I think this is front page worthy:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/336539/valve-making-sure-games-are-baked-before-announcement-says-gabe/
Basically he says that he wants Valve to have a more complete package ready before announcement. I can see his point here imo.
Edit: Fine then.
Don't get your hopes up but this has been doing the rounds:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/02/valve-employee-wears-half-life-3-shirt-trolls-internet/
Of course, it could not be a Valve employee and its easy to make a shirt. Plus shouldn't the 3 be in the corner and the lambda symbol in the...
Officially the PC beta goes Open at 1PM GMT today, the timer says 1 and a half hours to go. PS3 version is already rocking and looks quite impressive imo. Like everyone else I'm not completely sold on Metro, I was expecting more of that "Go anywhere, find a nice spot to get good kills" but then...
(tried to word the title so I wouldn't get people completely excited)
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/307737/news/valve-to-show-new-game-in-august/
CVG have confirmed that Valve will be appearing at Gamescom this year. Whether or not that means a new game or another seminar on games...
The best way for Microsoft to counteract this would be to offer similar or a better deal.
However with the way it handled Kinect and casual gaming, I don't think market research is a strong point of theirs.