The extra content contained in Valve's Xbox Live Arcade port of its wit-driven puzzle-shooter Portal is already freely available on PC, the developer has revealed.

The bonus levels are simply culled from Hen Mazolski's Portal: The Flash Version MapPack with no major enhancements, Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi told former Shacknews editor Chris Remo.

Bringing the levels from the fan-made Flash version of Portal to the actual game, the map pack was released as a free download for the PC edition earlier this year.

Lombardi further clarified that the levels will not include any new story elements or commentary from GLaDOS.

Billed as an Xbox 360 exclusive, Portal: Still Alive is slated to hit Xbox Live Marketplace later this year.

An expanded edition of Valve's wit-driven puzzle effort Portal will hit Xbox 360 this fall as an exclusive downloadable Xbox Live Arcade release, Microsoft announced today.

In addition to the already-released single-player game, the Xbox Live Arcade edition of Portal will include additional test chambers through a new challenge mode, and new achievements.

Traditionally, a game's status as "Xbox 360 exclusive" refers to consoles, not PCs--suggesting that a PC release of Portal: Still Alive is quite possible, especially given Valve's past emphatic support of the platform.

Astute fans of Portal may remember the quirky Flash version, released prior to the Valve title by the self-styled "group of nerds" at We Create Stuff.

Now the group has converted the same levels from the Flash version into actual PC Portal maps, available for download at the We Create Stuff website.

The developers estimate the 40 levels will add up to some three and a half hours of additional Portal gameplay, and early word from Shacknews community member DrWaffles indicates the pack is worth your time. If it's been a while since you've loaded up Portal, this sounds like a good excuse.

Valve's attempts to sell the wit-driven puzzle effort Portal separately through the online Xbox Live Arcade were shot down by Microsoft, the studio has revealed.

Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said that the critically acclaimed title—awarded 2007 Game of the Year by the Shacknews staff and our readers—was held up by restrictions such as Xbox Live's recently increased 150 megabyte file size limit.

"We'd love to do that. Right now it's something we'd love to do. I'd love to sell Portal on Xbox Live," Lombardi told GamesIndustry. "[But] the platform holders... Read more

Caution: The full text of this article contains spoilers.

Don't tell anyone, but some of Portal's best dialog, the stuff about the importance of your weighed companion cube, came from writer Eric Wolpaw's readings of some "declassified government interrogation thing."

From that, he learned "isolation leads subjects to begin to attach to inanimate objects." So when designer Kim Swift and the rest of the small Portal team at Valve, which was never larger than ten people, were trying to make players drag "this stupid thing" (Swift's exact words) all over a map, Wolpaw had an idea.

His solution? Have a piece of dialog that implied the box was the player's only friend in the world. "After that, no one ever forget the box," Swift noted. "When all else fails, great dialog really was a great tool to give hints to players."

Making the Player Smile
"On its own, the [Portal] gameplay would be alright. Honestly, a little on the dry side," said Swift, emphasizing the importance of clever writing in the beloved title.

"If you're writing a funny game, first of all, god help you," admitted... Read more

Valve's hit puzzler Portal took home the prestigious Game of the Year award at the 8th annual Game Developers Choice Awards last night in San Francisco.

In all the team from Valve tallied three trophies for the title, including Innovation and Best Game Design.

2K Boston matched that number by winning three awards for its spooky shooter BioShock, in the categories of Best Audio, Best Visual Art, and Best Writing.

Civilization designer Sid Meier was on hand to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, with inventor video game pioneer Ralph Baer receiving a well-deserved Pioneer Award.

The full list of award recipients can be found below. ... Read more

"It's kinda a golden age of gaming. We're seeing some great games out there."

But after rifling through a half dozen titles he's played recently--including Advance Wars, Mercenaries, and Halo--Sid Meier, legendary Firaxis designer, admitted that he has yet to play Valve's Portal.

"When [Civilization Revolution] is done. On my pile of games to play."

With the upcoming release of Civilization Revolution, much of the Game Developers Conference Q&A with Meier was unsurprisingly devoted to the addictive strategy series he is known for.

Speaking of his team's early days on the original Civ, it turns out that even Meier was shocked at how enticing a round of Civilization could be.

"I actually did not really expect the game to be as addictive as it was," said Meier. "Every game had its fans but this kind of universal addictiveness.. was scary."

Meier went on to admit that much of the winning Civilization design... Read more

Update: Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi has clarified that plans to bring new maps and content to the console editions of Team Fortress 2 are still up in the air.

Original Story: The new Team Fortress 2 maps headed to the PC soon will also be available on the console editions at no cost, according to Eurogamer.

The maps will come in the form of downloadable packs on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. No release date was given for the content, though the Badlands and Goldrush maps are due out on the PC next month, with a CTF version of Well already having seen release.

In an interview with the site, Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi also mentioned that the company's hit puzzle-action title Portal will not be a one-and-done release.

"There'll be more Portal, for sure," said Lombardi. "But the details of that, to be honest, we're still working out."

An extended PC demo of Valve Software's 2007 hit (and Shacknews Game of the Year by both readers and editors) Portal (PC, PS3, X360) will be made available for free to gamers with NVIDIA graphics cards, the developer announced today.

The demo, called Portal: First Slice, comes as part of a recent agreement between Valve and NVIDIA to "collaborate on development, distribution, events, and more." Gamers equipped with NVIDIA graphics cards looking to give the test chambers and deathtraps of the Aperture Science labs a trial run must allow Steam to auto-detect their NVIDIA cards to unlock the demo.

First Slice and the collaborative campaign between the two companies marks a departure from the former marketing team-up between ATI and Valve, shifted by an increase in NVIDIA hardware use among Steam gamers. "More Steam gamers, including myself, play on NVIDIA hardware than any other GPU," said Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi, citing Valve's frequent gamer hardware surveys.

Portal: First Slice is available for immediate download from Steam—provided, of course, that you've got an NVIDIA card under the hood. Like Valve's previous free game offer for ATI users, this download also includes Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast and Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, as well as Peggle Extreme.

There's a Q&A with Valve's Erik Wolpaw on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, asking the writer about his work at Double Fine and now Valve.

Welcome to the Replay Couch, where we kick back and watch the best, and worst, of recorded video game history. Each week we'll be offering up a compilation of captures from the world of insane speed-runs, chance kills, competitive moments, and hilarious happenings, from the past and present.

This installment begins with a highlight of Valve's puzzler Portal, a game tailor-made for inventive attempts. This will be followed by a few clips from games such as Team Fortress 2, Halo 3, Skate, StarCraft, and Garry's Mod. Check it all out here; at the end of the show, there will be cake.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Want more? Click through for an abundance of moving pictures.

For this week's ShackCast, Remo spent some time hands-on with Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) and several of its new characters--Pit from Kid Icarus, Meta Knight from the Kirby series, the new Samus and her Zero Suit form, and the just-revealed Sonic the Hedgehog.

Nick was at Epic's offices checking out Unreal Tournament 3, which he feels is underrepresented by its recent demo. Carlos met with Sierra to check out several upcoming PC and Xbox Live Arcade downloadable games; some--such as Aces of the Galaxy and Commanders: Attack of the Genos--are promising, and some--Battlestar Galactica--are not.

Plus, all of us played through Portal and loved it, because it is lovely. Finally, we discuss Double Fine's new game announcement and Electronic Arts' acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic Studios.

Don't forget to send in your questions and comments about video games, the Shack, or the ShackCast to shackcast@shacknews.com!

Play or download the podcast now, or browse the episodes through iTunes, RSS, or Digg--or continue on for the full breakdown. ... Read more

For the second of our Orange Box reviews, I played through Valve's incredible take on the puzzle genre, Portal. My review is from the Xbox 360 version of the game, which should be identical to the PC version other than the controls--meaning either version is fantastic and merits your attention. Hop in to read why.

From the moment you start playing, the game's immersive, self-contained story unfolds without a break in the action, in signature Valve style. A feminine robotic voice greets you when you awake in a sterile, gray observation room and guides you from one test chamber to the next.

Here's your weekly Shackcast, and it's a packed show befitting this absurdly blockbuster-ridden upcoming holiday season. As always, send in your comments and questions to shackcast@shacknews.com.

Episode 12 focuses almost entirely on game impressions, with no time left for news. On tap is discussion of Gears of War on PC, Crysis, Portal, Guitar Hero III and its differences on the three main platforms, Hellgate: London, and Dementium: The Ward on DS.

Faylor also played a bit of Treasure's N64 classic Sin & Punishment, officially available in the West for the first time thanks to Virtual Console on Wii, and we have some listener mail involving missing game discs at retail and the unsettling growing number of simultaneously offered models of various consoles.

Play or download the podcast now, or browse the episodes through iTunes, RSS, or Digg. ... Read more

IGN has the latest Portal preview, offering impressions of the game launching next week as part of the Orange Box.

Update: Though no specific date has been set, a Valve representative tells Shacknews that Half-Life 2: Episode Two will be available for pre-load later this week.

Original Story: Those who pre-purchased Valve's first person brain twister Portal through Steam, either in the $44.99 ultra compilation The Orange Box or by its separate $19.99 listing, can now begin downloading the game's assets.

Commonly referred to as pre-loading, the idea is to let gamers gradually download a game in advance so they only need to download a small enabling file on the day of its release, preventing owners from being held back by slow download speeds and clogged servers.

While buying a physical copy of The Orange Box at a retailer sidesteps the pre-loading process, retail consumers will still need to go through the same Steam-based activation process in order to play the included games.

With The Orange Box gone gold and confirmed to release on October 10--that's next Wednesday--for PC and Xbox 360, the pre-load for Half-Life 2: Episode Two is expected to begin shortly.

bit-tech.net has been updated with a Portal preview, going hands-on with the first person puzzler which will be included with The Orange Box.

IGN has been updated with a Portal preview, offering their thoughts on Valve's first person puzzle game.

There's a Portal preview on Eurogamer this morning, offering more impressions of Valve's portal puzzle game which is part of the Half-Life 2 Episode Two package.

Also on Computer & Video Games is a Portal preview, checking out the first person puzzle game at Valve. In case you missed it, we recently got to check out the game as well.