Ben

What do you want? Also hello to all of you new people.

Two points? Err, no, I am making a single point, which is (as you have attempted to summarise): "it's sad when people want polish over originality... when said people are the same ones who bemoan lack of originality."

I said it's sad when people want polish over something different, with the caveat that people who ultimately use lack of polish as a reason for not enjoying a game are the same ones who constantly go on about wanting innovation and something different in games. I clearly wasn't saying "it's sad to want polish. Full stop. End of story." Jesus.

For once I actually agree with you. It's depressing to see so many people (usually the same ones bemoaning a lack of something different) saying this. I think the basic idea of Keith Stuart's article/rant on the guardian gamesblog was right - people who claim to want innovation really want polish over adventurous design. Whether it's a concious want or not is another matter. Of course in an ideal world both would be great, but it's sad that when it comes down to one or the other, these people fall on the side of perfect execution.

Clearly there's some kind of subconscious "break each others shit" thing going on between all of us.

After careful consideration and completing thousands of zones, and regardless of what else you may think of other elements of the game, i've come to the conclusion that Zone Mode in Wipeout HD is the best thing to happen to gaming since Rez HD.

I know it's pretty obvious/telegraphed stuff but you might want to spoiler tag some of the stuff in your second paragraph miffy just in case anyone cares.

It's not new but seeing as I've just purchased the blu-ray set i'm preparing to watch Band of Brothers again. A great series that is often genuinely shocking and touching in equal measure.

The level's name is Libidius.jp i think.

Rez Area 5 says hello. Stealth edit: Unless you don't consider that contemporary.

Marty!

You're right it doesn't mean that. As you say it could simply be that all the Blu-Ray software i've tried happens to be region free. But as far as I'm aware from my experience the player, at least the players in early PS3s, are not region locked. It would be an amazing coincidence if it was, particularly given that i've successfully played a couple of those dics listed as locked on my machine. Either way we return to the original point, which is that Blu-Ray as a format is no less accessible than DVD (i definitely see more green than red in that useful link/list you've provided), despite what toblix was asserting in his original post.

DVD playback is region locked. Blu-Ray playback is not. As I said, some studios have chosen to implement software region locking on their Blu-Ray discs but the actual hardware (i.e. the PS3's Blu-Ray player) is not region locked. I have a US PS3 and have been able to play all the UK Blu-Rays i've purchased so far.

I believe the current limit is 100.

They used to say that about the DVD editions too; as I said before while some Criterions were indeed region encoded, many were not. Also of the currently planned Blu-Ray releases they have, in the past as DVD editions the following were region locked: The Third Man The Man Who Fell to Earth Chungking Express The Last Emperor And these were all region: The 400 Blows Contempt For All Mankind Walkabout So it's possible this will be the case with the Blu-Ray releases too despite what they officially say. Time will tell.

Yeah Criterions are Region 0 (Blu-Ray Criterions will similarly be region free btw); but they are exceptions that prove the rule in this case.

Actually there's no such thing as region free DVDs - DVD players became all region, but the software itself (i.e. the discs) was always and remains region locked. In that sense, Blu-Ray is actually better since both the software and hardware itself is not entirely locked as a rule. While some region locking has been implemented by a few studios/distributors on some of their releases, on the whole Blu-Rays are more accessible across regions than the DVD format, with a majority of releases being region free.

This is the track in question apparently: http://mt14.quickshareit.com/share/preview/soundclip22503c0.wav

Heh, depends how you interpreted it I suppose. I was speaking in terms of WipEout HD only, not motion controls in general, if that makes the comment any less hilarious to you. If not, well... keep an open mind . I've been playing the game for quite a while, and though it seems difficult at first the motion controls are a really good control method for this game in terms of the subtlety of control afforded. I think if you've played the original a lot and become used to controlling the craft with the d-pad it will be hard to move away from that, as it was for me.

Yeah, motion control is worth it and in the long term it's definitely the way to go.

Well there's been strong indications from my sources that this is/was true, but Valve have officially denied it according to Kotaku. Edit - literally seconds out... hehe.

It's not particularly new, went up with the last batch of articles; and yes it does mean something. Oh what a tease.

I believe that rumour was confirmed as being true for mainland Europe but there was no confirmation of it being a UK bundle... can't seem to find the source at the moment but i'm pretty sure that's the case. It will probably become available in the UK as well eventually.

Ok, I imagine almost everyone on this forum who has purchased the Orange Box already had both HL2 and Episode One, so this thread may die a quick death... ...BUT, just in case there are some who haven't here's the deal: People like myself who purchased the Orange Box but already owned HL2 / Episode 1 are able to present these two games as 'gifts' to anybody with a Steam account. (Steam accounts are free to sign up for). So basically those that own the Orange Box feel free to spread the HL2 goodness by gifting your copies to fellow Thumbers who ask nicely. Use this thread to make your deals and PMs.

I see. Bravo.