Games @sh.itjust.works nanoUFO @sh.itjust.works 1 mo. ago

Great moments in PC gaming: That time Valve released three new games on the same day

www.pcgamer.com Great moments in PC gaming: That time Valve released three new games on the same day

The Orange Box was a true anomaly.

52 comments

The orange box really was something special.
It was one of the best value for money experiences I've ever had. Only beat out by The left 4 dead series based on hours played.
- Yes it was legitimately insane what you got here in terms of quality. I played so much TF2 back in the day.
- I missed the alternative timeline where survival versus was played competitively and the windfall of Evolve like games that spawned from the left 4 dead 2's success.
  
  Well we did get the Tides games at least.
  
  And versus was never the point.
- Then, 15 years later, when I rejoined the world of modern PC gaming, those games were all still available for download from my Steam account just because I bought the physical Orange Box back in 2007.
One of my best gaming memories as a kid, what an amazing deal the orange box was. It’s a real shame we were left hanging with the gut-punching cliffhanger of HL episode 2, and never finished the story.
- What made this cliffhanger so truly bad was the main game's story was complete as is until Episode 1 unwinded it. And Episode 2, compared to Episode 1, was a much better game in most aspects for me.
  
  In what world the main story was complete? Like sure you could argue it could have been a legitimate choice to end it in that way but by no mean it answered any of the lingering questions.
  
  I basically don't remember Episode 1.
- And then
  
  Tap for spoiler
  
  They retconned it
- But they did release it, in unofficial forum post dump form.
The Orange Box was the absolute GOAT when I was a kid. It still is, but it was back then, too.

I even went and bought it on the Microsoft store for my Xbox One a few years ago, but it's weird because you can't just buy it straight from your console. You need to sign in to your Microsoft account on your phone or PC and buy it from the website, then go and install it into your console.
- I used to love Mitch Hedberg references. I still do, but I used to, too.
Now for only $333.33 you can get the steamdeck 3 with the 3 pack; half life 3, team fortress 3 and portal 3. Only available 3/3/33 💀
- For years I've been saying I will buy a new console just to play Portal 3.
- That would be an amazing marketing campaign. They'd lose money on it, but it'd be awesome.
  
  They don't make money on their current Deck. Well, maybe now they do make a little but when it was designed other RDNA2 based systems were running around a grand.
  
  They'd lose more money on it, but depending on how many games Deck owners are buying in '33 they could make it up.
- $333.33 with 3 games at 2033 after the bazillion percent of inflation which is still cheaper than the first steamdeck launch price?
  
  I'll have 2 episode 2.
  
  But think of the memes bro
- I'd preorder it, no regrets.
- I can wait.
And we have been paying for it ever since. They will never make that mistake again lol.
Need an Orange Box 2.
- Then we'll know there won't be any Orange Pack 3
  
  if orange box 2 comes with all the 3 games we won't ever need a third box
- With HL3, L4D3, TF3, Portal 3
Orange Box is GOAT, but what is that article? Just mentioning the games with barely any interesting backstories?
I'm so glad I bought this in a store back when PC games were still available in physical releases. Even though I'm pretty sure this one was just a Steam installer on a CD, I love having an actual copy of The Orange Box on my shelf.
Played countless hours of TF2 between 2009 and 2012. Wild that in 3 years, it'll be 2 decades old.
it's a bit weird that this is releasing after the thing about not being able to inherit valve games
- Now that you point that out 🤔
It's funny. I have enjoyed all of those games now. TF2 isn't for me, but every game in the Box was a certified classic. When it came out though, these games being bundled together under a generic label gave me the impression that it was low-quality, so I skipped it. I was from a rural area with essentially no internet access and there weren't a lot of other PC gamers out there to correct that misconception, so I didn't play these games for way too long.
Lucky to get three in a decade now.
Is this what you’ve been waiting for? Say “one, two…and four!”
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  
  and four
  
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
HL3 will come eventually, is too big an easy cash grab for the machine not to capitalyze on it.

It will be shit though.
- Valve don't usually do "easy cash grabs" though, and while I seriously doubt it'll be able to meet the insane expectations people have for it, I doubt it'll be shit.
  
  It doesn't have to be Valve, it doesn't have to be the Valve you are thinking of, it doesn't have to be Gaben.
  
  Imagine, for a brief dystopic moment, "Disney-Activision-Nestlé", if you will.
- It's been out for years now, it's called Alyx, and you're only fooling yourself if you think it's not.
  
  Does it says "Half-Life 3" on the box? No? So you are telling me there's a chance... - Anybody in Marketing

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