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Portal 2 Easter egg: Valve never meta-ARG it didn't like

by JC Fletcher on Apr 19th 2011 10:30PM

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A hidden room somewhere within Portal 2 (see the video after the break for more information about its location, if you want) contains a mysterious message from "Adam Foster," which plays a really annoying sound file that turns out to hold three encoded images.

What do you find upon deciphering this hidden message? A brief history of hidden Portal-related messages. The three image files encoded in the sound turn out to be slides detailing the ARG that led to the reveal of some Portal 2 info -- also using SSTV-coded images.

It turns out that said ARG had a budget of just $100, and used a BBS that was running on a vintage computer with a genuine 2400 BPS modem. You can see all three images in full here, and see (and hear) the coded message in Portal 2 after the break.

Source: Valve ARG
More coverage: Steam forums

Tags: arg, bbs, easter-egg, mac, microsoft, pc, playstation, portal, portal-2, ps3, valve, xbox

Reader Comments (25)

THANK YOU :( I found this room earlier and I KNEW there was something to it.

@xJimmeh I found this room too but the speech bubble wasn't there. So I spent 5 minutes smashing mugs for no reason. I am equally as satisfied and god I love this game

@Nap

I picked up the jugs of water and tossed them out of the room, fooling myself into thinking I would suddenly need to drink water later.

@Nap The speech bubble is only there if you get there with commentary mode enabled.

Adam Foster created the Minerva mods before he was hired by Valve, and was responsible for the ARG.

I'm trying to read the headline and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what it says.

@Tikicobra

It's a pun. It's both saying "Valve never met a ARG it didn't like" and speaking of a Meta-ARG, an ARG on top of an ARG, in this case an ARG about the ARG from last year that led to Portal 2's being announced.

The ARG started out so awesome, and ended up imploding on itself by the time Portal 2 got released.

It was fun and exciting at first, and yay for supporting indie games, but the countdown-to-a-countdown was a really horrible idea.

At least Portal 2 itself is an INCREDIBLE experience. :)

@Naru now in 3D
This isn't about this ARG. They're talking about last year's that was the announcement of Portal 2 itself.

i found the room by extending the bridge to the hole in the upper ceiling of the main room (seen at 3:05 in the video, big hole on the left). after going through the hole, walking up the stairs and into the room i cannot activate the sound file. i am not presented with the speech bubble. what am i doing wrong?

@detroit442
The speech bubbles are activated when you play the game with commentary on. All Valve games since the Orange Box have this commentary feature. It should be in your options menu at the start of the game.

@bigwhiteyeti perfect, thanks!

and by 3:05 i meant 0:03.

@Tikicobra

"Valve never met a ARG it didn't like"

I didn't get it until I read it 30 times. Doh.

@Kamm Too bad the grammar is incorrect :\

lol I do that in games too. Follow the fan, round and round.

Ugh i gotta reload that place cuz i didnt have comments turned on..

When you guys find out the significance of potatoes... oh man.

"Combined might of the internets is terrifying"

Truth.

The whole thing with the dialup BBS was genius.

Didn't they change the ending of Portal 1 right before 2 was announced? Does that not count as part of the arg i guess?

@Bielzer

man I agree with you 100% I can't stand that when you run around it's at super speed and super smooth. it reminds me of old PC games.

Hey guys! I'm the guy who made that video... Just wanted to say. :D

@EDJE Thanks for the vid!
So, I can get to the room via the stairs, but even with the commentary on, there is no speech bubble. Is it necessary to have had it on earlier, or should I see it if I just turned that on?
Also, what did you do to get there in the video? All I see is an attempt to pick something up, a slight step to the right, and up you go!
Thanks

@Quest You have to load the map through Commentary Mode, and I just bound noclip to "v" to get there. :D

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Portal 2

Portal 2 Easter egg: Valve never meta-ARG it didn't like

Reader Comments (25)

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 10:42PM xJimmeh said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:08AM Nap said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:30AM xJimmeh said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 7:40AM Powerlord said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 10:43PM Excessive said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 10:45PM Tikicobra said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 12:46AM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 10:48PM Naru now in 3D said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 10:58PM PointlessPuppies said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 10:56PM detroit442 said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:11PM bigwhiteyeti said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:38PM detroit442 said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:03PM detroit442 said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:04PM Kamm said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:22AM radioactivez0r said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:20PM Marco le Polo said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:23PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:29PM Fuzunga said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 11:37PM Ferrous said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 2:09AM nembutals said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 10:14AM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 10:53AM eat it said

Posted: Apr 22nd 2011 2:01AM EDJE said

Posted: Apr 22nd 2011 4:08AM Quest said

Posted: Apr 22nd 2011 10:12PM EDJE said

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