That's the great thing about Portal 2, it has something for everyone.

GLaDOS though, I just can't get enough of her.

I'm glad that Portal 2 is the end as well, if that was EA or Activision or Bethesda they would have drawn the franchise out until Portal 5 or 6 or whatever. Though I don't like all of Valve's games, they do know when to put a franchise to bed and that's refreshing.

What Valve game don't you like? They all run on pretty much the same engine.

And?

You didn't know that all games made with the same engine are of exactly equal quality? You've been under which log?

What's the point in saying? I'm sure divulging any such information would call forth a shit-storm of mongoloid 'my-opinion-is-better-than-yours-so-I'm-right' arguments.

If we don't think our own opinion is right, then what's the point in having one?

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. That's okay though, I wouldn't expect you to.

And what's that supposed to mean?

It means it's time for STM's monthly stupid again.

Is this an argument? It doesn't seem to be about anything.

Where have you read that? I hadn't seen Valve announce anything definitive.

They haven't, but it's Valve, they don't need to announce anything for us to know when they're finishing a franchise.

Just the 2 is a massive hint.

I reckon the series has been wrapped up nicely. However, I'd still be delighted to play a Portal 3.

Surely the 2 would be more of a hint in the opposite direction? It'd seem weird to me to introduce a numbering system if there weren't going to be any more installments in the series to adhere to it.

Have you ever got a '3' from Valve?

Oh, I think I see what you're saying now. I don't really know anything about any of Valve's other games apart from TF2 which, although I suppose it is kinda numbered 2, I tend to think of as a standalone game.

Half Life even had sequels after 2, but Valve just started again from 1. "Episode 1". Why can't they say '3'?

It's because the episodes are part of the Half-Life 2 storyline. They were set straight after the events of Half-Life 2 and aren't really sequels in the same way Half-Life was to Half-Life 2.

I know game sequels have been in the past directly after the first game but for Half-Life episodes, they don't really work in my opinion.

Oh, mr big bucks, mr high and mighty in here, talking like for example the Unreal Engine isn't responsible for the single most original and creative generation of video games of all time. Pshaw. Snrkt. Hunf.


I liked Wheatley, but I went in knowing he'd be one part Valve and one part Stephen Merchant's inherent goofy performance habits. He certainly wasn't the worst part of the game.

One of you British types explain the hate for Ricky Gervais, and please go into detail and give me some examples. I see this come up once in awhile but I think it's an exposure thing, since everything of his Canadaside seems pretty hilarious to me.

It's a good engine, but people can still do shit things with it. There are probably lots of crappy indie UE3 games that you've never heard of because they're crap.

Never played Portal 2, maybe I will someday. I really enjoyed the first.

Valve made a pact with a demon to ensure all of their games would be awesome, as long as they promise never to use the number 3.

It's not a British thing. Some people love his stuff and some people hate it. That's about it.

It's a very particular type of humor, to me he's a comedy genius, to others, he's a wanker.

Well they couldn't call it Portal: The other, bigger one. Could they? Well they could...but 2, is easier.

I won't mind an Episode One of Portal 2

I don't know much about it, but I think Nate's right, he just has a very polarising style.

There is also the (dumb) idea that he 'sold out'; At the time of The Office he was hailed as something of an unseen genius, his original style a quirk of the British character. By the time Extras rolled around, he'd attracted something of a following overseas, and was able to punch well above his weight in terms of the showbiz types he could rope into his projects. Once you start hanging around with those sorts of people, of course, fame tends to rub off on you, and soon 'our' talented little man was just another American hotshot.

Someone once said that an American wants you to be successful in case you take them with you, while a Brit doesn't want you to be successful in case you leave them behind.

There's also the (equally dumb) idea that he claims to hate showbiz and celebrity culture (hence why he only takes rubbish parts in overblown Hollywood movies), but gets all chummy with the big stars nonetheless. He sometimes claims to be silently mocking them, but if that's true, it makes him a dishonest dick. If he's lying, it makes him a lying dishonest dick.

I don't subscribe to any of these theories, as indeed I don't care enough about Gervais or his career enough for it to concern me. I did like Extras and Flanimals, but that's about it.

Oh, and he's also quite a smarmy, blasé character if you've ever seen him on talk shows.

Flanimals was a kids book, you know...

Like I can talk XD.

Have you heard the Ricky Gervais Podcast?

I remember Monkey News, and The Ricky Gervais Show was later adapted into an animation that was rather good.

That said, Karl Pilkington constitutes 80% of the entertainment of that show.