The cheaper, no-frills
Black Box bundle of
Half Life 2: Episode 2 has been cancelled.
Speaking about the bundle, the director of marketing for Valve (which is developing the game), Doug Lombardi, said
†:
"The Black Box has been cancelled. We're going to have one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC (US$49.99, £25) as well as the 360 and PS3 (US$ 59.99, £30). In addition to the three new products -- Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life: Episode Two -- The Orange Box will also contain the full version of
Half-Life 2 and
Half-Life 2: Episode One.”
As console owners were never going to get the Black Box anyway, thanks to
Half Life 2 and
Episode 1 never having been available on console, it's no great loss to them. PC owners, however, are being forced to pay an extra $10 (£5) for a product they may already own. Valve has made a concession of sorts to possible complaints on this front. Lombardi said:
“Those who purchase the PC version of The Orange Box will get three separate Steam product codes: One for the three new games, one for HL2, and one for Episode One. This way a PC Orange Box owner can give away their Half-Life 2 or Episode One unused Steam product codes if they don't need a copy of those games."
Granted, a fiver isn't going to break the bank, but what about those of us who don't have any mates to give
Half-Life 2 and
Episode One to?
Episode 2 is
expected to ship this Autumn, and Valve has encouragingly said recently that the game's
nearly finished.. For more on
Episode 2 head over to SPOnG's
dedicated game page.†Source: IGN