Orange Box Turns Gold

Dr. Eggman writes "GameDaily.com announces that at long last, Half-Life: The Orange Box has gone gold. The release date has been set for October 10th. Although Valve recently announced that the company shall reevaluate episodic content, Newell has spoken to CVG, reassuringly stating that there is lots of Half-Life left at Valve. Expect more interesting stories like Portal to come out of Valve as they trickle out what they refer internally to as 'The [Half-Life] Bible.'"

And yet, it is being held back for North America

[Guspaz]

The Orange Box launches on October 5th in Europe.

It launches in North America on October 9th, and October 10th on Steam.

It looks like digital distribution hasn't changed a thing when it comes to arbitrary launch dates that have nothing to do with a products readiness.

Cheaper

[AlphaDrake]

This really only works for Canadians, but you can purchase it online for the American price (~$45?) instead of buying it in store for ~$70

Re:*YAWN*

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd pay $45 for Team Fortress 2 alone, it's been that fun. And I didn't like the original Team Fortress mods. Episode 2 and Portal only make the Orange box that much of a sweeter deal. Unless you really want to play it on a console, I'd look into the PC version.

Re:Uh, where is the PS3 version ?

[DrXym]

This isn't exactly anything new, Valve has been very transparent on the disaster that is developing for the PS3. Just try a simple Google search.

If there is a reason for the PS3 being delayed (and who says it is?), it might have something to do with the fact that the Source engine was written against DirectX. The PS3 uses OpenGL for graphics and has other APIs for things such as sound, controllers etc. Consequently the engine needs a virtual rewrite irrespective. And who says they need SPUs, or that even if they did that they'd be utilised significantly in a game engine which has been predominantly single threaded throughout most of its life?

Perhaps Valve should have the foresight to make their engine more portable to begin with rather than bitch that a system (be it Linux, Mac, PS3, Wii or whatever) DARES to not use Microsoft proprietary APIs.

Re:For all the Orange Box Haters out There

[Anonymous Coward]

The individual prices are highly inflated in order to make the Orange Box look like a good deal to the easily mislead.

Re:Uh, where is the PS3 version ?

[neverhadachoice]

Development for PS1 and PS2 were a goddamn nightmare too. Why should PS3 be any different?