I dunno, I laughed out loud at the Portal section but some of that requires you to have completed Portal to "get". And do get Portal, its can be run through in 2-3hours but you will want to experience it as mush as possible.

I was already really looking forward to picking up Portal, but this has made me want it even more. Unfortunately for me, The Orange Box just got delayed in Australia -- it was due today but it's now been pushed back a week. It's almost enough to make me boot my PC in to Windows and buy Portal on Steam, but I'd much rather play it on the 360.

I dunno, there are a number of spots in the advanced levels and challenge modes in Portal where I'm not sure anything but the pixel-aiming of a mouse'll cut it. Anyway it's what? 22 AUD on Steam? Not bad for something that good.

I hate to promote something solely on the potential of downloads/mods but since the rest of the game is so great, it's not so hard to do so. Some masterful map designers -should- be emerging slowly to give PC owners some killer bang for the buck.

Its not a promise, but it happens with every other Valve released Source game (Stalker and Dark Messiah, not so much)

I've played Portal on both PC and 360 and I really enjoyed it both ways. PC because it came first. 360 because it was still fun and it looked so nice on a big screen.

Orange Box is on its way to me. I think I'll wait to watch the review until after I've played some.

Some people still haven't bought the Orange Box? For shame!

I bought this game solely for Portal. Everything else is gravy.

If I were to vote in a poll, I'd name Portal (all 3-4 hours of it) GOTY.

Hands Down. It's just that good a game, brevity aside.

It's seriously the first game in a long time (since Max Payne 2, actually) to move me and give me chills watching the ending.

I understand it didn't do that for everyone, but for me, Portal is the best game to be released this year so far.

Re: Game of the Year consideration
I think Portal definitely deserves to be in the conversation.
Here's why I don't think it would get the nod from most official sources though: As someone who used to buy only four or five games per year, the value proposition of each game changes. You tend to value games with long length or replayability more than awesome short story games, or even excellent 6-8 hour games.

Oblivion, Final Fantasy, GTA, even Madden all share that in common. And I'd wager that for a large portion of the group that only buys a few games per year, one of those games is on their short list.

Once you start buying/renting/playing 10/12/15/20+ games per year the value of each individual game changes. Sticking out from the crowd matters more, and having a sharply defined experience matters more too.
When you're doing "Best of" lists there's a strong incentive to appeal to the greatest number of people possible - it's essentially a popularity contest. One of the easiest ways to do that is to pick a game that people are more likely to have played and gotten attached to.

That, and people with no patience or curiosity can run through Portal and be completely oblivious, not making it to the "real ending", barely listening to GLaDos and not discovering the extra rooms.

I still think Portal deserves to be in the GOTY conversation but I'm not convinced the GWJ demographic is representative of the greater gaming public on this one. It shouldn't change the community opinion around here but I thought I'd share why I think it would be a victory for Portal to get serious consideration, but don't think the "actual award" is likely. (Unless you're talking about a GWJ-only GOTY award.)

Well the problem with Bioshock is clearly illustrated in Yahtzee's review of it. While it is a good game and quite charming in places its a rehashing of System Shock 2 down to the plot twists. While not a terrible thing to do, when you compare, you're left with the conclusion that Portal deserves the title for presenting something genuinely new and fresh.

....What?

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure if I was just getting caught on the grammar or if there was a reference I wasn't understanding.

Point taken, and fair enough.

That's my thoughts.

Because portal has many phrases that are very easy to quote out of context. HL2 EP2 does not.