STALKER: Clear Sky - Found at Walm--Edit: Gamestop today.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:09 am

Well, your mileage is likely going to vary, but I just returned from our local Walmart (Bismarck) with a copy of "STALKER: Clear Sky" right here in my hands.

I actually went there looking for bleach (12:30 am Saturday), but took a cruise through the PC games while I was there, and noticed that, as usual, the PC games had not been re-stocked for a while. Lots of empty slots, and depleted stock. I was getting ready to leave, when the familiar STALKER color scheme caught my eye, and there it was. They had four copies sitting in the rack, with no price listed.

I took it to a scanner, and the bar code would not scan.
I found a stocker (really, no pun intended) and asked her if she'd find out the price. It wouldn't scan for her, either. She did a few things with the scan machine, then took it to another scanner, did something else with that, and up popped the price: $39.94.

"Bwahaha." Actually, I just said thank you and gathered up a few more things and headed to the front, where I waited in line for 25 minutes. The check-out lady couldn't get it to ring up. "It says 'No sale allowed'. I've never seen that before. Maybe there's something wrong with it."

"It scanned back there, " said, pointing.

"I need to call a [term for manager I think]". Now I was holding up the line. The manager lady showed up, tried to scan it, and it gave her the same "No Sale Allowed".

She looked at me and appeared to be getting ready to hide the game under the counter. "The only time I've seen this message is when there has been a recall on an item."

"I'll take my chances, " I replied, hoping she wasn't correct.

She appeared bewildered. I explained that it scanned back there, and she said that has nothing to do with the registers. She told me again there was likely a recall, but I insisted. Besides, there were only two registers open at 12:30 am and both had huge lines, and the people behind me were getting irate.

She mumbled something, did some kind of override, asked me what it scanned as back there, and she rung it up at my word, $39.94.

I took my prize and got out of there.
Now I'm sitting here hoping there wasn't in fact a recall or something.

Another dilemma: My plan for the night was to go buy my Comet bleach, clean the bathroom, and go to bed. I've been up since 6:00 this morning, and am dog-tired. And yet I want to play this damn game! It's sitting right here!

Anyway, for those of you planning a trip to Walmart, all I can say is, "Good luck."
I was really worried there that they wouldn't let me buy it.

Appollo · Post by **Appollo** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:30 am

I thought I read a story about a recall cause the game was shipped with no dvd key

Appollo · Post by **Appollo** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:33 am

From Blue's News

Friday, August 29, 2008

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Delay [August 29, 2008, 7:59 pm ET] - 16 Comments
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be delayed "a few days" from its expected release on September 5. We've gotten indications about this and attempted to get a confirmation from GSC Game World, and while we received no reply, Shacknews confirmed the delay with publisher Deep Silver. What we can add is a report we got from a retailer who says the boxes were recalled from the distributer when it was discovered they did not contain CD keys.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:53 am

Well, fuck.

Yep, there is no key. Ironically, I see now that daehawk just posted that same thing over in Unreleased games maybe an hour after I looked at that thread, and 2 hours before I bought the thing.
There's a spot for one on the back of the manual where it says "CD-KEY" but no key.
That's what I get for not doing my homework.

At any rate:
It appears the key is only used for on-line play. I'm an SP guy, so that would not bother me. The game installs and plays in SP just fine without the key.

No online activation, but the DVD is required in the drive.

My only concern is patching the game later. Do you suppose a key would be required to get the patches?

I so far have messed around walking around indoors and outside, and my framerate is tanking at 1440 x 900. 25fps indoors and 10 to 18fps outdoors. I sort of expected that with my aging rig (3700+, 7900GS/256, 2 gig system ram), but I wanted to see what it looked like with all the bells and whistles. And it looks GORGEOUS!

Damn. I wonder if they'll let me exchange it after the fixed version comes out. Walmart is usually pretty good about that I think. Thing is, because she did an override, she just typed in a descrpition, so on the receipt it just says "DVDROMST" for a description. welp, I guess I'll find out later.

I'll try to post some impressions if I don't get all depressed and just return it tonight.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:34 am

Sorry folks. What a waste of a thread.

I finally figured I'd better try and return it ASAP. Fortunately, the same people were still there when I went back at 3:00 am, and I got my money back after a long explanation, and a sheepish apology for not believing them.

Damn.

well, i suppose this thread can be moved to unreleased or whatever...

Appollo · Post by **Appollo** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:36 am

Good thing you got your money back

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:19 am

The game worked fine though. I could have spent this entire weekend (and my weekends off are rare) playing that game.

But the thought of spending another $40 later for a 'good' copy brought me around. Patience is a virtue and all that.

I had it right here. I was playing it. So close and yet so far away...

Tim James · Post by **Tim James** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:33 am

I would've kept it just because it'll probably be another week before they get it out again. You can always pick up another copy for cheap a year from now.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:09 pm

Giles, on the plus side you didn't encounter any mutated dogs or zombies! I've found that going to Wal-Mart at 3:00 A.M. significantly raises the risk of close encounters of the weird kind.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:25 pm

JonathanStrange wrote:Giles, on the plus side you didn't encounter any mutated dogs or zombies! I've found that going to Wal-Mart at 3:00 A.M. significantly raises the risk of close encounters of the weird kind.

Yes, but moreso during the day.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:22 pm

Giles Habibula wrote:
JonathanStrange wrote:Giles, on the plus side you didn't encounter any mutated dogs or zombies! I've found that going to Wal-Mart at 3:00 A.M. significantly raises the risk of close encounters of the weird kind.
Yes, but moreso during the day.

But luckily, you also had bleach. I hear some zombies hate bleach, it dries their skin out so.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:18 am

SpaceLord wrote:
Giles Habibula wrote:
JonathanStrange wrote:Giles, on the plus side you didn't encounter any mutated dogs or zombies! I've found that going to Wal-Mart at 3:00 A.M. significantly raises the risk of close encounters of the weird kind.
Yes, but moreso during the day.

But luckily, you also had bleach. I hear some zombies hate bleach, it dries their skin out so.

"Midnight Walmart: The Unclean".

There was a halfway decent Youtube video of Walmart Zombies a while back, but I just put "Walmart Zombies" in their search box, and a TON of really bad crap turned up.

Normann · Post by **Normann** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:04 pm

And you actually have returned a fully working copy of STALKER when you also had the weekend off. I bet they would have refunded it later.

At this point we were supposed to play this already. I am about to break down and torrent the damn Russian version until I get my own copy. But I really like this game and my 9 years of learning russian has faded significantly... so I will just wait...

A real gamer story though! Except the returning part. Thanks for sharing!

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:32 pm

I would have worried about attempting to return an opened box later--it would have hung over my head all weekend. yeah, i could have done it, but it would have involved a lengthy explanation, considering the receipt had nothing about the game on it (such as the title or bar code number), which was made easier by talking to the same people that authorized the sale originally.
it was a no-win situation.

It was a depressing weekend, however, especially considering the game I ended up playing instead.
I'm so ashamed.

Spoiler:

BigBoneTone · Post by **BigBoneTone** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:08 pm

<sigh> Giles, your thread reminds me yet again how late I am in playing the original Stalker. I keep hoping to stumble across it in a store somewhere, I need to just ebay it and finally play it.

Tim James · Post by **Tim James** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 10:51 pm

Apparently this is available on Newegg. I might go for it.

And you returned your copy! Shame on you!

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:02 am

Another 7 review

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=228698" target="_blank

KiloOhm · Post by **KiloOhm** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:12 am

BigBoneTone wrote:<sigh> Giles, your thread reminds me yet again how late I am in playing the original Stalker. I keep hoping to stumble across it in a store somewhere, I need to just ebay it and finally play it.

I believe it's available on steam. Not positive of that though.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:28 am

I got my copy of the first STALKER at Target a while ago for about 8 bucks. I started playing it in earnest last weekend in prep for Clear Sky and I'm almost finished. My god, this is an intense shooter/rpg! I'm really enjoying it but after 2 or 3 hours of gameplay, I feel spent.

OpticFreeze · Post by **OpticFreeze** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:53 am

Newegg shows OUT OF STOCK.

Ibby · Post by **Ibby** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:33 pm

I posted this in the unreleased game thread, but last night I found Clear Sky at my Walmart as well...$39.94. Had my son with me and was in a bit of a hurry, otherwise I would have bought and opened it right there in front of the guy working the register in the game/electronics section.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:59 am

Being that I work night shift this weekend, I have today off, PLUS it's payday. So, temporarily flush with cash, I decided to try this one more time. I went back over to Walmart and headed back to the PC games, just out of curiosity mind you.

And there they were again. Four copies of "Clear Sky". This time, there was a stockboy stocking the PC games shelves. So I picked up a copy of "Clear Sky" and showed it to him.

"Do you know if this is still the recalled version?" I asked. "Or have they been replaced?"

"Huh?"

I then went through my whole previous story.

"Those are good ones," he said after I finished. "I just put those up there."

"Bwahahaha!" I did a bit of shopping, and went to the front. A little old lady was manning the express till. I was her only customer at the moment, which may have ultimately worked against me. Everything rang up, except "Clear Sky".

"Hmm," she said. "I'm sorry. I can't sell this to you."

"God DAMN!" I replied.

She then proceeded to actually hold the game up and away from me, as if I was about to make a lunge for it (and I can assure you, I am reasonably certain I wasn't).

"Can I insist?" I asked.

She drew herself up to her full 5'3" and said, "Absolutely not" while still holding the damn box way up and behind her.

"But I talked to the guy in electronics and if I could just open it to..."

She cut me off with a frown. "Doesn't matter. No."

I paid for the other stuff, and as I was leaving, she picked up the phone and made an announcement. "Electronics to register 3 please." So I'm guessing they're off the shelves now.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:41 pm

Maybe it's just not meant to be!

whispa · Post by **whispa** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:49 pm

lol I wouldn't poke my head in there for awhile!

Turin Turambar · Post by **Turin Turambar** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:09 pm

The russian version of the second patch was released today, btw. When we can play finally the game, at least it will be more stable

redman · Post by **redman** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:28 pm

Hmm," she said. "I'm sorry. I can't sell this to you."

"God DAMN!" I replied.

She then proceeded to actually hold the game up and away from me, as if I was about to make a lunge for it (and I can assure you, I am reasonably certain I wasn't).

Moments like these are when I am understand what makes us gamers! It's us against the world!

Effidian · Post by **Effidian** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:34 pm

Steam just pushed the release out to the 15th. But it is now a 10% off preorder.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 12:04 am

Well, as some of you are aware, the three Stalkers I sent south did not return.

They were strong, too, whatever their names were. The last was two nights ago when that Thompson gunner, Norway's bravest son, went missing.

Any volunteers for a midnight run to Wally World?

Normann · Post by **Normann** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:36 pm

Effidian wrote:Steam just pushed the release out to the 15th. But it is now a 10% off preorder.

So do I have to say fuck? It makes me feel better. So FUCK IT!

OpticFreeze · Post by **OpticFreeze** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:46 am

Well, if Wal-Mart keeps breaking the street dates of these games, you'll soon their distro licenses being pulled.... especially with EA. Apparently they had Mercenaries 2 out on the shelf before the date as well as Spore. And, this whole STALKER thing.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:36 am

C'mon, you really think that EA is going to banninate Walmart?!?

neofit · Post by **neofit** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:59 am

This recall may just have saved you a lot of frustration. Disclaimer: I don't have game yet. But I went to the official site to check how the russian version was doing. They released a 2nd patch (1.5.04) on the 5th, two weeks after release, which invalidates previous saved games and fixes an incredible amount of game-breaking bugs. Like unkillable NPCs in missions, losing faction affiliation and all equipment upgrades when zoning, etc. Let's hope we will have a 1.5.04 at the very least for the western version at release.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:26 am

neofit wrote:This recall may just have saved you a lot of frustration. .

True, but man, I could have had the Big Scoop here, and frustrated the rest of you guys with long, incoherent posts about me blundering through a game noone else here could even get their hands on!

Instead, now I'm just frustrated along with the rest of you.
My 15 minutes of fame was here in my hands, and I threw it back into the lake.

neofit · Post by **neofit** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:56 am

I thought about ordering the Russian version since I speak fluent Russian, but the last time I did it (with Jazz and Kharkov Steel Fury) it didn't do me any good. The games ended up being completely unplayable even after the final patch, I think I already vented about both in this forum. And the hassle one has to go through to import from there isn't worth it: no digital download option, no credit card payment option either, one has to go to a post office to make a western union transfer then wait for 1.5-2 months for the delivery. No way to scoop anyone with such delivery times

. Unless it's with something so craptastic that it's not even released in the west a year later.

And looking back, I imagine I somehow got the Russian version when it came out. I'd have come in here to brag about how awesome it is to fight a faction war in a dynamic game or something (at least that's what I am expecting from SCS). Then I'd come back with a "wtf, I'm stuck in this and that mission, and this and that doesn't work and is useless". Then unless I somehow managed to "win" the game before the 5th, I'd post with another "wtf I have to restart since old savegames don't work". Nah, things are better with me not having the game yet

. I definitely don't need more grey hair.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:45 am

neofit wrote:
And looking back, I imagine I somehow got the Russian version when it came out. I'd have come in here to brag about how awesome it is to fight a faction war in a dynamic game or something (at least that's what I am expecting from SCS). Then I'd come back with a "wtf, I'm stuck in this and that mission, and this and that doesn't work and is useless". Then unless I somehow managed to "win" the game before the 5th, I'd post with another "wtf I have to restart since old savegames don't work". Nah, things are better with me not having the game yet . I definitely don't need more grey hair.

You have a good point there.
Thanks! I finally feel better.
It still would have been better to play even an early version of Clear Sky on those days off I had, rather than finishing "Instinct".
I must've been in the mood for Russian gameplay or something.

neofit · Post by **neofit** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:49 pm

There is a funny war going on around the game, a literal arms race. The Russian version is protected by Starforce, it is doing strong there, everything is starforced (allegedly the western version will have Tages). The game was released on Aug 22nd, and a nodvd came out about 4 days later. A proper crack, not the loops and hoops one had to jump through when starforce came out, with disconnecting the DVD drive and so on. Then some group released a "multi-version loader", which worked with the both the release version and the first SCS patch, the shaaaame was unbearable (ref: Baron von Richthofen in Blackadder Goes Forth).

Starforce upped the ante by closing the holes in the new version that came with the 2nd and latest SCS patch. It's been three days now and the "I have a $300 Nvidia card but don't want to pay $10 for the greatest game on Earth" people are growing restless, still no crack to be seen! Will the scene release a proper nodvd within 4 days?

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:14 am

Bah, PC hardware manufacturers should just start paying PC developers to put out high end games for free.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:01 pm

This time it's for REAL!

Ignore the Sept. 15 ship date on Gamestop's website, and call your local store. Mine had 'em stocked, and I opened the case in the parking lot and made sure it had a CD Key.

Haven't actually installed it yet, but for those interested, the real deal is now available.

Two Sheds · Post by **Two Sheds** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:33 pm

Hmm. Maybe I'll take a trip out to gamespot and have a look-see. Best Buy didn't have it.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:59 am

I think it's time to resume my Journal of the Zone AAR.