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Tag: Portal 2

  • ‘Portal’ Fan Film Depicts the End of Humans at Aperture Laboratories

    It’s easy to see why the Portal games have such a devoted fanbase. The games feature no combat to speak of, and (in addition to wonderfully-written non-human characters) the mind-bending nature of the games’ puzzles speak directly to what gaming is at a basic level: progressing through increasingly difficult levels on the way to a memorable ending.

    So, Portal fans are fairly obsessive over the franchise, etching music into stainless steel, creating mash-ups, and filming several fan films, most depicting what it would really be like to have a portal gun. This week, yet another fan tribute to the series has appeared on YouTube.

    Titled Portal: Survive!, the short film starts off with a depiction of Chell, the player character in the Portal games. It then moves into a bit of backstory, depicting the final moments of the (human) scientists working at Aperature Laboratories. The events and references seen in the video are taken from the story gleaned from the Portal games, as well as the web comic Portal 2: Lab Rat.

    According to the its YouTube description, the movie was created by Colin and Connor McGuire for less than $500. It was filmed at YouTube Space LA, a production house in Los Angeles that helps YouTubers create original content for the site.

  • Portal 2 DLC For PlayStation Move is on the Way

    November 6 is a big day. It’s election day in the U.S. More importantly, it’s also launch day for Halo 4.

    Sony is trying its best to take some wind out of Microsoft’s sails, though, and will be releasing a PlayStation Move compatible version of Portal 2 via the PlayStation Network on November 6. The game will be 30% off for PlayStation Plus members and those who already own Portal 2 for PlayStation 3 will receive the PlayStation Move upgrade in a free patch.

    Over on the PlayStation Blog, Sixense Studios announced it has collaborated with Sony and Valve to bring PlayStation Move support to Portal 2. Better yet, what’s being called a “motion DLC campaign” for Portal 2 will also be available next Tuesday for $10.

    Called Portal 2 In Motion, the DLC will provide players with new test chambers requiring players to use new powers. One of the new abilities is the scaling and rotation of objects, as well as grabbing and placing objects from a distance. As demonstrated in the video below, this ability will allow players to distort companion cubes and other objects to function as bridges or sit on more than one switch. Another power Sixslide calls “portal surfing” allows players to slide an active portal along a surface.

  • Portal 2 Brings Co-Op Level Creation And Coupons To PC Gamers

    Valve is never truly finished with a game. Barring their continued lack of support for Half-Life, the developer continues to add new updates to all of their games. Their latest game, Portal 2, has received some pretty meaty updates over the past year including a level editor. The level editor is now becoming more awesome.

    The guys at Valve call it the “Perpetual Testing Initiative” and its goal is to provide a limitless supply of puzzles to Portal 2 players around the world. Until now, the level editor was only built for single-player puzzles, but one half of the core game is built around co-op. That’s why Valve has now expanded the level editor to let people create co-op puzzles.

    Valve knows that a lot of us don’t have any friends to play these co-op puzzles with though. That’s why all Portal 2 owners will receive a 75 percent off Portal 2 coupon in their Steam inventory today. They can give the coupon to a friend so they can pick up Portal 2 on the PC for only $5.

    They have also added a quick play feature to Portal 2. It will create a randomly generated playlist of the top rated Portal 2 user created levels. It’s never ending so you can keep playing until your eyes bleed or you become a potato, whichever one comes first.

    Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they recorded any new lines for everybody’s favorite Aperture founder – Cave Johnson. The first level editor update did though and you can listen to all the lines here. Here’s hoping that Portal 2 gets some story content later on that brings more Cave Johnson fun to the Portal 2 faithful. It would be enough to get me playing the game again.

  • LEGO + Portal = Shut Up And Take My Money

    I love LEGO. I love Portal. What if there was a way to combine my love for two equally awesome things into a single property of epic proportions? Good thing LEGO Cuusoo exists to make my dreams a reality.

    If you aren’t familiar with LEGO Cuusoo, here’s the short version: It’s a Web site where fans can propose new LEGO sets. After it reaches the set amount of votes, the LEGO company looks into making the set a reality. It has already worked for an amazing LEGO Minecraft set, and now the fans are attempting to get a Portal set made.

    The idea was proposed on June 28 and it already has an amazing 3,149 backers for the project. The team behind the design has proposed three initial LEGO sets based on various scenes from the first Portal game. They include GLaDOS’ chamber, a testing room and a LEGO board game. It’s actually a pretty amazing project and it deserves your votes.

    LEGO Portal

    While there is no guarantee that the set will get made if it reaches the requisite number of votes, I say it has a better chance than most. Valve loves to make quality merchandise of its properties (life-size replicas of the Portal Gun and turrets, anyone?) and a LEGO set would be one more step on its way to global domination of the toy market. So, if you have a heart, cast your vote over at the LEGO Cuusoo page.

    LEGO Portal

    While you’re at it, you can cast a vote for these equally deserving projects: Castle Crashers, League of Legends, and Doctor Who. With your help, we can make sure that the world get the LEGO sets that deserve to be made.

  • “I’m Different” – Official Portal Turret Replicas Up For Sale

    It has been well over a year since Portal 2 was released, and in that time enthusiasm for the game doesn’t seem to have died down. Just this year Portal fans have been laser-etching stainless steel and creating fan videos about the series. Now that Valve has released the “Perpetual Testing Initiative” DLC, a burgeoning community will keep churning out new Portal 2 content until the release of Portal 3 forever.

    Gaming Heads, a company that sells replica models of well-known Valve game characters, such as the Heavy and the Headcrab Zombie, is beginning to build a Portal 2 statue line. The first model they have created is a version of the lovable taking turrets, and the company has just begun accepting pre-orders.

    The turret comes in two different limited editions. 750 of the standard turret replicas will be made. They will cost $300 and have a motion sensor that controls the turret’s eye. For $25 more, though, customers can buy one of 350 exclusive models that will include activation, search mode, disabled, and other sound clips from Portal 2. Both models have been generated using the in-game 3D files from Portal 2 and measure 16 inches tall. They are cast in poly-stone, hand painted, and come with a numbered validation card. Unfortunately, the exclusive turrets are sold out, though Gaming Heads does provide a waiting list in case someone cancels their order. The standard version is still available, though, so act quickly if you can spare $300 for one.

    The turret models will start shipping sometime near the end of 2012. Gaming Heads doesn’t state what is next for its Portal 2 statue line-up, but I think its safe to assume the defective turret might be seen at some point, along with the Frankenturret.

  • Complete Your Portal 2-Themed Android Phone With a Wheatley Live Wallpaper

    Were you one of the lucky few in the U.S. who were actually able to get their hands on a Samsung Galaxy S III yesterday? Can’t get enough Portal? Why not create an entire Portal theme for your spiffy new Android phone? You can start with a new Live Wallpaper that puts Portal 2‘s Wheatley right in your smartphone’s background.

    The Wheatley Live Wallpaper sets the background of an Android phone (one running version 2.2 and up, at least) to the likeness of everyone’s favorite dumb and insane personality core. Wheatley’s eye will follow the user’s finger around the screen as they navigate the Android home screens. Unfortunately, the wallpaper won’t feature Stephen Merchant’s voice or any witty banter. Users can, though, change the color of Wheatley’s eye. Check out the short YouTube video below that demonstrates the wallpaper’s functionality:

    The Wheatley Live Wallpaper was created by a Malaysian developer named Wye Mun Chin. Chin has created other Live Wallpapers for Android, including one similar to the Wheatley Live Wallpaper based on the movie “The Ring” that has the ghost girl’s eye follow the user around the screen. He has also created a game for the Android operating system called UFO Pew Pew. The Wheatley Live Wallpaper can be downloaded for $1 through the Google Play app store.

    (via DroidLife)

  • Schools Can Now Think With Portals For Free

    Schools Can Now Think With Portals For Free

    There’s no denying that the education system needs some work. Children just aren’t interested in the old boring way of learning anymore. Why would they want to sit in a classroom being lectured at for an hour when they could be spending that time playing video games? Well, what if the class was all about playing video games?

    It’s a crazy enough of an idea to work and Valve knows crazy better than anybody else. To that end, the game developer announced the Teach with Portals initiative. The idea behind it is that kids can learn about physics and critical-thinking skills while playing Portal 2. I didn’t really get that because I was too busy falling in love with Cave Johnson, but I digress.

    The Teach with Portals program isn’t just an excuse to teach kids some science. Valve has really gone all out with this one by adding lesson plans created by real teachers that use the game to teach valuable lessons about science, thinking and the joys of space.

    The best part is that teachers can grab Portal 2, the Portal 2 Puzzle Maker and a collection of teacher-created puzzles for themselves and however many students they have for free. That’s right, folks, Valve is giving away Portal 2 and its map editor to students and teachers. That’s about the coolest thing that any video game developer has ever done.

    So now we have Portal 2, StarCraft II, Civilization and Minecraft all being used in the classroom in some capacity or another. It makes me wonder when we’re going to get to use Gears of War in the classroom to teach students the proper way to shove a grenade down a subterranean monster’s throat. You’d be surprised how many students are totally unprepared for such a scenario.

    If you’re a teacher or want to pretend you’re a teacher, you can grab the Teach with Portals collection of here. I would turn a homicidal AI into a potato and back for a chance to learn with a video game. Best I ever got was Math Blaster so you kids better enjoy it, for my sake.

  • Portal 2 Makes Super Street Fighter II A Fighter For The Ages

    I was one of those weird kids that didn’t like Street Fighter II that much when everybody else was playing it on the SNES. I much preferred Rare’s Killer Instinct, but that was probably just due to the far superior announcer. Super Street Fighter II didn’t do much else to make me a fan, but there are a few things that could greatly improve the fighter. One of those things is apparently a portal gun.

    The guys at ThePixelKingdom has made me realize how amazing it would be to have a Portal gun in a fighter. Sure, you could argue that a portal gun is basically just cheating when it comes to fighters. I counter that argument by saying that a portal gun would make fighters absolutely hilarious. The mere concept of being able to hit your opponent with their own attacks or send them flying through the air at terminal velocity is absolute genius.

    The only unfortunate part about this whole amazing thing is that it’s not a real game. I highly doubt it will stay that way for long though. The temptation of being able to complete that stupid car punching mini-game in less than five seconds is too much to bear.

    If you recall, there was a similar mash up of Portal and classic gaming not too long ago called Mari0. Better yet, that mash-up was a real game and it’s been continuously updated to provide more levels and more challenges for those who want 2D platforming portal antics.

    ThePixelKingdom asks what games should get the Portal treatment next. At this point, I feel like portal guns are the next Guile’s Theme – it just goes well with everything. I’m partial to seeing a mashup of Castlevania and Portal just to see the look on Dracula’s face.

  • Guy Builds Functional Portal Turret in Robotics Class

    Guy Builds Functional Portal Turret in Robotics Class

    Youtube user kss5095 built a real working model of the turrets from Portal in his Advanced Mechatronics class at Penn State University.

    The turret actually tracks a person moving across a room and shoots foam bullets. Sorry, no real guns are mounted on the device.

    Although the device comes equipped with a laser, it actually uses a webcam to see its prey. The software controlling the device is written in MATLAB. He got the USB Turrets from Dream Cheeky.

    But the thing that makes it really special is that it plays the creepy sound effects from the game when booting up and searching for a victim.

    “Hello, friend.”

    “Would you come over here?”

    “Are you still there?”

    [h/t: ZDNet]

  • Listen to the Portal DLC Cave Johnson Quotes – All 26 Minutes of Them

    The Portal 2 downloadable content (DLC) that was released this week isn’t just a custom map maker. Ok, it pretty much is, but Valve has never been a company to simply throw something out to make a quick dime. It’s clear that Valve has put its special finishing touches on the “Perpetual Testing Initiative.” This can be seen particularly in the hilarious message from Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson that play when a test subject enters a custom chamber. Actor J.K. Simmons recorded tons of new audio for the DLC, and Valve’s writing staff used the opportunity to have some fun.

    Valve has carried over the multi-verse con conceit from the DLC’s silly trailer and continued to have Cave Johnson rant about evil multiple-universe versions of himself and insane alternate-dimension scenarios. To make sure you don’t miss one, YouTube user ac1th has posted all of the Cave Johnson audio, in order, played back-to-back. Listen to the audio below and hear how, impossibly, the messages continue to get weirder and stay funny all the way until the end.

    The comments actually seem to have a small narrative flow, so, this video is technically full of spoilers, but you would have to enter hundreds of custom test chambers to hear them all. Trust me, these messages are fantastic when played back-to back. After you listen to the whole thing (you will), leave a comment below and let me know your favorite parts.

    (via Topless Robot)

  • In the Portal 2 DLC Trailer, Cave Johnson Shows Off His Multiverse Con

    In the Portal 2 DLC Trailer, Cave Johnson Shows Off His Multiverse Con

    Yesterday it was reported that new downloadable content (DLC) for Portal 2 would be released on May 8th. Now a trailer for the DLC has been released showing what the “Perpetual Testing Initiative” will look like. Surprisingly, it looks very similar to the screenshots provided in a blog post back in October.

    The trailer is narrated by Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson and features the Portal series’ signature dry humor. The premise is that Johnson and Aperture Science, who are running out of money, want to con other, parallel-universe versions of Earth into building their test chambers. The best part is the subtle joke residing in the fine print accompanying an image of dozens of different Earths:

    Any resemblence to Earths not residing in the public domain is guaranteed by the physical laws of multiverse theory, and therefore not actionable.

    Have a look at the trailer and savor another small nugget of Cave Johnson’s mad genius:

    The trailer hits its tone perfectly, implying that Valve knows exactly what it is doing by releasing a map-maker. They are outsourcing content creation to us, the players. Not that I expect many players to complain. Crowd-sourcing creative projects such as puzzle-making has shown to be one of the most effective ways of producing high-quality content. With players able to upload maps to the Steam Workshop and vote on the best designs, the community surrounding Portal 2 will use the puzzle-maker in ways even Valve doesn’t expect, and keep at for years to come.

    What do you think? Leave a comment below and let me know what puzzle designs you have in mind to torture your fellow test subjects.

  • New Portal 2 Content Coming May 8th

    Valve, creators of games such as Half Life and Portal, have announced that new downloadable content (DLC) for the award-winning Portal 2 will be released on May 8th. The DLC is titled the “Perpetual Testing Initiative” and will be available for both Mac and PC.

    The DLC contains a “puzzle maker”, which will allow Portal 2 players to easily create puzzles utilizing aspects of the game, such as buttons, movement gels, or companion cubes. The puzzle maker will also allow players to publish their created maps to the Steam Workshop, where puzzles can be browsed, voted on, and downloaded for play. Valve said selected puzzles would be automatically downloaded and installed inside Portal 2.

    Valve has already released Portal 2 Authoring Tools that allow users to create Portal 2 maps and puzzles, but the “Perpetual Testing Initiative” will simplify the process and allow less technically sophisticated puzzle-makers to create their Portal 2 puzzles.

    The photo above was posted in the official Portal 2 blog back in October 2011, but probably doesn’t represent what the DLC actually contains. That blog entry was the first announcement that a simplified puzzle creator would be released. Many of the features announced today for the “Perpetual Testing Initiative” were mentioned back then, including the community sharing and map rating.

    And if you can’t wait two weeks for more Portal goodness, check out this Skyrim mod created by Valve. It mods The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim so that the “space” core from Portal 2 will follow your character around in Skyrim. I’m sure that will be enjoyable for around 10 minutes before you start whacking it around with your mace due to annoyance.

    The space core in Skyrim

  • Portal 2 Takes Home Game Of The Year At BAFTA

    The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is quite the prestigious organization. A few years ago they realized that they should start giving out awards to video games for those that exemplify the medium and push it forward as an art form. The 2012 BAFTA awards for video games were recently held to honor the games that were released last year. The winners are pretty surprising and a lot of them are in direct contrast to the winners chosen at the GDC awards.

    Let’s just Portal 2 out of the way since it won multiple awards. It took home the major award for game of the year, but it also took home the awards for best story and best design.

    The next big winner was LittleBigPlanet 2 which took home the awards for best family game and game innovation. I’m glad BAFTA is here to remind me that LittleBigPlanet 2 came out last year. I totally forgot about it, but it definitely deserved those awards.

    Battlefield 3 took home three awards. It won best audio achievement, best online multiplayer and the GAME award. The GAME award is the only one that’s voted on by the gamers.

    Batman: Arkham City also took home two awards. It won best action game and best voice performance with Mark Hamill’s excellent portrayal of Joker.

    Now we’re getting into the single award games. Rayman Origins took home the award for artistic achievement. XBLA title Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet took home best debut beating out Bastion which is surprising to say the least. Peggle took home best mobile game beating out the excellent Super Mario 3D Land. Monstermind took home the award for best online browser game. L.A. Noire took home the award for original music. Kinect Sports 2 won the best sports/fitness game award. Total War: Shogun 2 took home the award for best strategy game. Tick Tock Toys was named the “Ones To Watch” as the game that should receive your undivided attention in the coming year.

    Markus Pearson, creator of Minecraft, won this year’s special award that honors game designers that help shape the industry in a meaningful way.

    You may notice that Skyrim didn’t win a single award here. It brings to light the difference between what game developers, the general public, the press and a group like BAFTA see as the greatest examples of gaming of the last year. BAFTA is always the most unique in that it pick games that wouldn’t normally be considered for an award. It does have some overlap, however, with their pick of Portal 2 for multiple awards.

    I think we can also make a connection between the last few awards shows with the rise of mobile games. Games on dedicated handhelds like the 3DS and PSP would normally win the mobile game of the year awards, but this year saw games on iOS and Android taking home the awards. Even though a game like Super Mario 3D Land has more legs and is subjectively more fun than a game like Peggle, it does show the effect games like Peggle have had on the industry at large. It’s interesting to think about as we enter the new year with mobile gaming stepping up its game with the launch of the new iPad and other powerful Android tablets.

    [h/t: Digital Spy]

  • GDC 2012: Skyrim Takes Home Game Of The Year

    One of the highlights of the Game Developers Conference is the Game Developer Choice Awards. The awards show has a certain charm and humility to it that you don’t find at televised events like Spike TV’s Video Game Awards. Last night was no different as the industry came together to celebrate the best of the best that gaming had to offer in 2011.

    There was a lot of competition for game of the year in 2011 with great nominees that all deserved to win. The nominees were Batman: Arkham City, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dark Souls. Only one game could win, however, and Skyrim took home the prize.

    Portal 2 cleaned up though by nabbing three awards: best game design, best narrative, best audio. The other nominees for best game design were Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Batman: Arkham City and Dark Souls. Best narrative nominees went to The Witcher 2, Bastion, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Saints Row: The Third. The nominees for best audio were Bastion, LittleBigPlanet 2, Skyrim and Dead Space 2.

    The best technology award went to Battlefield 3. The other nominees were L.A. Noire, Crysis 2, Skyrim and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

    The best debut award went to the studio that had the best first game. Supergiant Games won the award for Bastion. The other nominees were Team Bondi for L.A. Noire, Re-Logic for Terraria, BioWare Austin for Star Wars: The Old Republic and Eidos Montreal for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

    Bastion also took home the award for best downloadable game. The other nominees were Stacking, From Dust, Outland and Frozen Synapse.

    The innovation award is always the most interesting as it recognizes the game that pushed the medium forward in new and interesting ways. The winner was Johann Sebastian Joust which you can view a trailer of below to get an idea of how this really abstract game works. The other nominees were Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Portal 2, Bastion and L.A. Noire.

    Best visual arts goes hand in hand with best technology from time to time, but this year was different. The winner was Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The nominees were Rayman Origins, Skyrim, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron and Battlefield 3.

    It was a great year for gaming and the awards reflected that. Even though I missed the hosting talent of Tim Schafer, Cliff Bleszinski did an admirable job.

    Do you agree with the winners? Or was the obvious choice snubbed? Let us know in the comments.

  • Mario Meets Portal In Mash-Up Of The Century

    Everybody loves Super Mario Bros. and everybody loves Portal. If you claim otherwise, you should keep the verdict out until you play the new mash-up of the two.

    Stabyourself.net has finally released the appropriately titled Mari0. What’s the point of this new game? It recreates the original Super Mario Bros. on the NES, but Mario has a new trick up his sleeve – a portal gun. This takes the platforming action of the original Super Mario Bros. and turns it into a puzzle platformer that Portal popularized.

    Mari0 goes beyond the usual fan project by remaking the entirety of the original Super Mario Bros. with the aforementioned portal gun. There are some changes of course with the most obvious being puzzles focused around portal creation. The game also features four-player co-op which is kind of impressive as Portal 2 only featured two-player co-op.

    The game also features a level editor so players can create their own puzzles and levels. The creators of the game will also be releasing downloadable map packs to extend the life of the game.

    For fans of Team Fortress 2, there are 33 hats available for Mari0. There will probably be more hats as the game grows, because Team Fortress 2 has made the hat the most popular in-game accessory.

    There are also the usual supply of game modifiers that can add extra fun and zany experiences to the core game.

    The best part is that the game is absolutely free with no strings attached. You can grab it at the developer’s Web site for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can also download the source code and do what you want with it.

    Here’s a trailer to entice you into downloading some sweet Mario on Portal action:

  • Portal 2 Mashes Into The Nightmare Before Christmas

    And the results are spectacular. Provided you can shake your gaze from the awesome Portal 2 socks leading this article, the upcoming video will be a great addition to your weekend. It also serves as another reason to be against the SOPA/PIPA/ACTA trinity.

    Perhaps I’m beating a dead horse, but the video I’m teasing is really great stuff, and it’s all from the mind of a creative YouTube user who goes by the name of Harry-UK. What Harry has done is mashed up the incredibly popular Portal 2 video game with the another fantastic piece of creativity, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The finished product — This Is Aperture — is the game’s would-be rendition of the song, This is Halloween, which appeared in the Tim Burton’s claymation movie. As indicated, the results are fantastic, and, judging by the amount of views the video has — over 200,000 since it was posted on January 27 — it’s been well-received (14,012 likes versus 124 dislikes).


    Another example of what happens when you pair a creative end-user with the powerful tools technology and the Internet provide, but yet, in an effort to hold on to a shifting money stream, the entertainment industry, backed by some of the most powerful governments on earth, is trying to enact measures that would essentially kill this kind of creativity. Again, all it would take is someone from Disney or Valve to complain, and boom, Harry’s awesome creation is gone.

    All in an effort to stamp out piracy.

    Surely there are other ways to address this issue, although, according to this unfortunate report over at TorrentFreak, apparently not.

    As for the video, Harry states he did all of the music and voices himself, which only enhances the final product, and again, judging by the amount of views This is Aperture the viral nature of the video is clear. It’s been seen on a number of popular video game blogs like G4TV and Joystiq.