You can get a disc mailed though if you're not able to download.
Did you not read that bit before the rant NeuralTech?
I can understand that it might be annoying if your one of the tiny percentage of gamers who still don't have internet access. But you can still order it on disk, they just aren't publishing in the shops because it keeps costs down and allows them to self-publish without going to a big corporate entity like EA.
This is a good thing overall.
Yes sir I did.
As loooong as I can get access to it in a 'normal' fashion like most games, then I will be happy.
I just wanna shell out my $30-40 for the game, and enjoy it w/out having to "need net" for anything.
Yes, I am in the minority of PC gamers who still don't have net at home.
I still have yet to play/purchase HL 2 for this very reason. Even when I get net, I won't be paying for that game. I will not be forced or coherced into "installing software" the way some company wants me to.....
Charge me for a box, and give me a code/key/whatever to install it with... that's all the hell I'm asking for.
I've been buying games legitimately for years and don't plan on ever stopping, but I tell you what: I refuse to support companies that pull stunts like Steam from Valve or this whack nonsense that the makers of Bioshock have perpetrated on everyone.
Example of 'my annoyance' which has been leading me into a multitude of rants these last couple weeks:
I bought Shadowgrounds months ago at Frys... took it home, no net... installed, played, loved it! yada blada
The other week, I see the expansion for it for $20... I pick it up and add it to my daily pile w/out even blinking.
I get home, open the box, put it in the drive, double click the setup.exe and guess what...... it requires me to accept the Steam agreement JUST TO INTALL the bloody thing!! There is a sticker on the bottom noting this 'requirement'.. yet, I had ZERO idea that I 'needed' to look to "make sure I didn't need net to install" because like I said: the original required NO SUCH THING.
It's shit like this that's driving me up a bloody wall lately, so please understand where I'm coming from.
Simple solution is obviously - get net... which I will this year... but also... when I do... I won't be paying for HL 2 or BioShock or any other game I wanna play but couldn't for years because of said online restrictions. I hate piracy in all it's forms, but the only way I know to show my distaste/nonacceptance of said ways of implementing piracy protection is to be an a**hole and steal the s**t.
Yeah, some would say: "simply don't play the damn thing"... well hell.... what if it's a title I really wanna play. Imo, the developer gave 2 s**ts about me and the other 5% of the world w/out net on their gaming machines, so f them.... they told me to go to hell w/their choice of practice, thereby alleviating me from any ill feelings for resorting to p**acy.
Sorry guys, had to vent: and this place felt like a good place to do it, because I know y'all a quick bunch.

Sorry if I bored anyone to tears with this rant,
Chr*s