EA and Valve have officially announced today two product configurations for the upcoming bundled release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, in the form of The Black Box and The Orange Box. The Black Box configuration, which will only be for the PC, will include Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2, while The Orange Box collection, releasing for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, will contain those same three games along with the original Half-Life 2 and HL2: Episode One. The content of these bundles is nothing we didn’t already know, but it is cool to get an official word on the release and see multiple configurations that cater to both HL2 newcomers and those who already own the previous releases.
“In less than 18 months, we’ve shipped 10 new products to retail outlets with EA Partners,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve. “The Black Box and The Orange Box represent a new approach to publishing multiple products, on multiple platforms and we know through our experience that no organization in the industry is better equipped to successfully launch new product types on multiple platforms than EA Partners.”
“Valve is one of the world’s premiere independent developers and EA Partners is thrilled to help them bring the groundbreaking action games in The Orange Box and The Black Box to market as their publishing partner,” said David DeMartini, vice president and general manager of EA Partners.
Pricing details on The Black Box and The Orange Box haven’t been revealed as of yet, but both will be released sometime this fall (yep, delayed again it seems…).
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Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
