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Valve’s Gabe Newell Speaks About the Orange Box and Wii

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Wii, Xbox 360,

The Orange Box: Half-Life 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2

Game Informer has an interview up with ‘s Gabe Newell where he discusses the upcoming Orange Box which will include plus Episodes 1 and 2, and . From the interview:

Episode Two was really helped by Episode One, believe it or not. I think that we’ll continue to get the hang of it. It’s a pretty big deal to throw a bunch of wrenches into your development process and say, “We’re going to try to do this differently now.” We’ve learned a lot. If we’re right, the fans we’ll let us know, and if we’re wrong, they’ll let us know. (laughs) I think they’re going to be pretty happy. I think they’re going to be really, really happy with the Orange Box in what we’ve been able to pull off, and a lot of it is based on their feedback from what we did with Episode One.

Newell also briefly weighs in on the Wii, casually dismissing the lesser hardware specs compared with the other next gen consoles saying, “I think it’s more interesting than just graphics chip – CPU combination. It’s the machine I have at home.”

Click to continue reading Valve’s Gabe Newell Speaks About the Orange Box and Wii

Read More | Game Informer

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Half Life 2: Episode Two Stage Demo Video

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Puzzle, Trailers, Xbox 360,

At the Games Conference in Leipzig, developer Valve walked the audience through the latest chapter of Half Life 2, due to arrive on Steam and as part of The Orange Box this fall.  This video shows off Episode Two’s soft lighting effect, “cinematic physics,” and new enemies.  Interestingly, the updated physics and lighting systems will make an appearance in the console versions of Episode One as well, so if you are first experiencing Episode One on your PS3 or Xbox 360 through The Orange Box, you get to bask in the more up-to-date technology. 

And since I don’t see people dancing in the streets on a daily basis, I figure there must be some confusion out there about what this mysterious Orange Box really is.  It’s quite simple, really.  The Orange Box is the gaming deal of the millennium.  On October 10th of this year, gamers will be able to buy one box which contains Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode Two, the multiplayer-based Team Fortress 2, and the puzzle game Portal…all for the price of one game.  It’s scheduled to hit the PS3. Xbox 360, and PC, not to mention the global economy, all on the same day,

Read More | Valve

Gallery: Half Life 2: Episode Two Stage Demo Video


E3 2007: This Week’s Xbox Live Marketplace Content Update

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: E3, Games for Windows, Microsoft, PC, Trailers, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,

This post make your head explodeThere were plenty of releases on the Xbox Live Marketplace this week, and thanks to Major Nelson we can now easily compile it all for you en masse. Demos, trailers, Arcade games – you name it, you got it. Apologies if anything was missed, but there was an insane amount of content. Hit up the comments section if you like this story and would like to see a weekly round-up of downloadable content each week. And just as a warning: if lists irritate you, your head will likely explode if you check out the rest of the story after the break.

Demos:

  • NCAA Football 08
  • Blue Dragon
  • Ace Combat 6 (campaign)
  • Stuntman: Ignition
  • The Bigs
  • Harry Potter OOTP

Click to continue reading E3 2007: This Week’s Xbox Live Marketplace Content Update

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Half-Life 2: Black Box Gets The Axe

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,

Gordon Freeman Half-LifeBlack Box, the PC-only package which included Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal has been canned by Valve. The reasoning behind this was not revealed, but it’s likely a move to help promote Steam.

“The Black Box has been cancelled,” said Doug Lombardi, Valve’s director of marketing. “We’re going to have one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC (US$49.99) as well as the 360 and PS3 (US$ 59.99). In addition to the three new products—Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life: Episode Two—The Orange Box will also contain the full version of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One. Those who purchase the PC version of The Orange Box will get three separate Steam product codes: One for the three new games, one for HL2, and one for Episode One. This way a PC Orange Box owner can give away their Half-Life 2 or Episode One unused Steam product codes if they don’t need a copy of those games. We are excited to deliver the highest value of new gaming content ever offered in one box.”

It sounds like a fair bargain to me – that’s a lot of content for $50 (or $60 if you’re on consoles). Those who wish to save money will be able to download all of the new content directly from Steam – a route which many gamers are likely to take, meaning Steam will see a nice boost in traffic. With more and more games looking to Steam as a viable means of distribution, this increase in download numbers will likely help to coax some naysayers into jumping on the bandwagon.

Read More | IGN UK

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