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Half-Life 2


Chris F

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With (hopefully) less than a month to go before we have HL2 in our greazy little hands, I figured there is no time like the present to start an Officla thread for it.

 

First up: Gabe Newell explains the different SKUS that will be available for Half-Life 2.

 

http://halflife2.homelan.com/forums/showth...15&pagenumber=1

 

Interesting concepts to say the least, especially involving the non-MP versions, and the Steam powered versions of HL2.

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Good news. I'd like to know what extras are planned for the deluxe edition.

 

I'm probably not alone in my hatred for subscription gaming (Xbox live doesn't count as that subscription is good on all online games). Perhaps we should, as serious gamers, spread the word against the Steam varient of HL2 to ensure that business model remains a failure.

 

Just a thought.

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If this is true, I can only think of the headaches it's going to cause me explaining it to people.

 

I've had so much troubles in the past trying to tell people they can buy Half-life for less and download Counterstrike for free instead of paying more for JUST Counterstrike that I've simply given up unless they bring up the subject themselves.

 

"This version has both single player and multiplayer. This version is single player only, but you can choose to pay a subscription fee for the multiplayer. However, if Valve releases add on and updates like Counterstrike, you'll have to pay for it seperately with this version, but with this version it'll be included in your subscription price, if you choose to pay it.... oh my, you've gone rather cross eyed."

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A simple visit over to ebgames websites will confrim this, gamestop still has the game listed as 9/30/03, EbGames has it listed at 11/19/03. IGN had a news arcticle about a month ago on this as well.

 

and here is peice of that article from ign.

 

July 29, 2003 - Despite Gabe Newell's emphatic and constant claims at E3 2003 that the highly anticipated Half-Life sequel (we thinks it be Half-Life 2) would release on September 30th 2003 and exactly September 30th, VU Games spokespeople today said over the phone that the title would in fact not ship to retail until "Holiday 2003," which doesn't say a whole hell of a lot other than, "Not September 30th." Unless there's some kind of Washington state holiday we're not familiar with, or Christmas is starting way early this year, VU Games' date change seems like a safe bet to preemptively stave off a potential delay. Vaguely say it'll release "holiday 2003" and presto, you can't go wrong unless it comes out in 2004, which it certainly will not.

Purportedly, Gabe Newell himself has been visiting bulletin boards and responding to emails as he regularly does saying only that this was the first he's heard of the mysterious delay. Spooky. Unfortunately, no one from Valve was available for official comment at time of publish (we have the questions spreading across the wire, however).

 

Hopefully we'll learn the reason for the delay very, very soon. Regardless, Half-Life 2 still remains one of the most anticipated games of the holiday shopping season, especially now that it's scheduled to release during the holiday shopping season.

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yeah, I would really like to see this one ASAP, definatly one I am buying when it comes out, sept 30th or after...

 

Heres to hoping to september 30th, I thought the game was moved back, but like DrunkOM said its up in the air...

 

If i was wrong you can all slap me :roll:

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,... Valve boss Gabe Newell confirmed that the company intends to offer an optional subscription which will grant members free additional content for Half-Life 2, delivered over the Steam digital distribution system.

Source:

Half-Life 2 article

 

-Mmm, paying for a subscription = FREE ??? Uh, I don't think so!

 

-Moving on to another equally frustrating topic,... another game falls victim to subscription plans. If I were in the business of publishing games I'd certainly see the value in pursuing game subscription pricing, but I'm not a publisher, I'm a gamer,.... and I HATE the idea of paying for subscriptions. The more I have to invest in one game the less I can invest in other games. With a subscription I'd feel like I HAD to play the damn game to get my money's worth. Let me say, I know that the subscription plan in the article I referenced stated that the subsription was optional, but it is clear where publishers would like to go with subscriptions in the furture, ...Mandatory. I would certainly be less likely to purchase a game that I needed a subscription in order to play. I know this topics been ripped on before, but I needed to vent, as it diluted my excitement a bit for the HL2 release, ...just a bit.

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I'll not be taking a subscription either, thanks.

 

Though with Half-Life in particular I can see where Valve would be interested in this; they don't see a penny more when the mod community make it great fun to keep playing their game 5 years after release, rather than everyone shelving it 3 months after completing the 1-player game.

 

By the way, do you still need mod help? PMs for assistance are always welcome.

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they don't see a penny more when the mod community make it great fun to keep playing their game 5 years after release

 

Except that the game continues to sell rather well after 5 years instead of going into the bargin bin and jewel discount racks after a few months.

 

The store I work at sells more copies of Couterstrike than many new releases. I can't imagine how much money Valve has made off of that little experiment.

 

THe most interesting aspect of Valve's Steam venture is that they are giving us the choice to do what we want. I'm sure most of us will be sticking with purchasing the game for $50. Most of us are probably planning to play multiplayer quite a bit, dabble in mods that are being released, and it just makes us more comfortable knowing we have that disc that we can always pop in if we get the urge to play the game.

 

Many people though, are not like that. They buy the game, play through it as quickly as possible and then get rid of it. If they can pay $10 for a one month subscription, download the game and play through it, they'd probably think that was a steal... not to mention that the steam subscription also gives you access to every other Valve product (Including HL, CS, DOD yada yada). If they really wanted to they could play through the original, the sequel, and try out a little MP for $10 and then never worry about it again.

 

My only real concern is that too many options may confuse the consumer. It's already caused some confusion with people who aren't sure what they are or aren't going to be pay, and have to be paying for in the future. Since this is something rather new though, I think that's understandable.

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Ditto what DrunkOld Bastid said.

 

More choices are a good thing, generally. The only concern I have is potential confusion (which DOM brought up). And yeah, if they were proposing a subscription-only model it would make me unhappy.

 

And you're welcome for the title fix, Joel! I couldn't figure out what the hell the title meant, so I changed it to something more descriptive.

 

-j

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I don't know which of these options I would choose, but likely it depends on what is announced. If they announce that TF2 and CS2 are arriving before Xmas over steam, then maybe $10 is a DAMN good deal. But if it is just the HL2 game and some nebulous 'promise' to give future content, forget about it. I'll just buy TF2 or CS2 separately when/if they arrive.

 

Wonder what the Xbox version will support? D/L TF2 for extra money or free over XBL? Microsoft could clean a few clocks with an online deal of that magnitude.

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So is the Costco/Walmart SKU cheaper than the EBX one? It would seem to me that it needs to be at least say $10 less to justify it's existence.

 

I don't know, what the heck was wrong with just releasing the game with all mods on and selling a ton of them for the next 5 years ala HL1? That model worked out pretty darn good for Valve. Then jsut charge for TF2 or whatever as separate games that attach to HL2 down the road.

 

The way I see it, $10 /mo for 24 mo. = $240 == not a very compelling deal.

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So will anyone go the Steam route if it's cheaper and out a week or two earlier? I know I wont. I still like getting the boxes and manuals, not to mention a hard copy of the game.

 

Still hoping it makes the 09/30 release date. I've seen a few interviews recentley that indicate that could still be a possibility. *crosses fingers*

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So will anyone go the Steam route if it's cheaper and out a week or two earlier?

 

Nope.

I don't care much for the box or manual but I don't want to support the subscription model. If it were to catch on we could find ourselves paying for CDs, DVDs, PC software, etc the same way.

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