half-life 2
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Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, Team Fortress 2 shipping October 9th
Politely telling naysayers who expected the games to miss their 2007 launch to eat crowbar, Valve has confirmed to Chris Remo of Shacknews that its upcoming Source trio will ship for all intended platforms on October 9th. The suite is comprised of warped puzzler Portal, stylized multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2, and continued scientist savior sim Half-Life 2: Episode Two. The collection will be sold through Valve's online Steam service as well as in a retail package. The EA-distributed Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, which also contains Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One, will be available on PS3 and Xbox 360 for $59.99, with the PC version priced at $49.99. There once existed a Black Box (containing the three new titles only) for those PC gamers unwilling to take the digital distribution route, but it was promptly buried in the hope of fostering a strange sort of philanthropy amongst gamers. Still, in featuring five games -- two of them proven classics -- there's little question that the Orange Box offers great value, especially if you're a newcomer to Valve's first-person shooters. [Thanks, Gogandantis]
Valve: our downloadable content will be free
When perusing our comment threads, you may see comments from Team Fortress 2 fans that will be opting for the PC version over the 360 version? Why? Lots of free content. Specifically, lots of free user-made content. While it may be some time before user-made content heads to the 360, we are happy to report that any downloadable content for the Orange Box will be free. Eurogamer reports that Valve will not charge for its DLC. According to Team Fortress 2 designer, Robin Walker, "You buy the product, you get the content," who adds, "We make more money because more people buy it, not because we try and nickel-and-dime the same customers." We imagine that someone at EA -- publisher of the Orange Box -- has just imploded. Free content is always good, especially when you consider that TF2 will ship with only 6 maps.[Via Joystiq]
Team Fortress 2 classes get broken down
It seems Team Fortress 2 is fast becoming the best reason to own the Half-Life 2 Orange Box. In every preview of the game, various outlets are describing it as the most outstanding feature of the entertainment-packed package. With some particularly impressive visuals and reportedly rock-solid gameplay to boot, it's easy to see why. IGN recently got their turn to try out Team Fortress 2 and have done us the favor of breaking down every single character class in the game. With 9 classes from which to choose, finding your favorite might be a difficult task, especially considering that the support classes are actually fun to play.Honestly, we're torn so many ways we don't know what to think. Do we pick the Demoman and his sticky bombs, the Pyro and his flamethrower, or the Engineer and his deadly turrets? What about the chameleon-like Spy, or the cool-as-nails Sniper, or the well-rounded Soldier? Of course, there is the Medic, who's capable of making players and himself briefly invulnerable, and there's the Scout, who can change direction mid-jump. Then again, there's always the Heavy Weapons Guy ... and his beloved Sasha.Who's your favorite so far?%Gallery-3424%
Half-Life 2 Orange Box -- console owners get a steal [update 1]
For the uninitiated, Valve initially intended to release Half-Life 2 in two different options for the consoles. One was the Black Box that contained HL2: Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The other is the Orange Box that contained the aforementioned plus Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 expansion. Notice our tenses. One was. One is. That's right -- the Black Box is gone. Doug Lombardi, Valve's marketing director confirmed it. "The Black Box has been cancelled. We're going to have one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC (US$49.99) as well as the 360 and PS3 (US$ 59.99)." While we're sad to see a cheaper alternative go down the garbage disposal, it's for the better. Getting the whole package is always a better alternative to getting a partial package. The only ones who seem to get screwed here are the PC owners. If they've already got the original game, they've got to buy it again if they want to get all three new products. Buying them separate might prove more expensive, anyway. Well, at least the console-lovers get everything at once, right?[Update: Changed the title of the article to better reflect the idea of the post -- indeed, the Black Box was due out only on PC, as it would be silly to not give console owners the actual game. But console owners get a fantastic deal with the Orange Box, no?]
Half-Life 2: Orange Box cracks out a Team Fortress 2 video
"Who touched Sasha? Who touched my gun?" is made hilarious once more by this Heavy Weapons Guy video, slated for the Team Fortress 2 packaged with the big Orange Box for the PS3 (it includes Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2). The video is set up like a documentary to show you the inner-workings of Heavy Weapon Guy's psyche and you know what? It's pretty funny. Check out the video, see the style of the game and give us your thoughts. We approve.
Team Fortress 2 gets cheeky
One part The Incredibles, one part Sony's crazy European bathtub ad, the new Team Fortress 2 trailer gets cheeky with "The Heavy." Although we are looking forward to continuing the Half-Life 2 story with the Black and Orange Box this fall, it feels like Portal and Team Fortress 2 is starting to grab our attention a lot more. Although, all that Half-Life 2 goodness in the Orange Box for those who've never played should be hard to resist. The comic-style first-person shooter of Team Fortress 2 might help grab some XBL players who aren't into the ultra-serious, super-hardcore, lifestyle that Halo 3 online will be. Team Fortress 2 could very well shape up to be the "other" multiplayer shooter for the Xbox 360 and some great multiplayer action for PS3 owners.[Via Xbox360Fanboy]
Video: Team Fortress 2's amazing animation
The Team Fortress 2 aesthetic has been compared to The Incredibles more than once, and it really shows up in this video, with amazing animation and some decent shtick. This video, to put it simply, is gorgeous. We wish there was more to say about it, but honestly, that's pretty much it. The facial animation is damned near perfect, and the character has real personality. Rather than spoil anything else, we suggest you go ahead and watch it. You'll be glad you did.The Half-Life 2 Orange Box is starting to look better all the time, isn't it?
Half Life Episode 2 almost complete, says Valve
In a press release on Friday, Valve announced they are nearing completion of Half Life 2: Episode Two and is on schedule for its third quarter release this year. They go on to say that they spent time early on in the development cycle to get high quality concept art produced on vital areas in the game, so that everyone on the team would be able to share a cohesive vision and be able to bring it to life in the final product. Evidently, upon release we'll be able to make direct comparisons to these pieces with locales in the game. Either way, any news is good news when it comes to Orange Box. Except for delay announcements, which this is not, which is good ... news.[Via G-Source]
Team Fortress 2 may unite 360 and PC gamers
In an interview with IGN, Valve's own Doug Lombardi and Robin Walker talk specifics about that Orange Box game Team Fortress 2. The interview shines new light on how gameplay works, graphics changes, and delves into Valve's experience on gaming consoles. When talking about console coding, Walker says that "we did the Xbox port of Half-Life internally, and we did that because we wanted to have the expertise from doing that" and says "the same guys that did that are working on TF2". With all the Xbox coding experience under their belts they also revealed that the team's work on cross platform play has been implemented into the game. Right now, TF2 allows Xbox 360 and PC gamers to duke it out and is running swimmingly, but hasn't been officially confirmed because it still may be pulled before release. We'll just have to wait until this Fall to see if TF2 can live up to its older bro and also include some cross platform play.
Team Fortress 2 has a lot of class(es)
Game Informer recently got some hands on time with the upcoming Team Fortress 2, a new twist on a classic game, set to be included in the Half-Life 2 Orange Box along with Portal. Team Fortress 2 will include multiple player classes, ranging from the sneaky spy to the more-bullets-than-brains heavy weapons guy, and it looks like each class will actually play very differently. For instance, the Pryo, with his short range flame thrower, is perfect for tight quarters. The super speedy Scout, on the other hand, is the best choice for lightning fast recon and flag captures. Team Fortress 2 features several game types involving territorial control and, of course, capture the flag. On a slightly disappointing note, the game is set to ship with only 6 different maps. Also worth noting, only one map is set up for capture the flag at this point. Of course, this could change with the release of downloadable content, but it's still disappointing. All in all, the game looks like a great deal of fun. What's more, with so many character classes from which to choose, anyone should be able to find a niche that's actually fun to play (yes, even the Medic). Hit the "read" link to check out the full preview, including a breakdown of every character class and their respective loadouts.
Valve interview from GameTrailers
GameTrailers has posted an interview with Valve's Doug Lombardi discussing the upcoming Orange Box for Xbox 360. The Orange Box, for those who don't know, contains Half-life 2, HL2 episode 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Lombardi talks about the revisions to the source engine since Half-Life 2 first launched and what is possible with multiple core processors. He discusses some of Gabe Newell's comments about the PS3 and Valve's current opinion of the Wii as well. Also, sprinkled throughout the video are some very pretty snippets of the games included in the Orange Box. For fans of Half-Life, it's definitely worth a look. Give it a watch and tell us what you think.
Portal only open four hours
Kim Swift, Valve's level designer stated that Portal clocks in at around four hours to complete. As a standalone retail game, that would be quite disturbing, but given that it's accompanied by four other titles in the Half Life 2: Orange, we're a little more forgiving. Still, the game promises to be a bit of a mind-frack, though Swift promises that the difficulty curve isn't going to be overwhelming as the game teaches you to "think in portals". So, are you going to put into the better part of an afternoon into this when you pick up Orange later this year, or are you going to stick with Half Life 2 and its episodes with a side of Team Fortress 2?
Valve unleashes Half-Life 2: Orange screenshots
Half-Life 2: Orange, as we now call it, has been forever delayed and will only show up much later this year. But what are eager Half Life fanboys supposed to do until that time comes ... wait? Yes, you will have to wait, but Valve understands your pain by offering some screenshot love. They just released a massive amount of screens from the Half-Life 2: Orange bundle including Portal and Team Fortress 2. All the games are looking pretty good, but Portal and Team Fortress 2 lack visual goodness that Half-Life 2 offers, which is probably intended. Check out the nifty gallery Joystiq put up and come back to post your thoughts on what is sure to be one great compilation.
Jade is Latina, Asian, Black ... who knows?
Earlier this week, a story by Jason Ellis traveled around the intertubes listing 11 black video game stars. The list was tragic, highlighting that black leading characters, especially original intellectual properties, are few and far between. However, the topic of most debate had to do with the appearance of Jade, from Beyond Good and Evil, on the list. Jade was black?It was the immediate thing we wondered about on our staff. Latina, Asian and "just tan," were terms we came up with. The crew over at Wired apparently had a similar issue. Writing up a column on racially ambiguous characters. Chris Kohler says, "The reaction to Ellis' piece would suggest that Michel Ancel and his team got it perfect with Jade. Because only a few people are suggesting that Jade 'looks' black or 'seems' Asian. They say with conviction that she is black, is Asian, is 'clearly' Latina. Everyone is right, and no one is right."Half-Life is also master of the racially ambiguous. Alyx Vance could be a mix of anything, her look is truly exotic. Then there is always the question of Gordon Freeman. Not the most stereotypically "white" name, you never actually see him, and other than the box art -- we'd never know. Was making Freeman white, or showing him at all, a last minute marketing decision? It's a fun experiment to take Freeman and just change the pigment of his skin, it's amazing how well it works. The main point is when things are ambiguous, we see what we want to see. Personally, we don't care what race Jade is, we just want to see that girl in a sequel!
Half-Life 2: Episode Two boxes dropping this Fall
It's all a big misunderstanding. When Valve declared that the Half-Life franchise would adopt an episodic distribution model, the world mistakenly assumed that the familiar television format served as the inspiration. However, with the announcement of a Fall 2007 worldwide release for Half-Life 2: Episode Two (previously scheduled for Christmas 2006 and then Summer 2007), Valve has made it abundantly clear that their idea of episodic content is actually based on the Star Wars episodes, which saw six episodes released in the span of about 30 years. Ah, we jest to hide the inherent bitterness left by a further delay to the EA-published Half-Life 2 packages, The Black Box (PC) and The Orange Box (Xbox 360, PS3). Both sets include Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2, while the latter adds a lot of bang for the lowly buck in the form of Episode One and a graphically enhanced Half-Life 2. You know, like the Star Wars special edition trilogy. Remember: Gordon shoots first!
Half Life 2: Orange Box (Art)
Darksaviour69 of dcemu.co.uk got his hands some details for the 5-in-1 Half Life 2 pack, "The Orange Box" and how it compares to its PC conterpart. Xbox 360 owners will get treated to Half Life 2, HL2: Episodes 1 and Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. The PC's "Black Box" won't have Half Life 2 or HL2: Episode 1. Given that, it's not a bad deal for a standard priced Xbox 360 game. What we're curious about is how the Achievements will be divided up between the games. Will it be 200 Gamerscore per title, or 1000 each or what? Whatever the case may be, we're looking forward to hearing more as we await the winter 2007 release. While the art on the right doesn't look bad, albeit ordered oddly, we think this one is awesome.
Run WoW, Steam games on Linux
Having a working Linux box is a point of pride for computer hackers everywhere, but when it comes to gaming on a computer, freeware Linux offerings like Tux Racer don't really hold up to Windows favorites like World of Warcraft and Half-Life 2. A new version of Codeweavers' CrossOver Linux solves this problem by letting Linux users easily run some popular games and other Windows applications from a Linux box. Running Windows games on Linux has long been possible with free programs like Wine, but the process of getting your favorite game up and running was not always simple. For $40 ($70 for the professional version), CrossOver Linux promises to let you seamlessly run programs "exactly as you would in Windows, but with the full freedom of Linux." A review on Linux.com confirms that demo versions of World Of Warcraft, Half Life, Heroes of Annihilated Empires, and Medieval II Total War worked in Linux without any problems. Will other games work with the setup? Codeweavers' compatibility list shows most games as untested, but a few big names like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Civilization III are confirmed not to work. Knowing the open source movement, though, it's only a matter of time before a new release lets Linux gamers join their Windows brethren in the hallowed halls of gaming nirvana. [Thanks Dolores]
New Havok release supports PS3
Havok has officially unleashed Havok 4.5, the latest version of their comprehensive animation and physics toolset for developers. The update adds full optimization for the PS3 and its Cell architecture, and is derived from Havok's cooperation with Evolution Studios in the construction of Motorstorm's physics system. Upcoming games utilizing the 4.5 variant are expected to handle Havok instructions between five and ten times faster than the previous release."Havok 4.5's ability to allow developers to massively scale game content will make it possible to develop even more compelling, realistic and complex worlds that harness the full power of new generation architectures," says Havok's David O'Meara. Though the emphasis remains on crafting "realistic" worlds, one might also consider the impact that robust physics and animation have on "unrealistic", fantasy games. When objects and clothing behave as you expect them to, it can lend even the most unusual world a sense of believability and cohesion. It's not all sliding crates and rolling barrels, you know.
Half-Life 2 is black, orange, and priced
Valve has released some pricing details on their upcoming Half-Life 2 sets, affectionately dubbed Orange and Black. The packages and prices are as follows: Black, for PC only, is $39.99 and includes only Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Orange, for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is $59.99 and includes all of the above plus Half-Life 2 and Episode One. With a set like Half-Life 2: Orange being one of the few titles out there we feel merit a $60 price tag, we're eagerly anticipating the sets' release. Now if Valve would finally release them!
What's inside the Half-Life 2 box
Soon, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 will be making its way onto the Xbox 360 and will be bundled with a bunch of other goodies. And those guys over at Valve found an easy way to identify the new compilations ... by color. The Xbox 360 (PC and PS3) will be getting what is known as the Half-Life 2: Orange bundle. Included is the original Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. The orange package will set you back a reasonable $59.99. For our PC brethren they have one other option called Half-Life 2: Black. This bundle will include Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and will cost $39.99. The Black bundle is for those PC gamers that already purchased Half-Life 2 and Episode 1. Phew ... there you have it. But is anyone a little turned off by the whole color coding system?
