Portal 2 Message Board older than one year ago

#fanart Yes, you have to, ahem, test them all. More »

#fanart GLaDOS gets a new human form to pester Chell in thanks to artist Heather Campbell and her awesome Portal themed illustration. More »

#joymachines Aristotle, in the Nicomachean Ethics, plainly states that the aim, end, or goal of a thing is its good. Each thing is directed toward some greater good, and we, as people must seek to understand what that good is. The efforts of the Nicomachean Ethics are to understand the good and attain it, not for an individual alone, but for a whole people or state. More »

"Thinking with laser reflective boxes" is the operative phrase for the video found after the break, featuring Portal 2's 20th test chamber being conquered both quickly and without the use of a single portal. The speedruns have begun!

#areyoustillthere Nolan North seems like a super nice guy! And does a cracking job as the voice of Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. Problem is, he also does the voice for around a million other characters, and it can sometimes get very distracting. More »

#science Custom toy creator Christian Hooton, whose work we've featured previously, has sent us some pictures of these Portal 2 figures he's made. Warning: they are amazing. More »

#watchthis I'm on the fence with this, but as Portal 2 has elements of a first-person shooter, and that genre is tricky to adapt for Kinect, it looks like a breakthrough to me. Here someone has hacked Kinect, using FAAST (the Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit), to play Portal 2. Firing a portal is accomplished by extending one's arm 18 inches forward. Leaning and arm and leg gestures control movement and looking. More »

GameStop and Best Buy slashed $20 off the price of Portal 2 this week, to $39.99 ($29.99 for PC) and now Amazon's raised the pot. They're selling it for $34.99 (still $29.99 on PC).. More »

You there, in the check-out line of Walmart, with the debit card in your swipin' hand! Put that away, man. Amazon's price matched Kmart, knocking that 360 version of Portal 2 you've got your eye on down to $34.99 (or $29.99 on PC), as well as both versions of Mortal Kombat down to $39.99.

We anticipated that we'd be seeing some Portal 2 trick videos sooner or later -- but we wouldn't have predicted the tricks therein wouldn't really involve that many portals. Check out the video after the jump to see some truly impressive cube throws, by way of YouTube user Schrobotindisguise.

#watchthis I'm fairly comfortable tossing a Weighted Pivot Cube or Companion Cube around an Aperture Science test chamber, but some Portal 2 players make cube-handling look like, well, a science. More »

#ramblings It goes without saying that this site constitutes one gigantic spoiler, so don't go there if you are still interested in discovering for yourself anything about Portal 2 or the founder of Aperture Science, whose recorded messages of accelerated dementia have made the character another cult hit from Valve. More »

Far be it from us to spoil even one second of Portal 2 for those who haven't finished it, but for those who have, Rock, Paper, Shotgun has posted a great interview with Valve's Chet Faliszek and Jay Pinkerton, two of the game's writers. In addition to discussing some of the plot elements of Portal 2, Pinkerton and Faliszek also shed some light on the early design stages of the game and also what it was like to work with J.K. Simmons and Stephen Merchant, who voiced Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson and Wheatley the AI core, respectively.

And, of course, there's talk about GLaDOS and how she has evolved throughout the series. Finally, Faliszek and Pinkerton chat about the open culture of Valve, which encourages creative experimentation (much of which finds its way into Valve's games). If you've wrapped up Portal 2, be sure to give the two part interview a read.

Though short on details, Valve hasn't wasted any time confirming its plans for Portal 2 DLC. After a massive launch just over a week ago - Valve says Portal 2 is its "fastest-selling" release since Half-Life 2! - the famously generous developer has outlined what it's calling "Portal 2 DLC #1."

For the asking price of $0, DLC #1 will offer "new test chambers for players, leaderboards, challenge mode for single and multiplayer modes, and more." While free DLC on the Steam-powered PC and Mac platforms is nothing unusual coming from Valve, DLC #1 will notably free "free of charge" on Xbox 360 and PS3 as well. Of course, adding Steam to the PlayStation 3 release was always intended to allow for this scenario and we can only imagine Microsoft didn't feel comfortable with the Xbox 360 being the sole platform charging for otherwise free content.

Portal 2 DLC #1 is "targeted" for release this summer; it's not clear if that estimate is Normal Time or Valve Time, so don't mark up your Stephen Merchant calendars just yet.

Ever since the original Portal, we at IGN have been dying to dive back into Aperture and tear a new hole in space. PC Executive Editor Charles Onyett had nothing but praise for the game in his Portal 2 review, but would other editors be just as infatuated? We asked them five questions. Here's what...

Just as soon as Valve reveals Portal 2's getting downloadable content, BAM--the company reveals it.

Right now dubbed "Portal 2 DLC #1" (why would they name it #1 if we weren't getting more?), the summer-bound downloadable content will include "new test chambers for players, leaderboards, challenge mode for single and multiplayer modes, and more." I wonder what "more" could mean?

As mentioned yesterday, the downloadable content released for Portal was simply a collection of more test chambers. In that pack, the story didn't continue, there was no further interaction with GlaDOS. There's a larger cast of characters to play around with in Portal 2, so perhaps "more" ties into them.

I've asked Valve if we can expect any new narrative in the add-on, but have yet to hear back.

Even better, you won't pay a dime for this. The content will be free across every platform Portal 2 is available on--PlayStation 3, PC, Mac and Xbox 360. Valve's desire to distribute free content post-release has been a point of contention with Microsoft in the past (see: the lack of updates for Team Fortress 2 after The Orange Box was released), but that's not standing in the way of more testing. Onward to science.

Valve today confirmed details about the first Portal 2 downloadable content pack, slated for release this summer on PC/Mac, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3...

After spending an embarrassing amount of time having our brains twisted up by Portal 2, we started to get the niggling feeling that we might be better off if we knew ... well, anything about science. We're not asking to be Terry Einstein here, but it seems like even the basest understanding of physics would be a big help.

That's exactly what SideQuesting is providing today: A physics class, but only the aspects of physics that relate to the idea of portal technology. If only every physics class were structured this way, we'd ... well, we'd know a lot about crates, that's for sure.

#event Portal 2 co-writer Erik Wolpaw is coming to New York University next month to present a "brief guided play-through of Portal 2", according to the event's organizers at NYU. More »

We know you're sick of listening to nerdy boys talk about games, so we've gathered together all the female editors to give you a different perspective. Girlfight is the place to hear Nicole Tanner, Dana Jongewaard, Kristine Steimer, Audrey Drake, and Meghan Sullivan talk about the games they love as well as serious issues about women in gaming and the games industry in general...

After a few hours of testing in Portal 2, I'm usually ready for a break. There's a moment where the puzzles stop making sense, as my brain begs for a break. I've since finished Portal 2 (waiting for PlayStation Network to come back online for some co-op action), but I'm ready for more.

We don't know what kind of downloadable content Valve is planning for Portal 2 (that should change soon), but we do know it's coming this summer, according to a mildly spoilerish Fast Company interview.

"We will be announcing some DLC for it, so folks can keep a look out for more content coming this summer," said Valve VP of marketing Doug Lombardi. "We'll be putting more details out about that in a week or so. We'll support that with more videos or more comics."

There was some downloadable content released for the original Portal, a collection of additional test chambers entitled Still Alive, but it was exclusive to Xbox 360. Still Alive did not feature more Portal story, either, just more puzzles. It's unclear whether Valve intends to find a narrative hook for Portal 2's DLC.

(But I hope so.)  

If you managed to delay purchasing Valve's gooey, robot-filled puzzler, Portal 2, your patience is about to be rewarded: Two major retailers are significantly cutting the price of the game this weekend. According to the Kmart Gamer Facebook page, the title will be marked down to $34.99 on 360 and PS3 starting May 1 -- an offer that will be running for an undisclosed period of time.

A tipster also sent in an unreleased GameStop circular, revealing that stores will have the 360 and PS3 versions of Portal 2 on sale for a slightly-less-discounted $39.99, but will also have the PC version on sale for $29.99 on April 30. No matter how you slice it, the value-to-science ratio here is simply unbelievable.

[Thanks, MLC!]

The RPS collective (and Kieron Gillen) convened to discuss Portal 2. What did we make of Valve’s puzzle palace? And was it really the funniest game of all time? Read on for answers.

Jim: Portal 2: The sequel to the first person puzzler Portal. It’s Valve’s first full length game since Half-Life 2! That is an exciting thing, if ever I heard one.Quintin: And their best single-player game ever, according to John’s interview.Jim: So according to them. Do we agree?(more…)

Portal 2 DLC is on the way, perhaps this Summer. Valve’s VP of marketing, and all-round gatekeeper of information, Doug Lombardi told Fast Company that we can expect more content in a few months. What it will be is currently unknown, but since we know that Valve makes more chambers than they eventually release, there’s a good chance it could be further tests. Whether they’re single-player or co-op is anyone’s guess. But as Eurogamer points out, hopefully they’ll have learned their lesson that the players won’t be too delighted if it’s just a bunch more over-priced pictures of junk in a pretend shop. Because more Portal 2 would be a rather good thing, donchathink?

And here’s part two of our exclusive spoiler interview with Portal 2 writers Chet Faliszek and Jay Pinkerton. (Here’s part one.) Below discuss how the game came to be so intricately detailed, what it was like working with Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons, and how much of Valve’s decisions are driven by creativity, or money. We also discover their thoughts on the crossover with the Half-Life universe, how heartwarming Jay finds the community, and quite how offended Valve writers get if you suggest their game contains cutscenes.

(more…)

If like us you've played through Portal 2 several times, and you're still hungry for more time in the Aperture Labs then worry not, as Valve say they're working on DLC and supporting content for release this summer...

#watchthis Well, for starters, he'd become one lazy-ass plumber, that's for sure. More »

You tried to make it last.

Like Teddy's plan to eat his lunch for a whole bus trip you parsed out the exact bites of Portal 2 you'd need to take to savor it for a full week. But we we are, just seven days and one overnight, 15-hour bender later and all you've got to show for it is a big belly fulla nothing.

If you've got an iPad, two bucks and the urge to make the hunger pangs go away, you might wanna pick up The Final Hours of Portal 2, Geoff Keighley's fascinating interactive feature story on the creation of Valve's latest. What kind of revelations can you expect? Well, how about the fact that Portal 2 might be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player component (what about poor Episode 3)? Or the details of Erik Wolpaw's sleep schedule?

Yeah, we thought that one would sell you. Oh, and good news for non-iPadders out there: Keighley says that at least the text of the app will come to other platforms soon.

#areyoustillthere Portal 2 may only be a week old, but if you've already finished it - and these days I feel like the only person on the internet who hasn't - you won't have too long to wait until there's fresh content for the game. More »

Brandon Bannerman has found the quickest, most direct path to our hearts: He's combined our love of Legos with our love of Portal's omnipresent antagoinst, GLaDOS. If this doesn't get picked up as an official model by the toy blocks manufacturer, you can be certain that we're going to cry forever.