As most gamers already know, SimCity, the latest addition to the long-running series, has had its share of problems since its launch. The troubling part of this news is that the majority of the problems could have been prevented if the traditionally single player game did not require an internet connection to play and save your game. But the restrictive DRM isn't the game's only problem. Let's take a look at what other games might look like if they followed the same pattern as SimCity, and pray that developers do not make the same mistakes in the future.
Animal Crossing would make you wait, even for single player.
You'd lose progress and miss rare Pokemon due to connection problems.
Sonic would be reduced to walking to allow the servers to manage the high traffic.
Minecraft would be divided into small regions, but still allow you to look out longingly at the arbitrarily untouchable land beyond the border.
Items standard to the series would be cut from the game and then sold as expensive DLC.
Mario Kart would be limited to online multiplayer, for the good of the community of course.
Do these sound like good design practices to you? If not, do your research before you buy a new game and vote with your wallet! If you don't like the way a company treats its customers or designs its games, don't encourage them by buying their games.
