The ongoing fixing of SimCity’s multiple problems at launch has received yet another in its long line of patching history. Patch 5.0 for the game will continue to do away with as many bugs as possible, with a special helping of weeding out dirty, lying fire advisors that don’t seem to care about your safety.

The latest update to SimCity launched yesterday, and promises to change gameplay quite a bit. Unfortunately, there is no increase to the size of cities this time around. There is also no addition of offline mode. The update did bring many changes and additions to the game, however.

Mark this date in your diary, May 28th.  It's your Nan's birthday?  Who cares, this is also the date that new DLC is coming to everyone's favorite flaky city building game SimCity.  Mayors can now design and build an amusement park in their city that will increase tourism and create jobs.

The SimCity launch was the bumpiest ride I have been on since trying to chase a wheel of cheese down the side of a Gloucester hill.  Patches have been and gone; some fixes made, but new bugs created.  The game is more stable now, but fixes are still required.  Therefore, hooray for Patch 3.0, the latest update that hopes to improve Traffic and Transit in particular.

Continuing the train wreck that is SimCity, the most recent released patch, Update 2.0, may just be whole a new bundle of problems instead. The patch has been reported to contain a whole slew of new bugs than beforehand, which only gives the community a lackluster update to an already disastrous release.

It's been a tumultuous month and a half for SimCity, the modern version of a PC classic. Gamers were abuzz concerning the rough launch of the game, but since then developer Maxis has been trying to do right by their players, through offering a free game for early buyers, re-enabling the cheetah speed mode, and dropping patch after patch to fix issues.

SimCity hasn't had the best first month, with all the server issues, disabling of features, and just straight up failure on EA's part to anticipate the demand of the game. After all SimCity launched with 6 servers and now has over 20. After handing out a free game for people's troubles and continued support with patches and tweaks, for many, the co-op city simulation has dropped off the radar. One of the major points for me for not playing anymore is the lack of Cheetah speed, a feature that was disabled early on.

As of now you can claim your free game from EA if you had purchased SimCity and activated it via Origin. This is in response to the many, many server and gameplay issues the game has had since launch. Co-Op wise you can snag Battlefield 3, Dead Space 3 or Mass Effect 3.  

With a launch that hasn't exactly been smooth, SimCity has had a rough couple of weeks. It seems there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel for the game as Maxis and EA have upgraded and patched all the game servers adding almost 20 times the performance of what they originally had. This should hopefully alleviate connection issues players were having with the game. EA has also added a server status page to check just how full your favorite server is.

There was a day when you could tell someone that one of your favorite games had to do with virtual city planning and they'd look at you with a cocked head. Today though the SimCity franchise has a rabid fanbase and the Sim franchise overall has expanded into two dozen games and equally as many expansion packs. EA has revived SimCity giving it an almost complete remake. It's controversial, it's different, and at times, is brilliant. But does it work?

I've got to give major props to Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of Maxis at Electronic Arts. She's put out a letter to consumers that's pretty frank regarding the SimCity launch - which we all know hasn't been the smoothest.  

It was only this morning we told you how server woes continue for EA's SimCity. Many users are unable to connect, join regions, and play the basic game. There are long wait times similar to an MMO for users as they attempt to play the game.  Unfortunately things seem to have gone from bad to worse as the first major patch for the game has been released. Patches are normally a good thing - but in this case - not so much.

Games used to be all about buying a copy off the shop shelf and taking it home, unwrapping the ridiculously tight plastic and smelling the manual.  Those days are increasingly over as games can be accessed digitally.  In theory, this should lead to a seamless buying to playing workflow; unless the game is SimCity and you need to be connected to the EA servers at all times to play.  Servers that are currently not working very well...

Ah digital distribution - it's the future, or rather, it's the current popular way to get PC and soon, console games.  But it isn't without its problems - namely - big launches don't always go so smoothly. There's only so much bandwidth out there to distribute your game - and when you have a few million people trying to get it at the same time - things tend to slow down. Such is the case with SimCity, which launches today on the PC.

Good morning co-op fans! This week we don't have the greatest selection of co-op releases, but don't worry your gorgeous little head over it. You can take all your free time and go ahead and chuck it into the abyss of simulated city planning!