This person, as with virtually everyone else on the Internet, likes Portal. As with a great majority, he decided to make something that references the game. The thing about this one, though, is not only that it is probably the best Companion Cube I’ve ever seen, it opens up to reveal the Portal cake (also fantastically well recreated) as well as some of the game’s staple graffiti.

I’m bracing myself, though. Portal memes are getting on my nerves no end, and this is likely to kick them right off again. Anyone who comments with a Portal reference gets a stern talking to. However, a clever pun gets you a pat on the back (and you’d better be GLaD of it).

To those of you who haven’t picked up The Orange Box in some form or another, shame on you. Now’s your best chance, as The Orange Box is on sale this weekend for 66% off. That’s a measly $10 for Half-Life 2, Episodes One and Two, the glorious Portal, and the love of Sam Naylor’s life, Team Fortress 2. That’s $2 a game! Hop on Steam and buy it now! If you remain unconvinced after all of my yelling, check out our review of the, in my opinion, inferior Xbox 360 port of The Orange Box.

Gamers have accomplished some very amazing things with musical instruments. I’ve seen a man beatbox while playing the Super Mario Bros. theme on the flute, I’ve seen someone perform the Tetris theme with a tesla coil, and I’ve even seen a man play the Legend of Zelda theme on his hands. But this, my friends, is a first. Not only did an aspiring gamer manage to play the Portal anthem “Still Alive” on a theremin- he managed to input this play into Rock Band.

In the video above, you’ll see YouTube user conquerearth manage to play Portal’s “Still Alive” on a theremin, an instrument that measures the movement of your hand in the air to make sounds. Of course, with a theremin, the only way to hear the sound is through headphones, so the musician managed to put the headphones right over his Rock Band microphone and score a 138,685 5-star run, with 95% on Expert in the process. Impressive!

Though he doesn’t have any other videos of what he calls “Theremin Hero” in his YouTube channel, you can see him play some other amazing songs on the theremin, including the Zelda theme, the Halo 3 Title Screen music, and Epona’s Song (Ocarina of Time) all on his channel.

Remember the rooftop stage from Mirror’s Edge? It was first shown in the initial gameplay trailer as well as being prominently featured in the E3 08 trailer and demonstrations to the press. Well, Portal modder EvilWeevil has taken it upon himself to bring that stage to life in Portal.

How he managed to pull it all together given the tiny morsel of source footage available absolutely blows my mind. Unless of course, he has access to an early build of the game. In which case, EvilWeevil, buddy, we’re friends right?

Although, I have to admit, it is quite interesting seeing how the Portal gameplay gels with the Mirror’s Edge-intended environment. Of course, it’s not a 1:1 conversion; unless he has that early build of the game we mentioned earlier (sharing is caring!) Enjoy the video.

Source: Gamevideos

During our liveblog of the Microsoft E3 press conference, Andrew reported on new Portal content for the Xbox 360 as the room erupted with cheers.

11:21 am: GladOs introduces Portal: Still Alive, with new, more challenging levels. And it’s coming out this year to Xbox Live Arcade. Sweet! Hearty applause.

I have a feeling that many of those cheers have now turned into jeers. The new Portal: Still Alive Xbox 360 content, teased by the voice of GlaDOS at E3, is apparently nothing more than a map pack port from the PC version of the game.

The Flash Version MapPack made its debut on the PC as a free download based on the maps created by Hen Mazolskiv, a fan of the game. This content is essentially being repackaged as “Still Alive” for the 360, and sadly will not offer any continuation of the plot.

Source: Shacknews (via G4TV)

Microsoft’s E3 Conference, which you can experience via our live blogging, has just revealed an exciting Xbox 360 title.  GladOs (yes, “she” was a guest speaker) has announced a new Portal game will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 this year.

Portal: Still Alive will be coming to Xbox Live this autumn, containing new test chambers and new achievements for the experienced player.

We’ll bring you more on this new title as it comes.

From the creators of Half Life: Full Life Consequences 1 & 2, comes possibly their greatest production to date. The film is 22 minutes of unrelenting memes created in Garry’s Mod, a popular mod for the Source Engine . Is it a hit, a miss, or just both and neither all at the same time? Read on to find out.

Just a quick warning for what you are about to see; the video is clearly the work of either somebody with too much time on their hands, or insanity. Do not resist the urge to enjoy yourself as it will only harm you.

So pour a nice cup of tea, sit back and enjoy. Also, if somebody could help me work out whether this video is so good it’s bad or so bad it’s good, that would be great.

(via Destructoid cblog)

NB: Ripten take no responsibility for any side effects you may experience after watching the video.

When Eurogamer.net spoke with Valve’s Marketing Director, Doug Lombardi, he explained there would be no new Portal in 2008, but the next edition of the series would be something special.

Lombardi said:

“In typical Valve tradition, it won’t be Portal with different colors. I think that when you hit something like that, you have two choices: you can quickly replicate it and stick it out there – do the opportunistic thing and cash in on it; or you can do the crazy thing like we did after Half-Life was so successful and go off and try and say, ‘Okay, that was revolutionary, so its successor has to be equally as revolutionary.”

By continually pushing innovation and creating revolutionary gameplay, the Orange Box alone has picked up over 100 awards to date. While the wait before the next Portal may be long, rest assured when it finally drops it should be something special.

Source: Eurogamer

While conversing with X-Play’s Morgan Webb, Portal lead designer Kim Swift confirmed the existence of Portal 2, saying “I believe Doug Lombardi, who is our lead marketing director at Valve, has announced Portal 2.” Companion Cube 2.0? Yes, please.

How many of us didn’t see this multi-award winning game coming back for a second round? Still, none of us knew how it would make us love it again. I was sure it’d be in the form of extra puzzles through some form of DLC, but according to Kim (or Doug) that we’ll be getting a fully fleshed out sequel to one of my top games of 2007.

We don’t know much else besides that, though. Will we learn more about Aperture and Chell? Might it arrive in time with Episode 3 in another ‘box’, or just hit XBLA or PSN (and Steam, of course)?

Will Jonathan Coulton give us another song to sing incessantly and unendingly?

Source: G4TV

In a move many people wished had been made when the Orange Box launched, EA have announced that TF2, HL2:ep2 and Portal will soon be sold individually for PC.

Unless you use Steam, Valve’s digital distribution service, up until now the only way you have been able to buy the new games from Valve has been to get them as part of The Orange Box. If you were put off from buying all 5 games but still want to try the sweet, moist cake of Portal, or see what happens to everyone’s lovable mute, Gordon Freeman, you’re in luck.

In a conference call to investors, EA have said that they will soon be selling the new games individually and that they will be in stores for PC before the end of March. No word on if the 360 or PS3 versions will follow suit or if The Orange Box package will continue to be produced for PC.

Source: Videogamer

No rumour, this one’s straight from the horse’s mouth. Valve has confirmed that there will be a sequel to Portal.

Valve’s marketing director Doug Lombardi assured gamers that a sequel will make an appearance, but true to form there’s no timescale on it whatsoever.

“There’ll be more Portal, for sure. But the details of that, to be honest, we’re still working out,” he says. “The only smart thing we did for Portal was to hire those seven kids and give them the support they needed to make the game.”

In fact the only detail we have is a promise that they’ll be adding significantly more than “just a bunch of new puzzles.” Don’t expect any more just yet though; over at Valve Gordon Freeman and Half-Life Episode 3 are currently getting all the love. Just r easy in the knowledge it’s out there, somewhere.

Nvidia and Valve have joined forces and to kick it off they’re handing out exclusive games to Nvidia users.

If you use Nvidia, you can download Portal: First Slice, a Peggle Extreme demo, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and Half Life 2: Lost Coast for free via Valve’s distribution service, steam.

In a statement from Valve’s VP of marketing, Doug Lombardi said:

“More Steam gamers, including myself, play on NVIDIA hardware than any other GPU. That’s a testament to the company’s long history of innovation and quality. By working together with NVIDIA to expand our development, distribution, and marketing efforts, we’re increasing our ability to serve the millions of NVIDIA customers logging onto Steam and help us prepare for our next generation of content.”

Roy Taylor, Nvidia’s VP of content relations, gave a nice little “right back ‘atcha” with:

“Valve’s endorsement of our technology and tools is yet another example of how the world’s leading gaming companies are working with NVIDIA. Portal is the hottest new, award-winning title from Valve, and we’re delighted that Valve will offer First Slice exclusively to GeForce customers.”

For those of you who have already beaten Portal, Portal: First Slice is simply a demo of the game which encompasses the first ten levels. The Peggle Extreme demo is a lot of fun, even if you’ve already played Peggle, due to its hilarious “twist” using Valve properties. Half-Life 2 Deathmatch is arguably the sweetest offering, given that it’s a $10 value. Finally, Lost Coast is a fun – albeit short – little ride, but it’s already free to those who own Half Life 2.

All in all, it’s nothing mind-blowing, but free is free. Go here to claim your games.

Via GameIndustry

Feeling guilty this Christmas for what you did to your Weighted Companion Cube? Don’t worry, Aperture Science is here with a heartwarming Christmas video.

Head over to their website for a festive, Portal themed Christmas message with more hidden gems than I care to admit I found. Take a more detailed look at the Christmas ornaments– recognize any of them? See, they do care about your feelings.

via Kotaku

Weighted Companion Cube has became a cult hero, with even the plush of his (or her) glorious image selling out completely on Valve’s store.

Fans were happy to pay the $24.99 fee for their own little cube which granted them the happy truth that they hadn’t murdered their faithful companion in the test chambers – it’s actually resting peacefully next to you.

If you really need a Cube for Christmas, then you could lay down the cash for this monster. The monster is the cube, not the lady by the way.

It’s one of the three existing in the whole world, and the money raised from the sale will go to the charity Child’s Play — so you will have two reasons to feel good about your life.

Cube became a celebrity after its appearance in Portal, one of the 5 Orange Box games. Players felt a common wave of guilt due to having incinerating the cube to complete one of the tasks in the game.

Fans are still awaiting word on a sequel to Portal, with things looking good considering the strong sales and critical response to the game.

Have you had enough of First Person Shooters? It was such a dominant genre this year that it seemed to define what it meant to be “next-gen.” We’re not quite out of the woods yet, but 2008 promises to bring us a more diverse line-up. What games or concepts will characterize the industry as we move into the second generation proper?

It wasn’t that long ago when I considered writing an editorial complaining about the lack of variety in games this generation. Some developers will always be making software outside the norm, so it would’ve been by no means absolute if I’d said “can’t you guys come up with anything else?!”

Let’s face it, First Person Shooters get a lot of attention in a lot of different ways and few games have been fawned over as much lately as HALO 3, Orange Box (Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2), Crysis, or Call of Duty 4. Then there’s Unreal Tournament III, Resistance, Timeshift, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Hellgate: London, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Red Steel, Shadowrun, Soldier of Fortune Payback, Blacksite: Area 51, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Even, in many ways, the inimitable Bioshock qualifies. Not all are good, but some are great, maybe even “best game ever” material.

So why did we see so many this past year (and before you ask, yes, I’m aware some were technically released in 2006)? Part of the answer might be found in the types of technology they’re pushing, making them great showcases for what new gaming platforms can do.

There were also some hotly anticipated sequels released, with HALO 3 in particular having the “biggest day in entertainment sales ever.” Multiplayer features have also been a big draw, keeping players hooked for the long haul. And, of course, there’s also the socio-political pressure that’s been put on the genre since day one (though, ironically enough, most of the attention has been focused on Manhunt 2, which isn’t a shooter at all).

Taking all of that into account, maybe it was just a perfect storm of sorts — one grand coincidence created by the combination of a strict holiday deadline and finally-finished development times.

But 2008 looks remarkably different with fewer First Person Shooters on the docket. Thinking of the top of my head, only three stand out – Ubisoft’s delayed HAZE, hype-machine Killzone 2, and, well, Duke Nukem Forever (good one, Broussard!). There will unquestionably be others, but it looks like my original fears were unwarranted. I’ll no longer need to be writing that article.

So, with the FPS taking some much needed time off, what other genre will we be sick and tired of by the end of next year?

2008: Year of the Free-Roamer?

It’s a no-brainer that Grand Theft Auto IV is going to rule the gaming scene. Whether it comes out in the Spring (as planned), or in the Fall (as expected), it will serve as the anchor for free-roaming sandbox games to sail into port. Like a ship-load of liquored-up seamen on shore leave, though, we should probably hope they don’t overstay their welcome.

Remember what happened last time? Free-roaming elements shoehorned into every orifice of a game which otherwise might’ve been good, checkpoint races that take you from zero to frustrating inanity in four seconds flat? A redux of this kind of game design without appropriate context built around it would be unfortunate for an industry that really needs to start finding new ideas.

That said, I’ve got a feeling that we’re in for a few tasty treats. Last year’s GTA clone du jour, Saints Row, should be having another go-around. Up against the king itself, this time, the court jester’s got to become the assassin. Or at least some sort of bizzaro-world, evil twin assassin, considering that the more Volition tries to differentiate itself from its inspiration, the closer it seems to come to it.

“Saints Row has a much darker and more sinister story that leads your character down a path of betrayal, revenge, and redemption against the city that left him for dead, although we’ve blended that with the same light-hearted humor from the original.”

That’s from the official announcement press release. Bittersweet story of revenge with cheeky, culture-skewering laughs thrown in to balance out (or sometimes compliment) the wanton bloodshed? Sounds like a crib notes version of Grand Theft Auto to me.

If Volition’s up to the task and rolls out a quality product, though, I don’t think anybody’s willing to complain.

Speaking of inspiration, ‘08 should see at least two from the school of Crackdown (and hopefully expanding on its great, but underdeveloped concepts). Prototype comes from the makers of Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, another last-gen free-roamer, and from the recent footage shown at the Spike Video Game Awards, it looks like your character’s super-destructive powers improve the more you use them.

Sucker Punch’s Infamous, of which we’ve seen nothing since E3, also looks to hit next year. Featuring a similarly-endowed avatar, it’s easy to draw comparisons to Prototype, but from what we can glean, it leans more towards a super-hero morality tale. The early trailer seemed to imply that you would do more than just play around in a sandbox, you’d shape it, and that you might have the delightfully villainous ability to destroy man in the process.

Assuming other titles like L.A. Noire and Mercenaries 2 also show up in ‘08, sandbox games look poised to, er, rule the sandbox once again.

2008: Year of Game 2.0?

Game 2.0’s a fancy term, but it’s not at all a new concept. The idea that a someone could effectively change, hack, or recombine elements of a game has bred a healthy, if somewhat exclusive modding community. I say “exclusive” because of the technical know-how often needed to produce any worthy results, let alone something other people would actually enjoy fooling around with.

Game 2.0 aims to bring those capabilities down to the average human being, just as Prometheus did with fire. Hopefully no vengeful gods are angered in the process.

Leading the charge is Media Molecule’s Little Big Planet, now firmly locked as a 2008 title. Voraciously cute and brimming with creativity, it puts almost all of the game’s development possibilities in the player’s hands. Levels are completely customizable. If you can do it with physics, you can probably do it in LBP. Likewise, being able to import various stamps and graphics allows you to add your own, unique look to creations.

Often times, though, we don’t know a whole lot about a game’s customization features until later on its development cycle when it becomes a fully fleshed-out concept. It’s tough to say what may or may not come out way in 2008, but this year’s offerings gave us a tease.

HALO 3’s Forge was a great way to appeal to casual modders, stripping away the need to meddle around in screens of code for half a year before quitting, resurrecting your project two weeks later, and then another two weeks later finally telling the whole affair to sod off for good. Plus, we get some really neat things out of it, like Rit Dye’s self-portrait.

And that’s really the spirit of Game 2.0, isn’t it? Flexing your creative muscle and accomplishing things even the original developers would never have conceived?

Some of the other things that have impressed me lately are custom paint jobs. Forza 2’s liveries were a huge hit. Using up to a thousand different shapes, modified for size and color, players have concocted some truly elaborate skins for their cars.

With features like this, Forza becomes just as much a canvas for budding artists as it does a game for car enthusiasts.

Rock Band’s character customization has a similar, if slightly less elaborate, system for creating tattoos to slap on your avatar. Even I was able to construct a basic Pokeball, clearly making my rocker the coolest dude in town.

Ah, and then there’s the unique art of making a complete fool of yourself. Perhaps latching more onto the “unfortunate internet celebrity” bandwagon instead of the “express yourself” bandwagon, Sony’s SingStar lets you record videos of yourself singing like banshee and shuffling back-and-forth as awkwardly as possible in your very own living room! Though it hasn’t hit the US yet (licensing issues, to be sure), the game is beginning to leak out around Europe, and the results couldn’t be more embarassing.

In 2008, modders will continue to mod, but you don’t need to be a coding whiz to participate in the creation of something new. The concept of Game 2.0 is just beginning to hit its stride, dragging every undiscovered genius along with it.

2008: Year of the Downloadable Content?

Not all predictions are hopeful. The DLC model has introduced us to the concept of microtransactions, and we’re bound to see more in the coming years, both good and bad. For every The Godfather cheat in the world, you’ve also got new songs for Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

But if we’re talking about digital distribution in general, then we’re getting some pretty keen stuff through the same channels – fully, downloadable games, many of the “independent developer” persuasion. Highlights of 2007? Everyday Shooter, Super Stardust HD, Gripshift, Warhawk, PixelJunk Racers, High Velocity Bowling, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Bomberman, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and others. That’s some serious pedigree right there.

Nintendo’s entering the fray next year with WiiWare (Virtual Console aside, of course), which should only push the phenomenon further.

There’s also the hope that we’ll see bigger titles available online, like the aforementioned Warhawk. Older titles are great (VC, Xbox Originals, PS Classics), but new games are even better. Since we know this is the direction that the industry is moving towards in the future (how can we forget about the crazy success of Steam?), I don’t think it would be far-fetched to say we’ll see a lot of DLC in 2008.

2008: What It Probably Won’t Be

Perhaps the most ideal year will be one in which no particular genre or concept will dominate. We’ll all live together in harmony and skip down Candy Cane Lane as unicorns soar overhead dropping rainbow-colored gumdrops straight into our mouths. Then one bold individual will realize that our utopia is a sham and that human nature always has a way of breaking out of its shackles. We’ll suffer through the Great Fluffy Bunny War for a few years before society can be rebuilt, and then a clever author will write a best-selling book about the whole affair.

Or maybe I’m thinking of 2012, when the Mayan calendar ends. Oh well, we’ll deal with that when we get to it.

Something we can’t deny, though, is the entertainment industry’s penchant for taking a good idea and driving it into the ground. That’s the one constant we can depend on.

That said, 2008 probably won’t be the Year of the RPG (FFXIII won’t hit until 2009, or later), it probably won’t be the Year of Waggle (it’s either outlived its welcome or already become so ingrained in our collective gaming consciousness that we won’t think about it so much anymore), and it probably won’t be the Year of Sports Games (bold prediction, I know!).

And, thank the gods, it probably won’t be the Year of the FPS again!

For what it’s worth, I’m banking on my very first pick (Year of the Free-Roamer) to be the right one. What about you, dear readers? What do you think will define the world of gaming in 2008?