Orange Money

What valve is doing with the Orange Box is really pissing me off. It's an obvious money grab and it's a slap in the face to their fans.

I am a huge, huge fan of Valve, Steam, and the Half-Life series in particular. I'm even one of the few people whose ass doesn't hurt after paying 30 bucks for 3 hours of game play with their expansions. That having been said, I'm having a really hard time justifying purchasing the Orange Box.

For those who don't know, the Orange Box is a collection of Half-Life 2, HL2 Episode 1 and Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. It costs 50 dollars which is a pretty sweet deal for all of those games. The problem is that this is the only method of purchasing Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress

Already bought Half-Life 2 AND Episode 1? Why thank you loyal fan. Now fucking buy it again and thank us for the privilege.

Even without the bullshit surrounding having to repurchase a game, the totally fuck over anyone who just wants to play Portal or Team Fortress 2. And they know exactly what they're doing. Episode 1 was a grand fuck up and expectations for Episode 2 are low. If they were to offer Portal or Team Fortress 2 on their own, they would lose huge numbers on sales of Episode 2. By packaging them this way, they make more money and inflate their sales numbers of the other products in the package.

It's dirty and I don't like it.