It was late 1998.
Sierra wanted to promote the original Half-Life.
So they had some marketing agency named “Cruise Control” do a 5-minute live-action film very loosely based on the events of HL1.
The film was completed in early 1999. Valve saw it.
They protested, and eventually they succeeded.
The movie was pulled back from release, but too late.
On February 22nd 1999, Half-Life: Uplink, the crappy movie, not the demo, was leaked to the internet without approval, by Cruise Control.
Sierra promptly took all links down.
The film survived on shady DL sites, and through a hilarious Planet Half-Life review that refused to provide any links to the movie.
Until now.
On September 9th 2009, The Mighty Atom uploaded a full version of the video as it was 10 years ago.
Millions of people weeped. Thousands killed themselves.
Now, you can watch it. Keep a cyanide pill handy. You are never getting those 5 minutes back. Ever.
Article Sources
http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/View.php?view=reviews.detail&id=1
I saw this about a year ago. It’s horrid!
Haha, I completely understand why Valve didn’t want this crap to be related to Half-Life.