A piece of history resurfaces. Half-Life ALPHA!

Reddit user jackaljayzer recently posted a pic of his alpha disc from 97, which of course led to many requests for info, and eventually a request for a disc image. Since then he's ponied up the goods, and has put the disc on eBay. Currently the auction is up to $610!

Please note that the legality of this is a bit gray, and the morality is entirely up to you to decide.

Original post: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/15qgwr/national_treasures_hipster_grandpa_you_probably/
Follow-up: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1665n3/update_finally_got_a_copy_of_that_half_life_alpha
eBay auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-WORKING-CD-Half-Life-Alpha-Version-9-8-97-NO-RESERVE-/110998722321?

Will_Owens wrote on 01/12/2013 at 02:07am

I forgot that this is pretty much what the game looked like when I first played it. I got a Voodoo2 graphics card just for Half Life!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/12/2013 at 02:42am

Its a piece of gaming history and unless he signed something giving away ownership rights to the disc or something, its his property. Unless I don't understand something about ownership in this particular case.

As I watch this video I realize how artifacty games were then and how much it doesn't bother me at all in this case. The game is immersive at this point and you can even see some Portalish level designs or flavor in places.

Glad the game evolved to what it is, but this is awesome and seeing this kind of history is really quite interesting.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/12/2013 at 03:51am

Jon, in terms of ownership, the disc itself I'd totally agree with you, but the download link is different. A 1997 press-eyes-only disc for an alpha of a game that's long been released that almost everyone owns is still intellectual property, but I doubt there's much of an impetus from Valve to want this stopped. It's not like trade secrets are going to escape or anything.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/12/2013 at 05:16pm

Good point. I still think this should be out there for people to experience. Sold? Less interested that, more interested in people getting the history of it :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/13/2013 at 05:05am

My thoughts as well! I haven't fired it up yet, but I hope to soon.

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