - Disguise (fry's electronics exclusive code)

(Previous game codes. Unconfirmed if working for the Wii)
987UYR = Battle Droid
EN11K5 = Battle Droid (Commander)
LK42U6 = Battle Droid (Geonosis)
KF999A = Battle Droid (Security)
LA811Y = Boba Fett
F8B4L6 = Clone
ER33JN = Clone (Episode III)
BHU72T = Clone (Episode III Pilot)
N3T6P8 = Clone (Episode III Swamp)
RS6E25 = Clone (Episode III Walker)
14PGMN = Count Dooku
H35TUX = Darth Maul
A32CAM = Darth Sidious
VR832U = Disguised Clone
DH382U = Droideka
SF321Y = General Grievous
19D7NB = Geonosian
ZTY392 = Grievous' Bodyguard
U63B2A = Gonk Droid
PL47NH = Jango Fett
DP55MV = Ki-Adi Hundi
CBR954 = Kit Fisto
A725X4 = Luminara
MS952L = Mace Windu (Episode III)
92UJ7D = Padme
R840JU = PK Droid
BEQ82H = Princess Leia
L54YUK = Rebel Trooper
PP43JX = Royal Guard
EUW862 = Shaak Ti
XZNR21 = Super Battle Droid

CYG336 Rebel Pilot
EKU849 Rebel Trooper (Hoth)
GBU888 Skiff Guard
NYU989 Snow Trooper
NNZ316 TIE Fighter Pilot
QYA828 TIE Interceptor
HDY739 TIE Fighter
NAH118 Greedo available for purchase
PEJ821 Tusken Raider available for purchase
JAW499 Jawa available for purchase
YDV451 Sandtrooper available for purchase
SGE549 Palace Guard
UUB319 Lobot
CVT125 Imperial Spy
PTR345 Stormtrooper
HHY382 The Emporer
UGN694 Ugnaught
VAP664 Imperial Shuttle Pilot
MMM111 Imperial Guard
BBV889 Imperial Officer
NXL973 IG-88
YWM840 Han Solo w/hood
SMG219 Grand Moff Tarkin
NFX582 Gonk Droid
YZF999 Gammorean Guard
TTT289 Ewok
BNC332 Death Star Trooper
HLP221 Boba Fett
WTY721 Bib Fortuna
VHY832 Bespin Guard
BEN917 Ben Kenobi's Ghost
UCK868 Beach Trooper
NYU989 Snow Trooper
DRX728 Be able to buy the self destruct cheat
CL4U5H Unlocks Santa hat and clothes
TYH319 White Beard
NBP398 Unlock Disguise 2

QYA828 - TIE Interceptor
HDY739 - TIE Fighter
NXL973 - IG 88
BEN917 - Ben Kenobi (Ghost)
UFR293 - NOTHING
NFX582 - Gonk Droid
HHY382 - The Emperor
MMM111 - Imperial Guard
TTT289 - Ewok
HLP221 - Boba Fett
GBU888 - Skiff Guard
SGE549 - Palace Guard
WTY721 - Bib Fortuna
YZF999 - Gamorrean Guard
VHY832 - Bespin Guard
UGN694 - Ugnaught
UUB319 - Lobot
PLJ679 - NOTHING
NYU989 - Snow Trooper
CYG336 - Rebel Pilot
EKU849 - Rebel Trooper (Hoth)
YWM840 - Han Solo (Hood)
SMG219 - Grand Moff Tarkin
BBV889 - Imperial Officer
NNZ316 - TIE Fighter Pilot
BNC332 - Death Star Trooper
UCK868 - Beach Trooper
CVT125 - Imperial Spy
PEJ821 - Tuskan Raider
YDV451 - Sand Trooper
JAW499 - Jawa
NAH118 - Greedo
VAP664 - Imperial Shuttle Pilot

If you know of any others please feel free to post them here in the comments section or email them to me. Either way I'll update the post with any that I can confirm.

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