HL2 GOLD!! (For Real) Shelf Date nov. 16

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/34091
and
http://www.avault.com/news/
and
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2/557970p1.html


Press Release:

"LOS ANGELES (October 18, 2004) — Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced that Half-Life® 2, the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed PC titles in gaming history, will ship to retail outlets around the world in November. The Company confirmed that Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Software, has gone gold with a planned retail street date of November 16, 2004. The countdown to the highly anticipated retail street date has begun around the world, as VU Games completes plans to ship localized versions of Half-Life 2 simultaneously in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese.

"Half-Life 2 has surpassed our expectations in every sense — its high-quality graphics, ground-breaking physics and immersive first-person shooter gameplay set a new standard for PC action games," said Bruce Hack, CEO of VU Games. "Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles, and we are thrilled to deliver this ground-breaking title to the worldwide gaming community this fall."

Hailed as "...the best game ever made" by PC Gamer, Half-Life 2 earned a top-rated review score of 98, the highest score bestowed by the magazine in more than six years. The game has received numerous accolades for its technical excellence, captivating story and addictive game play, including more than 10 awards and nominations at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo. In addition to being named "Best PC Game" by 1up.com (Ziff Davis) and Gamespy.com, the title also received a "Techn"ological Excellence on PC" award from IGN.com. CNNMoney.com stated that "Half-Life 2 will redefine what gamers expect from their games visually — and the gameplay is a lot of fun as well."

The global anticipation for Half-Life 2 has reached unprecedented heights, as consumers around the world mark their calendars to buy the game at retail on November 16th. The Half-Life 2 product will include Counter-Strike: Source. VU Games will also release a Half Life 2 Collector's Edition that will include Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 Prima strategy guide book.

The original Half-Life game was launched in 1998 under VU Games' Sierra Entertainment publishing label. It earned more than 50 game-of-the-year awards and has been heralded as one of the best PC first-person shooter games of all-time.

About Half-Life® and Half-Life® 2

In 1998, Half-Life revolutionized the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. Valve's debut title was named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer and launched a franchise with more than eight million retails units sold worldwide. In 2004, Half-Life 2 will take the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original to new heights of realism and responsiveness. Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environments to the behaviors — even the emotions — of both friends and enemies. The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist, Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted and its population dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people — people he cares about — are counting on him. The intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology. Source provides major enhancements in the advanced facial animation system, physics, graphics and AI. Half-Life 2 will be available for the PC.

About Vivendi Universal Games

Headquartered in Los Angeles, VU Games is a leading global developer, publisher and distributor of multi-platform interactive entertainment. Its development studios and publishing labels include Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment, Fox Interactive and Massive Entertainment. VU Games' library of over 700 titles features multi-million unit selling properties such as Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Diablo® and World of Warcraft® from Blizzard Entertainment®; Crash Bandicoot®, Spyro The Dragon™, Empire Earth®, Leisure Suit Larry™, Tribes® and Ground Control®."


this is from shacknews, according to them, the official shelf date is Nov 16

wow, im still shocked as hell, this is pretty great news

OMG!! Two of the best games in the beginning of November!:D :D :01: :D :cool:

:D weeeeeeeeee~~~! Gonna buy it for original! I mean no pirates or download one!!

Btw, at gamespot they published the news but still didnt change the release date :P

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Originally Posted by maskawaih

:D weeeeeeeeee~~~! Gonna buy it for original! I mean no pirates or download one!!

Btw, at gamespot they published the news but still didnt change the release date :P

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same for me

thats what thoes basturds want you to think!!

they can't miss christmas...otherwise lots and lots of profit will be lost.
November is the right time to release half life 2

heck...a lot more games will be released in november/december as well, wat company would wanna miss that kind of an opportunity?


gildan2020

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Originally Posted by gildan2020

they can't miss christmas...otherwise lots and lots of profit will be lost.
November is the right time to release half life 2

heck...a lot more games will be released in november/december as well, wat company would wanna miss that kind of an opportunity?


gildan2020

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so very true, it's once a year oppurtuniity. but this is sweet, halo2 and half life2, my god, i got a lot of gaming ahead of me :D:D:D:D

SP3 woulda been sweet around dec. (or was it originally nov.?). but those bastards pushed it back to 2005 :angry: . oh well, 2 great games in one month :D

So...

WAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I can't wait for November 9...

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

I can't wait for November 9...

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i fully paid for mine (collectors edition - tin box), it was sweet.... i traded in 3 games (that i got for b-day and what not) and all i paid was 11 bucks, 11 freakin bucks. :01:

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Originally Posted by cpt_azad

i fully paid for mine (collectors edition - tin box), it was sweet.... i traded in 3 games (that i got for b-day and what not) and all i paid was 11 bucks, 11 freakin bucks. :01:

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It took 3 games and u still had to pay?? :( Where did u buy the game at? Gamestop?

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

It took 3 games and u still had to pay?? :( Where did u buy the game at? Gamestop?

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ebgames, here's the fun part, these are the games i traded:

madden 2004 (b-day gift, burned to xbox hdd, so no loss)
chronicles of riddick: escape from butcher bay (bought second hand, 11.99, also burned to hdd)
true crime: streets of la (same as above, except price for this was 19.99)

so halo 2 collectors edition, with tax from the above 2 games mentioned (madden doesn't count since i didn't buy it) comes to $48.54 CAD, except these games that i traded in have little or no replay value, and the fact that they're burned to the hdd is a bonus ;)

Oh ok, im gonna do the same with the purchased Xbox games I have. :)

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

Oh ok, im gonna do the same with the purchased Xbox games I have. :)

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it's the best idea if u ask me, ESPECIALLY if you have a modded xbox with a hdd. even if you don't, you can trade in games you don't like or have no replay value. BTW, there is an exclusion list....the games have to be pretty new, so nothing like from 2001 or 2002. 2003+.

another note:

if you want the normal edition (just the game), you don't pay anything extra, repeat, nothing extra, you just trade in 3 games thats it.

if you want the collector's edition (tin box, 2 dvd's), you pay around 11.50 CAD (don't know how much that is in USD) on top of the 3 games you trade in. Hell of a deal if you ask me.

Yea im gonna try for the tin. I have a modded Xbox with 200GB hdd so its no problem to put those games on my hdd. I can't remember where any EBGames near me are though. :(

Plus im afraid its gonna be sold out forever...

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

Plus im afraid its gonna be sold out forever...

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lol, i doubt it, i was scared he was gonna say there were no more preorder slots left. he said that (the guy at ebgames store) there are preorder slots, but 4 those that buy the game upfront (like the trade in thing) get special reservation. im picking it up when teh clock strikes midnight on nov.9th, so gotta go to the mall at like 10-11 pm on nov 8th ;)

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Originally Posted by cpt_azad

lol, i doubt it, i was scared he was gonna say there were no more preorder slots left. he said that (the guy at ebgames store) there are preorder slots, but 4 those that buy the game upfront (like the trade in thing) get special reservation. im picking it up when teh clock strikes midnight on nov.9th, so gotta go to the mall at like 10-11 pm on nov 8th ;)

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Nice.:cool: Hopefully Nov. 9 is not a school day or ill be pissed.

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

Nice.:cool: Hopefully Nov. 9 is not a school day or ill be pissed.

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November 9th=Tuesday

i can honestly say we're both fucked :dry: but atleast i'll have the game at night time (b4 nov. 9th schoolday that is) so i can play as soon as i get back from school, instead of having to go pick it up after school :D:D:D:D:D :dry:

Im pissed. :dry:

Does anyone know what the official leak date is?

lol

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Originally Posted by sebastian_insua

Does anyone know what the official leak date is?

lol

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:lol: :lol:

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Originally Posted by sebastian_insua

Does anyone know what the official leak date is?

lol

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:lol: I was wondering the same thing.

there was a really buggy copy out a while ago, as for the final version, i would say a few days before Nov 16

is ebgames even open at midnight?

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Originally Posted by twister

is ebgames even open at midnight?

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They will open for that 1 night. They do it for big releases.

there was a really buggy copy out a while ago, as for the final version, i would say a few days before Nov 16

Well release date is Nov 9th so its not going to take them 7 days to crack it. Usually its a quick xbe patch and for a DVD9 game making a patch that removes the DO NOT COPY THIS GAME screen.

so the 16th nov release day just a gimmick?

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Originally Posted by maskawaih

so the 16th nov release day just a gimmick?

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No, its the real release date.

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

No, its the real release date.

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if its not im gonna hurl myself off a cliff...

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Originally Posted by Timz

if its not im gonna hurl myself off a cliff...

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Agreed. :01:

My comment above was about Halo 2 not Half Life 2 as when i read this thread i thought it was a Halo 2 one becuase of all the fanboys. Gameworld should be renamed Halo 2 world:dry:.

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Originally Posted by peerzyboy

My comment above was about Halo 2 not Half Life 2 as when i read this thread i thought it was a Halo 2 one becuase of all the fanboys. Gameworld should be renamed Halo 2 world:dry:.

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agreed :)

Half-life 2's copy protection looks interesting.

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=587

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Originally Posted by Withcheese

Half-life 2's copy protection looks interesting.

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=587

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Very Windows of them.

Bet it takes them maybe a couple of days to crack.

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Originally Posted by Withcheese

Half-life 2's copy protection looks interesting.

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=587

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What if you buy the game and don't have the internet at all. Groups will need to trick the protection into thinking it has been activated. Much like a CD KEY does but more dynamic as its online.

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Originally Posted by peerzyboy

My comment above was about Halo 2 not Half Life 2 as when i read this thread i thought it was a Halo 2 one becuase of all the fanboys. Gameworld should be renamed Halo 2 world:dry:.

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I'm a fanboy. :01:

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Originally Posted by HardcoreGamer

I'm a fanboy. :01:

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:lol: :01:

and i love this:

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My 3m4il 4ddr355 i5 m0r3 l33t th4n 3v3r!!!!1112233

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LMFAO :lol: