Tag Archive

Portal: Prelude

Written by Alec Meer on September 16, 2008.

Oh, your face just then. It was all like WTF ZOMG NO WAY!!!!!! Like, rilly.

Sorry, but this isn’t a reveal of the rumoured official prequel to the gamette that stole our hearts and minds around about this time last year. Instead it’s a mod, but considering pretty much every other Portal mod has been little more than a level pack, this is a particularly ambitious one.

Specifically, it has a storyline. It even has NPCs that aren’t cubes or turrets.
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Mirror’s Edge In Portal

Written by Jim Rossignol on August 4, 2008.

Via the big K, Mirror’s Edge, as recreated in Portal.

Don’t Take Your Life Over Portal: Still Alive

Written by Alec Meer on July 20, 2008.

The horrible rumour: a follow-up to Portal, available only on console. Well, that’s no rumour - Portal: Still Alive is definitely due to crop up on Xbox 360 later in the year. What we didn’t know was exactly what this apparent sequel would comprise. There’s been some outrage from the good people of PCinia, concerned that they may been shirked by Valve. Imagine - new levels, new GlaDOS, new Cube, new theme music, all denied to Portal’s true devotees.

The happy truth: nah. In fact, you can play Still Alive’s extra bits right now.
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Portal +40

Written by Alec Meer on May 7, 2008.

[Stares down-page in faint terror.] What a lot of arguments we’re going to have today. So, for those of you currently visiting us in search of gaming rather than debating, hopefully this will do the trick.

The chaps behind the splendid Flash version of Portal have generously converted their 2D maps into 3D versions for Portal-actual. All 40 of them. At three and a half hours of happy puzzle-solving, this mega-pack is pretty much equivalent to Portal itself in terms of length. In terms of quality? You tell me.

The Enrichment Center

Written by Alec Meer on April 11, 2008.

More Portal fan-gaming, this time documenting the tale of one of GlaDOS’ former guinea pigs. It’s a so-so room escape game of sorts, hinging solely on simple clue-deciphering to unlock a sequence of doors, but hell, it’s got Aperture Science stylings, so you’ll probably dig it. Edit - or maybe not, given the venomous reaction to it in comments.

Portal Lego Movie

Written by Jim Rossignol on March 21, 2008.

Lego Portal, now there’s a franchise collision we could all get behind. Anyway, it’s not a game but rather an animation by designer Nick Larsen. You can view the full thing here. It’s moderately amusing. In other Portal fan news: this.

Don’t mind them. They’re from the Internet

Written by Kieron Gillen on March 19, 2008.

After the cosplay, on the way back to the station, I passed the London Scientology Office, scene of the recent Anonymous demonstrations against Scientology being rubbish and evil and stuff. Now, I’d heard about protesters chanting The Cake Is A Lie, but hadn’t seen how they’d repurposed nearby traffic crossings…

Oh - and the site it links to.

3D Realms To Continue “Portal Race”

Written by Jim Rossignol on March 18, 2008.

IGN delivered an interesting quote in yesterday’s Scott Miller interview, regarding the direction 3D Realms are taking with the new projects they’re working on:

While Prey pioneered the portal concept, Valve’s Portal took it to an all-new level. It really shows what you can do when you focus on a single core cool gameplay concept. So, while Portal impressed the heck out of us, it has also inspired us to return the favor to Valve and hopefully leapfrog them as they did us. We believe we have new ideas for portals that will keep the portal race interesting.

That’s an interesting statement: “The Portal Race” could be an awesome period of FPS development history.

L.A. Times Has A Go At Gaming News

Written by John Walker on February 24, 2008.

Aw, it’s so cute when the big, mainstream newspapers try so hard. Yeah, I’ll patronise them until the day they give me a high-paying job. It’s coming. I can feel it. Smell it.

Covering the rise of the indie game, the Los Angeles Times gets all frothy and excited with a plucky-underdogs-make-good approach as the little people take on the behemoths of the gaming industry. Like, for instance, Portal!

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Box Unboxed

Written by Alec Meer on February 1, 2008.

Two quick Valve-related happenings for you info-starved masses. And, for once, to do with actual games, rather than about some guy laser-etching a Weighted Companion Cube into his pelvis.
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