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Inflatable Portal 2 Personality Cores now available at ThinkGeek
ThinkGeek, purveyor of fine caffeinated gummy bears and assorted nerdicological sundries, has added inflatable Personality Cores to its already bustling assortment of officially licensed Portal 2 memorabilia.At $25 each, the spheres themselves measure about 12 inches in diameter and are made from "Non 7 phthalate PVC vinyl, CPSIA Standard," whatever that means. Test subjects can choose between "Wheatley" and "Spaaaaaaaaaace" color palettes, though neither sphere appears to be truly sentient and/or inherently evil either way. All we need now is an inflatable GlaDOS, and then maybe we won't have to be so alone at night.
NASA flinging Portal 2's space core into space, sort of
Wheatley, the adorably dumb and delightfully devious space core in Portal 2, is making a real-life trip to space. Kind of.An anonymous tech at NASA got away with laser-engraving the above image of Wheatley with the quote "In spaaaaaaace!" on the Japanese HTV-3 resupply craft to the ISS. Wheatley and the craft are set to launch on Friday, July 27, at 10:06 EST. You can watch the launch beginning at 9:15 EST on Friday at the NASA TV website."NASA in no way officially endorses secretly laser-engraving characters from Portal onto their spacecraft," the Portal 2 blog writes. "Believe it or not, they don't even officially endorse Portal 2, despite the fact that it's a really excellent game." But someone (or some robot) at NASA obviously respects quality entertainment.Update: As many readers have pointed out, the image is likely not referring to Wheatley as the official Portal 2 blog states, but probably referring to Portal 2's "space core" instead. Or it could be the space core's text below an intended image of Wheatley. Only the stars will know now.
It's what's inside that counts: Wheatley puppet edition
After seeing something completely astounding, our first instinct is to rip it apart to see just how its innards work in such graceful harmony with each other. Thankfully, the amazing Wheatley-puppet creator Jennifer Sorrell is giving us an inside look at her personality sphere with in-progress photos, descriptions of materials and process, and humble assertions (lies) that her Wheatley didn't turn out to be perfect. Wheatley was Sorrell's first foray into puppetry, but we're guessing it's not her last. Check out the complete behind-the-scenes build on her cosplay blog, and request she make a 1-1-scale puppet of GLaDOS next. The office has been looking pretty bare recently.
This Portal 2 Wheatley puppet is the best thing you'll see today
We're not shy about this proclamation: This Portal 2 Wheatley puppet, by deviantART user TRP-Chan, is the best thing you'll see today. Not the best video game puppet, or best YouTube video you'll see today. We mean the best thing! Birth of your first child? Sorry kid, but you're taking second place today. Getting married? Sorry husband/wife, but your anniversary will be permanently marred by memories of this puppet. We're also going to take this opportunity to predict that Valve is going to reward the artist with a trip to Valve HQ because, well ... look at it.
Portable Portal 2 Personality Cores are ready for adventure
We've grown quite attached to the Personality Cores we've met in our jaunts through Aperture Science, and leaving the adorable AIs in the gameworld has always been hard for us. You too? Cheer up! Now you can bring them with you, thanks to robot engineer Chris Myles.
Portal 2 video: Stephen Merchant debuts as Wheatley
Valve has sent over a new trailer for Portal 2 (you know how much we love those), this time highlighting the vocal talents of The Office scribe Stephen Merchant in the role of Wheatley. Merchant's a wonderful match for the spherical sidekick, who's sure to win you over with his unpoised, upbeat blathering. Just think of how sad you'll be when you inevitably drop him into a pit of fire.
