Get the hankies ready folks - Half-Life 2: Episode Two has been delayed. Again.
We were expecting it in summer - a delay from a previously announced early 2007 date - but it's now due this winter.
We're gutted here at CVG. No doubt you are too.
News of the new release date was sneaked in at the bottom of a press release announcing details on the Orange Box and Black Box versions of Half-Life 2: Episode Two that'll be released to retail.
HL2 Black Box is for PC and includes Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2, while the Orange Box is for PC, PS3 and Xbox includes all the content of The Black Box along with the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One.
We guess it's possible that Valve will release Episode Two for PC through Steam before it hits retail, but don't count your chickens.
With the developer aiming for a simultaneous release on all platforms with its Half-Life 2 projects, we can only imagine that the console versions have pushed things back.
We've fired off an email to Valve to get the score. Well let you know if we get anything juicy back.
I'm all for episodic games so long as there's a *reasonable* amount of time between releasing them. With the Half-Life 2 Episodes though, by the time they get round to releasing the next part you'll be struggling to remember what happened in the previous one! Originally it was meant to be six months between the three episodes then it changed to a year and now it's going to be nearly 18 months!!!
Why didn't they hold off releasing the first Episode until they'd completed the second and had started on the third and final one? That way they could have released them three to six months apart and everyone would have been happy. I mean we had to wait SIX years for Half-Life 2 so I'm sure no-one would have complained at having to wait an extra year for Episode One... would they?
*sigh*
These developers... don't have a shred of commonsense between 'em!
Akk!! No.. Winter... NO. No!! It can't be. WWWWWWwhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy???!?!!
Team Fortress 2... Portal... Need... Winter?! No! Arrrgh, this is the only recent delay that's really disappointed me a lot. Valve, I'm very disappointed.
Could it be possible that they are holding out because of concerns that it'll hurt sales of the console versions? If so, screw the damn console versions! Half-Life is a PC game.
We only need one more tiny slip on that launch date, and we'll be waiting until 2008 for our six hours of new Half-Life.
I tell you what, though. While the Tech guys are wrestling with their PS3 issues, if they spend all that extra time getting their level designers and art guys to keep adding new content, then you'll hear no complaints from me.
Maybe HL2:EP2 would have been ready sooner, but they had to put so much time and effort into the box art, that it's an acceptable delay. The results speak for themselves!! ......
You gotta love Episodic content, it is really paying off. The only episodic content i've noticed that is actually doing what it promises is Sam & Max.
The reason Valve went for episodic content is so they can shorten development times and so we don't have to wait years for a Half-Life 3... but they might as well have done that because we've been waiting bloody ages for Episode 2... i hate to think how long we'll have to wait for Episode 3.
You gotta love Episodic content, it is really paying off. The only episodic content i've noticed that is actually doing what it promises is Sam & Max.
The reason Valve went for episodic content is so they can shorten development times and so we don't have to wait years for a Half-Life 3... but they might as well have done that because we've been waiting bloody ages for Episode 2... i hate to think how long we'll have to wait for Episode 3.
maybe they're doing what some guy above me (cant remember ure name) said and are holding it back until 3 is closer to completion so they can get maximum cash out of both markets: console/PC
The reason why it's delayed is because of the stupid consoles. I swear HL2: EP2 was meant to be PC only. But no, they have to waste time to make a SIMULTANEOUS release for the console gamers.
Release it on PC first, then on consoles. It's originally a PC game ffs.
The reason why it's delayed is because of the stupid consoles. I swear HL2: EP2 was meant to be PC only. But no, they have to waste time to make a SIMULTANEOUS release for the console gamers.
Release it on PC first, then on consoles. It's originally a PC game ffs.
Another screw up from Valve.
They're popping the Eps onto console?! Curse them. Hopefully in retribution they;ll be left with a low quality port.
Ha, and to think they laughed at me when I predicted as such well over a year ago...
Who's laughing now eh? Actually, apart from me, no-one I guess.
Homogenisation = less choice = punters losing out as usual.
If things continue as they are, I'm giving strong consideration to selling up. Grabbing a console for games and media (music, films, etc), and some slim-line and thus low-powered laptop for word processing and the Internet.
ooh look, the same story, same link and same comments page as the new PC GAMER Website. Hmm, lets go check out the PCZ 'website' and see if it has the same s**t as the other two....
ooh look, the same story, same link and same comments page as the new PC GAMER Website. Hmm, lets go check out the PCZ 'website' and see if it has the same s**t as the other two....
Cor, blimey guv'nor. Three websites, one story, one thread, one waste of space..
It's a kind of magic.
Why not do the same thing with the magazines, just make one (sensible) but put different covers on it (one PCG & one PCZ). That'll fool us
Ha, and to think they laughed at me when I predicted as such well over a year ago...
Who's laughing now eh? Actually, apart from me, no-one I guess.
Homogenisation = less choice = punters losing out as usual.
If things continue as they are, I'm giving strong consideration to selling up. Grabbing a console for games and media (music, films, etc), and some slim-line and thus low-powered laptop for word processing and the Internet.
You've been reading my thread on the exact same subject in the old PCG forums.
You're spot on, if only they released the 360 with a keyb & mouse it would make more sense to but a console and a laptop. Even budget laptops can handle the non gaming software I use.
I already use my nice big LCD monitor with my xbox360, I may as well cough up £50 for one of those gadgets that lets me use my mouse and keyb with the 360. It's also got a PS2 controller port just in case I decide to buy guitar hero again; I can just use my PS2 guitar hero controller.
to be honest i am dissaponted, but not upset about this.
sure i wanted ep2 tf2 and portal sooner, sre i want to bask in their glory.
but id prefer to wait for something thats entirley finished, uberific and just plain awesome than get something early thats bugged all to hell, rubbish, and looks like it came out of the rear end of a monkey.
Ditto with STALKER and the like. So long as when it does get release it comes out as a top quality product, then I'm happy to wait. But then, there's little else one can do.
this is ridiculous, i hope they update the graphics else by the time we get the game we'll be looking at very out-dated graphics especially with direct x 10 games like crysis coming out (another delayed game i might add). Don't get me wrong graphics don't make a game but for a game as huge as half life you don't expect 3 year old graphics on a new game. Damn the consoles, curse them to hell, i don't care about them. half life should stick to the people who made it what it is today, us the pc gamers!
...and now I'm hearing rumours of a price-hike on Episode 2, too.
I've been seeing some whispers that the price has been doubled, to $39.99 for the Episode2/Portal/TF2 bundle.
Quite frankly, they can take the whole Half-Life franchise and stick it up their a**eholes for all I care after this stunt. There's no way in hell that I'm going to tempted buy into episodic gaming again after the double failures of Sin and Half-Life.
Actually, I tell a lie. I am going to want to play Episode 2, but I'm not going to be paying for it. If they're gonna treat their customers like that, then I'll get my copy from an 'alternate source'. They've only got themselves to blame.
Well Half life 2 episode 2 is becoming the new Duke Nukem forever, Why can Sam n Max do monthly release and Valve mess the punters about yet again. First 6 years for HL2 then a poor HL source and now 18 monthly episodes that last 6 hours or less. Is there anything FPS style in the coming months to keep me sane?
It's not a rumour that's the correct price announced recently. Did you really expect that they would give you three titles (Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2) for 20 bucks? Anyway, if come release day you like the games, buy them. If not then don't. That's all there is to it.
As for the going console comments, feel free to guys, even though you won't be getting the games any sooner on those. And in the mean time I'll be playing the likes of Pirates, Vikings & Knights II and Eternal Silence, and eventually the likes of Black Mesa and Insurgency and many, many more conversions that will be released to provide variety and fun through the months and years that their dedicated development teams will keep working on and improving them.
Actually, I tell a lie. I am going to want to play Episode 2, but I'm not going to be paying for it. If they're gonna treat their customers like that, then I'll get my copy from an 'alternate source'. They've only got themselves to blame.
Actually, yes I did expect to get three games for $20, as that's what Valve had told us the deal was.
We bought a small chunk of a game for the third of the price of a full game, then we got to continue it for a similar amount around 6 months later. That was what we were promised.
They then chose to stick in a multiplayer mode, which is pretty much standard for that genre of game, and helps to extend the life of these titles. What with Episode 2 being a third of an FPS, it would be nice to have a third of a multiplayer mode. After the jarring lack of such a mode on the first episode, I reckon TF2 makes up for that brilliantly.
(Also Valve stated pretty much the same thing in a couple of interviews when Episode 1 was released. Future installments would hopefully arrive with a multiplayer segment.)
Portal, then makes the deal even better. A great looking little bonus that probably won't be very long at all, and which, as brilliant as it looks, would sadly probably sell f**k-all if released as a standalone product.
If they then turn around and double the price on the basis of these extras, they should give us the option not to buy the once so-called "Free" bonuses they've bundled in. The only way they're getting my cash for this one is if they suddenly double the length of Episode 2 while they're at it.
Otherwise, my strict personal rules on 'borrowing' games will have to be bent a tad, as a form of protest. The news of the delay and the doubling of the price hitting at the same time has sadly done some temporary damage to the part of my brain that processes 'guilt'.
I hardly think that Valve are in danger of going bust, after all the money they've raked in over their last few titles.
If, by a freak miracle, they suddenly do happen to go bust, then that's their own fault for delaying a 6-hour game by three-times the stated development time, and then doubling the price of it.
If they then keep this new price for Episode 3, by the way, then we're looking at a total charge of $100 for an 18-hour game, with a multiplayer mode that's nought but a graphical upgrade of something that we already have on our drives, and Portal.
You're worried about people stealing from Valve? What they're attempting would be little more than stealing from us, if we're stupid enough to pay that kind of premium charge for gaming.
(Bear in mind that they're selling these games direct, too, so they don't lose any of their profits to greedy retailers or publishers.)
this is ridiculous, i hope they update the graphics else by the time we get the game we'll be looking at very out-dated graphics especially with direct x 10 games like crysis coming out (another delayed game i might add). Don't get me wrong graphics don't make a game but for a game as huge as half life you don't expect 3 year old graphics on a new game. Damn the consoles, curse them to hell, i don't care about them. half life should stick to the people who made it what it is today, us the pc gamers!
What...what on earth? I don't think they're going to rewrite their engine on account of Crysis. The game looks lovely to this day, especially with HDR and the like enabled. HL2's graphics are still amazing.
thats why it's called half-life, because you'll end up waiting for that long to get the next instalment. it's marketing gone up the wall. but everyone will forgive the 'great fat one' like they have before.
thats why it's called half-life, because you'll end up waiting for that long to get the next instalment. it's marketing gone up the wall. but everyone will forgive the 'great fat one' like they have before.
Forgiven as they will have created a brilliant masterpiece. Albeit one that gets a little bit less brilliant with each release.
Actually, I tell a lie. I am going to want to play Episode 2, but I'm not going to be paying for it. If they're gonna treat their customers like that, then I'll get my copy from an 'alternate source'. They've only got themselves to blame.
= Valve go bust = no more Half Life = Well done.
Fine by me, same thing happened in the early nineties with the record industry. You can only screw the punters so much before they decide it's not worth the money.
I don't advocate piracy, I'm just a cynic (or realist if you prefer).
Once you've stopped being a dealer and become a pusher, someone will eventually take a drill to your kneecaps and just steal your wares...
The record industry has adapted its approach to the changing markets by moving into online retailing, cutting overheads and so on.
Methods of distribution such as Steam, upon which the HL franchise is already distributed, mean that these cuts are already being made. As such I doubt that the producers and distributors can be pushed much more. The process of creating a game is very much time and thus capital intensive.
I'd prefer Half Life 2 : Episode 2, at a price of £10, and a release next week on PC only. I really couldn't give a toss about Portal or Team Fortress 2.
The record industry has adapted its approach to the changing markets by moving into online retailing, cutting overheads and so on.
Methods of distribution such as Steam, upon which the HL franchise is already distributed, mean that these cuts are already being made. As such I doubt that the producers and distributors can be pushed much more. The process of creating a game is very much time and thus capital intensive.
Pfff....The mainstream record industry is only just starting to recover 15 years down the line and online disrtibution just doesn't have the quality of a CD. All that licensing cobblers also makes it a royal pain in the bottom. I'd spent about £50 on iTunes until I realised that I couldn't use the songs with my MP3 players (both creative).
As for gaming, online distribution is cutting costs, but non are passed onto the end user, and, they're still making exactly the same mistakes as the big record labels did in the late eighties/early nineties, which is targeting the demograph of whatever sold well last year. The effect of which will always be diminishing returns.
I'd spent about £50 on iTunes until I realised that I couldn't use the songs with my MP3 players (both creative).
Forced market loyalty mixed with a hint of your own stupidity.
¬___¬
As for gaming, online distribution is cutting costs, but non are passed onto the end user
For the reason I stated originally - gaming is far more capital intensive than music. (Look at STALKER as a quick but naff example: a team of designers, programmers, sound recorders, etc, all working now for many, many years on just the one project.)
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