The Orange Box

Original release date: Xbox 360 and PC versions out 10^thOctober 2007

Current release date:TBC

The reason for the delay

One of the frontrunners for game of the year, and even with Super Mario Galaxy and COD4 as competition, its chances are strong. It’s been out on the PC and Xbox 360 since last month, but the PS3 release date is still unknown. While Valve themselves handled the 360 conversion, an in-house EA team is working on the latecomer.

It’s no secret that Valve’s Gabe Newell isn’t a fan of working with the latest PlayStation hardware, stating that he thinks the machine is “a waste of time” and that in working with the Cell processor “You don’t gain anything except a hatred of the architecture”. Strong words, but the machine does have its fans. It’s been defended this year by both Lair developer Factor 5 and the Ninja Gaiden team. Factor 5’s Julian Eggebrecht says that things are okay as long as a game is designed specifically for the PS3, while Gaiden dev Yosuke Hayashi admitted initial problems but says they can be dealt with.

“When we first got our hands on a PS3, it took us a while to get into the flow, because the way Sony do things is a little different. Developers that say it’s hard are missing the point. It sounds like an excuse to the consumer to us.”

Fight! So what’s going on with The Orange Box? Is Gabe right or just whining? Does the problem lie with the PS3 or the EA team working on the game? One thing’s for certain. PS3 owners are missing out on a Hell of a time here. Let’s hope their version materialises soon.