Heh, true.

I don't know about other people involved in the ARG, but I'm doing it because I'm having fun, not because I want the game to release early.

I would like to see a post-mortem on the ARG though.

Credit where credit is due, it got me playing Audiosurf again, and after an extended break from that game, I'm enjoying playing it again. I also really like the thought that went into the Portal DLC for the Ball (highly recommended), and the Killing Floor maps aren't half bad either.

But the Defense Grid maps are just annoying me, so I won't be touching that again, the same with Cogs and Toki Tori.

As for Wonderful End of the World, I didn't notice anything new in it, so I quickly uninstalled that one again (playing that once was more than enough).

And yeah, an "official" post mortem on the ARG would be nice. As long as it comes from someone at Valve who actually knows the ins and outs of it and it isn't just wild speculation.

The new content for the Ball was definitely the best.

There were two new levels added to TWEOTW, but they weren't that special. You can access one by pressing U, selecting Arcadia, and holding it until the level loads. The other level is accessed by doing the same thing, but with the letter P on the Sugar Candy (or some similar name) level. Unlike the other TWEOTW levels, you can jump in these.

Yup most certainly. And the good news is, the devs have no intention of removing it once the game is released. Other devs may remove the additional content from their games though (and in the case of Audiosurf, it's probably best removed).

Thanks for the TWEOTW info, but I don't think I'll bother downloading the game again to try it.

Yeah, they either need less 'computations' per game or there's something you're supposed to be doing in these games I think, just leaving them runnning might not work out.

Looking at the release date on Steam and what was reported on media sites there is a difference: I remember seeing 22nd being mentioned for Europe, but on Steam it's saying it will unlock on the 19th for us. They seem to be going for a worldwide launch on Steam will B&M retailers release later, which is great for me since I thought I wasn't gonna get to play it until after the weekend but since they never said Steam was releasing earlier it was pretty much luck I decided I wasn't gonna go for a physical copy (that and I don't see any CEs or anything coming out), and so could have been really po'd if I had.

I hope people have not forgotten about the still ongoing ARG Wiki. The game isn't over at all. In fact, the Glados reboot looks like a cake... But the cake is a lie, or at best a diversion. The ARG was never about releasing Portal 2 early; that's just a neat, clever, cunning, and fun way of doing final launch countdown, and sell a lot of indie games (which is certainly a good thing). I mean, we might unlock the game a few hours earlier, but that's just a small bonus. There appears to be something else, something much bigger, hiding at the true core of this thing.

My theory is that the ARG will carry on trough Portal 2 itself. I for one will be keeping my eyes peeled for any hints, seemingly random letters or numbers scribbled on walls of the Aperture laboratories.


Edit: I should add that I think the game is over as far as the indie partners are concerned. After all, the Glados reboot is their big payoff for helping Valve launch the ARG. But I think Valve themselves are going to keep at it for another week or so.

The only thing i am wondering is what the potatoes are good for after the Portal 2 release. And now too, i mean sure you get a golden potato if you get all 36 but i am personally just aiming for 18/36 (i have 16 so far) ;p Lots of the challenges take fairly high amount of effort and i just can't be bothered with some of them unless someone can tell me what the point is. ;P

It baffles the mind what an extreme effort Valve has put into this though. 13 Indy games all got ARG related content. Many documents, changed textures and riddles. Its probably the biggest "meta-game" i have ever seen :)

So yeah, this is quite interesting.

I had someone on the Steam forums tell me it's worth the extra $10 the Steam version costs in order to play it even a few hours earlier.

People are weird.

We need 375,466 potatoes.

You know, complaints aside I think this is probably one of the best build up to the release of a game I’ve seen. If nothing else it has promoted a bunch of indie games and has people playing them. And hell Portal 2 will be released a few hours earlier than it would have on Steam. Maybe a midnight release instead of the usual time? Well, assuming to goes to plan and It’s activation on Steam doesn’t get delayed as some games have in the past :P

Although this seems too well planned out and a lot of work to mess up at the end.

I would bet midnight is the earliest it can come out due to retailer agreements. Since most Valve games before this came out at midnight anyway it makes it pretty clear the 7AM time was used as a way to manufacture this "early release" thing.

If the game comes out before midnight then I guess I was wrong, but I don't see how they could do that unless it was pre-arranged in the agreement.

Just watched this Portal 2 video . I still don't understand the hype .

Join this group. It grants you a potato. We need 2000 more potatoes.

For what?

Where does it tell you if you've got a potato?