Slashdot Mirror
No Half-Life 2 on Steam?
Karl the Pagan writes "Following on the heels of a previous Steam-related story, Vivendi Universal may block Half-Life 2 distribution via Steam. Additional motions can be filed until November 18th, but since Sierra/VU have final QA approval on the HL2 gold is it possible they could delay the game until after the court decides on these motions?"
I hope not, i wanna see some sexy Onos
http://www.DaveNet.biz/
First post?
Namaste
Half Life 2 - September 30, 2005
http://ipod.fresh27.net/
it's a court battle that won't even start before HL2 is released (if it's released soon...)...
Also, they've already said they are releasing it on Steam regardless of this case.
read here for more:
article on bluesnews.com
but if they do delay it, here's the upside.. the first motion may take a month to process, but the next motion will only be 2 weeks, then 1 week on the third, and so on.. it's only a matter of time.
heh
** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
Ok since Half Life 2 seems to be soon enough (sooner than last year anyway!), how about Team Fortress 2! Only vapoware more vaporish than that is DNF.
For those who aren't familiar with an "Onos", it is a rather large rhinoceros-like creature from the HL1 mod natural selection.
They might as well describe the Half-Life 2 release delays in terms of uranium 238s half-life.
Somewhere, Duke Nukem is cheering, now that he's no longer the standard of perpetually pushed back release dates.
Wow......
This possibility could be to Valve's advantage. They haven't released anything worthwhile since Team Fortress Classic and no one I know likes Steam at all.
What will this mean for people who got the voucher with their ATI card? ATI promised to give them Half Life 2 (through Steam), but then HL2 was delayed so they didn't get it (they instead got the old half-life gams). Would it eventually be released through steam?
This really shouldn't ever have become an issue. The box-retail distribution model for games is still a viable one. Is it so important for HL fans to play the game as soon as humanly possible? What's wrong with buying it in store on the day of release?
How would Valve be harmed by giving in on this issue? How would the consumers be harmed?
IMHO, neither would, in any important way.
www.kitchengeek.com -- Nosh for
Steam is one of the worst programs I've seen in the last few years. Everyone seems to have trouble with it... why would ANYONE use it?
I'd much rather have a nice CD/DVD in my hand with the install on then a little code (which I could lose) to let me spend hours downloading it.
I'm trying not to sound like a troll but I really see no sane reason to download HL2 through steam and not just buy the damn CD. Preloading makes sense (install it faster) but why not get a nice shiney CD?
I like muppets.
I prefer Steam to other methods of purchasing a game. You don't have to go anywhere or pay shipping costs, you don't have to keep track of a CD, and hopefully, more of the money goes to the people that MADE the game, rather than filling the pockets of marketers and distributors. If I like a game, I want the people that made it to get the money, encouraging patches, new versions, and modifications. You see all this nonsense about Steam being terrible/people hating it/etc. I think they were using an earlier version. I'm a stickler about what I use / let run in the background of a Windows machine, even. I'm all about Firefox, nothing next to the clock, REALUPDATE.exe can die, all superfluous services are disabled. And still, this Steam software works fine and doesn't bother me. That's a bigger achievement than Realplayer can claim.
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
This is a nice gesture to all those dial-up users who spent weeks doing the HL2 preloads..
but...but...but...mommy i want my half-life today!!! Bobby Jones from down the street has one and I need one today!!!!!! *WAAAAAAHAHAHA*
See Sig! See Sig Zig! Zig Sig Zig!!!!!
this is total bs, i dont see how vavle will allow their game to be delayed due to this. If anything they will just release it on steam, after all steam and hl2 are theirs, they made it.
We will probably see a resonance cascade before we see the release of HL2.
It probably would have taken less development time if they'd used coal or oil.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
"On Friday, when asked if Valve was still intent on making Half-Life 2 available to gamers via Steam, regardless of what was determined on October 8, Lombardi replied, "Yes.""
So this means it's not coming out till at least October? WTF! I had my hopes up with this release candidate news, now this bullshit! Dammit, I'm going to be out of the country by the time it comes out! I may not be able to get it in any timely manner BUT via Steam.
Fer fucksake, games are perishible. Hype even moreso. The more they delay this thing, the less they're going to make off of it. The hype is at it's peak now, without ever having boiled over to the point of insanity (Phantom Menace, FF7). If they don't release this thing soon, they're gonna have another Daikatana on their hands.
Start selling the goddamn game, and settle out who gets how much in court!
I wonder if there's any way just to unlock it ahead of time... =\
This is not the greatest
I for one would love to see the publisher cut out of the end price. New releases are sucking up $50 of my paycheck every time and it can only get worse. That said, Valve really needs to beef up its infrastructure before I'll join the service. I played CS on it and had nothing but problems with the service.
you deal with someone with no morals like vivendi and seirra and what do you expect.. why would they even have an agreement with them anymore, try to get out of it and just release everything yourself, the publishing company could be completely irrelevant with steam...
make it so that people can burn half life 2 cd's legally, then give them to their friends BUT with the catch that in order to decrypt it they gotta go pay valve directly online for the small program to activate it (they could sell it alot cheaper than normal and still make more money than normal, too)
replacing it with NEW Folger's Crystals! (lets see if they notice the difference)
Let me (nukepapa) be the first to label this kind of software as "LateWare" or "DelayWare".
Vivendi/Universal may not be the only people to get angry at Valve for their use of Steam to distribute HalfLife2.
Currently the Halflife2 preloads are optional downloads, but there is no indication of the *size* of these downloads. Outside of the USA many people are charged for excess downloads on Broadband.
As an example, http://www.bigpond.com/ (Telstra Bigpond) here in Australia charges AU$0.15 per extra megabyte. One of the recent preloads was approximately 1gb of data. An unsuspecting family which was already at it's download limit would be up for AU$150 in charges for that download alone (which happens in the background, and can continue after a reboot) - close to double the price of the game itself.
When will the first "Customer sues Valve" postings begine ?
Note: Please don't change the topic to "ISPs shouldnt charge for excess" - the point is that some still do.
-- Game Development Blog
Yeah, buzz for HL2 is pretty laxluster... they should probably start running banner ads on slashdot or something....I hadn't even heard of it before this article. hehe
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
Valve: We're going to eventually cut you guys outta the picture and begin distributing the game via the internet and our own in-house publishing solution instead of signing our games away to you forever.
Sierra: Oh no you don't...
I hope valve wins, it'd be nice to see these large game publishers dissapear.
Candy-Coated Knowledge
and I thought only foxnews.com and cbs could make such a big deal out of such a small thing..
HL2 will not be delayed... VU has been dying to get this game on the shelves since last year and they know how much money it's worth to get it out now instead of later. They've been losing money and need to get some profit on the books, delaying HL2 won't help that.
A lot of people that don't buy games and like to pirate would be irritated with a system like Steam, since it ensures that most people will actually have to purchase the game. That's why you'll see a lot of people say they want a CD... it's like those people that claim they are making "backups" of their discs for personal use, but are really just pirating from friends and online.
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
Just the other day I was complaining that there's no innovation in the gaming industry. It's nice to see that Vivendi found yet another new and original way to screw itself and alienate its remaining fans.
than buying from a store. I already dl my HL2, and while I can understand Sierra getting pissed about undermining their marketing strategy, tough shit. DL games and buying the key online is superior, removes the middle-man-sales-marketing-add-producing vampire and will lower costs for us. No printing fees, no materials cost, limited add campaigns, no shipping fees, etc. and the result for us: get you one NOW and cheaper.
---
My sig was stolen - the insurance company replaced it with this one.
At this point, I doubt many people care how Half Life 2 gets to them, just so long as it actually arrives.
I personally recommend a few hundred rar files (and one or two with checksum errors of course) on a few hundred floppies.
Don't tell SCO, but I suspect some lines of Halflife 2 code may match theirs.
I saw an endif and a return near each other in the leaked version.
Vivendi Universal Games is suing Valve to prevent distribution over Steam. Considering how many people will be downloading or have already downloaded over Steam, it's no surprise. VUG is getting very very little out of this deal with Valve getting almost everything. VUG will do anything it can to prevent Steam distribution, since the dispute is over tens of millions of dollars in potential sales. Gamers are going to buy the game anyways, another 3-6 months or whatever it takes is not going to drastically hurt sales.
Bottom line: HL2 is going to be delayed until this is resolved.
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
The latest release schedule....
.
.
.
Doom V
Duke Nukem Forever
Half Life 2
The more I think about it, you couldn't pay me to go back to pre-steam Half-Life/Mods.
I can now have the console open and change options at the same time without having to escape through 5 different, clumsy 640x480 menus, only to end up not having my sound working when I go back to the game.
Even if Steam does crash every now and then for you, the alternative wasn't much better.
-
Half-Life - universally praised for its gameplay and solid (at the time) editing tools. PC Gamer awarded it the highest score ever
- Team Fortress Classic - excellent multiplayer add-on that extended the game's life
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Counter-Strike - Valve's involvement with CS has been mediocre at best, from 'updating' maps and player models to altering traditional (and fun) parts of its gameplay
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Deathmatch Classic - A decent re-make of Quake DM--almost as good as the original--but Valve really should have been working on Half-Life 2 instead of this free and largely unnoticed mod
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Steam - a really, really unnecessary system that makes it difficult to run LANs, extract game content for editing, or install custom skins, maps, etc. Plus it still doesn't prevent cheating.
Given the current trend of Valve, I'd say the best thing they can do is drop Steam altogether and release Half-Life 2 just like the original. And maybe 4 or 5 Gold Editions or something.Hey Vivendi Universal:
License the Steam technology and platform from Valve and use it to distribute the other games in your library. That way you gain the benefits of an electronic distribution channel without having to do the blood and sweat part yourself and you reward one of your forward-thinking business partners.
Or you can sue said customer and make yourself look like the idiotic, money grubbing, fear-mongering institutions of the MPAA and RIAA, which are locked in the past despite all signs customer preferences are pointing the other way. Oh, that's right. Universal is a RIAA member. No wonder.
This is what you get when crotchety septegenarians managing a confused, out of focus multinational try to sell entertainment "to the kids". Heavy handed, out of touch business practices that alienate more people than they are trying to attract.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
Remember, Vivendi Universal Games is evil.
Valve vs. Vivendi Universal dogfight heats up in US District Court
The two-year-old dispute playing out in Federal Court revs up as milestones, court date approach.
Last week, news of Valve finally shipping the Half-Life 2 release candidate to publisher Vivendi Universal Games (VUG) grabbed headlines. However, behind the scenes, the two companies have been involved in a much less upbeat kind of transaction--an ongoing legal battle that has garnered little attention from gamers.
On August 14, 2002, Valve served its then-publisher Sierra On-Line (now Sierra Entertainment, a Vivendi Universal Games brand) with a lawsuit in US District Court of Washington, Western Division, alleging copyright infringement--the result of Sierra placing Valve games in Internet cafes in the US and abroad. "Sierra has in the past and continues to reproduce, use, distribute, and/or license one or more of the Valve Games with regard to 'cyber cafes,'" the complaint read. "Sierra's activities are outside the scope of Sierra's limited license...and therefore constitute copyright infringement in violation of the Copyright Act of 1976."
And so it began.
Since that filing, more than a dozen lawyers have left their stamp on the over 200 documents and exhibits (the most recent filed just last week) that have crossed the desk of the honorable Thomas S. Zilly, the judge mediating the dispute.
Presiding over the claims, counterclaims, motions, answers, declarations, applications, amended complaints, and other minutia of the case, Zilly is in the middle of the legal equivalent of a barroom brawl. In court filings, attorneys for Sierra/VUG allege that Gabe Newell, founder and managing director of Valve, conveyed "misleading half-truth[s]" to them, and that various ensuing conversations between Newell and Sierra/VUG executives were colored with "misrepresentations and concealment." Valve's marketing director Doug Lombardi is also described as having made "false representations" to Sierra/VUG execs.
"Valve sued Vivendi for copyright infringement back in 2002 over their unauthorized distribution of our products to cyber cafes," Lombardi told GameSpot last Friday. "We later had to add breach of contract claims for, among other things, refusing to pay us royalties owed and delaying Condition Zero out of the holiday season."
That lawsuit became more complex when Sierra fought back with a counterclaim. "Almost a year and a half into the lawsuit," Lombardi continued, "Vivendi responded by making a number of claims in an attempt to invalidate our agreement and be awarded the ownership of the Half-Life intellectual property. We expect to prevail in this lawsuit."
Though the density of the legal documents makes for arduous reading, they yield many fascinating nuggets of information. For example, the first Half-Life, which went on to win numerous awards and reap huge profits for both developer and publisher, was delivered to Sierra after an almost laughably meager $800,000 advance--the initial payment was a mere $30,000 when Newell and Sierra On-line reps signed their first software publishing agreement on April 27, 1997.
Currently, the case stands here: After Valve's initial lawsuit alleging that Sierra illegally distributed Half-Life to game cafes, and Sierra/VUG's counterclaim that accuses Valve of circumventing Sierra's retail plans by distributing Valve games via Steam, the two sides have both submitted motions for summary judgment on lesser points.
"Our court date [a jury trial to address the complaint and counterclaim] isn't until March 2005," Lombardi said. "The October 8 motions relate to two legal issues. We expect those issues to be decided in our favor."
For readers not familiar with the case (that is, just about everyone), the overall timeline is referenced in documents filed by VUG attorneys on Wednesday, September 15, 2004. In those documents--a second motion "to compel production of [Half-Life 2] source code"--Sierra/VUG attorneys stated their case in filings as fol
Noone writes jokes in base 13!
this would delay the game even more, but they at least have a convincent reason!! this is eXXXtreme v4p0rw4r3!!
Your head a splode
... Valve can eat shit and die.
That's an excellent point. It's very similar to a music artist hyping up and pre-selling their own album before it releases, directly to fans (downloadable from their web site).
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
hype hype hype, delay for h4ck3rs (hohoho,i had a friend whose brother works at valve with a full in box copy of the game montths before that happened), hype hype hype, court battle -- more free advertising, hype hype hype
and since when did valve become the good guys? they stopped giving a fuck about their customer base years ago when they turned them into the biggest guinnea pig test bed since the gov't was dumping acid in the water supply in the 50's
Every time you delay HL2, God kills a kitten.
Bugs or no bugs, Steam is unacceptable IMHO. When I buy a game on physical media, I have a tangible thing that belongs to me. I can install it on a new machine, I can lend it to a friend, I can sell it on eBay, I can keep playing it as long as I want, even after the publisher goes out of business. Steam allows none of that.
If Sierra goes belly up next week, how long do you think the Steam master server is going to be around? Probably not long. How can you sell a game you don't play anymore if it's on Steam? You can't! You don't actually have anything to sell, you've just been paying for access to someone else's game.
0 1 - just my two bits
I guess the DNF guys were thinking along the same lines.
I thought I'd have something to play while waiting for an official Doom III GNU/Linux client...guess I was wrong -_-...
n/t
-my other sig is your mom
... for not doing a Mac port.
Yes, God is a Mac Gamer. And He is pissed.
Reading the writeup on Gamespot, nowhere does it say that VU is going to block HL2 on Steam... I didn't even see that implied by the author of the story at Gamespot. It said that VU was upset with Steam's existence yadda yadda, but nothing resembling the slant taken by the author of the frontpage writeup on Slashdot.
Maybe I missed something, but it seems like the author of that post read between the lines a lot, and wrote it up as fact, or at least very decent speculation.
The links are to gmail (see the suffix [google.com]) not goatse you lying troll.
If one more thing goes wrong with this game I'm giving on it!
And buying a mac!
[mutters] and then they'll be sorry
Either I start planting bombs and shooting counter-terrorists in an internet-cafe, or I starting planting bombs and shooting counter-terrorists in real-life.
"Vivendi responded by making a number of claims in an attempt to invalidate our agreement and be awarded the ownership of the Half-Life intellectual property. We expect to prevail in this lawsuit."
Maybe that's just a high bid and they expect to be talked down between legal proceedings, but that's seriously scary.
It sounds like Valve intended to use Steam as its own little online marketplace. It didn't tell Sierra about this until a year after an agreement was filed because that would like scare them out of that agreement. Sierra is pissed because Valve wants to cut out the middlemen (them).
Direct away from face when opening.
AU$150 in charges for that download alone
So that's like, what, in real dollars? A quarter? That's less than using the pay phone!
paintball
We know that Valve must be in the wrong here. After all, Vivendi has a long history of keeping the developer's/creative's best interests in mind. Anyone remember Vivendi's excellent (and forward-thinking) handling of mp3.com? (VU sold the domain, but not the music itself, to CNet, presumably for One Hundred Billion Dollars, as well as some sexual favors and two FREE Igia nail clippers.)
I mean, who wanted all those free MP3s anyway? Most of them were made by artists who would never sell albums anyway! VU was actually being polite, by helping those musicians who never would have 'made it' to get a real job, like making the Fajita Sandwich Wrap Melts that Vivendi executives get at Wendys.
*****
Dear Mary,
I yearn for you tragically,
A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.
Life in a Jar
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How about you give me half of half life 2 now and then you can give me the other half of half life 2 later?
Sound like a deal?
Valve never announced TFC2. They did announce TF2. This was supposed to be the sequel to TF (Team Fortress), the Quake 1 modification. Valve was supposed to completely redising it all and include it as a free add on to Half-Life. Then, something went wrong and they decided just to do a graphical makeover to TF and made TFC (Team Fortress Classic). This was just the original TF in Half-Life graphics. Valve had decided to do a "quick" makeover and do a true sequel as a separate game (TF2). This sequel, of course, has yet to see the light of day.
I sure am glad I sold my voucher on eBay last January.
</gloat>
$51 gross. Net, after fees, paypal, and a stamp = $46.47, in case you were curious.
It would be really stupid for either company to block the release of HL2 as they can only stand to lose more money. Fuck, release the game and THEN fight it out in court of who gets what. If the game is delayed till next year, you might as well write off HL2 as one of those games that "could have been." If the game does not get released this year, my interest in it will drop considerably.
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
Bottom line: HL2 is going to be delayed until this is resolved.
Recent history anyone?
SCO: IBM must immediately stop shipping AIX, because it is in violation of our contract.
IBM: Err... whatever. We're still selling AIX.
In reality, even if VUG wins their counterclaims, the release of HL 2 will almost certainly not be affected; at worst (for Valve) they'd have to compensate VUG for lost retail sales.
Misrepresentation and concealment from VALVE. That is just too far fetched to believe.
The court can declare an injunction in this case. Especially considering that the breach of contract on Valve's part would have significant financial ramifications for VUG, the court would have very good reason to prevent the release. This isn't a copyright issue but rather a financial issue, and it's also a contract breach.
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
A big corporate entity feels so threatened by a new technology and becomes so intent on suing it into the ground that they fail to realize that it could become a powerful and legitimate distribution method for them which could potentially lower prices and/or increase profit by minimizing distribution costs.
So many words and only one period! That just might be the longest non-run-on sentence in history!
That's not entirely correct.
First, there's a difference between pulling an existing product off the market and delaying the introduction of a new product.
Second, both parties are the seller in this case, so if Vivendi doesn't want to sell something, it doesn't have to.
Now, Valve could simply give Vivendi the finger and release it on Steam anyway (gutting Vivendi's retail sales in the process), but that sort of rash action probably wouldn't go over well with the judge.
Put it on BitTorrent. It'd make things easier for Transgaming.
What, you need automation? A weekly hit on the torrent file. Hurts your servers? Fix Freenet and use that.
My point -- I don't think anyone ever liked Steam. Kind of like if people started developing Windows ME only apps before Win2k came out.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
October 8 is just the court date for Valve vs. VU, and doesn't hint at a release date at all. Frankly, I'd be surprised if HL2 came out as early as October 8. It normally takes around 2 weeks after a game has gone gold for it to be released. All Valve has produced so far is a release candidate, not a confirmed gold master.
I'll be likely to see half-life in my NEXT life :(
" October 8 is just the court date for Valve vs. VU"
No shit, Sherlock. But as worded in the article, it DOES hint at the release date being AFTER that.
~~~
For this kind of software...
Vaporware
What would Brian Boitano do?
i mean it .. why not? they've got the reputation - and it might help to raise the intelligence level and education of many of the players ..
All the talk in the music industry about online distribution and how none of the record labels really seem interested, and look here, Valve is already taking charge in the games industry--and it looks like it will be a huge success. I already converted my old Half-Life key into Steam, and I LOVE being able to go to any computer I want and play Half-Life just by logging in, and always up to date. There's talk of even storing configuration setups in your account, so your settings are retained no matter where you play.
Good riddance to big game publishers. They push early release dates, delay release dates, they're the ones who insist that you stick your CD in when you start up a game...good riddance.
Some of you may not like Steam (you probably haven't even tried it since it was the crappy beta...it kicks ASS now), some of you love it, but fact is, Valve is treading some innovative new game distribution ground here, and we should applaud them for taking a chance and sidestepping publishers all together. Isn't this in the same spirit of P2P music and other trumpeted mindsets?
I, along with many, many other people, was promised a copy of HL2 via Steam as part of my Radeon 9800XT purchase. If I don't get that, I'm gonna be pissed, and I know other people will feel the same way.
Besides, with as many people as have already pre-downloaded HL2 from Steam and have been promised to have it, that would be a _terrible_ PR move.
In summary, I seriously doubt they would try pulling that.
Remember kids, tin foil doesn't work, so use LeadHat.
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I just find it great that I read this while looking at a /. ad for preloading Half Life 2 now :)
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
"The timing of Valve's development of the source code for Valve games, the Valve source engine, and Steam are critical to the development of several of Sierra/VUG's counterclaims, including Sierra/VUG's promissory fraud claim based on Valve's false promises that it would continuously develop games to completion; Sierra/VUG's fraud claim and claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing based on Valve's concealment of Steam and its strategically delayed development of the Valve games to coincide with the commercial release of Steam; Sierra/VUG's unilateral mistake claim based on its mistaken belief regarding the status of development of the Valve games upon signing the 2001 SPA; Sierra/VUG's breach of contract claim based on Valve's failure to use diligent efforts to continuously develop the Valve games to completion; and Sierra/VUG's claim for declaratory relief regarding its right to reversion of the Half-Life intellectual property based on Valve's failure to continuously develop the Valve games."
... Let's take a look at this paragraph... er.. sentence:
Give me a break
1) The timing of Valve's development
of the source code for Valve games,
2) the Valve source engine,
and
3) Steam
are critical to
1) the development
of several of Sierra/VUG's counterclaims,
including
2) Sierra/VUG's promissory fraud claim
based on Valve's false promises
that it would continuously develop games to completion;
3) Sierra/VUG's fraud claim
and
4) claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and
1) fair dealing based on Valve's concealment of Steam
and
2) its strategically delayed development
of the Valve games
to coincide with the commercial release of Steam;
5) Sierra/VUG's unilateral mistake claim
based on its mistaken belief
regarding the status of development of the Valve games
upon signing the 2001 SPA;
6) Sierra/VUG's breach of contract claim based on Valve's failure
to use diligent efforts
to continuously develop the Valve games to completion;
and
7) Sierra/VUG's claim for declaratory relief
regarding its right
to reversion of the Half-Life intellectual property
based on Valve's failure
to continuously develop the Valve games.
Geez.. Who writes these things? Lawyers I guess.
Assuming they fully release this game via steam. What if later the law suit goes against Valve, and they're not allowed.
Could this mean that the versions obtained via steam would be invalidated? That's pretty bad for Valve and the Customers. Presumably (I am not an expert on steam) there is a way to revolk privillages for the game? Valve would have to refund money so the users can get a "legal" copy?
Maybe this wouldn't happen, but anything is possible with the legal system of the US..
default gateway has been defined? If I reset default gateway setting, CS immediately starts working.:(
I have a coupon with me for downloading HL2 via Steam that came with my Radeon 9800 Pro video card. It's the only reason I've installed that PoS software in my box.
And now it seems like there won't be Steamed HL2 after all. Bunch of tossers...
---- Take the Space Quiz!
Oh good, if it's delayed, I'll have time to save for the $549 million Graphics card I'll (not need) want to play it. :)
A mid November release would put it on the shelves just in time for Christmas. Funny that...
There really was no way that the game was ever going to be released in the summer, Valve & Vivendi have poured too much money into the project to release it any time other than for the Christmas rush. If I were the conspiracy theory type I'd suggest that they'd done a great job of keeping the masses salivating and expecting an imminent release...
I don't get that impression from the article, so I guess it's a fairly subtle hint. That said, I think very late October, early November is a good guess. If it were gold now, it'd take at least another couple of weeks to be in the stores - and it's not (officially) gold yet. I don't know how you expected it to be ready earlier than October 8 - unless of course the release it on Steam before it's in the stores, which would be... something.
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
But can you tell me when that converges?
Software piracy is victimless theft.
I thought I heard this somewhere, but I might have imagined it :) Is it true that if you buy HL2 on steam you get a CD/DVD/800 floppies in the mail a few weeks later?
SIGFAULT
A friend of mine who works in the industry was sent to Valve to evaluate the Source engine (the HL2 engine). His company was considering licensing it for their own games. He visited in fall of 2003, just a few months before the original release date. His assessment: the game was nowhere near ready, there were many, many months of work ahead of them. He knew that a delay was going to announced and agreed that the code theft was just a handy smokescreen.
Search 2010 Gen Con events
Don't use your tired Buzz-Word-Soup here on slashdot. We're not interested in your unintelligent attempts at visualizing something you'll never understand. Let's assume by "Through" you mean by unencrypting the preloaded information. Would "Around" then be simply throwing the encrypted textures at the videocard and letting it try to discern what the hell you're trying to do? Please.
Remember how the first delay of Half-Life wasn't announced until what seemed to be the last possible second? Many people, myself included, accused Valve of sitting on the news of the delay in order to keep sales of bundled-with-hl2-ATI cards flowing under pressure from ATI.
I hope they release HL2 over Steam regardless of the court situation, as they've claimed they will do. They better do it soon though, an injunction could bind them from going against the flow here.
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Yeah, I'm tossin' out tons of buzz here, guy. :P Listen, I'm sure we all know that the seemingly impossible can unexpectedly turn probable before one's eyes. Sometimes it takes just a single vision. Just because you do not know how does not mean it cannot be done.
In short: STFU; quit being a troll.