http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124394

"When you open the box, a big slip of paper falls out first, preceeding any discs or manuals. The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers, which generates in-game ads."



Translation - "We put the spyware in on purpose, put up and shut up or you cant play."

Boycott this game or I will personally hunt you down and kill you for supporting EA's "Charge you for spyware" program.

Oh yea, the game costs $109.95 AUD (usually games cost $100 AUD) so EA want you to pay an excess for what is basically a futuristic skin pack for BF2, riddled with adware.

Whiskey... Tango... Foxtrot.

EA have already patched BF2142, here's part of the readme.

"Players who have the Windows security update KB917422 installed may suffer from an application error when running Battlefield 2142. This error can be solved by uninstalling the KB917422 update."

So what does KB917422 do?

"Vulnerability in the Windows kernel could result in remote code execution"

Good show EA, good f***ing show.

Lets take a step back shall we? To pre-PS2 release anti-playstation journalism.

By Jim Lynch

Oct. 27, 2000 | Whether or not Sony was sincere in its claim that a supply crisis led it to cut its initial shipments of the PlayStation2 to just 500,000 units, there's little question that the corporation was successful in the arena of hype marketing. Lines of obsessed PlayStation fans were a news staple Wednesday. But is the so-called superconsole really worth staying up all night for?

No. The PS2 is not the revolutionary device that Sony's marketing department would have you believe. Don't get me wrong; it's definitely the most powerful video-game machine on the planet right now. But that's not enough.

 

The PS2's stats are certainly impressive; it's got hardware power to burn. But so what? There's just not much software available that can take advantage of it. The games that are being released at the same time as the system don't rise much, if at all, above games available for Sega's rival (and cheaper) Dreamcast video-game system.

And don't expect a huge number of quality games anytime soon. Sony has reversed positions with Sega and stupidly released a system that is in many ways a game developer's nightmare. Sega, learning from its Saturn debacle, went out of its way to make the Dreamcast easy to develop games for. But Sony, intoxicated with success from the first PlayStation, forgot the first rule of the video-game industry: Software sells systems. If you make it hard for developers to produce good games then there's no reason for people to buy the system. This oversight has already cost Sony some goodwill -- developers are howling about how hard it is to create games for the system. In an interview with Time magazine, John Carmack, one of the developers behind such massively popular games as Doom and Quake, said that the "PS2 is definitely more powerful than Dreamcast. But it's less convenient to extract performance from it."

Sony is also under the mistaken impression that including the ability to play DVD movies is a huge selling point. But true technophiles and hardcore gamers probably already have DVD drives. I'm a good case in point. I already own a Sony DVD player, so I could not care less if the $299 PS2 can play movies. I'd rather pay less and get a machine that just plays games instead.

In comparison, the Sega Dreamcast sells for $149 and has a giant library of games already available. Sega also has an online game network, Seganet. The Dreamcast comes with a built-in 56K modem and Sega will soon release a broadband (cable/DSL) adapter for it. (The PS2 does not ship with a modem.) Sega is banking on the appeal of multiplayer online gaming, even going so far as to rebate the entire cost of a Dreamcast to players who sign up for Seganet. And for the first time ever we actually have cross-platform online gaming -- Seganet lets Dreamcast players compete against PC players in games like Quake 3. Sony, on the other hand, is promising online gaming later on but currently has nothing to offer purchasers of the PS2.

In addition to Sega, Sony also has two 800-pound gaming gorillas breathing down its neck: Nintendo and Microsoft. Nintendo plans to release its powerful GameCube system next year. Don't downplay Nintendo's chances either. Despite having a rocky time with the N64, Nintendo has some of the most lucrative franchises in video-game history on its side (Zelda, Super Mario Brothers, Metroid, etc.) and a superb marketing machine.

The real wild card here, though, is Microsoft, which plans to release its X-Box game system next year. The X-Box will have even more powerful hardware than the PS2, and Microsoft has the marketing muscle and rapport with developers to do the PS2 real damage. Unlike Sony, Microsoft is taking great pains to make sure the X-Box is easy to make games for -- developers will also be able to easily port games from the PC to the X-Box, thus insuring a huge supply of games.

So should you feel bad if you can't get a PS2 right away? No way. If you wait a while you'll avoid all the lines and scuffling in stores and you'll end up with a much better selection of games. And if you wait long enough for the upcoming systems from Microsoft and Nintendo, you'll probably see a cut in the price of the PS2 as Sony tries to ward off both threats.

Hardcore gamers aren't known for their patience, but this is one occasion when playing it smart may mean not playing at all. For now.

Replace the Dreamcast with the Xbox360 and DVD's with Blu-Ray, and you have a close on carbon copy of todays situation.

Heres a short list of the warnings doled out.

'The Dreamcast (X360) is already out'
'The Dreamcast (X360) is half (4/5ths, 2/3rds) the price'
'Tut the Dreamcast (X360) has a better selection of games'
'The PS2(3) is hard to develope for'
'Don't underestimate nintendo'

Anyone remeber what happened then? Oh thats right the PS2 dominated the generation anyway.

I'm not saying that the X360 will fail as miserably as Dreamcast did... MS have waaay too much money to throw at it. But I do not think that Sony could finish anywhere but first place again. The brand name is too strong internationally, and they have too many good exclusives across a variety of genres (although not nesessarily at launch) to be ignored.

Thanks to High_Paralel for posting the article in the PS3 forums.

 

At first the something something was "go crazy"... now its just "wait longer"

A few weeks ago I finished paying off my pre-order ($999AUD). And all was well with the world. Now I have to wait 5 more months than I expected, and I'm still a grand out of pocket. But what can I do, right?

I'd drop the pre-order and get an X360 if it had any exclusives that appealed to me more than these *points down*, which it does not.

R:FoM
Wahawk
Heavenly Sword
Motorstorm
MGS4
FF XIII
Lair
Armored Core 4
Devil May Cry 4
Killzone 2
Genji 2
My Singstar
Eye of Judgement (and all other Eye-Toy games)
Heavy Rain
Mobile Suit Gundam
Ratchet and Clank
Tekken 6
Virtua Figher 5
Coded Arms: Assault
Untold Ledgends: Dark Kingdom

God thats a long list... Anyway, thats 20 games that I'd really like to play, and while each is not nesessarily a system-seller in themselves they sure do add up to something IMO.

The X360 has some nice things going for it, sure, such as GRAW, Dead Rising, Mass Effect, Lost Planet, DoA 4, Gears of War, Too Human, Bioshock and Halo 3. But my want for these nine titles does not out weigh my desire for the PS3's listed 20, and I simply do not have the money for both systems.

Also, a fair number more of my anticipated titles will be available when the PS3 is released here, while the games coming between now and then for the 360 that have my attention are Dead Rising (yes, not here yet *gasp*) Lost Planet, and Gears of War.

That makes a total of 5 exclusive games that I want from X360's lineup by March, whereas from PS3's exclusive launch/launch window lineup I want 10 (Marked in bold on my list).

So despite being on the painful end of the PAL stick,
I'll still get a PS3, the games lineup (not just the launch lineup) justifies the wait IMO.

Yesterday Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray off the coast of Queensland filming a documentary. He was swimming in shallow waters and startled the 'ray, which instinctively struck at him. The 'rays tail barb hit Irwin right in the heart, and he was pronounced dead at the end of a mad rush back to shore.

Only weeks ago he was asked what he wanted on his business card, he replied "Steve Irwin, Wildlife Warrior", which could now end up on his tombstone instead.

The poor bugger... I met him once at Australia Zoo, a bit over the top, but a bloody good bloke. What you see on the cameras is exactly how he was off film, passionate in everything he did.

My heart goes out to his family, especially his kids. At least they will always have plenty of video footage to remember him by, and any happy footage from the doco he was out filming will be especially dear to them.

Today Queensland's premier Peter Beattie offered the Irwin family a State funeral for Steve. Should they accept, I can only begin to imagine the size of the turn out. I know I'll be there if its anywhere in South East Queensland.

At least his death would have been quick and he did not have to suffer... one news article here in Aus likened the hit he took to being run through the heart with a bayonet. The initial shock would have knocked him unconcious instantly, letting him go painlessly in his sleep.

Heard Alex Lloyd - "Amazing" played on the radio in tribute to him last night... heartwrenching stuff. I actually started crying.

RIP Steve, you will be dearly missed.

Oh what a surprise, AC is also be on PS3, PC, and X360, just like every other Ubisoft game.

Ubi always develop for all platforms, so whatever... This hasn't affected my decision to get a PS3. I've still got all these exclusives to look forward to and many more.

Resistance: FoM - Insomniac have never made a dud, and this could very well turn out to be their best game yet.

Warhawk - Finally, those useless motions I make in flight sims are worth something.

Heavenly Sword - this Godess of War is certainly gonna leave a mark. I'm hoping that it plays like a blend of God of War and Devil May Cry.

Motorstorm - Deformable terrain combined with wieght classes with distinct pros and cons will make for one hell of a chaotic racer.

Lair - I've always wanted more dragons in games... now I'll be able to ride them.

Armored Core 4 - Can you ever go wrong with gigantic robots? especially when they are so customisable.

All Eyetoy titles - Eye of Judgement looks particularly amusing "now thats a duck!".

Singstar - Best after a few beers, however.

Killzone 2 - If this comes anywhere near the E3 '05 trailer... dear god.

MGS 4 - It's MGS, it's the last one 'nuff said.

FF XIII - Looking fantastic so far, especially with the more apparent focus on action.

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - The series has a good history, and this iteration is looking better every day.

Devil May Cry 4 - swords, guns, and a wisecracking demon-hunter... gotta love it.

Tekken 6 - Hopefully this is not rushed... the game will play amazingly no doubt... but I expect a next gen Tekken to look better than it did at E3 '06

Virtua Fighter 5 - Looks like a very solid answer to X360's DoA4

Gran Turismo 5 - I'll pass on GT HD and wait for the true sequel.

Genji 2 - Giant enemy crabs aside, this is shaping up as a respectable hack 'n' slash.

Eight Days - The very little I've seen of this has me begging for more.

Fatal Inertia - A Wipeout look-alike, but hey, Wipeout is awesome.

Ratchet and Clank PS3 - Ratchet and Clank games, while containing copious amounts of cheesy dialogue, never fail to be entertaining and, above all, fun.

Untitled Naughty Dog Project - Looks cool, dunno anything else about it though.

God of War 3 - It has to happen... don't it?

Wipeout PS3 and Twisted Metal PS3 - It would really be a shame to let these two franchises die.

Quite frankly the PS3 has too much going for it (in both features and software support) for me to spend my $1000 AUD elsewhere over one game announcement. It's not like Assassin's Creed's PS3 version got canned... it's just expanded onto other platforms.

Never thought I'd use this blog, but hey, it's a special occaison.

Thank you GS for giving us Aussies a localised site. Finally, I'll be able to justify total access. Australian tournaments, competitions, release dates, ratings, and reviews will be welcomed with open arms by the Australian gaming community.

I never got really involved with the GS community before simply because I felt a touch of an outsider, but now that Australia has its own GS, I'l definately be more active here.

Gamespot, you rock :D