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Half-Life 2's Multitude Of Purchase Options

Posted by simoniker on from the do-you-want-fries-with-that? dept.

Thanks to ShackNews for their post explaining the multiple ways consumers can buy Half-Life 2, summing up a confirmed email/forum post by Valve's Gabe Newell following much false information. The options are summed up as: "...a single-player only mass market version ('sold mainly at the Costcos and Walmarts of the world'), a traditional single/multiplayer version for places like EB Games, and a collector edition's version ('with lots of cool bonus stuff for people who like cool bonus stuff')... [and] Steam pricing plans", which will include one-time download fees, or "...pay a monthly fee and have access to all Valve titles", including Half-Life 2.

4 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Or, for the budget-minded users... by seinman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm going to use the P2P "purchase" option.

    1. Re:Or, for the budget-minded users... by image · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You probably didn't mean that. Or maybe you did. No matter.

      Thing is, unlike the RIAA, which is fighting to maintain an artificially high pricing structure for music in the digital era, the game publishers and developers are really operating in a pretty fair and free marketplace. I.e., games are retailing for $50+ dollars because they are actually worth it. Not all games, of course, but a game like HalfLife 2, which could potentially provide hundreds of hours of entertainment, and incurring development costs in the tens of millions of dollars, certainly seem to justify a large retail price tag.

      A very good strategy for buying games is to wait a few weeks -- not necessarily for the price to drop -- but rather for the unbiased, unsponsored (i.e., not payola) reviews, and to download the demo if it exists. That way you can be pretty sure you are going to get a return on your $50. If it is a console game, read the reviews and rent it first.

      But definitely don't steal it via P2P. Remember, most of us probably _want_ gaming to continue to get better -- more games of the caliber of HL2 are a great thing. And as earlier Slashdot articles have pointed out, there is a low-end gaming market as well for those of whom who have neither the money nor the time to spend on a $50 game.

      That said, someday there will likely be a body as stubbornly obstinate as the RIAA for games. But until then, don't hurt the industry via piracy. Ethicality aside, it is just defeating of your own self interest.

  2. Subscription to Valve's future releases... by Violet+Null · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, let's see. I can pay a monthly subscription fee, and get all the stuff that Valve releases in the future for free.

    And it only took them...what, six years to go from Half-Life to Half-Life 2?

    Sounds like a deal to me!

  3. What a load!!!! by Allison+Geode · · Score: 4, Interesting

    what ever happened to putting it on a dsc, putting the disc in the box, and giving the customers a simple package with a working, non-crippled product in it? this is utterly rediculous, in my opinion.

    this is going to confuse the hell out of parents and grandparents buying the game for the upcoming holiday season.

    also: is anyone else utterly sick of collectors editions of movies and games? at least they're putting this out at the same time, but still, I don't want to have to choose between a crappy bare bones version and a fancy version with hordes of extras and such.. if anything, make the game you get in all the boxes the same, and put a soundtrack cd, a t-shirt, a map, a pewter ordinator figurine, whatever in the collectors version.. not extra game content.

    as for the mod community: I seriously think that with the various rediculous distribution methods, this will kill the mod community for HL2 before it even has a chance of being born.