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Half-Life 2 Ship Date Confirmed 353

Posted by CmdrTaco from the some-funky-grammar-in-this-one dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Worthplaying has the scoop on the official going gold of Half-life 2. According to their information it has a confirmed ship/store date of November 16!" Gamespot has details on the ship date as well.
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Half-Life 2 Ship Date Confirmed More

Half-Life 2 Ship Date Confirmed

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  • Oblig Quote (Score:4, Funny)

    by nuclear305 ( 674185 ) * on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:00PM (#10558248)
    "Joygasm!"

  • Nov 17... (Score:5, Funny)

    by peeon ( 743159 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:01PM (#10558254)
    Employee sick day.

    • Re:Nov 17... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by superpulpsicle ( 533373 )
      Actually it's better to wait till you know for sure that your video card drivers can handle the game.... THEN call the sick day.

      Doom III sat on my shelf to collect dust for a month until Catalyst 4.9 was released.

      • Whaaaat. I played Doom III when it was released on my Radeon 9600 256MB card with no problems. Ultra quality @ 1024x768, w/o AA and stuff which I really don't notice anyway b/c I'm too busy playing (and the game is too frickin dark.)

        I didn't even know the 4.9 Catalyst drivers were out until 3 weeks ago

    • Re:Nov 17... (Score:5, Funny)

      by LurkerXXX ( 667952 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:17PM (#10558420)
      More like Employee sick week. I can't believe they are releasing it on a Tuesday. They must be terrorists, they are going to destroy the productivity of the country's workforce for the week. :)

      Ok, so only the productivity of the gamers, but still!

  • I'm still waiting eagerly when the press release for HL2 going gold, goes gold. :)

    Let's go for the gold!

  • Taking the Steam out... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SIGALRM ( 784769 ) * on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:01PM (#10558263) Journal
    "Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles, and we are thrilled to deliver this ground-breaking title to the worldwide gaming community this fall."
    I'm excited about this game... don't get me wrong, but you have to wonder about the effect of Doom 3 getting several months of play in advance of HL2's release and the mod community has been very active so far on Doom. I'll get the game when it comes out, but I've already been wowed by the graphics in Doom 3, so it's taken the Steam (pun intended) out of my thrills for HL2. That said, however, I'm really excited to see the physics (I've played CS Source and as a taste--it's very cool).

    • Re:Taking the Steam out... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by PhrostyMcByte ( 589271 ) <phrosty@gmail.com> on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:10PM (#10558346) Homepage
      From what I've played in Doom 3 and CS:Source and what screenshots I've seen of HL2, it looks like Doom 3 already has superior graphics. However, I suspect HL2 will have much better gameplay because its physics will allow us to interact with the environment. I guess we'll see soon enough.
    • You act as if the only aspect of this game to be exciting about is the graphics engine. What about the storyline, that made the first Half-Life so immersive and good?

      Being "wowed" by a game's graphics goes away in about a week. If there's nothing else behind it, the game kind of fades away in the minds of gamers. Think Unreal 1.

    • Well actually, it may affect me in a different way.
      I bought Doom3 the day it came out, and I found the gameplay to be rather repetitive and dull and repetitive. Eye candy is nice and all, but how many science labs and garages do I have to go through, to finish this thing? Geez.
      Several of my gaming buddies commented independently on the same thing.

      I will still buy HalfLife2, as HL reigns as my all time fave game, but maybe I will wait a few days to hear what other people think, first.

    • Re:Taking the Steam out... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by getch(); ( 164701 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:22PM (#10558475)
      I've played Doom 3. To put it bluntly, it bored me. Sure the graphics were insane, even on a lowly 9500 Pro. Sure the first few monsters popping out of nowhere were cool. And there were some freaky moments. But there's only so much running down dark corridors I can deal with.

      It's all speculation now, but the breadth of experience that HL2 seems to offer should make it far more interesting to me. It's unfortunate that they didn't build in regular deathmatch though. I could do without Counterstrike (gg awp).
    • Big difference: without mods, Doom 3 sucked. HL2, right now, has the potential to not suck.

  • the Press Release (Score:5, Informative)

    by sloshr ( 608388 ) * on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:02PM (#10558270)
    Half-Life(R) 2 to Ship to Retail Outlets Globally This Holiday Season

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced that Half-Life(R) 2, the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed PC titles in gaming history, will ship to retail outlets around the world in November. The Company confirmed that Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Software, has gone gold with a planned retail street date of November 16, 2004. The countdown to the highly anticipated retail street date has begun around the world, as VU Games completes plans to ship localized versions of Half-Life 2 simultaneously in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese.

    "Half-Life 2 has surpassed our expectations in every sense -- its high-quality graphics, ground-breaking physics and immersive first-person shooter gameplay set a new standard for PC action games," said Bruce Hack, CEO of VU Games. Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles, and we are thrilled to deliver this ground-breaking title to the worldwide gaming community this fall."

    Hailed as "...the best game ever made" by PC Gamer, Half-Life 2 earned a top-rated review score of 98, the highest score bestowed by the magazine in more than six years. The game has received numerous accolades for its technical excellence, captivating story and addictive game play, including more than 10 awards and nominations at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo. In addition to being named "Best PC Game" by 1up.com (Ziff Davis) and Gamespy.com, the title also received a "Technological Excellence on PC" award from IGN.com. CNNMoney.com stated that "Half-Life 2 will redefine what gamers expect from their games visually -- and the gameplay is a lot of fun as well."

    The global anticipation for Half-Life 2 has reached unprecedented heights, as consumers around the world mark their calendars to buy the game at retail on November 16th. The Half-Life 2 product will include Counter-Strike: Source. VU Games will also release a Half Life 2 Collector's Edition that will include Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 Prima strategy guide book.

    The original Half-Life game was launched in 1998 under VU Games' Sierra Entertainment publishing label. It earned more than 50 game-of-the-year awards and has been heralded as one of the best PC first-person shooter games of all-time.

    About Half-Life(R) and Half-Life(R) 2 In 1998, Half-Life revolutionized the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. Valve's debut title was named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer and launched a franchise with more than eight million retails units sold worldwide. In 2004, Half-Life 2 will take the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original to new heights of realism and responsiveness. Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environments to the behaviors -- even the emotions -- of both friends and enemies. The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist, Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted and its population dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people -- people he cares about -- are counting on him. The intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology. Source provides major enhancements in the advanced facial animation system, physics, graphics and AI. Half-Life 2 will be available for the PC.

    About Vivendi Universal Games Headquartered in Los Angeles, VU Games is a leading global developer, publisher and distributor of multi-platform inter

  • Nice to hear.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nos. ( 179609 ) <andrew@nOSPAm.thekerrs.ca> on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:02PM (#10558275) Homepage
    Of course CS is the most popular mod, but more people are awaiting other mods such as Natural Selection (my favourite) and DoD, as well as many others. I'm not in a rush to buy since I'm mainly a multiplayer gamer. Though it would be nice to play the game and experience the new engine. I'll probably end up purchasing it in the next little while, though I'll still be playing a lot of Natural Selection on the original HL.

  • I sense.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by rokzy ( 687636 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:03PM (#10558279)
    ...a great disturbance in the force... as if a million geeks shouted with joy...and then realised there's still a month to wait.

  • Brings tears to my eyes... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by orevo ( 697682 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:04PM (#10558287) Homepage
    As Half-Life 2 sits on my computer preloaded, it brings tears to my eyes to hear this. Finally! Anyway, for the curious, if you preloaded from STEAM you still can't play it until Nov 16th unfortunately. You can thank Vivendi for that one, but at least you don't have to go to the store on the 16th, you can just wake up and play after a small download. I know I'm staying up till midnight.

    • Re:Brings tears to my eyes... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by orevo ( 697682 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:13PM (#10558379) Homepage
      Look, a lot of bashing on Valve is going on because people who bought it off STEAM still have to wait, well quit bashing Valve! It's not their fault, it's Vivendi's fault because when you buy off STEAM, they get no portion of the profit. Remember that lawsuit that was going on between Valve and Vivendi? This is why. Now, I for one have been playing CS: Source, and I believe Valve deserves my money. (Even though they are massively late) HL 2 is worth the wait, and worth the money. Vivendi told them they couldn't publish it on STEAM before it hits the street, so Valve can do nothing but comply. So if you are bashing Valve, quit it. Bash Vivendi instead. Otherwise, I recommend buying it off STEAM just to help support Valve.
      • Sorry, it's Valve's fault. They knew what their contracts said, not joe schmoe the half life fan. They heavily implied that those of us who were stupid enough to say "Hey, this new steam thing is great! Why would I ever want a retail copy of a game?" would be able to play the game before it was in the stores.

        It's Vavle's fault for misleading us. Vivendi is just enforcing its contract with Valve.

        • Re:Brings tears to my eyes... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by sgant ( 178166 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:08PM (#10558938) Homepage Journal
          Um...I didn't buy it off of Steam so I can be able to play it before it was in the stores...that never even crossed my mind.

          I bought if off Steam because it's better FOR ME. I don't have to go to a store and buy a physical disk only to have it take up space in my house. It's there, on my HD. Something happen to my HD? I read download it. Problem solved. People want a physical thing they can hold, that's fine for them.

          It comes out Nov. 16...I'll play it on Nov. 16. Also, what is Valve at fault for?

          That's another thing that irks me...people saying "Valve lied to us" and "I'll never trust Valve again!"....trust them with what? Your Bank account? Nuclear secrets? It's a fricken game company, not the end of the world. If the game is good, you buy and play it, if not then who cares? People act like it's a personal thing between Valve and them that Valve is sitting in some room rubbing their hands and laughing "we're so EVIL..muhahahaha!".

          Sorry, but I fail to see what the big deal is about all this.
      • Valve is not entirely without blame here. They were the other half of the group to sign the contract. Valve shouldn't have signed the contract the way it is.
    • hmmmm, makes me wonder, what would happen, say if you were to set your date ahead?

      Does it have to authenticate against the server, or do you think its just waiting there patiently till midnight on the 16/17th?

      I would think they might be afraid of their server slashdotting if it had to authenticate on the 17th...

      just a thought

  • Better than DNF I guess (Score:4, Interesting)

    by TRS-80 ( 15569 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:04PM (#10558289) Homepage Journal
    Only released more than a year after the original release date of September 30, 2003 [planethalflife.com]. Now to buy a new video card (good thing I didn't get a 9800 Pro back when they were released, hey?).

    • Now to buy a new video card (good thing I didn't get a 9800 Pro back when they were released, hey?).


      At 1152x864 with no antialiasing and 4xAniso my 9800 Pro gets around 80fps in the source engine video stress test (all other detail settings maxxed). Same settings in CS Source averages 30-100fps (some dips lower on 40+ player servers). My Athlon 3000 CPU is holding me back, not the 9800 pro.

  • before i RTFA (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Tibor the Hun ( 143056 )
    does anyone know when the steam downloads will be unlocked/available?
    the same day?

  • Sick day (Score:2, Funny)

    by Colonoh ( 791964 )
    I wonder if I'll be sick from school that day...

  • This is the sound.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:06PM (#10558318)
    of a million voices going silent and then nerdgasming...

  • and (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anubis350 ( 772791 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:07PM (#10558323)
    in other news: hell freezes over, devil reports that snowballs make excellent torure devices.

    pigs fly: new species of pigs found with butterfly like wings

    and a /.er gets laid: "OMG man, it was actually better than coding perl at 1 in the morning!!!!!!"

  • seems like a long time between gold and ship date. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sTalking_Goat ( 670565 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:09PM (#10558333) Homepage
    I mean isn't it usually about 2 weeks?

    anyway, I give it 72 hours to show up on suprnova

  • love you long time (Score:5, Funny)

    by unknowns ( 799192 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:09PM (#10558334)
    Half-Life 2 Collector's Edition which includes Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 strategy guide from Prima.

    No wonder it took so long to release. They have a marketing woody.

  • Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cablepokerface ( 718716 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:09PM (#10558339)
    Boy, I really hope this game delivers, cause months after the doom 3 release people finally dare to admit that the game simply did not deliver without being called a troll. And that's an understatement; big parts of the game were simply no fun at all. Just an ordinary shooter with nothing new and different aside from the fact that it just looked damn pretty.

    I can't wait for HL 2, Carmack has left allot of open territory.

    • Re:Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gothzilla ( 676407 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:19PM (#10558449)
      I don't think Doom3 was trying to be anything but a pretty version of Doom. Kind of like when they re-did Godzilla in 1998. You already know the story. You already know the monster. Here's just a prettier view of him. Anyone who expected more got dissapointed. Those of us who understood that all it was, was a pretty version of Doom enjoyed the hell out of the game.

      • Re:Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 (Score:5, Insightful)

        by GoofyBoy ( 44399 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:31PM (#10558556) Journal
        Thats just a cop-out.

        If they wanted it to make a "prettier Doom 2", they would have labeled it "Doom 2 - Remixed" or just released the same maps with different textures/a more advanced engine.
        • All I remember before it came out, was hearing about how pretty the graphics were and how it was like "an interactive horror movie."
          Nobody watches horror movies for the intricate storylines, and if all you hear is talk about the physics engine, graphic quality, and impressive sound, you should know better than to expect a great storyline. :)

        • Re:Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 (Score:5, Insightful)

          by jusdisgi ( 617863 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @07:51PM (#10560891)

          Horseshit.

          id has never been heavy on innovations in storyline or gameplay or anything like that. It's all about the engine to them. How much money did they make selling Quake3? How much did they make selling the Quake3 engine?

          (I'll give you a hint. You'll need to move your decimal point.)

          I predict they won't make nearly as much off Doom3 as they will off the Doom3 engine. It doesn't require any kind of storyline to do that. So why would they put one in?

          That said, I've not yet played an id game that wasn't a helluvalot of fun, for what it was.

          • >It doesn't require any kind of storyline to do that. So why would they put one in?

            They market it as a single person GAME. Not a single person engine or a single person technical-exerise-in-what-a-game-could-be.

            This is in a Games section of slashdot, not in IT, not in "cool engines".

            Thats nice that they look at it as an engine, so why didn't they sell it as one?

            Thats nice that they make alot of money, but we are talking about the quality of Doom 3, the game. Does the fact that they made $X suddenly
      • Those of us who understood that all it was, was a pretty version of Doom enjoyed the hell out of the game

        I understood that perfectly well but was still very disappointed because it was such a BORING game... I know there's not supposed to be a good or unique plot and you're just going around killing zombies... it looked so freaking good but got old very fast. After less than 5 hours of play I wanted to completely stop playing because I was so bored. Some of hte levels were pretty cool and it was pretty cre
      • Like Doom III, the remake of Godzilla was technically superior. But despite it's enhanced effects, it lost the charm of the original.

        In both cases, the "flawed" execution gave the game a certain suspension of disbelief. The "grand and new" remakes were just plain unbelievable. A digitally perfect lizard running amok in a digitally perfect New York makes you realize how completely bogus the whole thing is. The amount of food that would be required to sustain a creature of that size with that level of activ

      • Godzilla was a HE? Didn't Godzilla lay an egg in "Son of Godzilla?". :^D

    • uh? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by solios ( 53048 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:44PM (#10558685) Homepage
      "looked damned pretty" and "left allot of open territory." ?!

      Carmack's the graphics system programmer, not the game designer. If it looks damned pretty, then he did his job, and he did it damned well. If the game gets tedious or boring at times, well... that's not HIS fault in the least.
    • I think I expected too much from D3. I got it a few weeks ago, (I really can't afford to buy them as they come out) and I'm playing it now.

      It's scaring the crap out of me at every turn, but it's not engrossing. D3's great to look at, but I can remember playing Doom2 starting after dinner and, after what seemed like a few minutes, blinking at the window, wondering why the hell the moon was so bright. Remember shutting it down, and seeing the "playtime" number? That was depressing sometimes. Same thing happen

  • Brrr (Score:3, Funny)

    by DeathByDuke ( 823199 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:10PM (#10558355)
    It's bloody cold down here in Hell. If Duke Nukem Forever goes Gold I'm moving to South America.

    The Devil.

  • hermione dies in half-life 2 (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:14PM (#10558392)
    *WARNING* spoiler in subject

  • Counter Strike (Score:3, Funny)

    by AviLazar ( 741826 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:15PM (#10558394) Journal
    I have counter strike available to me so I am happier then someone doing their first line of cocaine :D
  • Luckily I will be able to play this all thanksgiving break, and beat it before finals :)

  • Not enough sick days... (Score:5, Funny)

    by GweeDo ( 127172 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:15PM (#10558403) Homepage
    Nov 9th = Halo 2 Sick Day Nov 15th = Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Sick Day Nov 16th = Half Life 2 Sick Day Nov 22nd = Nintendo DS Sick Day I just think my boss might figure it out....

  • FYI (Score:5, Informative)

    by GarfBond ( 565331 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:17PM (#10558417)
    Steam purchases do not unlock until the very same day that the game releases in stores. This means that, assuming they make their expected ship date (hurry up on printing those CDs VUG!), HL2 will unlock on Steam on Nov 16 (probably at 8am or something) as well. Of course, CS:S is available on Steam right now...

    If you've already got an ATIHL2 voucher, redeem it through steam to get your Bronze edition free (HL2 + CS:S).

    Another reminder: Steam does not include physical hard copies. Everything is a digital download from Steam. That being said, there is nothing that prevents you from copying and burning the steam cache files elsewhere so you don't have to redownload several GB of stuff on a reformat or whatever. The exception is the Gold package, which has a lot of physical goodies that are shipped to you (but not the game itself).

    Don't forget to mail your HL2 postcard from the Gold package to 3drealms :)

  • Great News (Score:5, Funny)

    by Llevar ( 788850 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:18PM (#10558432)
    It means the leak is at most a week away.

  • The Bungie Effect (Score:4, Funny)

    by tlon ( 154006 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:19PM (#10558446) Homepage
    I wonder if they use the same manufacturing facilities as Bungie's Halo 2? If so, we should be seeing the "0-day" copy floating around any minute now...
  • Nov. 16th is my gf's birthday!!! I'll give her a present, go to a fine little restaurant, and while she'll talk about how nice our relation is, I'll hear this voice in my head: "What are you doing here, Mr. Freeman?"

    This is torture!

  • Who cares? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by jayhawk88 ( 160512 )
    What I want to know is, when is a new TFC going to be available?
  • I'll be in Asia at that time... grrr

    Ah well, maybe I can just buy the Chinese Edition for a few dollars, just for the HL2 box in Chinese writing... ;)
  • Now I'm gonna have to complete Halo 2 in a week, and I can only play in the evenings as I have used all my holidays up.

    Time for a fortnight long sicky methinks

    CJC
  • Not that this release date was a huge surpise or anything, but I called it!

    http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=123249 &c id=10365703

  • 6 to 1 odds (Score:4, Funny)

    by Pugflop ( 797868 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:39PM (#10558623) Homepage
    It gets pushed back. Any takers? I'm good for 6 new DVD-R's ;).

  • ATI Coupon (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DeadBugs ( 546475 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:39PM (#10558626) Homepage
    I wonder if anyone has the ATI coupon for HL2 but no longer have the ATI vid card?

  • Umm... (Score:4, Funny)

    by daemon_mf ( 786046 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:07PM (#10558921)
    Is.. is this a dupe? I swear I've heard this story before.

  • STEAM and release dates (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Mean_Nishka ( 543399 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:18PM (#10559016) Homepage Journal
    I realize there are reasons for delaying the steam release until the physical copy is out, but I do hope that future electronic releases will be available the minute they've gone gold.

    The entire promise of electronic distribution is that you don't need to wait for manufacturing and distribution to get the product available nationally (or internationally). Having to wait for 'release dates' is silly..

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