EA announced earlier this week that to make up for the wretched (and inevitable) server issues that stymied the launch of SimCity, that everyone who has bought the game will soon be entitled to claim one free EA game from the Origin store.

As long as you register your copy of SimCity before 26 March, you will be able to claim one of the following games for free:

Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition)
Bejeweled 3
Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition)
Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition)
Medal of Honor Warfighter (Standard Edition)
Need For Speed Most Wanted (Standard Edition)
Plants vs. Zombies
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition

Oh, and you will have to claim your free game by 31 March.

The free game giveaways will occur in waves, and divided by regions. Apparently the whole world will have been covered by 22 March, so if you own SimCity, then you should keep an eye on your Origin home page for the next few days.

SimCity is set to make its triumphant return in March. Have you been playing the beta? If you haven’t, which is likely because beta invites were like hen’s teeth, then that’s unfortunate considering it’s now over. It’s not the end of the world as the release date is just around the corner.

In an attempt to get you to part with more of your money, Maxis and Electronic Arts have released this trailer for the SimCity Digital Deluxe Edition. This edition packs a bunch of extra building variants and other aesthetic options themed along three European countries: England, France and Germany. The new trailer is a tad misleading because it makes out that the Digital Deluxe Edition will be the only version to include things like trains and buses. I haven’t played the game since Gamescom last year, and what we were given access to excluded public transport option. Luckily, Geometrix has been involved with the recent beta and he’s told me that all of this stuff is in the vanilla version of the game. The Digital Deluxe Edition simply gives you additional country themes for buildings and infrastructure, such as the British themed buses you see at 0:40.

The SimCity Digital Deluxe Edition is an Origin exclusive and will sell for $80.00. At the current exchange rate that’s just over R720. Surprisingly, however, our local Origin store has the Digital Deluxe Edition available for pre-order at R520.15. Cheaper than overseas pricing? I’m gobsmacked. Trailer after the jump.

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UPDATE: EA has said that they “have never taken away access to a player’s games for not reporting a bug” and in case that didn’t put your mind at ease, they followed up with this: “ it’s not something we would ever do.” The beta EULA is being updated to change wording that was deemed “far too broad”.

ORIGINAL: But, let’s get this right out of the way first: it probably won’t. It probably won’t because there’s almost no way EA could possibly know or prove that you didn’t report a specific bug. So you can put that pitchfork back into the cabinet, and order a replacement glass pane with “Break In Case EA Does Something That Might Offend Me” printed on it.

If you’re taking part in the SimCity beta, then you would have had to agree to a standard EULA before being allowed to play. Did you read it? Of course you didn’t – who actually reads all of that stuff? If you had bothered to read it (and I’m not being smug here – I honestly never read those things) you would have learnt that EA reserves the right to ban you from every single EA game if you fail to report any bugs you might come across while playing the beta.

Here’s the section of the EULA that’s getting people’s panties in a bunch: “If you know about a Bug or have heard about a Bug and fail to report the Bug to EA, we reserve the right to treat you no differently from someone who abuses the Bug. You acknowledge that EA reserve the right to lock anyone caught abusing a Bug out of all EA products.”

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Do you know what I absolutely adored at Gamescom this year? The new SimCity, that’s what. I adored it so much I felt compelled to write a totally subjective hands-on in which I gushed about just how much I loved my all too brief session with the game. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that EA South Africa was our headlining sponsor – that just worked out rather nicely and the serendipitous turn events can be attributed to just how wonderful this game is turning out.

Those of you who are beginning to go grey will know that since the times of yore, SimCity has ostensibly been about building cities. It’s also been about shrieking hysterically when your meticulously manufactured metropolis comes crashing down thanks to natural disasters.

Speaking of which, here’s a new trailer for 2013’s SimCity! It features, you guessed it, the game’s natural disasters and how best to deal with them. It also shows you how a complete lack of foresight will result in your carefully constructed conurbation becoming a smouldering pile of angsty rubble.  Hit the jump to see UFOs cut buildings in two – with giant, pew-pew space lasers! Did I mention I’m excited for this game, because seriously, I’m excited for this game.

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Earlier this week we reported  that the new SimCity scheduled for launch in 2013 would require always-on Internet.

As it turns out, we’re big filthy liars, and the game will not actually require a constant Internet connection to play. In a chat with GameSpy, EA clarified the matter, stating that you will need an Internet connection to install and activate the game. You will also need to have an active connection to start the game, but if your connection drops while you’re playing, you won’t be kicked.

It still kind of sucks that you will need an Internet connection to launch the game, but it’s not quite as bad as some of the systems enforced by other publishers (hey, Ubisoft!).

SimCity will supposedly launch on a variety of digital distribution platforms, but you will require an EA Origin account to install and play it.