I have been playing the new SimCity game for the past week. I've logged about twenty hours so far, and for the most part I have been enjoying it. I haven't experienced the worst of the server outages that plagued the game's launch, and I am not particularly bothered by the always-online requirement. I have a stable internet connection, my documents, email, calendar, music and photos are all online, so why not my games?

The new SimCity is beautiful to look at, especially the GlassBox infographics. The simulations of power and water, sewerage and traffic, the sims themselves are attractive and informative. The game encourages a slow development style, gradually expanding your town into a small city. The "plopable" buildings providing city services are flexible and expandable, adding flexibility to your game play.

The region play is both a step forward and a step backwards from that in SimCity 4. The small city size encourages region play, and I have even been trying to create specialized cities with focuses on residential commuter towns feeding in to industrial centres. The city specialisms include mining, oil drilling, gambling and later in the game electronics. It's a fun idea with flexible plopable buildings.

However, these plopable take up space - a lot of space. On the restricted map size offered by the game, it becomes increasingly difficult to both expand your specialisms and zone sufficient residential, commercial and industrial areas to sustain your city. When my oil rich city screamed out for more zoning, there was nothing I could do.

So twenty hours in, I am being to run out of things to do in my city. I can't add more zones, my roads are at maximum density, and the population is crying out for expensive hospital and police coverage I don't have the income or room for.

Or perhaps it is just me? Perhaps I am getting bored of gaming, whatever the game? I've had a similar experience with another EA game I've invested time and money in, the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. I'm not particularly a Star Wars fan, but I was looking forward to a science fiction themed game after years of playing fantasy with World of Warcraft. It's a good game, with a strong single player component - but once I hit level 50 I quickly got bored. This was not helped by the empty servers, lack of guild community and no easy way to find pick up groups.

I am beginning to realise that I am less and less interested in computer games. They not longer provide hours of fun. They certainly don't provide a sense of fulfilment or achievement. I've tried many different games over the past couple of years, including some classics from my teenage years such as Transport Tycoon and Theme Hospital, to big online MMOs like World of Warcraft and SWTOR, and they have all left me wanting.

SimCity definitely needs bigger maps though.