Via a Consumerist site notes that some enterprising gamers who bought the Orange Box in a territory different than the one they lived (to save a few bucks) have now found themselves unable to play the game.
“One user, Todd, explains that thousands of crafty North American gamers looking for a deal have ‘bought the product (and hence, the serial numbers) at well known international game stores’ at a significant markdown. Activation of the purchased titles went off without a hitch. However, Valve apparently has taken issue with the region-specificity of some international versions and has begun locking out accounts of those living in North America, but owning international serial numbers with the message that the purchased game is in the ‘incorrect territory.’”
Worse, folks who tried to ‘make it right’ by buying a local copy have found they’re basically SOL. I’ve been a big fan of the Steam concept since it launched, but this is the sort of thing you need to communicate to your users before you sting them.
[Edit: Valve has today responded to this revelation. Please see This Article from Shacknews.com]
“Blood and Gore”, “Drug Reference”, “Intense Violence”, “Sexual Themes”, “Strong Language”. When a video blares these ‘rating watchwords’ before kicking off, you know you’re about to watch something worth your while. And such is the case with this new Soldier of Fortune: Payback trailer.
It plays out like a recruitment advert, showing a burly fellow hurdling artillery bombardments and gunning down ‘locals’ in a vague Middle-Eastern location. It bellows that mercenaries are wanted for a “full time position”, when we’d expect your average gun-for-hire contract to be more ‘flexible’, given the high potential of returning from said contract clad in a body bag.
Watch it HERE, courtesy of Gamespot.
Activision has announced that the official website of Soldier of Fortune: Payback is now live, offering details about this FPS sequel scheduled to ship this November, for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The story continues with the organization known as “The Shop”, where players take on the role of a hired mercenary blasting through brutal do-or-die battle scenes in the world’s most dangerous criminal and terrorist hotspots. Boasting more weapons options than any previous Soldier of Fortune installment, Soldier of Fortune Payback’s arsenal includes an array of more than 30 weapons including sub-machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, projectile explosives, weapon attachments and cutting-edge tactical weapons.
New Maps, New Modes, and Plenty of Bullets!
The idea for the play session was to let us see what lay beyond the level cap set in the beta. As you may or may not know, Call of Duty 4’s online component lets you unlock new abilities, weapons and attachments as you level up by killing and completing objectives in matches. Unfortunately, because we started at level 25 and leveling isn’t exactly a swift process, we didn’t get to see much of the higher level unlocks.
Read the Entire Hands-On Preview By Charles Onyett @ IGN RIGHT HERE.
Halo 3 is dethroned by The Orange Box!
The Orange Box holds onto the No1 position while World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade pushes the latest Nancy Drew title down a place to No3. Hellgate London debuts at No6 ahead of its release at the end of the month.
01. The Orange Box-EA
02. World of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade-Blizzard
03. Nancy Drew: The Legend of the Crystal Skull-Her Interactive
04. World of Warcraft-Blizzard
05. Neverwinter Nights 2 Expansion: Mask of the Betrayer-Atari
06. Hellgate London*-EA
07. Age of Empires III Expansion: Age of Dynasties-Microsoft
08. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage-EA
09. Zoo Tycoon 2 Expansion: Extinct Animals-Microsoft
10. The Sims 2 Deluxe-EA
Via a Consumerist site notes that some enterprising gamers who bought the Orange Box in a territory different than the one they lived (to save a few bucks) have now found themselves unable to play the game.