The RC was supposed to be delivered to Vivendi sometime in august, but I believe it was missed.
I also agree with you that it is a hoax, as the post from hl2fallout.com has come from a proxy server, and the poster has also posted a message boasting about how he has the account.
On a seperate note, valve included a second test with the preload, the text "password is nova/prospekt this is the second test" has been found in the EXIF information of a jpg inside the preload, more information at halflife2.net forums and #secondtest on irc.quakenet.org
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At this point in time, yes, these images don't serve much of a purpose with the game being available and all.
However if they were released before the game, they would have given a much better overall environment that screenshots provide.
These would have been great teaser shots. I think Prince of Persia released some, but they were pretty low quality to be any good.
The RC was supposed to be delivered to Vivendi sometime in august, but I believe it was missed.
I also agree with you that it is a hoax, as the post from hl2fallout.com has come from a proxy server, and the poster has also posted a message boasting about how he has the account.
On a seperate note, valve included a second test with the preload, the text "password is nova/prospekt this is the second test" has been found in the EXIF information of a jpg inside the preload, more information at halflife2.net forums and #secondtest on irc.quakenet.org