For the PC, the original game seems to be a bonus only if you bought it from the EA Origin store.

The whole thing is a giant clusterfuck, and the marketing people should be fired for making this release so convoluted that they couldn't even find a way to explain it clearly to the people who want to buy it.

Bummer. I read conflicting articles that indicated retail versions would have a download code.

Agreed

anyone actually play the new game and can comment?

Here's an informal review. Very informal.

My 20-yr-old daughter has been playing it since last night. She's a casual gamer (she's more of a Wii Mario Cart-er), but she likes it so far. Her claim that it "suddenly became difficult" may or may not be an accurate indicator of the game. I witnessed some pretty intense fighting - ah, the return of the vorpal blade! - and I think she has it one of the easier modes.

Graphics look pretty solid on PC - I imagine dedicated game system versions will be vastly improved and less occasionally jerky...

My wife and I both played it a bit last night on the 360.
It's enjoyable. She got stuck on a few parts, but she was still getting used to the controls. I didn't have any problems. The dialog is pretty good. The loading screens could be worse... but they could have definitely been better.
I redeemed the code and downloaded the original game. Didn't play it, though. I'm going to stop playing Madness Returns until I play through the original. I played it back when it first came out, but can't remember how far I got.

I'll add to all the girls now gaming comments.

My wife wanted me to start it up so she could watch the intro movie. She was a big fan of the PC game but hasn't played a game since then. Two hours later she was still playing. Kept texting me that it was "gorgeous" and she loves it.

well, that sounds a little more promising than the reviewers are making it out to be. looks like a mindless fun platformer with gorgeous visuals, which i am all for sometimes.

You were in the same house, right?

I was upstairs playing Duke Nukem.

How are the save points in the game? Can u save anywhere at any time?

It's not bad. It sure is pretty though. Played about 2 hours last night. You cannot save anywhere you want.

The original Alice hasn't aged all that well, IMO.

I'm actually liking it really. Played a few hours last night and a few tonight, not bad at all. As said, it's a mindless platformer, but it's pretty well done.

Chapter 3 spoiler so don't read if you haven't been there

I love.

are the saves generous enough that you don't have to play a full chapter all the time to save?

i read the chapters were long and would love it if i could pick up and play for a bit, save progress and continue somewhere within a chapter rather than always have to complete (of which there are 5, i believe).

Yeah there are quite a few auto saves. I swear chapter one took me 4-5 hours over two days of play. This game is way too long already

I'm calling my shot here. I predict that this game will be available new somewhere for $29.99 by July 26. EA has been pretty consistent about giving occasional 50% off discounts on relatively new games lately. I can wait for this one, but their "Online Pass" deal will keep me from buying a used copy.

Probably so, I paid $24 for it (PS3) so far I'm happy with it, great atmosphere.

I'm having a really hard time playing the original with the controls. Wish I could use a mouse, or wish they could have better configured the controls for a controller.

I guess I'm the only one having any problems with this title? It's been really pissing me off.

I got it on the PS3. Get the game home on release day, pop it in, select the game icon from the Games drop-down menu... and nothing. Blank screen. My PS3 had frozen up and nothing was loading. Tried it again... same thing. Again. Same. Again. Same. Accessed the game via the menu that comes up when you press triangle on the game icon and tried starting the game up that way... and it loaded. But even that was inconsistent in working. Called support. Was advised to turn off the media sharing feature on the PS3. That seemed to work... until again tonight. I turned off the internet access on my PS3 entirely and it seems to be working again. And yes, I'm using the most up to date firmware (and it did this on the previous firmware right before the beta one out now).

I had even at one point tried returning the disc and seeing if I just had a bad copy. Nope. Tried deleting the game utility stuff for Alice... nope. Ugh.

And just to further add... the rest of my PS3 games and a bunch of Blu-rays were just fine.

It was announced before it's release that it would be $34.99 at Kmart two weeks after release.

is there online verification of this?

No way. Kmart dealings are very secretive and often times unpublicized.

The official Kmartgamer guy said he couldn't disclose the actual deal yet, but indicated people interested in Alice could expect it to get the same promo treatment as Portal 2. That was $34.99 after two weeks, so that's what people are assuming.

lol! I just read about this unpublicized sale on another site.

There is now:
I'm still not sure I want it. Do you who own it think it's worth $35 new?

Does that deal include pc version?