Half Life 2 EP3 To Debut VGA 2009?

[General Jewel]

This seems like a good oppurtunity for Valve to finally release a teaser trailer and announce the game, There is alot of games that will be announced that day, Some we don't know and may be a suprise so is EP3 one of them? also Halo Reach first look will be BIG also.

Valve HOW LONG?!

 

[Ren.182]

When is VGA?

I don't think they'll release anything on it this year, too soon after L4D2, plus they've got some TF2 stuff on the way it seems. They'll probably wait for another big event next year, E3?

 

[General Jewel]

VGA 2009 is on December 12th on Spike TV 8.00pm is your from USA. You can vote here.

Damn E3 is far away...how long?! Well I don't mind if it takes long as long as its amazing since they working on it for ages. Hopefully when it comes it will be somthing spectacular.

 

[kupocake]

They've taken some exclusive media (though not a game reveal) to VGA before. Would be nice if they revealed the next Half-Life game on something that wasn't shit though.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Yeah, VGA doesnt seem like the kind of event that Valve would reveal EP3 on. More likely to be E3 or TGS.

 

[kupocake]

More likely to be E3 or TGS.

TGS doesn't even get a look in. It's not like there is no Japanese market for Valve / PC / 360 games, but why on earth would they chose to announce in that little niche?

 

[henno13]

I wish, but they have already confirmed the features, MoH for example, so EP3 won't be @ VGA. It will be at E3 2010, I am sure of it.......

I want to be sure

 

[Story]

2009 is done.

There will be nothing till 2010.

 

[BillNyeGuy]

Yeah I don't think valve and VGA/Spike mix. I think games like Call of Duty and Halo work well with that target audience.

Half LIfe games tend to be smarter then those games and also,I feel, tend to be less known in gaming groups like those who watch Spike tv.

I am still rooting for a nice small clip or teaser video during the Christass-New Year week.:bounce::angel:

 

[Omnomnick]

L4D2 has just been released, and something big is coming for TF2 - I don't think much of Valve is concentrating on EP3 at the moment. And even so, Valve stated they hoped to get a trailer out before the end of last year around this time, look what happened to that. A full year of silence.

 

[superluser]

From a marketing perspective, it would not make sense to release information about Episode 3 now, since that would make some people wait rather than buy Left 4 Dead 2 for Christmas. And unless they have a product available by then, that wouldn't help their bottom line. Even then, they're unlikely to release information about Episode Three until well into the new year, since that way, they'll be able to put trade-ins and other sources of delayed Christmas revenue to work for Left 4 Dead 2.

That said, Episode Three seemed to have been in the later planning stages back in June (it was far enough along that Newell was willing to talk about it publicly), so I suspect that it could be ready for release well before E3, unless they went back to add in more features between then and now.

From what I can tell, things tend not to be launched at E3 (e.g. Left 4 Dead 2 got a teaser at E3 and was released in November), and that suggests that they might choose to show something else further in the future at E3 rather than choosing to sit for several more months on a finished product.

I have a strong suspicion that we'll see something at the GDC.

 

[leib10]

We won't see anything until at least E3 2010.

 

[superluser]

We won't see anything until at least E3 2010.

In light of what leib10 said, let me clarify what I meant. If Valve announces Ep.3 at E3, they will almost certainly wait until Q4 2010 to release it. If they want to release it before, they'll have to make some sort of announcement in Q1, and the GDC is almost perfectly positioned to do that. If Ep3 comes out in 2010, I would put money on Valve making the announcement at either of those places, but I don't know which is more likely.

 

[Põlvamaa]

I have lost all hope regarding EP3 so meh.

 

[MiccyNarc]

I think EP3 has turned into HL3. :-\ Which means another 5 years.

 

[BillNyeGuy]

Well if Valve decides to release new information for the first time at E32010...then I feel we are looking for a game release maybe in late 2011.

Valve needs a lot of time to advertise and get peoples attention since it has been so long. Releasing new information for the first time in E3 and then 2 months later releasing the game would be a horrible decision from a marketing standpoint. Its been so long since HL fans have played a new game and some probably forgot or are not aware of the new game. Plus they would want to also attract new players...

which makes me feel we might be getting a Orange Box 2.0...with hopefully Episode 3, Counter Strike 2, and Portal 2, and MAYBE all the previous other hl games for new gamers.:afro:

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

The game is vaporware.

 

[kupocake]

2 years for vapourware? This is not my beautiful house!

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

2 years for vapourware? This is not my beautiful house!

No, it isn't your beautiful house. IN FACT IT ISN'T A HOUSE AT ALL! YOU'VE BEEN LIED TO! THIS IS GILBERT GOTTFRIED'S WHORE HOUSE IN RENO, NEVADA!

 

[superluser]

Well if Valve decides to release new information for the first time at E32010...then I feel we are looking for a game release maybe in late 2011.

Whoa, that's a little bit too long.

Left 4 Dead, for example, was first announced in November 2006, and it was released on November 2008. That was a completely new title, and that was 24 months, with a company acquisition in the middle.

Left 4 Dead 2 was first announced in June. That's June of this year. So that was 6 months from announcement to shelves.

Closer to home, Episode One was announced in February 2006, and hit shelves in June 2006. That's 4 months. Episode 2 was announced in July 2006, and came out in October 2007. That's 15 months.

We know they're making Episode 3, we've known that since 2006, and they've been giving us some morsels all along. The deaf character, for example, was discussed in August. Given Valve's past behavior, they'll probably try to release the game within 12 months of the announcement.

which makes me feel we might be getting a Orange Box 2.0...with hopefully Episode 3, Counter Strike 2, and Portal 2, and MAYBE all the previous other hl games for new gamers.:afro:

Now that is wishful thinking. Have Valve even confirmed that they're doing a full-on sequel to Portal?

 

[Stigmata]

They've hinted. They would have to be insane to not develop a sequel.

 

[superluser]

They've hinted. They would have to be insane to not develop a sequel.

I agree, but I doubt that Valve would release a sequel to Portal in 2010 without at least confirming that they're making a sequel in 2009.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

They're already working on another Portal.

 

[Paulaner]

They've hinted. They would have to be insane to not develop a sequel.

Talking about Portal, that's what I hate about Valve at this moment: a lot of focus and attention on L4D and TF2, hats, updates, the War and so on, and Portal never had one single official map pack, or expansion, or DLC, or whatever. It was praised by critics, it was one the most original games in years, but Valve just let it down.
And now Kim Swift is leaving the company. Maybe it doesn't mean nothing, but I'm becoming distrustful about Valve's priorities.

 

[huntingbear]

Talking about Portal, that's what I hate about Valve at this moment: a lot of focus and attention on L4D and TF2, hats, updates, the War and so on, and Portal never had one single official map pack, or expansion, or DLC, or whatever. It was praised by critics, it was one the most original games in years, but Valve just let it down.
And now Kim Swift is leaving the company. Maybe it doesn't mean nothing, but I'm becoming distrustful about Valve's priorities.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

wut do you think

 

[Paulaner]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

wut do you think

Of course it's all about money, but call me a dreamer...

 

[superluser]

Portal never had one single official map pack, or expansion, or DLC, or whatever.

There is Still Alive. Besides, how unusual is this for Valve? You've got Lost Coast for HL2, but what else do you have in terms of DLC for any of the Half Life games?

 

[Xaxor]

DLC for Portal is a little hard to imagine. It's self contained unlike multiplayer games and such.

We know there will be a Portal 2 since Valve had the casting call for a voice actor quite a while back.

I don't believe we will see a Counter-Strike 2, maybe ever. From what I've seen, 1.6 is still stupidly popular. What exactly could be done to improve the game?

I think EP3 has turned into HL3. :-\ Which means another 5 years.

Since they've had 2 years (2007), that would leave 3, right? Unless a new engine is being built.

 

[Captain M4d]

It makes me wonder...if you can get enough people to boycott L4D2 and catch Valve's attention, could you do the same for information about EP3?

It's not that I can't wait to play the game, but some in-game screenshots or any kind of information besides concept art would be are a bit overdue now.

 

[Paulaner]

DLC for Portal is a little hard to imagine.

Portal is a short puzzle game, so I was expecting expansions and new maps from Valve, not necessarily free. I may be wrong but I remember reading something from Newell about this, right after the Orange Box came out.
Sorry for the OT.

 

[superluser]

We know there will be a Portal 2 since Valve had the casting call for a voice actor quite a while back.

Also, Kim Swift accidentally told us that it was going to happen, but they haven't been talking about it officially.

Unlike Portal, however, Episode 3 has been discussed since Episode 1, and it certainly won't come as a surprise to anyone. We've seen art and had information about Ep 3 that we just don't have for Portal 2.

I don't believe we will see a Counter-Strike 2, maybe ever. From what I've seen, 1.6 is still stupidly popular. What exactly could be done to improve the game?

Since they've had 2 years (2007), that would leave 3, right? Unless a new engine is being built.

My sneaking suspicion is that we'll see CounterStrike 2 when Half Life 3 comes out, and that there will be a significant change in the game engine at that point. Source is 5 years old now, and will be 6 by the time Episode 3 is released. That's about the age of GoldSrc when Source was released.

Half Life 3, if it happens, won't come out for at least another four years (and that's being very optimistic). Source will be showing its age by that time.

 

[huntingbear]

everybody needs to stop saying "Ep3 will just turn into HL3"

 

[BillNyeGuy]

I just remember hearing rumors awhile back of a new counter strike game, so I just assumed it was going to be CS2. It has been awhile and CS: Source is kinda looking a bit outdated.

As for Portal 2...I definitely remember hearing rumors of a sequel after the Orange Box was released...it's been awhile since then so if its near completion, it would make sense they release it with Episode 3 and not as a competing game.

Its kinda crazy that they haven't even released just one small picture or piece of information since the few promotional art pieces they did awhile back and the news of sign language being used in the game. Even a small fact like how many game play hours the game is right now wouldn't be bad...it wouldn't give any plot information away and it would help answer our questions of how long this game is and why they are taking so long.

I think I might email Gabe (for the first time:thumbs just to make sure they are working on the game and not halted production because they are out of ideas or have writers block

 

[DEATH eVADER]

When is VGA?

I don't think they'll release anything on it this year, too soon after L4D2, plus they've got some TF2 stuff on the way it seems. They'll probably wait for another big event next year, E3?

I thought Valve say they hate E3, or at least prefer other conventions

 

[superluser]

As for Portal 2...I definitely remember hearing rumors of a sequel after the Orange Box was released...it's been awhile since then so if its near completion, it would make sense they release it with Episode 3 and not as a competing game.

Given that Valve has not released any information at all about Portal 2, I strongly doubt that we'll see Portal 2 in 2010, and as such, it will not compete with Ep 3 (assuming that Ep 3 is released in 2010).

Its kinda crazy that they haven't even released just one small picture or piece of information since the few promotional art pieces they did awhile back and the news of sign language being used in the game. Even a small fact like how many game play hours the game is right now wouldn't be bad...it wouldn't give any plot information away and it would help answer our questions of how long this game is and why they are taking so long.

I'll say it again. They cannot release any new information about Ep 3 right now. Doing so would risk having people think that Ep 3 is coming out soon and consequently wait to buy it rather than buy Left 4 Dead 2. This would not be an issue if it weren't so close to Christmas, but Valve (and any sensible company) would want a game released this close to Christmas to be the only one they talk about.

 

[Avoidist]

I get that argument, but frankly I don't completely agree with it. If there is any news regarding Episode 3, so long as it is given without a release date or an estimate that is well into next year, then that will add net popularity to Valve in general and might alert people to their other games, i.e. by going on to this website and having a look around. It's quite possible that there are many fans of Half-Life and Portal that have never heard of the L4D series since they are games that came out after the Orange Box.

 

[kupocake]

I'll say it again. They cannot release any new information about Ep 3 right now.

You're having to say it twice because people don't really understand how anyone could ever believe what you have said. People don't ration games out to themselves in the utterly bizarre way you envisage. If a computerised version of the second coming was announced, people would go 'great, something to look forward to' and carry on with what they were doing. The world doesn't stop spinning when a games developer announces a game.

It should also not be news to you that people who actually care about advance release information and previews are in a very small minority of those who actually purchase a product, and that the overlap between 'people who've seen media X' and 'people who can name the exact release date of product X' is almost total.

What you're saying does have a couple of truths in it - Valve would avoid tackling two products at once, and would be unlikely to do anything at all past November. But that's to do with their marketing resources and people's total apathy, during the Christmas period, to anything they can't buy there and then (which is the exact opposite of what you are saying). Not because people are binary consumer machines who malfunction when two products will be available in the same market at some time the future.

 

[superluser]

What you're saying does have a couple of truths in it - Valve would avoid tackling two products at once, and would be unlikely to do anything at all past November. But that's to do with their marketing resources and people's total apathy, during the Christmas period, to anything they can't buy there and then (which is the exact opposite of what you are saying). Not because people are binary consumer machines who malfunction when two products will be available in the same market at some time the future.

I'll admit that I may be wrong, but it's not really a model of what the consumer thinks, but what marketers may think a certain subset of consumers think. I know that similar theories exist for marketing of other products, so it's not too far-fetched to think that these theories might be used (appropriately or not) for marketing games.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

They'll probably show some things come summer or possibly later, during 2010. However, its merely speculation at this moment, obviously.

 

[McGooTheWise]

I'll admit that I may be wrong, but it's not really a model of what the consumer thinks, but what marketers may think a certain subset of consumers think. I know that similar theories exist for marketing of other products, so it's not too far-fetched to think that these theories might be used (appropriately or not) for marketing games.

Give me a photograph of your official Marketing degree and Ill agree with you. Until you can do that, I think anything anybody in this thread has said is just speculation, and either way, one side is going to be proven guilty, and we're getting the game sooner or later anyway. Just wait and see what they have. Whatever it is, it's valve, and I'm sure we'll all be impressed.