Sierra Studios and Valve Software will be shipping Half-Life: Day One, a special bundling edition of its highly anticipated action shooter title Half-Life, this week for inclusion in fourth quarter products.

　　Half-Life: Day One is a abridged 250 MB version of the game that gives gamers a single player experience and gives users an idea of what type of experience the full game will have.

　　The complete title is due to hit shelves sometime in October.

　　"Companies that make games-related hardware and accessories want their customers to get a great experience right out of the box," said Scott Lynch, senior vice president, Sierra Studios. "By bundling Half-Life: Day One, OEMs are giving their customers the opportunity to play the hottest action game of the year as soon as they install their new hardware."

　　"We've made a number of advances with Half-Life that make the 3D action experience much more interesting and unpredictable," said Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve. "For instance, unlike other action games, Half-Life has a rich, complex plot that requires players to think smart to survive. Half-Life: Day One is essentially the first several hours of the full game. Our goal was to give players a fun experience that takes full advantage of their new hardware, while also drawing them into the Half-Life story. We're confident that after playing Half-Life: Day One, gamers will want to buy the full version at retail and experience the complete Half-Life adventure."

　　Parnters set to include the special version of the game include:

　　- Diamond Multimedia in its Monster Sound MX300 sound card worldwide- Guillemot International with its Maxi Gamer Phoenix Voodoo Banshee video card- ThrustMaster with its Frag Master Joystick

　　What does this mean for gamers at large? It means that after all the delays, Half-Life really is coming out before Christmas. The wait is almost over.