So did you buy The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Valve’s Orange box over the last couple of weeks? I sure did. I pre-ordered in order to make sure that my GameStop would have it in stock and ready to go as soon as possible. I also ordered Orange Box online in time to get the discount and got everything preloaded so it was much shorter until I got to play those excellent games. That isn’t news – what is news is that people are still talking about these games so ‘long’ after release.

There isn’t much that will rival the launch of Halo 3 this year on many levels. Yet only a few weeks later, it has faded into the background so far in terms of mind-share that it could have been released last year. Same was also true for Bioshock – I actually replied to someone who asked me about Bioshock a month after release and said “It’s September … WHY are you still talking about Bioshock?!?!” I attribute that to the fast paced console game cycle. I guess I never really ‘got it’ fully until I was on-board trading on Goozex and helping out with the forums there, but it is amazing how quickly people buy, consume and then dispose of many console games. Shooters and action games seem particularly susceptible to this.

But there are still daily articles about Zelda and the Orange Box (Portal in particular). Today there was one on about Zelda talking about how even if the reviewer doesn’t ‘get’ the whole story, he eagerly awaits each new chapter and is never disappointed. There was also one proclaiming the Orange Box the best video game value … ever. I ‘get’ that Zelda is a game that appeals to a very broad audience, much different than the folks who buy Halo 3 and beat it in a weekend and then move back to playing Madden until the next big action game comes along. That is one reason I have loved the Zelda coverage – we’ve seen stuff about cos-play, Zelda-mods for … um … everything (the other day there was a Zelda XBOX360), and just gobs of fan stuff – art, screens, DS-mods, cases and on and on. The Zelda games, aside from being excellent, just cut across the ages. Whereas many teens to early 20’s folks look at much of the DS line-up as ‘too kiddie’, they don’t even pause at professing Zelda love. Same for adults – even those of us who were late to the game (my first was Link to the Past on the GBA … a couple of years after release) have found a wonderful adventure series waiting.

The Orange Box from Valve is something entirely different. I have to admit to being highly annoyed when the Black Box – which would only include the new stuff – was canceled. I was loathe to pay again for stuff I had already bought. But I *knew* I wanted to play Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and was also looking forward to Portal … Team Fortress 2 I could miss without major stress. Fortunately the game was offered on Steam with the normal 10% pre-order discount (yes, I know the boxed version was even cheaper at Circuit City the week of release!), so I ordered. I found out that they added an extra bonus for those of us who have already purchased Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 – you get ‘gift’ vouchers to give away to a friend. I have seen them on eBay as well (going very cheap, unfortunately) – but the idea that they are recognizing loyal customers and not just saying ‘too bad’ makes me feel better.

The preview press for the Orange Box focused largely on Team Fortress 2 (which has been many years in coming) and on Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Portal was looked at as a ‘gimmick pack-in’. Nobody expected that it would be accompanied with whispers of ‘Game of the Year’ and be seen as the star of the box … amazing stuff.

So I hope you managed to get at least one of these amazing games and are enjoying it to the fullest!

Tags: Misc