Page 1 of Rugrat Vs Alien.....

Good title eh!!

I just picked up Alien 20th Aniversary (Region 1 for £4.99)!!

£4.99 you say, there is a catch - but let me share my good fortune. (Amazing disk by the way)

Well, some may or may not be aware of "a shop" on Rathbourne place, West End. I do not want to mention the shop name as I do not want to get anyone in trouble but you`ll have no problems finding it. Tip: near the end of the road, downstairs.

Basically as long as your a member (two forms of ID). you can bring any region 1 title and swap it for another for just £4.99. OR any region 2 title and swap it for another for £3.99(good if you have those freebie titles you dont want given when you purchased the machine).

Now is that cool or what!! - No Customs, No postman, just walk in and buy.

Or alternatively Region 2 (£13.99), Region 1(£17.99).

I hope this is useful to some.

I think selling region 1 disks openly is naughty (but not illegal), thats why I`m not blabbing all over the internet - well sort of.

Good Luck

Rugrat.

Now there`s a Celebrity Deathmatch that would be good to see...Chucky versus everybody`s favourite movie monster.

Hmmm....Rathbone Place, is that the one just off of Oxford Street? Try their Tottenham Court Road branch too, just next to Goodge Street tube station! =)

This is not such a bad deal, but you have to have a title you`re not happy with to trade in, that`s the bad side.

Oh, and it is illegal to sell them over the counter like this. Don`t let their little age restriction stickers fool you.

I can`t understand how come this place is still able to sell R1`s - they are so open about it you`d think they`d have been busted by now.

Yer Mark, thats the one, off Tottenham Court Rd.

Cheekier still, is all the discs are second hand - no matter the region. I suppose thats what that shop is all about buy and exchange.

I do hope they dont get busted. I have never ordered anything from the internet. I don`t think I could take the heartache of waiting 7 days for a disk, that a: Might not come(customs and all that)
b: Might be damaged
c: Turns out to be Dusk till Dawn 2
instead(nightmare).

I`m just on the hunt for more places selling Region 1 over the counter for decent prices. I`ve been told these various computer fairs that are held are a good place to pick up region 1, seems people sell all sorts there.

One quick question, some Region Hacks allow manual switching of Regions - is this important to watch all films? or does it depend on the Hack/Player/film??

Cheers.

Age restriction stickers you say - don`t apply to me!!


Rugrat.

The hacks that require you to change your region are "Region Selection" style codes. However, others are "Auto Region" codes which make the player automatically change to whatever region the disc you put in the drive is without you getting involved.

My Pioneer 505 requires me to change the region everytime I want to go from watching R1 to R2, its not too painful a process only requiring 4 button presses.

Philips owners however get the longest region change selection process in history, and a lockup after 25 times. :-(

Personally I think you will be better off ordering things over the Internet - see one of my columns about that. If you have a credit card,
if stuff doesn`t turn up, you can get the money back from them. Plus most on line retailers are good at giving out refunds or sending replacement if there are a problem. Just use one of the big ones.

However, if you want to buy stuff over the counter (remember you`re paying 20 quid, as opposed to about 12 on line), there are a few other places.

Know the Robot Wars store that recently opened near the back of Goodge Street? (I know this as it`s near where I work). There`s a PC shop in the same street that has started to sell them. Or there are a few cinema collectibles shops in WC2, near(ish) to Forbidden Planet, that I`ve found.

These last places only sell them under the counter though.

Mail me direct if you want names and addresses.

Thank you guys.

I think I`m alright then regarding Region selection as I`ve had no problems with the discs I have. My hack is hopefully the later option you mentioned in your reply Robert.

Yes I would like those addresses if you could send them to me on "targurehtsti[at]moc.liamtoh" that would be much appreciated.

Another worry about on line ordering, I`m sure for many people is security - giving my credit details over the net - dodgy. (Especially after watching Watchdog yesterday - credit card details are a criminals paradise)

Speaking of criminals - when you say under the counter do I have to whisper to the guy behind the counter "Region 1 please!!"

I think this film thing is an addiction, when I had only a video recorder I didn`t care much about owning films. Now I have DVD I buy 2 a week and usually only can be bothered to watch them once - this is really breaking the bank, I guess I`ll slow down when the Playstation 2 arrives but then thats got a DVD drive...... Is there no escaping DVD!!!

Cheers

Rugrat.

This item was edited on Friday, 18th February 2000, 14:32

Ok, I will mail you the details later on this afternoon so you can shop at the weekend. Don`t spend too much.

I didn`t see Watchdog last night, but can imagine the article as they have run something similar several times.

When it comes to credit card numbers on the net, remember that is is much much much more likely that someone will take your credit card details with the intention of using them fraudulently when you pay for a meal in a restauraunt. It is much more likely that you will suffer from credit card fraud because someone pickpockets you, than something bad happening via the net.

I`m not saying it doesn`t happen, it just is not as likely to happen as the media (or certain sections of it) would like you to think.

If you have worries, speak to the credit card company - they are setup to deal with this sort of thing in most cases now, and treat it the same as if your card was stolen,