Half-Life 2 on sale at the Best Buy in Niles, IL

Robert Flav said:
Steam just updated!

For you people that have it done preloading or store-bought: try rebooting and setting your system clock in BIOS to any date after the 16th of November, 2004. ;)
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Activation is more than likel dependant on the date at Valve's servers, not your rig, duh.
 
Robert Flav said:
Will this make you consider it a little longer? I suppose I'll need some in-game screenshots now...
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Either that's a good photo-manip, or you just jumped to #4 on my most hated list. :D
 
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valkyre said:
Either that's a good photo-manip, or you just jumped to #4 on my most hated list. :D
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I'm going to let you people stew about which one it is while I take some nice screenshots in game. Too bad my video card sucks and I have to keep settings on low for the source engine! :(
 
Robert Flav said:
I'm going to let you people stew about which one it is while I take some nice screenshots in game. Too bad my video card sucks and I have to keep settings on low for the source engine! :(
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We're a long way from April 1st. Post screenshots or STFU.
 
The only way he MAY be playing it is if he somehow hack the source to reversed engineer the game in order to diable activation OR hack into valve servers and enable activation. Sheesh like any of us can do that. Heck it is impossible.
 
let me preface this post by saying that if you are well aware of the grey area behaviour of retaqil employees and early releases of games/DVD's, this is not for you. this is for anyone pondering "hmm, how does someone get ....... before it is released," honestly wondering how it happens.

not sure if this has been addressed or not, but to get any game prior to the release date, be it 2 days or 2 weeks, you just have to know someone at a retail outlet who works in a capacity that they can copy it before it gets out on the shelves. depending on how shady the place is (management, security, whatever) you might be able to get the box and all. but truth be told most emplyees are not willing to risk tampering with the security device to smugle it out. the items with specified release dates are usually sitting int he store room with a big sticker on it saying something to the effect that if this item leaves the store room before a certain date, you will be prosecuted, and be sure that store security is very aware of those items in the storage room.

ok, all that being considered, the pictures you see of boxes came from someone who legitimately bought the game, or have a hook up with a retailer who isn't afraid of pictures of the product being linked to the web being linked back to them. if the purchase was legit, it was a mistake by the retailer.

from someone who had my own copy of doom 3 and the star wars dvd box set at their home a week before the official release of both, and saw the new gateways with the BTX form factor up close and personal before the pics showed up on this site, you can take my word on this stuff. any talk of some "insider at valve..." is bogus, and i can say that because it's about 4 days from release. this is about the time frame the retailers recieve the deliveries.

so yeah, any of you out there with friends who work at best buy, comp usa, fryes, or anywhere else who are avid gamers, chances are, if you didn't know it before, they played all these hot ticket games before you got to, and cared enough about their jobs to keep it on the down low. anyone else posting pics of their retail copies are either doing it in the store, or somewhere in the chain of custody of the game they have, someone made a huge mistake or intentionally broke a contract with valve. does valve care? maybe. i mean, this kind of thing is great PR for their loyal fanbase, so maybe they don't. i'm assuming as long as the sales meet or exceed their projections they are willing to overlook it. same thing goes with id and doom 3.

anywho, i'm done ranting and open for abuse now. just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.
 
PowerLlama said:
Or maybe he owns one because it was leagues better than anything Nvidia had out at the time??

Correct me if I'm wrong but a R9800 Pro isn't exactly a bad card
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You're wrong on the "leagues" part, they were more even, depended slightly on the game played.

You're correct that the R9800 P wasn't a bad card (except for a few driver compatibility issues), but a R9800 P compared to the new line, say, a 6800GT, now just before HL2 is "actually" being released........... well that's a big difference. And for the same money paid back then.
 
thedude42 said:
let me preface this post by saying that if you are well aware of the grey area behaviour of retaqil employees and early releases of games/DVD's, this is not for you. this is for anyone pondering "hmm, how does someone get ....... before it is released," honestly wondering how it happens.

not sure if this has been addressed or not, but to get any game prior to the release date, be it 2 days or 2 weeks, you just have to know someone at a retail outlet who works in a capacity that they can copy it before it gets out on the shelves. depending on how shady the place is (management, security, whatever) you might be able to get the box and all. but truth be told most emplyees are not willing to risk tampering with the security device to smugle it out. the items with specified release dates are usually sitting int he store room with a big sticker on it saying something to the effect that if this item leaves the store room before a certain date, you will be prosecuted, and be sure that store security is very aware of those items in the storage room.

ok, all that being considered, the pictures you see of boxes came from someone who legitimately bought the game, or have a hook up with a retailer who isn't afraid of pictures of the product being linked to the web being linked back to them. if the purchase was legit, it was a mistake by the retailer.

from someone who had my own copy of doom 3 and the star wars dvd box set at their home a week before the official release of both, and saw the new gateways with the BTX form factor up close and personal before the pics showed up on this site, you can take my word on this stuff. any talk of some "insider at valve..." is bogus, and i can say that because it's about 4 days from release. this is about the time frame the retailers recieve the deliveries.

so yeah, any of you out there with friends who work at best buy, comp usa, fryes, or anywhere else who are avid gamers, chances are, if you didn't know it before, they played all these hot ticket games before you got to, and cared enough about their jobs to keep it on the down low. anyone else posting pics of their retail copies are either doing it in the store, or somewhere in the chain of custody of the game they have, someone made a huge mistake or intentionally broke a contract with valve. does valve care? maybe. i mean, this kind of thing is great PR for their loyal fanbase, so maybe they don't. i'm assuming as long as the sales meet or exceed their projections they are willing to overlook it. same thing goes with id and doom 3.

anywho, i'm done ranting and open for abuse now. just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.
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Sir i agree 100% with you. I know people in the right places you could say. I purchased my rev1 PS2 1 full week before they were released in the US. If you know the right people that are nice enough, you can get something before its released.

I just laugh when some people get all "show me proof" , "i don't believe you" about release dates and having things before they are supposed to.

If I wanted a copy of HL2 right now, all i'd have to do is call my contact (hehe sounds kinda shady) , and have it tomorrow afternoon.
 
As far as bb retails in IL. there have been several i have called today to confirm them selling hl2 early. Niles IL, Lisle IL, Schaumberg IL, and West Dundee arew just a few of the ones i actually called and got a confirmation from. i went to the West Dundee store, because it was the closest to my home in Dekalb IL, and by the time i got there they took the game off the shelves and claimed no stores were selling the game, despite a few of my friends having actual receipts for the game. printed records don't lie. anyways, it looks like we're all out of luck til tuesday, when they claim the game will be released.
 
Impulse said:
The university enteres into an agreement with MS in that case though, every university does. Trust me, they're not shooting corp editions of WinXP Pro out from their servers with no notice to MS as that would get them in serious trouble unless it's a real tiny campus in the middle of nowhere.

There may even be cases where a company buys extra corporate licenses with the express purpose of providing it to their employees for home use, doesn't mean everyone using XP Pro corporate at their home is entitled to do so, 'specially those that simply swiped the disc from the office. ;)

I work part time helping the IT dpt. at a local engineering firm (where my father works) and even though they're not that large they keep all their OS discs under lockdown and they are in fact supervised by representatives every once in a while to see everything is in order regarding licenses.
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You and lithium are about 90% correct. There are diffrent EULA for every type of "corporate" or MS VL out there. For example, Acedmic: The EULA states that all computers must have a legal copy of windows before you can install the VL version. (in our customers case, they have to purchase a OEM copy of XP home before they can install there VL copy of XP Pro (if new pc), doesn't have to be xp-xp, can be 98-xp, nt-xp)

All EULA also state that any employee can aslo install the VL copy of windows on they're home pc's as long as they also own a vaild/legal copy of a windows os, however, once they leave that company they must un-install that VL copy of windows.

[I work for a computer store who is an MS certified partner, we have to be re-certified every year on changes to these EULA's.}
 
No, I think its steam having a lapse of its heroin addiction. I click on it and it sits at the "Preparing to launch blah blah blah" screen.
 
Badger_sly said:
You're wrong on the "leagues" part, they were more even, depended slightly on the game played.

You're correct that the R9800 P wasn't a bad card (except for a few driver compatibility issues), but a R9800 P compared to the new line, say, a 6800GT, now just before HL2 is "actually" being released........... well that's a big difference. And for the same money paid back then.
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well i didn't buy it when the 6800's were out, i bought it when the 9800xt was the king, which made the pro's cheaper. I never buy bleeding edge because I hate throwing money away. And it was the XT line that was big time promoted with Valve, with the coupons and such. Whatever you may think I didn't buy this card because of HL2 in actual fact I bought it because of Doom3 and Farcry.
 
evildre said:
LOL I didn't notice when you asked ;)

It's my gf's garage, not mine ... see, she's Italian. You know that stereotype ... the one that says you can't sit directly on their furniture because it's covered? IT'S TRUE. The oven in their kitchen is just for decoration ... they use the one in the garage so the one in the kitchen stays clean :eek:
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omg dude thats not Italian its Cecillian and as you see its no stereo type!!!!! LOL..... if they had a basement the only time you would see the top part of the house is when you are on your way to the basement :D

back on topic it seams the only people who care about registering software is the folks who steal it! anyway my 6800gt is supposed to be here on the 16th just in time for hl2.. only problem is i will be out of town working untill the 18th :mad:
 
BallerX said:
omg dude thats not Italian its Cecillian and as you see its no stereo type!!!!! LOL..... if they had a basement the only time you would see the top part of the house is when you are on your way to the basement :D
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Nope, they're Italian ... don't remember the city, but they're from Calabria. They have a basement, but it's not finished yet :D
 
Nobody's going to be posting any screenshots, because nobody is going to be playing it until 12:01 AM Tuesday, the people that have the boxes have acomplished nothing more than the people that ordered it over Steam have, except having a box.
 
heyheyhey said:
Nobody's going to be posting any screenshots, because nobody is going to be playing it until 12:01 AM Tuesday, the people that have the boxes have acomplished nothing more than the people that ordered it over Steam have, except having a box.
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Exactly! showing that you have installed it and have it in your hardrive doesn't mean squat! :eek:
 
heyheyhey said:
Nobody's going to be posting any screenshots, because nobody is going to be playing it until 12:01 AM Tuesday, the people that have the boxes have acomplished nothing more than the people that ordered it over Steam have, except having a box.
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:p

One slight difference...those buying it over Steam knew in advance they couldn't play.

Those buying at Best Buy are buying a $55 box with some CD's. The game cannot be played. Nowhere are they told that they cannot play the game until the 16th. Since apparently 90% of the people in this thread don't understand the point, it is illegal to sell a product that does not perform as advertised. It doesn't matter if it's Best Buy's fault or Valve's fault, the fact remains consumers are getting screwed. Best Buy has opened itself up to a suit.

Two things will happen in the meantime:

1) Best Buy will have to put up with a lot of angry customers.
2) Valve will push up the release date.
 
DefBringer said:
:p

One slight difference...those buying it over Steam knew in advance they couldn't play.

Those buying at Best Buy are buying a $55 box with some CD's. The game cannot be played. Nowhere are they told that they cannot play the game until the 16th. Since apparently 90% of the people in this thread don't understand the point, it is illegal to sell a product that does not perform as advertised. It doesn't matter if it's Best Buy's fault or Valve's fault, the fact remains consumers are getting screwed. Best Buy has opened itself up to a suit.

Two things will happen in the meantime:

1) Best Buy will have to put up with a lot of angry customers.
2) Valve will push up the release date.
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Never thought about it that way....ppl that don't really know they need to wait till the 16th and/or that they need steam and a internet connection to activate to play single player are going to be pissed off! Its bestbuys own fault bottom line. I say valve will not come to the aid of BB rather...maybe file a suit against BB for releasing it early which violates laws and is illegal. I really don't see valve putting the release date earlier than the 16th.
 
Why would Valve push up the release at this point... BB isn't gonna get sued, I'm sure the moment anyone presents a complaint they'll just offer to give them the money back; Vivendi on the other hand might take action against them but probably not in the way of a lawsuit, just the usual blacklists and threats (which can be worse than a suit given how many dev companies Vivendi has swallowed :p ).
 
for those of you who purchased the gold edition over steam, did you get the package yet? i got the hat, 3 posters of gordon, the chic and Gman. i have a blank post card i can send out to people with "Greetings from City 17". i have the bumper sticker of HL2. lastly i have the hl2 stategy guide complete with walkthroughs!!!!
 
BTW i peaked at the end of the guidebook, i won't spoil it for you but we end @nearly the same premise as HL1, with Gman =). this is becoming VERY VERY similiar to the X-Files's Cigarette Smoking Man.

PS the guide includes tips for CS:Source.
 
tjf_diesel said:
So if you need steam to unlock it, what happens if you don't have an internet connection??
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Requirements (not "recommended", actual "requirements") on the box clearly state you need an internet connection.

No internet=no playing, according to the system specs.
 
well, i stand corrected.... i guess if you're one of the world's major electronics retailer who is in bed with the world's largest software and hardware companies (if you new the truth, you'd be scared) then you can do anything you want.

yeah, best buy selling the game before it's actually playable..... that's a good one. i know there are alot of techs at the geek squad hating corporate for ok'ing that, because now in addition to the standard day's dosage of stupid questions, now they have the half life 2 questions to deal with.

either someone made a phone call to valve, or someone thinks they can do whatever they want. either way, i'm going to assume the race is on for the greyware pirates to crack the encryption.

on that note, the mentioning of an internet connection being required to playt he game.... i'm also going to make an assumption that valve will offer a call-in type of service to activate the game, like how microsoft does their product activation. most people should know what that means.... and if you don't, it means there is a way around the online activation somehow. i guarentee, there's a cracker working on it right now, and the race is to have it done before the 16th.

i guess i'm up to 4 cents in this thread now :p
 
Im thinking with BB selling it today in mass...from what ive seen.....we may be playing by tomorrow...but i would not bet my life on it.
 
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