Exactly. Then they waited until the last minute to delay it, in order to get the most pre-orders possible.
The Sep. 30 release date was to build hype and pre-orders.
I don't think HL2 can be as "scary" as any of those games. Because those games scared through anticipation. Of course HL2 will have some "fightening" moments, but it cannot have the same atmosphere. It's not that kind of game.