Results tagged “amazon” from Birmingham Mail - Technobabble

If you look at reviews submitted by amazon users, any game which utilises the steam delivery system comes in for, erm, a certain degree of criticism.

For example for Dawn of War 2, 48 reviewers give it one star, (and the game, while not perfect, is pretty good) most have some gripe about online game organising and updating system steam.

But the drawbacks for users by the parallel expansion of Windows Live were brought home to me while having a blast on DOW2 the other day.

Why the publishers decided to insist on users logging onto Steam and then Windows Live before playing the SINGLE PLAYER campaign is quite beyond me (Windows Live really exists to enable players to find each other online).

When I last played I had to wait for Windows Live to update itself, quitting to the desktop as part of the installation, and I accidentally closed it down while cycling through DoW2's intro screens meaning I had to go through it all again.

All the time a little message was playing across the bottom of the screen saying that since the Windows Live 3.0 update game players had been experiencing DoW2 crashes, that they were investigating why this was and 'thank you for your patience.'

I don't play DoW2 online, so my enforced Windows Live membership is entirely superfluous, adding to load times, and increasing risk of crashing. Nice.

Online auction site eBay has started a petition against what it claims are manufacturers trying to block their products being sold through it.

It's quite an interesting issue - it all seems to have started with a number of lawsuits in Europe about the sheer volume of counterfeit goods being sold there.

Various clothes and perfume manufacturers took umbrage at the hit in sales, and also worried about people buying inferior goods labelled as their own. They felt eBay wasn't doing much to stop it, and to be fair, it wasn't - after all the website trousered 10 per cent of each sale under £40 - stopping trade would just hit profits.

Anyway, eBay is now trying to take the moral high ground claiming it was built on a "simple idea": "that we could empower people by building a global trading platform where practically anyone could buy or sell practically anything.

"But that idea is now under threat from certain brand owners and manufacturers who are trying to turn back the clock and block the sale of their products on online marketplaces and other websites across the EU.

"Ultimately, what is at stake is the right of sellers to compete fairly in the wider online marketplace, and the right of buyers to be able to access the best possible deals from the widest possible selection of goods."

eBay claims that last year only 0.15% of listings last year were detected or reported as potentially counterfeit - although presumably the volume is so massive people don't bother reporting things. and eBay's business is so wide ranging, a high proportion of buisness isn't anything which could be fake in any case.

The website continues: "The real aim of these brands is to block the sale of all their products on our site - regardless of whether such items are new or second-hand, genuine or fake. It's not just luxury items that are affected, but also everyday items like children's toys, electronic equipment, lawnmowers and pushchairs. And if we want to prevent other brand owners from following suit, we need to act now.

The internet is abuzz with the rumour that amazon has removed the sales rank numbers from lesbian and gay literature.

According to some commentators the online retailer believes the books are 'adult' and as such should be excluded from some searches.

In any case a quick check by Technobabble found that books including The Whole Lesbian Sex Book: A Passionate Guide for All of Us, Up All Night: Adventures in Lesbian Sex, and Lesbian Sex 101: 101 Lovemaking Positions, all did not have a sales number.

You understand the above was all done in research - oh heck, that'll show up on my amazon homepage now...

Anyway...in the interests of fairness...Yes, even straight down the line help books such as Walking with Gay Friends: A Journey of Informed Compassion, which describes itself as "A vital resource to enable Christians to support fellow believers who struggle with their sexuality in their choice of a biblical lifestyle." haven't got a number.

However it's also worth pointing out that items such as "Grow A Sex Toy" which promises to 'grow' to 600% of its size in water', and helpfully points out: 'You dont need a man!!' is ranked 21,765 in Kitchen & Home.

And for our Welsh readers there's always Dolly The Sexy Inflatable Sheep, 'Genetically modified for your pleasure, ewe'll never want another partner!', 'she's the plastic pal who's fun to be with', and, amazingly (for a purient website such as amazon): 'Oh, and they push back harder on the edge of a cliff.' (might decide to delete the last one) Ranked an astonishing 717 in Garden & Outdoors.

Anyway, off to do lots more amazon searches before the wife gets on the computer...

Dawn of War 2
THQ
PC
£29.99

THE last Dawn of War game really hit the big time - selling huge numbers and bringing a little known tabletop wargame to the mass market.

It didn't really do much different, and followed exactly the same formula that almost every real time strategy game has done since Dune 2.

Build base, hold off enemy attacks, build up force and then assault.

It was done with great aplomb though, and was set in the grim-yet-brilliant fun Warhammer 40,000 universe.

DoW 2, to its credit, tries something quite different. It focuses much more on small squads, utilising cover, with no base building whatsoever.

It is mostly a success although it comes across in the final analysis as being slightly simplistic.