When asked about the eventual Steam pre-loading of Portal and Half Life 2: Episode Two--a process that allows users to download most of a game's assets in advance of its release--a company representative could not provide an exact date.

Original Story: The PC and Xbox 360 editions of Valve's ultra compilation The Orange Box have entered the manufacturing process, reports GameDaily BIZ. Commonly referred to as "going gold," it indicates that development is complete and that the game will arrive in stores shortly.

Up until the package's October 10 release, gamers can pre-order the PC bundle for 10% off via Valve's digital distribution platform Steam or from gaming mega retailer GameStop. Either way, the price is the same--$44.99 instead of $49.99--and pre-purchasers get immediate access to the Team Fortress 2 beta that is currently underway.

A similar discount also applies to GameStop pre-orders of the $59.99 PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions, making them $54.99. Valve's big box of awesome hits Xbox 360 alongside the PC version on October 10. The PS3 iteration, ported by EA UK, arrives later in the year.

Containing the entire Half-Life 2 experience to date--Half Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and the Half-Life 2: Episode Two--The Orange Box also packs the cartoon-esque class-based multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 and the brain-melting puzzler Portal. Many PC gamers have already experienced the previously released Half-Life 2 and Episode One, though up until the Orange Box releases, their console brethren will have only had access to the 2005 Xbox port of Half-Life 2.