If you’ve been a gaming enthusiast for the last decade, you have probably played SimCity, the simulator game that involves building a virtual city. After several years dormant, a new release of SimCity is upon us and players can now register for a three-day beta, which will run from January 25th to the 28th.
Users of this beta, once it is available on the 25th, will have access to an hour-long session. This will give players enough of a taste for the game’s visuals and features, which are expected to be much improved from the title’s previous incarnations. For the first time as well, since SimCIty 2000 Network Edition, SimCity will offer a fully multi-player experience, allowing multiple players to control a single region which contains different cities (still one for each player, there is no option for co-Mayorship).
If you have played previous releases of SimCity, such as the popular SimCity 3000, you should feel right at home with this release since the gameplay is largely the same: players become Mayors of their very own city and are responsible for delivering the infrastructure and services that their citizens expect, within a budget. Cities can raise money through taxation and creating special buildings such as federal prisons. New in the 2013 version of this game, players will be able to define different zones of the city: residential, industrial and commercial; building the needed infrastructure, such as roads, around them.
How To Download the Beta: EA clearly still wants to keep the game under tight wraps, only allowing a very limited four-day beta at this time. The company is inviting enthusiasts to register for the beta. This will not guarantee access however, since those who signed up will then be randomly picked. Also, if you own a Mac you will be disappointed, since this release is PC-only.
If you want to try your luck, you can sign-up for SimCity Beta through EA’s website. Simply login with your Origin account (or create one now) and fill out some personal details. Who knows, in less than a week, you might just become the Mayor of a new city of your own.
If you don’t get in, don’t worry, since the final release is expected to hit the shelves on March 5th, with a Mac release shortly after.
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