Valve announces making games is hard (No, really)

Jacqueline DiOrio 9 Jun, 2010 at 1:37pm ET Article published in Gaming

Valve just issued a press release, which in the vein of its earlier notice proclaiming a “surprise” at E3, announced that Portal 2 will be coming out in 2011. The game will apparently be “even better” than previously planned, making up for the delayed release.

Aperture Science (doing business as Aperture Laboratories LLC) made sure to point out that fans won’t die from Portal 2 coming out later, but could have died if they had rushed things to get the game out on time.

“Representatives from both companies acknowledged that public safety concerns factored into the decision. They went on to say that even though Portal 2 will arrive slightly later than planned, all life on earth won’t instantaneously stop as every molecule in your body explodes at the speed of light, which is what would happen should a rip ever appear in the fabric of Valve Time.”

The press release went on to state that they were not giving out any more information on the E3 surprise—which is apparently Portal 2 themed—but interested parties could inquire about “how close we all came to dying.”

Comments

9 Jun 2010 ~ 1:55pm coldalarm This isn't much of a surprise, really, but it's still a shame.

It'd be nice if Valve actually kept to a schedule for once. L4D DLC is nowhere to be seen (nor is the comic which is supposed to come before it), Episode 3... Yeah, they're amazing devs who've made some of the best games in the past ten years, but the constant delays and non-surfacing products is getting a little dull. Especially with Left 4 Dead 2 appearing a year after L4D1.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 1:58pm pigflipper I would rather wait for a well polished game than get a rushed piece of crap.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 2:32pm Winfrey As long as Valve eventually releases the game they intended to make, gamers will benefit from the wait. The only time I get worried/frustrated by constant delays is when they threaten whether the game is ever released at all.

(see: Forever, Duke Nukem)
9 Jun 2010 ~ 2:39pm Butters I wonder if the departure of the lead dev had an negative impact on the timeliness of the game. Regardless, I would rather HL2:E3 move up the priority list. The idea of not being able to complete a series is irking me.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 2:57pm primesuspect I think they're going to wow us with a new engine.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 3:03pm Obsidian It's about time. I'm sick of getting beyond playable frame rates in all of their games.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 5:14pm Cyclonite Obsidian, are you talking about Source? That's one of the most scalable engines I've seen. It runs so well on so many different types of hardware.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 7:40pm ardichoke

coldalarm wrote:

L4D DLC is nowhere to be seen

WAT?

I seem to recall there being L4D DLC in the form of The Survival pack. Was I on mind altering drugs or something? Not to mention all of the fan-created DLC that's out there.

I say, given the quality of the games they produce, Valve can take their time. They have a pass as far as I'm concerned. As long as they're making progress anyway.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 8:39pm _k When fan created DLC is made by fewer people in less time to a higher quality you get to question the studio's DLC.
9 Jun 2010 ~ 11:40pm ardichoke The survival pack DLC was pretty massive imo... but then again, I'm one of those strange people that buy a game for the game not for the DLC.
10 Jun 2010 ~ 5:36am coldalarm

ardichoke wrote:

WAT?

I seem to recall there being L4D DLC in the form of The Survival pack. Was I on mind altering drugs or something? Not to mention all of the fan-created DLC that's out there.

I'm talking about the L4D DLC which ties in with the Passing. Valve stated we would get the Passing in April (turned out to be May, IIRC), there would then be a comic release, and then a month after the Passing we would get the final piece of L4D DLC, which would link in with the Passing and the comic to give a full story arc to link the two games.
It's been about a month and a half and not even a shred of info has surfaced about the comic or the DLC.
10 Jun 2010 ~ 11:19pm mertesn

coldalarm wrote:

I'm talking about the L4D DLC which ties in with the Passing. Valve stated we would get the Passing in April (turned out to be May, IIRC), there would then be a comic release, and then a month after the Passing we would get the final piece of L4D DLC, which would link in with the Passing and the comic to give a full story arc to link the two games.
It's been about a month and a half and not even a shred of info has surfaced about the comic or the DLC.

Clearly you are unfamiliar with Valve Time. I hope the preceding link enlightens you to their odd chronology.

Also, software development time is impossible to precisely predict. Any release date promised when you aren't in a code complete state is 100% wishful thinking.
11 Jun 2010 ~ 4:30am coldalarm I'm familiar with Valve Time.

Valve haven't said a thing about the final L4D DLC, which is why I find it so annoying. They said The Passing and then L4D DLC a month later, and there's not even been a whiff of the DLC since. Heck, there's more information about the never-surfacing Ep 3 and the now-delayed Portal 2.
14 Jun 2010 ~ 3:36pm PT You are right coldalarm... cause like a month has passed since the dlc came out and YOU WANT IT ALL RITE NOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I don't like the delays but I respect that they want a finished project before they send it out.