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Team Fortress 2 features uniquely stylized graphics  (Source: Valve Software)
Play Team Fortress 2 three weeks before retail

For PC gamers, there won’t be a game more hotly anticipated this year – with the possible exception of Crysis – than The Orange Box from Valve Software.

Those anxiously waiting for the Half-Life 2 compilation will know that the game will be released on October 10 in North America. One of the biggest inclusions inside The Orange Box is Team Fortress 2.

As an added incentive for consumers to buy the game from Steam, Valve Software’s online delivery system, the game developer is offering those who pre-purchase The Orange Box online to download and activate the beta release of Team Fortress 2 on September 17.

As a special bonus, those who pre-purchase The Orange Box via Steam will also receive a copy of Peggle Extreme. PopCap and Valve have teamed up to create a special edition of the game themed around content from Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal.

Retail copies of The Orange Box will be offered for an estimated price of $49.95 on the PC and $59.95 on the Xbox 360, though the promotional offer through Steam will only cost PC gamers $44.95.

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Price
By Moose1309 on 9/12/2007 2:00:47 PM , Rating: 2
I honestly thought this would be $19.95, - same pricing as Episode 1, and with a nice multiplayer game thrown in.

Sure - there's a fair amount of work put into the game, and it looks excellent, but wasn't TFC bundled free with Half-life? At least I got it free with whatever edition of Half-Life I got (one goty edition or another). It took them some good work to port it from Quake, the end result was awesome, and yet it was free... what gives Valve? $50 is a bit steep to pay for only 6-8 hours of single player content plus a multiplayer game which used to be free. As a bundle at least, it seems the price should be a bit lower (30-40).




RE: Price
By Moose1309 on 9/12/2007 2:06:42 PM , Rating: 3
Ah - to be fair, I didn't realize it includes HL2 and Ep. 1 - from the site:

quote:
To bring gamers up to date with the Half-Life 2 universe, The Orange Box also includes Half-Life 2, the best-selling and highest-rated action game series of all time, and the episodic debut Half-Life 2: Episode One. Customers who already own these titles will have the ability to conveniently "gift" them to a friend upon official release of The Orange Box.


so if you don't own HL2 / Ep. 1 yet, this is pretty much a no-brainer. Still it would have been nice to offer a $30 version without HL2 + E1


RE: Price
By vijay333 on 9/12/2007 2:09:19 PM , Rating: 4
don't forget Portal too ... looks quite interesting.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/11882.html

There are also ala-carte options available in October, but if you're buying 2 or more of the games, this bundle is definitely a better deal.


RE: Price
By idconstruct on 9/12/2007 3:12:32 PM , Rating: 2
exactly... they're not forcing you to buy the orange box... they'll have a package with just hl2:ep2, portal, and tf2 which will probably cost 20-30


RE: Price
By JSK on 9/12/2007 3:31:03 PM , Rating: 2
No they wont. DougV has already noted on the steam forums that there is no package of the 3 new games. You can buy them all individually, or you can buy them in the orange box.

The called black box package even on steam is gone. The only way to get that would have been the ATI voucher.


RE: Price
By headbox on 9/12/07, Rating: 0
RE: Price
By LordLegion on 9/12/2007 2:58:01 PM , Rating: 3
I will be ordering this game and going on a date :) naturally, after completely the single player element


RE: Price
By Polynikes on 9/13/2007 12:12:17 AM , Rating: 2
There was a video released recently that showcases the mechanics behind the graphical style of TF2, and it seems Valve developed special techniques for rendering the lighting and shading just to achieve that unique style for TF2. It was really rather complex, and most of it made no sense to me at all, but it was interesting to see them break it down. Don't get me wrong, I see where you're coming from, but I figured I'd point that out.

Here's a link to the video if you haven't seen it:
http://ve3d.ign.com/videos/play/14485/PC/Team-Fort...


I'm just disappointed that...
By fleshconsumed on 9/12/2007 3:27:45 PM , Rating: 2
I have all Valve games I wanted including HL2 and HL2:EP1, I'm only mildly interested in Portal because it seems to be related to HL universe, I have zero interest in Team Fortress 2 and I don't need another copy of HL2 that comes with orange box.

I just need HL2:EP2 (and maybe Portal). And I'm really really disappointed that one, it will cost $30 to boot (same price I paid for HL2, however this time I will be getting just an extension with only 3-5 hours of gameplay as opposed to 15 for the same money), and two, it will only be offered through steam, so no retail box for me.

So what am I going to do now? I either have to buy Orange Box and get bunch of games I already own, or I have to buy HL2:EP2 at $30 plus $10 for Portal which would be almost the same price as Orange Box anyway. Valve planned Black Box which would be released in retail and would include HL2:EP2 and Portal, but apparently it was canceled. If they offered HL2:EP2 at $20 and HL2:EP2+Portal combo at $25 I'd be completely satisfied with that, but no... The only choice I have is either pay $45 for the bundle with five games when I only want two, or pay $40 for the two games separately. Some choice I have there. It would appear Valve simple wants to bleed customers through the nose while forcing complete switch to steam based distribution which I dislike. I like HL series, those are excellent games, but pricing schemes like these and steam really turns me off.




RE: I'm just disappointed that...
By UNHchabo on 9/12/2007 3:37:01 PM , Rating: 2
While I agree that it sucks you can't buy them separately, you will be able to buy the Orange Box in retail. Buying the set on Steam will give you two "Steam Gifts" if you already own HL2 and Ep1, and buying it in retail will give you three "CD-keys", two of which you can give away (since technically selling them breaks the Steam Subscriber Agreement).

Sigh... I'll probably end up going for the $50, and cursing out Valve. Fanboyness has its price... :(


RE: I'm just disappointed that...
By Hakuryu on 9/12/2007 3:47:37 PM , Rating: 2
I'm disappointed that Source engine games make me extremely ill... was looking forward to TF2, but after playing HL2 and the Might and Magic game, I will not be buying it.

Been playing game since before the first Atari, and Valve's Source engine is the only engine that has ever made me sick. Play 10 minutes and I'm ready to throw up. Has nothing to do with my rig, as it runs every new game at max settings no problem, I think it has something to do with the lighting technique used.

It's a shame, but Enemy Territory Quake Wars comes out on the 2nd, and thats a far better multiplayer game imo.


By fleshconsumed on 9/12/2007 3:57:32 PM , Rating: 2
Been playing game since before the first Atari, and Valve's Source engine is the only engine that has ever made me sick. Play 10 minutes and I'm ready to throw up.

Valve games including HL2 and HL2:EP1 have fov set to 70 degrees which makes for an unusually narrow field of view and might make you dizzy if you have mouse sensitivity set too high. Try setting fov to 90 degrees and see if it goes away.


RE: I'm just disappointed that...
By johnsonx on 9/13/2007 12:15:23 PM , Rating: 2
My brother-in-law has that same problem, but he says it's ALL fps type games. He really likes that style of game too, just can't play them at all. Personally, I think it's because he's British, probably a symptom of scurvy!


By atwood7fan on 9/12/2007 3:56:14 PM , Rating: 1
Just FYI, episode 2 is supposed to be almost twice as long as episode 1; around the 8-10 hour range, which explains why it costs $30 by itself instead of the $20 episode 1 cost when it first came out.
Also, you can gift the extra games that you get to a friend that doesn't already have hl2 and episode 1, so its not like they will go to total waste.


RE: I'm just disappointed that...
By Spotacus on 9/12/2007 6:03:42 PM , Rating: 2
I know when Valve cancelled Black Box they said it was because of limited retail space in stores but I wish they would still offer it on Steam as a retail copy. That way I could still get just the games I need while also getting the physical copy because I like having the boxed copy. So now it will cost me $50 instead of the $30 to $40 I had planned on.

What I would like to see is Valve offer a refund to those who buy the Orange Box but already have HL2 and EP1 in their account. Even just some store credit on Steam would be better than nothing.

And honestly, most gamers are in the same situation. The number of people who have HL2 and EP1 and want to get EP2 will greatly outnumber the people who people who get into HL2 completely new. Just seems like they want to create a pyramid of having people buy the Orange Box, give out their extra keys to their strange gamer friend who has never played HL2, and have that person buy the Orange Box.

So get a boxed copy of everything for $50, get a download of everything for $45, or get EP2 and TF2 as downloads for $60. Well, at least I'll be able to replace the 5 CDs for HL2 with 1 DVD for it. At least they better be on DVD at this point.


By fleshconsumed on 9/12/2007 6:12:31 PM , Rating: 2
Actually the pricing scheme is worse than I originally thought. I just double checked steam and Portal is priced at $20. So if I buy just HL2:EP2+Portal it will cost me $50, that's $5 more than Orange Box purchased through steam. How whack is that, two expansions cost more than the entire series so far? I just want inexpensive pack that contains games that I don't already have.


so what about those..
By michal1980 on 9/12/07, Rating: 0
RE: so what about those..
By Homerboy on 9/12/2007 3:05:10 PM , Rating: 2
exactly my situation too. I don't get what Valve is trying to do here by alienating their existing customer base.


RE: so what about those..
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/12/2007 3:29:51 PM , Rating: 2
There will be a "Black Box" via Steam to get EP2, Portal and TF2, it just won't go on sale for another week or two.


RE: so what about those..
By 3kliksphilip on 9/12/2007 4:15:37 PM , Rating: 2
How do you know that? I thought it had been canceled. It would be rather naughty if they released it several weeks later.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/13/2007 7:29:15 AM , Rating: 2
The "Retail" black box was canceled yes. I'm willing to bet good money it goes on sale via Steam shortly before or after launch. Valve isn't stupid, they know by offering TF2 a TF2 preview and saying nothing about the upcoming "Black Box" many will jump on the "Gotta be first" wagon and pay the $50 dollars. Expect the Black box to be around $34.99.


Awesome Idea!!!
By jlanders646 on 9/12/2007 1:38:46 PM , Rating: 2
I will be ordereing this and being able to play the beta will be awesome!!!




RE: Awesome Idea!!!
By vijay333 on 9/12/2007 1:50:34 PM , Rating: 2
ordered yesterday and just waiting for Sep.17th :)


RE: Awesome Idea!!!
By VooDooAddict on 9/12/2007 1:57:06 PM , Rating: 2
Ditto


Fortress Forever
By t1mmZ on 9/12/2007 4:21:28 PM , Rating: 2
This is a direct response to Fortress Forever stating that their third party mod will come out on September 17th. I'm sure Valve wants to make sure they don't lose any potential buyers to this impressive game thats been in development for 3+ years.

I'm sure both games will be successful in that Fortress Forever is more of a Source version of TFC, while Valve has gone 'Incredibles' with TF2. I'll end up playing both.

www.fortress-forever.com




RE: Fortress Forever
By kuroioni on 9/13/2007 1:57:23 PM , Rating: 2
I think the Orange box is a great deal. I'm pretty sure this is designed to grab the people that never bought HL2 when it came out. Here they are given the opportunity to grab that game, plus the 2 episodes, TF2, and Portal at the same price I paid for CS:S and HL2.

If I hadn't already purchased HL2 at release I would be jumping on this deal.

Also, TF2 is going to be great! Can't wait for Monday.

ONI


ANGRY!
By Fubar0606 on 9/12/2007 4:41:25 PM , Rating: 2
They canceled the black box like 6 months ago!
It twas to contain onlY!
TF2
EP2
amd Portals
now I have to by the orange box which contains EP1 and Hl2 which I already have! and my only option is to give it to a friend on steam as a gift!, screw that im charging people on eaby to buy it :P




RE: ANGRY!
By threepac3 on 9/12/2007 4:54:18 PM , Rating: 2
I don't have any of them. I used to have Half Life 1 Counter Strike and Team Fortress, but when I sold HLF1 to a friend I lost access to them. I have played through Half Life 2 many times, though I don't have the game.

Now I get the chance and all I have to pay is $45 and I get Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Not to mention the bonuses for pre-ordering. Dam I'm all in!!


Orange Box on Amazon for Same Price
By Spotacus on 9/12/2007 6:09:42 PM , Rating: 2
The Orange Box is on Amazon for the same price as Steam with free shipping. Sure you don't get the TF2 beta, but you do get a boxed copy.




By xsilver on 9/13/2007 7:24:04 AM , Rating: 2
For us Aussies here on DT, I just checked ebgames australia and they have it for $99.95 !!!
what a rip!
the conversion is 1AU = 0.8 US , which should be $62.50
where the hell is the other 40 odd dollars gone?

pc games here are usually $90 and they want $100 for a add on + multiplay addon + another copy of a 3 year old game. thumbs down.


By crash resistant on 9/13/2007 9:56:46 PM , Rating: 2
I got HL in 1998. (Or was it 99?.. oh well)
I have played Valve games and mods ever since.
I have a 5 digit WON-ID... In other words you can consider me a "current customer".

They just got my $45, and I never once for a moment felt "alienated" due to the Orange Box lineup or price.

Plus I am rather excited that I can give a copy of HL2 and Episode 1 to a friend. I plan on giving it to my girlfriend.




"I f***ing cannot play Halo 2 multiplayer. I cannot do it." -- Bungie Technical Lead Chris Butcher

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