ThunderPeel2001

Oh yes

Ta!

IRON MAN! That is all.

Thank goodness for eBay... New, sealed, UK PAL and on its way (I hope.)

Anybody had difficulty getting hold copy? Everywhere in the UK is sold out!

It's not much of a "fix" if you ask me. It'll still be likely to happen again.

Doh! That really sucks. I hope you get your replacement quickly (although my friend had to wait 2 or 3 weeks... )

Let us know what it's like! I doubt I'll find the time to play it soon.

Well it's made the BBC headlines... but probably not quite in the way you'd imagine. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7370590.stm

Ooh... It's a slippery path from here, just ask Jack Thompson

Baaah. That's not really the point of Hick's comment. He of course knew there were some perfectly normal, nice people working in marketing. He was just trying to draw our attention to the way marketing, as a whole, cheapens things and, generally speaking, has no soul. Or as he put it: "Quit putting a price tag on everything!"

Man, just playing it again. Loving it more and more, actually! It IS rather good, I have to admit. Perhaps even better the second time around. I've only just (even thought I completed the whole game in my first sitting) realised what a "fling" is. It doesn't seem quite so difficult any more! I showed my girlfriend the ending, and now she wants "Still Alive" on her iPod

Finally got around to picking this up via Steam. After all the hype it's difficult to be able to enjoy is completely without expecting something amazing, but I did think it was rather good - but more as a piece of the Orange Box than a stand alone game. Game of the Year? Hmmm. More like Mini-Game of the Year. It's an interesting concept. At first it's all soulless and Half Lifey (which I despise). Empty corridors. No personality. Poor humour. But it's so incredibly polished and the game idea itself is so intriguing that you find yourself pulled in. At its best, it gaming at its pinnacle; The player feels like they've got too much freedom, somehow. The portals allow them a sense of almost complete control. It's so much fun, during its best moments, that you almost feel like you're cheating. Of course the Valve Polish means that they know precisely what you're doing and how you're able to solve the puzzles. It's an interesting mix of experiment and slick presentation and design. At its worst you get completely stuck. Sometimes, especially later in the game, it felt more like hunting for the pixel you needed to squeeze a portal through, than tickling your brain like the earlier levels. There's a definite attempt at making the gameplay more twitch based, too. Unfortunately, when you're stuck in portal it becomes extremely boring to play. It's a downside with all puzzle games, I guess, but I especially noticed it here. The other thing about Portal is the excellent dialogue, which comes into play towards the end. I'm not sure if I read this somewhere, but it reminded me of the dialogue from Psychonauts. "Put down the portal gun, lie down on your stomach with your arms at your sides, and a party organiser will be with you shortly." Very, very good. The final scene, with all its dialogue and surprises, is really what you take away from the game, and the reason I think it's managed to grab such a huge cult following. Considering that this was such a small part of the game, I can't help but feel that Bioshock might have been robbed. Anyways, a very unique and interesting experiment, played out to absolute perfection. Can't wait for the sequel... if only for the story to be expanded.

Good point! I guess they're getting trickier these days. Saying that I'm currently downloading Jane's Hotel: Family Hero, where you help guests in your hotel by "giving them newspapers and cleaning their rooms". I can't wait!

That's weird, I just plug mine and it works perfectly. Missing any updates?

I only played GTAIII (and got pretty bored with it), sounds like SA is something else!

Argh. Not only have we had to wait for no less than 4 months just to get a RELEASE DATE for ONE platform, but now EA has decided, in its infinite wisdom, to double, yes, DOUBLE the price for European "Rock Band" buyers. There will be two packages for sale (dollar prices included to let our US based readers in on the controversy) : "Rock Band: Band in a Box" (RRP £130 / $250) This is JUST the instruments needed to play Rock Band, guitar, drums and mic. The game itself is NOT included. "Rock Band: Solus" (RRP £50 / $100) This is JUST the game. (Note: Imported copies will not work outside of US/Canada.) This brings the combined RRP for both packages in Europe to £180 ($350) compared to the $170 (£90) RRP in the US (and that's the RRP, so it's actually available for less than that in a lot of places!). As you can imagine, this has ruffled quite a few feathers, and on Amazon.co.uk, Rock Band already has a 1 out of 5 rating, and many scathing reviews. Here's what we know so far (and it would be nice to keep this thread up to date with news and developments, so if you're as annoyed as me, chip in!): XBOX 360 Release Date: 23rd May 08 RRP (both packages): £180 ($350) Cheapest: £140 ($270) from Play.com or Amazon.co.uk PS3: Nothing known Wii: Nothing known PS2: Nothing known What's the most cost effective way of picking up the apparent awesome might of Rock Band? :/

Um, then surely it was the firmware? (Confused...)

I love this guy! He's the modern day Ed Wood, except I liked Ed Wood as a person. This guy I LOVE to hate (but secretly love). "I'm the only genius in this whole fucking business. Goodbye." If that's not Quote of the Moment, I don't know what is! Keep up the good work Mr. Boll! (But stay away from any IPs I care about.)

But aren't drums the new guitar? Anyhoo, it's doesn't matter. It's my birthday on the 21st and the game comes out on the 23rd... guess what I'm getting (gotta love this smiley) I do feel conflicted, though: It's my 30th birthday and I'm really excited about getting Rock Band... Hmmm. Will I look back with regret at the childishness of my younger years - or will I still be trying to get five stars on expert at 80?

Yep, spot on about the combat. It's far too annoying. There's strategies, but it's not as rewarding as it was in the original. And WHY couldn't they have squeezed the original in? It's 800K for pete's sake! Ok, they'd need an emulator, but still, only for one game. I'd could have happily lived without any of the shoddy sound effects, annoying takes on the original music or pathetically directed cut-scenes. Ah well. It's still a jolly good conversion, in all.

That's odd. You sure you got the right file?

Brilliant! Thanks for the heads up. Shame that Michael Bywater was such a complete tool in the comments section though.

US Game Only is $60 without tax, so $66 would be fairer, I think. Also, FWIW, I've seen eBay shipping prices £25 just for shipping the game *within* the UK. From the US you're looking at no less than £50 across the board. Hmmm. Here's the officially "unofficial" line in totality (for those who may have skipped it):

This is brilliant! So hilariously evil! Got to the end of lvl1 with 10 lives, but a baddie always kills me before I reach the castle?