The Orange Box: This Is Exactly Why We Need a Patch

If you are wondering why we keep on posting these series belonging to The Orange Box petition, it is because we are fed up of going into a server in Team Fortress 2 and find moving weapons or weapons stuck in the walls. Or going in to get disconnected hundreds of times. Or playing Portal and getting killed only to wait 30 seconds to respawn. Or playing Half-Life 2 and dying due to that crappy frame-rate. Or once again playing Team Fortress 2 to realize we don't have all the features we should. Watch this new video from the petition above, and you'll realize why EA is slacking, and we need a patching.

[SIGN THE ORANGE BOX PETITION]

The Orange Box Petition Continues: Videos and Images

The guy who started that Orange Box petition continues on with proof of why we need this new patch. Some of the evidence includes screenshots from the PlayStation 3 version and screenshots from the Xbox 360 version. Other includes videos demonstrating the work EA has put into the game, such as the one above were the beginning of the match lags like crazy. Visit the site to sign the petition.

Update: Big shout out to the site as they've featured us on their homepage. We want our good Orange Box too!

The Orange Box PlayStation 3 Petition Started

An Orange Box PlayStation 3 gamer has started a new website with a petition for "a patch, a REAL one" for the game. The site features an Images section where it shows all the menus and components the Xbox 360 version of Team Fortress 2 has, and the PlayStation 3 lacks, such as private slots, and what not. We know we are going to sign it. If you support it, hit the link.

[EA PS3 Petition]

Team Fortress 2: Meet The Scout

The latest issue of GameTrailers TV featured a hilarious new short of the Scout from Team Fortress 2. You really need to watch this, because basically, he's "a pretty big deal". Enjoy!

EA Details Orange Box Patch v1.10

If you downloaded that v1.10 patch that was released for The Orange Box on the PlayStation 3 yesterday and still wondering what the heck it does, then read on for details of the patch.

• Fixed a graphical issue whereby a player would have the explosion effect left on the end of their Rocket Launcher when attempting to Rocket Jump.
• Fixed a memory leak to improve single player stability.
  
• Fixed an issue whereby the players name would not appear on the Stats comparison screen.
  
• We have fixed an issue that would cause the vote tallies to disappear when you viewed the scoreboard between rounds.
  
• Fixed an online server issue.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused a crash when a player that wasn't in Division 1 entered 'Your Leaderboards.
  
• Fixed an issue with players not always being added to the 'Players Met' menu on the XMB.
  
• Fixed a bug where a player viewing a friend without an EA account would have an empty entry in the friend's Leaderboard.
  
• Fixed an issue where it was not possible to connect to the EA servers if you had more than 30 friends.
  

As you can tell, no game lobbies were added such as the Xbox 360 and PC versions have, and none of the frame rate problems were fixed. What the hell EA?

[Details On The Orange Box PS3 Patch You've Probably Already Downloaded]

The Orange Box: Patch 1.10 Released

After what seems like months of waiting, Electronic Arts and Valve Software finally released a patch for The Orange Box on the PlayStation 3. The patch is labeled as v1.10 and is 128MB in size. We are not sure if it fixes any of the problems, but are installing it as I write this. We will keep you updated.

Update: We've been messing around with the game for a bit, but we haven't really seem to found anything new.

Team Fortress 2 DLC Price to Be Decided by Sony & Microsoft

Recently, Valve stated that they are going to bring downloadable content to Team Fortress 2 on consoles, hoping for it to be free. Valve has stated today that regarding pricing, "The platform holder owns the final call." Lets hope that Sony goes the nice way and gives it to us for free.

[Team Fortress DLC Price Is Up To Microsoft And Sony]

The Orange Box Patch Coming in March

A PSN@Home writer contacted EA today about a patch for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of The Orange Box, which is a bit inferior to the Xbox 360 & PC versions. He received a reply.

"Our engineers have finally provided details regarding the issue you are experiencing. Currently, this is a known issue and our engineering team are creating a patch which should resolve the issue. Unfortunately, the patch has yet to be tested and will be released sometime in March. Other issues will be addressed but unfortunately we do not have a list at this time. If you have anymore questions please feel free to respond back to this email or please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help Knowledgebase (http://support.ea.com). Have a great day!!!"

Well lets hope this patch coming in March addresses the issues we are experiencing while playing the game such as skipping frame rate, server disconnections and such.

[Orange Box (PS3) Patch to come in March]

The Orange Box DLC Eventually Coming to Consoles

If Valve/EA would ever release a patch for The Orange Box fixing all the issues, then maybe we would have use for this.

Doug Lombardi recently revealed that Valve is going to be bringing new maps to the console versions of Team Fortress 2 and Portal.

Lombardi wants all this new downloadable content to be free, just for us.

Just assuming, the first downloadable content for Team Fortress 2 will probably be the "Badlands" and "Goldrush" maps that are going to be available to PC gamers soon, along with the CTF-update of the "Well" map which was released a few days back.

To end it, Lombardi gave no details on any of the Portal downloadable content. We will just have to wait.

[Team Fortress 2 Maps, Portal DLC Coming Eventually]

Orange Box Patch Is Definately Coming

Original Post 1/1/08 Morning: Just when I do my impressions we get a rumor about a patch for The Orange Box. Let's hope this baby comes to us.

Like I said in my impressions, the PLAYSTATION 3 version of The Orange Box comes in last place compared to it's PC & Xbox 360 brothers due to bugs, left out features, and such.

One upset gamer wrote a complaint on the official Steam User Forums. Soon after he posted this, a Valve employee responded to his complaints saying the below.

"I am sorry that you are unsatisfied with your game. I hope that we will be able to correct any major issues in the future.

Thank you for your support and Happy New Years."

Now, could this mean that an update is on the horizon? It could be intepreted in many ways.

Thing is, this is Valves fault for letting EA London develop the PLAYSTATION 3 version in the first place, knowing that they do bad ports. It's still Valve's game, and they probably want to keep the quality of the series alive. We'll have more on this "update" as it comes.

Update 1/2/08 Morning: In a thread about surround sound support for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of The Orange Box, Jay Stelly, a Valve employee responded mentioning a patch.

"The PS3 version has full surround sound but only over an HDMI connection.
We're working on getting the optical cable support into an update. I'll post when I have details."

It's highly likely that this update will contain more than just help for sound.

Update 1/2/08 Evening: BurtonJ, a Valve employee started a thread asking users to state the problems in the PLAYSTATION 3 version of The Orange Box. A patch is definitely on it's way.

The Orange Box Impressions: Team Fortress 2

I've recently picked up a copy Valve & EA's The Orange Box, which as you know, contains Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

I'll tell the truth, I picked up this box with no interest in playing the Half Life 2 games considering I've already played those three titles. I'm probably going to end up playing them anyway though.

But today, I bring you my thoughts on Team Fortress 2. Having played the game on the PC, Xbox 360, and owning it for PLAYSTATION 3 lets me compare it better.

Of course, the PC version beats both the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the title. It's servers are loaded with people, and I'm sure there are tons of mods out there for the PC version.

Second best would have to be the Xbox 360 version, having the option to do a player match, ranked match, or even a system link. There have also been game lobbys in the Xbox 360 version where you can communicate with other players or add them as friends before the match begins.

The PLAYSTATION 3 version sadly doesn't feature any of that, only a quick match, or custom match with no tracked statistics. Technically, you can have a ranked match, but it doesn't list any of it on the server selection.

The gameplay is the same on both consoles though, switch your weapons, kill your enemies, capture the intelligence, defend your point, you know the drill. What surprised me was how good I was upon starting. I've never played a Team Fortress title before, this being my first. As soon as I started, I was a Scout, got second top on my team with 19 points. Second time, I was a pyro with 24 points, third time I was a Sniper with 15 points. I love how they made it more like an RPG and divided it into classes.

The sad thing is, you don't really have a profile page to see your stats, considering mine always delete themselves every time I turn off the game.

All in all the game is fun, but EA and Valve seriously need to patch the PLAYSTATION 3 version big time. Considering it's the console I own it on, I want just as good of a gaming experience as those with an Xbox 360.

Portal Gets Rebuilt Lego Style

We all knew Portal was going to be a great game, but I don't think we've ever though it would get this much reception. Whether it was cake jokes, to companion cubes, to now Legos.

The crafty Lego makers over at Brickshelf constructed this concoction. Lego Portal. It doesn't get any better.... or does it.

[Via Brickshelf]

Orange Box Soundtrack: The Stocking Stuffer

In Valve's online store, they have released an official Orange Box soundtrack. In this soundtrack you'll find many of the scores you've heard throughout you Half-Life & friends experiences.

Robot to Portal's electronic score titled "Still Alive". Sneak up to someone while listening to Half-Life's haunting score. Truly a great stocking stuffer for any fan.

[Buy: The Orange Box Soundtrack]

The Orange Box: PLAYSTATION 3 vs. Xbox 360

GameTrailers compares all five games from Valve & EA's The Orange Box for the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. The difference isn't really in graphics, but in framerate. Thats where EA messed up.

Portal: PLAYSTATION 3 vs. Xbox 360

The Orange Box for the PLAYSTATION 3 releases today, so whats great to see is some comparisons. All I really noticed about Portal, which they say is near identical to the Xbox 360 counter-part, is that the loading times suck compared to the other version. Blame EA for that.

Seasons Greetings from the Companion Cube

Valve's online store has started to offering a little thing for a seasons greetings today. Are you already writing out those Christmas cards, but want to give them a little flavor?

Then head over to the Valve store and purchase these Companion Cube Portal themed cards. They come with 15 greeting cards that will certainly let your receiver know that you truly wish them a well Christmas.

They might even get cake.

[Via Valve Store]

GameSpot Previews The Orange Box: "Not Necessarily Throw Your SIXAXIS Against the Wall Bad"

GameSpot finally got it's turn with Valve & EA's The Orange Box for the PLAYSTATION 3, and they tell their side of the story. The game is not as bad as IGN says, being "virtually unplayable." GameSpot speaks:

"First, let's get the frame-rate thing out of the way. Yes, Half-Life 2 has its slowdown troubles, and occasionally they are ugly. Not necessarily "throw your Sixaxis against the wall" bad, but certainly noticeable. Fortunately, these laggy moments are relatively few and far between; for the most part, the game runs just fine on the PS3."

Looks like it won't be as bad as people thought it would be. Although it would be nice to get those problems out of there for the final release. Knowing EA, it won't happen.

[Via GameSpot]

IGN's The Orange Box Preview

IGN has received it's preview copy of Valve & EA's The Orange Box for the PLAYSTATION 3. It seems nothing has changed from the 1UP preview of the game. IGN tries not to make a big deal of The Orange Box's biggest problem on the PLAYSTATION 3 as they write "Unless you require your games to never dip below 30fps, you should not strike The Orange Box off your PS3 holiday wish list". Below 30fps? On my list, thats a no-no. For now, enjoy these videos.



[Via IGN]

The Orange Box Has Framerate Problems on the PLAYSTATION 3

"Get used to still images like these. The framerate often grinds to a halt during the vehicular portions of the Half-Life games."

1UP has had some time with the final version Valve Software and EA's The Orange Box for PLAYSTATION 3. As you know, this game was already released on other consoles direct from Valve Software, but they handed off the PLAYSTATION 3 port to EA (the company that gives PLAYSTATION 3 games bad framerates). In 1UP's preview, they write about Half-Life 2:

"It's apparent that this version suffers from a number of technical flaws, which at best merely hinder game play and at worst make the experience downright unplayable. Framerate is a consistent issue throughout the Half-Life series of games included in The Orange Box. One moment you'll be cruising through the game at 30 frames per second and the next you'll be enjoying a slideshow of series protagonist Gordon Freeman cruising down the river."

Luckily enough though, Portal suffers from no technical or framerate issues whatsoever, and Team Fortress 2 they are unsure of as the servers weren't connecting when they tried to play it.

Lets just hope for our sake, EA patches this up before it's December release.

[Via 1UP]

The Orange Box: Weaker on the PLAYSTATION 3

In the latest 1UPYours Podcast, they talk about The Orange Box for the PLAYSTATION 3.

"You can't walk in the store and buy The Orange Box for PS3 [it's not out]." a 1UP podcaster told. Thats when another came in. "We got the review builds for the PS3 version, and it doesn't work as well [as the 360]".

They state how Midway are starting to lead on PLAYSTATION 3 to make console games equal, but EA leads on the Xbox 360 because "thats where the money is at".

They go on to talk about PLAYSTATION 3 firmware updates and the amount of time it takes (normally it takes me around 5 minutes) saying it takes about 11 minutes for the update to work. They also complained that 2.00 should have been 1.95, which I agree with.

The whole The Orange Box situation comes as no surprise to me, when Valve handed it over to EA and Gabe Newell started bashing the console, it was only a matter of time before we received news like this.

[Via 1UPYours]