Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Crimson Desert
  • Pokopia
  • Arc Raiders
  • The Boys S5
  • Starfield
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
Don't miss these
Astarian looking pensive with his hand resting on his chin in Baldur's Gate 3
Games The 25 best Steam games to play in 2026
Cities Skylines screenshot of a cityscape showing buildings framing roads, with skyscrapers opposite a river in the background
Strategy Games The 15 best city building games to play in 2026
Two Point Museum - a dinosaur bone display
Simulation Games The 15 best simulator games to play in 2026
GTA 6 reveal trailer screenshot showing a young blonde woman standing near a sunny rooftop pool, wearing a white and gold bikini
FPS Games GTA 6 devs "must be quaking" over so much hype, Hell Let Loose lead says: "Is there too much that people are expecting?"
Proxi characters stand on green hexagons of grass
The Sims The Sims creator blew 10 years and millions of dollars on new game, laid off team, and isn't done
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
Simulation Games As Tomodachi Life's lack of filter goes viral, former marketing lead says Nintendo may be "rethinking" its approach
Stormgate
Real Time Strategy Games Ex-StarCraft and Warcraft veterans' new RTS is losing online features as server partner is sold to an AI company
No Man's Sky on PC showing a player traversing planet-side after disembarking from a ship
Survival Games No Man's Sky boss Sean Murray once again gets the community dancing with emoji
Key art for Highguard showing Kai riding a bear, Atticus with the Shieldbreaker, and Scarlet, crouched, aiming down sights
FPS Games Ex Highguard developers blame "hubris" for the game's failure in new report
Fallout screenshots from Retro Gamer Magazine issue 186
Fallout Most of the original Fallout's humor was added just to make creator Tim Cain laugh: "We made this game for each other"
Deadlock Rem
Third Person Shooters Deadlock matchmaking is so broken, even Valve devs are getting put in the wrong lobby: "No one to blame except yourself"
Crimson Desert
RPGs Crimson Desert devs fix missing pre-order bonuses, instruct Steam players to "restart your game" to find them
GTA 6 characters from trailer 2
Grand Theft Auto GTA 6 prankster comes clean after response to viral 'leak' was "way bigger than I expected"
Survival Games No Man's Sky and Light No Fire fans in shambles as Hello Games boss Sean Murray starts tweeting safety vest emojis
The Sims 4 burglar
The Sims The Sims 4 Marketplace is coming with paid mods – because that's definitely what fans of EA's life sim want
  1. Games
  2. City Builder Games
  3. Sim City

SimCity's botched launch: The best jokes and memes we've seen so far

Features
By Matt Bradford published 9 March 2013

Finding humor in SimCity's DRM distaster

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Failure to launch

Failure to launch

111 best gaming memes

about the problems

We can't solve your SimCity woes, but we can help you kill some time while you wait for that server to connect. Introducing our gallery of SimCity jokes, memes, and other images from the botched launch (as recruited from the likes of memegenerator, Reddit (r/SimCity), quickmeme, etc...).

Page 1 of 37
Page 1 of 37

Page 2 of 37
Page 2 of 37

Page 3 of 37
Page 3 of 37

Page 4 of 37
Page 4 of 37

Page 5 of 37
Page 5 of 37

Page 6 of 37
Page 6 of 37

Page 7 of 37
Page 7 of 37

Page 8 of 37
Page 8 of 37

Page 9 of 37
Page 9 of 37

Page 10 of 37
Page 10 of 37

Page 11 of 37
Page 11 of 37

Page 12 of 37
Page 12 of 37

Page 13 of 37
Page 13 of 37

Page 14 of 37
Page 14 of 37

Page 15 of 37
Page 15 of 37

Page 16 of 37
Page 16 of 37

Page 17 of 37
Page 17 of 37

Page 18 of 37
Page 18 of 37

Page 19 of 37
Page 19 of 37

Page 20 of 37
Page 20 of 37

Page 21 of 37
Page 21 of 37

Page 22 of 37
Page 22 of 37

Page 23 of 37
Page 23 of 37

Page 24 of 37
Page 24 of 37

Page 25 of 37
Page 25 of 37

Page 26 of 37
Page 26 of 37

Page 27 of 37
Page 27 of 37

Page 28 of 37
Page 28 of 37

Page 29 of 37
Page 29 of 37

Page 30 of 37
Page 30 of 37

Page 31 of 37
Page 31 of 37

Page 32 of 37
Page 32 of 37

Page 33 of 37
Page 33 of 37

Page 34 of 37
Page 34 of 37

Page 35 of 37
Page 35 of 37

Page 36 of 37
Page 36 of 37
...reticulating splines...

...reticulating splines...

refund denials

Angry? Amused? Ready to give up on gaming? Let us know in the comments...

For more SimCity launch news and opinions, read EA, your SimCity is broke, SimCity marketing campaigns suspended, and our SimCity review in-progress.

Page 37 of 37
Page 37 of 37
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Platforms
PRODUCTS
Sim City SimCity
Matt Bradford
Social Links Navigation

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries. 

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Read more
A screenshot from Data Center Demo it unsurprisingly shows the inside of a data center
Simulation Games Steam users pile into the demo of a job sim about the very thing wreaking havoc on PC gaming: data centers
 
 
The Sims 4 tattoo artist career
The Sims The Sims 4 Marketplace sparks angry fan reactions and comparisons to paid Fallout and Skyrim mods
 
 
Anthem
Action RPGs Stop Killing Games says Anthem's scrapped plans for local servers is what the initiative is all about
 
 
Screenshot from Hytale, showing three warriors with a sword, bow, and staff sighting a big, icy dragon.
Survival Games Hytale devs warn "launch week will be bumpy, but we'll get everyone in"
 
 
Screenshot of Anthem machine pilot lying on the leafy ground with visor open
Third Person Shooters Anthem fan server project, which started "out of little more than spite for EA and Bioware," isn't making much progress
 
 
Arc Raiders automaton in a headset
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders boss says he'll "apologize" to Italy's Stella Montis hotel after it's flooded with reviews from players
 
 
Latest in Sim City
SimCopter
Sim City Unreleased SimCopter 64 build turns up over 25 years later
 
 
Sim City EA's shutting down Maxis Emeryville, home of SimCity and Spore
 
 
Sim City SimCity owners getting the offline mode they (thought they) want(ed)
 
 
Sim City SimCitys Cities of Tomorrow expansion is part Demolition Man, part Judge Dredd
 
 
Sim City Maxis is 'exploring' offline mode for SimCity
 
 
Sim City SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow expansion pack coming in November
 
 
Latest in Features
Maul (Sam Witwer) in a hood, using the force, with his dual lightsaber drawn in Maul – Shadow Lord
Star Wars TV Shows When does Maul – Shadow Lord take place in the Star Wars timeline?
 
 
Starfield screenshot
RPGs If NASA's Artemis II mission has you gazing at the stars, there are worse places to be than Starfield on PS5
 
 
Close up of Mario's face as shown on the Super Mario Galaxy series amiibo.
Toys & Collectibles I've been collecting amiibo for 12 years, but the Super Mario Galaxy figures are a huge feast for the eyes
 
 
Warhammer 40K Kravek Morne model facing off against other heroes
Tabletop Gaming Warhammer 40K Eye of Terror reminds me of something the game has been missing for ages
 
 
Blighted key art featuring a monstrous creature on the ground in the background
Action RPGs Blighted, the cannibal Soulslike Metroidvania action RPG, is a lot to swallow
 
 
Animal Crossing characters look up at the moon
Animal Crossing Animal Crossing helped me process grief, and I'm not alone: "Visiting her island has brought me a lot of peace"
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Witchbrook trailer screenshot of people chatting at a cafe
    1
    Witchbrook was delayed because "Harry Potter meets Stardew Valley" got old
  2. 2
    As GTA 6 looms, Just Cause lead isn't put off by comparisons to Rockstar's game as he prepares to release Samson
  3. 3
    Starfield Cruise Mode and Free Lanes encounters explained
  4. 4
    Resident Evil Requiem dataminers find an unused form for villain Victor Gideon
  5. 5
    No Man's Sky boss Sean Murray once again gets the community dancing with emoji

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...