Maybe there'll be a new "box" with Ep.3

[lame-o]

I like to think that Valve is taking so long on Episode 3 because they want to release it as part of another set a la The Orange Box, which could mean there would be entirely new games besides Ep3. That would be awesome.

WOULD IT NOT?

Maybe Counter-strike 2. Or maybe Half-life the RPG. Maybe even Opposing Force 2.

 

[Doomination]

Would it be cool? Yes.

Is it going to happen? No.

 

[Escaep]

Left 4 Dead 3.

 

[The Monkey]

No, it will be released on its own just like Episode One was.

 

[Dodo]

Source 2?

 

[Vegeta897]

They were talking about making CS2 recently though, weren't they?

CS2, Portal 2, Ep 3...

 

[Acepilotf14]

We already know Portal 2 is going to be a standalone game, unfortunately.

 

[Rizzo]

I don't really see the profit in delaying a game like that. Sure, they could place it together with Portal 2 later, but why wait? When it's done, why not just release it?

 

[Katamariguy]

Too bad Valve is too secretive to even speculate about...

 

[rikt]

Too bad Valve is too secretive to even speculate about...

That's how you make good profit with consumer histeria...

 

[agent$$dever]

This thread is...weird.

1) It's the final HL game, well definitely the final HL2 game, to put it in a box with 2 or 3 other games would split the attention on 3 games. Valve would never do that, they want this game to be an epic conclusion not a game feature in a box.

2) Valve already said, The Orange Box happened cause they had 2 long awaited games + a new game and it was the born opportunity to include Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 for console gamers.

3) The Orange Box 2 or what ever would confuse buyers, instead Half-Life 2: Episode Three on a cover with some great photo shoot, that would attract buyers.

It's only been a little over 2 years since Episode Two came out, stop complaining. They're trying to make a great game and for all that amount of time, Episode Three will get it's success alone, just like Half-Life 2 did.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Half-Life 2: episode 3 is not the last half-life game. It's the last in this story arc. That means next will be Half-Life 3. Lurk moar.

 

[kdub70]

i doubt that will be released with another "box"

 

[Crazy_killer]

Releasing two full priced games at the same time is horrible marketing - no way Valve would do that.

In other words: no episode 3 in 2010

 

[nofreeman]

Releasing two full priced games at the same time is horrible marketing - no way Valve would do that.

In other words: no episode 3 in 2010

We will see about that.....

 

[robsters]

Releasing two full priced games at the same time is horrible marketing - no way Valve would do that.

In other words: no episode 3 in 2010

yeah was article already stating it wont be released in 2010 http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/19/game-informer-no-half-life-2-episode-3-for-you-in-2010/

and u are right valve will never release two full games in 1 yr at same time portal 2 is still great news thou, episode 3 nov 2011 i bet now l4d1 nov 2008 l4d2 nov 2009 portal 2 nov 2010 it wud make sense sadly

 

[eyefork]

yeah was article already stating it wont be released in 2010 http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/19/game-informer-no-half-life-2-episode-3-for-you-in-2010/

and u are right valve will never release two full games in 1 yr at same time portal 2 is still great news thou, episode 3 nov 2011 i bet now l4d1 nov 2008 l4d2 nov 2009 portal 2 nov 2010 it wud make sense sadly

Quoting your link

According to a report in the rumors section of the Feb. 2010 issue of Game Informer (which doesn't name its source) there won't be "any game from the [Half-Life] franchise in 2010."

 

[AgentXen]

No, it will be released on its own just like Episode One was.

Well Lets think about that for a minute.

Episode 1 was released on its own and did not meet Sales expectations because of the very little new content it had as well as how short it was for the price they were asking.

So Valve thought this through and came to the realization that they could not release Episode 2 by itself because it stood no chance of meeting sales expectations. Even more so because the people that Did buy Ep1 now had a better idea of what to expect and would just pass on it.
SO Releasing Episode 2 as a stand alone is not going to work.


Valve then figured out that Maybe offering 3 mini Expansion type games would benefit each other and they could Charge a Full price on it since it would seem like ur getting more for less. And maybe you are depending on what u like.
But the reality of this was that people did not like being forced to buy stuff they did not want just to play the game sooner instead of waiting for it to be split up.

Well maybe with the Orange box they broke even, But still did not meet sales expectations.

So now they are probably going to try a new method.

I seriously doubt they will Do Ep3 as a stand alone unless it is Full game.

 

[Gman]

I thought that Counter-strike 2 was discontinued.

Also,Episode.3 is the main product they are working on.To make another game when in the middle of making another game,isn't very good for production.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Well Lets think about that for a minute.

Episode 1 was released on its own and did not meet Sales expectations because of the very little new content it had as well as how short it was for the price they were asking.

So Valve thought this through and came to the realization that they could not release Episode 2 by itself because it stood no chance of meeting sales expectations. Even more so because the people that Did buy Ep1 now had a better idea of what to expect and would just pass on it.
SO Releasing Episode 2 as a stand alone is not going to work.


Valve then figured out that Maybe offering 3 mini Expansion type games would benefit each other and they could Charge a Full price on it since it would seem like ur getting more for less. And maybe you are depending on what u like.
But the reality of this was that people did not like being forced to buy stuff they did not want just to play the game sooner instead of waiting for it to be split up.

Well maybe with the Orange box they broke even, But still did not meet sales expectations.

So now they are probably going to try a new method.

I seriously doubt they will Do Ep3 as a stand alone unless it is Full game.

You know, your argument would have far more merit if you didn't just make your "facts" up. Orange Box broke even? Didn't meet sales expectations? Really?

 

[AgentXen]

Of course it didn't, If it did than Valve would not be questioning what people want from them. They had obviously came to a crossroads where they needed to choose whether they should continue with episodic content or not which was invoked by the sales figures not meeting expectations. A company the size of valve has a pretty big burn rate. Not taking into consideration the Steam team you can easily find out the burn rate for the game developers if you look at their corporate website. Does not take a genius to figure it out, plus they give you access to the sales figures for all their games in related website straight from valve. Just a matter of adding up the numbers, simple math really.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Xen. You're an IDIOT. Orange Box got significantly more than it cost to make, and so did EP1. Look up ANY statistics, even on the VALVE WIKI I'm sure it has some...

A random google brought this out (an article from 2008)

Half-Life 2 has now sold 6.5 million units, with Half-Life 2: Episode One sales currently standing at 1.4 million units. Orange Box has sold 3 million units at retail and was Valve's first title to be released simultaneously for multiple platforms.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Of course it didn't, If it did than Valve would not be questioning what people want from them. They had obviously came to a crossroads where they needed to choose whether they should continue with episodic content or not which was invoked by the sales figures not meeting expectations. A company the size of valve has a pretty big burn rate. Not taking into consideration the Steam team you can easily find out the burn rate for the game developers if you look at their corporate website. Does not take a genius to figure it out, plus they give you access to the sales figures for all their games in related website straight from valve. Just a matter of adding up the numbers, simple math really.

Tell you what then, sunshine. Provide some figures to back up your "facts."

 

[StarBob]

Episode 3, Portal 2, TF2: EXPANSION... yeah I just made that up... doesn't even sound cool...

Of course it could be something like Episode 3, Portal 2, and a new game no one knows about kind of like how Portal was in Orange box.

But given that they can prolly sell Portal 2 for 40-50 Amerodollars and Episode 3 for at least 30... I doubt they'll bundle them. I would much rather get my Episode 3 bundled though. I mean these Episodes have been short and I don't all the buildup for like 6-10 hours of gameplay.

 

[Acepilotf14]

TF2: The Red Crusade
and TF2: The Blu Throne

 

[giant384]

Half-Life 2 has now sold 6.5 million units, with Half-Life 2: Episode One sales currently standing at 1.4 million units. Orange Box has sold 3 million units at retail and was Valve's first title to be released simultaneously for multiple platforms.

Units sold does not equal the profit made....but honestly i know they made a profit, its valve for christ sake.

 

[agent$$dever]

Valve then figured out that Maybe offering 3 mini Expansion type games would benefit each other and they could Charge a Full price on it since it would seem like ur getting more for less. And maybe you are depending on what u like.

Bioshock 2 for instance wasn't much longer then Episode Two. Episode Two is like up to 7 hours. Portal was the only "mini" game in TOB. And Half-Life 2 and Episode One was included. HL2 is about 15 hours while Episode One, 4-5 hours. It was the perfect chance to release both HL2 and Episode One to 360/PS3 with TOB.

The Orange Box 2 is ****ing retarded. No reason to do that again. And just cuz it's named an "Episode" doesn't mean it's a mini expansion, BS. Episode Three or what the name will be can be as long as HL2 for what we know. Stand alone is the best choice. And Valve would never split the attention between 3 different games when Episode Three may be the last HL game. It's to slap the whole HL franchise right in the face, it deserve getting it's attention ALONE!

 

[superluser]

I'm pretty sure I know what's going to happen.

Valve will release Ep3 with Portal 2.

Either that or they won't.

Another option would be for Valve to do something that would make both of those statements false.

It doesn't make much sense to me for Valve to build up hype for Portal 2 and then to undercut it with an announcement for Ep3, but they could, in theory, do it in such a way that it doesn't undercut Portal 2.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Valve will tuck the climax and denouement of Ep 3 into the first few minutes of Half Life 3, thus ensuring that it carries zero emotional weight and that people forget about it.

 

[Apocalypse89]

At first it seems like since Portal 2 is being announced on its own, it's unlikely that Episode 3 will come in a "box" unless Valve announce some new games alongside it.

But then you have to remember that Episode 2 was announced on its own(in the trailer at the end of Episode 1), and Portal and TF2 seperately afterwards, before we knew that they will be bundled together, so anything can happen with Portal 2, Ep3, and any unknown future games(L4D3? TF3? Or something completely new).

On a seperate note, it's kind of funny that people used to think that L4D was going to bundled with Ep3, and when that was released, L4D2.

 

[agent$$dever]

Portal will be separate. It makes no sense to release 2 games at the same time, it's just awful commercial and it won't sale. They already said NO HL THIS YEAR so stop speculating. I want a long HL game, not a 7 hours and I won't pay for Portal anyway. Why would anyone pay for a game they don't like?

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

I'm still waiting on those figures, AgentXen.

 

[StarBob]

At first it seems like since Portal 2 is being announced on its own, it's unlikely that Episode 3 will come in a "box" unless Valve announce some new games alongside it.

But then you have to remember that Episode 2 was announced on its own(in the trailer at the end of Episode 1), and Portal and TF2 seperately afterwards, before we knew that they will be bundled together, so anything can happen with Portal 2, Ep3, and any unknown future games(L4D3? TF3? Or something completely new).

On a seperate note, it's kind of funny that people used to think that L4D was going to bundled with Ep3, and when that was released, L4D2.

You know now that I think about it, if Valve has anything new they're unsure about up their sleeves they'll no doubt bundle it with an Episode 3... because honestly I would have bought Orange Box if it was Episode 2 bundled with pancake mix and a box of tissues. I mean yeah what I Saw of Portal looked cool at the time and everyone had been waiting for some kind of TF2, but it was all about EP2 for me. Maybe they'll be like "Here's one or two games we don't know if you'll like, enjoy."

 

[GordonFTW]

The box would contain

Counter strike 2
Portal 2
HL 2 Epi 3
L4D
L4D2

 

[agent$$dever]

So I have to pay 89.99 for it? No thank you. I rather buy Episode Three alone for 59.99.

 

[dogboy73]

I also think it is unlikely that EP3 will come as part of a box set like the Orange box. But given how long Valve have taken with EP3 I would be surprised if they don't put in something really special. I'd rather this be the most amazing piece of the HL story yet as opposed to it being packaged up with something else to make up for the wait!