Hey, I know it looks like a commercial, but it isn’t 
Just a tip that if you pre-order Valve’s Orange Box now, you’ll save 10% on the contents. That is, Half Life, Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. In addition, the pre-orderers can start playing the Team Fortress 2 Beta on Monday! For the neat sum of $45 
Happy-go-lucky,
Enjoy.
ETA: Pre-order on Steam, that is.
Hmm, I completely missed the Half Life series the first time around. This might be worth a shot for me on the Xbox 360.
I’m a bit confused about what the games are that it includes. Anybody more in the know about the series care to elaborate? It doesn’t include Half Life 1 does it?
Edit: Clarification: I wasn’t clear in what I was asking. What’s the difference in Half Life 2 and the various episodes?
It includes basically everything made from Half Life 2 onwards. HL1 is not included, but if you want to start from the beginning I think there is a HL1 package on Steam that includes everything before HL2.
Portal is a completely separate single-player puzzle game that has you using physics and the ability to open portals between any two places to solve otherwise insurmountable tasks.
Team Fortress 2 is the new multiplayer game based on Team Fortress Classic. It’s a class based shooter that used to have a rabid following a few years ago. Everything from the more ordinary Soldier and Sniper, to classes like the Engineer (who can build turrets and teleporters) and Spy (who can disguise himself as any other class on either team).
Episode 1 and 2 are direct continuations of the single player game in Half Life 2. I’ve only just started playing Episode 1 and it begins literally at the moment that the original game finishes.
Valve does offer a package (through Steam) where you can get pretty much everything. HL, HL2, the 2 episodes, HL2 deathmatch, CS:S and other stuff. I think it goes for $100.
Thank you. Would you recommend playing HL1 first or can you pretty much pick and go with 2?
I never finished HL1 and I still had a great time playing HL2. I think it’s actually intended that you are supposed to start the game not knowing what the hell is going on, so it’s all good either way. 
HL1 is a bona fide classic though, for a long time many people considered it one of the best games ever made, so only skip it if you just don’t have the time to play all of them.
I would consider it a great advantage to know, particularly about the G-Man, before getting into HL2, but it’s really only if you’re conserned about the storyline and want to get all of the pieces. If you’re not that anxious, just get nr 2 and have a blast! 
He wears a suit, controls everything from behind the scenes, and talks with a really weird cadence…what more do you need to know?