IGN: Black Box in Pine Box

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The Team over at IGN have recently announced that the next saga of Half Life will only be in Orange. Also mentioned in the fact that both Half Life 2 and EPI 2 will be attached to the Orange box, but not to the Steam ID; allowing people to give the unused games to others.[br]
To get the full low down head over to the IGN article in question.[br]

Cheers to Orisit for the heads up.
 
So we have to buy games we already own in order to get Ep2.

Kinda lame. :|
 
Good move, always thought the Black box was pointless. Now there is much less confusion and very simple for new players to get into it.

Your not paying for the older games really. The 3 games they are offering are worth 50$ They are just adding the extra games for free is the way i see it.
 
Meh, so much for "episodes" being cheaper. So i guess episodic content didn't work after all.


Asuka said:
Your not paying for the older games really. The 3 games they are offering are worth 50$ They are just adding the extra games for free is the way i see it.
Click to expand...

Episode One cost $20. So now I gotta pay $50 for an episode that's just slightly longer, and two other games that's i haven't much interest in? HL2 was a full length game @ 50 bucks.

Half-Life 2 worked nicely, with bronze, silver and gold. They weren't trying to sell us stuff we already had, and doing so is just lame. Maybe if they gave us extra serial codes to online games like DOD or CS that we could give away would make much more sense. And isn't that what's supposed to make steam great? How you can pick and choose what you want, rather than having to buy it fully packaged at retail?
 
Valve should know better then to pull of this sort of trickery.

Is this an example of "Bait-and Switch"?
 
Asuka said:
Your not paying for the older games really. The 3 games they are offering are worth 50$ They are just adding the extra games for free is the way i see it.
Click to expand...
Yeah but they were $40.
 
wtf is this?

Ep2, Portal and TF2 should be available seperately on steam right? If not that is completely retarded. I already own hl2 and ep1, i'm not buying them again, no way!

This sucks valve, where's our box?
 
I can't see the point of this except valve wanting more money. Sad.
 
I am actually a fan of this. My friend has for a long time wanted Half Life 2, which comes with Counter-Strike: Source so therefore I could give it to him.

Hooray!
 
It's all about diminishing returns. If they ship EP2 merely as an expansion pack then they miss out on the opportunity to gain new customers (have you ever bought an expansion pack for a game you didn't already own?). Put HL2, EP1 and EP2 together add a big public release (maybe even some TV spots) coupled with the same product coming out on PS3 and X360 at the same time and they are highly likely to hit the number one spot for a good few weeks and almost certainly draw in new customers who hadn't ever thought to play HL2 before. There are far more gamers out there who haven't played either HL or HL2 than there are those who have. For a fresh user $50 for all those games = good value for money (they are practically giving HL2 away for free tbh).

If you already own HL2 and EP1 and don't want to pay an extra $10 then I'm quite sure EP2 will be available (with Portal & TF2) for standalone purchase Via Steam at a sensible price.
 
Wait wha?? More value by charging us $50 for 5 things, 2 of which we already have??

There are far more gamers out there who haven't played either HL or HL2 than there are those who have.
Click to expand...
I don't think so. Especially for the Episode 2 target market, which is people who have played HL2, Ep1, and want Ep2 and ONLY Ep2.
 
Javert said:
Wait wha?? More value by charging us $50 for 5 things, 2 of which we already have??
Click to expand...

What part of me saying 'good value for a fresh user' didn't you quite get there Javert?

HL2 sold 4 million units, which sounds like a lot, but is less than half the unit sales of WoW and a quarter of the unit sales of Sims2 (and half what the original HL sold)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#PC_2

So yes there are in fact a lot more gamers out there who might well just be tempted to buy the revamped orange box (like some of the 4 million users extra who bought the original HL for instance), than the existing purchased market.
 
Am I the only one that notices this most likely just means retail? There's still the online steam distribution system. It's pretty obvious considering there are no boxes for steam.
 
Am I the only one that notices this most likely just means retail. There's still the online steam distribution system.
Click to expand...

No the package is the same on steam.
 
Javert said:
Irrelevant personal attack. Re-word and I will respond.
Click to expand...

Personal attack? LOL. Get over yourself. You disputed what I said and I highlighted your error. That you're not man enough to acknowledge your error is your problem, not mine. Cry some more on that :dozey:

AHA-Lambda said:
No the package is the same on steam.
Click to expand...

Can you source that statement please. I'm not seeing how they are going to convince their existing steam user base to re buy what they already own. You must have a valid source to support your claim I'd like to see it.

@ Planetary

So you advocate pirating EP2 do you? You'd rather rob them entirely than give them anything?
 
HL2 - Orange Box
Episode 2
Portal
Team Fortress 2
Donations to Valve charity

Lame.

I didn't know you have to pay in installments for HL2 and EP1? So what when episode 3 is released we have to pay for the orange box + any new content yet again?!? EP2 better be buyable separately...
 
Bulletbrain said:
Valve why would I possibly want to pay $10 for games that i've already bought from you ?!?
Click to expand...

Why would you buy the orange box retail when you can get EP2 with TF2 and Portal bundled together through Steam?
 
Kadayi Polokov said:
Why would you buy the orange box retail when you can get EP2 with TF2 and Portal bundled together through Steam?
Click to expand...

Is this possible? I thought when they scrapped the "black box" it meant they scrapped the retail and steam package as well.
 
Why would you buy the orange box retail when you can get EP2 with TF2 and Portal bundled together through Steam?
Click to expand...

You can't that is the black box which is now dead. The packages are the exact same on steam and on disc. Valve wouldn't make a different package they didn't with Ep1 why would they do it now and if the packages were different theyt would have explicitly stated that.
 
AHA-Lambda said:
You can't that is the black box which is now dead. The packages are the exact same on steam and on disc. Valve wouldn't make a different package they didn't with Ep1 why would they do it now and if the packages were different theyt would have explicitly stated that.
Click to expand...

*checks Steam for Package details

Nothing listed so far, which means your entire position is built on assumptions. In the interim I've emailed Gabe Newell (the wonders of the internet) and hopefully we'll get some clarification on the matter. :dozey:

My god ..is this deja Vu :eek:
 
deja vu 2

*checks Steam for Package details

Nothing listed so far, which means your entire position is built on assumptions.
Click to expand...

Of course it is not listed yet!!!! It wasn't listed when valve announced the details of the ep1 package it is only listed on steam when they are ready for preloading!!! And loandbehold the packages where the exact same on retail and on steam!
 
AHA-Lambda said:
Of course it is not listed yet!!!! It wasn't listed when valve announced the details of the ep1 package it is only listed on steam when they are ready for preloading!!! And lo and behold the packages where the exact same on retail and on steam!
Click to expand...

Somehow the inclusion of '!!!' at the end of every line doesn't make me any more convinced that you know what you are talking about, or that your assumptions carry any more weight. If it rained yesterday, does that mean it's going to rain today? I've emailed the weatherman and hopefully he'll get back go me soon so we can get an accurate forecast :dozey:
 
Somehow the inclusion of '!!!' at the end of every line doesn't make me any more convinced that you know what you are talking about, or that your assumptions carry any more weight. If it rained yesterday, does that mean it's going to rain today? I've emailed the weatherman and hopefully he'll get back go me soon so we can get an accurate forecast
Click to expand...

That's because I am really ******* angry.

If someone does buy it on Steam, how do they give the keycodes away to someone else?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think you can because games purchased on steam never require the use of cd keys.
 
The way it seems to be is that the retail black box is being scrapped whereas the steam version is still intact, based on the assumption that although the black box is only the same content as people would get on the Steam release they are still separate entities and so it would appear that only the retail one is being scrapped.
 
Robinhood_01 said:
The way it seems to be is that the retail black box is being scrapped whereas the steam version is still intact, based on the assumption that although the black box is only the same content as people would get on the Steam release they are still separate entities and so it would appear that only the retail one is being scrapped.
Click to expand...

Another voice of reason in a sea of madness (thank god).
 
Argh you dumb ****s. Do you even use your ****ing brains to think?

Look, I'm not gonna argue about much, but I'll point out two facts; The Black Box has been canceled. Oh so you mean to tell me Steam packages come in boxes? What the ****? I haven't received any. And I've not seen a single package on Steam with the word 'box' in it. Second fact - Read the article. Do you get CD keys when you buy a game on Steam? Hell no! And why the **** not? Because they are CD Keys. Get it? CD? See the link? And you can figure out why else not when you remember that accounts -> tied to games. So if you bought it on Steam, you wouldn't have CD keys, and then you can't give out games. Which is why they're probably offering the same package that the Black Box was gonna be on Steam.

Anyway if Steam really doesn't sell that package, just convince a friend to give you 10 US bucks for you to deliver HL2 and Episode 1 to him. Simple enough, now stop whining with three exclamation marks.
 
What bigburpco said.

We'll still be able to purchase Ep2, Porthole and TF2 through steam as a separate package. If not we will be able purchase the games separately.
 
Use your brain people - they're not going to force Steam customers to buy 2 games they already own. Either way, its not exactly expensive is it - you can easily pay the price of the Orange Box for a single game...
 
AHA-Lambda said:
deja vu 2



Of course it is not listed yet!!!! It wasn't listed when valve announced the details of the ep1 package it is only listed on steam when they are ready for preloading!!! And loandbehold the packages where the exact same on retail and on steam!
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, but I've seen an all-Valve package on Steam that I never saw in any shop.
 
That article seems to be refering to the "package" formally known as The Black Box, which could indeed mean that we are having a $10 increase foisted onto us. Aren't you assigned a Steam Product code when you buy online? It doesn't mention a CD-code specifically.

Having said that I would expect that the 3 new titles will be avilable separately at some later date.

It seems that this was a last minute decision, with Valve having just released a commercial for the Black Box in the last week:

http://uk.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6170630
 
so, basicly this is...

one month ago:
Episode Two
Portal
Team Fortress 2
Price: about $50
Steam Community response: yay

Today:
Episode Two
Portal
Team Fortress 2
extra copy of Half-Life 2 and Episode One
Price: $50
Steam Community response: WTF? NO!
 
EP: 1 is out-dated. We bought EP: 1 for $20 because we want to see a NEW game, with NEW technology. Now, EP: 1 is old. It worths no money so I don't care whether it will stick to EP: 2 or not.
 
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