UH OH for Halo 2....

[Truth]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3743110.stm


Some people don't understand... Companies work hard to develop these games, and these companies deserve thier money.. Why leak it... oh well.

[MuthaFranka]

Meh, cuz stupid fanboys can't be trusted?

As an owner of an x-box, i want this game, but i think i can wait a whopping month for it.

[tadaoNakamaru]

Originally posted by Truth@Oct 14 2004, 04:21 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3743110.stm


Some people don't understand... Companies work hard to develop these games, and these companies deserve thier money.. Why leak it... oh well.
If you regular on the Halo 2 board of GameFAQs, then stay away. Several people are posting spoilers to the story.

As for the theft, I can't say that I am surprised after HL2's source leak. Let's just hope it wasn't because someone at Bungie used their first name and first letter of their last name as a password. Fucking Gabe.

Why leak it, Carlo? Why leak movies days before their release or games while they are still in their beta stages? Because people are impatient and want to try and cash in.

Also, Halo 2 is already up on SuprNova for those that want to download it, you bastards. Just don't get caught, or it will cost you a hundred grand.

[Brass Monkey]

1. It's the French version of the game (Capture the Flag would be interesting having 2 white flags).
2. You need a modded X-box to play it. So no Live capability when it does become available. (the Live network locks out modded systems unless you chip has an off switch to disable it for Live play)
3. Just wait a damn month.
4. $100,000 fine for downloading it or a $1,000 fine to steal it out of the store... hmmm.


Also I don't think that this will cause Bungie to change the release dates at all (except maybe pushing the UK release up a week or something). However this probably would give Valve a good-enough excuse to delay Half Life 2 again. :laugh:

[Truth]

Originally posted by Brass Monkey@Oct 14 2004, 12:40 PM
1. It's the French version of the game (Capture the Flag would be interesting having 2 white flags).
2. You need a modded X-box to play it. So no Live capability when it does become available. (the Live network locks out modded systems unless you chip has an off switch to disable it for Live play)
3. Just wait a damn month.
4. $100,000 fine for downloading it or a $1,000 fine to steal it out of the store... hmmm.


Also I don't think that this will cause Bungie to change the release dates at all (except maybe pushing the UK release up a week or something). However this probably would give Valve a good-enough excuse to delay Half Life 2 again. :laugh:
modded boxes can use xboxconnect... so xbox live is no big loss


also, why can't these fuckers wait... i'm willing to wait and i have a modded box

[cc-crazed]

Originally posted by Brass Monkey@Oct 14 2004, 02:40 PM
1. It's the French version of the game (Capture the Flag would be interesting having 2 white flags).
2. You need a modded X-box to play it. So no Live capability when it does become available. (the Live network locks out modded systems unless you chip has an off switch to disable it for Live play)
3. Just wait a damn month.
4. $100,000 fine for downloading it or a $1,000 fine to steal it out of the store... hmmm.


Also I don't think that this will cause Bungie to change the release dates at all (except maybe pushing the UK release up a week or something). However this probably would give Valve a good-enough excuse to delay Half Life 2 again. :laugh:
reading up on our /. are we?

[Brass Monkey]

Originally posted by cc-crazed@Oct 14 2004, 03:31 PM
reading up on our /. are we?
Always... get some of my best game news from them. :P

[lain13ego]

someone sneezing is an excuse to delay HL2. they don't need Halo to get them an excuse.

[Kuky]

You'd expect them to want to get HL2 out a bit before Halo2, and not delay, so people buy that instead or something. Then again, I have zero business know-how...

[lain13ego]

well half life 2 will have counter strike source, so people will buy it if they want that. halo and half life don't seem to really be competitors, if you do pc FPS's then HL2 if you do Xbox its Halo

[Kuky]

But isn't Halo coming out on PC as well?

[IGemini]

HALO has been out on PC for a long time. I'm not sure when/if they'll release HALO 2 for PC, though.

But yeah, Half-Life has a legacy that's much longer than HALO. Microsoft is on its own when it comes to console games.

[Kuky]

Clearly, I meant Halo2 :P

[Truth]

Originally posted by Kuky@Oct 15 2004, 12:47 PM
Clearly, I meant Halo2 :P
dumbass... :biggrin:

[Wolf]

I pirate games because I don't want to shell $80 for something that will suck.

I did for Doom3, and good thing too. Zero variation. Completely linear. Glad I didn't shell the cash for this lemon. "Oh look, a dark, bloody, half-destroyed hallway!"


I did for Red Alert 2... and then I bought the game because it was worth it. Amazing gameplay.

I did for Half-Life, and then I bought the game.

I've downloaded the HL2 playable leak, and because of that, I'm going to buy the game.


I don't have the cash to buy something that may or may not be up to par.

[Kuky]

Do they not have downloadable demos anymore? Like, I remember a few years ago, if you went on gamespot or whatever, you could often download a playable level or something, to help you decide whether you want to get it, without having to get the whole game.

[tadaoNakamaru]

Originally posted by Wolf@Oct 18 2004, 03:59 AM
I pirate games because I don't want to shell $80 for something that will suck.

I did for Doom3, and good thing too. Zero variation. Completely linear. Glad I didn't shell the cash for this lemon. "Oh look, a dark, bloody, half-destroyed hallway!"


I did for Red Alert 2... and then I bought the game because it was worth it. Amazing gameplay.

I did for Half-Life, and then I bought the game.

I've downloaded the HL2 playable leak, and because of that, I'm going to buy the game.


I don't have the cash to buy something that may or may not be up to par.
No game is $80. In fact, PC software is at an all-time low in terms of prices.

Your reason for pirating games is good though. Most stores will either not accept opened software or they will only give you store credit, so it's natural to want to try something out before dropping $40-50 for a game.

And Kuky, the answer is yes. They still do demos for almost every PC game out there. Just go to GameFAQs, they show most of the latest demo, mod, or video downloads from Gamespot.

[Truth]

Yep... one of my best friends got the H2 lk... Its being installed onto my xbox hd tomorrow, after he installs my new 300g hard drive in it... But I have to say that I still plan to buy Halo 2. I mean i still feel bad playing it 20 days early.

[lain13ego]

Originally posted by tadaoNakamaru@Oct 18 2004, 08:10 AM
No game is $80. In fact, PC software is at an all-time low in terms of prices.


Half life 2 collectors is 85 and gold off of steam is over 90...

[tadaoNakamaru]

Originally posted by lain13ego@Oct 20 2004, 01:30 AM
Half life 2 collectors is 85 and gold off of steam is over 90...
Hmm, I stand corrected.

Cheers, piracy.

[Mav]

Originally posted by Brass Monkey@Oct 14 2004, 03:40 PM
4. $100,000 fine for downloading it or a $1,000 fine to steal it out of the store... hmmm.

I'd like to see this hold up in a court. Aside from child pornography, I have never seen any warez simply downloaded (NOT uploaded aka shared) get you arrested and/or fined.

Its the same for anything. I can go download any movie in theaters, say a 700 meg decent quality rip, if I shared it yes that IS illegal cause I am distributing copies of it. Otherwise I can say it was a 700 meg video of a family wedding.

The same again is about physical warez, aka bootlegs. If you see a vendor on the street, in a flea market etc It's a crime to make copies/and or sell or give them away. If the dude happens to give me a copy of something it is not illegal for me to own it.


As to the moral implications, personally it is situational. For games that are mainly online play, as is halo 2, we'll say quake, I'd pay for it. To play online with friends, or online at all. Movies, music, that is different. I never pay for those unless they are above industry standards. Example, I am a mild Kevin Smith fan. I enjoy the Jersey Saga. Take his latest movie, Jersey Girl. Would I pay for that? No. I wanted a week to get reviews from various sources, online and word of mouth. It bombed. Not worth the money. Now if there was satisfaction guaranteed, I'd pay for it. That way if the movie did blow I'd get my money back for a wasted 2 hours.

Tv shows, well that's just a cross of being lazy mixed with not having money to pay $80 a dvd set for seasons and the fact of commercials. Most commercials don't apply to me. They are products I do not want and most times will NEVER use. If a commercial annoys me enough, I will turn the channel. And as most tv executives know the average person who changes channels doesn't turn it back if they were annoyed into changing it. So their already losing money by me not subjecting myself to their annoying choice of sponsers. Plus I can't see paying $50 for a season of a show. I don't need a ton of extras, or an ultra cool directors cut behind the scenes extended edition. I just want a decent looking box, and the episodes commercial free in dvd format. I can see $30 a season, that is reasonable. While I do heavily enjoy dvd, to get shows on dvd by season, i wish they would offer tv shows by season on vhs. at least it'd be $20-25 CHEAPER that way.

Music is the same. Say I hear a song on the radio I enjoy. I go to a store, find the cd of the band with the song. There's an easy $15, hell we'll go as low as an average of $12 a cd. Now say I listen to the cd, we'll say an average of 14 tracks and I honestly enjoy 2-4 songs. $12 is not justifiable for 4 songs, let alone 1 or 2. I wouldn't mind paying per song I enjoy but most mediums for that are online, selections are limited and most don't let you get a full preview of a song, which hey a 30 second clip isn't much to judge a basis for a purchase in my opinion.

Games, are more of a finer line. While most FPS type games give a multiplayer demo before going retail, most times the demo is a fraction of the game. Weapons missing, only a couple maps, etc. I wanna try the FULL game before making a judgement. That's fair. For RPG's, well if it's MMORPG, their usually shit out of luck for my money. It's got to be an exceptionally good or originally MMORPG like Neocron or City of Heroes to actually earn my money cause I don't believe in paying $50, get only 1 fucking month free, and then a monthly fee. $50 and like 3 months free or a free download and paying for it upfront. Non-mmorpgs usually also have a limited demo or trial version. It is hard to make a judgemental call on purchasing based on a limited trial point.

Now I am also biased on computer games. Cause you're paying more of a price, since you have to keep your shit up to date to run newer games. While I do understand technology moves forward, I also think in the last 5 years companies are pushing the limits too fast. A good percentage of gamer demographic are those who are stuck playing games on older hardware simply cause we all can't afford Radeon 9800's or the latest Geforce cards, or the 2+ gigs of ram which is slowly becoming the industry norm in terms of requirements. So not only are you paying for games as they come out or continually if you're an MMORPG player, but new hardware on a yearly or so basis. Sure you can run that Doom 3 on a Radeon 9600 all in wonder, but coming as a low budget gamer, most of us would rather stick to something like quake 3 which runs fine on a ton of older systems than spend an arm and leg to get above par performance in most current games.

Am I a cheap bastard? Some would say so. I simply believe in pricing as it should be not just huge congolmerate companies that use smaller subsideraries (such as Vivendi using Valve) to make a fucking fortune. I believe in a proper trial times and full trials. For some, it is hard to make a decision to drop $50 on a new game if the fucking demo gives you all of 20 minutes of game play based on say, the first 2 levels. It's like taking a test drive of a car but only being allowed to say, do a circle around the dealership's parking lot. sure you get the extreme basics of it but you need a little time on an open road where you can go faster than 10 mph with other cars traveling along side you. I am pro warez and I don't bend to the will of societies "our movies are perfect. our music should be worth a fortune. pay for it or never see/watch/hear it" bullshit.

[tadaoNakamaru]

Yes, I will call you a cheap bastard. I myself am a cheap person when it comes to entertainment, but even I will pay for things when it comes down to it.

Take most of this summer's major movies. Many of them sucked, but I paid to see them. I didn't put it off for weeks so I could read ample reviews, I just went. Some movies I knew would bomb, like AvP, but I hoped that the actual movie experience would make it better. Unfortunately, it didn't. Was it worth $7.50? No, but I paid anyways, saw the movie, and went home laughing*.

Music, like you say, is another story. I do pirate most of my music, but I guarantee that if I could find it in stores I would buy it. Personally, I would choose to have the real CD, the real case complete with all of its info and art as opposed to a generic Sony CD-R in a slim jewel case. The reason I pirate them is because I can't find them in stores, and when I find them online I have to shell out $30-50 per CD because they all have to be imported. If they were available at somewhere like Target or Best Buy, which offers most CD's in the $12-14 range, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

Games, too, are a whole different thing to consider. You didn't mention console games, which are being pirated more and more these days, just PC games. I'll use Carlo for an example. He has the pirated version of Halo 2, but he said he will buy it. I choose not to get the pirated version even though I have at least four sources to get my hands on it. I refuse to spoil the story, the gameplay, and the intense multiplayer by playing the French version twenty days prior to its release. If I pirated it I would still pay for it. Why? Because I love companies that make good games. By paying for their software, they have the funds to create more and more games. Bungie is great, they have been since the Marathon days. Microsoft, as much as I hate them, decided to take them under their wing and fund and publish their games and look at the results. Look at Interplay, they went bankrupt and it's only a miracle that Bethesda is going to produce it. Back to the original point about PC games. Yes, you can't rent a game for the PC, and you can't really put your hardware to the test with a demo… But why does that stop you from buying the game? If you consider yourself a gamer and keep up with developers and their track record, you should be able to buy games using your good judgment. Doom III was a good game, but for those that spent hundreds upgrading their systems, maybe not. Either way, ID churned away for five years making that game. The least some people could do (that have the requirements to play it) is buy their game, play the hell out of it, then return it for some store credit. You won't get all of your money back, but you get at least 70% of it back for that store.

The things you said about computer hardware and its rapid acceleration seems a little lame. You act like you are having to give your computer a complete overhaul in order to play the latest and greatest, but you don't. Other than dropping money for a new video card every 2-3 years, getting another stick of RAM here and there, and maybe upgrading your processor (if it's from the stone age) you don't have to do that much to your computer. I have a computer from three years back, one that hasn't been blessed with new parts or regular maintenance, but it ran UT2004 and Doom III with ease. It got a little choppy at times, but it ran it. Also, you don't have to spend "an arm and a leg" to get good performance. If you walk into Bestbuy or Futureshop and pick up the latest and greatest graphics card, then yes, you will have to pay big. But seriously, who in their right mind, or one with internet access, pays that much for a video card? If you know where to look, you could get a good, high-performance card for under $200. Maybe more if you want a truly top of the line card. Seeing as how you love to watch your spending, I would think you would have some clue where to look for cheap but effective parts.

I'm not against you or piracy, but you seem to be exaggerating more than a few things.













*Disappointed in myself for having hope in Paul Walker.

[lain13ego]

piracy doesn't exactly help keep the prices down either. at work i get games back from people who will openly admit that they modded their xbox and don't need the discs anymore. i personally can't do anything about it. one, i don't have evidence, the other i'm not even an assistant manager. our efforts to prevent theft by gutting every single game case out on the floor, to me, is worthless, when people can openly steal from us.

i can't even get myself to play a free to download game on a private server.