Portal Lovefest Continues, When Will it Stop?

Gamasutra is an interesting website that we don't acknowledge enough, as gamers, for their contributions. They employ exactly the kind of journalism we need more of in this industry, delving deeper into your favorite (and not so favorite) videogames and engaging the developers for insight after the game ships. For instance, this piece by Brandon Sheffield where he interviews Kim Swift and Erik Wolpaw of Valve Studios fame about their groundbreaking work, Portal.

Speaking frankly and interestingly about the development of Portal itself, as well as the minutiae of design at Valve (here's a hint, it involves a lot of gameplay testing), Kim and Erik touch on lots of interesting subjects -- especially given we may have actually listened to the developer commentary that comes with Portal...

Either way, some standout stuff from the interview (in our humble opinions) is the short dialog about a DS version of Portal (not coming anytime soon) and the (thousandth) confirmation that there is certainly more Portal coming. Also, and this is roughly the fifteenth time we've seen this or so, Mr. Sheffield asks Kim and Erik if GlaDoS is alive or dead. The song is called "Still Alive" people! Anyways, we promise, less Portal news. Seriously.

As If LEGO Alone Isn't Amazing Enough, Here's LEGO AND Portal -- Combined!

The intrepid bloggers at Joystiq (in the middle of the night none the less) dug up this incredible stop-motion LEGO video based around Portal and it's omnipresent final song "Still Alive." Now, we understand, we've said a lot about the game some consider GOTY, but we can't help it -- it's an addiction. Doesn't it make you ridiculously happy to hear GlaDoS get down about coming out of beta and releasing on time?

Regardless, Nick Larsen Media, the one man show of media production that is Nick Larsen, needs to be hired by someone, and quick. Videos like this not only show creativity and intelligence but also superb editing skills and incredible patience. We applaud you, sir. Your work was an excellent way to start the morning, and for that, we can't help but appreciate it. Check the video here if you didn't already follow the bump up top.

Casual Monday: Aperture Science Edition

Though some of us have already mentioned a Portal flash game earlier in the week, much like most of the gaming community, we here at QPHQ fell fast and hard for Valve's three hour lovechild. And though we're not much for ARG's normally, this week's casual game is most certainly one of those.

We're quite inclined to let you do some searching yourself (around the Enrichment Center, of course) for the login and password -- but given we weren't exactly such astute observers ourselves the first time, we'll give you this:

1.) Click on the area blinking to allow you to type text.
2.) Type, 'login'
3.) For Username, type, 'CJOHNSON'
4.) For Password, type, 'TIER3'

You're on your own from there, dearest reader. If you don't have any knowledge of basic MS-DOS commands (or UNIX for that matter), then you may have a bit of a problem. Otherwise, read the entirety of, 'NOTES.EXE.' It's hilarious.

Enrichment Center Located.....in San Francisco?!

Those folks over at Joystiq sure are brave. Not only have they stepped up to the challenge presented to them at GDC this year, but they've also fared the streets of the dark and mysterious San Francisco Bay Area and found a second Enrichment Center. That's right, 'Still Alive' was clearly no joke.

Though they didn't encounter any cake-promising computers bent on destruction, they did snap a few pictures to prove that the terror is real. Considering what kind of reactions were to be had in England when news of you-know-who coming back surfaced, us here at QPHQ wouldn't be surprised at all to see mass denial. Lucky for us, we don't need no magic where we're going -- we gots us a gun.

(via Joystiq)

More Portal to Come

Eurogamer reported today that there will, in fact, be more Portal. While they're still working out the finer details of the project, it will be more than "a bunch of new puzzles" according to Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi.

As someone who wears her Weighted Companion Cube t-shirt regularly and has "Still Alive" as her ring tone, I greeted this spectacular (though not entirely surprising) news with a little dance. I'll spare you all from the cake jokes though.