FM transmitters on the same frequency clash and quite often SWAP the audio in 2 cars.
My favorite thing is to leave my FM transmitter on my phone at the default frequency of 88.1 and play crazy zombie music while I drive around.
I listen for audio clashes and look around for the person who is totally confused as to why their iPod has become possessed.
Even better is when you can hear their songs and they start to rapidly change as they frantically try to fix it.
Amnesia is a game I can’t play.
I’m not ashamed to admit that. There are a number of games I can’t play. System Shock 2, Doom 3, Blair Witch, the list goes on.
Anyway… Amnesia… I bought it because Thomas Grip is a friend of a friend of mine and I wanted to support him. But I’ve never even installed it.
I was telling a few friends about Amnesia last night. They were pretty excited by what I said.
I wake up this morning, Amnesia is in my Steam Favorites list……….. but how? It wasn’t in there before! My computer was off when I got home so I can’t have done it myself.
But there it is, between Alien Swarm and ArmA 2… seriously… wtf…
Murtle76 not only hates a game he didn’t bother to play, but insists that he isn’t insulting or annoying anyone…
This discussion regarding Borderlands pricing differences, although not a big deal this time, is the latest in a long line of regional pricing FUBARs.
I saw that Borderlands standalone (US$7.49) and Borderlands GOTY edition (US$7.50) were both on the “Top Sellers” list.
I thought perhaps people were boycotting the DRM encumbered DLC for the game (included in the GOTY edition), which made me happy!
Then I checked the forums and realised I was wrong. Different regions, again, have vastly different prices:
US pricing:
Borderlands GOTY = $7.50
Borderlands = $4.99
DLC = $7.49
Borderlands + DLC = $12.48 (greater than GOTY by $4.98)
AU:
Borderlands GOTY = $7.50
Borderlands = $7.49
DLC = $7.49
Borderlands + DLC = $14.98 (greater than GOTY by $7.48)
UK:
Borderlands GOTY = £7.50
Borderlands = £4.99
DLC = £4.74
Borderlands + DLC = £9.73 (greater than GOTY by £2.23)
Euro:
Borderlands GOTY = €12.50
Borderlands = €4.99
DLC = €5.99
Borderlands + DLC = €10.98 (less than GOTY by €1.52)
As you can see, this pricing is literally schizophenic.
I don’t believe this is Valve (although their Steamworks page does say that they will suggest pricing for games), I think this is the publishers stepping up pressure on Valve to fall into line. And unfortunately it’s working.
I made a comment that perhaps we should all band together to make a “Steam Gifting Co-operative”. Thing is, I was serious.
Many deals in Europe or the AU are far inferior to the US pricing. The region banning is stupid. This usually isn’t Steam but government ratings forcing publishers to offer modified versions (eg. L4D2 with fading out corpses instead of normal version). Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is still NOT on steam in Australia (thanks guys, you forced me to pirate it) although GTA3 and GTA:SA finally are.
Gifting gets us around this. It can also get us around the price issues. The only problem I can see is something like this happening if the “giftor”s bank account goes into the negative. Which is pretty horrific.
People would be re-imbursed for gifts (this isn’t a charity!). The only problem is ensuring that the “giftee” pays the “giftor”. Most bank transfers take a day and by then most deals would be over. I believe PayPal transactions are instantaneous, but I’m not sure. If it is, this would negate this issue.
I think a gifting co-operative is a very realistic and simple way of negating some of the publisher’s influence on Steam.
There are a few forum threads doing exactly this (NeoGaf, Awkward Zombie), but we need to make it more formal and easier to use.
There needs to be a way to:
DRM doesn’t fucking work!
This year my friends… this year… “Mutambo” will be heard.
I love Steam. Having a social gaming network with constant access to a game market place where the prices are truly fluid is brilliant. But the thought of something like this happening is always in the back of my mind, and it scares the shit out of me.
I’ve seen posts before of people having an account for each game they have. That way if an account is banned or VAC banned, their other games aren’t affected.
You also get around VAC banning you from all games that use that engine. Ie. a VAC ban in HL2 will ban you from all games that use the Source engine: L4D, CS:S, etc.
Also, PayPal sucks. Please avoid using it where possible.
I really miss games like this. This walk through brings back so many memories. It also shows how many things I missed even though I didn’t finish it. Brilliant game, brilliant story. God damnit… I want to play it now!
Same thread, new post. Some people just can’t learn how to break an issue down and look at it objectively.
Once again a short rant (not a proper post) I posted on Steam that describes my thoughts on piracy.
Post also copied below.
The Thompson modem used by Telstra (and On2 and BT) creates a unique issue with Killing Floor. I documented this on the Steam forums but it doesn’t appear to have gotten much attention so I thought I would reproduce it below.
Edit: There is now an “official” fix on the Steam forums, but I cannot verify if it resolves these issues.
And here I was thinking I was the only one who thought this whole thing was crazy. The TSA have posted to their blog regarding their “enhanced pat-down procedures” and the comments are brilliant.
Rob Schneier has written about the TSA and their security theatre charade many times. His arguments are the most sane and logical I’ve found and totally slaughter the TSA’s.
In response to the security theatre, people have started the “National Opt-Out Day”.
Twisted Pair Development 