A buzzing noise fills the room as you are shaken awake. Bright lights bounce off the windowed walls of your 4 foot by 5 foot holding cell, making them twice as bright. As you rise from your bed and adjust your eyes a timer clicks from beyond your transparent walls and immediately you can't help but to fear you've seen this all before.
Portal: Still Alive is the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title based on the critically acclaimed original found in The Orange Box from Valve. Those who were unfortunate enough to never play the original Portal are in luck as Portal: Still Alive is essentially the exact same experience but with a few added bonuses.
Forgoing parkour in favor of teleportation, an inspired modder by the nom de éditeur of EvilWeevil has created a 1:1 replica of the Mirror's Edge demo level from E3 (or, if you'd rather, the initial gameplay footage of DICE's first-person platformer) using Valve's smash action-puzzler, Portal. As you can see in the video, there's no fancy climbing, leaping, balancing, or zipline action – this mod is all about using the portal gun to reach the (all-too-sudden) end of the level. Now to get a hold of the actual mod ... our time with Mirror's Edge at E3 was criminally brief, and we're always looking for an excuse to revisit Portal.
With excitement still brewing for the upcoming GlaDOS-freefollow up to Portal, developer Valve has come forward, throwing its considerable weight behind Xbox Live Arcade while adding that the company is 'considering' bringing other titles from its catalog to the service as well. Says Valve's Doug Lombardi, "We'll certainly consider it. If you look at what we've done on Steam, we try to make all our games available and we're always reviewing the prices to keep them current. We'd love to do that, but Portal: Still Alive is our first step at doing that beyond the PC."
While Lombardi adds that the studio currently has no "immediate plans" to test the waters of either the Wii or PlayStation 3, this remains great news for owners of Microsoft's console, possibly giving those who missed Valve's boat the first time around a second chance to climb on board.
Unfortunately, neither GlaDOS, nor any other "story elements", will be included in the extra content. As excited as we are for this expansion, the prospect of zipping around an abandoned research facility without the accompaniment of an unsettling, sing-song voice just doesn't seem right.
Portal is officially getting a sequel. Gamerscore Blog reveals that Portal: Still Alive will continue the single player story found in the original Orange Box collection, and will add new challenges. The title will be available through Xbox Live Arcade ... although no word on either a PC or PS3 version at this time. Considering the massive popularity of the original, this is a huge win for XBLA. Potential details of the sequel may have been leaked here.
Update: Yup, confirmed. Microsoft has announced that Portal: Still Alive will come to XBLA this fall -- the release will feature new levels and achievements in addition to the original content. No lie, cake or otherwise.
So looks like a sequel/sidequel to Portal is in the works for Xbox 360, as is another Uno game, and a Galaga sequel. More news to come, including what we can get out of the video that accompanies the leaked post.
Did you have a good week? We had a terrific one at Big Download but with the release of Spore Creature Creator next week it promises to be an even busier time for our site. In the meantime here are the highlights from the past week
A Kotaku tipster seems to have stumbled upon a casting call for "a character for a new game in the Portal series from Valve Software" on subscribers-only actors resource Breakdown Express. The posting is loaded with character details for the game's "principal antagonist," including his history, demeanor and general outlook on life. The posting even details how the character's psychology changes as the story progresses, hinting at some intriguing story possibilities for the sequel to our top game of 2007.
If you don't mind having such important details spoiled at least seven months before the game is released, follow the read link and, er, read all about it. Or, if you're a voice actor who can handle "dark comedy ... with occasional dramatic moments" starting next month, why not try out for a piece of video game immortality?
We have a confession to make: we still love Portal- (and specifically, Weighted Companion Cube-related) memorabilia. (Via That Girl's Site; thanks, Simca) Check out the highlights for today:
Inspired by the Flash game inspired by Portal, StillAliveDS packs all the joy of in hole / out hole, squashes it into 2D, and serves it onto your DS (with supported hardware). So clear out those pirated Pokemons and make room! This is the sort of delicious, home-baked, icing covered code that inspired you to cop a flash cart all the way from China in the first place ... right? (If you're asking, "What's a flash cart?" then you best start here.) Otherwise, get downloading -- it's free!
So we're sure you all remember our love for Portal: The Flash Version in which We Create Stuff took all the fun of Portal and bludgeoned it with a digital hammer until it could fit into two dimensions. Now, like in some sort of Tom and Jerry cartoon, We Create Stuff's Hen Mazolski has inserted a bike pump into the flattened game's mouth and re-inflated it to 3D, with all of the Flash versions' levels intact.
This is no mere rehash of the Flash game, though that, in and of itself, would have been impressive. At around 3 1/2 hours, this is a complete experience, with GLaDOS' urgings and taunting remixed to provide an alternate take on the Enrichment Center experience. If you're a fan of Portal, you really shouldn't miss it.
Considering Valve released Portalas a separate title on its Steam digital distribution service, gamers might have been confused as to why the developer didn't pursue a similar avenue with the game on Xbox 360, via the Xbox Live Arcade service. As it turns out, it did, but the title was rejected due to size limitations and other unnamed reasons.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that during Portal's development, Valve did approach Microsoft to make the title available through XBLA, but several factors made the title an undesirable candidate for the service. Still, marketing director Doug Lombardi does state that the company is always happy to renegotiate. Maybe we'll see Portal on XBLA one day, after all.
Lombardi expressed Valve's desire to create an equally "revolutionary" successor to the lightning-in-a-bottle first person puzzler, rather than cash in on the franchise at the height of its popularity with a quick and dirty sequel. Oh, Lomby, can't we have both? We're all about instant gratification -- especially gratification involving cake, and a particular silent, springheeled heroine.
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