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Half-Life 2 Pack Announced for Xbox 360 & PS3

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the more-crowbar-for-your-money dept.

Wowzer writes "Valve's Gabe Newell revealed at EA's annual summer press event that Half-Life 2 will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3. It will include all extra content released on the PC and a new puzzle/fps game mode where you blast Prey-like portals into floors and walls. If that wasn't enough, Team Fortress 2 showed up in cartoon-style. From the article: 'The console versions will include: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Half-Life 2: Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The latter and possibly both will also be included in Half-Life 2: Episode Two on the PC.' Release TBD, but it's in 2006 alongside the PC's Half-Life 2: Episode Two."

49 comments

  1. Can it really be true? by amliebsch · · Score: 3, Insightful

    TF2 after all these many years? My heart is aflutter! Here's hoping TF2 is available on PC as well though...

    --
    If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
    1. Re:Can it really be true? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      TF2 will be shipping with HL2: Episode 2 on the PC

    2. Re:Can it really be true? by Doomstalk · · Score: 1

      TF2 after all these many years?

      I know. First Prey, and now TF2. All we need is Duke Nukem Forever, and the apocalypse will be upon us.

  2. Half-Life 2: Portal by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    "Hi, and welcome to Half-Life 2: Portal. I'm Dave, and this is VAL."

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  3. Team Fortress 2! by fahrvergnugen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Team Fortress 2 gets announced for release, with a new graphical style that's reminiscent of nothing so much as the creepy robots from the film Small Soldiers, and the XBox 360 & PS3 ports get top billing in an article that doesn't even make the front page?

    Way to prioritize.

    --
    Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
    1. Re:Team Fortress 2! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well... you know, the console game market is big business, pc games are niche market, so the 360/ps3 ports are much bigger news.

  4. Noooooo!!! by Recovering+Hater · · Score: 1

    Oh my gawd you killed my wallet! You bastards!

    --
    My humor is probably your flamebait
  5. A reason to get a 360? by mgblst · · Score: 1

    I am not alone in really wanting Halflife 2 (after really enjoying the first one), but not enough to go through all the crap they make you do(Steam). This maybe regular operating procedure for the everyday players, but HL was the last FPS game I played. This give me an option to actually play the game - hooray. (Lets hope it comes out before I am completely bored of games)

  6. EA? by Synic · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Since when is Valve publishing anything through Electronic Arts?

    1. Re:EA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      since they got out of their contract with vivendi

    2. Re:EA? by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 1

      Since they freed themselves from beneth Vivendi's Iron heel. They announced that EA would do their physical medium publishing while Valve maintained full control of distribution through steam and whatever else the want to do. It's much more of a "mutual partnership" kind of deal than "we own all your distribution lines and therefore we (essentially) own you" kind of thing that Vivendi had going down. Much less pressure, much more freedom. The way games were ment to be published.

      --
      Demented But Determined.
  7. I'm fine with the 360 release... by transmetal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... as long as it doesn't result in any delays for HL2: Episode 2. I enjoyed the first one, but waiting any more than 6 months for another four hour game would test my patience. On another topic, why are they releasing HL2 for consoles AGAIN? Wasn't the xbox release less than stellar (sales wise)?

    1. Re:I'm fine with the 360 release... by eln · · Score: 1

      With TF2 being bundled with Episode 2, I would expect the release date to be pushed back by at least a decade to more closely coincide with the release of Duke Nukem Forever.

    2. Re:I'm fine with the 360 release... by Icepole4 · · Score: 1

      you're right half-life sales weren't that great...I guess they are thinking the added power of the next gen consoles will allow them to truly port the game to console owners without having to skimp on graphics and/or content to make it more attractive to console gamers.

    3. Re:I'm fine with the 360 release... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      I think the Xbox release was poorly timed. First of all, most gamers who own an Xbox also own a gaming-capable PC (that's not true of PS2 or Gamecube), and so I would wager most Xbox gamers had already played if it they wanted.

      --
      Comment of the year
    4. Re:I'm fine with the 360 release... by hollismb · · Score: 1

      They published Half Life 2 on the XBOX about a week or two before the 360 came out. Not the best time to be publishing a game.

  8. Wii? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where's the love?

    1. Re:Wii? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I personally think the decision probably has little to do with the input device or the technical abilities of the system (Half-Life 2 was on the XBox and Wii > XBox) and has more to do with Valve's love for electronic distribution.

      Valve wants gamers to embrace electronic distribution and episodic content; the Wii is (theoriticaly) capable of episodic content but with only 512MB (standar) of data storage I suspect valve is reluctant to try to bring episodic gaming to the Wii. Personally, I'm happy because I see episodic content as a way for companies to nickle and dime their users to death.

    2. Re:Wii? by BMonger · · Score: 1

      But the 360 doesn't require a hard drive. So it comes with no memory if you buy the $300 system... I think the memory card is only 64 MB. Less than the Wii.

    3. Re:Wii? by illspirit · · Score: 1

      Why does everyone assume Wii will be so great for FPS games? From what I've heard, it's kinda like trying to play one on a PC without being able to pick up and move the mouse. Try it some time. You're sure to run out of desk space and get fragged rather quickly. And with the Wii, instead of being limited by the size of your desk times mouse DPI, you'll have @ ±30 to stay on screen. As such, you'll still have to end up dealing with the wonky gamepad-style hold-cursor-at-the-edge-of-the-screen-forever to turn controls. Granted, it might not be too bad once you get the hang of it, but the response time still won't be the same as a mouse. Not to mention if you drift too much from, say, your arm getting tired of staying in the dead center of the screen for hours, you'll have to worry about spinning madly around in place. Not trying to bash the Wii, mind you, as it looks like fun. I just think it won't live up to expectations when it comes to FPS'ing.

    4. Re:Wii? by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1

      You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about the way FPS controls would be implemented using the Wii remote, most of which I don't think there are any grounds to make.

      Most specifically, you believe that the position of the Wiimote relative to the center of the screen will be used to determine what direction your character moves in, which I do not expect to be the case. More likely you will use the thumbstick on the nunchuk attachment for that, and the remote's orientation will be used for camera movement and/or weapon aiming.

      It's too early yet, too, to conclude that this scheme would be any better than the dual-thumbsticks scheme, or the WASD/mouse scheme. We will have to wait and see.

    5. Re:Wii? by ArmyOfFun · · Score: 1

      I've mentioned before how I would do a FPS controls on Wii. First of all, I wouldn't require you to actually point at the screen, any movement of the controller could work exactly like any movement in a mouse. Vertical axis aiming could be defined by moving the controller forward and backwards (just like a mouse) or by tilting the front of the controller up and down.

      Secondly, I'd implement a lock button on the controller which would be equivalent to picking up your mouse (it wouldn't interpret any controller movement until you release the lock button).

      To turn 180 on PC: Flick mouse right, pick up mouse, reposition mouse to where it was.
      To turn 180 on Wii: Flick controller right, push and hold lock button, reposition controller to where it was, release lock button.

  9. Steam is fine by mnemonic_ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Obviously you haven't tried Steam recently (or ever) if you're considering a $300 Xbox 360 an alternative. It's about as painless as an online game distribution system can be. If you're ok with ordering something from Amazon, then you can tolerate Steam. Steam does not make you "do" any "crap," and it's a godsend for indie game developers.

    1. Re:Steam is fine by Nos. · · Score: 1

      I'm in complete agreement. I LOVE steam. Its had issues, but not enough to make me cringe. I can buy games online, I can preload them before they're released, and play them moments after being released. I don't even know when my games are updated anymore, Steam takes care of it for me.

    2. Re:Steam is fine by Jett · · Score: 1

      I broadly agree, however something that does absolutely suck is running a fresh default steam install. Even if you want to play single player HL2 you can't until it's done downloading and authenticating everything. It was about 3 hours before it was done doing everything. The download speeds have improved a lot fortunately but Steam does still crap out every once in awhile making it so you can't play any multiplayer games. Steam has come a long ways but it still has a long ways to go. I'd really like to see Valve finish up their bitorrentification of it and add mod distribution into the system.

  10. 2005 July 18 by mnemonic_ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since about a year ago.

    1. Re:2005 July 18 by Synic · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the link, I hadn't heard about this. Still, it pains me to see that physical retailers still have a choke hold on prices for online distribution. Hopefully one day it will hit critical mass and people won't have the need to visit stores at all. Download it online immediate, get a physical boxed copy sent to you in the mail at some later date for a bit more (instead of having to re-purchase it). Looks like a next-generation publishing company is really what is needed..?

  11. Why link to a blog? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why link to that blog, which just copies the info from another place? How much did they pay?

    1. Re:Why link to a blog? by WankersRevenge · · Score: 1

      Both suck for info ... head over to gamespot ... they got a whole article on it with some good details

  12. Is it worth it now? by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 1

    There now all you "4-6 hrs isn't enough!" people, is 4-6 hr episode with a new weapon, new enemy, new tech, a new veichle, and Team Fortress 2 enough? What if we throw in a Portal with an innovative new gameplay mechanic for a package deal? Hehe, I loved episode I enough I'd pay $40 for all three of these!

    But wait, there's more! Console gamers get Episode I in there too! The consoles will probably have to pay $60 for the package (if $40 for ep2 TF2 and portal plus $20 for ep1 because they can.) I bet you PC by Steam will be the best option.

    --
    Demented But Determined.
  13. *shrug* by ShadowsHawk · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just last night I was playing Wolfenstein on a friend's xbox and commented on how difficult it was to use. To make matters worse, they had an auto aim feature which pulled your cross hair towards the enemy. Slowly. I would over compensate and end up missing the first couple of shots.

    1. Re:*shrug* by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      You can turn off the auto-aim on just about any FPS. That is not a console issue, but an annoyance of the game's settings, as auto-aim exists on PC versions as well. I used to be against FPS games on consoles...but I've found that the interface isn't worse, just *different*. After some time I've picked up all of my "athletic skills" on console FPSes that I had with WASD+mouse.

      --
      Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
    2. Re:*shrug* by Pulse_Instance · · Score: 1

      I find that auto aim doesn't work very well unless you can't aim at all for yourself. It makes it nearly impossible to go for a head shot as it generally pulls you to the center of the body. I find it better on consoles to get in the crosshair in the general area then tweak the last little bit with movement, as I got better with this technique I started doing both movements as one and I find that it works pretty well. I don't find it works as well as a mouse but for a console it seems to be the best.

  14. Wii? by CodemasterMM · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, let's publish a First Person Shooter for all of the consoles that have the worst FPS-like controls and not a single game for the one console that will have awesome FPS controls, seemingly the best ones yet.

  15. Still Skeptical by WeAzElMaN · · Score: 1

    I haven't seen any other info on this new iteration of Team Fortress 2, but the original was supposed to take the game away from the cartoony action style of TF and make it a realistic, class-based shooter. That was the appeal that hooked me back in the late 90s. I guess we'll see how it turns out, but I'm kinda bummed that they decided to do away with that model.

    1. Re:Still Skeptical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i, for one, love the unrealism:

      -building a sentry gun, and then upgrading it by smacking it with a wrench
      -pushing a first aid kid against teammates to heal them or enemies to plague them
      -let's not forget conc-jumping!

    2. Re:Still Skeptical by British · · Score: 1

      I remember seeing a screenshot(not sure if it was real or not) of an invisible soldier, where you could only see his bazooka. After that, I heard nothing of TF after that.

      My only suggestion for TF would be to turn off the "you dying" screaming sounds. After hearing it the first thousand times, you get really tired of hearing it. That, and more maps besodes 2fort. Jeesh!

    3. Re:Still Skeptical by Babbster · · Score: 1

      The problem is that while TF2 has been languishing there have been numerous "realistic" shooters, both class-based and not, released for PC and console. If TF2 went that direction, it would probably be a yawn-fest for those who have been playing games like Battlefield 2 for quite a while. Sticking with the TFC formula - while, of course, tweaking and "Sourcing" it - gives it a hook that makes it different.

  16. The Apparent Demise of TF2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    In 1998-1999, Team Fortress 2 (TF2) was advertised to be the greatest online team-based action game of all time. Tons of multiplayer levels, missions spanning multiple maps, single player campaigns, and assloads of features and great gameplay ideas. It would be a massive stand-alone game release, not just a modification of a new game. Of course, it was pushed back. And since then, countless games have implemented the ideas (although there are still some great ideas in old TF2 interviews which would still be nice to see) which were originally planned for TF2. But there was still hope- Valve was still committed to TF2 and announced it would be released after HL2 on the "next version" of the Source, presumably something like "Source 1.5" and most felt it would still be packed with innovative new features and gameplay which would make it the best online team-based shooter. It would be the multiplayer equivalent of Half-Life and Half-Life 2.

    What has happened? Well, it went from what I described above, to being an "extra bonus" to an expansion pack for HL2. WTF? And judging by the description and the fact it's not a stand-alone game anymore, it may be closer to a remake of TF or TFC than it is to a whole new game. It may be better titled "Team Fortress: Source".

    Now of course, because of the games released since the original TF2 design we seen so many years ago, the same game released now wouldn't have as big as an impact. So a redesign of the game itself would be in order. I have no problem with that. My problem is the scope of the project. Saviour of multiplayer gaming to an extra for an expansion pack? Ack.

    Maybe Valve will prove me wrong, but all signs point to the fact the game's scope has been seriously reduced and TF2's potential greatness crushed.

    1. Re:The Apparent Demise of TF2 by AcidLacedPenguiN · · Score: 1

      With that said, even if it were to simply copy the finer points of BF2 infantry stuff, but into an engine without all the bugs holes and crashes, I'd still be a happy camper. Especially if it were to cost about the same as the regular price point of addon packs.

      --
      disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
    2. Re:The Apparent Demise of TF2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TF2 will eventually be sold as a stand alone game just like CS and DoD. From a pure business perspective, it would be logical to include one of the most highly anticipated multiplayer games ever with another highly anticipated single player game which has no multiplayer component. Counter-Strike source was packaged with Half-Life 2 as well. Valve is a company and companies make money.

  17. Steam with public library Internet? by tepples · · Score: 1
    If you're ok with ordering something from Amazon, then you can tolerate Steam.

    Even if I* do my Amazon shopping at the public library because I don't have Internet access at home? Even if I buy the boxed game, the Steam activation system still requires me to seek permission from library staff to connect my own PC to their network before I can play even the single player missions. Do most public libraries routinely grant such permission?

    *Speaking on behalf of video gamers who do not connect their machines to the Internet at home.

    1. Re:Steam with public library Internet? by mgblst · · Score: 1

      Exactly.

      Come on cheeseballs, release a stand alone dvd will ya!

    2. Re:Steam with public library Internet? by idonthack · · Score: 1

      There are some groups that produce unofficial "patches", most small enough to fit on a floppy. Not that I have any experience with them...

      --
      Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
  18. First shot/concept art by YellowCyclone · · Score: 1

    http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2006/news/ 07/13/tf2_screen001.jpg and mirrored on http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6384/tf2screen0 018el.jpg

    love the new pixar-ish designs. it'll be sure to cause controversy ala wind waker did for zelda.

  19. Ho hum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know about you guys but after the novelty of the gravity gun wore off hl2 got boring pretty fast.

  20. Re:Is it worth it now? Nope... by fujiman · · Score: 1

    Well, it seems the longer I wait, the better the deals get (as always). Personally, I'll wait until all three episodes are done and pick it up in the bargain bin. Definitely not on Steam though. Just since you asked :)

  21. So this is what's become of ND... by RealmRPGer · · Score: 1

    I didn't know that Valve would eat up the team behind "Portals" just to make a mini-game in Half Life 2 out of it.