Well, a few hours before it all goes live, Valve have said that they won't be releasing Portal to LAN centres on the Steam for Cafes program until ...... Boxing Day.

http://www.theaubergineroom.com/stuffed_by_valve_again

I know a lot of people have been asking for Portal and have been eager to play it, and I'm afraid I have to say sorry. You'll be playing it by yourself at home until after Christmas.

Sorry everyone.

The Xbox 360 classic, Geometry Wars, is now available to play on our centre PCs, via the dark majiks of Steam.

Like all really great games, Geometry Wars is pretty straightforward - fly a spaceship around, blow up shapes, don't die. WASD keys move your ship, the mouse moves the gun (like a tank the gun can move 360 degrees, independently of the direction you're moving/facing).

A simple concept - but you'll soon find yourself tackling hordes of enemies who run away when you move towards them, bombs, gravity traps, weapons upgrades - it's great!

In time for the weekend, and despite the magical lies of 'guaranteed pre-order delivery dates' - Halo 3 is now available for play on the big screen plasma in the centre.

Come in, give it a go, and let us know what you think. So far we're very impressed with it - it's a solid sequel to Halo 2, and has far more of the fun elements that made the original Halo such a smash hit.

This is pretty big, and a long time coming. Blizzard have announced that they are finally accepting Paypal for WoW subscription payments.

This means you no longer need a credit card - you can use your normal debit card (like Switch) to pay through Paypal.

I know a number of players who'll be thrilled that they're not reliant on their parents credit cards to continue playing each month :-)

Don't forget we also sell 60 day timecards in the centre, if you want to continue playing using good old fashioned cash.

On Thursday the 2nd of August there will be a special console day taking place at theaubergineroom.

For this day only starting at 5pm we'll be having up to 8 play matches of Halo 2, all going on in the centre.

Finally a chance to be able to shout directly at the person who just sniped you from across the map, instead of having to shout it down a headset.

To take part just show up on the night and join in for our usual prices.
For an extra special discount, if you bring along your own Xbox controller you'll get a special rate of £2 per hour.

We all knew it, but now it's official. A three year study at Brunel University into online role playing games has found that it improves the imagination and exposes players to new ideas and ways of thinking.

Everyone - over the next week we shall be carrying out some major website upgrades. We will be upgrading the base code which powers our site, and then adding in some nifty new features - making it easier for you to use.

If you encounter any issues or problems with the site, please can you post a comment to this item? That way we can easily keep track of any issues, and it will let people know that an issue has already been reported and is being dealt with.

Thanks for your help,
TOM

A quick heads up - this is too good to miss. GAME have the classic Sierra games - Police Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and Kings Quest. These are boxes of all the titles in each series.

They're available for just £10, or 2 for £15.

These are classic point'n'click adventure games, that defined the genre. If you've never played them before, now's your chance to give them a go.

Check GAME's website here and do a search for Sierra Classics.

Cheers,