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Half-Life 2? Rubbish. Left 4 Dead? A stain on the history of videogames. Valve has declared that Portal 2 is its greatest triumph yet, even though it’s not even finished. Speaking with 1UP, Gabe Newell stated that it’s “pretty clear” to his internal team that the long-awaited sequel is absolutely amazing. 

“One of the nice things about The Orange Box was it allowed us to try out a couple of different things, and Portal really seemed to resonate,” explains Newell. “We got the signals that we wanted — this is what people liked; this is what people didn’t like. And to us, it was like, ‘OK now we know how to take this big,’ so that’s what we’re going to do with Portal 2.

“Oh Portal 2’s great. It’s the best game we’ve ever done.”

Usually I’d warn against hype, but if any company is good at making games live up to the PR nonsense, it’s Valve. I can’t wait to see what the team manages to do with Portal 2. If it’s the best thing Valve’s ever done, it’s probably going to be really, really good. 

Gabe Newell: Portal 2 is “The Best Game We’ve Ever Done” [1UP]

Fans are railing against 2K Games after it was suspected that the newly released BioShock 2 DLC, the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, wasn’t really downloadable content, but a mere key to unlock stuff already hidden on the disc. Like Namco Bandai does all the time. 

Suspicions were aroused thanks to the small file size of the alleged download. The file is 108kb on Xbox 360, and 24kb on PC, which is pretty damn tiny. Naturally, people are upset to think that 2K is taking the piss out of them, and one poster on the official forums believes that it should be labeled “unlockable content” rather than downloadable content to reflect its true nature. 

Honestly, publishers  should be held to some advertising standards when it claims that unlockable extras are DLC. If you’re merely purchasing a key to activate something on the disc, that’s not downloadable content, and it’s wrong for companies to advertise it as such. Whether 2K has gone this controversial route or not remains to be seen, but it does throw this issue back to the fore, and it’s something that I believe should be examined. 

What about you? Do you believe that unlockable content should not be called DLC, or do you think that it’s fine to have such content masquerade as a download?

BioShock 2 DLC already on disc? [CVG]

The Sony Wiimote, codenamed PlayStation Move, was revealed in all its glory at GDC, and Peter Molyneux isn’t impressed. Claiming to have not been surprised (and who could, really?), the game designer and Microsoft thrall declared that Move was not as big a step as Project Natal.

“We’re not really surprised, are we?” says Molyneux. “I mean, at E3 last year we saw they were having a wand, and that’s kind of what I expected. It looks like they’ve taken a step forward but it’s not as big a step as something like Natal, I don’t think. This is purely me talking personally, but I think maybe it’s slightly more a device for the core than it is for the casual market, because I think it’s quite precise.

“As a designer it’s another one of those things I’d love to get my hands on and to play around with. As a consumer, everyone’s talking about motion control now — I mean, I’m starting to get confused. It’s kind of like the arms race, with the Wii MotionPlus and now the Sony Move and now I’m getting kind of confused.”

Molyneux makes a fine point here. I don’t know about anybody else, but I already have a Wii, and I didn’t buy the PS3 because I wanted another one. I’m not fond of Sony’s current plan to cram Move into all of its games, and I’m not keen to see the PS3 turn into a more expensive Nintendo system. Frankly, I don’t think all the consumers who bought into the Wii craze will rush out and buy another one either.

Peter Molyneux’s Question Time [Eurogamer]

Telltale Games isn’t done with the Sam & Max adventure series. The studio has announced the third downloadable season, “The Devil’s Playhouse,” which looks to begin hitting in monthly increments starting on April 15th.

Perhaps more startling is the fact that Telltale is set on plopping the new 5-part season onto PSN. As revealed last afternoon via press release, and during their shindig at GDC a foggy night ago, the series premiere, “The Penal Zone,” will debut on PSN as well as the PC and Macintosh. Check below the fold for the first trailer, which teases a bit of the series’ story. Spoiler: it has something to do with Max getting psychic abilities.

As a follow-up to last night’s announcement that Capybara is bringing Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes to PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade, we have more scrumptious screenshots and even a trailer of the new high-def look.

More than anything else, I opted to post about this because thinking about how effing adorable baby capybaras look — see the attached picture for overwhelming proof — is something I want to do as much as humanly possible.

And secondly, because commenter HEL 105 said he “played the tits off” the DS version in Hamza’s post yesterday; that made me chuckle. On a related note, I am in fact a five-year-old.

Today I had the privilege of attending a GDC talk by Yoshio Sakamoto of Nintendo*, who is perhaps most famous for his work on the Metroid series. He divulged many of the secrets behind his history as a producer and gamemaker, including quite a few about the upcoming Metroid: Other M. The most interesting one? While developing the control scheme, there was one thing he was unwilling to budge on: he wanted Samus to “move along a rail”.

Yep, that’s right. His original vision was for Other M to be on-rails, and it would have been if it had not been for Team Ninja.

In disagreement about rails being the best way to go, they first suggested using the Nunchuk, but Sakamoto was very adamant about using the sideways Wiimote scheme. But then they proposed a system where Samus could move freely in a full 3D environment using the control pad. Sakamoto tested this scheme, said it “worked perfectly”, and was finally swayed to change his mind.

What do you think, Metroid fans? Are you glad Team Ninja stepped in, or would you have rather seen Sakamoto’s full vision come to fruition?

* a full summary of this talk is coming soon!

As expected, the Mass Effect 2 universe will continue to expand beyond free downloadable missions. Earlier this afternoon I watched game project director Casey Hudson plow through the game’s first chunk of paid DLC, “Kasumi’s Stolen Memory,” that looks to incorporate a new character, a new SMG, and even a unique way to play this April 6th.

The content, which can be launched at any point during the narrative, can be divided into two themed swathes. The first half is exploration-based. The space Rogue Kasumi is seeking an item of value that is tucked deep in a bent rare-item collector’s vault. To get access, Shepard must travel to the collector’s house party, mingle, and discover where exactly that vault actually is. The second half is an escalating series of battles against mechs and soldiers after discovering the object.

Kasumi is, of course, a recruit for the suicide mission (or even after). And the best part is that she hits with fresh moves — the hippest being “Shadowcloak,” the space version of a “backstab.” But  more compelling than the addition of a thief and new moves is the fresh art. The rare item collector has a host of historical items in his house and vault, each lovingly crafted by BioWare’s artists. But The mansion, even the formal wear are all newly-created assets as well.

During the demo Hudson said the DLC was “some of the best stuff we’ve done.” I agree. It’s a fresh look at something within the Mass Effect universe and a different spin on what can be done. I couldn’t get a sense of the pacing during the demo, but I could at least tell the dialogue and action won’t leave you feeling blue. Look for it in April.

Zeno Clash developer ACE Team knows us all too well. Apparently, we let the latest trailer for Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition slip into inbox obscurity, which is unfortunate. We were informed that the video features hot pig-on-foot action, which is not unfortunate. Hence this write-up of said trailer.

Jump straight to the one-minute mark if you’re only in this thing for the animal abuse. Otherwise, I urge you to watch the full thing; it’s a good trailer, especially for those of you who are relatively unfamiliar with what Zeno Clash is all about.

On-rails light gun action is what you’re getting with this PlayStation Move game called The Shoot. It’s called The Shoot because you’ll find yourself traveling through mock movie sets. Think of an updated Virtua Cop that takes you through generic film lots and you’ll be on the right track. We saw a science fiction-based “set,” and we were told that others are coming. In the end we’ll see a “Wild West” set and a haunted house/horror one among others.

I played this game last night over drinks. It’s a fine game to play when your drunk, actually. It uses one Move controller. You point it at the screen to aim, and the underside T trigger button fires. The game is best known for the crazy motions you’ll have to perform to do special moves. Jabbing down at the ground throws a shockwave. Jabbing the controller up does a rampage-ish attack. Leaning your entire body from side to side dodges projectiles. The most entertaining move requires you to twirl your entire body around in a circle to trigger a sort of slow-motion mode that makes it easier to shoot enemies. I was in the company of friends, piers, and hot women, so I was really hesitant to do the spin. It turns out that I’m not alone.

Senior producer James Hawkins admits that some that play are hesitant to do the motions, though he also feels its likely due to the setting.  He thinks that letting loose would help people appreciate the game more: “With all of the moves, you’re getting a bit more than the standard rail shooter, where you would shoot five times, reload, shoot five times.”

The game is still early. I played the entire two stage demo, but Hawkins told me that I’ve only seen about 1/5 of one stage, and that there are 5 stages in all. I was told about secret stages and more special moves, but those will be revealed at a later time.

The Shoot will be released right around the Move’s launch.