@ Joyboy (Really hope your not gonna stick with this nickname!)
Yes please dont spoil something we have waited so long for.
And PC games in OZ have always been $10-$20 cheaper than the console games.
And I like the way your wrote 'Hono(u)r'. In OZ I was always taught the English (UK) spelling at school, now my kids are at school they can spell words like Honour (Honor), Colour (Color) however they like! The schools here take into account alot of the kids learn how to spell from the Internet. ;)
P.S: Still waiting to hear from the first person who actually activates HL2, that way I can pressure my shop to hand it over b4 tommorrow (Wednesday) morning! If others have it activated the shop wont have an argument on why they shouldnt hand it over. :D

Btw, the DVD-Version has Safedisc 3.2

Interesting, I didnt think Valve would go ahead and protect the retail as well. You can freely download Half-Life 2 off Steam, the catch being you have to pay in order to play. Then again, Valve have no say in the actual retail distribution of the game.

As Half-Life 3 was kind of announced at the same time as Half-Life 2, lets hope we get none of the crap that HALO 2 players went through at the end of that particular game (and no I wont spoil this for anyone who doesnt know)

Game is sitting pretty in all EB stores as I type this..ready an able to please first thing tomorrow morn (later today actually).

What flavours? Well, there are 2: 5CDs for the normal version (game plus CS: Source... which I think you have to download off of Steam), and 1DVD in the collectors box.. and guys.. the collectors box SUCKS ASS! T-Shirt, tiny manual, and 1DVD with HL2, HL: Source, and CS: Source (this DVD being the jewel of the box). All in an oversized paper box. I am severely disappointed in the collectors box. Especially since it costs $99.99 Canadian before tax!

I'm still gonna buy the boxed set though as it's the only version of the game on DVD, and I refuse to sit through the installation of 5CDs (which is not too bad compared to Everquest 2's 9CD/2DVD install).

...and also three different commercials for NFS Hot Pursuit 2.

(I have nothing to say about HL2!)

Come on guys, enough chit chat. What protectionn do the disks use?

any of you ran into the activation while installing/playing the game? how does it work?

everyone was waiting for this game to hit the shelves...but with that activation thing....i'm really into not buying the game because of that. same like with starforc3....dtm race driver 3 was the first and last game i bought with that copy protection.

Munsterbuster says Safedisc 3.2.

I'm tempted to buy this in the next few hours. The various reviews that have sprung up overnight are very postive. One interesting thing to remember is that the reviewers were invited by Valve to their HQ in order to review the game. I wonder if the fact that they got a paid for trip (I imagine) had any bearing on the scores that have been dished out. Incidently, dont read the Homelanfed review, it has a minor spoiler concerning the end. :(

The ****ing hell. The activation did take 20 Minutes with 3000 DSL. What happens to people with normal DSL or 56k? :D

Please borrow your time machine to me !!!

sorry...my bad. ;) its "race driver 2" of course....

my retail got a file called 'content.securom' on dvd wich will be extracted into your Temp dir during installation, so now u know the protection ;)

Well then is your pid faulty. :D

HalLife 2 Steam Question
 

Is there any opportunity to disable the steam activation? I dont have internet and only noticed when i installed the game that i need an internet connection to activate and play the game. very consumer unfriendly this valve people.

As I believe the key allows to to decrypt the entire game code. A fix for this will not be available on this site because it's Serial based, and thus breaks the rules. You'll have to look elsewhere for an activation fix (Indeed if one EVER becomes available). To me activation is a lot worse than Starforce. At least with Starforce you can install and play straight away. With this method you just feel you're leasing the game, which considering it can cost up to £40 is a bit of a cheek I reckon, and treats all legitimate buyers as thieves.