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Half-Life 2 Going Gold on Monday? [updated]

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the on-the-horizon dept.

Warrior-GS writes "According to GameSpy, Gabe Newell has announced that Half-Life 2 is going gold on Monday. Numerous retail outlets have Sept. 1 or Sept. 2 as a shelf-date for the game, so a gold announcement now seems to mean those dates are fairly close to reality." Given that HL2 is already available on Steam, this doesn't sound too far-fetched. Update: 08/28 19:27 GMT by T : Kraiger writes "According to HL2 Fallout the announcement of the futuristic FPS, "Half-Life 2", going Gold is a complete hoax! According to HL2 Fallout, the announcement from Gabe Newell, a Valve Software employee, was created by someone who was able to guess the simple password of "gaben" for Gabe's forum account."

45 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. Hoax by carlcmc · · Score: 5, Informative

    As seen on the forums " UPDATE
    After a close scrutiny of Gabe Newell’s account history on the forums, we've come to the conclusion that the gold post is a fake. While we can't be 100% certain at this stage, all indicators point towards someone hacking the forum account. That said, all Gabe's previous posts on these forums are quite legitimate.

    We apologize for the confusion and will be investigating further. Theoretically, an IPB forum account should be very difficult to hack. Well, that was the theory at least. We'll keep you updated. "

    1. Re:Hoax by accelleron · · Score: 3, Funny

      considering the amount of females on this board, and the percentage of them likely attractive, I'd say it's safe to bet that you would have a fart-free cake.

      --
      Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
    2. Re:Hoax by seizer · · Score: 4, Informative

      what exactly are they loading up from the network

      All the textures, graphics, etc. That's what takes up most of the space, and most of them will have been finalized by now.

      The game engine can come along at the last minute, when they do go gold - it's probably only a few hundred megs at most.

    3. Re:Hoax by ductormalef · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Bah!

      If Valve would just give a simple update on the release time-frame, they could avoid sending their POTENTIAL customers into fits again. They left the door wide open for a hoax like this by starting the pre-loading without any direction as to when people will be able to play. Now I am going to have a new(well it was new a year ago) graphics card AND a gigabyte of data wasting away on my PC.
      I guesss I'll be putting my $50USD into DOOM3. I'll see you in the dark!

      --
      The Fat Man Walks Alone
    4. Re:Hoax by gnarled · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'll see you in the dark!

      No, you won't

      --
      I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule. -Randal, Clerks
    5. Re:Hoax by EvilAlien · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Excuse me a sec, my Troll Detect-o-matic just went haywire...

      I think you have that backwards... the stuff I read suggests that ATI owners will be dancing in the streets (I get pretty decent framerates in CS:Source) while nvidia owners will be contemplating jumping from the nearest tall building. I also get pretty decent performance out of Doom 3.

      Of course people are going to rush out and buy this game! Its going to be the best thing since... er... Half-life. It'll make people forget about Doom 3 and Far Cry ;)

      --
      perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
  2. This appears to be a hoax... by PimpBot · · Score: 5, Informative

    The admins of HL2Fallout have already stated that they feel this is a hoax. The "Gabe Newell" post came from an IP which Gabe has never posted from before. For right now, they're erring on the side of caution.

    1. Re:This appears to be a hoax... by Krunch · · Score: 2, Informative

      Since the HL2Fallout forum seems to have less bandwidth than all the CS players in the world (and thus is currently unreachable), here is a link to the Steam forum's thread.

      --
      No GNU has been Hurd during the making of this comment.
    2. Re:This appears to be a hoax... by Klowner · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wait, you mean.. The same Gabe Newell that uses Outlook Express, the same Outlook Express that supposedly contributed to the security breakdown a few months ago, which allowed the theft of th Source source code theft? IMPOSSIBLE! We all know that after that horrible incident, Gabe switched to using 3 letter passwords instead of 2.

    3. Re:This appears to be a hoax... by randyest · · Score: 5, Informative

      You're so close it's scary. It was five digits, which might be ok, were it not "gaben." Right. His first name and last initial. All lowercase. The guy doesn't learn after getting haxored? From here:

      An anonymous imposter guessed Gabe's password, "gaben", and made the false claim. Valve has confirmed that this is was a hoax on the Steam Forums.

      Update: After one crazy night of theories, server mayhem and IP tracing, we've finally gotten to the bottom of this mess. In a twist of hilarity, it seems that Gabe Newell's account password was set to 'gaben'. Person x guessed this and made the "going gold on Monday" post which we've heard so much about. The user (who we believe is the same person x) then made this post just minutes ago using Gabe's account [announcing that he guessed Gabe's pass as "gaben"]

      After a quick double-check, it seems that this was exactly what happened. Reminds me of the good old days. For an official response concerning the hoax, see Chris Bokitch's post on Steampowered. I think Gabe is going to need to start using slightly better passwords on accounts he uses to make public announcements on.

      --
      everything in moderation
  3. And the hardware to run it... by EvilCabbage · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... will go "gold" in December... 2008.

    1. Re:And the hardware to run it... by EvilCabbage · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now who's the optimist?

    2. Re:And the hardware to run it... by feidaykin · · Score: 4, Interesting
      You just reminded me of a story... one that took place six years ago, on a dark and stormy night. Well I don't think it was dark or stormy, but it was involving hardware that would make anyone shudder. Half-Life had just been released, and all the gaming sites were raving about it... so much so that I decided to buy it when I saw it on a shelf at a local Best Buy. I sorta glanced at the min requirements, and I thought I was close enough.

      I was very, very wrong. I inserted the Half-Life disc into my 4x CD-ROM and started to install it to my PC... It had 24MB of memory, a "PR233" Cyrix Processor, and I believe the video card at the time was a 4MB card with "pretend" support for Direct3D.

      The pain.

      The horror.

      You know those Houndeye creatures I think they're called, the ones that create a blue circle of hurt? One of those would bring that computer to a complete standstill when it did its little attack.

      The poor Cyrix also over-heated often, so often that I renamed the short-cut to the game "Crash-Life" and felt better somehow.

      This story does have a happy ending though. After a few days of suffering, I got myself a Celeron 366 and clocked that baby at 550 MHz, I got a voodoo2, and i think a massive 96 MB of ram. If it hadn't been for Half-Life, I likely would not have upgraded for months, maybe even years. Behold the Power of a Computer Game!

      Of course, the question is, will HL2 be good enough to cause people like me to run out and do the same thing we did six years ago? Perhaps that will be the true measure of its success; not that it is hardware hog, any game can be that, but that a game can be good enough for folks to plunk down three or for figures worth on hardware to play it.

      --

      "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

  4. I'm looking forward to this by Timesprout · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Its been on preorder for me for a month now. I'm not a big gamer but HL was such a gripping game to play and the mods are so good they definitely brought a new dimension to gaming for me. Heres hoping its as good as its predecessor.

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
    1. Re:I'm looking forward to this by bgackle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was looking forward to this too, then I started doing some research on what "Steam" is. I quit playing counterstrike over a year ago, back when WON was still being used.

      See: this link

      Let's just say I'm extremely dissapointed in Valve for where they have taken this. I wouldn't hold your breath on mods, either. This game is now DRM'd to the hilt... making and finding mods just got a lot more difficult, as did running a creative server.

      I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I may actually pass on this one. I have no desire to need to be constantly connected to the 'net to play a single player game that I paid for, or to play LAN games with my friends. There is no excuse for them to need to be "working on" allowing access to the game you bought.

      --
      What we really need is a ten day waiting period and a background check before you can buy a congressman.
    2. Re:I'm looking forward to this by Fryed · · Score: 5, Informative

      You may want to do a bit more research about Steam before you decide to pass up on Half-Life 2. First off, a lot has changed in the nearly a year since the article you linked to was written. For starters, Steam now features a "Start in offline mode" option. When Steam starts up, if it's not connected to the internet, it lets you do that. Then, you have access to all your single player games just fine. I imagine you can also play all your LAN games just fine as well, but I haven't had an oppurtunity to try that.

      Did Steam have an awful lot of problems when it was first released? Yes, it did. But, believe it or not, the people working on Steam at Valve are not some kind of evil sadists who enjoy making people jump through hoops to play their game. They've created a rather nice system for making sure your games are always updated, and giving you an easy way to purchase new games from them without having to run down to the nearest Gamestop. Problems do occur, and they try to fix them as soon as possible.

      And, I certainly doubt Valve is going to make it hard for mods to be created. They aren't stupid - they know that one of the big reasons Half-Life has sold so well over the past 6 years is because of fun mods like TFC and CS. How many other 6 year old games do you see with thousands of servers running right now? Currently, they allow really popular mods to be listed in the Steam gui, with a screenshot and a short writeup. Other mods can still be played (I remember at least once getting in a game of Pirates, Vikings, and Knights over Steam) just as they always could.

    3. Re:I'm looking forward to this by Fred_A · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hah, my kid has it on preorder and even my kid is on preorder, that's how cool I am !

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
  5. Gold, perhaps, but not yet retail by MonTemplar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The latest from Amazon UK is that it will be available from 1st November. It was being reported as 3rd September up until yesterday. (Needless to say, I've got a pre-order in with them).

    -MT.

    --
    -MT.
    1. Re:Gold, perhaps, but not yet retail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Tip for you: Retailers are the last to know when the game is going to ship.

  6. Zero Sales? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are so many coupons floating around, Do they really expect to sell any copies of this game? Seems to be they've already "sold" it when they took the money from ATI.

  7. I, for one by Sheetrock · · Score: 3, Interesting
    While I'd been looking forward to Half-Life 2 for quite some time now, am I the only one that thinks Steam represents an unprecedented level of intrusion in my computer activity?

    I may be a bit sensitive to this because one of the other games I looked forward to (Battlefield Vietnam) had a set of conditions to use the online anticheat system (to my knowledge mandatory for Internet gaming) that were intrusive enough that I just shelved it. I just want to buy it and play it, not open my use of the software up to unwarranted scrutiny.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    1. Re:I, for one by ozric99 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      While I'd been looking forward to Half-Life 2 for quite some time now, am I the only one that thinks Steam represents an unprecedented level of intrusion in my computer activity?

      Probably. What personal information (apart from your email address) has Steam taken? What personal details did you have to give up to install Steam? Answer: Nothing!

      I have to go now, I think Doom3 is stealing my credit card numbers...

    2. Re:I, for one by rubeon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The OP is talking about an in intrusion into his computer activity, not necessarily his privacy. (Although it does associate specific computer activity with an email address and IP address, which should be cause for concnern...) In this regard, Steam is extremely intrusive: It requires you to authenticate yourself to the game's manufacturer every time you start the game.

      I've never seen such a thing with *any* retail application. Even XP only makes you do this when you first install it, not every time you fire it up.

  8. probably not by Betaman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Info here:
    http://www.csnation.net/comments.php?id=7475
    http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3 4798&page=1&pp=15
    http://www.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php? threadid=132122
    All the info you need to know this is probably fake.

  9. Steam by dfj225 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I think it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the release to be availiable on Steam once the game does go gold. Concievably, once they make the final build it could be up in a matter of hours. Since many people already have most of the game downloaded, this could mean that they could also be playing the game within hours of the final build being made.

    --
    SIGFAULT
  10. Yes, but did you ask if ... by toetagger1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... that was Sept. 1 of this year, or next year? Just wondering.

    --
    who | grep -i blond | date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep
  11. And in related news... by Stevyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pigs have just flown. Details at 11.

  12. Game Hype by rh005 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let's hope that it's not as bad as Doom 3 in matters of interactivity. Do you remember that, after the first Doom there was Duke Nukem, where you could interact in a lot of ways with the 3D environment. There were more things to do, special weapons, cameras, holoduke etc. That was then. But now, in 2004, the level of interactivity hasn't increased at all. With some exceptions, like Deus Ex and System Shock, it's still the same game as 10 years ago. Has gameplay been replaced by hype?

    1. Re:Game Hype by eddy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It won't be as bad as Doom 3 -- just watch the videos.

      The real question however is; how scripted will the "interactivity" be. There's nothing I hate more than games that try to give the impression of freedom and "reality", but where no matter what I do, I will always find myself in the exact same situation in the end.

      "Medal of Honour" being a prime example of such scripted game.

      --
      Belief is the currency of delusion.
  13. Re:Not looking so hot after Doom 3... by duckpoopy · · Score: 5, Funny
    . If they do, then I'll be a happy camper

    Oh no, not another camper...

    --
    word.
  14. Re:Not looking so hot after Doom 3... by bogie · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well how do you know that until you play the game? HL 1 was very immersive I can only guess that it will be that much better. In fact playing Doom 3 feels very much like HL1 story wise. And yes I know Doom 1 had the general idea first.

    Regarding graphics its not D3 but it pretty darn good looking.
    http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/492/49 2830/img_2 133273.html

    The thing is D3 is all about cramped indoor environments. Hallways and Offices etc. HL2 looks to be much more in the vein of cityscapes and outdoor areas which after D3 will actually be VERY refreshing. Don't get me wrong I'm still enjoying being scared by D3(and yes headphones are the ONLY way to play!) but I'm kind of over the whole walk into dark room, have imp jump out at me. The formula while still fun gets really stale 2/3 in. And fuck are those half-baby half fly things annoying.

    Anyway while Valve has really pissed me off with the delays I'm still very much looking forward to HL2. That and hitting people in the head with a crowbar. HL2 is looking to be pretty different from D3 and that's a good thing. My nerves couldn't take another creep and get scared jump fest.

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  15. Eh? Going Gold? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just what does "Going Gold" mean?

    Pre-sold x copies?
    Code ready so CDs can be mastered?
    Available in shops to buy?
    Cracked and available on bittorrent? :)

    1. Re:Eh? Going Gold? by way2trivial · · Score: 5, Informative

      going gold means it's being mass produced, master version exists, and all remaing bugs will be dealt with via patches, not original distribution.

      --
      every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    2. Re:Eh? Going Gold? by Edmund+Blackadder · · Score: 2, Informative

      It means that the CD is mastered. Apparently the master CD is all shiny and yellow, so that's why they call it "going gold".

  16. Satan says: by zenneth · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Brrr! It's getting cold down here!"

    --
    The Chronic *WHAT* les of Narnia!
  17. Even if it was real... by 00Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    CounterStrike: Condition Zero went gold twice before it came out. HL2 is gonna be so much better, it'll pry go Gold 3 times!

  18. You got it wrong by Sulka · · Score: 3, Funny

    You can already get the hardware - it just _priced_ like it's weight in gold. ;)

    --
    "Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
  19. Half-Life 2 Isn't availible on steam! by beaverbrother · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The only content on steam are things like textures, sounds and maps (things that wont change before the release). No executibles download. The point of this is so that when the game comes out, people can get it really quickly because they will only need to download maybe some scripts and the executable.

  20. Well obviously its a hoax... by Kelmenson · · Score: 4, Interesting
    "Going to go gold Monday"?

    Uh, clearly written by somebody who has never had anything go gold... Before something is going gold, you have release candidates. You test the release candidates intensely, and if you find no bugs, then it goes gold. So you can't say on Friday that you are going gold on monday, unless you already know you have no bugs, in which case you already should have gone gold...

    If this were real, he would say that they had a release candidate. The difference between an RC and Gold is testing, which is what will be happening between now and Monday...

    1. Re:Well obviously its a hoax... by xfact0r · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The RC was supposed to be delivered to Vivendi sometime in august, but I believe it was missed.

      I also agree with you that it is a hoax, as the post from hl2fallout.com has come from a proxy server, and the poster has also posted a message boasting about how he has the account.

      On a seperate note, valve included a second test with the preload, the text "password is nova/prospekt this is the second test" has been found in the EXIF information of a jpg inside the preload, more information at halflife2.net forums and #secondtest on irc.quakenet.org

  21. It's a fake by fresh27 · · Score: 2, Informative

    somebody guessed his extremely obvious password
    http://members.lycos.co.uk/lemmingzappa/Post.JPG
    http://www.hl2fallout.com/forums/index.php?showtop ic=4221&st=360

    --
    http://ipod.fresh27.net/
  22. Re:Not looking so hot after Doom 3... by Jarnis · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Of course you are missing the small detail that all Doom 3 cutscenes are rendered in realtime.

  23. Re:Not looking so hot after Doom 3... by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Funny

    GTA2 was top down sprites with a little 3d environment, what are you talking about?

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  24. Collector's Edition? by Fiz+Ocelot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I haven't been able to get a clear idea on exactly what you get with the Collector's Edition. I've heard that it may contain HL1 redone on source engine and TFC redone as well. But no confirmation on that. I certainly would love that if they were included though.

  25. Re:LOL by kannibal_klown · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "How many times can people fall for the same marketing trick. Infinite."

    Yeh, first it was "Half-Life 2 will work x times better on an ATI card than nVidia," but that has proven to be BS. There are some rumors floating around that the 5x00 video cards are having some DX 9 problems with CS:Source, but I haven't read them yet, and it doesn't affect me anyway.

    Then, it was "DOOM 3 will work x times better with an nVidia 6800 GT/Deluxe than an ATI card." Once ATI fixed their OpenGL support in their drivers a little, this point was moot.

    THEN, you have all of these game saying "Best played with ATI" or "nVidia, the way it was meant to be played." I find these annoying, particularly when the nVidia ad plays every time you start a certain game.

    However, I think Valve's "statements" and ATI's Half-Life 2 coupon helped them a LOT more in sales than any of nVidia-based card companies. Not saying they were true, just saying TONS of people bought 9800XT's because HL-2 was supposed to "run great on it," and it came with the free STEAM coupon.

    In the end, it SHOULD all come down to 2 things:
    1) Price
    2) Company experience

    Personally, my recent venture into ATI left me feeling a little wanting. My driver experience wasn't the best, and other things bugged me. So, when I built a new machine, I went back to my good old nVidia-based cards.So far, their quality has remained true.