SimCity Finally Launches on the Mac With Native Version and Cross-Platform Servers

After being delayed for six months, EA has finally released the Mac version of the newSimCity. The game was originally set to come out in February of this year, but EA decided to delay it to "ensure a great experience" for players.

EA has repeatedly emphasized that the Mac version of SimCity is not a "port" of the PC game, but a fully native version designed specifically for the Mac using OpenGL. However, the game will include full cross-platform support to facilitate 'region play' where the cities of multiple players are connected to share utilities and citizenry, with PC and Mac Mayors able to play in the same regions...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Next-gen EA games will skip Wii U due to performance issues with Frostbite engine

EA's Frostbite 3 engine, which underpins many of the company's next generation titles, looks like it won't support Nintendo's Wii U. Johan Andersson, Technical Director of the Frostbite project at EA DICE, says the company tested Frostbite 2 on the console and found the results to be "not too promising," to the point where it "chose not to go down [the] path" of porting the next version. Leaked slides from earlier this year revealed that EA has approximately 15 games in development that use Frostbite 3, the implication being that Wii U gamers are going to miss out on some fairly big titles, including Battlefield 4, Star Wars, the next Mass Effect and, as Joystiq pointed out last week, this year's version ofMadden NFL. It all adds up to a notable loss of support for the new console -- but hey, EA-style gaming was hardly a core part of the Nintendo experience in the first place.

Source: Engadget 

55 EA Games for iOS Are Currently Only $0.99

To gear up for Easter Weekend, EA is slashing prices on some of its most well known games on iOS, with some prices up to 90 percent off. If you’re going to grandma’s house on Sunday—I am—you might want to stock up to make the visit more endurable. Or, if anything, to finally try out Mirror’s Edge for iPad even though it’s been out for years.

CultOfMac has graciously compiled 55 of EA’s iOS games that are currently only a buck, which is a steal for many of the titles listed. Really, it’s about time we gave Angry Birds a rest. Find a new addiction; NBA Jam for iPad, or Dead Space for iPad, or even Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for iPad. There are iPhone/iPod touch counterparts, too, so don’t feel left out here.

See something you like? My wallet doesn’t, but I certainly do. Time to take Bop It! for iPad The Sims 3 for a spin.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

EA SimCity 'sorry' games include Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3

Free games! Getcher free games! If you're still smarting from the disastrous launch of SimCity, the game's developer EA is offering a free game to say sorry, including Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 and Dead Space 3.

And you can claim your free game even if you weren't affected by the server issues ofSimCity's launch. Just buy it this week and you can get a choice of these games for nowt:

• Battlefield 3
• Bejeweled 3
• Dead Space 3
• Mass Effect 3
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted
• Plants vs Zombies
• SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition

If you're not a fan of blowing foreign people up or shooting aliens' heads off in extreme close-up, you may well be feeling hard-done-by: Bejeweled or Plants vs Zombies, anyone?

Several games on the list are rated 18, so if you're under 18 you get both Bejeweled andSimCity 4. Woo!

Your free game is available on Thursday 21 March if you're in the UK and you have until next Friday, 30 March, to claim it. To grab your gratis game, load up Origin and look for the free games in the Featured Today section.

You only have to have activated SimCity by next Monday, so you can claim a free game even if you haven't already bought it -- it's basically a week-long buy one-get-one-free offer.

Meanwhile, EA boss John Riccitiello has resigned, not specifically over the SimCity debacle, but rather the company's poor financial results. Other controversies in his six-year tenure as CEO include the failure of MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, the botched ending of Mass Effect 3, and the closure of its UK studio.

The disastrous launch hasn't stopped SimCity doing boffo business, though, shifting 1.1 million copies in two weeks -- not bad for a PC game with no head-shooting.

[Source: CNET]

EA Launches Origin Online Game Distribution for Mac

A Mac client for EA's digital distribution platform Origin was launched today, as first noted by AppleInsider. Origin for Mac was originally announced in August 2011 and went intoalpha testing in late January. 

Origin is quite similar to Valve's Steam and allows users to download games and demos, chat with friends and continue saved games from most computers.

The store currently lists 48 Mac games available for download, including games like Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, LEGO Batman, Harry Potter and Star Wars, Tropico 3: Gold Edition and The Sims 3 and its plethora of expansion packs. The new SimCity is supposed to launch a little after the March release of the PC version of the game.

EA Origin Vice President of Production Mike Blank told AppleInsider that EA brought Origin to Mac because of two reasons: growing Mac marketshare and a vocal community of Mac gamers.

"We're seeing increased activity from our Mac gamers," he said. "In the past, we've brought games slower to market for Mac than for PC partly because the audience hasn't been at the same level. The growth of iOS and Mac devices, though, means we're starting to see gamers demand to play their games on devices that are becoming more prominent. I think, across the board, developers have focused on the PC platform, but I think you're going to start seeing some changes there. [Origin] is the first step in a strategy you're going to start seeing coming out of EA."

Origin client for Mac is available as a download for free at EA's Origin website. It requires OS X 10.6.8 or higher and an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.

[Source: MacRumors]