Who knows how to communicate Portal 2's gameplay and tone better than Valve? Certainly not some ad agency, the company is asserting. Marketing VP Doug Lombardi told MCV that the company is going in-house for its Portal 2 ads, not just because it knows the material, but because it's easier to tinker that way.

"With the Portal 2 ad," Lombardi said, "we playtested it and were able to make changes during production. With an agency, those types of tests are too often left to a post-mortem - at which point, the value of those realisations is pretty close to worthless."

It's solid advice for anyone with the money lying about to create its own ad division. And good news for people who like to see actually funny things on TV.