Topic: Orange Box and Quake Wars = $38 @ CC (Starts 10/7/2007)

[MysterD]

But the shooter I had been wishing for all my life, turned out to be a hybrid, in the form of Deus Ex.

Deus is one of the best, if you ask me. It did just about everything right -- especially for a FPS/RPG hybrid.

F.E.A.R. was one of those shooters, that I could play for days, even though it was repetitive. The gameplay and A.I. were exceptional.

FEAR's AI was so good and does so much differently depending on what you are doing (and the difficulty) you have it on, that the action kept you wanting to play -- regardless of how you often are found in similar environments throughout the game (too many warehouses, Monolith!). The action in the game is outstanding -- some of the best in a FPS ever. With the sound, the enemy AI, and the controls being so damn good, you get some of the most intense firefights put forth in gaming right here.

Plus, the story was so freakin' good and so well-told, it never let go of it. It kept me wanting to play and go forward. Halo PC couldn't even do that for me.

I didn't finish HL1 b/c -- well, I never got by that big-ass boss somewhere in the middle of the game. That huge-ass tenticle thing. After a while, I gave up. Shit, I should try and finish that...I mean, hell -- I do have HL1: Source sitting there doing nothing, untouched (since I did buy the HL2: Collector's Ed which contained that inside).

EDIT:
Looks like the Orange Box sold well on the X360 alone.

This doesn't include how well it sold on the PC, BTW.

[Cobra951]

+1 to that.     I found it at Circuit City.  2 whole copies there.  No dice at Best Buy, although I did find one copy of Beautiful Katamari there.  (I love those games.)

[PyroMenace]

Portal quotes!

(click to show/hide)

There was even going to be a party for you. A big party, that all your friends were invited to. I even invited your best friend the Companion Cube. Of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him...

Didn't we have fun, though? Remember that part where you were about to go into the fire pit and I said "Goodbye" and you were like "No way!" and then I was all "we pretended we were going to murder you". Wasn't that fun? ... hello, are you still there?

LAWLZ

[idolminds]

More Portal quotes!

*do not read until you have played*

(click to show/hide)

Cake and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test.

Please note, we have added a consequence for failure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official testing record, followed by death. Good luck!

Well done, android. The Enrichment Center once again reminds you that android hell is a real place where you will be sent at the first sign of defiance.

Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.

Spectacular, you appear to understand how a portal affects forward momentum, or to be more precise, how it does not.

[PyroMenace]

Portal quotes that beckon you!

(click to show/hide)

Haha Idol, I liked the cake and grief counseling one.

Please note that the companion cube does not talk. In the event that the companion cube does talk, disregard anything it says.

Oh, you only destroyed that one part of me that makes shoes for homeless children. Great going, hero.

[gpw11]

DO NOT buy Orange Box from international retailers.  Valve will make you it's bitch

[Quemaqua]

Amazing.  God I hate those motherfuckers.  More every day.

[MysterD]

DO NOT buy Orange Box from international retailers.  Valve will make you it's bitch

Well, that's quite nice of Valve... *sarcasm*
Bastards...

If I happen to see American Version of The Orange Box PC for a reasonable price, maybe -- maybe I'll pick it up...

W/ all that content that box is packing, $30 or less sounds reasonable...since that was what I was looking to spend on The Black Box, upon its release before Valve actually canceled it.

[idolminds]

That sucks, but people actually ordered CD keys from Thailand and didnt expect problems? Sure they were legit keys for that region but still. I wouldn't trust that site as far as I could throw it.

Shitty Valve deactivates the keys, though. They paid for the game and got the game. They even went overseas to get a good deal. Dont like it? Tell the retailers not to ship it overseas. Or...you know, WARN people ahead of time that this will happen.

[Ghandi]

Apparently taking the garden gnome found at the beginning of Ep2 all the way to the end yields some funny results.

[MysterD]

Shitty Valve deactivates the keys, though. They paid for the game and got the game. They even went overseas to get a good deal. Dont like it? Tell the retailers not to ship it overseas.

Exactly.

Or...you know, WARN people ahead of time that this will happen.

Exactly.

Now, I wonder if some people will take legal action against Valve here....

[Cobra951]

Keep bending over, folks.  Keep bending over . . .

[Pugnate]

No... I am with Valve on this one.

In countries like India, Thailand, Pakistan etc., the average income of a person is about $200. In Thailand you can actually live very comfortably on a lower income level because things are far cheaper there, but for the average person, paying hundreds of dollar for an operating system, or $50 for a video game, is totally out of the question.

So what happens where there is a huge demand for a commodity that is priced at the levels of a luxury good, yet is cheap to replicate?

Yes you got it, bootlegs.

Five years ago, it was easy to walk into a mall in Thailand or India and pay 50 cents to a dollar for a piece of software that would cost you much more by legal means. And no, it wasn't just because people simply wouldn't pay for a genuine product, but rather more because it was out of their means.

As a kid I remember coming to Pakistan and finding used American computer games being sold for half their retail price, and being sold very quickly.

So when these big software companies approached governments about clamping on piracy, they realized that they had to offer the public an alternative.

Today you can Windows here for $50 and games like Far Cry or the Oranage Box made in India or Thailand etc. for $15. Those games are sold with fine print on the box stating the game is for installation on local machines only, and not for export under any circumstances.

This is really beneficial to people in his part of the world, where $15 or a thousand rupees would be enough to buy food for half a week.

I also completely agree with region codes.

The fact is that the UK has its taxes and that shoots the prices up. It isn't Sony's fault that the PS3 costs ridiculously amounts of money in the UK. Nor is it able to lower the price because of the high cost in production thanks to the blu-ray drive.

If everyone in the UK started buying PS3s from America without worry of region code restrictions, a lot of people in Europe would be out of work.

Shitty Valve deactivates the keys, though. They paid for the game and got the game. They even went overseas to get a good deal. Dont like it? Tell the retailers not to ship it overseas. Or...you know, WARN people ahead of time that this will happen.

Well it says very clearly on the boxes that the games aren't for use outside of the countries where they were manufactured. The retailers know this.

[Cobra951]

So you're happy handing over all control of your gaming to Valve.  It's fine by you to have to ask them permission daily to play what's on your PC, even content that doesn't require an online connection except because they demand it.

This particular situation may have its merits.  Your post made perfect sense.  You know, speeding is against the law, a worse offense than disregarding the money-making wishes of a big company; but would you want the police monitoring your speed online, and telling your engine to shut down whenever they think you're going too fast?

[Pugnate]

Well I am not happy with giving them control, but in this case I can see why they took this step. By blocking imports, it is the only way they can sell these titles at local prices. Otherwise they are losing $30 or so, each time so

Another question is what else can they do? Yes they piss a few people off with this, but atleast the news spreads and gamers get the message.

Someone said they could tackle the retailers in these countries directly. The thing is that it isn't the retailers, but rather the people who resell on websites to make a quick buck. And what about the people who bought these games? I am pretty sure they saw the box said "For sale in Thailand only". Maybe they should have tried to return the game?

Initially, I was really pissed off with Valve. But these lower priced products are made for what Microsoft calls "Emerging markets". If they can't put a lid on this now, then these countries go back to $250 for an OS and $50 for a game.

[MysterD]

Someone said they could tackle the retailers in these countries directly. The thing is that it isn't the retailers, but rather the people who resell on websites to make a quick buck. And what about the people who bought these games? I am pretty sure they saw the box said "For sale in Thailand only". Maybe they should have tried to return the game?

If it actually says that on the box "For sale in Thailand only", then it begs this question -- why is the retailer selling it to those OUTSIDE of Thailand?

If it says that on the box, the retailer shouldn't be selling it outside of their country in the first place.

Hell, Amazon-UK has been already been denying Pre-Order sales to those trying to pre-order The Witcher from outside of the UK that want the uncut version.

[Pugnate]

I had no idea that Amazon was doing that, which sucks. I am sure some other sites will end up working out.

[MysterD]

I had no idea that Amazon was doing that, which sucks. I am sure some other sites will end up working out.

I don't know if the Euro version of The Witcher has on the box "No sale outside of UK."

Other sites been selling it, though.

Wow that's really low. Sad

It was kind of expected from GameStar, given how their first impressions of the game were....

Patch 1.1 comes out tomorrow for the game -- so hopefully, that'll fix a number of issues.

[Pugnate]

I don't know if the Euro version of The Witcher has on the box "No sale outside of UK."

I don't think it would be a problem since they are about the same price.

[MysterD]

I don't think it would be a problem since they are about the same price.

I don't think CDPR (CD Projekt RED) is as anal as Valve, anyways.
CDPR have said in the past "the definitive version for American users will be the UK."
Though, I don't know if their US and UK publisher, Atari will be that anal about matters.

But, yeah -- this whole fiasco w/ Valve just flat out sucks. I'm sure gamers don't really want to return their stuff overseas, either.

Could Valve just let them keep these guys keep their foreign copy of the game and just charge the gamers like a few dollars to get a North American CD key or something like that $10-15 fee they charge if you switch your CD key to someone else?

[scottws]

Apparently taking the garden gnome found at the beginning of Ep2 all the way to the end yields some funny results.

That's pretty cool!

[Quemaqua]

I understand that reasoning and totally don't at the same time.  If they knew what they were doing, fine, but my guess is those people had no idea it was somehow illegal or whatever to get the game outside of their territory.  PC gaming has always been like that.  I've played bunches of Japanese games on my PC, and plenty of Euro imports for censorship reasons.  Fuck anybody that tries to tell me I can't, for any reason.  You don't want me buying games from Thailand, then don't give me a fucking place to buy them.

[TheOtherBelmont]

I'm thinking of buying this since I don't own any of the games in the box, but reading about Steam and the crazy shit Valve is doing keeps putting me off from buying it and almost makes me think about holding out until I get a PS3 and just get that version.  Either way if I'm getting it on PC, I'm not going to get it until sometime next month since I've got money going to other things, but I would love to play Portal and TF2.

[Quemaqua]

I would love to play pirate Portal and TF2.

[MysterD]

Valve responds to the whole ordeal w/ NA users buying the game from Thailand.

[scottws]

Valve responds to the whole ordeal w/ NA users buying the game from Thailand.

Punish the retailer, not the customer.  That is absolutely not fair.

[MysterD]

Punish the retailer, not the customer.  That is absolutely not fair.

If the box says "Not for use outside of Thailand," then Thailand retailers should've never shipped out the Valve Orange Boxes outside of Thailand in the first place.

And that's not the NA gamers' fault. I've bought a fair amount of imports in my time (from Gogamer, pretty much) and none of these games have on the box anywhere "Not for sale outside of Europe."

[idolminds]

The best solution, even though it would still suck, is to allow NA gamers that have Thai keys to only have to pay the difference, say $25 to make their copy "legit". This whole "Tough shit, buy it again at full price" attitude sucks.

[MysterD]

The best solution, even though it would still suck, is to allow NA gamers that have Thai keys to only have to pay the difference, say $25 to make their copy "legit".

That makes a little more sense.

This whole "Tough shit, buy it again at full price" attitude sucks.

Agreed.

[Cobra951]

The whole thing sucks from the get-go.  Gamers handing Valve that sort of power sucks mercilessly.  Territories in the global 21st century?  Can't have international commerce?  Give me a fucking break.  These are the same corporate assholes who wouldn't blink twice about abolishing American jobs and handing all development and production to third-world sweatshops, if they could make it all work.  Now they're shitting a brick because the shoe is on the other foot?  Fuck them.

[scottws]

Very good point.  It's ok for them to outsource work for pennies on the dollar, but it's not ok for the consumers to do in kind?  I never thought of it that way.

[Quemaqua]

Cobra wins.  Valve now has to give everyone free pony rides.  And money.

[MysterD]

Cobra wins.  Valve now has to give everyone free pony rides.  And money.

And a copy of Episode Three, once they put it out.

I wonder what color their next compilation will be called.
Pink Box?

Hell, maybe just call it the Empty Box.

[idolminds]

Well, it would almost be truth in advertising. Orange Box box had the two discs and a single slip of paper.

[Cobra951]

Cobra wins.  Valve now has to give everyone free pony rides.  And money.

Heheh.  I was a bit under the influence when I wrote that.  It sort of hit me all at once, and came pouring out unimpeded.

[MysterD]

Regardless of how drunk you were, Cobra -- you're still right.

This sucks entirely. Valve should've came up w/ a better solution than what they did b/c the retailer decided to sell a game outside their own country, which the company should've never done in the first place if the box does say "No sale outside of Thailand." Like Valve -- the retailer is just trying to make a buck. And fo those in Austrailia who thought they bought an Australian copy at a legal store and wound up w/ a Thai company -- that's bullshit, that they got their plug pulled, too.

Y'know, no wonder I hate STEAM -- Valve has WAY TOO much control over stuff they really shouldn't have -- yeah, especially when it comes to Single Player Games (Half-Life series, Portal, etc). This is really what I hate about games having that damn Internet check -- any company who sees their game with a keycode sold outside of their own country could pull such a stunt. Yeah, and who gets boned in the end? The consumer.

[Ghandi]

Heheh.  I was a bit under the influence when I wrote that.  It sort of hit me all at once, and came pouring out unimpeded.

Never post under the influence, you always end up regretting it.

This comes from a guy who has 95% of his posts on here under the influence, though.

[MysterD]

BethSoft makes a Portal map
BethSoft loves Portal so much, they made their own hard-as-sin Portal Map

Map
Get it here

[scottws]

I've tried to play TF2 a bunch, but I just can't get into it.  I can't seem to kill anyone and I don't get it.  As a rocket dude, other rocket dudes light me up but I can't seem to light anyone else up.  As a grenade launcher guy, same story.  Pretty much same story for every class. I'll be a heavy and go against another heavy and I'll die and he'll have like 2/3 health.  I don't get it.

Can't say I'm really fond of the game at this point.

[gpw11]

Bought Orange Box a while ago.  My thoughts:

Episode 1&2
I hadn't played ep.1 before so I started with that.  Originally I kind of planned going through HL2 proper before starting it, and I'm really glad I didn't.  Ep.1 was pretty shitty, just more of the same, but not really the good parts.  It's almost like they took the most tedious parts of the main game and just made a few new levels of them.  I can't really think of any standout moments, except for the strider battle, but that was even a letdown because there was only one of them.

Episode 2 was a lot better and I had a lot of fun with it.  I personally find the headcrab zombies and (to a lesser extent) the bugs the weaknesses of the HL2 games, but the underground section was actually still pretty fun.  The headcrabs though....lame. 

It was still a lot better than Ep.1, but I think the Source Engine might be reaching the end of it's lifespan.  I noticed that performance wasn't as good, but it didn't really look much better.  Beyond that, the shadow effects from your flashlight totally slow the game down, which is whacked because even old games like Silent Hill 2 pulled that off perfectly without any sort of performance hit.

I saved Portal for last since it's blatently the best and I'm a few hours into it.  Wow.  It's great.

TF2.  I don't know what to think, but it doesn't seem like TF2 at all.  TF1.5 maybe.  It's essentially TFC with nice cell-shaded graphics and a few class changes.  It needs a shit load more maps and maybe some game play modifications because it feels really stale already.  I still have a lot of fun with it, but I can second a lot of what scott says.  The gameplay style just feels kind of old, and the maps all being so similar doesn't help.     

All in all I like Orange Box a lot, but if I had already owned EP1, the pricing would almost make it not worth it.