HL2 announced :)

[Vox Populi Vox Dei]

<b>Half-Life 2 due in November</b>

Gamers have less than a month to wait for one of the year's most anticipated game titles, Vivendi Universal Games announced today.

Half-Life 2, the sequel to the 1998 release, will be available in stores around the world by 16 November, says company CEO Bruce Hack.

“The game has surpassed our expectations in every sense. Its high-quality graphics, groundbreaking physics and first-person shooter game play have set a new standard for PC action games. Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles.”

VU Games will also release a Half Life 2 Collector's Edition that will include Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition T-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 Prima strategy guide book.

Source:http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2004/0410190945.asp?S=Security&A=SEC&O=FRGN

Counting down...
123 days till the end of Hellkom

 

[Andre]

It's being said that HL2 requires an internet connection to "validate" itself once.

I don't see that going down too well locally.

 

[Strobemeister]

Why not? I think its great. Why the hell should pirates get away with not buying a legal copy. I might understand someone illegally d/loading a game thats a bit unknown, but i don't think hl2 is going to disappoint 2 many people. Value 4 money is a safe bet.
However, as with winXP, ways will be found around this issue.


Telkom - South Africa's Handbrake to progress.

 

[Perdition]

Yep, it's been proved time and again that product activation will not stop pirating and it can be a nuisance for many legit users. In fact it's fairly common for people to buy a game and then download a crack or cracked version so they don't have to keep putting the CD in the drive.

 

[Andre]

I'd wager that the majority of potential hl2 buyers in SA don't have internet access.

 

[James]

Well there is already a CS:S crack going around which simulates steam and lets you play online. It even connects to the content servers to update before joining.

There is no peace without war!!!

 

[Andre]

I can picture local game shops having to hand out the crack or a pre-registered clientregistry.blob file to the irate buyers who get it home and find they can't install the game because they have no internet.

 

[LethalChicken]

They might have a telephone authorization too ...

We are Telkom - Resistance is Futile - You will be Assimilated

 

[James]

that will be cheaper phoning the states. Really don't think they gonna have a phone register though in all honesty, this is not windew xp. The auth ties in with piracy and also checks files and does nessesary updates.

There is no peace without war!!!

 

[Andre]

The auth requirement is bogus. How many people do you guys know that don't have internet or don't have it on their gaming computer?

 

[DarkSkies]

The authorization requirements are not bogus, Half Life 2 requires an Internet connection to authenticate the installation before you will be allowed to play. However you only need to authorize with the Steam servers once not everytime you want to play.

Those that think there will be phone authorization, think again. You can't authorize Half Life 2 over the phone, since they deem that this method is uses by crackers to bypass the authentication, which they are right. Once again Internet connectivity is REQUIRED not RECOMMENDED.

 

[Andre]

I mean bogus as in a bad idea, I'm not disputing what Valve have said so far.

I still see Incredible Connection etc. having to refund people who didn't read the box requiremnts closely.