If anyone cares:

http://www.oflc.gov.au/content.html?n=44&p=34&sTitle=half-life&record=198493

Snagged this off of PHL.

Told ya :p

Is there an official release date yet?

It's my impression that November 16th is a worldwide release date.

Tastey

Give or take another month:P

I'm still hoping that a couple of major retailers jump the gun and release the game early so that Valve can unlock the darn thing ahead of the 16th (a real possibility, from how I understand it).

I've got the Silver package and spent a good amount of time last week playing Counter-Strike Source. It's still Counter-Strike, but feels like a new game nonetheless. I love the stuff they've added: the physics (including barrels flying everywhere, as well as how realistically chairs and desks get destroyed when shot), the increased sense of teamplay (there are still idiots and cheaters around though [a speed hack in particular is causing trouble], but perhaps because the game requires a credit card [to purchase legally that is] it seems a lot more mature and I've had a lot of cooperative play, especially on larger servers), the graphical overhaul (although not extreme, the little things like flashbang effects and the way you can shoot a computer to pieces, cpu and everything, add a lot).

Problems with Source and Steam at this time:

-hacks and scripts i.e. the speed hack I just mentioned (uses a 3rd party program to speed up the PC, games like UT2003 had to get patched to prevent this as well)

-pirated versions of the game (you can download CSS illegally and still play online, although the system seems far too secure to allow for this [with recorded credit card records and e-mail addresses]. I suspect Valve is letting pirates play the game until the release purposely [a lot of them complain about not having a credit card, not to mention that they increase player numbers tremendously])

-physics in multiplayer are solid but not perfect. You get "pushed away" from physics objects to prevent you from getting stuck, and a lot of physics calculations at one time cause huge slowdowns.

-lack of maps. There are 8 or so, and those are not bad (although the deathmatch maps of dust and aztec do get on my nerves), but highlights that are missing include cs_militia and cs_assault.

For some reason I still spent almost 20 hours playing CSS last week though...20 hours...Counter-Strike...I can't understand it myself.

..I'm getting better *joins cs_office server*

/puts down molotov cocktail

Damn, I was up for an old fashioned riot too.

Hey KnobZ, you playing CS:S on aussie servers too eh? If you see "Jaiph" on any server sucking hardcore, that'll be me :p (I usually play on the gamearena or optus 32 player servers.)

CS:S is surprisingly addictive despite many of the maps being horribly unbalanced. Almost all the bomb maps are nightmares for CT's if the terrorists have even the slightest clue.

I play mostly on 32-40 player servers in the U.S. (imo, the bigger the servers, the better ).

I would have to disagree with you Jaiph, if the terrorists are on top of things, than they can easily overcome almost any defence. Like in de_dust, if you have lots of people rush as fast as possible and all throw flashes into the exits of the tunnel than the ts can easily get to the bomb site, and to really freak the cts out, rush that for a while, than have everyone rush underpass, almost always takes em by surprise.

counterstrike?

Wait...how is that diagreeing with me?

i'm quite curious about that one also