Crazy Valve ARG Teases ... Portal 2? *Update*

[Darth Rahu]

A friend of mine noticed something else as well concerning the GLaDos v3.11 and the Apeture Science Copyright years. The year ends in 1997, roughly during that year Windows switched to 95 from 3.11. So either we're causing this hype ourselves or Valve is pulling a double whammy on Microsoft and us. Here's hoping!

 

[silver wolf009]

Want it so bad. I must get that cake. i do that, and my life is complete.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I love this sort of puzzle thing. It's what Batman would do in his spare time (or the Question). The final clues will probably be buried somewhere in the sands beneath the Pyramids of Giza and will require you to shine the sun through an amulet on a precise date.

I'd love to have a job in a marketing firm just setting up stuff like this, or the Dante's Inferno teasers.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Oh Valve. What clever dogs you are! An interactive teaser!

To quote Jurassic Park
"Clever girl."

 

[LeeshaJoy]

This had better be leading up to SOMEthing.

 

[VickyBit]

A friend of mine noticed something else as well concerning the GLaDos v3.11 and the Apeture Science Copyright years. The year ends in 1997, roughly during that year Windows switched to 95 from 3.11. So either we're causing this hype ourselves or Valve is pulling a double whammy on Microsoft and us. Here's hoping!

Well, the information found in the BBS was accessed using the username/password BACKUP, so it could be old data.. And considering that the original Half-Life was released in 1998, a year after the Aperture copyright year, then maybe this is data from back before the Black Mesa portal incident :V

 

[SteakHeart]

I saw CJhonson in the ASCII art.

As in Cave Johnson, founder of Aperture Science.

As in the Aperture Science Laboratories where Portal takes place.

Need I say more?

 

[Svenparty]

If it only announces Portal 2 I will be very Sad I need Episode 3 and Soon!


Also Portal 2 would be nice But COME ON Valve

 

[NeonAnderson]

haha epic, nice, thx for posting this, i wonder what was up with the update notes of portal:

Namely:

Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations


I was like wtf :O

 

[Mortons4ck]

So Valve has been spending their time coming up with what appears to be an over-elaborate internet scavenger hunt rather than working on Episode 3?

I think I'll just keep holding my breath.

Pretty sure that the sort of people involved in creating (marketing et al) this have nothing to do with actually making games.

The organization of people at Valve is pretty amorphous if I recall correctly.

edit: Unless, of course, they just had EA's marketing department do it for them.

 

[Kanodin0]

I don't know near enough about radio signals to help solve this, but I can tell you guys that trying to earn the new achievement in Portal is really fun. There are apparently 26 radios, seems to be 1 per level, And each one is either hidden very well or very hard to get to. After finding it you then have to find the right spot in that part of the map to change the light to green.

 

[LeeshaJoy]

haha epic, nice, thx for posting this, i wonder what was up with the update notes of portal:

Namely:

Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations


I was like wtf :O

From what I gather, the frequency listed on the radios is actually a VHF television band, thus providing a hint as to how to decode the signals the radios pick up.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Well this is interesting however i will have to wait until i see all the facts....OMG ANOTHER PORTAL W00T!!!. Naw i'm just kidding but however i am very interested.

 

[LockeDown]

Can we have on thread discussing ValvE in which the hordes do not come in with their chanting:

Episode 3..

Episode 3...

Seriously, folks, if ValvE even gets around to publishing your precious game (they may opt to just make Half-Life 3 at this point), then they'll get to it when they're ready. Stop clawing at every single announcement made from Gabe's company asking for details on a game that they have already stated numerous times will not be released this year.

OT: Very nice to see a marketing stunt like this. Quirky, inventive, and just obscure enough to ensure that complete details won't be found for at least 24 hours. Bravo, ValvE, and good luck with Portal 2.

 

[NLS]

My bet is Portal 2 and HL:Ep3/HL3 will release in same bundle.
And then they'll link to eachother or something, like you start with Portal 2 and continue the game over in Ep3 or vice versa.
Or even better, after both games ending in the same spot
BAM HALF LIFE 3 out of nowhere

 

[Bigsmith]

I'm calling it now. Ep 3 and Portal 2 are one and the same.

Thats what I have been thinking, cause at the end of Ep2 Gorden and Alex are on there way to a Lost apature science Cargo ship.. which could have a copy of the portal gun on, for Gorden to have some fun with.

 

[Mantonio]

Ok...woohoo? Another game that is over in 20 minutes? Dont get me wrong portal was quite good but it wasnt the end all be all like some people are making it out to be. It was too short and everyone milked the gimmicky nuances for far too long.

Exaggerating the length (or lack thereof) of a game doesn't put you in a good like. Neither does blaming what the community drags out on the game itself.

Also, I thought it was the right length. Sure it was short, but it didn't outstay its welcome at all, and all of it felt appropriate. Nothing felt artificially lengthened.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Good grief those message boards are huge. Hours of my day, gone, reading them from the start to about page 100. Good grief...

 

[Formica Archonis]

I'd like to see the message board threads in which people figure out this stuff. Who's the guy who says "Hey, that sounds like a BBS handshake! Let me go dig Kermit out." and then most people ask what the frog's got to do with it, while a small group are asking "How old are you?"....

Now I'm feeling old. I just realized I haven't even used a modem since before my first son was born. (When was the last time you had to deal with "parity, data, and stop bits"?)

In all honesty? Two weeks ago. Cisco router that wasn't responding, had to hook up a serial cable and go in that way. (Conclusion, router b0rked. Responds to commands, just won't play nice with Ethernet stuff.)

Except for the bit about SSTV (which I hadn't heard of before today), everything in the update I've actually heard of and know how to do.

And it just breaks my brain. It's such a disparate collection of technologies. How many BBS era legendary Old Farts are there left who are still in the game enough to... well, to play ARGs relating to video games? I know a few guys from that era on a mailing list (I'm the young'un but they graciously put up with me). Even the ones who were gamers (DOS era, when EGA was good) aren't really into it now. They've got kids and are more involved with "grownup" pastimes. And SSTV.... Woah. Although, one of those guys I mentioned does work at a TV station now....

 

[Flying Dagger]

See, maybe if they'd not wrapped up the end of portal, I'd care more about this then HL2EP3