As for Civ5 vs Elemental, I'd say the winner at this point is the one who gets out an expansion first.
well... the question is what's in the expansion, really. I know elemental has 1 coming out soon, but what are we getting as new content?
Both games have probably just about worn out their patch budget allocation at this point, and will want new money to add the major changes people want.
I don't think SD will wear its patch budget out as strange as it sounds. They are in it for the long haul here. Improve the core game and get more sales. I think elemental has a HELL of a lot more to gain from putting out a solid expansion to the game in terms of having that reviewed. It will give consumers another look at elemental. I'm not entirely sure they are thinking this way... but if they are, its essentially a way to relaunch the game.
I'd be interested to see sales numbers at this point; Elemental always tops the bestselling list on Impulse, but how many sales is enough to be #1 on Impulse? 100? 1000? I mean Master of Orion III is #6, and I can't imagine more than a handful of poor bastards bought that.
heh - I'd love to see numbers as well... don't think we'll see any soon, but from what I've read, they are generally pleased with the sales and are committed to improving the game in the hopes of future sales. If the game was a flop, then I'd imagine they'd have an exit strategy (eg we will support 4 more patches and then we are done). I'm not seeing that now. Maybe they are playing it that way, but if so, they are playing it pretty close to the chest.
Anyway, enjoying civ5. Finding the ai a little weak, but upping it some each time I play a new game. I'd wager the AI in elemental will dwarf civ5's in 2-3 months.
Back to the sale - not much all that super today for me. Hoping to see something good. I did pick up serious sam for a few bucks, but that's just a goofy game. Fun for what it is anyway.