You know what I find hilarious? That people assume one of two things (both illogical and rather stupid) about Valve. Either:
1: That Valve only makes Half-Life and are wasting time or being "lazy" by making a series of games in the intervening years, such as Portal and Left 4 Dead, or working to maintain Steam , create DLC, and update Source.
2: That Valve isn't in the process of making Episode 3/Half-Life 3 but is instead ignoring the project all together.
These arguments aren't put towards companies like, say, Bungie or Epic Games. Why? Because those companies have one or two primary game series, extremely rich publishers behind them, and are staffed by hundreds upon hundreds of designers and programmers. So, no one bats an eye when they take a year or two launch a game because that's all they expect from them. That's all they do. They work on one game series. Nothing else.
Valve has a grand total of two hundred fifty employees. That includes producers, legal staff, and even the janitorial staff. Ergo, they can be short-staffed quickly. And, seeing as they are always working on multiple titles, Source engine updates, DLC, and Steam...all at once, it takes time to finish projects. Hell, the original Portal had a design team totaling eight. Portal 2's team? Twenty eight.
So, let's see. Two hundred fifty, minus twenty eight. Hmm. Seems there's still quite a few programmers/designers left. Bearing this in mind, it would only make sense that they ARE in fact working on Episode 3, in some form or other. And, considering the development time, that they are likely making a full-fledged sequel. Almost certainly using a new, shinier version of Source. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt it.
As for the topic at hand, I don't really find it all that funny. Funny that the infamous vaporware that is Duke Nukem Forever is actually going to exist (and probably be as crappy as can be imagined), but not that it's coming out before Episode 3. Duke Nukem Forever has been in development for twelve to fifteen years. Episode 3 has been in development for three. Now, maybe my math is off, but I think you missed the rather sizable difference in those lengths of time. But then, I'm noticing most of the people in this thread who find it so funny are either fervent Valve haters or people that make it a point to troll around forums basing Half-Life, solely in an attempt to grief anyone that enjoyed the series. Just like the assholes that have been trolling around the Halo: Reach threads. Hating on the game even before it's out.
