Half Life 2 potato

[binvjoh]

So, I've spent a couple hours replaying Half Life 2 and stumbled upon something that sort of blew my mind. I had just arrived at Black Mesa East and was eager to get my hands on the Gravity Gun again, when I something on a piece of paper that looked awfully familiar.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/binvjoh/screenshot/560907128048964644?tab=public

http://steamcommunity.com/id/binvjoh/screenshot/560907128048963242?tab=public

Has that always been there? Did they add it in for Portal 2? Am I just paranoid/seeing things?

 

[binvjoh]

Edit: No responses, that's a bit depressive. Or GLaDOS is blocking this thread..yeah, that's probably it.

 

[EllEzDee]

Talk about mother fucking cyborg enhanced vision. How'd you manage to spot that? Or did you follow a guide?

 

[binvjoh]

I'm pretty sure Portal 2 did not invent Potatos.

Of course not, I just thought it was cool, even if it is just a coincidence.

 

[Harlemura]

Maybe Valve have just always had a thing for potatoes and the making of them into batteries.
They are fascinating, those potato batteries.

 

[Nimbus]

Looks like "Rotato" is written under it :/

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

Ah ha! Through these random scribbles on a seemingly insignificant piece of paper, we are able to determine the exact date of the release of episode 3!

 

[FunKing]

if memory serves i believe thats always been there

 

[binvjoh]

Talk about mother fucking cyborg enhanced vision. How'd you manage to spot that? Or did you follow a guide?

I tend to look around a lot when I game.

 

[Jowe]

I'm not sure, but I doubt it. They would have put something clearer in if they were going to put a potato reference in at all, and maybe even an achievement for it.
I find it unlikely that it is because there hasn't been an update for halflife2 since/during the ARG.
Even if it is a potato related drawing I think it will be very hard/impossible to certify it, as surely no-one can remember if that sort of detail was there before.

 

[Valagetti]

Hard to say...

 

[Feste the Jester]

Coincidence. A really amazing coincidence.

 

[EllEzDee]

Maybe Valve have just always had a thing for potatoes

I wouldn't say Valve so much as Gabe himself, especially of the crisp variety. That would be "chip" to you Americalish folk.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Gabe Newell likes his potatoes.

That's all. He just really likes potatoes.

 

[binvjoh]

Talk about mother fucking cyborg enhanced vision. How'd you manage to spot that? Or did you follow a guide?

I tend to look around a lot when I game.

Its a recently added easter egg. Its been known for weeks.

Really? I searched around a bit and found nothing.

Now I feel a whole lot less cool.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

It definitely says rotato. It's probably old.

I like to believe valve got the idea of potatoes from that email /v/ collectively wrote to gaben that ended with the sentence "hurry, potato delicious."

 

[emeraldrafael]

maybe its valve's inside joke for the series.

Most great series have them.

 

[MarsProbe]

I'm pretty sure Portal 2 did not invent Potatos.

That's the way things are for now, but who knows what could happen? I wouldn't put it past those folks at Aperture. When you've got trace amounts of time travel just lying around, what else would you do but go back and invent the potato?

But yeh, it does appear to say "rotato" and the movement lines around the potato seem to reinforce that theory. Perhaps the good scientists Kleiner and Vance were working on a self-rotating potato before the combine turned up?

 

[Singularly Datarific]

I think it might be a running gag in the company, or something.
Potatoes are funny for some reason, so there ya go.

 

[tacitus_jewel]

just noticed this myself.
grabbed my old ps3 copy of the orange box (a version of HL2 from 2007), and can confirm, its there as well. so this picture has been in the game for 4 years.
hmph. killed my mood too.