The Orange Box

[Zeus]

You want it, you know it

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/826/826062p5.html

[Blotus]

I do. Probably a used purchase later on when the dry season comes.

[Zeus]

I do. Probably a used purchase later on when the dry season comes.

The way I was thinking, too. But really tempting at $60 for such a package

[Blotus]

Indeed, but there's so much else that's taking priority for the rest of the year. I'll need that $60 for food.

[kali o.]

Indeed, but there's so much else that's taking priority for the rest of the year. I'll need that $60 for food.

You are like a jew - only without the money.

[Tessian]

Indeed, but there's so much else that's taking priority for the rest of the year. I'll need that $60 for food.

You are like a jew - only without the money.

I didn't know people who prioritize food over gaming were considered jews

I'll probably pick this up once I get bored of Halo... or maybe I can hold out till Xmas and get it for free

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

<a href="http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3163584">1UP's review is up</a>. 10/10 for the package.

Comes out on the 18th over here. I've never played Half Life 2 so I'm super excited about it. Man, what a great time to be a gamer.

[Zeus]

Indeed, but there's so much else that's taking priority for the rest of the year. I'll need that $60 for food.

I'm just a cheap bastard....and I buy such a large volume of games I may hold off on this one just for a bit since I won't be able to keep up with Metroid (still haven't played it), Halo, Mass Effect, Rock Band, GH3, Mario, and Smash Bros.

[kali o.]

I didn't know people who prioritize food over gaming were considered jews

It was more of a "over a few posts" kinda observation

[Flip]

<a href="http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3163584">1UP's review is up</a>. 10/10 for the package.

Comes out on the 18th over here. I've never played Half Life 2 so I'm super excited about it. Man, what a great time to be a gamer.

You'll love it. HL2 was one hell of a gaming experience, equally as good if nor better than HL. I really wish i could get back into PC gaming, but with a laptop that isnt gaming powerful... it isnt a possibility. I dont know what i'll do when SC2 comes out...

[Blotus]

Indeed, but there's so much else that's taking priority for the rest of the year. I'll need that $60 for food.

You are like a jew - only without the money.

You fool, now Nev is going to flip out and call us all anti-semites.

It was more of a "over a few posts" kinda observation

When have I acted the cheapskate before?

[RentCavalier]

I just hope this doesn't become inexplicably rare.

[bovine]

only 6 copies were delivered to the EBs in Regina today.... for the 360. I managed to grab the last copy they had (whew). Are you guys thinking of getting it for the 360 or the PC?

[RentCavalier]

360, next month

[Eric]

When have I acted the cheapskate before?

You still owe me money for those "favors" you had me do.

[Blotus]

When have I acted the cheapskate before?

You still owe me money for those "favors" you had me do.

Hey, I took you to see Cats!

[Tessian]

I want it for PC... but I already have Half Life 2 and Episode 1 on Steam... then again I dunno about paying $10 more to have it on Xbox...

Just in case anyone didn't hear-- Half Life 2 on 360 is basically an upconverted port from the Xbox port. So it doesn't look as good as it always has on PC. Dunno about the new games though.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Just in case anyone didn't hear-- Half Life 2 on 360 is basically an upconverted port from the Xbox port. So it doesn't look as good as it always has on PC.

<img src="http://theimaginedcommunity.com/gallery ... tled-3.jpg">

WRRROOOOOONG

IGN said this in their review, but they are dumb. It looks better than the original PC version. The 360 version is basically the PC version, with:

* HDR lighting
* Motion blur
* Real-time shadows

Until Valve back-port these features from Episode 2 to the PC version, the 360 version will look markedly better on 360 than it does on PC.

[bovine]

portal is worth buying the whole shabang. It's super short, but it's awesome from start to finish. Easily beatable in one sitting, but worth going back to because it's so great. Episode 2 is very faithful to the series, but also painfully short. Haven't even cracked open TF2, but I'm going to go see if HL2 is just the upconverted bastard child of the original xbox version...

[Imakeholesinu]

Guys at work play TF2, so I went ahead and am in the process of downloading the ting right now. 60% done.

[Anarky]

Guys at work play TF2, so I went ahead and am in the process of downloading the ting right now. 60% done.

What is your Steam ID?

mine is RobotScud

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

portal is worth buying the whole shabang. It's super short, but it's awesome from start to finish.

Just beat it. It's awesome. Truly awesome.

As far as the narrative goes its length was just right, but I'd love some more just plain straight puzzle levels. The game was so fucking creepy that I couldn't really enjoy the puzzling sometimes!

I've played a little bit of Team Fortress 2, but the netcode is appallingly bad. Every game I've had has been super, super laggy. Hopefully the patch coming out soon sorts all that stuff out, but until then, it's Halo 3 for multiplayer.

But before Halo 3: Half-Life! Fuck yeah!

[SineSwiper]

I've played a little bit of Team Fortress 2, but the netcode is appallingly bad. Every game I've had has been super, super laggy. Hopefully the patch coming out soon sorts all that stuff out, but until then, it's Halo 3 for multiplayer.

It only did that the other day, so don't use that as a typical experience. Normally, the lag is nearly non-existent. I've been playing it off and on for a while, switching between that and HL2. (First time playing HL2 for me.)

[bovine]

how are you enjoying it so far?

[RentCavalier]

Ok, I'm either gonna get this or Bioshock next month. Which should I get?

I've never played any Half-Life games, for the record.

[bovine]

if you have not played halflife before, then I most certainly recommend the orange box over bioshock. If you are a live subscriber, then this is probably the most content you will find on any 360 game. I'm sure this may meet with some controversy, however.

[Chris]

orange box is for pussies. go play with your orange vagina. I'll be off enjoying my......well....pc version of orange box.....portal in itself is wrth 50 smackers...

[Zeus]

Ok, I'm either gonna get this or Bioshock next month. Which should I get?

I've never played any Half-Life games, for the record.

One of last generation's games of the generation with expansions and mini-games vs one of this generation's games of the generation.....hard sell. Really, you should get both

[bovine]

TF2 on 360 is fixed

[SineSwiper]

orange box is for pussies. go play with your orange vagina. I'll be off enjoying my......well....pc version of orange box.....portal in itself is wrth 50 smackers...

Not really. It's only a few hours long. Granted, it some of the best 2 hours spent, but thank god that the Orange Box is 5 games in one.

As far as BioShock versus Orange Box, that's a tough one. I would say both, but if I had a gun to my head, I would probably say BioShock because there's a good story to it. The Orange Box isn't really too much about story. ("Hey, Gordon Freeman! Yeah, can you do this? Thanks, we worship you, Dr. Freeman!") Though, HL's story does do better than most FPSs, and the gameplay is still good.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Half-Life 2 is raaaaad. I finally understand what my PC-gaming friends have been raving about for the last couple of years.

The way in which it delivers its narrative is genius: the story is fairly standard sci-fi stuff so far, but it's a sci-fi story you really get to live. Bioshock's premise is more interesting, but its delivery is not as good. Using audiodiaries to give areas context is a pretty weak conceit; Half-Life gives you stuff that's happening right now, right in front of you.

The gunplay is solid. It's not a patch on Halo, but the guns, mostly, feel good, and drops dudes in a satisfying way (on that: the ragdoll physics for dead soldiers is probably the best I've seen. They fall down like they actually have weight!).

The puzzles are fucking awesome. Intuitive, but challenging in the kind of way that makes you feel good for solving them.

The art design is spot on. It's showing its age — the textures look a little grainy, for example — but it still looks amazing.

I'm up to Ravenholm right now. More impressions as I get further into the game!

[SineSwiper]

Man, I was trying to get the Grav Gun achievement over there, too, but I think I used my crowbar on one box, and screwed it up. I was so pissed that I went through that entire bastard area and didn't get my prize.

And I like the audio diaries, because you care about the characters telling them. You don't give two shits about most (if not all) of the characters in HL2 because there is no backstory. The audio diaries give you that backstory. Ideally, there should be both (backstory and real-time interaction), and BioShock sorta did that with many of the bad guys, but you don't really get to see as much of the good guys.

[SineSwiper]

Ha! Got the 20 point Sandtrap achievement, though. God, that was annoying to keep moving these two metal plates back and forth.

[Tessian]

I just broke down and bought OB off of Steam... I needed a new PC game and I'm still not liking the complaints about TF2 on Xbox.

What's really cool, and I didn't expect this, is that after I bought Orange Box, Steam told me that since I already bought 2 of the games (HL2 and Episode One) I can give them to a friend now! That's pretty damn nice of them. Giving it to a friend who never played HL2 and is too cheap to get Orange Box

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

And I like the audio diaries, because you care about the characters telling them. You don't give two shits about most (if not all) of the characters in HL2 because there is no backstory. The audio diaries give you that backstory. Ideally, there should be both (backstory and real-time interaction), and BioShock sorta did that with many of the bad guys, but you don't really get to see as much of the good guys.

Yeah, one of my only real problems with Bioshock was that there wasn't enough real-time interaction, so a lot of the time you feel sort of like an archaeologist, sifting through Rapture's ruins. It's made worse by the fact that most of the real-time interactions are so fucking good!

I've now beaten Half-Life 2 and Episode One, and I'm fighting through antlion caves in Episode Two. HL2 and Ep. 1 were both masterful, though Ep. 1 was a little short. Ep. 2 so far looks to be the work of geniuses at the top of their game. So, so good. I'm not looking forward to beating it.

[SineSwiper]

Yeah, one of my only real problems with Bioshock was that there wasn't enough real-time interaction, so a lot of the time you feel sort of like an archaeologist, sifting through Rapture's ruins. It's made worse by the fact that most of the real-time interactions are so fucking good!

As being one who played through System Shock 2, I expected that this time, which lowered the surprise of not finding these people. But, there still was more interaction with real people than SS2, like Ryan, Cohen, Altas, and Tenenbaum.

In SS2, you're excited about talking to real people (Polito the doctor, Delacroix, the captain of the Rickenbacher) only to find that they have been killed off. They were alive when you talk to them, but you were too late to see them. (In the Captain's case, you inadvertently kill him by flipping the gravity.) Sometimes, it's like the purpose of the game is to find that one real person to talk to, besides this fucking evil computer.

[bovine]

*bump due to me being awesome*

I put the gnome in space. It was hard. Bovine out.

[SineSwiper]

Heh, I didn't even bother to find where the gnome was, nor did I really see the rocket.

At least I got the Don't Walk the Sand one.

[Tessian]

*bump due to me being awesome*

I put the gnome in space. It was hard. Bovine out.

huh??

[SineSwiper]

Maybe if you weren't so smug on getting the PC version, you'd understand:

Little Rocket Man

EDIT: My mistake. I didn't know Steam had their own achievements. So, there's no excuse for not knowing.

[Tessian]

Haha sweet-- I haven't played Episode 2 yet for some reason... been saving it for a rainy day or something. You do know that Orange Box on PC has achievements too, right? They just don't give me snazzy points added to my account. But I get a much better TF2 experience so eat it

[bovine]

Heh, I didn't even bother to find where the gnome was, nor did I really see the rocket.

At least I got the Don't Walk the Sand one.

it's just the rocket that Kleiner and Magnuson (sp?) are working on that gets shot into space. Unless you haven't beaten it, you've seen it. The gnome is in the room that Alyx first talks to Dr.Vance, Kleiner, and Magnuson. It's very near the start. It's a pretty easy task until you have to drive the car...