Geek vs Life

Last year I saw a video that made me more excited about a game than I had been for a very long time. A man, with a very strange gun, shooting holes in reality, jumping through hyperspace, and solving puzzles. This game was Portal, part of the Orange Box from Valve. It, along Team Fortress 2 (already available if you’re on a PC and you’ve given up on most physical retailers), and Half Life 2: Episode 2, will finally be available for fully unlocked download as of 10/10/07 shortly after midnight.

Indeed, a couple of things to keep in mind, if you’re going to be locked away on your computer shivering with anticipation for these juicy games.

1. Everyone and their brother is going to be downloading this. Now, you can preload them to save some time and frustration because the Steam servers are fully packed and thus a download would be impossible at the time. Just be patient.

2. You’re going to have to think carefully if your friends don’t have Half Life 2, or Episode 1, because you’ll be able to give them your old games as these are included in the Orange Box. Give the gift of awesomeness!

Ok, so I’m a bit excited. I’ve been wanting to play Portal for a very long time and they kept pushing back the release date. Now that that’s covered, I’m going back to shooting those bloody medics while everyone else takes out the huge guys with the gatling guns.

And, also while you wait, please read Wired’s beginner’s guide to Portal. Supposedly it makes your head hurt less.