The Orange Box News
Talking with a Valve representative, Shacknews was able to pry a firm release from their lips for a little box set known as Half-Life 2: The Orange Box. The game will hit retailers on October 9th, so we advise circling the date on your calendar with an orange marker so you don't forget. Orange marker, because it's the orange box ... get it? And to refresh your memory, The Orange Box is a bundle that will include Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal for the low, low, next gen price of $59.99. How we see it is that October will be all about carving pumpkins, eating candy corn, and playing a whole lot of Half-Life 2. Cavities be damned!
Perhaps the best value in gaming now has an official release date: Valve Software has confirmed with us that The Orange Box is set to ship for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 9th.
The Orange Box is a menagerie of Valve Software's most recent and forthcoming titles, including Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. The package will sell for $50 on the PC and $60 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which by our mathematical prowess means you'll be spending $10 to $12 per included title.
Up until a few months ago, Valve and in-store distributor Electronic Arts had plans to release The Black Box for PC which would include only Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, though that has since been cancelled. There's no official word on a Steam release for the set, but knowing Valve's investment in the system, we expect that you'll be able to recreate this former release if you already have Half-Life 2 and Episode One.
