March 15th?

[ShinRa]

Ok my friend has a magazine called Computer Games (unique name huh). And its always been right on the dot with release dates and such. Well, much to my surprise, I flipped through the release dates of March, and lord and behold Half-Life 2 was there. Set for March 15th. They allegedlly have spoken directly with Valve. Does anyone else buy into this bullshit? Or, by some mircale of god, can it be true?

 

[kaf11]

every other release date given by any other source has been made up so far, so im not buying this one.

 

[invis]

The magazine is nice, however

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Guinny, surely you've been around long enough to know that every piece of information regarding release dates is untrue. Especially if the date came from the mouth of Doug Lombardi

:imu:

 

[Pauly]

lol yea....doug nice one with the european thing heh u got us mad
I doubt the date is true...but if they talked with valve...who knows??? mayb valve was thinking CS:Cz lol...lets wait and see what teh magazine says

 

[csmighty1]

guinny, tisk tisk on you! Believing in relaease dates is a mortal sin. You knew that right?

 

[ShinRa]

But it wasn't like the lame ass shit we've been hearing lately like "april -insert random day here-" or "summer release." This was a concrete date which a trusted company said they received direct from Valve. Thats why im a bit hesitant to say its complete bullshit.

 

[Letters]

That'd be GREAT! OOOOOOHHFFFF!

 

[Non-Sequitur]

But it wasn't like the lame ass shit we've been hearing lately like "april -insert random day here-" or "summer release." This was a concrete date which a trusted company said they received direct from Valve. Thats why im a bit hesitant to say its complete bullshit.

But it is complete bullshit. We would KNOW if the game was going to be out in a week.

 

[OCybrManO]

Considering that:

1) They only have a week to hit this supposed release date.
2) Valve hasn't said anything about HL2 in a long while.
3) CS: CZ is being released 10 days after this supposed release date... and Vivendi would be shooting themselves in the foot to release HL2 before CZ.
4) The game hasn't gone gold (or we just weren't told about it).
5) Magazine info can range anywhere from a couple of weeks old to over a month old. By the time the magazine hit the shelves the information would have spread all over the HL2 web sites (assuming that it wasn't an exclusive story) if Valve had released it and it had not been made up by the magazine.

... one can come to the conclusion that this is just another rumor.

 

[Interitus]

I'm not going to believe it until I walk into EB Games and see an empty rack that says "HL2 FINALLY HERE!" and dissheveled EB employees by the counter trying to catch their breath.

 

[jet jaguar]

There's just no way I see HL2 coming out until this fall at the earliest. I have no faith in Steam and I have no reason to believe Valve is rushing to get this game out anytime 'soon'.

 

[ZoSo]

There's just no way I see HL2 coming out until this fall at the earliest. I have no faith in Steam and I have no reason to believe Valve is rushing to get this game out anytime 'soon'.

Wow, what in the world are you basing your reasoning on? This fall? What facts led you to believe it will be another 6 months. And to say that Valve is not trying to get the game out as soon as they can is just ridiculous.

Think about this. Valve says Sept. 30th, they miss it, and for several months they are reluctant to mention another target date. Then recently Doug says "This Summer." Valve now knows what happens when you miss a release date like they did. People get pissed, and complain, and write emails all day. So why would they now say "This Summer" and not be sure that they game will be out This summer.

As a matter of fact. I think they could release the game now if they wanted to, and it would be excellent. They're just putting on the finishing touches so that it really shines, as to make up for the wait.

 

[jet jaguar]

Lombardi says a lot of stuff and never follows up. Remember the SDK being released 'soon'. How about when he said we should expect to see new TF2 info 'in the coming weeks'? Lombardi's word is worthless imo. The reason I don't see HL2 coming out this summer is because I don't think Steam's problems are going to be completely worked out by then. If the CS:CZ release goes flawlessly then I'm wrong and we'll see HL2 in the summer. If the CS:CZ release hits snags then look for HL2 in the fall 2004 or early 2005.

 

[Quixote]

Jeebus ZoSo, they've missed like 3 release dates so far what's one more ambiguous summer release date going to be. Unfortuanatly, since they're being so tight lipped about everything they could be doing anything from rebuilding the game to putting finishing touches on it.

I gotta agree with OCybrManO on this one they're not going to release for a while yet.
Although, since Vivendi Games is in a bit of a pickle financially I think as soon as they see CS:CZ do the painful bellyflop of lackluster sales we'll see HL2 very soon after.

 

[WaterMelon34]

Read the sig:

 

[epsil0n]

Wow, what in the world are you basing your reasoning on? This fall? What facts led you to believe it will be another 6 months. And to say that Valve is not trying to get the game out as soon as they can is just ridiculous.

Think about this. Valve says Sept. 30th, they miss it, and for several months they are reluctant to mention another target date. Then recently Doug says "This Summer." Valve now knows what happens when you miss a release date like they did. People get pissed, and complain, and write emails all day. So why would they now say "This Summer" and not be sure that they game will be out This summer.

As a matter of fact. I think they could release the game now if they wanted to, and it would be excellent. They're just putting on the finishing touches so that it really shines, as to make up for the wait.

lol... what reasoning? oh come on man, anyone can see his reasoning... 6 months is nothing.... the game has already been delayed 6 months ALREADY and thats even AFTER a more than ever promised release date. we dont even have a release date yet so think what the possibilities are? lol...

also.. ur wrong on valve not trying to get it outa the door. they know for a damn fact that releasing HL2 over steam right now would NEVER work... look at the last update.. only a small amount of data to each user and bam.. everything goes down... everything stops working, some systems are trashed, forums are down and all time halts for steam users........how are they supposed to transfer HL2 on steam when its been rumored whether or not itll be on a DVD disc or two disks??..

oh and Valve knowing dissapointed customers?...hehe.. they know em very well... theyve missed how many product release dates so far total??....lol..

however i think the game probably IS damn near completed or good enough and IF they decided to ship it purely retail would be a great game... i love what they do.. i just wish they were a lil better on the PR aspects...
sigh... at the VERY least they should just come outa radio silence..

/off to start a petition

-Epsil0n

 

[Navy Man]

god i hope they have an awesome sky lik stalker does, those clouds were amazing eh !

 

[Tork]

god i hope they have an awesome sky lik stalker does, those clouds were amazing eh !

Yeah I agree with you there buddy :cheers: just add stalker clouds and it will all be good. One thing that makes stalker so good is the clouds and how it becomes day and night and how the sun shines right through it, it looks godly, if they can add that to hl2 then :thumbs:

 

[Gossoon]

March 15th?? That's insane. One week? Impossible.
Here's the rule of thumb on HL2 release dates:
Take whatever today's date is and add six months
Ad infinitum

 

[Falcon(Nate)]

The last Steam update was NOT a small amount of data. Compared to the expected size of HL2, the update was small. But some of the downloads for offline play were pretty good sized.

I've had no problems with Steam (other than friends not signing in because their servers are bogged) for quite a while. I'm pretty happy with it. They'll definitely need more servers for HL2 release though.

 

[Styloid]

I can't believe that it would be released without Valve building up some hype. If Valve did say anything, I wish they would just shut up and work on the game. This is the kind of thing that would give them a bad reputation.

 

[Frank]

Jesus Christ...
I ain't believing ANYTHING until Gabe tells me straight to my face....NEVER!

 

[Typhon]

considering they plan on showcasing hl2 again at e3, which is mid-may....

 

[Maxi]

/me is a non beliver.

Naaah, I don't think thats true. Im still hoping for sept 30 2004.

 

[[daniom]]

Cant be true! because CS:CZ is getting out 25 March, and the 15th? If so no one will buy CZ

 

[SidewinderX]

we would have know if it had gone gold....

 

[perrkele]

Epsil0n, the problems with the latest steam update were due to a DDOS attack (www.steampowered.com). Steam has been working pretty well for quite a long time now, maybe the BitTorrent guy they hired has worked his magic with Steam? But just like someone on the last page said, it all depends on how well the release of CS:CZ goes. If everything runs smooth as silk (doubtful but hey who knows), I'm sure we'll be seeing HL2 in summer. Probably a month or two after E3, hype, hype, hype etc.

 

[frances_farmer]

HALF LIFE 2 WONT COME OUT BEFORE CS: CZ

how many times. its bad marketing. and as far as i know CZ is set for late March. There, myth dispelled.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

A few facts:
1) SDK will be released soon?
2) Doug said 'hoping for a summer release', however thats their latest release date I reckon (It could be released earlier)
3) The preview of the HalfLife 2 website
4) CS CZ released about the same time as HL2 (The engine has probably been improved for CZ)
5) STEAM improved (like I give a damn)
6) The SOURCE engine has been passed on to other developers in the last months (even though Valve should of been fixing it?)

I believed that valve had backups for the SOURCE, but lost many map content during the hack, so spent most of the time recreating the maps

 

[Dougy]

A few facts:
1) SDK will be released soon?
2) Doug said 'hoping for a summer release', however thats their latest release date I reckon (It could be released earlier)
3) The preview of the HalfLife 2 website
4) CS CZ released about the same time as HL2 (The engine has probably been improved for CZ)
5) STEAM improved (like I give a damn)
6) The SOURCE engine has been passed on to other developers in the last months (even though Valve should of been fixing it?)

I believed that valve had backups for the SOURCE, but lost many map content during the hack, so spent most of the time recreating the maps

No............

Get some1 else to explain cos i cant be bothered anymore.

 

[sharp]

I believed that valve had backups for the SOURCE, but lost many map content during the hack, so spent most of the time recreating the maps

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

:|

 

[mbrithoms]

A few facts:

they didnt have any map content during the hack, so spent most of the time finishing the maps

thats more like it

 

[Impulse147]

I have a reliable vivendi resource that tells me late may-early june, if u ask me thats summer time.

 

[63]

Doesn't BF:V ship on March 15?

 

[frances_farmer]

ships on march 16th

 

[Dark Angel]

I have a reliable vivendi resource that tells me late may-early june, if u ask me thats summer time.

We are the borg we have mysterious friends

If you cant acknowledge with a link your resource then its a waste of time talking about it. I think ppl want some facts and not fiction... Not to be cruel or mean but your talking out your bleep* How reliable are they will they give out there name ? didnt think so !!!

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

If HL2 was due for release on the 15th, it would have to have gone gold already. Such news gets out. It hasn't. Therefore, it won't be shipping on March 15th

If hL2 was die for release on the the 15th, the Valve/VU Hype Machine would have lurched into action, showering us all with information. It hasn't. Therefore, it won't be shipping on March 15th.

EOD.

 

[Chris D]

It's pretty bad marketing for a company to release a product completely unannounced.

If it came out tomorrow, how many people would hear about it?

We probably would as someone out of 12000 is surely going to see it in a shop window or something. But what about the people that want the game but don't stick with the community like we do. They would miss it completely. If they only go into a game shop once every 6 weeks, some people might not know about it for months. It'd be pretty pointless!

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

People seem to forget that the online community make up a very small percentage of the overall sales for a game. Most people buy games based on how big the shop display is, how shiny the box is, and how pretty the screenshots are.