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Half-Life, the first-person shooter that put Valve on the map, has sold, on average, almost a million copies each year since its release in 1998. It’s still the company’s best seller—and that’s just at retail.

But the figures for Valve’s other games — which similarly don’t include games sold via Steam — Counter-Strike, The Orange Box, Half-Life 2 and more, are just as impressive. According to a report from Gamasutra, the original Half-Life has amassed 9.3 million sales over the past decade. The sequel, released just four years ago alongside its digital distribution platform, added another 6.5 million to Valve’s retail sales.

The impressive sales for the original Half-Life are at least due in some part to the enduring popularity of free mod Counter-Strike. Even with that option, however, over 4 million gamers snapped up copies of the standalone, less expensive Counter-Strike package.

Valve didn’t disclose its Steam numbers, probably saving those for PowerPoint presentations for publishers interested in signing on to its digital download service. But if the drop between Half-Life and Half-Life 2 sales is an indication of the number of folks who went for the Steam version, we’d say the business is probably a success.

Last year’s collection The Orange Box topped 3 million, with Gamasutra estimating that the recently released Left 4 Dead will beat that by a good 600,000. Impressive.

For more number fun, hit up the original report.

Analysis: Valve’s Lifetime Retail Sales For Half-Life, Counter-Strike Franchises [Gamasutra]

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Reader Mark sends along his latest action figure creation: A 12-inch high Half-Life Headcrab Zombie.

Mark says the figures clothing was assembled from his collection of action figure playthings, but that the headcrab and the remains of a face underneath were both handmade.

“It’s quite a fresh zombie with a younger and smaller crab than the ones you tend to see in the game as I wanted some of the victim’s head to be visible still and not completely enveloped like the more developed examples in the game. It doesn’t come across very well in these photos but the bloody bits are gloss varnished to keep them wet-look fresh.”

Oh, we believe you Mark, that face looks plastic wrap fresh.

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Oh, Black Mesa. How you tease us. With your release date projections, and your shiny new engine, and your ability to make make manifest our wildest dreams. Widescreen clip’s after the jump.

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Back when we thought the Large Hadron Collider was going to kill us all, instead of just hum for a few days then break down, we learned that an emergency package had been sent to the site. Within, everything that Gordon Freeman needed to save us from the horrors of an alien-spewing vortex. At the time, it was a cute joke, but there was always the lingering understanding that nobody at the LHC would actually get it. The package, or the joke. Turns out they did! Sandro Bonacini, who works there, got the joke, and eventually the package as well. He’s Gordon. Stefano Michelis also got the joke, and for his troubles, is about to get whacked. Oh, those wacky scientists.

the crowbar arrived at CERN, Freeman received it, world saved [Reddit]

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Half-Life was ten years old yesterday. To celebrate, Valve’s put the game up on Steam for 98 cents, the offer being valid until Friday.
You’d be a bit silly to not buy it, frankly. It’s still great.

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Welcome to my third annual post on new media for the Half-Life fan-created remake Black Mesa (formerly known as Black Mesa: Source). It doesn’t appear to be any closer to release than it was when I wrote about it in 2006 and 2007, but the new screen shots, released on the original game’s ten year anniversary, are worth a peek.

According to official Black Mesa word, the mod no longer requires Counter-Strike: Source, as the project has moved to The Orange Box version of Valve’s Source engine. Any Source-based game will let you play Black Mesa, should it ever be released.

That means the new media may show off the “advanced particle effects, jigglebones, cinematic physics, combined maps, self-shadowing bump maps, dynamic shadows, and […] Procedural Terrain Displacement” courtesy of the new engine. If not, the new trailer promised in the days to come hopefully will. Thanks for joining us. We’ll see you next year!

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For a ten-year-old, Gordon Freeman has some pretty sharp facial hair. Yes, ten years ago this very day, those idiots at Black Mesa opened a pesky interdimensional rift and let all kinds of horrible beasties spill out into our universe. The big dopes.

Valve are celebrating Half Life’s tenth anniversary by selling the game on Steam for just 98 cents (1998! Do you see what they did there?) until 12:01 pm PST on November 21. If you haven’t yet played through this bit of gaming history, now might be a good time.

Buy Half-Life 1 [Steam]

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With the release of Left 4 Dead just around the corner, now would be an excellent to to reacquaint yourself with some of the wonderful games Valve has released in the past. To help you in that endeavor, Valve has released the Valve Complete Pack on Steam, a compilation of everything they’ve released since the dawn of time. That includes Half-Life in all its many forms, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2 and Classic, Portal, and hell, they’ve even got Peggle Extreme in there for good measure.

So how much does all of that run? Only $99, and before you pull out your calculators, keep in mind that the package also includes Left 4 Dead itself, so you’re basically getting all of the other games for $50 more. That’s a savings of $134.82. The only way it isn’t a good deal is if you already own all the other games, and that’s just crazy.

Valve Complete Pack [Steam - Thanks Tenshigure!]

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There are giggles tucked away here and there within the Half-Life universe, but really, it’s a serious game. Full of very serious things. So what better way to break up all that seriousness than with a bunch of snacky treats! On offer here are recipes for Vortigaunt cupcakes, headcrab baozi and small, delicious HL biscuits. The vortigaunts look a little messy, but if you could squeeze some BBQ pork into those headcrabs you’d have a culinary sensation.

Vortisnaucks [Not So Few Monstrosities, via GameSetWatch]

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No one is suggesting a future iteration of Half-Life’s protagonist will suddenly start talking, like Chief Bromden savoring Juicy Fruit, but Matt Smith, writing at Thunderbolt Games, has an eloquent defense of Gordon Freeman’s muteness, why it works so well in this series, and why Freeman is such a beloved character despite saying nary a word.

[B]y keeping Freeman quiet, Valve also creates one of the most personal first-person games in existence. Rarely does the player ever find their control lost, and when they do, it is because Freeman also is physically restrained. As a result, the player becomes Freeman; everything that he does occurs because of the player.

By keeping Freeman silent, Valve’s designers take a fundamentally linear experience and allow the player to impose his or her will or personality on the character through which they play, writes Smith. I’ve talked about how I frequently role-play a choice or a battle in an action/shooter genre, restarting if it felt I won cheaply or out of character. Half-Life definitely indulges this. While it makes it a winner for me, what makes it a winner for you? Or would you like to hear this iconic game hero speak up and say something, someday?

Keep Freeman Quiet [Thunderbolt Games]

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