Month: January 2010

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Review: The Sims 3 & the state of EA games

I’ve written about EA games in the past and every now and than I will pick up a game from EA just to see where they are at as far as quality. I purchased the Sims 3 On sale after Christmas, since in January there are not many A level games around this time that appeal to my gaming sense.

Out of the box the sims 3 is very familiar in terms of game play. Its one of the few games that EA was smart enough not to change the core game play unlike any EA sports game.

Most EA sports game needlessly complicate the fuck out of the controls. I bought NHL 2009 out of the bargin bin for $4.99 for one reason on the box it listed “Play with classic controls”. After installing the game I played the game for about a week. The game itself is barely passable, but the game itself has some very poor coding. for one you can not play widescreen, you are stuck with standard 4:3 resolutions. If you try to change the control options theres no real way to customize the controls.

The sims 3 after playing for awhile is almost refreshing in the sence of quality from EA. But there are a few glaring things. In order to patch the game you’re almost forced to install EA’s Download Manager. The EA download Manager is pretty much a useless version of steam. Steam is Extremely well thought out but the EA download manager just feels like its an advertising program more than a game content client.

Manual patching for the Sims 3 is possible though but its incredibly aggravating.  Since you can’t Patch to the current version from the retail disk without some hunting around. Since the EA support site does not have the patches on the site you have to go look around for patches, As i’ve found the patches.  You can’t patch directly to the latest release version  and have to download a few patches to get to the point of the patch you want to be at.

The game however is an improvement over the sims 2, although when I play the sims its not exactly in the sense of playing the sims its more like How to drive your sim mad in 3 easy steps.  Theres less micromanagement in the sims3, unlike 2 where you cant just let it run all night to see what chaos comes about.  to me its like an ant farm  you give it a shake once in a while to see what the hell happens.

I think the most annoying fact of the sims 3 is it feels unfinished out of the box, and i didnt figure out why till I actually read the insert that came with the game. EA gives you 10$ to buy random stuff at the sim store, truthfully i find this annoying. its worse than a DLC. Why would you go online to buy a chair for a game or some other virtual furniture the prices are a little high in terms of value per dollar, most stuff is 75cents or a dollar but still, The online store should be a place to buy items and not to finish a game that is missing items.

as for the sims its ok with a few glaring issues that bug me. Patches/Unfinished feel out of the box / and no way to let the sims run on there own for a long period of time.

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Fun With Teva shoes

In the early half of 2009,  I purchased Teva aravalli mens shoes. For years I have worn Teva shoes since Timberland shoe quality went downhill.  Now since I do not drive a car, quality of shoes are important to me.

Around Mothers Day in 2009 I purchased these shoes and out of the store they were very comfortable. but, after a month these shoes started to fall apart which aggravated me.  The glue to hold the sole together had was very inferior due to the fact that the more you walked the more that the sole separated from the shoe.

After I had returned the first pair I figured that the shoes were a fluke.  In june I the second pair and those too fell apart in no time.   Since I needed shoes and the older Teva shoes I had some holes in them, the retailer I bought the shoes from did everything in there power to help me out, but to no avail. finally I had emailed Decker shoes the parent company of Teva figuring that i’d get no response. About a week late to my surprise I received an email back

Hi Mike

Thanks for your email.  Honestly.  We really appreciate you taking some time to connect with us and share your feedback.

First, I’m sorry to hear of your most recent issues with Teva products.  You are absolutely correct in your frustration, we definitely owe you a huge apology and a new pair of shoes.  I hope you will accept both from me and know that I will help in finding a resolution.  Teva prides itself on high performance, quality and, as a sign of our camaraderie, our customer service.  I’m sorry to hear we fell short in these department for you.

As you may know, the Aravalli is no longer available in our current line.  However, I would be happy to replace your shoes with a pair from our current selection.  I would like to offer something like the Riva Leather eVent or the Riva eVent.  You can check both out here.  If these aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, just let me know if something else stands out.

Once you choose a style, please let me know your size and address for shipping.  I’ll go ahead and get these out as soon as possible.  Also, for all of your troubles, I would like to also extend an offer for a pair of our Mush flips.  I know it’s starting to change seasons but year-around these are a definitely a treat for your feet.

Thanks again Mike for reaching out.  We’re glad to hear from you and I apologize again, on behalf of Teva, for your troubles.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

jaime

Jaime Eschette

Teva Public Relations

Goleta, CA

(###) ###-### x1178

 please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

After a few email exchanges Teva sent me a pair of Teva Riva Event shoes, These shoes are amazingly comfortable, A little tight at first but after you break in the shoes. they are very light, durable, and weatherproof. I really have to hand it to Teva/Deckers shoes for helping me out and fixing this problem with my shoes.  Really as far as shoes go I never thought of Teva for shoes, I used to use Timberlands for shoes but, as there quality went downhill I was happy to find this brand.