GLadOS invites you to have cake next week when Portal: Still Alive hits the Xbox Live Arcade with all new maps and achievements. The companion cube misses you as well. More after the link.

Well, it would seem that the developers might be deep into Portal 2's development cycle, as we hear that an alleged voice actor casting call at Breakdown Express is looking for someone to voice a new character in Valve Software's "new game" in the Portal series. In light of this, an anonymous tipster provided privied information to Kotaku, and if you're not a fan of leaked spoilers, you might not want to click on "Read more..." just yet.

After passing the buck to the gamers themselves on Half-Life's (could be last) episodic content, Gabe Newell is confidently saying that Valve is far from losing steam on the said franchise. Especially not when they're inching closer to the grand finale in the form of Episode Three.

In fact, there's still so many possible angles and universes for them to cover. Says Newell:

We'd certainly love to be working in other universes because any time you get two Valve people together they come up with five game ideas and thirteen universes that they would like to tell and play them in. So there's a lot of Half-Life left at Valve.

Portal was also mentioned as one of those carrying the interesting stories, such as those on Aperture Science, even before the team came up with the idea that it could be host to other stories in other Half-life universes. It certainly sounds like the spirit of Half-Life will live on even after Episode Three. Stay tuned for more clues, hints, and news on the matter.

 

Are you up for a brain teaser? Or better yet, a brain twister? Enter Portal, Valve's new puzzle game that ships with Half-Life 2: Episode Two, guaranteed to leave your gray matter looking like a pretzel. The guys at Eurogamer struggled to describe the experience at the Game Developers Conference (GDC).

Kim Swift, level designer from Valve demonstrated and gave them a tutorial. According to Swift, the game is basically around four hours long. The difficulty curve, however, was something else. She adds that if not for the hurried tutorial (at the conference), players would be able to come into terms with gameplay as Portal will "take you very step by step in terms of being able to use your portals". It's set in the Half-Life universe and currently only features single player.

While we wait for Half-Life 2 and Portal might as well stay away from reps of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, unless you want to be one of their test subjects. Apparently, they don't like living test subjects (at least after the tests are over).

As part of a previously-mentioned required test protocol, we can no longer lie to you. When the testing is over, you will be... missed.

Valve Studios created a new buzz about a new mini game that will be bundled up with Half Life 2: Episode 2 (coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3). In an email interview with IGN, Valve's Kim Swift discussed the details about the new puzzle game called Portal.

Swift is one of the students at DigiPen Institute of Technology who created the winning entry game, Narbacular Drop, during their senior years. After watching their demo of the game, Gabe Newell hired them on the spot as new employees of Valve Studios. The game was demoed at the EA's Studio Showcase last July where Valve presented a first-person game concept that will be shipped independently on PC and as part of a package on Xbox 360 and PS3 next year.

In the game, players control a test participant in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center where they must finish a series of tests. Swift best described it as, "It feels a lot like you're a rat in a maze, actually." Players can create portals in any flat surface such as walls, floor and ceilings. The portal tool also acts like a weaker version of Half Life 2's gravity gun in which players can pick up objects and toss them through the portal. Unfortunately, the initial release is to be single-player only, but Swift said that they have lots of ideas for multiplayer mode in Portal for future projects.

For a more detailed information about the interview, you can check the full interview by clicking the link below.

Valve Studios announced that their new title, Portal, will come bundled free with Half-Life 2 - Episode 2. Portal was demoed last July at the EA's Studio Showcase. Valve presented a first-person game concept that will ship independently on PC and as part of a package for Xbox 360 and PS3 next year. IGN got to interview Valve employee Kim Swift, a developer on the Portal team.

According to Swift, Portal is "a first-person, single-player game set in the Half Life universe" the initial release is a standalone game that will provide an extra three hours of gameplay to the HL2: Episode 2 game package. In the game, there are no lethal weapons except for a gun which creates portals. You can create two at a time and move between them, or have others move between them. It looks wicked as it is something we have never seen before. Valve divided the gameplay into a series of trials that you have to complete as a test subject in the Aperture Science Laboratories.

Also, players can easily pick up objects and toss them through portals as the Portal device also acts as a slightly less powerful gravity gun. Portals can be created on any flat surface like walls, floors, and ceilings that is large enough for one of the portals to fit on.

In the game, players act as a test subjects for the Aperture Science Corporation wherein one must finish series of challenges. Talk about being rats in a maze!