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This post about Portal 2 concept art is free of Portal jokes
As a safe haven for all the world's thinking people, we'd like to happily announce that though this post is about a new look for Portal protagonist Chell in the upcoming Portal 2, you'll find no sly, winking references to the original game anywhere in sight. We're fresh out of good ones, and we just respect you too much to toss up dreck. With that now behind us, you may read on in confidence. Game Informer has some concept art for Portal 2 and it appears that Chell is undergoing a makeover. We guess her old outfit was a lie ... uh, we mean, a lie-ttle bit too comfortable. Yeah, that's the ticket. Nice save, huh? In fact, we'd say it was a trium-- No! A triumvirate. Yep, that's it -- a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals. Think about it. Now, let us never speak of this again.
Game Informer introduces the minds behind Portal 2
Here's the thing about Portal: we love it so much, we want to know everything about it. Like, the dude that came up with that Test Chamber 14 setup? Yeah, tell us all about him and whether he was upset or proud that somebody figured out how to get through it in five seconds. That's why this Game Informer video is so fascinating. It's a brief documentary on both the DigiPen students and Valve veterans that created Portal -- and are subsequently now working on Portal 2. It's like a video diary of completely attractive and charismatic people you may have a slight unprofessional obsession with. Frankly, they're our heroes ... even if Garrett admitted to LARPing at one point in his life.
Valve's viral plot thickens with Portal blue screen of death
Even though Portal 2 has been officially announced, it seems the clever Alternate Reality Game which gave it impetus hasn't yet come to a complete stop. Shortly after accepting a Pioneer Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in San Francisco on Thursday evening, Valve boss Gabe Newell launched into a slideshow detailing the company's expectations of future trends, only to have it "crash" to a blue error screen. The final slide was meant to answer several infamous Valve mysteries -- Who is the G-Man? Why doesn't Valve support the PlayStation 3? -- and perhaps it did in some obfuscated way. According to seasoned ARG sleuths (posting on the Penny Arcade forums), the error code above can be read as: "S U S : P E N D ... U N T ( I ) L ... E E E." Suspend until E3? It wouldn't be surprising to see Portal 2 at this year's E3 expo, which will run in Los Angeles from June 15 to 17, but if the above decryption is accurate Valve may have additional plans to unfurl (possibly including the long-awaited Half-Life 2: Episode 3). [Thanks, Wince]
Valve confirms Steam for Mac, debuts in April
Eager gamers have no doubt already seen the teasers, but Valve has now finally confirmed that its Steam game distribution service and Source engine will at long last be headed to the Mac. According to Valve, the company's current line-up of games (including the Half-Life and Left 4 Dead series) will be available to Mac users in April, while Portal 2 will represent the company's first simultaneous release for PC and Mac later this year. Better still, Steamworks for Mac also boasts a new feature called "Steam Play," which will let you buy a game once and, for instance, start playing it on a PC at work and then pick up where you left off on your Mac at home (we'll give you a moment to let that sink in). Game publishers will have to enable that feature themselves, but Valve says it expects most to take advantage of it.
Valve confirms Mac support for Steam and Source Engine
In today's completely shocking and unexpected bit of news, Valve has announced Mac support for its Steam digital distribution platform and Source -- the engine that powers Half-Life 2, amongst others. In fact, Portal 2 will be Valve's first simultaneous release across PC and Mac. "Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge," said Valve's Jason Holtman. "For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play." If that doesn't get you all kinds of giddy, then you may just be dead inside. Steam and Valve's lineup of games (including "including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series") will be available to Mac users this April, but from here on out, simultaneous cross-platform releases should be the norm. "Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step," said Josh Weier, project lead on Portal 2. "We're always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac." So, who's got the champagne and noise makers? %Gallery-87236%
Gameinformer: Portal 2 confirmed for Mac, Steam on the way for May
Scans from the April 2010 issue of Gameinformer have confirmed that Portal 2, the sequel to Valve's wildly popular and critically acclaimed game Portal, will be released in fall of 2010 for the Xbox 360, PC, and Mac (as reported on MacRumors). No, your eyes do not deceive you: Portal 2 is coming to the Mac this fall. More on the Valve front: TUAW reader Jason let us know that Gameinformer's April 2010 issue also confirms a May launch of Steam for the Mac. This was rumored several weeks ago based on some WebKit & Mac-specific content in the Steam beta, and pretty well locked in by Valve's viral leaks of Mac-themed 'reimagined' advertisements last week. (The final one is a bit of a give-away... read the copy.) "There is an article on page 22, News, 'Mac Gets Its Steam On' - Valve preps May launch on Apple platform," Jason tells us. He also says the article itself states, "Valve will start a beta program this spring, with a full launch targeted for May [...] If you already have a Steam account but want to use it on your brand-new Macbook, for instance, your Steam keys will still work." That last part is pretty huge; from the sounds of it, if you already bought PC versions of games on Steam, you won't have to pay again to download Mac versions of the same games. That should be a huge relief to Mac gamers who've been booting into Windows to get some gaming done. We haven't been able to confirm this reader tip, so if any of you have access to the same issue of Gameinformer and can confirm what Jason's told us, let us know in the comments.
Portal 2 gets co-op, heading to Xbox 360 and PC
[Game Informer] Today's big reveal of Portal 2 as next month's Game Informer cover did lots of us in the maniacal excitement department, but little for us in the hard facts department. But now, between Eurogamer being told by Valve that the game is heading to Xbox 360 and PC, and Game Informer's reveal that the sequel features a "two-player co-op mode [with] its own campaign [featuring] two new playable characters" (not to mention that it's set to release at "full retail price") we're ... well ... we're still kinda hurting for more news. The most important question of the moment, though: Can we have it right now? Please? We know you said this holiday, but what if we say pretty please? With cherries on top? Source 1 - Eurogamer Source 2 - Game Informer
Portal 2 confirmed by Game Informer cover, due in 2010
The past week's bizarre pair of updates to Portal seemed to point towards an impending announcement of a sequel, and, well, they did. Game Informer has revealed that its April 2010 cover story is none other than ... Portal 2 -- which Valve has given a release window of "this holiday season." The magazine's site teases the 12-page feature, calling the game "a full-fledged, standalone sequel" with "new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists." We'd venture a guess that one of those twists has to do with wherever the portal featured in the cover art leads to -- a misty, jungle setting where some sort of seemingly derelict facility stands, overrun with vines. The flip-side of the cover is (cleverly) a view back through this portal into a familiar Aperture Science setting. Finally, the single cover line mentions "the people who are still alive," a potential hint at a reason for venturing into the new setting in the first place. The issue should be hitting subscribers' mailboxes soon. Check out the full covers after the break. Source -- Game Informer Source -- Valve
Portal updated with extended ending
Don't know morse code? Can't decode SSTV images? Don't worry, this latest Portal update (the second in one week) is a bit easier to understand. The finale of Valve's beloved puzzle game has been extended with about 15 seconds of new content. In it, players will be introduced to a brand new character, likely one to appear in Portal 2. While you can go through another Portal adventure by accessing the update on Steam, we'd like to provide you an easier solution. You can watch both the original and extended endings after the break. [Thanks, Devin!]
Portal fans find secret images, BBS phone number in radio messages
Ever since Portal was updated on Steam two days ago, fans have been busy finding the hidden Morse code messages added to the game, and deciphering them to unravel what appears to be some kind of ARG. Early messages -- in plain Morse code as well as meta-Morse code that translated to written Morse code "beeps", revealed little but what seemed like jokes and internal bootup sequences from GlaDOS. Others were revealed as SSTV-coded images, low-res pictures of random items, all bearing the Aperture Science logo. Within those, fans quickly found a numeric code that turned out to lead to a BBS (remember those?) containing a series of Aperture-related ASCII images of GlaDOS, as well as a series of messages from fictional Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, who apparently hates both witchcraft and safety. Steam forum users are feverishly working through all the information to solve the overarching puzzle of what this all means. At this point, being a mere sequel tease, or connecting the Portal and Half-Life universes, would be a disappointment. We already knew there was a Portal 2 on the way, and we already knew that the storylines were loosely connected. Valve hiding a complex series of clues inside an old game is far more interesting than either of those things. Source: Boing Boing Source: Shacknews Source: Steam forums
Portal receives radio patch, tunes in hints of a sequel
Valve has released a new patch for Portal on Steam, and the patch notes say only that it has "changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations." A curious note, especially since Portal, as a computer game, doesn't actually transmit anything over the radio. That got the forum train a'moving on the Steam boards, and they eventually discovered that radios have been added to each level of the game which, when carried to the correct spots in each level, will tune in a series of coded messages. Connecting to all (or any, according to some reports) of the 26 messages in the game will supposedly unlock a new hidden achievement called "Transmission Received." At least, we think so -- as of this writing, no one seems to have unlocked it yet. Some of the messages are morse codes that range from the technical ("External data line active") to the silly ("Beep beep beep beep"), and some are encoded images of numbers and equations ("B.dA=3"), but the whole thing appears to be hinting that AI antagonist GLaDOS may have transmitted information or part of herself out of the Aperture Science facility before the first game ended. Which would probably mean that a sequel reveal is imminent. We'll stay tuned for more information -- we didn't really expect to hear from Valve at GDC next week, but a Portal 2 reveal would make our San Francisco visit that much nicer. [Thanks, Rob!]
Game Informer: No Half-Life 2: Episode 3 for you in 2010
Now this is just demoralizing. According to a report in the rumors section of the Feb. 2010 issue of Game Informer (which doesn't name its source) there won't be "any game from the [Half-Life] franchise in 2010." As if that weren't crushing enough, the magazine says it's not even sure there will be a Half-Life 2: Episode 3, postulating that the next Gordon Freeman adventure might be Half-Life 3 proper. Alright, listen, Half-Life: You take as long as you need, but we know you're holding Portal 2 in there somewhere. Just let GLaDOS go unharmed and you can develop until 2020 for all we care. Please, if not for us, think of the preteens waiting to record painful cover versions of "I'm Still Alive (Again)" on YouTube.
Jonathan Coulton not (yet) working on song for Portal 2
We still haven't had any confirmation of a Portal sequel, other than, you know, designer Kim Swift and Valve's lead marketing director, Doug Lombardi mentioning that the game is probably coming. Now internet songster and Portal theme -- "Still Alive" -- composer Jonathan Coulton has chimed in as well. We recently interviewed Coulton about his upcoming "Best. Concert. Ever." CD & DVD set (look for the full interview soon where we'll be giving a copy away), and the first thing we asked him about was how his song for Portal 2 was coming along. "I haven't started it yet. I honestly don't know ... I haven't spoken to them in a long time about it, so I don't know much at all about their plans for Portal 2 and what they're thinking of doing," he told us. "And that's the truth, that's not an 'I signed a non-disclosure agreement and can't tell you what's going on' answer. I really don't know."So it's still a non-confirmation of nothing, but it sounds like he may be on tap to write something for it. Maybe. Possibly. Speculatively. Hope is "Still Alive" (we hope).
Voice actor job posting hints at potential Portal 2 details
A Kotaku tipster seems to have stumbled upon a casting call for "a character for a new game in the Portal series from Valve Software" on subscribers-only actors resource Breakdown Express. The posting is loaded with character details for the game's "principal antagonist," including his history, demeanor and general outlook on life. The posting even details how the character's psychology changes as the story progresses, hinting at some intriguing story possibilities for the sequel to our top game of 2007.If you don't mind having such important details spoiled at least seven months before the game is released, follow the read link and, er, read all about it. Or, if you're a voice actor who can handle "dark comedy ... with occasional dramatic moments" starting next month, why not try out for a piece of video game immortality?
Potential Portal 2 details revealed in casting call
Kotaku reports that a voice over casting call has revealed some potentially major Portal 2 details. The casting call was discovered by a tipster on breakdownexpress.com, a website devoted to listing casting calls for various projects. The casting call, which requires a subscription to view), is for a major role in the sequel, described as someone who "Goes from sidekick to principal antagonist." We won't spoil more than that here. Those who aren't worried about spoilers can find more info after the break.
Valve's Lombardi: No Portal 2 in 2008
We're making a note here: huge disappointment -- since Kim Swift's February interview with X-Play, where she mentioned the existence of a Portal 2 project, we've been salivating at the thought of the continued adventures of Chell, GlaDOS, WC³, and the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. Unfortunately, it seems we'll be wearing our spit guards for quite some time -- according to a recent Eurogamer interview with Valve's Doug Lombardi, any sort of continuation of the beloved franchise will not be hitting store shelves this year.Lombardi expressed Valve's desire to create an equally "revolutionary" successor to the lightning-in-a-bottle first person puzzler, rather than cash in on the franchise at the height of its popularity with a quick and dirty sequel. Oh, Lomby, can't we have both? We're all about instant gratification -- especially gratification involving cake, and a particular silent, springheeled heroine.
GDC08: Portal designer talks "Portal 2"
In a GDC interview with X-Play, Portal lead designer Kim Swift has seemingly confirmed the existence of Portal 2. Now, this isn't exactly shocking, as only weeks ago Valve's Doug Lombardi stated that "more Portal" was definitely on the way, though he did not confirm exactly what shape it would take. This led to speculation that it could either be downloadable content for the game or a full blown sequel. There is a wrinkle worth mentioning though, as Swift's "confirmation" was derived from the statement, "I believe Doug Lombardi, who's our lead marketing director at Valve, has announced Portal 2." And therein, dear readers, lies the rub. Was she referring to Doug's "more Portal" comment or something else? Given that Swift is the lead designer of the original game, and Lombardi's previous quotes noted that upcoming Portal-related content would be more than just "a bunch of new puzzles," we'd say Portal 2 is all but assured at this point.[Thanks, Steve G.]
GDC08: Portal designer Kim Swift mentions 'Portal 2'
We're not sure if Portal designer Kim Swift was speaking out of turn when she told X-Play, "I believe Doug Lombardi, who's our lead marketing director at Valve, has announced Portal 2." Was she referring to Lombardi's recent comment that "There'll be more Portal"? If so, we sorta thought his qualification of "the details of that ... we're still working out" sort of meant that "more Portal" didn't necessarily mean "Portal 2."Maybe that means "more levels" or "more musical hits by passive-aggressive AIs" ... or maybe, just maybe, it means "Portal 2." Lombardi told us, simply, "More Portal is coming. Nothing more to disclose right now." So, looks like we're back at cube one.[Thanks, Steve G.]
Portal 2: is it actually a good idea?
MTV's Multiplayer poses an interesting question: does Portal need a sequel? Hailed by many as one of the best games of 2007, and hailed by some as the best game of 2007, Portal represented a truly unique and engaging experience rarely seen in the video game industry. As Multiplayer puts it, the game was satisfying; it didn't leave you wanting more. Of course, we all know that one-off gaming creations are less than common in video games, as the ultimate goal of publishers and developers is to create a game that can be turned into a successful franchise. The question is not whether or not Portal will receive a sequel, but if it should.Our answer: yes. Because GLaDOS is still alive, and she's got to go. But what do you think? That's what we want to know. As such, we've drummed up a poll asking that very questions. Submit your answer below and tell us why you picked it in the comments.%Poll-8086%[Via Joystiq]
