Simcity Urges Players to "Dump the Pump" With Nissan DLC

[StewShearerOld]

Simcity Urges Players to "Dump the Pump" With Nissan DLC

Simcity's first bit of free DLC is now available on Origin.

Product placement doesn't have to be a bad thing. When it's done well you barely even see it's there. Characters in a movie will visit a restaurant and all be craving a Coke, or perhaps you'll be playing a videogame and notice an ad for a <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86831-Obama-Ads-Appearing-In-Games>particular presidential candidate in the background. It's no big deal, when you think about it. The publishers and developers receive a bit of cash to help offset the cost of development, and the advertisers get a new method of tapping into the part of your subconscious that tells you to buy, vote and eat things.

All of this said, product placement can sometimes be eye-rolling. For instance, fans of SimCity can now download the game's first bit of free DLC: a Nissan Leaf electric car charging station. The charging station, apparently designed to be seen from several miles in the air, is branded with a big, bright-red Nissan logo and a matching billboard advertising the "100% Electric Nissan Leaf." To drive home that Nissan's electric car is good, the charging station comes with some nifty in-game benefits.

"Plopping down the Nissan LEAF&#174; Charging Station will add happiness to nearby buildings," <a href=http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9416786.page>said Maxis. "Adding the Charging Station will not take power, water or workers away from your city. Zoom in to the streets of cities and players will start seeing a percentage of their Sims from all wealth classes driving the electric vehicles. The Charging Station produces no garbage or sewage as well making it pollution free."

It kind of makes you want to go buy a Leaf, doesn't it?

In all seriousness, Electronic Arts and Maxis could have done much worse than promote the sale of an electric car. For instance, 2007's SimCity Societies featured product placement from British Petroleum which, ironically, be found to be responsible for the worst accidental oil spill in history.

Source: PCGamer




Permalink

 

[Remus]

And for this they should be paying me for getting Sim City, not that I'd ever dump that garbage onto my PC. But an incentive would make it more palatable.

 

[Evil Smurf]

How long were they considering charging for this?

 

[itsthesheppy]

Eh. I've seen worse, honestly.

 

[Chessrook44]

And so the extorting money through DLC begins. Wait, it's free? Well... okay then.

 

[james.sponge]

What's next? McDonald's DLC? Maxis is failing so much as a game developer, and please don't blame it all on EA, Ocean Quigley and his team are equally guilty of supporting and developing broken designs that basically destroyed what could be an excellent game.

 

[Epona]

Of course it's free, it's an advertisement. Your eyeballs are the product here.

 

[kajinking]

So is the game fixed yet?

captcha: Grass up

Just making that their slogan would have been far more effective marketing

 

[DTWolfwood]

bring back cheetah speed!

I hear this item is OP. I'll be using it when i play SimCity again.

Currently invested into Kerbal Space Program! now that is a good Sim Game

 

[FEichinger]

Ah, yes, EA (yes, it's Maxis, you annoying guy over there who's gonna point at me and yell "STOP THE EA HATE, IT WAS MAXIS!", but Maxis is fully owned by EA now, so it's their bloody fault like all the other rubbish they've churned out over the past years), selling out like noone else has sold out before.

How long were they considering charging for this?

Up until the very last millisecond that they were forced not to by the sheer desperation of common human decency, as manifested by the one sane individual in the company.

And even then, they probably still longingly wished they could do it.

"They sacked that poor guy right after."

And with that, I claim this joke.

 

[Clovus]

I guess we should feel lucky that buildings with ridiculous advertising don't just show up automatically. I bet McDonald's would pay a pretty good amount to have Micky D's showing up in your city instead of "Don's Tacos" or whatever.

Edit: Removed a grocer's apostrophe.

 

[Smooth Operator]

They aren't charging us for ads? By golly how decent of them...

 

[Korzack]

Great, product placement DLC. Just what the game needed to gain some appreciation back after pissing off so many customers. Glad I just got simcity 2K rather than this now.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Yeah, seriously? After everything else they've done, they're adding advertisements as DLC? It may be free, but given the online nature of the game that they've forced on the players I'm guessing it's also mandatory. And come on! It's blatantly overpowered because they wouldn't dare to suggest that the product they're advertising is in anyway bad.

What's next? McDonald's DLC? Maxis is failing so much as a game developer, and please don't blame it all on EA, Ocean Quigley and his team are equally guilty of supporting and developing broken designs that basically destroyed what could be an excellent game.

[HEADING=3]THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE SPONGE![/HEADING]

 

[uchytjes]

I... I'm conflicted. I came into this story ready to spout some rant about how they have been charging consumers to include other business's materials in their game since The Sims 2, but... EA IS GIVING SOMETHING OUT FOR FREE!? AND IT IS SLIGHTLY BENEFICIAL TO THE GAME!? Well it is still advertising (which I'm a firm supporter of as a means of monetary gain) and that in and of itself is, well, controversial to include in a game, but it is both free and optional. Not bad, EA, not bad at all.

Also:

"Should I fill it with premium?"
"Nope! Chuck Tesla."

This is quite the punny statement if I do say so myself.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Simcity's first bit of free DLC is now available on Origin.

...and no one could get on the server to download it

seriously though, as far as revenue sources for games, benign product placement isn't a terrible way to go, at least until it starts breaking a game in some fashion

 

[weirdee]

oh boy, free stuff! this is totally altruistic and not involved with money whatsoever. i know that when i wrap my presents, i cover them with all of my favorite corporate sponsors. i mean, friends. yes, that.

if this is what's considered a positive change, then ea has won. they've effectively opened the door to self serving behavior that's only slightly better than their previous self serving behavior.