I've always felt my loyalty is misplaced, but I prefer to isolate my sins to one distributor. In the mean time I have plenty of console games and GOGs to play with.

The funny thing is, EA still sells Valve's games on the 360. I think, they're not available for me on the crap Mexican store.

The release date is 'a silly thing to add'?

(Did you honestly think... hmm)

I mean the bit about it being cracked.

1) Same day release is not "early"? I guess I've been out of the whole piracy thing. Usually one would have to wait a few days for the cracks... which leads me to:
2) The "JP" (which is what I assume when you say Asian) release is the 15th of March. However the crack is already available...?

Well. I'm not to worried about the details. I'm just fairly surprised that the pirated version was released on the same day fully working in the face of all the DRM.

Found this comment interesting off one of the places one can get it :

" EA intended to include controller support, but said they had to cut it because "those are the developer realities." What a fatuous, meaningless argument. If the cops find a cannabis farm in my attic, I'll say "Well, yes. No one's happy about it, but those are just the realities in my attic." BS, EA. A lot of people don't enjoy mouse control."

:).Interesting ;)

The PC release in Japan is on the 8th. Only the console versions are delayed to the 15th.

1. no early is now a month or so before, has been for a few years normal scene release is 2 weeks before very few games manage to survive till launch day and only those with new DRM systems last beyond launch (Ubisoft managed 2 weeks with their DRM sales were higher than normal despite the complaints)
2. Japan is a seperate territory Korea, Singapore and a whole bunch of other countries got it nearly 24 hours ago now

They were too busy making day 1 DLC to charge an extra $10 for,

You do realise that "Day 1 DLC" is actually created only after the game has gone gold right? Thus it has nothing to do with an *earlier* decision to change the control scheme while the game was still in development.

You do realise the cynic might point out the DLC could easily be (one of many) already be in the base code and offerred as 'DLC' just cause.

For the record - EVERY game from every major publisher is available ready cracked from the local market here on DVD ($1.50 per disc, flat rate no matter what the game), usually more than a month before the game is actually released.

In english??. gee thats cheap. Might ask a few friends who go back there every now and then to get me a few ;)

Yes, in English. The only games that sometimes aren't in English are PSP games (they are sometimes in Japanese, especially if it's not released yet). Consoles are sold modded out of the box to play cracked DVDs, and you can get games for all systems. Tell your friends to check out Toul Tom Poung market for the games (they also have box sets of TV shows for the same per-dvd price). And tell them to check out the top floor of Sorya Mall (easy to find, being the only mall in the country) for chipped/modded consoles.

I should also note that while I used to take advantage of this stuff in the past, it was because legitimate games simply weren't available here. Now that Steam is available, I only get pirated DVDs of movies and shows, all my games are legally bought.

In that case, I have a never used tin foil hat you can have for 20 dollars.