PS3 Fanboy

Although Valve's distaste of the PS3 is well-known, the Half-Life series has still found its way to Sony hardware courtesy of EA. It looks like the franchise will continue on PS3 as well, as this initial piece of Episode Three concept art reveals. The piece, by Valve artists Ted Backman, Jeremy Bennett and Tristian Reidford, shows an ominous advisor from Episode One and Two flying forward at Gordon Freeman in a stunning cavern. We can't grasp any real details on Valve's upcoming finale to the Half-Life 2 saga, but the platforms listed clearly include the PS3 as well.

Check out Into the Pixel for a high-res version of this piece. PS3 fans would also take note to check out the spectacular high-res WipEout HD art also available in their gallery.

[Thanks, MC Fresh Beatz! Via Shacknews]

Sure, the PS3 version of The Orange Box has some issues. But when you realize that you're getting five excellent games for only $32, a few framerate hiccups seem like nothing. The Orange Box dropped down to $40 recently, but amazon.com is currently selling the game for only $32. If you haven't tried Portal yet, there really is no excuse.

[Via CAG]

Most Valve Software fans would know well enough that the company is primarily a developer for PC games and a bit of Xbox on the side. So, it's not too startling to hear Valve Marketing VP Doug Lombardi say something along the lines of "We're not PS3 developers" -- it's just a great headline. What is interesting, however, is the possibility of Left 4 Dead, currently set only for PC and Xbox 360 release, getting ported to the PS3.

Talking to CVG, Lombardi reconfirmed that Valve still sees Left 4 Dead for PC and 360 only; however, he did leave some glint of hope for a PS3 port in the future. When asked if EA would bring the game over much like what the company did with The Orange Box, Lombardi replied "Left 4 Dead doesn't have that guaranteed appeal yet - it's a new IP. If you mention a new Half-Life, people want to make as many versions of it as possible. If Left 4 Dead is big, then we may see a PS3 version later, or if and when we do a sequel, people may be more interested in that."

In short, it all comes down to financial risk for whoever wants to take on the challenge of porting. As far as Valve is concerned, they're not the ones who will do it; someone else will do it if they want to, that is. Hopefully, Left 4 Dead does well on the other platforms; we could always use a zombie shooter on the PS3.

Fans of Team Fortress 2 have discovered a mysterious undocumented 128MB patch for the PS3 version of The Orange Box. Valve's compilation of Half-Life games was bashed by the gaming community for its lackluster transition onto the PS3: the port not only came weeks after the Xbox 360 and PC counterparts, but featured framerate issues that plagued an otherwise stellar experience.

[Update: Fixes listed, after the cut.]

[Thanks, Jeff M.!]

It's no secret the PS3 version of Orange Box is inferior to the PC and 360 version due to the unforgivable amounts of bugs and bad coding. Many gamers have voiced their displeasure about the game, and one upset gamer, who purchased the game despite the highly publicized problems, posted a thread on Valve's forums. Soon after, a Valve employee responded to address his complaints.

"I hope that we will be able to correct any major issues in the future," wrote Burton before wishing him a "Happy New Years." Now, this can be interpreted numerous ways, however, the most likely scenario is Valve issuing a patch to address these problems.

One thing to keep in mind is that this mess isn't entirely Valve's fault since it handed over reigns to EA London for the PS3 port. However, it's still Valve's baby, and it's most certainly in the developer's best interests to keep the quality of its most-popular franchise as high as possible.

You've heard the reports that The Orange Box may be downright unplayable on the PS3. Is that true? Well, this well-made comparison video from the 1UP team should clarify a few things. Pay attention, as they highlight the differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Valve's critically acclaimed shooter.

We recommend downloading the HD version to really appreciate the differences. While it's true the PS3 version is more sluggish, especially around water -- is it unplayable? That's for you to decide. If the PS3 is the only system you have, hopefully this won't deter you from experiencing one of the best games of the year.

Update: Portal has been added, after the break. Chances are, you won't notice a difference between the two versions in this video.

It appears that, for some reason or another, the PS3 offering of Half-Life 2: Orange Box might not be up to par with that of its PC and Xbox 360 counterparts, according to 1UP. After previewing the near final build of the game, they were met with framerate inconsistencies during the Half-Life series that made the game look more like a "slideshow" and thusly rendered it nearly unplayable.

However, Portal perfectly played fine, but they weren't able to play much of Team Fortress 2 because of server connection issues.

At this point, you're probably wondering what the deal is and why can't such a great development company like Valve get one of their shining jewels up to snuff, right? Well, one reason is probably because Valve isn't behind the PS3 port like it was for the other versions. Yeah, we're being serious. An unspecified internal EA development team is responsible for the PS3 version. With a Dec. 11 release date, we suppose there is still time for this issue to be rectified, but how many time have we, as gamers, told ourselves that in hope of getting a decent game? Probably way too many.

[Thanks for the tip, Conor!]

There have been rumours and plenty of speculation that the bundle of five games (Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and, most importantly, Portal) wouldn't be out in Europe-land until January at the earliest seeing as retailers have continued to push the date back for a number of months now. These fears can now, finally, be put to rest.

Gabe Newell really hates the PS3. In a recent interview with Next-Gen, he blasted Sony's system due to its frustrating architecture, calling the system "a waste of everybody's time. Investing in the Cell, investing in the SPE gives you no long-term benefits. There's nothing there that you're going to apply to anything else. You're not going to gain anything except a hatred of the architecture they've created."

Because of his distaste for PS3, the critically acclaimed Orange Box is not being ported to PS3 by Valve. Rather, EA is handling the port and he's confident that "they'll make the PS3 version a good product; EA got the job done in putting a lot of people with PS3 experience on the project." He does note that "it's harder to get it to the same standard as the 360 and PC versions."

Hopefully, EA's treatment of The Orange Box will be better than the sloppy PS3 version of Madden, which was slammed by the gaming media for its sluggish framerate on PS3.

[Via CVG]