Video games...what ya playing? And what are you looking forward to? (4 Viewers)

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Mentioned this in the Diablo 3 thread as well...http://www.pathofexile.com/ enters open beta this week. If you liked D2 and were not a fan of D3 this is a fantastic free to play game that absolutely blows away D3.

 

[Run It Up]

Mentioned this in the Diablo 3 thread as well...http://www.pathofexile.com/ enters open beta this week. If you liked D2 and were not a fan of D3 this is a fantastic free to play game that absolutely blows away D3.

Legit open beta or another temporary open beta?I retired from closed beta a few months ago to wait for release, the game is great and imo much better than D3 was - and for free its ludicrous.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Mentioned this in the Diablo 3 thread as well...http://www.pathofexile.com/ enters open beta this week. If you liked D2 and were not a fan of D3 this is a fantastic free to play game that absolutely blows away D3.

Legit open beta or another temporary open beta?I retired from closed beta a few months ago to wait for release, the game is great and imo much better than D3 was - and for free its ludicrous.

This the legit opening, no more char wipes after this one. I quit playing months ago and can not wait to start up and see what the 3rd act brings.

 

[Run It Up]

Great, ill be there for sure. Do you play hardcore or standard? Having trouble deciding which I wanna start off in since HC dumps into standard when you die, instead of wiping.

 

[Insein]

Just got to the part with the swimming pool on the roof in Uncharted 2. That's the hardest I laughed at a game in awhile. "Marco..."

 

[NewlyRetired]

Are you sure nothing's happening? It has to sit there while it repairs. If the graphic of the Mako doesn't show any damage, indicated by the red marks on the readout, then there's nothing to repair. Perhaps it's just your shields that are down.

That must be it. The blue bars must not be health, they must be shields on the Mako, that makes sense. Thanks.

You also have to stay still. Takes awhile to 'heal' the mako.

Yes I see how it works now. I can only press triangle after all the blue bars are gone and then it starts to repair itself after pressing triangle. Thanks

 

[shadyridr]

Far Cry 3 is the Gold Box Deal of the Day on Amazon for $34.99

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Great, ill be there for sure. Do you play hardcore or standard? Having trouble deciding which I wanna start off in since HC dumps into standard when you die, instead of wiping.

Tried HC a couple of times and i just got my butt handed to me. I am not that great at builds and I sort of rush through things, but I am going to give it another try and slow things down.

 

[goonsquad]

Far Cry 3 is the Gold Box Deal of the Day on Amazon for $34.99

Looks like the new Hitman will be one of the hourly deals as well.

 

[5Rings]

DeadSpace 3 demo out today

 

[GTBilly]

Demo's IMHO are for people that aren't sure if they want the game or not. For me to play the DS3 demo would just be a horrid tease that wouldn't be satisfied till Feb 5.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Demo's IMHO are for people that aren't sure if they want the game or not. For me to play the DS3 demo would just be a horrid tease that wouldn't be satisfied till Feb 5.

A demo snob, what will they think of next?J/K - I feel the same way.

 

[Insein]

Demo's IMHO are for people that aren't sure if they want the game or not. For me to play the DS3 demo would just be a horrid tease that wouldn't be satisfied till Feb 5.

A demo snob, what will they think of next?J/K - I feel the same way.

I just don't have the patience to wait an hour or 2 to download the 1gb demo just to play for 20 mins.

 

[DerekR]

Picked up Max Payne 3 for eight bucks. Gonna try it soon

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Demo's IMHO are for people that aren't sure if they want the game or not. For me to play the DS3 demo would just be a horrid tease that wouldn't be satisfied till Feb 5.

A demo snob, what will they think of next?J/K - I feel the same way.

I just don't have the patience to wait an hour or 2 to download the 1gb demo just to play for 20 mins.

Whoa, an hour or two ? Should take no longer then 10 minutes and often half that time.

 

[shadyridr]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

 

[jwb]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

It's really a stealth game (you can do it just straight fighting / carnage, but you get waaaay more out of it when you stealth it).Get the teleport and see through walls powers and you'll see - bouncing around with teleport is a blast.

 

[SlaX]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

It's really a stealth game (you can do it just straight fighting / carnage, but you get waaaay more out of it when you stealth it).Get the teleport and see through walls powers and you'll see - bouncing around with teleport is a blast.

I really gotta play Dishonored. I like stealth games. I loved the Thief and Splinter Cell (before they made it more shooter... I still like Conviction, but it's not the same without the stealth), and the recent 2D stealth game Mark of the Ninja.

 

[NCCommish]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

It's really a stealth game (you can do it just straight fighting / carnage, but you get waaaay more out of it when you stealth it).Get the teleport and see through walls powers and you'll see - bouncing around with teleport is a blast.

I really gotta play Dishonored. I like stealth games. I loved the Thief and Splinter Cell (before they made it more shooter... I still like Conviction, but it's not the same without the stealth), and the recent 2D stealth game Mark of the Ninja.

I'm not going to bother because I don't care for stealth games. I mean there are times to use stealth of course and I do but in the end I want to go all action movie at some point and I get bored when it is all sneak all the time. Those guys deserve to die.

 

[SlaX]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

It's really a stealth game (you can do it just straight fighting / carnage, but you get waaaay more out of it when you stealth it).Get the teleport and see through walls powers and you'll see - bouncing around with teleport is a blast.

I really gotta play Dishonored. I like stealth games. I loved the Thief and Splinter Cell (before they made it more shooter... I still like Conviction, but it's not the same without the stealth), and the recent 2D stealth game Mark of the Ninja.

I'm not going to bother because I don't care for stealth games. I mean there are times to use stealth of course and I do but in the end I want to go all action movie at some point and I get bored when it is all sneak all the time. Those guys deserve to die.

Of course, I like action games. But I also enjoy the thought and strategy that stealth games require to play correctly. Sure, most stealth games are just about playing the patterns and trial and error, but it still requires thinking, and a lot of patience to get through. The patience part is hard for me, though. Stealth games are #1 on my list of games that I get worse at every time I play them. The first try is slow and easy and you're being careful and doing well... then I'm spotted or fail and have to retry and each retry I seem to get worse and worse because I'm not being as careful and trying to rush through it too much. It takes a while to get relaxed enough again to get back to that first try. That's my weakness with stealth games, but I still love them.

 

[shadyridr]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

It's really a stealth game (you can do it just straight fighting / carnage, but you get waaaay more out of it when you stealth it).Get the teleport and see through walls powers and you'll see - bouncing around with teleport is a blast.

I really gotta play Dishonored. I like stealth games. I loved the Thief and Splinter Cell (before they made it more shooter... I still like Conviction, but it's not the same without the stealth), and the recent 2D stealth game Mark of the Ninja.

I'm not going to bother because I don't care for stealth games. I mean there are times to use stealth of course and I do but in the end I want to go all action movie at some point and I get bored when it is all sneak all the time. Those guys deserve to die.

Of course, I like action games. But I also enjoy the thought and strategy that stealth games require to play correctly. Sure, most stealth games are just about playing the patterns and trial and error, but it still requires thinking, and a lot of patience to get through. The patience part is hard for me, though. Stealth games are #1 on my list of games that I get worse at every time I play them. The first try is slow and easy and you're being careful and doing well... then I'm spotted or fail and have to retry and each retry I seem to get worse and worse because I'm not being as careful and trying to rush through it too much. It takes a while to get relaxed enough again to get back to that first try. That's my weakness with stealth games, but I still love them.

I like collecting all the runes, bone charms, items in Dishonored. I try to do it the stealth way but if an enemy sees me, Im not gonna sit there and reset the game so I can do the whole level stealth. Plus there are some pretty cool kill scenes youre gonna miss out on.

 

[5Rings]

So Im one mission into Dishonored. I dunno. Solid game but I was expecting more after reading the reviews. Hopefully it picks up. Im not trying stealth or anything. Im just playing.

It's really a stealth game (you can do it just straight fighting / carnage, but you get waaaay more out of it when you stealth it).Get the teleport and see through walls powers and you'll see - bouncing around with teleport is a blast.

I really gotta play Dishonored. I like stealth games. I loved the Thief and Splinter Cell (before they made it more shooter... I still like Conviction, but it's not the same without the stealth), and the recent 2D stealth game Mark of the Ninja.

I'm not going to bother because I don't care for stealth games. I mean there are times to use stealth of course and I do but in the end I want to go all action movie at some point and I get bored when it is all sneak all the time. Those guys deserve to die.

Of course, I like action games. But I also enjoy the thought and strategy that stealth games require to play correctly. Sure, most stealth games are just about playing the patterns and trial and error, but it still requires thinking, and a lot of patience to get through. The patience part is hard for me, though. Stealth games are #1 on my list of games that I get worse at every time I play them. The first try is slow and easy and you're being careful and doing well... then I'm spotted or fail and have to retry and each retry I seem to get worse and worse because I'm not being as careful and trying to rush through it too much. It takes a while to get relaxed enough again to get back to that first try. That's my weakness with stealth games, but I still love them.

I like collecting all the runes, bone charms, items in Dishonored. I try to do it the stealth way but if an enemy sees me, Im not gonna sit there and reset the game so I can do the whole level stealth. Plus there are some pretty cool kill scenes youre gonna miss out on.

Shoot 'em with a sleep bolt and hide them away.I really liked being able to blink from chandelier to chandelier inside above enemies.

 

[Insein]

Demo's IMHO are for people that aren't sure if they want the game or not. For me to play the DS3 demo would just be a horrid tease that wouldn't be satisfied till Feb 5.

A demo snob, what will they think of next?J/K - I feel the same way.

I just don't have the patience to wait an hour or 2 to download the 1gb demo just to play for 20 mins.

Whoa, an hour or two ? Should take no longer then 10 minutes and often half that time.

10 mins feels like an hour to me. I could be doing stuff in that 10 mins.

 

[SlaX]

Demo's IMHO are for people that aren't sure if they want the game or not. For me to play the DS3 demo would just be a horrid tease that wouldn't be satisfied till Feb 5.

A demo snob, what will they think of next?J/K - I feel the same way.

I just don't have the patience to wait an hour or 2 to download the 1gb demo just to play for 20 mins.

Whoa, an hour or two ? Should take no longer then 10 minutes and often half that time.

10 mins feels like an hour to me. I could be doing stuff in that 10 mins.

Most games still allow you to play them while the download is going on. I still haven't figured out why some games stop the download and some allow it to continue.

 

[TxBuckeye]

10 mins feels like an hour to me. I could be doing stuff in that 10 mins.

So go do something during that ten minutes? Pretty sure the download continues even if you aren't staring at it. Then again, I've never downloaded a demo, so I can't be certain.

 

[Insein]

Finished Uncharted 2. Way better than the first one. Very good story. Excellent dialogue. Probably the best dialogue of any game I've ever played. That's including the Mass Effect games too. Gameplay is very similar to the first but it felt more unique in this one. Probably because the locales were much more diverse this time. It still has its ridiculous moments where you ask yourself "how the hell can this guy climb glacial walls in subzero temperatures with a tshirt and jeans on and no gloves?" But for the most part, you're having too much fun to care. I'd give UC2 an 8.5/10.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Uncharted 3 is also really good. Better than U1 but not as good as U2. The controls felt clunky to me.Still definitely worth a play.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Uncharted 3 is also really good. Better than U1 but not as good as U2. The controls felt clunky to me.Still definitely worth a play.

I'm in the extreme minority of players who actually liked U3 more than U2.

 

[NCCommish]

Uncharted 3 is also really good. Better than U1 but not as good as U2. The controls felt clunky to me.Still definitely worth a play.

I'm in the extreme minority of players who actually liked U3 more than U2.

One of the guys I work with feels the same way. He's been trying to get me to buy a used PS so I can play it.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Uncharted 3 is also really good. Better than U1 but not as good as U2. The controls felt clunky to me.Still definitely worth a play.

I'm in the extreme minority of players who actually liked U3 more than U2.

One of the guys I work with feels the same way. He's been trying to get me to buy a used PS so I can play it.

I was just in BB yesterday and they had a PS3 250gb bundled with Uncharted 1&2 for $230.

 

[NCCommish]

Uncharted 3 is also really good. Better than U1 but not as good as U2. The controls felt clunky to me.Still definitely worth a play.

I'm in the extreme minority of players who actually liked U3 more than U2.

One of the guys I work with feels the same way. He's been trying to get me to buy a used PS so I can play it.

I was just in BB yesterday and they had a PS3 250gb bundled with Uncharted 1&2 for $230.

Not bad.

 

[NewlyRetired]

In ME, I can level up my squad to do better with first aid. How do I track how many medi gels each member of my squad has? I know how many I carry but I am unsure how to make sure the squad members are stocked.

 

[Insein]

Started playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution in my newly appointed quest to beat all the games in my backlog. Bought it during the summer sale for $5. This is my kind of game. Stealth, Sci-fi storyline, talking can persuade people to do different things, many different upgrades that drastically improve your character in different ways. This has all the things I like in a game. Not sure why I never played it till now. Heard a lot of bleh reviews for it but so far I'm enjoying it. I haven't played the original games in forever so this one looks and plays nice to me.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Started playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution in my newly appointed quest to beat all the games in my backlog. Bought it during the summer sale for $5. This is my kind of game. Stealth, Sci-fi storyline, talking can persuade people to do different things, many different upgrades that drastically improve your character in different ways. This has all the things I like in a game. Not sure why I never played it till now. Heard a lot of bleh reviews for it but so far I'm enjoying it. I haven't played the original games in forever so this one looks and plays nice to me.

I think the biggest flaw was that it encourages you to build your character stealthy, but in doing so, it makes the boss battles next to impossible.

 

[thecatch]

Started playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution in my newly appointed quest to beat all the games in my backlog. Bought it during the summer sale for $5. This is my kind of game. Stealth, Sci-fi storyline, talking can persuade people to do different things, many different upgrades that drastically improve your character in different ways. This has all the things I like in a game. Not sure why I never played it till now. Heard a lot of bleh reviews for it but so far I'm enjoying it. I haven't played the original games in forever so this one looks and plays nice to me.

I think the biggest flaw was that it encourages you to build your character stealthy, but in doing so, it makes the boss battles next to impossible.

I think that's a symptom of the game trying to do too many things. It's a stealth-oriented RPG first person shooter, and while the mix is interesting, it isn't great in any of these areas. Plus the plot gets pretty meh after an interesting opening.

 

[Maelstrom]

Started playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution in my newly appointed quest to beat all the games in my backlog. Bought it during the summer sale for $5. This is my kind of game. Stealth, Sci-fi storyline, talking can persuade people to do different things, many different upgrades that drastically improve your character in different ways. This has all the things I like in a game. Not sure why I never played it till now. Heard a lot of bleh reviews for it but so far I'm enjoying it. I haven't played the original games in forever so this one looks and plays nice to me.

I think the biggest flaw was that it encourages you to build your character stealthy, but in doing so, it makes the boss battles next to impossible.

I think that's a symptom of the game trying to do too many things. It's a stealth-oriented RPG first person shooter, and while the mix is interesting, it isn't great in any of these areas. Plus the plot gets pretty meh after an interesting opening.

I read that they outsourced the boss battles to a different studio, that is why they are so different in execution than the rest of the game. Other than the boss battles though, I really enjoyed the game as a whole. Was a little disappointed with the overall choices at the end of the game, too black and white for a game that had been grey most of the way. I've been considering trying to play through for the no-kills and ghost titles, but don't know if I have the patience for that.

 

[Sand]

Been trying out the beta of SimCity. Cool game - lots of fun to twiddle and make stuff. The decision to make it like Diablo 3 and have it online only is disastrous, IMO. I have no idea why a game that is the archetype single-player game is going this way. After learning that I went from 95% buyer to 0%. Skipped D3 for the same reason - I don't want to interact with 10 year olds online. I want to be able to play while in a car or in a plane.

 

[Insein]

Been trying out the beta of SimCity. Cool game - lots of fun to twiddle and make stuff. The decision to make it like Diablo 3 and have it online only is disastrous, IMO. I have no idea why a game that is the archetype single-player game is going this way. After learning that I went from 95% buyer to 0%. Skipped D3 for the same reason - I don't want to interact with 10 year olds online. I want to be able to play while in a car or in a plane.

Was thinking this randomly the other day with a friend. This incessant need to make games have a multiplayer was bad enough but now they are making it so you HAVE TO PLAY multiplayer in some form is just turning me off to the whole industry. I still haven't played Bioshock 2 because they shipped it with a multiplayer deathmatch. Why does bioshock need multiplayer? EA is the main culprit. Mass Effect 3 was a prime example forcing people to up their war readiness to get the "good" ending. Dead Space 3 has online co-op only. No split screen option available. They have a business model now that basically states no game can ship without some type of multiplayer component. Between that and the free to play movement, I don't like the direction gaming is headed.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Was thinking this randomly the other day with a friend. This incessant need to make games have a multiplayer was bad enough but now they are making it so you HAVE TO PLAY multiplayer in some form is just turning me off to the whole industry. I still haven't played Bioshock 2 because they shipped it with a multiplayer deathmatch. Why does bioshock need multiplayer?

You can play Bioshock 2 entirely in single player story mode, same as Bioshock 1. The multiplayer stuff is just extra fluff you don't need to play if you don't want to, it does not replace anything in the game that you had from the first Bioshock.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Been trying out the beta of SimCity. Cool game - lots of fun to twiddle and make stuff. The decision to make it like Diablo 3 and have it online only is disastrous, IMO. I have no idea why a game that is the archetype single-player game is going this way. After learning that I went from 95% buyer to 0%. Skipped D3 for the same reason - I don't want to interact with 10 year olds online. I want to be able to play while in a car or in a plane.

Was thinking this randomly the other day with a friend. This incessant need to make games have a multiplayer was bad enough but now they are making it so you HAVE TO PLAY multiplayer in some form is just turning me off to the whole industry. I still haven't played Bioshock 2 because they shipped it with a multiplayer deathmatch. Why does bioshock need multiplayer? EA is the main culprit. Mass Effect 3 was a prime example forcing people to up their war readiness to get the "good" ending. Dead Space 3 has online co-op only. No split screen option available. They have a business model now that basically states no game can ship without some type of multiplayer component. Between that and the free to play movement, I don't like the direction gaming is headed.

Single player ins't going anywhere. The not playing Bioshock 2 because it also has multiplayer is just crazy. I like both, but I can tell you this, I wont be buying any more RPG's that don''t offer real co-op. Not the crappy Fable2/Two Worlds versions either. I want to work together or against each other in the same realm.

 

[Insein]

Was thinking this randomly the other day with a friend. This incessant need to make games have a multiplayer was bad enough but now they are making it so you HAVE TO PLAY multiplayer in some form is just turning me off to the whole industry. I still haven't played Bioshock 2 because they shipped it with a multiplayer deathmatch. Why does bioshock need multiplayer?

You can play Bioshock 2 entirely in single player story mode, same as Bioshock 1. The multiplayer stuff is just extra fluff you don't need to play if you don't want to, it does not replace anything in the game that you had from the first Bioshock.

Yea I know. It just turned me off at the time. Why I haven't touched it yet. It's sitting there. I'll probably play it after Deus Ex. Just remember reading news for a sequel to Bioshock and thinking why do they need more from that perfect game and then the blurb about MP just turned me off completely.

 

[madshot31]

Best Buy has 12 month XBL subs for $35 right now and Amazon just price matched them. Just a fyi.

 

[fasteddie_21]

The always online model is about to become the standard. It's the ultimate DRM but it's here to stay. Learn to deal with it or you'll have to quit the hobby.

 

[jonessed]

The always online model is about to become the standard. It's the ultimate DRM but it's here to stay. Learn to deal with it or you'll have to quit the hobby.

You can still get around it for most any single player game. I like to support the developers, but the cracks are out there.

 

[Sand]

The always online model is about to become the standard. It's the ultimate DRM but it's here to stay. Learn to deal with it or you'll have to quit the hobby.

That's fine if I can unhook for a while. I have no opposition to DRM.

I like both, but I can tell you this, I wont be buying any more RPG's that don''t offer real co-op. Not the crappy Fable2/Two Worlds versions either. I want to work together or against each other in the same realm.

And I have zero interest in multiplayer. None. Skyrim was perfect.

 

[-arcK-]

I like both, but I can tell you this, I wont be buying any more RPG's that don''t offer real co-op. Not the crappy Fable2/Two Worlds versions either. I want to work together or against each other in the same realm.

Agreed. This should be the new standard.

 

[fasteddie_21]

The always online model is about to become the standard. It's the ultimate DRM but it's here to stay. Learn to deal with it or you'll have to quit the hobby.

That's fine if I can unhook for a while. I have no opposition to DRM.

I like both, but I can tell you this, I wont be buying any more RPG's that don''t offer real co-op. Not the crappy Fable2/Two Worlds versions either. I want to work together or against each other in the same realm.

And I have zero interest in multiplayer. None. Skyrim was perfect.

Totally agree. Absolutely zero interest in multiplayer, esp. when it comes to RPG's.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I am not a big multiplayer guy either. I prefer the solitude of a game like Fallout 3 or Skyrim.However I don't have any problems with the developers adding these items like they did in Bioshock 2 or Red Dead Redemption where you have both single and multiplayer options.To be honest, I don't like multiplayer mostly because I flat out suck balls at it. When I played Red Dead Redemption multiplayer it was just non stop, spawn, die in 10 seconds, repeat spawn. I could never get started and was getting one shot killed before I could ever even see who was shooting me.

 

[SlaX]

Been trying out the beta of SimCity. Cool game - lots of fun to twiddle and make stuff. The decision to make it like Diablo 3 and have it online only is disastrous, IMO. I have no idea why a game that is the archetype single-player game is going this way. After learning that I went from 95% buyer to 0%. Skipped D3 for the same reason - I don't want to interact with 10 year olds online. I want to be able to play while in a car or in a plane.

Those reasons you mentioned for not wanting to buy it are the same reasons I decided the same, along with poor customer support from EA/Origin. I decided to get Simcity 4 during the Steam sale instead since the last one I had was SimCity 3000. I'm happy with that choice.

Was thinking this randomly the other day with a friend. This incessant need to make games have a multiplayer was bad enough but now they are making it so you HAVE TO PLAY multiplayer in some form is just turning me off to the whole industry. I still haven't played Bioshock 2 because they shipped it with a multiplayer deathmatch. Why does bioshock need multiplayer? EA is the main culprit. Mass Effect 3 was a prime example forcing people to up their war readiness to get the "good" ending. Dead Space 3 has online co-op only. No split screen option available. They have a business model now that basically states no game can ship without some type of multiplayer component. Between that and the free to play movement, I don't like the direction gaming is headed.

You don't HAVE to play Bioshock 2's multiplayer game, but they did incorporate a good story to make it fit with the universe. Unfortunately, the controls were clunky and the game types were too generic to where it couldn't find its own personality and the multiplayer turned into a ghost town quickly. It's already been announced that Bioshock Infinity dropped multiplayer.You mentioned Mass Effect 3 and although I haven't gotten that one yet due to the big O[rigin], I've heard nothing but good things with its multiplayer. The game could've done without it though.I also remember thinking that Assassin's Creed adding multiplayer for Brotherhood was a bad idea, but it turned out to be one of the best additions of multiplayer gaming that I can remember. You can't find the gameplay style that AC's multiplayer brings in any other game. The only problems I've ever had was a poor lobby & matchmaking system.

 

[TLEF316]

I thought the sim city beta was awful. You can fill up the entire city plot in 45 minutes. Also, the inability to control zone size or density (other than using bigger roads) was an awful decision. They're going for the casual gamer with this one. It's closer to Farmville than the real sim city predecessors. They made some good streamlining decisions, but most of what they've done will alienate the hard core fan base.