Portal 2 Catch-All

IMAGE(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4527/213nfb9.png)

F2T3 confirmed by Valve!!

shack comment[/url]]Gabe Newell spotted at Nintendo's rehearsal last night, Valve on the Wii I think.

Scratched wrote:

IMAGE(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4527/213nfb9.png)

WIN!

At least he has a sense of humor.

So... Portal 2 on the PS3. Explains the pushback, at the very least.

Trailer http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3...
edit: better vid, you monster.

nm

Scratched wrote:

Trailer http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3...
edit: better vid, you monster.

Wow.

Amazing.

Also I think it's amazing that we're getting what looks like is going to be a triple A puzzle game. (Yeah, I know it's a cinematic but still.)

The surprise factor is high but the care factor not so much

kyrieee wrote:

The surprise factor is high but the care factor not so much

True enough. The PC version is still the optimal choice, but I can see some PS3 users appreciating this.

kyrieee wrote:

The surprise factor is high but the care factor not so much

Is it confirmed that this is in fact the surprise? I thought Valve was going to do their own small presentation.

Scratched wrote:

Valve are unlikely to do a PC/mac only, steam only release. They like money as much as the next developer so they need retail and probably the consoles (depending on the type of game)

I'd argue that Valve's success is almost entirely PC based. I'm not sure that any of their games was a tremendous success on the Xbox (since Valve only barely supports the PS3).

Edit: Tannhausered by events.

Okay, is it just me or has Valve been wasting time on projects that 90% of their core fans don't care about? How many of us are drooling for Ep3 and Portal 2 or even a new IP? What does Valve bring out over the last year? L4D2 and Steam for Mac. Given that L4D was still a relatively new game and that Valve's legions of fans are primarily PC gamers (at least in regard to Valve games), these strike me as silly ways to maintain your fan base. Then their big reveal at E3 is support for a console that they have historically ignored/downplayed? Am I the only one not feeling the love?

Valve is expanding further into console space. There's a ton of money there and they're good at making games. Portal 2 will be a great PC game and I'm sure they'll make a polished PS3 version. Past success is for Duke Nukem.

Ummmmm, I'm drooling for Ep. 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQLpU...

Ok, I gotta admit, that does look really good. But if they keep using that cake gag, I'm gonna have to strangle someone.

Nevin73 wrote:
Scratched wrote:

Valve are unlikely to do a PC/mac only, steam only release. They like money as much as the next developer so they need retail and probably the consoles (depending on the type of game)

I'd argue that Valve's success is almost entirely PC based. I'm not sure that any of their games was a tremendous success on the Xbox (since Valve only barely supports the PS3).

Edit: Tannhausered by events.

Okay, is it just me or has Valve been wasting time on projects that 90% of their core fans don't care about? How many of us are drooling for Ep3 and Portal 2 or even a new IP? What does Valve bring out over the last year? L4D2 and Steam for Mac. Given that L4D was still a relatively new game and that Valve's legions of fans are primarily PC gamers (at least in regard to Valve games), these strike me as silly ways to maintain your fan base. Then their big reveal at E3 is support for a console that they have historically ignored/downplayed? Am I the only one not feeling the love?

This is almost exactly wrong. Valve hasn't released Steam sales numbers, which is theoretically where most of their sales come from, so we can't really compare PC vs Xbox numbers, but the Left 4 Dead games in particular have been very strong successes on Xbox, in the multiple millions of copies sold area. L4D2 was also more successful than the first one and cost much less to make, so that was most likely a MUCH smarter business move than Episode 3 would have been, and it keeps them rolling in money to take risks like Portal 2 - which, compared to L4D at least, is definitely a risk. Portal was a critical success, but not the kind of blockbuster that they're hoping Portal 2 will be.

Switchbreak wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:
Scratched wrote:

Valve are unlikely to do a PC/mac only, steam only release. They like money as much as the next developer so they need retail and probably the consoles (depending on the type of game)

I'd argue that Valve's success is almost entirely PC based. I'm not sure that any of their games was a tremendous success on the Xbox (since Valve only barely supports the PS3).

Edit: Tannhausered by events.

Okay, is it just me or has Valve been wasting time on projects that 90% of their core fans don't care about? How many of us are drooling for Ep3 and Portal 2 or even a new IP? What does Valve bring out over the last year? L4D2 and Steam for Mac. Given that L4D was still a relatively new game and that Valve's legions of fans are primarily PC gamers (at least in regard to Valve games), these strike me as silly ways to maintain your fan base. Then their big reveal at E3 is support for a console that they have historically ignored/downplayed? Am I the only one not feeling the love?

This is almost exactly wrong. Valve hasn't released Steam sales numbers, which is theoretically where most of their sales come from, so we can't really compare PC vs Xbox numbers, but the Left 4 Dead games in particular have been very strong successes on Xbox, in the multiple millions of copies sold area. L4D2 was also more successful than the first one and cost much less to make, so that was most likely a MUCH smarter business move than Episode 3 would have been, and it keeps them rolling in money to take risks like Portal 2 - which, compared to L4D at least, is definitely a risk. Portal was a critical success, but not the kind of blockbuster that they're hoping Portal 2 will be.

Okay, I forgot how well L4D did on consoles, but that is about it. I know that The Orange Box did well, but I don't think it was met with astounding success or longevity in the console space. As I said, as part of their core audience, I've been feeling neglected of late.

jollyeskimo wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQLpU...

Ok, I gotta admit, that does look really good. But if they keep using that cake gag, I'm gonna have to strangle someone.

It looks cool, but also frustratingly hard, especially the portal jumping puzzles. I never got the hang of doing those. It always seemed like blind luck...

Not to derail the arguments about valve's sales on consoles but every time I watch the trailer video I laugh at the flaming turret falling to it's death.

I think the really important thing about the PS3 announcement is that Valve has turned Source into an all-platform, turnkey solution. You can now create a game in Source, and it will spit it out to Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PS3. I think this is a major win on the business side for them.

Also, Steamworks on the PS3. I mean, I now have a set of achievements that works on three out of four platforms. Portal 2 is Valve's vehicle for some important initiatives this year.

I wonder if they'll do a Portal 1+2 bundle for those PS3 folks. It wouldn't surprise me.

Lex Cayman wrote:

Portal 2 is Valve's vehicle for some important initiatives next year.

FTFY

Scratched wrote:

I wonder if they'll do a Portal 1+2 bundle for those PS3 folks. It wouldn't surprise me.

Lex Cayman wrote:

Portal 2 is Valve's vehicle for some important initiatives this decade.

FTFY :(

Better?

Tycho from Penny Arcade wrote:

Sony's most fascinating maneuver was the reveal that "the best version" of Portal 2 "on any console" would be coming to the Playstation 3. We haven't heard rhetoric of this kind since Epic touted the platform's "openness" in 2007. For people who game primarily on consoles, you might not know what it means to have Steamworks integration. It varies depending on the implementation, it's sort of a la carte, and the PSN itself delivers some features by default. But you wont be paying for DLC on Valve games, ever. That is not a thing that will happen. And since Microsoft won't allow you to charge for something that is free on another system (recall R6: Vegas, or Burnout Paradise) it's an end run that's given Valve a lot of leverage. To sum up, Portal 2 isn't the surprise - Steamworks in the surprise. The porous nature of the PSN's functionality is an amazing opportunity for a company whose platform practically defines "platforms." Plus, there's no license associated with its use. Think about what this means for other developers, up to and including first parties. Why Sony would cede this kind of power to a third party I couldn't tell you, and why they would undermine the Playstation Store as a venue for premium content I couldn't tell you either. This is important; we should be paying attention.

He said it much better than me.

The post

Should I be taking this to another thread?

*Puts gamer card on table and slides it away from him.

I think you're probably right in some ways. I wouldn't be surprised if the half-life series is something valve want done and out of the way now, and if it means more games like Portal I wouldn't mind if they killed off Gordon Freeman or farmed it out to another (good quality) studio.

They've said before that big, content heavy games like half-life are taking ages to make because of all the details, gameplay features and tweaking it takes to make that sort of game to their quality level. I see this as them being shackled to this decade old game and it's weighing them down. When I hear that they've got an experimental psychologist on staff to learn how to mess with players reactions, when they're doing stuff like Portal/TF2/L4D, I want them to do more cool projects and if the price for that is to lose one (beloved) singleplayer game then I would be for it.

Scratched wrote:

I wonder if they'll do a Portal 1+2 bundle for those PS3 folks. It wouldn't surprise me.

Orange Box was released on PS3.

I never said it wasn't...

Although to be honest, I'd be surprised if they didn't bundle it for everyone, or at the very least a preorder/early adopter bonus. Especially after the world+dog should have portal already when it was free last month.

Man, next year is gonna be hellaciously hard on my wallet at this rate.

AnimeJ wrote:

Man, next year is gonna be hellaciously hard on my wallet at this rate.

Yes, there's a large amount of stuff being rammed into Jan/Feb. Why can't they use summer? There's f-all being released right now.