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Pre-Order Valve Games Via Steam Next Week, Enter the TF2 Beta

Posted by Zonk on from the time-of-a-million-games-is-upon-us dept.

The British Gaming Blog notes that the Orange Box (Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2) will be available for pre-order via Steam starting next week. What's more, ordering the games via Steam will give you access to an advance Beta test of Team Fortress 2. "The Orange Box contains Half Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2; you'll have to purchase the entire package to receive the Beta. Valve recommends giving the extra codes for Half Life 2 and Episode 1 (if you already own them) to someone who's been missing out. Not explained on the actual pre-purchase page is an added bonus for early adopters, Peggle Extreme; a special edition of Popcap's Peggle featuring new challenges and Orange Box related artwork." Apparently current HL2 fans will miss out on the Beta ... because we've already paid them money.

141 comments

  1. Oh, come on now... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apparently current HL2 fans will miss out on the Beta ... because we've already paid them money.

    There's no possible way that the beta could support everybody who bought Half-Life 2, or even the fraction of that number that'd be interested in it. Given that you bought and played the game (ages ago, most likely) and I would assume enjoyed it in the process, I'm not sure what there is to get upset about. If you bought the game three years ago at launch, then I don't see why Valve owes you anything after this much time has passed.

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
    1. Re:Oh, come on now... by Nos. · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Since when do you offer support to beta testers, other than typically informal, forum type support? That's all I would expect from this. As far as allowing people to beta test, why not? Other than the forums may get overwhelmed with posts if there are issues. Its not like Valve will be the only ones running servers.

      What I'm upset about, is that as a loyal Valve customer for years, I'm actually being treated worse than someone who has never owned the game before.

    2. Re:Oh, come on now... by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      Please buy it and send me the codes as they suggest.

      Then nothing is wasted.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    3. Re:Oh, come on now... by aarmenaa · · Score: 1
      I believe may stem from the fact that the Orange Box is going to include the original Half-Life 2 and Episode One (as well as TF2, Portal, and Episode 2), and is currently the only package I see available on Steam. Well, being the loyal fan I am, I already purchased Half-Life 2 and Episode One - I would really prefer a cheaper package that didn't include stuff I already paid for.

      Apparently Valve has already thought of this, as this is at the bottom of the order page:

      Already own Half-Life 2 or Half-Life 2: Episode One?
      Give your extra game as a gift to a friend when you purchase The Orange Box. Learn more here. But still, it's not an ideal solution for people who are already fans of the game. Valve also quotes IGN on the page, in what I thought was a dim revelation:

      "...the package which could legitimately be called the deal of the century." - IGN" Great. I'm gonna guess there's not a cheaper package in the works anytime soon. Thanks IGN.
      --
      "I do a grep for shit, bollocks, and tits before checking in code. I'm professional..." -RECURSIVE_META_JOKE, reddit.com
    4. Re:Oh, come on now... by Novotny · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Typical Slashdot whining. I may not have a lot of karma to burn but I'll explain why you're making no sense.

      You get into the beta for buying three new games for the price of one, these being Episode 3, Portal & Team Fortress 2. It just so happens they're bucking in the original HL2 and Episode One (both of which I paid for) as well. So that's actually 5 great games for the price of one. Yes, that's right. The Orange box is priced comparably to any singular title also in the market.

      And typically, you guys whine because you bought HL2. One of these five titles. Whine whine! We want the last three years of development work for free! This from an Editor too.

      Er, no. I'm so with Valve on this one. And I don't give a damn if I come over like a fanboi or you all burn me at the stake for heresy.

    5. Re:Oh, come on now... by Thansal · · Score: 1

      exactly.

      I prordered HL2, and EP1 and now the orange box.

      Sure, I am sorta miffed that the black box is not offered on Steam, but what ever, the Orange box is still cheaper then EP2/Portal/TF2. so my GF gets her own copies of HL2 and EP1 (now I can get her to play Zombie master with me :P)

      --
      Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
    6. Re:Oh, come on now... by Deadbolt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're being retarded. For $45 (counting the $5 off preorder), you get Episode 2, Portal, and TF2. That's, say, 15 hours of single-player game and god knows how many hours of TF2 (at least 24 over the life of the game). Plus they throw in a 10-level Peggle, which is actually pretty damn fun and is even more awesome for being free. $45 for all that is a hell of a value, especially since Bioshock costs $50 for 10 hours of single-player. (Really awesome single-player, yes, but kinda short, and no multiplayer at all.)

      And you get a free HL2 and Episode 1 to give to someone.

      How is Valve screwing you again?

      (Disclaimer: I just ordered it a few minutes ago and am thrilled.)

      --
      "Honey, it's not working out; I think we should make our relationship open-source."
    7. Re:Oh, come on now... by regular_gonzalez · · Score: 1

      You're looking at it the wrong way. I personally would pay $50 for TF2, but let's say it's only worth $29.95 to you. HL2:E1 was $20 at launch. Let's say pOrtal is mediocre and worth less than an average budget game, $10. $30 + $20 + $10 = $60, even in the new math. $45 (or $50, if you don't preorder) is a ridiculous bargain. Don't look at it as having to pay extra -- it's getting two additional games (or 1.5, if you like) -- HL2 and HL2:E1 for free! You can even sell them on the open market and make a bit of cash back, if you're that frugal. What would have been a smarter move, is to have the current prices for the three new games, and charge an extra $1 to get HL2 and HL2:E1. That way, the moaners could feel like they aren't being screwed, and those who don't have any of the games yet could pay a token fee to get 2 more games.

      Kudos to Valve for delivering massive amounts of gameplay for so cheap.

      --
      Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am master of my fate and captain of my soul.
    8. Re:Oh, come on now... by theantipop · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you were not aware but Valve originally planned to offer a "Black Box" with the same content, mines the two older titles, for $10 less. This offering was canceled because retailers didn't like the idea which is perfectly reasonable in my opinion.

      But digital distribution is supposed to be the answer to this conundrum. Valve wanted to save their loyal customers a few bucks but apparently ditched the whole idea because they couldn't have parity between their retail and online offerings. I'll probably buy the Orange Box anyway because I have been a sucker for TF everything for almost a decade and want in this beta, but it still shows a side to Valve I don't particularly endorse.

    9. Re:Oh, come on now... by j.sanchez1 · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you were not aware but Valve originally planned to offer a "Black Box" with the same content, mines the two older titles, for $10 less. This offering was canceled because retailers didn't like the idea which is perfectly reasonable in my opinion.

      But digital distribution is supposed to be the answer to this conundrum.

      Valve has never said they wouldn't offer the Black Box on Steam. If it bothers you that much, why not wait and see if they do release it? Maybe they are only allowing pre-orders on one box set at a time.

      --
      Speedy thing goes in; speedy thing comes out.
    10. Re:Oh, come on now... by Stele · · Score: 1

      What I'm upset about, is that as a loyal Valve customer for years, I'm actually being treated worse than someone who has never owned the game before.

      Kind of like a loyal Apple customer, who buys a new iPod every year, a new Mac every three years, and an OS upgrade very 18 months.

      What bugs me is their "episodes" seem to take as long to make as full-blown games do, and one third the time to play them!

    11. Re:Oh, come on now... by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      $30 + $20 + $10 = $60, even in the new math.

      More like $20 + $20 + $10 = $50 at most, since Valve usually packs online mods in for free (or at least much cheaper than $30) with its other games. So the package is the same price as what the new games are worth, at best. Even though the point of Steam packages is to get discounts from buying multiple games, this still wouldn't be a bad thing if Valve wasn't dishonestly making it look like $50 is a great bargain.

      All I'm asking is that Valve offer a package that doesn't include two games that I have already bought and with an accordingly reduced price. $35 would make sense, but I would even accept $40 since that would still be much less of a ripoff than the current insulting "ha ha those dumb fanboys will buy anything, even stuff they already own" nonsense.

      You can even sell them on the open market and make a bit of cash back, if you're that frugal.

      "May I Buy, Sell or Trade gift subscriptions?
      "No. This violates the Steam Subscriber Agreement and may result in having your account disabled."

      Rob

    12. Re:Oh, come on now... by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      Soft and gently, apparently. Like date rape.

      --
      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    13. Re:Oh, come on now... by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      Valve's loyal customers shouldn't have to wait for the people just joining in. If anything, it should be the other way around. Besides, if it turns out that there will be no better packages, then you'll just end up missing out on the $5 discount and the bonus Popcap game on top of everything else.

      Rob

    14. Re:Oh, come on now... by regular_gonzalez · · Score: 1

      TF2 was developed from the ground up as a new game. Look at Counterstrike: Source -- $27.99 at Amazon. That's after being out for what, 3 years now? And TF2 has been in development for a heck of a lot longer and is far more of a completely new, remade game from TF:C than Counterstrike: Source is from vanilla Counterstrike. Are you arguing that Quake Wars: Enemy Territory should be free since, hey! Castle Wolfenstein:ET was?
      I can't decide if you're being deliberately disingenuous or if somehow you actually believe what you're saying. In any event, more room on the servers for me :)

      --
      Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am master of my fate and captain of my soul.
    15. Re:Oh, come on now... by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      Look at Counterstrike: Source -- $27.99 at Amazon.

      Free with HL2, and it always has been. I.e. CS:S isn't worth anywhere close to $30 either.

      Rob

    16. Re:Oh, come on now... by Nos. · · Score: 1

      Yeah, because its wrong to think that as a loyal customer for years, I could actually expect something more than someone just walking in the door, so to speak. Don't get me wrong, the price is not the issue, and they could arbitrarily set the individual prices to anything anyways. The point is, a new customer is getting more benefit than an existing customer (that being HL2 and Ep1). I already have HL2, so giving a gift to give away, really isn't any value to me. I'd rather have seen a $5 or $10 off for people who already have those products.

    17. Re:Oh, come on now... by Babbster · · Score: 1

      Sure, I am sorta miffed that the black box is not offered on Steam, but what ever, the Orange box is still cheaper then EP2/Portal/TF2.


      Well, gee, I wonder how that happened! Such a shockingly great deal that one can't help but wonder why the damn things aren't $10 a piece in the first place...
    18. Re:Oh, come on now... by Thansal · · Score: 1

      b/c they are worth more then $10 a pop?

      EP2 is worth at least $20, and might actually be worth the $30 they are charging (supposedly it is much longer then EP1, and I was content with $20 for EP1). TF2 I am content with a $30 price tag, and I am (probably) content with a $20 price tag for Portal (depending on how long it is).

      All in all, I will probably get much more play time out of this then I did out of BioShock (And I am also content with the $50 spent on BS). Especially with the amount of time I spend playing mods with my GF.

      --
      Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
    19. Re:Oh, come on now... by Novotny · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh I know he's a troll, but I'll bite.

      Episode 2 brings a lot of new tech to the series and has been in development for quite some time. It is a new title. It is made by some of the most talented people in the industry. It will, most likely, be very good.

      Team Fortress 2 is extremely exciting to people who like fps online or who enjoyed the original (I didn't like the original much, but that's a different story). You clearly know absolutely nothing about it.

      And as for 'Portal is just a new set of skins on half-life with a bit of storyline' - now we know you really are just making this up to annoy people.

      'if I want to pay 50$ for a game with one new gun' - is it just the banging noise guns make in game that you appreciate? Sounds right about your intellectual level.

    20. Re:Oh, come on now... by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 2, Informative

      Valve has never said they wouldn't offer the Black Box on Steam. If it bothers you that much, why not wait and see if they do release it? Maybe they are only allowing pre-orders on one box set at a time.

      When I was at Valve in June, I asked about the dropping of the Black Box at retail. Apparently the standalone Episode One wasn't welcomed by retailers since, despite having high-level production values, it was effectively at a budget price - and thus was treated accordingly.

      The great-big-bumper-Orange-Box is basically a compilation to bring it into full-price game territory, so retailers should be a bit more generous with regard to shelf-space, promotional material and so on.

      I got the impression that the Black Box's non-appearance at retail is partly because of that, and also perhaps so that Valve can effectively undercut retail prices on Steam - I'm not sure how the games might be split up, or even if they will be - but I imagine it could be a fair bit cheaper buying just a few sections of the Orange Box that way. Plus, outside of Valve, I've read stories of retailers essentially forcing Steam prices to be as high as they are - essentially saying that if Valve sells it more cheaply online, the stores won't stock the boxed games at all...

      I'd wait a week or two before writing off the Black Box (or equivalents) entirely, anyway. But perhaps this is an attempt at viral marketing of the Half-Life 2 series? Give gamers a load of unused product keys, and let 'em give em to friends who haven't played them yet...
      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    21. Re:Oh, come on now... by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 3, Informative

      Episode 2 brings a lot of new tech to the series and has been in development for quite some time. It is a new title. It is made by some of the most talented people in the industry. It will, most likely, be very good.

      I've played it right the way through, and it's gameplay-wise much-much-longer than Episode One, and content-wise much-much-more of a new game. Fractionally, if Episode One was Half-Life 2.1, Episode Two would be Half-Life 2.5 or something like that. Maybe Episode Three will take it all the way up to Half-Life 3.0?

      Team Fortress 2 is extremely exciting to people who like fps online or who enjoyed the original (I didn't like the original much, but that's a different story). You clearly know absolutely nothing about it.

      TF2 shares rough player class types, some gameplay concepts and some map layouts with, say, TFC - but otherwise it's a whole new product. It's a very different game!

      And as for 'Portal is just a new set of skins on half-life with a bit of storyline' - now we know you really are just making this up to annoy people.

      I'd say it was the best puzzle-oriented FPS I've ever played, but come to think of it, I can't actually think of too many puzzle-oriented FPSes. And the 'S' is a bit dubious anyway, as I can't remember much shooting...

      But I do remember cake, yes.
      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    22. Re:Oh, come on now... by Babbster · · Score: 1

      Well, bully for you. Me, I'll pay no more than $20 for online delivery of an expansion pack and no more than $40 for online delivery of a full game. Considering how much Valve and company save by not having to produce the physical package and pay retailers to sell it, I don't think that's unreasonable. If it means I have to wait a bit to get in on the fun, well, that's not a crisis either. I've been obsessing over World of Warcraft lately so I'll hardly notice the TF2 gap in my life..."hardly" being the operative word since it looks awesome. :)

    23. Re:Oh, come on now... by Novotny · · Score: 1

      I really enjoyed Minerva btw, nice to see you post :) But what are you doing posting here? Go make more levels! ;)

    24. Re:Oh, come on now... by TheSpengo · · Score: 0

      Haha, same here. Sucks the black box got nuked, but my gf did want a copy of hl2. Guess this would be a good time! See you in the beta...

      --
      Weaksauce as they say...
    25. Re:Oh, come on now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bzzzt. CS:S was free with HL2:silver edition, which sold at an *inflated* price. Silver is no longer available.

      The only way to get CS:S currently is to either buy it standalone or to purchase it in a >$50 bundle. It does *not* come with the $20 HL2 version.

    26. Re:Oh, come on now... by kindbud · · Score: 1

      What I'm upset about, is that as a loyal Valve customer for years, I'm actually being treated worse than someone who has never owned the game before.

      Don't worry, I'm still not buying their Stream-powered crap. Not until it gets into the $9.99 bargain bin. That's a fee more appropriate for software rental, which is what Steam/HL2 really is.

      --
      Edith Keeler Must Die
    27. Re:Oh, come on now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get a clue, will you? Nobody cares that you're a 'loyal customer'. Stop whining that they're packaging things up to get the most revenue they can out of it. God, you act like you sold your first born or something. Grow up.

    28. Re:Oh, come on now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess you missed the part where the price of Orange Box was lowered by $10 to the same price the Black Box was supposed to have ($50). In other words, you're paying the "$10 less" AND getting the two other games.

    29. Re:Oh, come on now... by neoform · · Score: 1

      >If you bought the game three years ago at launch, then I don't see why Valve owes you anything after this much time has passed.

      Oh come on. You don't see how they owe you anything? You're a paying customer, who is more likely to buy a half-life 2 game than a previous half-life 2 buyer? treading on your user base is very stupid, no matter how loyal they are. I loved half-life 2 and will buy episode 2 either way, but not all fans like the game as much as I do.

      --
      MABASPLOOM!
    30. Re:Oh, come on now... by KingK · · Score: 1

      Only posting because I hit the wrong mod button. Please ignore.

    31. Re:Oh, come on now... by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      bzzzt. CS:S was free with HL2:silver edition, which sold at an *inflated* price.

      Then how did this retail copy of HL2 with CS: S included end up in my desk?

      Rob

    32. Re:Oh, come on now... by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      It couldn't have, because that would effectively counter the anti-corporate point. We can't have that, so you, sir, are a liar.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    33. Re:Oh, come on now... by Sporkinum · · Score: 1

      I just played HL2 and Ep1 for the first time about 3 weeks ago. I wouldn't buy it because of steam, so I just used my son's account. After I finished it, I promptly deleted everything. Fun game for the most part, but load time between sections was horrendous and really took you out of the game. BTW, he got EP1 for $5 through some special deal. I'd say it was worth maybe $10 tops.

      --
      "He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
    34. Re:Oh, come on now... by Psiven · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In regards to your last comment, I'd say that has to be some of their motivation. I have friends who've bought the CSS/DOD/HL2DM pack for lan marties, but still never experienced EP1. I will happily try to turn them on with my extra copies of HL2.

      I guess I just don't see the issue. I'd pay $30 for Portal, $40 for TF2, and $20 for EP2 (sry big multiplayer guy here). This just seems like a great value to me. It's $45 to preorder, and I get TF2 early. Holyshit, whats the issue?

    35. Re:Oh, come on now... by Psiven · · Score: 1

      Okay, so maybe thats a legitimate point.

      At the end of the day though, it boils down to if you feel like the product is equal to the value you spent. If it's not then as a consumer it's your responsibility not to buy it! Or simply pay what you feel it's worth.

      Yeah I guess some folks got a nice bonus out the deal, but I certainly don't feel cheated.

    36. Re:Oh, come on now... by Psiven · · Score: 1

      Exactly what do you think a software license is?

    37. Re:Oh, come on now... by Psiven · · Score: 1

      Oh get off it. What kind of huckster do you think you are trying to get those games for $35? Buy the titles ala carte if you don't want the extra stuff. The prices are fair, bundled or otherwise.

    38. Re:Oh, come on now... by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      A license? A rental would require paying for time which Valve doesn't do (yet).

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    39. Re:Oh, come on now... by iainl · · Score: 1

      You're a loyal customer who has bought Half-Life 2 (and probably CS:Source etc.) though. Not one who has bought TF2 yet.

      All told, what people are really getting here is an advance beta version of TF2 to play, when they pay for the full version of the game before its finished. Which is fair enough, I think.

      --
      "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
    40. Re:Oh, come on now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You bought a package (whatever the HL2:silver equivalent was at retail), for a more inflated price than HL2:standalone edition. Are you always this dense? Just look at the Steam catalogue. See if you can find a way to get HL2 + CS:S for anything less than $49.99.

    41. Re:Oh, come on now... by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      "Free with HL2, and it always has been. I.e. CS:S isn't worth anywhere close to $30 either."

      I just went to a lan party in San Jose where Valve gave out free copies of HL2 but you had to reg thru steam, i grabbed one and installed it on my son's system so he could play CS:S with me.. unfortunately having HL2 DOES NOT entitle you to CS:S.

      What you have must have been a bundle.

    42. Re:Oh, come on now... by vecctor · · Score: 1

      You're looking at it the wrong way. No, I think that is perfectly legitimate way to look at it. Now of course it looks nicer to look at it your way, and Valve's marketing/standalone pricing is designed to encourage you to look at it that way - but that doesn't mean it is the correct way to look at it.

      This whole argument is interesting. One side is arguing that the package is "a great deal when you break it down and compare it to MSRP" (which is how valve markets it on their site and wants you to see the deal) and the other side is arguing that the MSRPs are inflated and the games only become reasonably priced when in the package. Also the Black box was indeed supposed to be $5-10 cheaper - so they are comparing it to that. The two sides are calculating their numbers from different places (and obviously reaching different conclusions).

      Ep1 was $17.95 perorder standalone and yet we are sitting here calculating Ep2 at $20 as part of a package deal? You are supposed to get a better deal with package - not have to get the package for the same (or worse) deal.
      --
      Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
    43. Re:Oh, come on now... by kindbud · · Score: 1

      A software license is something the publisher's lawyers make him put in the box. It doesn't affect the disk contents at all, and cannot disable the software at the publisher's discretion.

      --
      Edith Keeler Must Die
    44. Re:Oh, come on now... by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      You bought a package (whatever the HL2:silver equivalent was at retail), for a more inflated price than HL2:standalone edition.

      I paid $53 for my copy, and I believe that the retail price was $55, a measly five bucks above the standalone version, and easily covered by the costs in packaging and physical distribution. And I wouldn't have paid "a more inflated price" for the retail version anyway, since the retail version is the base version that the others are compared to. Instead, the people who got the standalone version would have gotten a discount. Regardless, the difference between the two Steam packages was only $10, hardly the $30 that they're asking for TF2 or even the $20 that you could extrapolate from the Orange Box price.

      Are you always this dense?

      I could ask you the same question.

      See if you can find a way to get HL2 + CS:S for anything less than $49.99.

      You can find new retail copies for $20-30 if you do a diligent search. This is irrelevant anyway, since it's been three years now and anyone who cares about CS: S already has it. The important point was that when the games came out, you could get HL2 packaged with CS: S at the same cost or close to it.

      Rob

    45. Re:Oh, come on now... by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      A huckster who can do math.

      (cumulative individual price of HL2 + Ep1)/(cumulative individual price of Orange Box games) = 49.90/129.75 = .38

      (price of package) - .38(price of package) = 49.95 - .38(49.95) = 30.97

      Especially since I rounded down the percentage up there, that means that the package without HL2 or Ep1 should be close to $30 going by Valve's own individual prices. Granting Valve the privilege of applying less of the package's value to HL2 and Ep1 since they're older games (though in that case they really should be reducing the individual prices of those two games as well), $35 would be a fair price. $40 would be generous to them, but they deserve it because they're God manifest on Earth, etc. etc.

      Rob

  2. that makes me.... by Chris+whatever · · Score: 3, Funny

    want to blow out steam.....

  3. Does Valve suck for anyone else? by jollyreaper · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This might be slightly tangential but does Valve run slowly for anyone else? They have some great games available and I'm more than happy to pay for the good ones out there but the whole Valve service seems bloated, clunky, and wasteful. I can buy games online without needing a Valve interface, albeit those will be indie games and not professional ons. I can download cracks from bittorrent and not need Valve running in the background. To run even the simplest game it has to fire up the whole Valve app and authenticate online. Very annoying, the sort of thing that makes you want to go back to pirating for convenience. It's as annoying as disc checks. Valve will also go and do updates that will freeze the whole system, not relinquishing control until whatever it wants to do is finished.

    Note: this is coming from someone who pirated a shitload of games as a kid, buying the ones I really liked and junking the ones that were crap. I have more money these days and I'm happy to pay for what's good, I'm just sick of doing things legally being such a pain in my ass.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by fo0bar · · Score: 2, Informative

      This might be slightly tangential but does Valve run slowly for anyone else? Yes, it's quite slow to pick up Valve HQ and move it. Their employees need to get on the treadmill, that's how slow Valve is.

      (Steam is the content delivery service, Valve is the company name. And yes, to a degree. It's a bit slow starting and stopping (maybe 30 seconds to do either), but once it's up and running, it works fine for me.)
    2. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by bbcisdabomb · · Score: 1

      No, I think it's just you. On high-speed internet, the interface is very fast, and only slow if you're using the store on dial-up. If the "authenticate online" function is breaking it for you, all you have to do is set it to offline mode, and it won't call out any more. As for it running in the background, at the moment it's only using 8MB of RAM. I don't see a problem there (Disclaimer: I'm not doing video/image editing or any other RAM-intensive thing most of the time), as long as it Just Works (tm), which it does for me. And booting at startup didn't slow my computer down any appreciable amount, like Symantic Antivirus or Cisco Clean Access.

      --
      Please put some pants on before you post again.
    3. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by deathtopaulw · · Score: 1

      my computer is midrange this generation and I don't have any problems at all
      I even prefer the steam thing, because I can let friends play when I'm away from good computers for months at a time. Or when I reinstall an OS I just grab steam instead of searching for install discs, which are long gone by the way

    4. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by labalicious · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Have you tried the new version of Steam? My computer is 5 years old and runs it just fine. Try downloading the beta, it's really light weight >20mb used at a time. Just in case people don't have the link... http://steampowered.com/

    5. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes.

    6. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's just you. I have Steam (not Valve - Valve is the company, the product is Steam) load when Windows starts. It then authenticates online in the background while I'm still checking my email and stuff, and it's ready to launch any game I choose instantly. And the games run beautifully, even with Steam running in the background.

      If the auto-updates freeze your whole system, I suggest you throw it out and buy a computer less than 10 years old.

      My only slight irritation is that it doesn't remember my credit card details, so I have to type them all in every time I want to buy something. But that's a security feature, and I can live with security.

    7. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by stg · · Score: 1

      I don't have any of the problems you mention. You might want to note that you can click on Cancel when it's logging on and it will stay off-line. I haven't tried it lately, but when I only had dial-up on one of my computers, all games still worked fine on off-line mode.

      Sudden updates when you want to run a game and THEN has to wait for an update to download are very annoying, though.

    8. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by Pragmatix · · Score: 1

      I use direct2drive, which has a pretty good selection of major titles you can download. They have some activation process you have to go through once you download, but after that you can play the game and don't need to be connected to anything.

    9. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by nuzak · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, I find Steam to be pretty buggy, from not launching games except the second time I select the launch, to losing games in my list until I log out and back in, to a very sluggish store UI, which is merely an embedded IE component.

      But it still beats the living crap out of dealing with physical discs, and it's still a much better delivery service than Direct2Drive. I've never found the authentication to be slow, and BTW, it only has to do it once if you're not doing multiplayer.

      Your criticisms might carry a little more weight if you even knew what the name of the app was called. You sound like my gf's mother, who says things like "My Microsoft is slow".

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    10. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

      No, I think it's just you. On high-speed internet, the interface is very fast, and only slow if you're using the store on dial-up. If the "authenticate online" function is breaking it for you, all you have to do is set it to offline mode, and it won't call out any more. As for it running in the background, at the moment it's only using 8MB of RAM. I don't see a problem there (Disclaimer: I'm not doing video/image editing or any other RAM-intensive thing most of the time), as long as it Just Works (tm), which it does for me. And booting at startup didn't slow my computer down any appreciable amount, like Symantic Antivirus or Cisco Clean Access. Hmm. My machine is starting to get to the oldish side. It was fairly kick-ass as of 2002 but it's still running Win2K. That's an oldish OS, not sure if it's going to be having conflicts with the newer software out there.
      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    11. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by Thansal · · Score: 1

      Steam runs perfectly fine on 2K (I was running 2K up untill shortly after Vista came out when I switched to XP for a few games that are 'XP only')

      My old system ran Steam effortlessly, My new one has problems (all of the games end with XP tellign me they crashed, kinda odd, haven't poked at it yet).

      Old system specs:
      aprox 2ghz AMD CPU (don't remember off the top of my head)
      1 Gig Ram
      decent graphics card (but nothing overly impressive)

      if your system approaches mine, I would check out other things for beign the problem instead of Steam tbh

      --
      Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
    12. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      my gf's mother You know, you can just call her a great-grandmother. (We all know the other meaning of gf doesn't exist for Slashdot :P)
      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    13. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

      I'll check to see if it's updated. I'll also try that offline feature that was also mentioned, that might help a bit.

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    14. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

      Steam runs perfectly fine on 2K (I was running 2K up untill shortly after Vista came out when I switched to XP for a few games that are 'XP only') Hmm. Looks like I'll have to poke at it some more. I'm catching up on some of the classics I've missed over the past few years. Loving the new Pirates, it runs fine, it just takes way too frickin' long to load up with the steam crap. I'll have to try that offline thing that was suggested, that might help a bit.
      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    15. Re:Does Valve suck for anyone else? by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Funny

      Your criticisms might carry a little more weight if you even knew what the name of the app was called. You sound like my gf's mother, who says things like "My Microsoft is slow". Oh, give me a break, my intertubes were clogged. My interweb company says there's some spam caught in there, they're sending a guy in there to clear it out.
      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  4. Zonked again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its available to pre-order right now. And if you already have half-life 2, you can give the new copy you get in your bundle to a friend. Its basically a free copy anyways, since episode 2, portal and tf2 cost more than the bundle if purchased seperately anyways.

    1. Re:Zonked again! by Pluvius · · Score: 2

      And if you already have half-life 2, you can give the new copy you get in your bundle to a friend.

      Yes, that makes it worth it, especially since most people who are interested in HL2 already have it.

      Its basically a free copy anyways, since episode 2, portal and tf2 cost more than the bundle if purchased seperately anyways.

      If you accept the BS inflated prices that Valve gives for those games, anyway. There's no reason for Ep2 to be $30 when Ep1 was just $20, and Portal accordingly should be around $10. And there's no reason to think that the old games are free when they're still being sold for moderate prices individually.

      I don't know why people are just accepting the individual prices that are being quoted to them as justification for the $50 price of the Orange Box. I guess the fact that it's Valve turns off the ripoff detectors in their brains.

      Rob

    2. Re:Zonked again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From Steam's Site:

      "May I Buy, Sell or Trade gift subscriptions?

      No. This violates the Steam Subscriber Agreement and may result in having your account disabled."

      Not only am I forced to re-buy HL2 and Epi 1, but now I can't even sell it after buying the Orange box? What Gives?

    3. Re:Zonked again! by fo0bar · · Score: 1

      There's no reason for Ep2 to be $30 when Ep1 was just $20, and Portal accordingly should be around $10. So... EP2 is worth $20, portal is worth $10? That leaves TF2, which should easily be worth the remaining $15.

      But if you want to continue complaining, you are welcome to. The rest of us with our ripoff-detector-disabled brains will be over there, enjoying our games.
    4. Re:Zonked again! by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      So... EP2 is worth $20, portal is worth $10? That leaves TF2, which should easily be worth the remaining $15.

      $20, and that's questionable considering how other online mods have been priced in the past. I addressed this in another post.

      Rob

    5. Re:Zonked again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [i]There's no reason for Ep2 to be $30 when Ep1 was just $20, and Portal accordingly should be around $10.[/i] I dare you to justify either of these claims. Episode 2 is, by all accounts, a larger and more feature rich game than Episode 1. Portal is a full game in its own right according to accounts, not some indie minigame from 1999.

      This is the nonsense that contributed to Sin:Episode's ultimate demise. The second a game gets priced below $40, people start thinking it's some ultra low budget title and should either be ignored or priced at $10. But, if you price a Battlefield, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, or GTA III variation at $60 people lap it up and beg for $5-10 DLC to top it off.

      A company making better games asking less money while having a better track record of support and a vow to never charge for DLC? ripoff, IMO

    6. Re:Zonked again! by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      Episode 2 is, by all accounts, a larger and more feature rich game than Episode 1.

      I don't care. Pricing one episode of a game for more than another is a sign of bad faith.

      Portal is a full game in its own right according to accounts, not some indie minigame from 1999.

      It sounds like a spinoff that some bored guys at Valve came up with to show off engine updates to me. I'll be surprised if it's worth as much as Ep1.

      The second a game gets priced below $40, people start thinking it's some ultra low budget title and should either be ignored or priced at $10.

      You're obviously not talking about me, since I had no problem with Ep1 being $20.

      But, if you price a Battlefield, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, or GTA III variation at $60 people lap it up and beg for $5-10 DLC to top it off.

      Calling those "variations" is very disingenuous. The full-priced sequels to all of those games were justifiably so, since they were totally new games in regards to engine, content, or both. HL2 Ep2, on the other hand, is part of an episodic release, and as such is a direct continuation of the previous episode with incremental improvements in the engine, much like the many other add-ons and expansions that have been released for PC games in the past and never cost more than $20.

      Rob

    7. Re:Zonked again! by Generic+Player · · Score: 1

      "I don't know why people are just accepting the individual prices that are being quoted to them as justification for the $50 price of the Orange Box. I guess the fact that it's Valve turns off the ripoff detectors in their brains."

      Yeah, that could be it. Or maybe those people are just not whiney douchebags, so they see 3 awesome looking games for $45 and buy them instead of bitching on slashdot about how horrible valve is for making good games and charging a fair price for them.

    8. Re:Zonked again! by Psiven · · Score: 1

      Yeah that's my #1 gripe about Steam.

    9. Re:Zonked again! by vecctor · · Score: 1

      So... EP2 is worth $20, portal is worth $10? That leaves TF2, which should easily be worth the remaining $15. Unless you don't want any of the above. The only way to get the "reasonable" $20 price is to buy them all. Ep1 was 17.95 pre-order by itself (19.95 on release). You are supposed to get a better deal with package - not have to get the package for the same deal.
      --
      Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
  5. Bah! by jacksonic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    True fans will shell out whatever monies are necessary to get their hands on the ambrosia that is Team Fortress 2.

  6. I am happy with value recieved by senahj · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If Valve has extracted a few more dollars from me than from another person for the same merchandise, I really don't give a toss.

    If there is any company in the world that I think deserves my money, it's Valve.
    Thanks, guys.

    (I can see that my friend the GTA addict has actually gotten more replay value from San Andreas than I have from HL / Blue Shift / Opposing Force / HL2 / Lost Coast / Episode One, but he's welcome to it; I just don't enjoy being Carl Johnson, though it's fun to watch, and the music is superlative)

    --
    Wait a minute. Didn't I say that on the other side of the record? I'd better check ...
  7. How do you "give the codes away" to a Steam game? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously - I bought the Silver (?) version of HL2 on Steam back when it was released. I would not mind buying the Orange box if I could give the HL2 and CSS games to my dad, but I don't believe you can do that with games purchased on Steam - they are bound to your account.

  8. Half-Life 2 owners are not left out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Orange Box package is already $30 cheaper than if you just bought the three new games alone. Valve is literally giving away Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 for free with the Orange Box package.

    Price does not determine value, people. It's the other way around.

  9. Orange Box is cheaper anyway by Datasage · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Lets see here: Orange box $49.95, or pre-order for $44.95.

    Or if you were to buy the new games separately:
    EP2 = $29.95
    Portal = $19.95
    TF2 = $29.95

    I suppose they could make a package containing only the new games, but I doubt that it would be any cheaper.

    --
    In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    1. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by Wooloomooloo · · Score: 1

      I wish they'd sell EP2 alone, since I have no interest in Portal or TF2.

    2. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by ShadowsHawk · · Score: 1

      Is this really the final price list? I really enjoyed Half Life 2 and I though Ep1 was pretty good. However, I refuse to spend 30 freaking dollars on an EPISODE. At this rate, they will extract over $80 for episodes 1-3 and that is absurd. I thought $20 was a bit on the high side for Ep1, but this is rediculous.

    3. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by Datasage · · Score: 1

      It is according to this page: http://steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=package&SubId=469&cc=US

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    4. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by Datasage · · Score: 1

      They probably will, but there is no package or pricing on Steam for it yet.

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    5. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by MtlDty · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's a cunning move. Seeing as I already own HL2 and EP1 my obvious choice is to buy the orange box, and gift the extra HL2 and EP1 to a friend... who then likes them enough to want to buy EP2, and decides the orange box is best choice, so he passes on the extra HL2 and EP1 to a friend...etc etc...

    6. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by theantipop · · Score: 1

      This page shows the game as being $29.95. When you click through though it only allows you to purchase the package. My guess is it will be up standalone around the release date.

    7. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 0, Redundant

      I already have HL2 and HL2EP1 but I bought Orange Box anyway. It's $35 cheaper than buying the games I didn't have, and it includes "Peggle Extreme", an Orange Box exclusive PopCap game... Peggle Deluxe with a Half-Life 2 theme! It's hilarious.

    8. Re:Orange Box is cheaper anyway by gumpish · · Score: 1

      If you have no interest in Portal then it's time to hand in your gamer card.

  10. Re:How do you "give the codes away" to a Steam gam by TychoCelchuuu · · Score: 1

    They added a way to transfer HL2 and Episode 1 if you've already bought them. See this link. Also worth noting is the free copy of Peggle Extreme you get when you preorder.

    --
    Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
  11. Is it fixed yet? by hr.wien · · Score: 1

    Quite frankly I'm not sure if I dare buying any more Source engine based products. TF2, Episode 2 and Portal all look absolutely awesome, but considering all the problems I've had with HL2 through Episode 1, I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend anymore.

    I could barely finish Episode 1 because it kept crashing and hanging and generally running like a bucket of shite (across a couple of different computers well above minimum specs and with reasonable FPS when it actually works). Something is fundamentally broken somewhere in their engine, and Valve support just don't seem to care.

    HL2 would hang every other loading screen while (presumably) autosaving. Episode 1 would lock up mid level while autosaving and while loading textures/meshes/whatever it is loading. At one point I couldn't even get by a certain point because it happened every time I went through some corridor. The only thing that eventually worked was falling back to DirectX 7 mode, running past the corridor, and then going back to DirectX 9 mode.

    The Valve forums are littered with people with similar issues, but no solution is offered. It's a shame really, as the games taken on their own merit are excellent.

    1. Re:Is it fixed yet? by Stevecrox · · Score: 1

      Meet my antecedental evidence I've run HL2 Episode 1 maxed out on four different machines on XP and Vista without a problem, Two of the machines were apparently below spec's (that warning thing popped up) and yet ran it at maximum settings.

      Some off the cuff idea's for your problems, lock ups and crashes usually occur because of three things Hard Drive, Ram or your graphics card/driver. Some games don't like certain graphics drivers for example Uru: Ages beyond Myst has huge rendering issues (with textures) if you used a 5 series nvidia cards with a driver past 57.xx. An old machine of mine used to either crash out of a game or hard reset because I used an Hercules ATi 7500 AiW card with 7500 drivers, that card drove me crazy as using the AiW driver would cause all sorts of texture errors but the 7500 drivers were unstable. I discovered the reason why Deus Ex and HL2 were taking so long to load by using a benchmarking tool which showed my hard drive was transferring data at quite a low rate (much lower than it should have) a new IDE drive fixed that issue. Just last week I discovered why The Sims 2 kept crashing all the time which was because of a faulty memory module in a 512mb stick of ram. Sim 2 was the only thing to take the memory usuage on the machine past 790mb and what ever application caused that crashed, guess what new ram solved that problem.

      Instead of attacking the game as many clueless people do why not sit back and try and figure out whats broken or not working as it should, it takes less time. (by the way these aren't necessarily all my machines but ones I've sat down and fixed)

    2. Re:Is it fixed yet? by Datasage · · Score: 1

      I had issues with my old hardware, were steam would take 100% power locking up any game running with it. Which made playing EP1 an exercise in frustration. I think it was an issue with the motherboard, or in combination with the RAM and video card. Since I've replaced it, those issues have since gone away.

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    3. Re:Is it fixed yet? by hr.wien · · Score: 1

      Instead of attacking the game as many clueless people do why not sit back and try and figure out whats broken or not working as it should, it takes less time.

      Oh I've tried. My god have I tried!

      I've tried drivers old and new, I've tried formatting (several times), I've tried shutting down any programs that may interfere, I've tried messing with the Windows virtual memory and scheduler settings, I've tried every god damned command line option available in Source and I've tried changing hardware (memory, CPU, graphics card both ATI and Nvidia, sound card, motherboard).

      I'm out of ideas, and so are everyone else with this problem... have a read.

      It's also worth pointing out that this is a problem consistent across all Source based games (even non-Valve ones) for those unlucky enough to experience it. And common for all of these people is that no other games are exhibiting these problems, it's only the Source engine. But our hardware's a fault... Of course it is.

    4. Re:Is it fixed yet? by hr.wien · · Score: 1

      Steam you say? I haven't been able to bring up the task manager when it locks up, so I haven't been able to identify the process hogging the CPU, but if it's Steam maybe a crack could do the trick? Worth a try anyway...

    5. Re:Is it fixed yet? by Datasage · · Score: 1

      Well when steam is running, you can set its process priority to a lower level, and then launch a game. That way if it does start hogging CPU, you can alt-tab out and not be forced to reboot. Assuming you have the same issue.

      It seemed for me, to only be an issue with source engine games. And not all of them either.

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    6. Re:Is it fixed yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I recently upgraded to 2 GB of RAM for Bioshock (and other upcoming games, but mostly Bioshock). Since then, no problems with HL2 or HL2:Ep1. I used to get crashes every half-hour or so at various autosave points like you in Ep1 with commentary turned on (less without). Since then I've played all the way through Ep1 with commentary on and not one crash. Yeah, it sucks that you have to pay money to fix Valve's mistake, but at least you're getting better performance out of your other games out of it.

      From reading some of the better responses in that thread, it seems as though the Steam engine pushes RAM too hard. The seamless autosaves combined with continued rendering by the Source engine is simply too much for system. More/better quality RAM resolves the issue for most people.

    7. Re:Is it fixed yet? by TheSpengo · · Score: 0

      Really? I find that rather hard to believe since source engine games run fine on my crap old desktop (p4 2.8GHz, 512MB ram, radeon 9600XT), albeit without the fancy effects and look like absolutely beautiful next-gen games on my new rig with a c2d e6420 @ 2.7GHz, 2GB DDR2 @ 850MHz, 8800GTS @ 585MHz. Hell, I even have friends that run it on computers with geforce fx5500s. Looks like shite, but hey it runs! I've never encountered any of these problems you describe.

      --
      Weaksauce as they say...
    8. Re:Is it fixed yet? by hr.wien · · Score: 1

      That's the thing. It seems it's luck of the draw that determines whether you have problems or not. I've seen several of my friends with more or less equal hardware run it without problems, but as I've said I have two computers here that just won't. Even after swapping out a lot of the hardware.

      It's pretty obvious this doesn't affect everyone, or there would be a massive uproar, but the amount of people (with wildly differing hardware) actually having this problem rules out dodgy hardware too in my opinion. It's too just wide spread to be a coincidence.

    9. Re:Is it fixed yet? by TheSpengo · · Score: 0

      Maybe try updating your drivers? It used to crash a lot on my laptop with a radeon x700 mobility drivers. I later found a way to crack the desktop drivers to work on a laptop - haven't had a problem since. I did notice the memory issue though. I never had a problem with it crashing the game, but on my old computer it used to take a minute or two for my ram to be cleared of the game after quitting. :o

      --
      Weaksauce as they say...
    10. Re:Is it fixed yet? by hr.wien · · Score: 1

      If you read my post a bit further up, you'll see I've tried everything and then some. I've spent days trying to fix it, but it just isn't working. If the problem was as simple as drivers, I wouldn't be here whining. :)

  12. Peggle Extreme by stg · · Score: 1

    From the summary it would seem that Peggle Extreme is an improved version of Peggle. AFAIK, it isn't - the start screen already offers you to buy Peggle Deluxe. It's more like a themed trial.

    I played the original trial, and the "themed" stuff is pretty funny, though.

  13. Not a waste to buy by HairyNevus · · Score: 1
    Even if you own HL2 and Episode 1 already, this Orange box deal isn't a waste. For one, TF2 (which I've been waiting for for about 6 years now) and Portal together should be worth the ~$50, plus you do get Episode 2. Additionally, when you buy Orange box you can give the HL2 and Episode 1 games away to a friend as a gift.


    Part of me still thinks the TF2 release will somehow manage to get foiled again. I mean, I remember seeing screenshots for TF2 about 6-5 years ago with a vid detailing what the new sentry gun was like. Then more recently there was some hype before HL2 was even released that showed TF2 in production as more of a military game, the trailer had some tanks and the engi held an MP5 and such. So, now that I've had my hopes up a couple times now for this, it's hard to believe TF2 is finally here...and cel shaded. But, I can't imagine what huge event could stop the release this time (massive climate shift?).

    --
    You were critically hit for no damage. The bruise will look nice, and maybe the scars will make good party talk.
    1. Re:Not a waste to buy by Nos. · · Score: 1

      Part of me still thinks the TF2 release will somehow manage to get foiled again. I mean, I remember seeing screenshots for TF2 about 6-5 years ago with a vid detailing what the new sentry gun was like. Then more recently there was some hype before HL2 was even released that showed TF2 in production as more of a military game, the trailer had some tanks and the engi held an MP5 and such. So, now that I've had my hopes up a couple times now for this, it's hard to believe TF2 is finally here...and cel shaded. But, I can't imagine what huge event could stop the release this time (massive climate shift?).

      I'm kind of holding my breath as well, but this time we are a lot closer to the release date (well, the beta release date). I don't want to jinx it, but at least this isn't months before they expect to have something, this is less than a week. And unlike when HL2 was released, and other delays, I haven't done any upgrades to my computer lately

  14. Screw Ep. 2 by revlayle · · Score: 1

    ... where can I get Peggle Extreme *independently* ??

    1. Re:Screw Ep. 2 by fo0bar · · Score: 1

      Peggle Extreme is a HL2-themed trial (10 levels). If you want the whole thing, Deluxe is available standalone (and when you play Extreme, it's a big ad for buying Deluxe).

    2. Re:Screw Ep. 2 by revlayle · · Score: 1

      Ahh, I already have Deluxe (which is why I asked), but, the way you described it makes it less note-worthy to me

    3. Re:Screw Ep. 2 by fo0bar · · Score: 1

      It has some neat HL2-themed graphics, but yeah, it's not too noteworthy by itself. Conversely, I had never heard of Peggle before today, but it's fun enough that I'll probably buy Deluxe.

      Mission accomplished, Valve and PopCap :)

    4. Re:Screw Ep. 2 by revlayle · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Peggle Deluxe was (and still is, to a degree - trying to get the final trophy) suprisingly addictive... the whole "EXTREME FEVER" and "Ode to Joy" thrown in your face at the end of each level was so ridiculously over-the-top I literally laughed my ass the first time I witnessed it.

  15. Misleading Headline by j.sanchez1 · · Score: 1

    I just pre-ordered the Orange Box a few minutes ago. The TF2 beta starts next week, but the pre-order is live already. Worth it to me, even though I already have HL2 and HL2 E1.

    --
    Speedy thing goes in; speedy thing comes out.
    1. Re:Misleading Headline by lb746 · · Score: 0

      Feel free to pass me your codes for the new copies then. I have neither but wouldn't mind giving it a run through.

  16. Incorrect summary by stg · · Score: 1

    The article is right, but the summary says that it will be available for pre-order next week. That is incorrect - it is available now (I just got it myself).

    The TF2 beta is what will be available next week.

    1. Re:Incorrect summary by weirdcrashingnoises · · Score: 1

      yea i thought this was a curious headline considering i just did the same, thing, and have already finished pre-loading TF2

      --
      sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
  17. Don't Forget to preload TF2 by Thansal · · Score: 1

    Bah, I forgot to add:
    Any one else preordering:
    make sure you set TF2 to Preload NOW so that you are all set up in time for the beta (even if you tick off all of the games to install they don't install any of them, so you have to manually tell it to install peggle extreme and TF2)

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  18. Please be a bug.... by twoboxen · · Score: 1

    Though I do think it's crap that owners of the original HL2 don't get a discount, that's not the point of my post. I used to like steam as a distribution method--no need to search for random discs. However, I was trying to host a session of garry's mod 10 I had purchased on my desktop, while connecting to it on my laptop (to separate processing, give me more interaction controls, and provide a 3rd person recording device while i interacted on my laptop) Steam not only told me that I was already logged on and thus, could not do that (bs, since I purchased the *@#$@ game), but it now can't start on either PC. Somehow it crashes upon startup EVERY TIME now. I hope this is some stupid catastrophic bug over the shady alternative of copy protection. Anyone else had anything similar happen?

    --
    TODO - Insert Creative/Witty Signature
    1. Re:Please be a bug.... by Nos. · · Score: 1

      You purchased a LICENSE to run the game on one machine. Yes, you can run it at different times one different machines (I believe), but you can't run it on tow different machines at the same time. As for your issues, have you tried reinstalling? I had a similar problem with DoD: Source (as did a friend). Uninstalled the steam client, deleted registry.blob, reisntalled steam, and things were great. Didn't even have to reinstall Steam. Its happened before, and I found the solution on the forums. A 5 minute fix.

  19. Re:Why preorder? by Deadbolt · · Score: 1

    So basically you got bit by the same Bioshock problems everyone else had at launch. These problems are Steam's fault.. why?

    --
    "Honey, it's not working out; I think we should make our relationship open-source."
  20. Re:How do you "give the codes away" to a Steam gam by Thansal · · Score: 1

    the other option is to order EP2 from a NEW steam account and just give your pops the old one (Assuming you havn't already bought other games on that account).

    If you do have other games you want to keep then you can give him HL2 and EP1

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  21. Fortress Forever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It should be noted that Fortress Forever http://www.fortress-forever.com/ will also be released on the 17th. And that is a Mod that's free for everyone who has purchased Half-Life 2. It's a real Team Fortress mod on the Source engine (made by tfc players)! Definitely worth a checkout! (I can't wait!)

  22. Missing the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's not expecting Valve to owe him anything for his original purchase, he's just asking Valve to let him in the beta for the TF2 purchase when he intends to purchase Episode 2, TF2 and Portal without having to pay again for two games he already has - HL2 and HL2 Episode 1.

    I don't think that's a particularly unreasonable expectation, they're essentially saying "Yeah, we know you've paid us once already, but pay us again for the same thing and artificially boost our HL2 sales figures and profits and we'll let you in on the TF2 beta".

  23. We dont want ALL those games. by cliffski · · Score: 1

    I want TF2. I either own the other games or do not want them for any price. Valve clearly wont let me do that. Does this make me a moaner?
    Would you buy World Of Warcraft if it only came in a package with Star Wars Galaxies and Guild Wars?
    This is an insane pricing strategy.

    --
    DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
    1. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Situation A: Blizzard offers a WoW + SWG + GW bundle for $50

      Situation B: Blizzard offers WoW for $50, the same above bundle for $70.

      Something tells me you'd complain about A, and would prefer B. . .

    2. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by cliffski · · Score: 1

      something tells me thats bullshit. Can I buy TF2 on its own? thats what I want, and they are not selling it == unhappy customer. its not rocket science.

      --
      DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
    3. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Pluvius · · Score: 2, Insightful

      False dilemmas are no way to argue, son.

      Rob

    4. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess it all depends on how much value you would have assigned to TF2 (in the scenario that Valve had never pre-announced their pricing strategy to begin with)

      Me, I would have paid $45 for TF2 alone. What would you have paid for it, (considering that it's a game that you were obviously looking forward to)? What other games are you looking forward to? What are their prices?

    5. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hardly a false dilemma. Had Valve initially priced the Orange Box at $60, and kept the black box at $50, a majority of all the whiners here would have vanished.

    6. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by TheSpengo · · Score: 0

      What are you talking about. They just don't have them available for preorder as singles yet. I have never seen a game on steam that is *only* offered in a package. You can always buy them separately if you want to. You miss out on the beta but oh well. Personally I think episode 2 will be more awesome half life and portal looks like a very entertaining puzzle game. I don't mind buying the whole orange box either because if you look at the prices episode 1 and hl2 are essentially free with it anyways. Now I can even give them to somebody else.

      --
      Weaksauce as they say...
    7. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      Um, no. That probably would've made the complaints worse. I know such a thing would cause me to wonder what the hell Valve was thinking.

      Rob

    8. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Psiven · · Score: 1

      You can buy TF2 seperate. It's $30.

    9. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by Psiven · · Score: 1

      Just click the "pre-release" catagory in Steam, the titles are listed there.

      TF2 - $30
      EP2 - $30
      Portal - $20

      That pop cap game is a special edition valve version though. OG is probably $5 - $10.

    10. Re:We dont want ALL those games. by TheSpengo · · Score: 0

      It's only 10 levels so I don't think it will sell retail. I beat them already. It's just a bonus thing that comes with the package to try and sell the real peggle deluxe game. I probably won't buy it but DAMN that was entertaining. =)

      --
      Weaksauce as they say...
  24. Oh team fortress, how I miss you by Nursie · · Score: 1

    I remember playing TF over quakeworld, all the different iterations as the y worked through the betas.

    Two castles... Alcatraz. Such fun, so long ago.

    Maybe I oughta pickup HL2 and TF2 and see if I've still got it as a sniper.

    1. Re:Oh team fortress, how I miss you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't see buying HL2 and EP1 again just for a beta test. I think I will go with http://www.fortress-forever.com/

  25. Re:Why preorder? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

    Because it's an easy scapegoat.

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  26. Re:Why preorder? by doyoulikeworms · · Score: 1

    I'm going to preorder to save $5 on a game I've been waiting for for literally 25% of my entire life.

  27. Half-Life 2 codes by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

    I played and loved Half Life 1, but then I got married, got way in debt, and had a kid. When my gaming rig died, I frankly couldn't afford to rebuild it. Recently I've rebuilt my budget gaming rig, but hopefully it should be capable of running HL 2 (AMD X2 3600+, GeForce 7600 GT). If anyone does buy the Orange Box just for the beta, I'll happily take those extra codes off you. If not, I'm assuming I can pick up HL 2 cheap these days, but I might as well ask.

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    1. Re:Half-Life 2 codes by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 1

      That will run it plenty, it's only slightly below what I had (before the upgrade I'm doing right now).

      I'll have the HL2 + HL2 Ep 1 codes spare, if you want them.

    2. Re:Half-Life 2 codes by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

      That would be awesome. Thanks.

      enderandrew @ gmail . com

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    3. Re:Half-Life 2 codes by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 1

      Obviously I won't have the keys until it's released, but it looks like we have a deal :)

  28. Re:Why preorder? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds almost as bad as my attempts to run linux. First distro I try (redhat), it doesn't detect my sound card or ethernet card, and it incorrectly identifies my video card as a different model. 2nd try (debian) I do a *full* install and only get a command prompt when it's done, no pretty user-friendly GUI. 3rd try (ubuntu) I can't even get past the first install screen. Everything just turns to gibberish on my monitor. I really want to try linux but linux sure is making it hard to do.

  29. release date by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    isn't it a bit strange that the official preorder page doesn't say anything about the release date? tothegame.com says 2007-10-19, but didn't I read about delays somewhere, just a few days ago?

  30. your math is funny by Scudsucker · · Score: 1

    You get into the beta for buying three new games for the price of one, these being Episode 3, Portal & Team Fortress 2.

    Episode 2 a new game? All three episodes put together are merely an expansion pack for Half-Life 2, and expansion packs don't count as new, full games. The only thing the episodes have in common with full games is the pricing. So more like 2.2 new games. And thats assuming that TF2 is more than an update of a very old mod with new graphics from existing engine technology.