They could avoid the hype situation by just releasing HL3 without any buildup. Drop it on us out of the blue. Sure, it wouldn't live up to many people's (unreal

They could avoid the hype situation by just releasing HL3 without any buildup. Drop it on us out of the blue. Sure, it wouldn't live up to many people's (unrealistic) expectations, but they wouldn't have an NMS problem because nobody would have pre-ordered it, or been actively anticipating it before release. It would just be out, and people could buy it, or they could read reviews first, or whatever else they want to do before plunking down their money for a copy. That said, I agree that Valve will probably never release HL3. There's not much benefit to doing so at this point, and it will likely piss off a lot of gamers when the game doesn't match their expectations.