Orange Box 2: Back in the Habit

Doug Lombardi and Gabe Newell have recently been chattering about a few things of interest to the many Valve fans out there, chief among them the future of Counter-Strike and even the slim possibility of an Orange Box 2 coming out.

With Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and Portal 2 already on the cards, it seems that Valve could possibly be in the same situation it was when the first Orange Box was unleashed -- having several games coming out at once that work great as part of a compilation. Valve has certainly not confirmed that a new Orange Box is planned, or even a heavily entertained thought right now, but seeds have been sewn for gossip.

First off, Lombardi explained the lack of a new Counter-Strike by claiming that "We will never abandon Counter-Strike. It's a little bit unfair to compare Counter-Strike, I think, to your classic game that's gonna have these sequels. It looks a little bit more like an MMO where it's constantly [being updated]." Valve's marketing man then went on to share the possibilities of a CS2. "There's a big question between, do we go start over from scratch and build this whole new game, do we do something that looks more like Team Fortress 2 that is rooted in the old game but has a ton of new stuff, or do we just sort of take everything that's new that we've released and put that out in a new box."

Gabe Newell expressed doubts over Counter-Strike appearing in any Orange Box-style package because he feels the game wouldn't be a "good fit." He did, however, make a wry statement that is going to send fans into a whirlwind of online shouting: "If I get 15,000 emails from customers in response to this interview telling me 'Of course it should be in [a new Orange Box],' then of course we'll pay attention to that."

You heard him. 15,000 emails is the target and I THINK WE CAN DO IT GUYS! GO GO GO TEAM!