Electronic Art's Sim City - which requires players to be logged into its servers to play - experienced waits of up to 30 minutes to get started and then sluggish gameplay when it went on sale in March.

EA later apologised and offered a free title to those affected as compensation. It said more people had logged on than it had expected, adding they then played differently to the way its testers had.

The previous year Activision Blizzard saw its servers for Diablo 3 come under severe pressure after its launch.         JUDGE
SHERIFF OF CLEBURNE COUNTY;
LARRY CRABTREE, JOE                               AFFIRMED.
TOURNEAR, AND LEE NOBLE, IN
THE REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITIES
AS MEMBERS OF THE CLEBURNE
COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION;
DOYLE WEBB, IN HIS
REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY AS
CHAIRMAN OF THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY OF ARKANSAS; JULIE FEIL,
IN HER REPRESENTATIVE
CAPACITY AS CHAIRMAN OF THE
CLEBURNE COUNTY REPUBLICAN
COMMITTEE; AND PAUL MUSE IN
HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS
CLEBURNE COUNTY CLERK
                       APPELLEES

                  