By John Walker on October 15th, 2008 at 11:57 pm.
Christmas is a tough time of year for the dedicated PC gamer. All the best titles madly appear in one giant rush over the last three months, ensuring that no one has enough money to buy all the games they would like to. Someone tell the publishers – somehow this escapes them. But anyhow, the point is, why not, er, spend some of that money a bit earlier. Valve have just announced Left 4 Dead as available for pre-order via Steam.
It’s 10% off if bought ahead of release, which makes it $44.99, plus whatever taxes your evil dictatorship leaders impose upon you. Entertainingly quoting himself in a press release he wrote, Valve’s Doug Lombardi says,
“With just over four weeks until launch, Left 4 Dead is showing every sign of topping The Orange Box on both the PC and Xbox 360, at retail as well as on Steam. Our pre-sell numbers at retail have jumped to over 65% greater than Orange Box at the same proximity to launch, and we’re seeing tremendous enthusiasm for the product in what promises to be another great year for gaming on both platforms.”
The show-off. Anyone who had a go at the game at the PC Gamer Showdown will tell you quite how good it is. We’ll back that up. There’s no word yet whether there will be a beta period for pre-orderers.
16/10/2008 at 00:08 Nero says:
Pre-purchased here! But I do hate the damn VAT ($11.25), I wish it would go away :(.
16/10/2008 at 00:12 freelancepolice says:
consider this preordered!
16/10/2008 at 00:12 The Unshaven says:
Ooh, damnit. Now I have to decide whether I want to get the disc version or preorder here.
The disc-version’s benefit being that when I format, i don’t have to spend as much bandwidth redownloading all my games.
In a situation where bandwidth is limited, that’s a concern…
- The Unshaven.
16/10/2008 at 00:17 vordhosbn says:
Man, the $50 is a bit steeper than I would have liked. Orange Box was amazing value for money and I jumped on it instantly but in this case I think I’m gonna wait for the demo.
16/10/2008 at 00:20 dishwasherlove says:
Going to wait for the Aussie dollar to be a bit more respectable before I preorder it. Go little dollar go!
16/10/2008 at 00:20 Feet says:
Looking at just a shade over £30 inc taxes for those in the UK. Job jobbed.
16/10/2008 at 00:21 kyrieee says:
my money? where did it all go
=/
16/10/2008 at 00:24 Lh'owon says:
I know I’m probably alone in this, but I’m quite looking forward to Left 4 Dead.
16/10/2008 at 00:35 GibletHead2000 says:
Preordered also. If the pound crashes heavily sometime within the next month I’ll get to feel smug, I guess.
16/10/2008 at 00:38 SKACE says:
It wasnt there hour ago :( OK, let’s try it now …
16/10/2008 at 00:41 Pavel says:
Its really great. The whole year goes by, we have Assassins Creed and….Mass Effect.
And during last 4 months we get:
Stalker CS, Witcher EE, Dead Space, Fallout 3, L4D, FarCry2,Silent Hill 5, Red Alert 3,Crysis Warhead, Pure,Brothers in Arms 3, Spore,Mercenaries 2, GTA4, Saints Row 2…………
ITS INSANE!!!
Stupid publishers, really.
16/10/2008 at 00:45 Mataway says:
@Unshaven: You can backup any Steam purchases to disk so that you don’t have to download all your games when you reformat. I’ve done it a number of times, and it works like a charm.
16/10/2008 at 00:50 Po0py says:
I know will be able to get it for around £25 or even cheaper if I look hard enough. There are too many games on Steam that are way too overpriced imho. Example: A year after release and CoD4 is still $70!
I always thought digital download services were supposed to be cheaper do to the fact that the only logistics involved is several Gigs of bandwidth with no packaging or transport costs. Just a fuckin download and they don’t want to lower the prices a bit? Meh.
16/10/2008 at 00:51 The Unshaven says:
@Mataway: Intriguing! I’ll try that again, with that recommendation. I’ve tried that a few times myself except that after I’ve formatted it turns out the backup files are glitched somehow. Of course, that was on a different machine…
- The Unshaven.
16/10/2008 at 01:01 Katsumoto says:
Hmm yes, was expecting this to be a fair bit cheaper. Oh well!
16/10/2008 at 01:11 David says:
Pre-ordered here too.
10% is almost not worth it, but it says you’ll be able to pre-load it. That’s what sold me.
Can’t wait.
16/10/2008 at 01:12 Nimic says:
I’ve been extremely excited about this game ever since it was announced, back when people seemingly didn’t know this work of awesome even existed. Now I’ve got an icon to look at!
16/10/2008 at 01:28 Y3k-Bug says:
World of Goo, FarCry 2, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, Peggle Nights.
Wish October/November would be nicer to my bank account.
I’d be mad if all of those games didn’t look so insanely good.
16/10/2008 at 01:40 crysomemore says:
Why is everyone crying about the price of this game? Any one want to give some reasoning for why you expected this game to come out cheaper? The price is fine and it is completely normal price for new original content game. Already preordered from a site other then steam so I am having trouble understanding why users thought steam digital download would come cheaper.
16/10/2008 at 01:46 Y3k-Bug says:
I don’t think anyone thought the Steam release would be cheaper than the retail, they thought the OVERALL price would be lower.
Somewhat related note: is the single player mode like the Unreal Tournament games, where its basically a trainer for the multiplayer game, or is it a legit story mode?
16/10/2008 at 02:06 Andrew says:
crysomemore; it seems the Orange Box was just so much better value – almost all the previews I’ve seen tout Left 4 Dead as a multiplayer 4 person game, with basically no plot but fighting lots of zombies. Shame it’s not priced “ala multiplayer only game” like Valve has done with TF2, Counterstrike etc.
I’ll wait until the reviews (which may be laughable) and demo (if there is one). I’m not sure I’ll gather enough friends to get the game themselves, and I don’t think playing it with AI will be the same (I’m not that big a fan of zombies to be honest).
16/10/2008 at 02:10 Nahual says:
What they thought, for people in places like Australia and Europe, is that they would finally get games at US prices, i believe.
Steam is great for people living in Latin America though, we do get the regular US price and no taxes :P.
16/10/2008 at 02:42 suchchoices says:
if left 4 dead provides a fraction of the hours of fun I’ve had with orange box, it’ll still be a bargain, even with the sadly increased usd/aud ratio of late.
i wonder if valve will continue adding free post-release content updates for left 4 dead in the spirit of tf2.
16/10/2008 at 02:45 suchchoices says:
perhaps i meant decreased there.
16/10/2008 at 03:18 MeestaNob! says:
The extra cost is to be expected really, OB was almost too good a value for the meager monies they were asking. Seems fair in a strange sort of way.
That said, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to wait for the Aussie dollar to man up a little bit before I splurge, the current exchange rate puts it dangerously close to $70 AUD, which while, embarrassingly, still cheaper than retail is much too close to retail price without a lovely shiny box.
Sad face.
Actually, if it was this + Peggle Nights for $50 US flat I reckon I’d have clicked purchase by now.
16/10/2008 at 03:31 cyrenic says:
Gonna wait on the demo just to be sure I like the game.
16/10/2008 at 04:50 Grandstone says:
Gonna wait on the demo just to be sure I can run the game.
16/10/2008 at 05:44 soviet_ says:
I couldn’t give Valve my money fast enough, I would’ve paid $80 for this game
16/10/2008 at 05:50 Heliocentric says:
I call it here first! There will be a peggle/popcap zombie game bundled with l4d at release. I’m unimpressed at the price because of the tax mainly. Cheaper at retail. *sigh* that’ll do i guess.
16/10/2008 at 07:01 rupert says:
pre purchased !!!!!!!!! woot
16/10/2008 at 07:19 Mike says:
That is… considerably more expensive than I’d expected.
Hmm.
16/10/2008 at 07:32 TRS-80 says:
Mataway: you don’t even have to use the backup function, you can just copy the .gcfs back into the SteamApps folder.
16/10/2008 at 07:55 Mike says:
So, it’s £27 on Play.com.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5826422/Left-4-Dead/Product.html
Sorry, Valve, but that was just stupid. Buying offline saves a fiver.
16/10/2008 at 08:03 Cataclysm says:
Ouch @ price… Its just not worth me parting with my money at this stage, as most of my free time goes towards Warhammer Online at the moment (oh what a good game).
I also need to pay a bit more attention to World of Warcraft as my sister and I have characters still waiting to hit level 70 before WOTLK is launched.
It seems I’m a MumohoarrpeegeeHead at the moment. (Try saying that out loud).
16/10/2008 at 08:34 Gap Gen says:
Yeah, I dunno if this has more value than TF2, Portal and HL:Ep 2 combined?
16/10/2008 at 08:39 Feet says:
Yeah, actually £30 seems alot for a Steam game where you don’t get a box\manual and so on.
If you don’t mind using a smaller online company you can get it for £25.
http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=dettagli&codart=PCLE09&n=Left%204%20Dead&p=PC
I can’t vouch for the company, not having used them before but times is tight so I’m giving them a punt.
16/10/2008 at 08:56 Draycen says:
I’ve now used shopto.net a couple of times and am very impressed. Firstly they do free next day delivery on everything. Secondly they have especially good prices on pre-orders. Spore was my first purchase from them and it was £24.99 and was delivered the day before release.
So yes. They seem pretty good. Ah and also they have a price match forum, so if you find anything cheaper elsewhere they may match it.
Dray
16/10/2008 at 09:13 Heliocentric says:
I was always wary of their site. But between them and “game collection” i don’t think i’d have to pay rrp on anything. If they think its worth $50 i’ll take their word for it. But i’m too poor to get 2 copies right now as is required by my other half so we can play it for the first time together.
The last game i spent more than £18 on was oblivion(not counting the orange box). And i’m in no way living in games of the past. £30 is just a price i wont pay anymore. We shall see about that demo.
16/10/2008 at 09:14 The Sombrero Kid says:
@Cataclysm
lol “£30 one off payment WTF!!!!!! i can’t afford that i spend £15 a month for the privilege of considering ‘playing’ 2 other games.”
it’s like your addiction is preventing you from getting the cure :D
16/10/2008 at 09:17 The Sombrero Kid says:
you’ve got to remember the orange box was an expert piece of marketing to make us all like thier DRM sell us 3 games for the price of one and we’ll barely notice the DRM they come with, which is done right and is awesome for so many reasons, but you’ve got to remember the orange box was so cheap because it had to be.
it was also about the can black box or whatever bloody colour it was, which pissed people off before they found out that the orange box was the same price.
16/10/2008 at 09:20 Heliocentric says:
Mmo fees begat mmo fees. But mmo people who won’t even try free demo’s and live in an mmo bubble piss me right off. “Ffs! You can’t quit the mmo because you think its the best game because you play nothing else”. I hate that some of my friends share my hobby but are so utterly dead to me.
16/10/2008 at 09:24 Ian says:
Want to play this but I’ve got enough on my plate with about four other pre-orders in the works.
16/10/2008 at 09:56 brog says:
“Christmas is a tough time of year for the dedicated PC gamer. All the best titles madly appear in one giant rush over the last three months, ensuring that no one has enough money to buy all the games they would like to. Someone tell the publishers – somehow this escapes them.”
I always thought this was a very generous move to give indie developers a better chance of selling something by releasing it in the void.
16/10/2008 at 10:18 Ginger Yellow says:
I can understand wanting a manual for, say, Civ IV. But do people really still want manuals for something like L4D? I mean, I don’t want to give Valve ideas, but I figure the benefit of not needing to find and put in the disc easily outweighs the “it should cost less than Play” factor.
16/10/2008 at 10:26 Paul Moloney says:
Normally, I buy any Valve games on Steam (that is, HL episodes) since I want them as soon as they launch. But with the mountain of games I have this October/November (just got World of Goo, have both Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 on the way) I may just hang on for the non-virtual version, especially as it’s bound to be cheaper than £30.
P.
16/10/2008 at 10:36 Feet says:
Ginger Yellow:
Considering the number of high quality games coming out in the next 2 months, any kind of saving is always preferable, manual or no.
Additionally, it’s just the fact that a retail copy costs more to produce than a digital one, and yet the retail version is over £5 cheaper. I thought one of the selling points of digital distribution is that some of those savings could be passed onto the consumer. Clearly not happening here, infact Valve are charging more.
I’m all for making sure the devs get as much of money as I can. I bought Defcon direct from Introversion, I bought WoGoo direct from 2DBoy, but this particular dev have plenty of cash already. This isn’t some indie dev who requires the support of a devoted fanbase to stay alive.
Furthermore, after the great deal Valve produced in the Orange box they set a precedent for best value high quality games, to then change their price structure this way is pretty out of the blue.
16/10/2008 at 10:48 Kismet says:
Asking for money more than four weeks earlier without a “beta” seems a bit excessive to me, but at last they’re giving a 10% discount and I guess there will be pre-load, unlike some of the recent “please give me the money in advance because I’m nice” pre-purchases on Steam. And no additional DRM on top of the Steam one to fear, I suppose.
I’m looking ahead to L4D, but I’d prefer to read some more opinion before committing to a purchase. Early access would favour a pre-purchase though, considering that the game release is around the time the next games I’d be interested to pick up will be released.
16/10/2008 at 11:05 Rosti says:
Worth noting that you get the game approximately 3 days earlier from Steam than the Euro-box; but then if the demo turns out to exist then the cheaper box will likely be the way to go (for me).
16/10/2008 at 11:14 Cataclysm says:
@The Sombrero Kid
Noooo, I meant its a high price, especially to pay when I don’t have the free time to play the game, at the moment. (Due to MMORPG’s taking up so much time, and the fact I can’t bear to be away from WAR)
… Stop looking at me like that. I’m not addicted. I could stop whenever I want to. I just don’t want to…
… NO YOU ARE!
16/10/2008 at 12:01 Rob says:
@Ginger Yellow
As a Valve product the odds are almost 100% that you’ll need Steam to install the retail version, and your copy will be linked in as with all their games since HL2.
16/10/2008 at 12:43 frymaster says:
unshaven: you can just copy the entire steam directory over to a new computer, and it’ll Just Work(TM). Doesn’t even need installed (it’ll auto-install the vista steam service, if you have vista, on first launch) but will quite happily let you install it over the old directory if you so feel the need, without deleting anything
advantages: It Just Works
disadvantages: games are never “installed” – as far as it’s concerned, they’ve always been there – so you don’t get start menu items, add/remove programs entries, or, for some 3rd-party stuff, the correct reg entries for your multiplayer games. Doesn’t affect source stuff, though, or 99.99% of other stuff either
16/10/2008 at 12:54 araczynski says:
RANT TIME!
screw steam and their taking away of consumer resale rights on full games. i hope someday they get served a class action that buries them for ever.
amen.
16/10/2008 at 13:01 Lorc says:
Yeah, it’s a pain. I imagine it’s only a matter of time before all digital products are re-defined as services rather than objects to avoid just such a problem. Their problem I mean, not ours.
At least in Steam’s case it’s a fairly good service. So far. But I dread the day when I have twelve different companies’ steam-a-like digital distribution platforms installed for fourteen different games.
16/10/2008 at 13:12 clovus says:
I just can’t handle paying $45.00 for a completely multiplayer game. I don’t have a dedicated group to play with, so I’ll be connecting and playing with strangers. I’m guessing that means that there won’t be a storyline/campaign, just picking a random map and going. I can have hours and hours of fun doing that, but it still seems like only half a game, like TF2. TF2 is really really great, but I would never have paid over $25 for it, since it is just the multiplayer part.
I’ve been playing Zombie Panic! Source a lot recently, so I’d really like to try L4D. Hmm… I hope there is a demo…
16/10/2008 at 14:16 Ergates says:
@Mike
“So, it’s £27 on Play.com.
…
Sorry, Valve, but that was just stupid. Buying offline saves a fiver.”
It’s hardly fair to criticise Valve for Play.com’s pricing policy!
16/10/2008 at 14:19 nakke says:
$50, huh? That’s much more than what I expected. Of course, if I knew I’d spend, say, even 10% of the time I’ve spent on Counter-Strike on L4D, it’d still be worthwhile.
16/10/2008 at 14:21 Heliocentric says:
I’ll tell you this right now for nothing, activate your left 4 dead on your steam account you’ll not need to physical stuff.
BONUS NOTE: My copy episode 1 never went into my pc at all, neither will the l4d disk.
16/10/2008 at 14:31 Ginger Yellow says:
“Additionally, it’s just the fact that a retail copy costs more to produce than a digital one, and yet the retail version is over £5 cheaper. I thought one of the selling points of digital distribution is that some of those savings could be passed onto the consumer. Clearly not happening here, infact Valve are charging more.”
Yeah, I’m not making a moral argument. Clearly it should be cheaper on Steam, on a cost basis. My point was that I’m willing to pay a premium not to require a disc in the machine. I’m not the tidiest person and I lose/scratch CDs all the time.
“As a Valve product the odds are almost 100% that you’ll need Steam to install the retail version, and your copy will be linked in as with all their games since HL2.”
Good point. I may well do it that way, although resisting the few days’ headstart will be tough. Again, my point is a general one that I’m willing to pay a few quid more for disc-free gaming, despite the reasonable argument that we should be paying less. That’s doubly true if the alternative involves Securom.
16/10/2008 at 15:48 Smurfy says:
Why couldn’t Steam have prices in different currencies? Why? WHY???
16/10/2008 at 15:49 Smurfy says:
Also no Valve games require you to insert the CD to play it.
16/10/2008 at 15:49 subedii says:
Given the current economic climate, it might be a good idea to pre-purchase this early before the £ slides any more against the $.
16/10/2008 at 16:51 Andy says:
So explain this to a Yank. UKers have to pay 30 online but can get the retail for 27 somewhere?
LoL @ the resale right rant – how could you resell a game that is multiplayer? They all have serial numbers needed for online play that make buying them used pointless :) – I guess I could resell Peggle or Hinterland, but I don’t even recycle my beer cans…
16/10/2008 at 16:56 Lorc says:
Yes, that’s correct. You can’t resell games of that sort. This is not a hole in the rant, it is the subject of the rant. It is the reason that people are annoyed.
Despite having the legal right to resell the game (their property by right of purchase) the game, the mechanics of online CD-key registration do not allow for it. Hence: annoyance.
16/10/2008 at 17:00 Lorc says:
Another point:
Obviously reselling digital goods is problematic from the seller’s PoV because the original owner could just decide to not delete his copy. Which, presumably, is why reselling is prevented.
But CD-key registration could actually be used as a solution to this problem – if you need to be registered to play it online, then there could be a “de-register key” option that would remove it from your user account and free up the key to be re-used by someone else.
16/10/2008 at 17:01 Heliocentric says:
Legal right? To sell a license? Not so much.
16/10/2008 at 17:02 Lorc says:
Apologies for the third post in a row (I blame the lack of edit function and my poor proof reading.
By “seller’s PoV” I mean the companies that sell the games to the public – not the consumer trying to sell his copy of team fortress 2. Otherwise that sentence would make very little sense.
16/10/2008 at 17:04 Cooper42 says:
Steam was always a good call back when it was nearly $2 to the pound. Now, buying pre-orders or near release prices on steam makes no sense at all, unless your desire for downloadable games and no CDs (for non-Valve games) is so high that up to 30% premium makes sense…
16/10/2008 at 17:20 aerone says:
Heliocentric – if it was that simple then publishers would just stick a EULA on console games and call the cops on the used game traders that piss them off so much. Car manufacturers too, probably.
16/10/2008 at 17:26 x25killa says:
Preordered. Played it at the PC Gamer Showdown and it was epic.
16/10/2008 at 17:27 Grey_Ghost says:
What exactly is the benefit from pre-ordering a game on an online service such as Steam?
16/10/2008 at 17:38 Carra says:
Well, play.com puts it at around 2.5 euros cheaper AND comes with a shiny box.
But at that price, I’ll wait for the first reviews to roll in. Did expect to see it a bit cheaper. But I’m probably also spoiled by the “deal of the decade” orange box.
16/10/2008 at 18:17 Fumarole says:
TF2 is half a game? Say what?! Would the same be said of WoW? Counter-Strike? I think not.
I too expected Left 4 Dead to be less expensive, though I know not why. I guess I expected it to be priced comparable to TF2. I’m still buying it though, as it looks to be the best game of 2008 by far. If Valve knows anything, it’s how to make an online shooter fun to play with friends. Spending $50 for the hundreds,/i> of hours I will no doubt be playing it (as I have TF2) is quite the deal.
16/10/2008 at 18:19 Fumarole says:
Ok, my turn to complain about the lack of edit-ability now. Grr…
16/10/2008 at 18:21 Lavitz says:
Left 4 Dead $50 :O I would buy it but i’m not sure if its gonna be a game i will go back to after playing it once or twice. The gameplay seems to very simple and not enough it in such as Iron sights, leaning or cover system. Just basic point and click like all valve games. I think ill put my $50 to cod waw and wait for a left 4 dead demo. :)
16/10/2008 at 18:37 Ed says:
Shan’t be purchasing. I’m a semi-Valve Fanboy, but this is far too expensive for a one-trick pony, albeit a charismatic and polished one.
Orange Box effectively had 5 great games (plus all the source mods that it unlocked) and cost only slightly more; everything I’ve seen about L4D has the feel of a really really well-made mod, but a mod nevertheless.
Some good will come of it however; at least someone reckons co-op campaign multiplayer is worthy of attention. Off the top of my head, OFP/ArmA are the only other games I can think of that get co-op absolutely right.
16/10/2008 at 18:57 Ginger Yellow says:
“Now, buying pre-orders or near release prices on steam makes no sense at all, unless your desire for downloadable games and no CDs (for non-Valve games) is so high that up to 30% premium makes sense…”
Pretty much, yeah. I’ve got no space in my flat with all my books, CDs, DVDs and games. I’d really rather not clutter it up any more than I absolutely have to (Rock Band on its own is bad enough).
“What exactly is the benefit from pre-ordering a game on an online service such as Steam?”
Well, you get to play it the very second it comes out, if you’re into that sort of thing (and the authentication servers hold up). Not really worth it unless they offer a pre-order discount or other incentive, though.
16/10/2008 at 19:10 BarkingDog says:
Also you still won’t need the CD to play it, I think once you’ve registered it on Steam you can download it. Forever and ever, etc. (obviously not)
also to whoever it was who said that he wanted steam to be buried by a calss action lawsuit: good god no, have you lost your mind?
I shall be buying it off play, or shopto, wherever’s cheapest :D
16/10/2008 at 19:59 michaelfeb16 says:
I am absolutely amazed by the complaints about the 45/50$ price for this game (with the exception of those dealing with exchange rates..)
With any other game made by any other company, it is rare to hear people complain about the 50$ price (and PS3/360 users are paying 10$ more!), yet when Valve does it you all throw a shit storm? Not to mention the guy who called TF2 half a game… (Hell, 300 hours there compared to what 10 for Crysis and 20 for COD4..)
Complain about the price if you really care that much, but what is the alternative? Spending 50$ for a game that won’t be supported for more than a month and lacks any polish?
16/10/2008 at 20:19 Ergates says:
BF2 springs to mind – a full price, stand alone (i.e not part of an Orange Box style thing), mulitplayer only* game. No one complained about that.
* OK, technically you could play offline against bots, but you’d have to have been insane to buy the game for that reason.
16/10/2008 at 20:31 clovus says:
I wasn’t trying to denegrate TF2, but rather trying to figure out why I wouldn’t pay over $25 for it. Imagine if TF2 was only a single player game. Think of the amount of content available; it’s really really small and short. However, that content is perfect for playing a mulitplayer shooter. The variations of tactics and events created by other real players makes the content provided useful for hundreds of hours of play.
Maybe L4D will be different than this in a way that justifies paying more. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has as much content as the single player campaign in many games. I might rethink my cost inhibitions once I read some reviews.
WoW, or other MMOs, have tons of content, and can be played “solo”, so they aren’t comparable. Counterstrike is, and I wouldn’t pay over $25 for it. Maybe instead of saying it is “half a game”, I should say it comes with “half the content”. Maybe I’m just used to “mulitplayer” being this little addition to most games; an addition that sometimes provides more hours of entertainment than the single player campaign. So, no single-player campaign makes it seem like something big is missing. ::shrug::
16/10/2008 at 21:28 Weylund says:
Man, it’s that old “Decent Zombie Game Premium” rearing its ugly head again. You want to fight zombies in a mall? You have to buy a 360!
You want to slaughter the walking dead in a variety of well-realized environments with massive AI and three of your closest friends? You have to pay $50 for a multiplayer game!
You want to trade funnies with an evil undead pirate? You have to lose your girlfriend and your job to become a SCUMM-playing aficionado!
It’s painful. But we in the society of people who all play zombie games (SPAZ-G) think it’s worth it.
Don’t give up on zombies. They wouldn’t give up on you. (TM)
16/10/2008 at 22:59 Cunningbeef says:
Oh cool, 70 dollars for a half life 2 mod.
I just can’t get why people are anticipating this so much. I love zombie games, and I LOVE multiplayer Co-op. But this just looks so uninspired. I couldn’t get excited about it if I tried (and I have).
16/10/2008 at 23:37 Nick says:
“The gameplay seems to very simple and not enough it in such as Iron sights, leaning or cover system”
Please, please, please tell me that was satire.
16/10/2008 at 23:51 Weylund says:
@Cunningbeef: I think what’s got me excited is the Director system. I’m an AI dev, so I know that it’s probably not going to be perfect, but having an AI that’s essentially TRYING to make the game dynamically more fun and exciting gives me the happy shivers.
Also, you’re playing a survival horror game that’s specifically designed for multiplayer. Awesome? Yeehaw.
What makes it look uninspired, by the way? And which zombie games in the last decade HAVE been inspired in your opinion?
17/10/2008 at 00:02 eyemessiah says:
Personally I’m happy to pay full whack for a good multiplayer-only game.
Its the ‘single-player only’ and ‘single-player + not very good multiplayer’ games that I am becoming less and less interested in purchasing.
17/10/2008 at 00:21 du bios says:
Actually, after FEAR, the HL2-etc lack of a lean button does seem like a significant omission when you’re fighting the Combine. Obviously, when you’re dealing with melee-only zombies it’s not required…
17/10/2008 at 04:38 Radiant says:
It’s perfectly understandable why people are up in arms at the price tag.
This game is essentially multiplayer only.
Think about it for the 360.
You pay 50 quid for the game and then you have to pay MORE to play it over live monthly.
Even WoW has the decency to only charge £10 for a game that’s useless on it’s own.
17/10/2008 at 04:43 Radiant says:
Still buying it though.
For the 360 that is; in 4 player split screen I can see it being a great party game but for one player sitting on the PC alone?
There is no value in it.
17/10/2008 at 10:09 Optimaximal says:
Ginger Yellow, you’re missing the point… The second you pop the retail release into your PC, it will try to either install Steam if it isn’t there already or just register the key on the active account if it is! As far as Valves are concerned, the disc is simply the delivery method of getting the game data to you.
In all fairness, Valve could easily employ an iTunes card-like system where you simply buy the key from a shop and download the game from the net, but then again, the layman will probably feel a bit miffed paying anything more than £10 for a plastic scratchcard (not realising that is all software is these days).
17/10/2008 at 10:38 Optimaximal says:
By the way, just to get everyone in the mood… Survive the Outbreak
(needs a fast connection to work properly)
17/10/2008 at 11:19 Ergates says:
No, it isn’t perfectly understandable. At all. In fact, it’s the opposite of understandable.
There have been plenty of full price mulitplayer only games: BF2/1942/2142; Quake Wars; Tribes 2/Vengence; UT3/etc.
That’s just off the top of my head and discounting MMOs (Full price AND a subscription).
Why has it suddenly become unreasonable/strange to charge full price for a multiplayer only game? Or is it only Valve who aren’t allowed to?
17/10/2008 at 11:22 Ergates says:
Dammit! the above was in response to:
“It’s perfectly understandable why people are up in arms at the price tag.
This game is essentially multiplayer only.“
17/10/2008 at 11:56 Malagate says:
I feel the price is fine, for me it was still cheaper than many other new game releases I’ve seen, especially awesome as Left 4 Dead has potentially limitless replayability. If the Director A.I. lives up to its promises, then I can envisage hundreds of hours of entertainment.
In the past two weeks alone I’ve managed about 50 hours of Zombie Panic! Source, as Left 4 Dead sounds even better than that then it’s definately on my “must have” list.
17/10/2008 at 12:14 Radiant says:
Ergates I personally don’t have a Valve axe to grind; I enjoy most of their games.
But maybe it does have something to do with Valve set expectations of the price? Expectations they set with the value they placed on the Orange Box games.
If you buy TF2 on it’s own it is only $20 so why is another mp only game $50? [bot play aside.]
17/10/2008 at 12:17 Paul Moloney says:
“But maybe it does have something to do with Valve set expectations of the price? Expectations they set with the value they placed on the Orange Box games.”
There’s a lesson to be learned here for Valve; never give a sucker an even break.
P.
17/10/2008 at 12:24 Radiant says:
lol a fool and his money are easily parted guv :)
17/10/2008 at 14:17 Edgar the Peaceful says:
I’ve had over 200 hundred hours pleasure from TF2. I’m happy to pay £30 to Valve for L4D primarily because I anticipate it being another game that I spend another 200 hours on. Also, the free-for-all climate that the internet has created in Music, Films, and Gaming – you can get whatever you want for free if you have no ethical qualms about it – is bringing about a system where people try everything on offer for nothing but then give their money to the producer who’s product you like best in order that they survive and keep making the good stuff. I’ll pay ‘over the odds’ to Valve whilst trying all manner of other games for nothing. If I like the product then I want to support the producer.
As a musician I have been on the receiving end of internet piracy – both albums for the band I was in were torrented straight away despite us being a smallish cult band. I don’t resent the lost royalties as the system is outdated. I welcome the ‘Radiohead’ model of ‘give us what you think it’s worth’. Plus, in music at least, someone with a torrent of your album is more likely to come to a gig. I know this doesn’t translate to the games world, but it does mean that a pirate who likes your work will, perhaps, buy the next product or feel guilty and cough-up for the current game.
17/10/2008 at 15:15 Devildog says:
Valve can do no wrong in my book. I’m sure this will be video game gold. Or platinum. Or oil. Whatever it is these days that’s worth anything.
17/10/2008 at 17:21 Cabbs says:
My first valve games were HL and HL2. Every time I think im paying too much for a valve game, I quickly find that it happens to be one of the most solid games to exist in its part of the fps genre.
Pretty much everyone, respected journos included, who have been within ten feet of this game tell us that Valve has this thing totally sorted. So ill frown at the overall price, pay the extra £5 for the convenience of doing it all on steam, and wait for this game.
And when it arrives, im sure ill stop caring how much it cost.
17/10/2008 at 18:03 chipp says:
Yep, 50U$S is a little too much. But… the hype machine… and my weakness for spending all of my money…
17/10/2008 at 18:53 Fumarole says:
Thanks for the link Optimaximal, that’s a great find.
17/10/2008 at 20:37 RotBot says:
Amazon had the pre-order for $36.99 since September. They’ve since upped it to match Steam. Kind of regret thinking Steam would have the same price and beta bonus and not pre-ordering it at Amazon, even with its 2-day average delay between release and at my door.
22/10/2008 at 05:59 SuperNashwan says:
Why would I pre-order directly from the publisher when I could wait and also line the pocket of a completely redundant intermediary retailer, which somehow magically saves me money despite the added cost of producing and shipping a physical product? Silly Valve. See also: why am I paying VAT on a product paid for in USD, bought from an American company under American contract law through an American website, with the value falling under the VAT free threshold for imports?