Half-Life 2 Version Schemes
PlanetHalfLife has what appears to be a (confirmed) response of Gabe Newell to a question about how much Half-Life 2 is going to cost via Valve's Steam service. He mentions some details on the versions and payment schemes available. Those who prefer purchasing the 'boxed' Half-Life 2 might want to know that there will be several editions available. One version is going to be strict single-player and will not be capable of running mods. The standard version features multiplayer/mod support. Hardcore fans can buy a Collector's Edition which will feature some extra goodies. As for Steam, here's what Newell had to say:
In the Steam world, some people will want to buy it once, like the middle SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) above. Other people will want to buy the game on subscription (e.g. $9.95/month). The good news for the "buy it once" crowd is, well, they only have to pay once. The bad news is that when we come out with new content (expansion products, TF 2, and presumably other games) then they have to pay separately for those. We're pretty sure that the $9.95 guys are going to get the better value, as we've been pretty good over the years at generating a lot of content.No final price of the 'pay once' versions given yet, but definitely an interesting piece of information on Valve's plans.
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Sounds to me like STEAM should be renamed SMOKE and MIRRORS. I'm afraid that the potential confusion from this distribution methodology (mass-market version won't run mods or do multiplayer?!) will cripple what made the orignal Half-Life so great in the first place: Easy to mod and free multiplayer, so you get more than just one game for the price of one game. I'd imagine a lot of folks will be miffed when they realize that the copy of HL2 they purchased at Wal-Mart doesn't run mods and all of their friends that bought it at EB are enjoying multiplayer goodness wthout them.As for STEAM, oh... look! a $9.95 a month subscription option! Nice try to sneak that under our noses. "Those people will get more value..." yeah, right. Maybe initially, but a year down the road do they really expect that they'll be cranking out enough new content to justify ten bucks a month? I'll put that $9.95 towards some of what they're smoking, thank you.I still want this game.
I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities
First, as the article explains, the "Walmart" version isn't the only version sold at WalMart, Newell expects Walmart to be the biggest seller of all three versions. So all three versions will be there on the shelf for you to choose from
Second, STEAM allows you a subscription or the "buy it once" that everyone really wants. I agree that I think they are going to be sorely disappointed at the sales of the subscription service, I haven't met one person who wants thier copy of HalfLife to stop being functional when they cancel thier subscription. Depending on the "buy it once" prices, that may be a valid option, especially if they can work out the "send us a box in the mail" problem, which Newell says they're working on.
"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson
The original point remains intact in that the confusion will dilute the mass-adoption of this (multiplayer) game and will therefore hamper the online experience. Most people at Wal-Mart have a hard enough time understanding that their computer "runs Windows" and think that the computer "IS Windows." The only way to successfully launch 3 versions of a game at once and keep the confusion to a minimum is an aggressive marketing and education campaign, the likes of which we have ne'er seen nor shall we in the not-too-distant future.
As for the "buy it once" option over Steam, it appears to me that people will have to pay extra to unlock features, etc. that would otherwise be available to purchasers of the boxed version. Any way you slice it, it appears to me that Steam is an attempt to crowbar customers into a subscription model to suckle at the teet of our wallets. Conspiracy Theory, yes... but they wouldn't push it so aggressively ("the better experience will be for those that buy the monthly subscription") if they didn't have much more to gain from it.
I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities
I don't get it, we know that majority will go for the Collectors Edition, because from my understanding, that version will have single/mod support and multiplayer. Why cramp the Store shelves with un-needed content (sigle player only/ multiplayer).
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
Half-life's been out what, four years? In that time, what additional content has Valve created? Blue Shift right? Wasn't CS originally a fan mod? Wasn't there another fan mod too, Day of Defeat or something?Let's just say all these were Valve made. So at $10 a month for four years = $480. You could buy all four of those packages at $50 each 2.5 times. I'll stick to the "buy it once" model, thank you very much.
The normal version has single and multiplayer. The collectors has that and extra undetermined goodies. The only one feature-limited seems to be the value edition.
"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson
Agreed, wholeheartedly. I like to think I'm a pretty intelligent person, and I've been a gamer for a heck of a long time, and I'm already feeling and seeing confusion regarding the different versions. This type of public response is no good. If they are hell bent on releasing a handful of versions of their game, they should have gotten all their ducks in a row and released a definitive statement that lets us know what each version is. As it stands, we know of 3 store-bought versions and 2 Steam-bought versions. The pros and cons of each are unknown. Further, the subscription would be great if you just want to play through the singleplayer game. No muss, no fuss. But their claims of better value need some serious backing up. $120 a year? So they're saying there will be at least 2 expansion packs in the first year, and something like 4 per year thereafter? Sounds like they're trying to fragment their userbase!
*snort* Feh, I think not. I'll buy my general copy that can do everything but dosn't come with a rock in the box, and I will rely on the mod community for content. If valve comes out with something good, they can bloody well retail it and sell it to me that way, otherwise they can piss off, I *hate* these kinds of scams. The last thing I want in the world is one more company trying grab my wallet every month.
-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?
This is the first bad thing regarding Half-Life 2 that I've read, and it's easily one of the dumbest gaming-related ideas I've read all year. I hope to God this information is bogus.
I started my own blog so when I feel the need to make an ass out of myself, I won't have as far to go.
Did they not make enough money of of Halflife?What kind of scam deal did they get into with Vivendi that a multiple million seller on the PC didnt make them all very wealthy?
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.