The GHZ Forum

Anyone followed the insane ARG that Valve did prior to announcing Portal 2?

Adding hidden content to a 2 year old game such as a (slightly) new ending, encoding images inside sound waves with clues, making an Aperture Science BBS that transmits weird related images in ASCII and some reports about psychological profiling for test subjects, plus some chemistry charts about apples and cyanide... Some pretty scary and cool stuff. Wish I had more time in my hands to follow that sort of thing.

And now Game Informer has stuff. Pretty. Has "huge success" writen all over it and I want my cake.

I can't wait for the Mac Steam client, and for millions of fucktards to drive every meme in the game into the ground and all the way to the 9th circle of hell.

does the companion cube show tit

Opa-Opa wrote:I want my cake.

the cake is a lie

Green Gibbon! wrote:does the companion cube show tit

You kidding? The Companion Cube doesn't even wear clothes. Chew on that for a while, don't you.

Although the Companion Cube is a dude, so unless you have a thing for moobs, it's pretty much "do not want" territory.

Also the new physics-through-portals, bridges, faith plates and paint splotches sound interesting. Do want.

I expect another alright puzzle game with a twist at the end. Worth 20 dollars max.

As for the jokes, anyone who uses the internet will never find them funny.

They will if they play through the game before the memes spread too far. Worked for me with the first game.

Auugh, stop it! Stop being jaded about Portal, guys. It's Portal!

Man, if the internet has ruined Portal for you, then it is time to get off the flippin' internet.

This entire board needs therapy.

I love Portal. I hate the fans.

Segaholic2 wrote:I can't wait for the Mac Steam client, and for millions of fucktards to drive every meme in the game into the ground and all the way to the 9th circle of hell.

Yami CJMErl wrote:

Opa-Opa wrote:I want my cake.

the cake is a lie

Yup.

Some day we'll remember this and laugh and laugh and laugh

The first was a refreshing one hit wonder in my eye. I played it, loved it, beat it and never picked it up again.

It was simple with a complex new mechanic. It didn't have as much story pounded into your brain like ever other video game, and that was the refreshing part. All that was revealed was you are in a lab and used as a test rat.

As long as it has challenging puzzles and a doesn’t turn it’s self into a cinematic driven, story packed game then I’m happy.

Only game I've ever played that gave me a genuine emotional response. I shat enough bricks to build an orphanage.

Those poor orphans.

It is just a generic FPS puzzle game with a single gimmick and a funny announcer. The end part is good, but that is just like a chapter in HL2, so nothing new or amazing.

Yeah. And Shadow of the Colossus is just one big boss run.

The humour in the original Portal is unlike anything else in gaming. The actual puzzles of Portal are (for the most part) pretty forgettable, and to be honest I'm not sure physics paint and a double digit hour count, if we even get that, are going to change much. But I expect the writing and atmosphere will be good enough to carry the game regardless.

I for one am perfectly ready for Valve to have their shake at designing a post-apocalyptic Cleveland, Ohio.

Opa-Opa wrote:Yeah. And Shadow of the Colossus is just one big boss run.

Looks nerdy and bad so I never played it. lolol?

I am just annoyed that Valve is screwing around with little sideprojects like Portal, L4D, and well just that. Filler material and spinoffs to things are fine, but where are the big games? Mainly that one everyone is waiting for.

I'm sure I'm speaking for a minority here, but I like pretty much all of Valve's side-projects more than the Half-Life series. Partly it's because I don't like the traditional single player FPS game model. That said, I played the first 2 games and enjoyed them, but I still haven't touched any of the Episodes I got in my Orange Box and I don't feel any pangs of guilt in saying that. I guess that 2 great Half-Life games were enough for me.

I'd be excited if Valve were to announce a new IP after Episode 3, although seeing as Portal 2 seems to be filling that niche, perhaps I shouldn't get my hopes up.

I am excited for Ep. 3 to be sure, but even those are "smaller" games, after all. If Valve never wants to release a game that they have to charge more than $20 for again, then I'm all for it. Small games can still be epic and awesome, just like they were when I was your age </elderly rant>

I enjoy the Half Life episodes as much as the next dude, but for the last few years I think Valve's most interesting and creative ideas have gone into games like Portal and TF2. (And to a lesser extent, L4D.) I have trouble getting really excited about Episode 3.

(And actually, because Valve is so slow at producing new content, sometimes I almost kind of with they'd forget about it altogether and work on other stuff... because lately, it feels like the other stuff is their best work.)

By this time, they'll probably skip calling it episode 3 and just sell it as Half-Life 3.

Kogen wrote:but where are the big games? Mainly that one everyone is waiting for.

Portal 2 IS a big game. Portal was such a huge surprising success that it stopped being a side project.

Opa-Opa wrote:

Kogen wrote:but where are the big games? Mainly that one everyone is waiting for.

Portal 2 IS a big game. Portal was such a huge surprising success that it stopped being a side project.

But would you also say L4D 2 is a big game? I thought both the first and the sequel were small games worth 20-30 dollars, just like Portal.