Release Date?

[Phanataz]

When is this game going to be out in stores? I'm not seeing this posted anywhere.

[ElectricHead]

When is this game going to be out in stores? I'm not seeing this posted anywhere.


I read Sept 30. But then I heard Xmas, then I heard Sept 30 again.

Hard to say, but I REALLY hope its Sept 30.



EH

[Phanataz]

uh oh..

That gives me the feeling thats it's going to be one of those "when its done" games.

[Paladin]

Valve promised a September 30 release date, exactly to avoid the "when it's done" syndrome. There have been hints that that may not happen after all, but I think that's still what they are shooting for. I doubt, however, they will let it ship if it's not as close to perfect as possible.

Another date that's being tossed around as an alternate is November 5th (I think, I read the article this afternoon), which is the 5th anniversary of Half-Life's launch. EBGames, which is usually pretty reliable, is listing an 11/19 ship date.

Be a bitch if it's that much longer, but maybe I'll be able to finish Knights of the Old Republic first. Or maybe System Shock 2. Or maybe Half-Life. Or....damn I need a girlfriend.

[{RA}SKYFURNACE]

Valve promised a September 30 release date, exactly to avoid the "when it's done" syndrome. There have been hints that that may not happen after all, but I think that's still what they are shooting for. I doubt, however, they will let it ship if it's not as close to perfect as possible.

Another date that's being tossed around as an alternate is November 5th (I think, I read the article this afternoon), which is the 5th anniversary of Half-Life's launch. EBGames, which is usually pretty reliable, is listing an 11/19 ship date.

Be a bitch if it's that much longer, but maybe I'll be able to finish Knights of the Old Republic first. Or maybe System Shock 2. Or maybe Half-Life. Or....damn I need a girlfriend.

They were asked directly this weekend and Gabe said "no comment" in regards if he can or cant say if the game will release on sept 30 in some interview.

[Creeper]

As nice as a sept. 30 launch would be, a 50MB day-one patch would suck even worse (*cough Tribes2*). Release a FINISHED GAME asap please :P

[ElectricHead]

As nice as a sept. 30 launch would be, a 50MB day-one patch would suck even worse (*cough Tribes2*). Release a FINISHED GAME asap please :P


Ditto on that.



EH

[SoBeiT]

I'd rather have a well tested finished product.

We may gripe about how long it takes, but it sure beats a crappy game over all..imo.

[Salyavin]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Valve rulez, Sierra sux.

If HL2 is delayed it will most likely be due to Sierra (the publisher), either to better hit the holiday buying season or so that HL2 doesn't eat into sales of Counterstrike: Condition Zero (ETA 9/15). If I was really cynical, I'd predict that they'd claim any delay is 'cause they're actually testing the installer this time. (The installer Sierra made for HL1 had a serious bug that could potentially delete your entire games directory, or even the whole drive, depending on where you installed the game.)

Cheers,
Salyavin

[IHopeToGod]

Isn't Valve's publisher now Vivendi?

It does seem there is some disagreement between Valve and their publisher. We also cannot forget that Steam kind of removes the publisher from part of the equation since that distribution method is controlled by Valve Software and that might frighten publishers if all developers were to create a system such as that, since there are probably a few customers who would buy and accept their game over the net.

Anyway I don't think they will make the Sept30 deadline because they still have a lot of kinks to work out and their silence on this issue makes me believe this even more :bash:

[Paladin]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=95549

Please note the comment "The release date is unchanged."

A longer interview is here:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=95556

[Paladin]

A second Valve rep at ECTS also said "the release date is unchanged" when asked it they were going to hit the September 30th date. I'm sure they won't release it if there are any major bugs left, but to hit that date, they'd need to go gold around Monday the 15th. That's the next benchmark to watch for.

Also, what's this Steam thing I keep hearing about? From what I've read, it's kinda like there version of Battlecraft, where all the Half-Life games will go through it to play online. I've even heard rumors that it may become a pay-to-play service. Valve's also talking about using it as an anti-cheat system, where they'll be able to download software changes behind the scenes while you play...the theory being, it'll be impossible to write cheats that work if the code is constantly changing. Not a bad idea, if it a) works without breaking something, b) doesn't slow the game down and c) doesn't use a pay-to-play model.

[SoBeiT]

I most likely will not pay to play a game, I already paid for the game itself and they made their money off me.

After UT, a game would really have to hold my interest to be paid for on a monthly bases.

Somehow I doubt I'll play any game for 2 or more years again.