Another Half-Life 2 Delay?

The ongoing saga of the "Half-Life 2" release date continues, as those who have pre-ordered the PC game from EB Games learned today. The pre-order patrons received this little note in their inboxes this morning: "We are writing to let you know that we have changed the projected ship date for Half-Life 2 to November, 1st 2004. The publisher did not provide us with a specific date so this is our best estimate only and should not be considered firm. We will update this date again as we receive new information."

While Valve never did pin down a solid release date before this "delay", it was widely assumed we'd see the game sometime this September. The simple fact that EB claims Valve didn't provide them with a "specific date", and this is their "best estimate", says, to me, we still shouldn't bet that we'll see "Half-Life 2" by the holidays.