Topic: HL2 Episode 2 delayed again = Fall 2007

[idolminds]

Read em and cry.

EA and Valve Unveil The Black Box and The Orange Box

Innovative Action Titles Ship in Fall 2007 and Include Portal(TM), Team Fortress(R) 2 and Half-Life(R) 2: Episode Two in One Box

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2007--Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's leading interactive entertainment company, and Valve(R), the award-winning studio behind the blockbuster franchises Half-Life(R) and Counter-Strike(R), today announced the naming and product configurations The Black Box and The Orange Box, two of the most anticipated action game offerings shipping worldwide in Fall 2007.

The Black Box will ship for the PC, and includes Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. The Orange Box will ship for the PC, PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, and Xbox 360(TM) videogame and entertainment system, and includes all the content of The Black Box, plus the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One.

Innovative games included in The Black Box and The Orange Box include:
-- Half-Life 2: Episode Two -- the second installment in Valve's episodic trilogy advances the award-winning story, leading the player to new locations outside of City 17.
-- Portal -- a pioneering type of single player action game that rewrites the rules for how players approach and manipulate their environment - much like how Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun reinvented the way gamers interact with objects in the game.
-- Team Fortress 2 -- an all-new version of the legendary title that spawned team based multiplayer action games. The game's daring new art style features the most advanced graphics of any Source-based game released to date.

"In less than 18 months, we've shipped 10 new products to retail outlets with EA Partners," said Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve. "The Black Box and The Orange Box represent a new approach to publishing multiple products, on multiple platforms and we know through our experience that no organization in the industry is better equipped to successfully launch new product types on multiple platforms than EA Partners."

"Valve is one of the world's premiere independent developers and EA Partners is thrilled to help them bring the groundbreaking action games in The Orange Box and The Black Box to market as their publishing partner," said David DeMartini, vice president and general manager of EA Partners.

The Black Box and The Orange Box are targeted for release in Fall 2007. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.

So Valve...about that whole "episodic" thing? Yeah...you fucking failed.

[beo]

 

damn it. i know it's not the be all and end all 1st person shooter, but it's still up there and i was looking forward to this.

[iPPi]

Dammit, I want to play Portal!

[PyroMenace]

Hahahahaha, what a fucking joke.

[Jedi]

wow fuck I am so surprised 

I'm really sick of developers delaying all the time but on the other hand I'd rather buy a well polished game than some game that comes with its own black box because it'll crash on you all the time.

[Pugnate]

While it is disappointing, it is the lesser of two evils. Like the Jedi Master said, it is better to have a delayed yet highly polished product.

[iPPi]

From what I've heard, it's been delayed because Valve needs to prepare a concurrent release for the PS3 and the 360.

[MysterD]

While it is disappointing, it is the lesser of two evils. Like the Jedi Master said, it is better to have a delayed yet highly polished product.

I would rather have a highly polished product, as well.....

I guess this all is kind of expected to be delayed, since this is actually ALSO coming to the X360 now....

Then again, Valve probably would've delayed the damn thing if it was PC-Only, anyways. Probably to get it going for Vista under DX10, as well.....

For crying out loud, Valve is taking forever for these "episodes", which are basically mini stand-alone expansions. "Episodic" content should be banked out at a much faster rate than this. Especially for an FPS.

Hell, we'll ALREADY have the 2ND Oblivion PC Expansion Pack this Spring, for crying out loud!!!

[idolminds]

I'm all for polished products. I think the backlash is from Valve pushing episodic content. "Cheaper to buy, released faster!" So far its no different from a regular expansion pack in both price and speed of development. Don't bullshit us and we won't be so pissed when you delay.

First it's Valve...they have never made anything quickly so why they thought they could do episodic is beyond me. Second...the HL universe doesn't lend itself well for episodic stuff. Its like trying to cut and epic movie into little parts. A good example would be the difference between Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. You can't cut SPR up into episodic chunks, however BoB was made to be that way from the start, so it works very well.

I don't think a heavily story-driven FPS will work well for episodic releases. Theres simply too much to do in a reasonable timeframe. Now something like Doom 3 could work where you have a story that just holds everything together, but isn't central to the game. I wouldn't mind having new areas of the Mars base to explore every other month, which is easy enough to do.

[MysterD]

I'm all for polished products.

Me too.

I think the backlash is from Valve pushing episodic content. "Cheaper to buy, released faster!" So far its no different from a regular expansion pack in both price and speed of development. Don't bullshit us and we won't be so pissed when you delay.

Exactly.

First it's Valve...they have never made anything quickly so why they thought they could do episodic is beyond me.

Very true.

Second...the HL universe doesn't lend itself well for episodic stuff. Its like trying to cut and epic movie into little parts. A good example would be the difference between Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. You can't cut SPR up into episodic chunks, however BoB was made to be that way from the start, so it works very well.

Actually, given how Valve tells stories, in which they throw a bunch of questions on one game and don't answer them all at the end, yet answer them in the sequel game and pose new questions in this sequel to be answered in the next sequel, it does make sense to them....hehe.

I don't think a heavily story-driven FPS will work well for episodic releases. Theres simply too much to do in a reasonable timeframe.

A lot of scripting, voice-acting, etc etc.

Now something like Doom 3 could work where you have a story that just holds everything together, but isn't central to the game. I wouldn't mind having new areas of the Mars base to explore every other month, which is easy enough to do.

A game like say Painkiller could really work by this episodic nature, as well.....

[scottws]

Well, I wouldn't call HL2 a "story-driven FPS."  It's more like: "Run here, then here, then here, then here.  Why?  Who knows.  Just do it."

[idolminds]

And they STILL cant release these "episodes" quickly!

[iPPi]

HL2 isn't story-driven, but there is a fair amount of backstory.  It just isn't conveyed to you

[MysterD]

Well, I wouldn't call HL2 a "story-driven FPS."  It's more like: "Run here, then here, then here, then here.  Why?  Who knows.  Just do it."

"And then, we'll tell you why you did what you did for this episode somewhere in the NEXT episode!"

[Quemaqua]

HL2 isn't story-driven, but there is a fair amount of backstory.  It just isn't conveyed to you

That's the best thing I've read all day.

[MysterD]

That's the best thing I've read all day.

Hey, but he's right, though!

They don't fill in the blanks of the questions of episode 1 until they start to give you all those answers in episode 2.

Valve's been doing that since HL1.

[sirean_syan]

Maybe they should just sit back for a while so some stupid amature mod team makes the game on their own. Then Valve can use the mod to sell more copies of HL2 and maybe even buy the mod so they can sell it not do any more shit for the next four years.

[Quemaqua]

All this Valve hate is making me feel really warm and happy inside.  Mmm.

[MysterD]

All this Valve hate is making me feel really warm and happy inside.  Mmm.

W/ the rate Valve is going w/ these "episodes", DNF will be out before Half-Life 3.