Be Excellent To Each Other

That snuck up on me -- it's released on April 21st and started preloading on Steam today.

Can't decide which version to buy. Steam (for Win and OS X) is cheapest and gets the game fastest. 360 has by far the best pad and gaming experience (decent telly and surround sound). PS3 version is same price as 360 version, inferior pad, but comes with a free copy of the Steam version thrown in -- and also supports user-made levels which are shared across Steam and the PS3, unlike the 360 version which has no custom map support. There's no multiplayer, I think.

Gngh.

Wow talk about fudging over Xbox owners.

Poor show, Valve.

I reckon I'll get it on PS3.

It's Microsoft's fault, Lace. Likewise why TF2 on the 360 hasn't had any of the billions of updates the PC has.

It's Microsoft's fault, Lace -- they won't let anyone ship user made content for 360 games. Same thing happened with UT3. Can't blame Valve for that.

ok well I find myself educated then. Wouldve been nice to at least have the steam version bundled though.

Yeah, well. That's only really a cross-promotion for the new Steam support in PS3. Although that, itself, was only possible because Sony would work with Valve and Microsoft wouldn't, so it all stems from the same source really.

Hmm... 360 version for me I recon.

Resale value = Win

...or rent it from LoveFilm I suppose.

Reading the article in Edge it seemed like it'll be shipped with a comprehensive multiplayer.

Colour me excited though! I want to get it day 1 but I've a feeling this will drop in price quickly...hnnngh. Decisions, decisions.

Yeah... hold steady. Wait 'till you see the whites of it's £15 label.

More win than selling the PS3 version and keeping the Steam version it unlocked for free?

Is that true?

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20259

Oh. Cross-platform between PS3 and Steam, but insular on the 360. The 360... where most of my friends are. Damn, this is hard.

Yeah, I won't be able to play the PS3 version.

1) buy PS3 version
2) play until satisfied
3) sell PS3 version, keep Steam version to play custom maps
4) use proceeds to buy 360 version for £cheap to play with cheapskates just buying the game

I'm a fiscal genius.

Playing the long game.

I think I will be prescribing to the DocG school of thought on this one.

God help me.

I'm happy to wait and see. I'll most likely get it on the 360, as im not bothered about user content, but will probably end up buying it on Steam when they have a sale, even though Steam is shite...

A few weeks ago, I'd have agreed that the 360 owners got screwed there.

However, since getting back on TF2 after they opened that 'shop' thing, I think that I'd rather play the 360 version with no weapon options than the PC version with its 400 million idiotic user-made weapons that turned an easily learned game of teamwork and counter-classing into a nerdy pain in the arse requiring an encyclopaedic knowledge of every weapon. I mean, an arbitrarily one-hit crossbow that injects you with piss? A knife that does "bleeding damage"? A club that hurts you if you miss someone with it? A rocket launcher that gives you 15 health every time you hit someone, unless it's from behind or it's raining or your neighbour's wife is wearing blue socks. Fuck off.

User content is overrated. 99% of custom maps I've played on Halo Forge have been awful.

I'll cheerfully admit that the other 1% could be amazing and breathe new life into a game, but it's not a dealbreaker for me.

Most people—despite incredible self confidence—aren't games designers shocker, really.

How dare you! My version of Tic-tac-toe on the BBC B was sublime!

I'm informed it's an amazing experience for the people who have been with it throughout, however.

...as long as there's a sensible ability to find the rare good bits without wading through rubbish, that's OK though. And Portal has such hugely obvious potential for map designers, I'd say it's interesting at least.

It'll be interesting but without the quirky storyline I wouldn't like to bet it'll have lasting appeal. Unless you like doing crosswords for fun, like.

I read for fun.

I'm also interested in the Steam-PS3 cross-integration. I'd like to see how that works. But I still dunno.

The complete lack of exciting disk based games this year has made me forget about this. Gonna wait on reviews — as a little worried they've stretched the idea to much to justify a 'proper title', but almost certainly will be picking it up at some point.

Think I'm gonna go for the Steam version. Mainly to spite Microsoft for being cunts about Steam support. Also, let's face it - the 360 version is going to die on its arse just like TF2 did. It's outrageous how different TF2 PC is now compared to TF2 360 which is essentially the release day version.

Side note: Does anyone want to PayPal me some monies and I'll buy the "2 pack" at 20% off? Then I gift the game to you on Steam and we both get it for like £23.

£2 final offer.

Not even slightly interested in user-made maps, and the 360 version would be the most enjoyable for - the first was a leisurely game that suits a console a bit better.

That said, a lot of its appeal came from the writing and tight design. I don't know if I'll be bothered about the second one.

Yeah, Valve have a track record of making disappointi- no wait! The other one! This is going to be great, I can feel it in my anus.

And Zardoz, remove your penis from my anus. Also, £2.50 and we have a deal.

I have little experience in user created content apart from Halo Reach and Little Big Planet and the stuff that I did play, was rubbish.

That's not a deal breaker for me so its the 360 version for me.... when it comes down in price.

Any info on good places to buy? Deals? Anus?

I can't understand why anyone would chose to play valve games on a console. The PC versions are always brilliant, and will run on everyone's PCs.

Isn't it really hard to play Portal well with a controller?

Anyway, the PS3 version, with free PC/Mac version, is £30 here.

Portal is a perfect game for relaxing in the front room. There's no reason not to get it on a console.

I am spazzy mc spaz hands and even I could do portal on the 360. Not very fast, mind, but i could still do it.

Perhaps it's just the way I play it, but I love trying to complete games like Portal as quickly as I can, and trying to get all the puzzles done quickly.

It may well be, then. I was happy to just muck about and get through the levels.

I should add that I've nothing against playing it on the PC, either (though I haven't myself).

Well that's completely untrue, for reason number one. Steam doesn't somehow magically take away minimum requirements.

Portal will easily run on a 2007 vintage PC. Has Portal 2 the same requirements?

The full quote was "Valve games", not "Portal".

Portal 2 PC System Requirements



Anyone who is even thinking about gaming on their PC will surely be able to run it fine.

Edit: And I am not checking the min specs of all their other games, but I'd be surprised if any of their older games are much higher than that.

The ability to use a mouse makes it PC for me.

See, I suck at FPSs with a mouse now. I tried to play some Bioshock recently and it just felt weird.

I can't stand it any more; you feel like a camera rather than a character physically part of the game. I can see the value of a mouse in twitchy games, but for the most part I'd rather play with a 360 pad, even on the PC.

Because it's better than squinting at a laptop screen, cramping your hands into unnatural positions. Plus control pad, surround sound, bigger screen, comfy seat. All the run-of-the-mill things that make gaming more enjoyable, obv.

But what about playing games?

Ah, we haven't had this debate for a while!

Blame Lewie.

The wanking beats gaming debate?

I take it back if you want, I guess it's just that there are often lots of reasons someone might want to play games on consoles instead of PC, but a lot of them don't apply to Valve games.

I've played most of Valve's games on both my PC and the Xbox, and still prefer the latter. There's no way I'd want to play competitive multiplayer across platforms, but aside from the better graphics I still see no reason to play them on a PC if I have the choice. And I'm one of the few people who has a PC and Xbox using the same screen and sound, so the difference really does mostly come down to the pad and Live integration.

I am also one of those people.

Did JC flounce?