That's of course true, but I think at the same time, had it been a decent priced standalone game with a snazzy cover and the ability to separate it proper from Half Life (which in terms of its "story" I still feel was a shoehorned and stupid thing to do) it could stand next to other admittedly small, short games that have gotten tons of praise. Lumines, Elite Beat Agents, Mecury, Exit, Loco Roco, and no doubt upcoming Little Big Planet and echochrome aswell.

In a lot of ways it's a matter of perception, and I think we, and people in general, are really fickle. I don't think an Xbox Live Arcade game could ever reach the same level of prestige as a PSN game could, because XBLA has been put out there and marketed as a service for small casual games. That's of course irrelevant in practice, you'd still be playing a full game if one was put on there, but I still think it's a factor. The comment "this should be an XBLA game!" is used as an insult, and anything on the arcade priced over 800 points - regardless of what game it is - is "overpriced". I wonder what brought that on... (No I don't.)

Like I said previously I think some opinions of Portal are very coloured by the context it's presented in, and that's a bit... if not unfair then maybe unfortunate.

It's great that it's getting out there in a trojan horse because GOD knows nobody has a fucking clue what he or she could be enjoying unless it's forced into their lives (trying something new you don't *think* you'll like is on EG's list of new year's resolutions and it's a GREAT one) but as with Crackdown there's really no way to tell if it was successful when the Halo 3 beta is essentially what people were buying.

Oh well.

No way.. the fact that it's connected to the Half Life universe is brilliant. Aperture Science can appear again in Half Life through Episode 3, and hopefully with the inclusion of the portal gun. The characters and story just add to the appeal and mystique ("All I know is I'm the only thing standing between us and them.") of the Half Life universe, but are still presented in an extremely light hearted way that's charming and funny.

It's neither unfair nor unfortunate to include Portal into that world. Portal is given a fair shake, and it stands on its own regardless of the way it was delivered, and it's an absolute treat for fans of the Half Life universe--even though the appeal is certainly not lost on those not heavily invested in Half Life's canon.

Never mind the fact that Portal is available as a stand alone product through Steam, it was perfectly logical for them to deliver it as part of The Orange Box and its story and charm wouldn't even exist if it weren't for Valve's direction and writing, and the choice to include it as part of Half Life's universe is part of that. I'd even say it's key to Portal's existence.

That whole last paragraph is just... so weird. Portal's success is bloody obvious and you don't need to measure it in sales to see that. It's seen through fanfare and critical acclaim everywhere you look. That is just as good of a measure of their success as anything else. From the internet's newfound obsession to cake to the critical admiration of GlaDOS and all she/it achieves, Portal is a success on every level.

Depends what you mean by success though, Okami was critically acclaimed and loved by fans, but Clover was essentially shut down because it couldn't sell. Now if it was boxed with Resident Evil 4 and the RE remake however...

Do you think a standalone release of Portal would sell? Steam has the kind of impulse buy appeal that PSN does, and it's a whooole different thing to have a boxed release standing next to Mass Effect.

However, with a boxed release it wouldn't have to feel like the gravity gun got its own game, and with a story that didn't chain it to HL it wouldn't need to be compared to it at all.

Were the idea made into a PSP game it wouldn't even cross people's minds to talk about how it's a "fraction of a game" or "design concept" or "tech demo", the reason it's even coupled with words like that in sentences is because of where and how it's presented.

OF COURSE people like it, like I said people would like all sorts of things if they weren't so stuck with the delusion that they know what they'd like. It's popular though because it was snuck in with a bunch of other titles. You can't say "portal is great! Go buy it!" and point to it in a store, and because of that it'll be wrongly accused of being a "bonus" or a separate component of Half Life.

But it is as it is. And it is brilliant.

Who cares how it was packaged? The fact that it's part of Half Life's world is part of Portal's design. You can't separate it from Half Life 2 and still expect to have the same results because part of what makes Portal's story brilliant is how it ties everything together. Sure, it's just as important that they manage to cram so much character development into such a simple, two hour sequence, but it's still a Half Life side story and that's a good thing.

So far as critical acclaim not being a measure of success, well, that's just bullshit. No one called Crackdown game of the year, no one thought it did anything particularly special to make it stand out as one of the great gaming achievements of its time. You can't claim the same of Portal. People have recognized its greatness in terms of writing, humor, story, etc--and Portal is a game whose fame (stemming from those specific areas of greatness) will be recognized for years to come. Crackdown, on the other hand, will fade away into obscurity as an average GTA clone where you could jump high.

If sales are the only measure of success, then.. well.. we live in an awful world.

The gravity gun did get its own game by the way, it's called Half Life 2. And once again: The fact that Aperture Science, Chell, and GlaDOS can all appear in future editions of the Half Life universe, both in their own setting (Portal) and in the core story of the franchise is not a bad thing. They established an interesting backdrop for something that's only briefly been mentioned in Half Life so far.. it is an interesting and refreshing approach to adding depth to Half Life's world.

And that's what Portal does. It adds depth, charm, and humor to a world that people already love. You can't simply cut the two apart and expect the same results.If it were still two hours short, no, I believe people would still think of it as a fraction of a game. What makes that so acceptable is its price and potential value through additional content. That's ignoring the fact that length is Portal's only real identifiable flaw though. For whatever it's worth, I believe it's a fine game even without the additional community content it will see in the near future.No. It's popular because it's great. The way it was delivered only aided in its exposure, but the critical acclaim would be there regardless, and if you could say "portal is great! Go buy it!" and point to it in a store, plenty of people would be doing just that.

And one more thing: it's not wrong to suggest that it's a separate component of Half Life, because it is. That's not a flaw though. And hell, the perception that exists as a bonus isn't a flaw either. Those things are not all mutually exclusive (just like killing you and giving you good advice). It can be a Half Life side story, an Orange Box bonus, and one of the best things to happen to gaming in a long time.

It can be all of those things, all at the same time--and it is.

I never suggested Crackdown is comparable to Portal, that's why I talked about Okami.. which by your measure was successful.. only it caused Clover to shut down.

Critical acclaim and fans screaming at the top of their lungs is not "success". A successful actor isn't someone in someone's basement who's acting the pants off Al Pacino. Success means.. hell I don't have to explain what it means, I'm the foreigner! Sands of Time was A M A Z I N G, but it wasn't remotely successful, that's why they turned him into an arsehead in Warrior Within. Arseheads are more successful as it were.

People buy the Orange Box for the Half Life games.. I reckon if someone isn't interested in the episodes and HL2, even if they ARE interested in puzzle games and Portal specifically then the package is an obstacle. But don't worry, again - nobody's actually getting it for Portal.It will not be percieved as one. Especially in a couple of years. This is of course guesswork on my part, but it is indeed my guess.

It's ironic that my gripe is that it's presented in a way that makes it sell, and my preference would be to present it in a way that most likely would see it race down the charts like Sonic in Sonic Adventure's Speed Highway zone. :P

But I'm on about silly things like the "pride" of being a standalone game, having its cover flaunted about in recaps of the greatest games 10 years from now. Portal will not be in those recaps for the fickle reasons stated countless times in my recent hamfisted attempts at explaining my point.If only they could, then maybe it'd be in those recaps after all.

This is my guess and opinion and everything of course.

I already have all of that stuff, but that's a pretty sweet deal just for HL2DM. Sure, it's a pretty basic deathmatch experience, but killing someone with a toilet or a radiator is always a good time.

Peggle extreme is good stuff too.

Somebody told me they were giving away Half Life 2. I knew it was too good to be true. Anyway, I'll probably buy Orange Box on PC. I figured out my Steam ID. Hooray!

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/28

I just got to play it here in an internet cafe and I absolutely loved it. Allthough it took me 2-3 hours to get trough i found it an amazing experience and especially the GlaDOS voice overs and the turrets were amazing :) Loved every minute of it and can't wait to play more levels!

No it's not.

It's not the only thing Portal has going for it, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

No it's not the best game ever.

But I can't be bothered to argue as I'm so shallow and only debate with beauftiful people.

beautiful people...and Phaethon?

Oh in that case..

Yes it is.

You didn't finish it? The last part of the game is definitely the best part. Great ending--you must go back and complete it and sit through the credits. Portal is not just a collection of puzzles, it's a short story.

It's really not as short as it's easy. Silly easy. I can see why they wanted everyone to complete it (for obvious awesomeness reasons when you do), but it's almost apologetic in its design which is really a bit of a shame. Yeah there's more to do once you do complete it, but because the narrative is so great (I agree with all of PA's awards for it) there's a sense of "nothing to see there".

For me, they were too modest with this first Portal (which includes aforementioned way of distributing it, and not letting it be its own game), and I sincerely doubt they can capture what was good about it in a sequel, much like Loco Roco wouldn't be able to, or Katamari wasn't able to, or for that matter any puzzler or small clever game where so much of its awesomeness relies on THE FIRST IMPRESSION.

It's a great game that gives you warm fuzzy feelings inside (and the way it's packaged it'll give warm fuzzy feelings to a lot of gamers not used to it because they wouldn't look twice at something like Loco Roco or Mario Galaxy) and it posesses enough odd quirks to anchor itself in some people's memories for now. Ultimately though it's an echochrome or an EXIT that is presented through surprising channels and thus reaching a wider, unsuspecting audience.

But I'm with roxwell, although I don't think it has to be "the best game ever" to be a nice addition to the likes of Mercury Meltdown Revolution and EXIT in what only has to be considered a rebirth and modernization of puzzle/thinker's games in recent years. I'm a big fan of puzzlers personally, so that's awesome.

And as soooooon as my GOTY2008 list is done it'll get its due respectful nods from me! :D

Hahaha! Damn it, damn it and my near-spotless record of spelling cock-ups now being less near-spotless! :D