sounds good to me, it's not like anyone except morons wanted glaDOS to be in the sequel. Seriously to those people: do you think at all? We don't need what will inevitably be a rewind of Portal 1. If they want to advance Portal's story they need to get further into the shoes of Aperture Science. This is a great way to do it while still maintaining much of the overall puzzle making Portal 3 that much easier to draw out. I just hope it's not a cliffhanger ending like Halo2/3.

MrFatalistic

For some reason I imagined that in the voice of the Engineer, maybe they don't need to hire a new voice actor at all.

A sequel would be interesting as long as the gameplay is different, not just another test subject going through chambers, and if it's a prequel then the puzzles would probably have to be simpler. Episode 3 should act as the chronological sequel though, with the references to Aperture Science in Ep2.

lordofsword

@Blinkstale: Did you play the first portal? It happened to have an antagonist (aka "bad guy"). The fact that there is a Portal 2 implies that it, following the suit of the first game, was already very likely to have an antagonist as well.

And anybody who played the first one could've seen this coming. Seriously.

So, uh, chill out.

antialias02

@Blinkstale: "Warning: It's all spoiler territory from here on..."
They gave a warning. It's nobody's fault but your own when you hit the jump.

TOWER_JUNKIE

@(俗・ ) Grey Gecko: But you may have to pray they release it a year after it gets officially announced.

Laughin_Caulk

Meh. Same thing is worse than first.

Ashurahori

@E_Sully, Dr.Chocobo, ItotheCtotheE: Actually, the article suggests that based on this sample of dialogue Portal 2 would occur AFTER the events of the first game, meaning Max Headroom or whatever this guy's name is would be a SUCCESSOR to GlaDOS, and not an earlier iteration. If anything it sounds to me like they're going to flesh out Aperture even more to incorporate it more fully into the Half-Life universe.

wild homes v: treyarch attacks

Every time I read news related to Portal's sequel/prequel I get a strange feel of joy runing trough my spine.

Right now I'm praying with all my might that they don't screw this one, but since it's Valve who we are talking about I guess I can return to the faithless church.

(俗・ ) Grey Gecko

It sounds interesting. I hope its as good as the first, but please make it longer Valve, if only just a little bit longer.

theCornerinvasion

At this news pace, we'll have Portal 2 in our hands by next week!

I was thinking...maybe this is shaping up to be a co-op Portal with the fact that he is a "sidekick." It would be too easy to make him exactly like GlaDOS (that's not the Valve way).

Eccentric billionaire, huh? I wonder if Andrew Ryan will make a cameo...oh, the mind reels!

boopadoo

@Blinkstale: Why come to a video game blog, largely consisting of pre-release information and spoilers, if you "don't want to know" these things. I come here personally to lick up every last droplet of game related info. Go elsewhere for you vanilla knowledge.

vanderblade

@Blinkstale: There is a SPOILER ALERT tag...

Lockenator

@E_Sully: Magnificent men can violate us just as easily as bad dudes can. We just feel a bit honored when it's a magnificent man.

@Blinkstale: That's sad, I really thought your original complaint was just a really well-done parody. Then you had to fuck it up with your second post. Oh well.

Bring on some Portal 2! Yay!

wild homes v: treyarch attacks

So you play as the person who winds up being glados cuz the old rich guy realizes that it's better to be an artificial intelligence except he's alone so he drives the user in a direction that makes them turn into an A.I. as well.

Sound about right?

ItotheCtotheE

@Blinkstale: I know how you feel, Crecente came into my cubicle and physically forced me to click on the jump too.

I'd feel violated if he weren't such a magnificent man.

E_Sully

@Shiryu:

Just the first one!

Ariel_Wollinger

I would love to see what happens after you escape the complex at the end of portal. I think the character could meet gordon!

Ariel_Wollinger

Hell yes.

Solid_hedgehog

@Blinkstale: "You forced it into me! *make up messed up due to uncontrollable tears* I was only curious but you rammed it inside of me!"

Really man, just take it easy. It ain't anything too spoilerish to know that there's a bad guy in a video game.

Ruglia

@Blinkstale: Could be just me, but I didn't think much past that other than "Enemy"

Am I just old? Or does anyone else still stick with the good old standards of "Bad Guy" and "Mailman" as androgynous, even though they aren't? To me, they still have no sexual connotation...

Either way. Technically, Gla-Dos wasn't a female, it was a program. As such, coulda been programmed by a guy, this making Gla-DOS a representation of a bad guy.

Whee semantics.

Setzer IIDX

@Brian Crecente: You think I have a choice at this point?

Blinkstale

As always, it's not a spoiler until someone shows you how to beat a single-player game. Puzzles were fun, after all.

Laughin_Caulk

@Dr.Chocobo: But in a game it's always pretty obvious that there's a bad guy. Even more if you're playing while this crazy old man is spewing senseless and scary shit at every one of your accomplishments.

Ruglia

@Setzer IIDX: Funny, I was imagining the voice of the engineer from TF2 more than colonel sanders. I think it could work out nicely.

That Lamer

@Blinkstale: Good lord, deal with it.

Brian Crecente

@Ruglia: It could potentially ruin the story in that maybe they'll leave the bad guy mysterious until the end? Who knows.

Anyways:

It would be cool if you were one of the Aperture scientists and as you were working testing portals and shower curtains (playing the game) the Bad Dude get more worse and worse. It would be nice to have some emotional conflict.

Dr.Chocobo

@Automageddon!: Yeah, but too many articles on the internet feature spoilers when it really won't affect the performance of most of them at all.

Erwin

@Shiryu: XD
Of course...

I was not complaining AT ALL... ^^

Just saying that it sounded a lot like the matrix to me. Not that it's a bad thing. Really, it isn't. =)

dynosaulo

Article with spoiler are more aerodynamic and can be read faster, don't you think?

Automageddon!

Nice. Maybe they'll make a good connection into how it all turned into GladOS.

Dr.Chocobo

@fusilero: Exactly.

@Blinkstale: You're kidding, right? I mean, if you're serious: how the hell will this affect your gaming experience once Portal 2 is out? Will this ruin the story?
In fact, I bet this was something you were going to know about sooner or later. Really, people bitching of stupid shit like this shouldn't really look at a NEWS site/blog.

Ruglia

Portal isn't Portal without GLaDOS. She is "still alive."

VixDiesel

I'm kind of reminded of the Dynarri from Star Control II/Ur-Quan Masters. Old guy with a western/southern accent who's an intellectual and also evil.

chardish

Compelling! I like the idea GlaDOS is possibly a result of some early experiment with a deceased eccentric billionaire's consciousness.

Makes me think of The Man With Two Brains, plus cool gun, minus Steve Martin.

E_Sully

@dynosaulo: !? Dind't we all?

Shiryu

They REALLY liked The Matrix...

dynosaulo

Holy fucking shit you guys.

STOP PUTTING SO MANY FRONTPAGE SPOILERS.

The fact that there was a "guy" could be passed off as an accident, but "DETAILS ON PORTAL 2'S BAD GUY"?

So there's a bad guy. GREAT. MAYBE I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW.

Blinkstale

I would love to hear the song at the end of Portal 2. It'd be hilarious if it was a square dance.

Vibhorsir

GlasDOS > Old Man

fusilero

*jumps in red portal*

I wonder about the length of this game, are they going to keep it short like portal? I bet they make it a 40 hour game :P

*jumps out blue portal*

8bitcity

It sounds like a good idea, though I was hoping for more of GlaDOS. Still, I can't wait for this.

TalKeaton: A Force to be Reckoned With

Nothing like existentialist discussions with Colonel Sanders.

Setzer IIDX

No telling if this internal conflict is the catalyst for Johnson "[losing] his grip on humanity as the story progresses"

I'm pretty much that's how he loses his humanity.

Oh man, Portal 2. How did you do with Portal, McWhertor?

Ruglia

Lets hope it improves the original on every way! Hard task, but if someone can do it, it's them @ Valve.

Shiryu

@Blinkstale:

NEXT ZELDA GAME TO HAVE BAD GUY!

Whoops, shoulda' spoilered that.

Mink_Car

I just finished Portal last week, though I've had Orange Box since about 3 weeks after it released (on PS3 btw). Wonderful game that begs for a sequel. Guess I'm not commenting on the story here as I wanted to avoid the spoilers, so to the end of the comments I went!

My personal vision of a sequel would be events that were taking place parallel to the original game. Another test subject, at roughly the same space of time, having a similar problem in a different Aperture Science location.

This subject is a volunteer from the military this time, not just a lab rat. He has to file a recommendation report to the gov't for a possible military contract for the Portal device. The computer running this test would have its manic moments, except it would be trying to cover for all the problems in the facility.

You know, so this guy writes a good report.

The problem is that the computer can't help but try to fry him (a bug from being networked with glaDOS?) while also attempting to make his trial easier and bribe him for a good write-up. With writing skills far beyond mine, it could be hilarious.

crashlanding

I think that would be cool if aperture got black mesa'd. Essentially you're some person working at aperature and have to deal with crazy rogue AI and portals.
I think that would be kind of cool.

Kounji

If only slim pickens were alive to play this role.

Jon_Danger

@Blinkstale: I know, right? Here I was thinking that Portal 2 would be Chell just walking around inside the Aperture Science building moving cubes around and jumping in and out of portals. I DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS A *BAD GUY* IN A GAME. WHO'S RETARDED IDEA WAS IT TO ADD A VILLAIN INTO AN OTHERWISE STRAIGHTFORWARD PUZZLE GAME.

I AM APPALLED, KOTAKU, *APPALLED* AT THE BALLS YOU HAVE TO SPOIL SOMETHING LIKE "BAD GUY" IN A VIDEO GAME. WHERE I COME FROM WE HAVE NO ANTAGONISTS AND WE LIKE IT, DAMMIT.

Genocyde

Interesting news. I hope this one tops the first. That would be quite the acheivement.

okrangerbob

@Laughin_Caulk: meh...I'm a patient guy, If I waited for Ocarina of Time I can wait for Portal 2.

(俗・ ) Grey Gecko

@Blinkstale: Wait, this is sarcasm, right?

Michael McWhertor

The KFC guy speaks!

Cosmitz

@Blinkstale: *Spoiler Warning*

Metal Gear Solid 4 will have a villian.

TRT-X

New badguy blah blah blah. Where's the real spoiler info, like...

Will there be CAKE?

Salen

Mark my words, Portal 2 will end with Cave Johnson's robotic clone filling the lab with deadly neuro-toxin...

TRT-X

GLaDOS could still be in Portal 2, they just don't need to send out casting stuff for her because she's already cast.

aiusepsi

This role was made for Charles Napier.

Karoshi

@Ruglia: @Brian Crecente: @Ruglia:

Dude. Guys. He's obviously joking. He's ACTING UPSET at finding out that there'll be AN ANTAGONIST. That's more sarcastic than me going "THERE'S PORTALS IN PORTAL 2?! OMG YOU SPOILED IT FOR ME LOWESERSERS!!!111!!!"

Reilaos~

Hope to god they've got a central play mechanic that isn't the portal gun. I'm assuming that they're smart enough to realize that they did almost everything worth doing on the first one except for the story and atmosphere (which can easily live on in a sequel).

DrFresh

It's going to be very hard, topping the unexpectedness of the first game.

artofwar420

isnt portal a tie in to half life 2: episode 3?, you know, the borealis had that aperture science crates on it. i would imagine this is a prequel, heres a spoiler:

"Hello, I am Andrew ryan....."

underground_slacker

@TalKeaton: A Force to be Reckoned With: I thought it would be neat if they ended portal 2 (assuming it actually is a prequel) with the introduction of GLaDOS

Sandbox_Emperor

I loved Portal to death. But this plot seems WAY to convoluted to be real. I mean come on, GLaDOS being replaced by Cave Johnson. How absurd! Anyway, I hope Portal 2 is just as innovative as the original and ties together some of the Half Life story.

KEITH1437

Oh, and NOW I find out that the "not:" tag is universal. Great.

[kotaku.com]

Maybe Kotaku could, I dunno, make this a little better known rather than having to hunt down that old GTA IV article to figure out how to read Kotaku spoiler free?

Blinkstale

I didn't hit the jump, just the comments button on the side.

Sure, of course there's a villain. GLaDOS was in Portal. Does that mean Portal 2 will have a male human being villain? No, not at all. That's what I'm complaining about. Chell was the only human in Portal, and the fact that there's another human being in Portal 2 is a HUGE change.

If Valve didn't want us to know this information, that's an insane spoiler, just like if I told you that there are no other human beings in Portal 1. That's a huge spoiler. This may be no different.

And if this article is about Valve commenting on it, I'm sorry, I DIDN'T READ IT. Go figure that I tried to stop reading asap.

Blinkstale

As long as it is funny, that's all that matters.

daschupa

@underground_slacker: Aperture Science was another lab that I think was competing with Black Mesa for funding, and BM won, so there's a rivalry between them. All that and the Borealis was mentioned in Ep2, so the two stories might come together in Ep3, and Portal 2 could go back to the HL1 days or could be the game they use to bring back Adrian Shephard.

lordofsword

I totally called it.

Juaninja

@bighit006: Damn, beat me to it. It would be so hilarious it just screams for a sitcom.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

maybe the new machine and glados will make love somewhere along the road.

bighit006

@lordofsword:

maybe hes the g-man?, maybe he talks that way because he's a machine?, maybe there portal experiments were what caused the black mesa accident in the first place?

damn its fun to speculate.

underground_slacker

Just a suggestion, but you should specify whether your spoiling the potential sequel/prequel, or the original game.

I thought you meant the original game. =\

Cola82

@Ruglia: Yes.

@bighit006: @Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.: Oh my God, that would be hilarious. You're just minding your own business when suddenly, over the loudspeaker, you hear moans. And groans. And creaks. Intensifying.

Taking a cold shower, now.

Aethyr

I'm excited.

InsidiousTuna

@Cola82: The 2 in Portal 2 stands for sequel.

Ruglia

i get the feeling the pie will be a lie now :( no more lies please

sunpop

The first Portal was with lots of comedy and this one seems to be with an interesting story and probably lots of comedy too!

HELLSRIDER

@sunpop:

Pie? Don't you mean cake?

dead_red_eyes

i want my GlaDOS though...

ifalldownstairs

Can't complain about this - its a mix of Ryan, Col. Harland Sanders, and GlaDOS.

Its a steampunk, futuristic quarter pack!

Crab_Botherer

this stuff barely qualifies as spoilers...

me telling you that Portal 3 will be an MMO, now that's a spoiler...

c0dek

Oh my god that comment got screwed up. What I meant to say:

"Hello, my name is Cave Johnson, and I'd like to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the cake of his own oven? No, says the man in Washington, it belongs to the poor. No, says the man in the Vatican, it belongs to God. No, says the man at Black Mesa, it belongs to science."

GANNONSMASH

"Hello, Cave Johnson, and I'd like to ask you a question

GANNONSMASH

wonder how they will make it new again as i have heard they wanted to do not just a new story but a new mechanic

MrBubbuls

you know, with how valve is i wouldnt be suprised if they scrapped that idea now and changed it all just because it was leaked

kommanderk

Were any other geeks reminded of "the Dixie Flatline?" Especially after hearing (reading?) him speak...

fuchikoma

@Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.: @Aethyr: @bighit006:

[www.xkcd.com]

Barts

I am still stuck on the free map pack (flash version) after loading that ship :(

Hand_O_Death

@Blinkstale:
"Bad guy" is slang for antagonist, it doesn't convey gender or race.

Glados was the bad guy in Portal 1.

Samus is the good guy in Metroid.

Oh, I'm sorry I just ruined the ending of Metroid.

If you are so worried about stuff like this you should not be going to gaming web sites.

stevenjazz787

i have a bad feeling about this..

pissa

This is going to kick so much ass they're going to have to stop the game half way through in order to bring in more asses to kick.

Something you may not know: A normal man may teabag, Chuck Norris may potato sack, but Cave Johnson hot air balloon's.

Tietsu

Hmmm. That's kinda lame. Sounds like an oil billionaire.

michaelleung

Anyone who says he doesn't sound as good as glados needs to check out some of the leaked script. hilarious!

bighit006

He's going to have a cyber sex change.

I can't think of a good name...

Companion Cube > Glados > old Guy

etaripamai

@Blinkstale: See? Here's the trouble. Instead of ignoring the article and moving on with your life, you decided to irrationally comment on what you thought it contained. I'm not going to illuminate you on exactly how wrong you are (since obviously you don't want to know) but suffice it to say that you are assuming something completely wrong when you say the title is the spoiler. Rather than spouting off about something you know nothing about about don't want to know about, you should have just moved on to something else your sensibilities will allow you to read.

mandifesto

@bighit006: Wait, what?

~xoaks~

Ya know, I really just want my fucking cake this time around :<

~xoaks~

@mandifesto: Right on!

superbryant

Good luck making something as good as portal. Much less a prequel. I hope it can get out of the shadow of the first and do something we don't expect.

Flowen

That sounds pretty crazy but anyway hopefully it's as crazy and mind boggling as the first one.

Trouser--Snake

"Gosh diggity darn, ya'll! I'm new in town and I'm the derivative, yet wholly original new villain of your favourite catch-phrase spawin' video game cultural non-phenomenon. Hope I can go all loopy at the end an try ta murder ya in a comical, yet heart renderin' fashion. Uh-yuck!"

This is wrong in so many ways. They shouldn't make a sequel to a game like Portal. That'd be like making a franchise out of Shadow of the Colossus, where the hero goes up against "16 all-new, all-different and totally wacky new colossi" in each consequent sequel. This should stay the stand-alone work of art it was meant to be.

And in any case, sequels are for hackneyed claptrap nonsense like Halo where the characters and settings are freely interchangeable for maximum cash-making pow-tential. Portal, like those Clover Studio games, don't need sequels.

Ah well, whining about it won't change a thing but I still say they should have saved Chen's backstory for Half-life 3, where we could have seen her working at Aperture and then giving bloody messy birth to Alix in one of those sterile white antechambers. Instead we're getting a crazy AI who's secretly just GLADos dressed up like JR Ewing (ask your parents) going through the motions AGAIN.

GogolGants

@underground_slacker:
It probably wouldn't be the G-Man because they've already got a voice actor to play him. And no, sunpop, he/she means pie. Read the comment again.

MandaBurlington

@Blinkstale: Silly of you to be on this site if you will moan about the info posted but alas,nothing to be done.
As for the topic at hand Valve proved they have a great amount of creativity about them shown by the awesomeness of Portal itself.Time will tell what this new "eccentric dead billionaire" can offer us in lines of a bad guy but i am optimistic!

Korasa

Anyone know if the Old Man Murray guys have been confirmed for writing duties on the sequel? As far as I'm concerned this entire franchise depends on them and their evil sense of humor.

Assuming this is a prequel, I hope the designers at least do us the fanservice of giving us a look at early GLaDOS. According to Portal lore, she was originally intended to be AI for a fuel-line de-icer, so maybe we'll see some of that. A glimpse at her infamous neurotoxin massacre is probably too much to ask for.

GeekanerdAHR

@underground_slacker: except the gman looks a bit less wrinkly than cave..

kokiri-kid