Valve is almost like the God of PC gaming. It's as if like can do no wrong with releases like Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Counter-Strike: Source. As such, it came as quite a surprise when Valve canceled their Portal 2 event at E3, promising a "surprise" instead. Speculation as to what this surprise may be has spread like wildfire. According to an unnamed source over at VG247, we may end up getting our first look at the new Source Engine 2 at this year's E3. This also means that, judging by Valve's past track-record, the new code will be showcased through the use of Half-Life, namely Half-Life 3. When GoldSource was unveiled, Half-Life was on display, and more recently, while showing off the Source engine, Half-Life 2 was used.

The internet has been abuzz with speculation concerning images supposedly taken from an E3 pamphlet that hint at a Half-Life-centic surprise. Gabe Newell himself debunked these rumors though, claiming that the surprise will not be Episode 3 and that the pamphlet images were indeed fake.

While this news may sadden some fans of the series, Gabe makes no mention of Half-Life 3, meaning that there's still hope for an announcement.

I for one would have loved to hear something, anything, about Half-Life: Episode 3, but I guess you can't win them all.

Though, a Half-Life 3 announcement would still be enough to send me into fits of nerdy joy. Some of my earliest PC gaming memories stem from the hours upon hours I put into the original Half-Life. Then came Half-Life 2, which blew me away with it's ability to draw the gamer into the world that it created. I'd personally love to see some sort of new innovation in the weapons department for the third installment. With the gravity gun being such an iconic weapon in the gaming industry, I'm really interested in seeing how Valve plans to top that.

Whatever it is that they decide to show as their surprise, I have faith that Valve will deliver the goods. They always seem to come through for their loyal fan-base. I guess we'll just have to wait until E3 to find out for sure though.

What would you like to see Valve announce at E3? At this point, do you think that Episode 3 is ever going to even happen or that Valve will dive into Half-Life 3?

Source: VG247