My son spent several hours last night building his first city in the new SimCity game, experiencing none of the internet connection problems that plagued early users.
Soon after its launch on March 5, the game was playing like Bangkok at rush hour, with long wait times and annoying crashes.
In fact, it was worse. People who bought the game couldn't play it for the first few days. The available servers couldn't handle the load, prompting a deafening outcry from angry buyers. Yesterday, publisher Electronic Arts (EA) announced that John Riccitiello is stepping down as CEO of the company.
The game is now playable, however, after EA increased server capacity by 400 percent. As of yesterday, users had logged more than 15 million hours of online play. EA says sales have exceeded one million in the first two weeks.
SimCity is one of the classic computer games, first released in 1989. It is an open-ended game in which players try to build their own cities while coping with a limited budget and the need to keep city residents happy.
SimCity 2013 is the first multi-player version and the first to include global warming as a consideration. Heavy polluters are likely to hear complaints from their neighbours in the online community.
The biggest point of contention so far is the requirement that gamers must be connected to the internet. Game developers say the game makes extensive use of the "cloud", allowing users to interact, to play in their own cities from any location and to allow for frequent updates.
Some users complain, however, that most people simply build their own cities and rarely use the multi-player options. Some game experts suspect the real reason for the on-line-only requirement is to prevent piracy.
SimCity 2013 is for the PC only.