Or Gabe is thinking "This puppy isn’t going to be ready till next year, where do they get off delaying it a few months?)
Or he’s thinking it’s better to hold off until after Condition Zero has been released and sold a few copies.
This is interesting… as I’ve said before, I can’t believe the Big Heads at Valve would keep this thing sooper sekret for 4 years, then drop a bomb with an actual date – unless they knew for 100% sure they could make that date. What would it have taken to keep it secret for another month… or announce a Thanksgiving ship date? By working in complete secrecy, there were zero expectations until they set the date.
Absolutely brilliant, and absolutely perfectly played.
Now, that said, there is this little thing about a publisher for sale, and the seller looking for a price upwards of 1 billllllllllion dollars (mwwwahh haa haa). :twisted:
Could there have been some backroom shinannigans going on? Could VUG Execs have pushed Gabe N. to make the announcement because a deal was pending?
See, here’s an opportunity for a Real Professional Gaming Journalist to do some digging. There might be a great story here.
Well, certainly none of us know the specific details of how the Valve/Activision/Vivendi publishing deal worked out, except maybe Adam. It’s not the sort of thing companies want to discuss freely, either.
Actually, they made an official-looking press release that half the gaming press misread and misreported, and the rest of the gaming press parroted.
They only said they had PLANS to do Sven Co-op for HL2, not that they had already begun working on it or had any kind of tools yet. And they only said that Valve “supports” the mod, not that they are actually offering any assistance (currently, or in the future).
The team has done a couple of interviews with like HomeLan and such that make it very clear they don’t have an SDK yet.
The reality of the situation is that Valve will release Half-Life 2 when it’s done. Maybe it’s still September 30th. We’ll see.
So Adam–do you think Sierra will release it as soon as it’s ready? My guess would be yes… I mean, why hold it back? If it sells as well as I’m guessing it will, it’s not like retailers are going to shuffle it off the new releases shelf before the holidays, anyway.
Then they should have said that from the beginning. They came out with this date right off the bat themselves.
If Half-Life 2 doesn’t release on September 30th I’m going to lay down in my driveway and have my son drive the car over me a few times, because it’s that serious!
You guys need to stop reading previews, stop looking at game movies, and just be pleasantly delighted when a new game comes out. Except for Tyjenks. We need someone to rush out and buy games right away so the rest of us can save some money.
I thought that was technically supposed to be our job, Mark. Except for the purchasing part. Wow, now I feel all meta. Who reviews for the reviewmen? Excuse me, is that my coat? Fnuh.
Wow. That’s the same day Duke Nukem Forever ships!
I am looking forward to the game but if it doesn’t ship on September 30th that is ok. What is just mind boggling to me is why would Valve give a date they aren’t going to hit? Especiallly after masterfully handling the development by keeping a secret for 4 years? It makes no sense. It is like saying, “I don’t have to jab this white hot poker in my eye but you know I will.” Slipping won’t affect sales one iota but personally I never would have given out a date if I didn’t have to. You get nothing from it. Why not wait until you are 100% lead pipe lock sure you are going to hit the date before giving one?
– Xaroc
What is just mind boggling to me is why would Valve give a date they aren’t going to hit?
When they announced the date, they probably thought they were going to hit it.
I talked to a Valve guy at GenCon. I asked about the date, wondering if it was just a fantasy date. He said they thought it was doable and they were busting ass to make it.
According to Valve, they’re still shipping 9/30. The whole “delay” thing was apparently a miscommunication.
Wow. That’s the same day Duke Nukem Forever ships![/quote]
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Yeah, Jacobson was pretty convinced it was doable, busted ass or not. Said the team is really tight and making their goals. He also noted that GenCon would be his last vacation for a while. I hopped in and said “Until early October?” and he just nodded and ordered another beer.
[quote=“Bub_Andrew”]
Yeah, Jacobson was pretty convinced it was doable, busted ass or not. Said the team is really tight and making their goals. He also noted that GenCon would be his last vacation for a while. I hopped in and said “Until early October?” and he just nodded and ordered another beer.[/quote]
So how many did he have before he was that confidant about the date? 
That info was “off the record.” ;-)
The sexually ambiguous Spector-esque entity (not affiliated with the Tom/Mark entity) seems to have hit the mark.