There have apparently been copies of Half-Life 2 on store shelves over the weekend, & the people who buy them are still unable to play the game. They're disovering that even though they've installed the game from the CD's in the package, Steam is reporting that the game is still only 78% installed. What does this mean? It means that there is still a significant portion of the game to be delivered after installation via the Steam network, & even if you were lucky enough to get your copy of HL2 early, you won't be able to play it until the official release date.

All of this has prompted a look at online game activation by the gang at HardwareAnalysis. Give 'em hell, Sassy-Sander!