Take a disoriented patient, place them in a whitewashed room, add a few traps, inject a novel mode of transport, sprinkle lightly with a robotic voice filled with sarcasm, and what do you have?

Portal : Still Alive on Xbox360!

The @SocNetGamer team know very little about this, other than it was bundled in The Orange Box with a number of other titles from Valve, and is now a standalone hit, featuring as a separate title in the Xbox Live Arcade MarketPlace.

We’re just about to test out our skills, and see if we can pass through the Portal…

If you see us online, drop by & say “hi!” – Gamertag: SocNet Gamer

[ Always game fair, and submit a review! ]

Feel free to leave a comment reply to this blog post, or join the @SocNetGamer Xbox group on Facebook!

Hace unos semanas los usuarios de Xbox Live tuvieron la posibilidad de votar por los juegos de Xbox Live Arcade  que consideraban que eran los mejores del 2008, consiguiendo de esta manera tras sus votos que el ganador haya sido la gran obra de The Behemoth, Castle Crashers, habiendo sido proclamado como el mejor juego del 2008, además de llevarse otros dos premios más al ser considerado como el mejor juego cooperativo y el juego más original de todos. Otros títulos premiados han sido Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix en tres categorías diferentes, mientras que Portal, Braid y A Kingdom of Keflings se llevan tan solo un premio cada uno.

A continuación podéis ver la lista completa de todos los premiados pulsando en “leer más”.

· Mejor juego del año: Castle Crashers

· Mejor juego con modo Versus: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

· Mejor juego individual: Portal: Still Alive

· Mejor remake: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

· Mejor juego original: Castle Crashers

· Mejor innovación: Braid

· Mejores gráficos: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

· Mejor juego familiar: A Kingdom of Keflings

· Mejor juego cooperativo: Castle Crashers

From/De: Xbox Press – Gamerscore News

The Xbox LIVE Community Has Spoken! The Winners of The Second Annual Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards Are…

Xbox LIVE Arcade is proud to announce the best games of 2008 thanks to the Xbox LIVE community’s votes in the 2nd Annual Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards!

Crowd favorite “Castle Crashers,” developed by The Behemoth, remains number one in fans’ hearts and wins the top honor of Best Game of the Year along with awards for Best Original Game and Best Co-op Mode.

Some classics never die. “Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix,” published by Capcom, also takes home the top brass in three categories: Best Versus Mode, Best Remake, and Best Graphics.

Adding to its trophy cabinet, “Braid” designed by Jonathan Blow, receives notable praise for creativity winning Best Innovation; everyone’s favorite artificial intelligence GLaDOS proves she’s not going anywhere as “Portal: Still Alive” developed by Valve wins Best Single Player; and “A Kingdom for Keflings” developed by Ninja Bee, shows that people love to play as their Avatar, taking home “Best Family Game.”

All winners were determined by the Xbox LIVE community’s popular vote, who turned out in impressive numbers.185,000 members casted their votes for the biggest and best games of 2008.

And the Xbox LIVE Arcade Award goes to…

Game of the Year:

Castle Crashers

Best Versus Mode:

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Best Single Player Game:

Portal: Still Alive

Best Remake:

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Best Original Game:

Castle Crashers

Best Innovation:

Braid

Best Graphics:

Super Street Fight II Turbo HD Remix

Best Family Game:

A Kingdom for Keflings

Best Co-op Mode:

Castle Crashers

Just noticed these over at Major Nelsons’ blog. Some interesting stuff. Stats based on Xbox LIVE connectivity and unique users.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1 – Halo 3
2 – Call of Duty 4
3 – GTA IV
4 – Gears of War 2
5 – Gears of War
6 – CoD: World at War
7 – Guitar Hero III
8 – Battlefield: Bad Company Demo
9 – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Demo
10 – Rock Band
11 – Fable II
12 – Mirror’s Edge Demo
13 – Madden NFL 09
14 – BF: Bad Company
15 – Rainbow Six Vegas 2
16 – UNO
17 – Castle Crashers
18 – COD: World at War Multiplayer Beta
19 – Forza Motorsport 2
20 – Too Human – Demo

No major surprises there apart from perhaps the Call of Duty: World at War position, at 6th its pretty high up there considering its mid November release date, the beta also makes it in on its own at 18th. Also interesting to see 2 Arcade titles, and 4 demos making the top 20.

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1 – Castle Crashers
2 – Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
3 – Braid
4 – A Kingdom for Keflings
5 – UNO
6 – Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
7 – Fable II Pub Games
8 – Duke Nukem 3D
9 – Bionic Commando: Rearmed
10 – Worms
11 – SOULCALIBUR
12 – Portal: Still Alive
13 – DOOM
14 – 1942: Joint Strike
15 – Bomberman Live
16 – MEGA MAN 9
17 – N+
18 – Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3
19 – Marble Blast Ultra
20 – Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Still need to pick up Castle Crashers, but have far to much stuff to play at the moment… Good to see N+ in there

Original Xbox Top Live Titles

1 – Halo 2
2 – Fable
3 – Star Wars: Battlefront 2
4 – Counter-Strike
5 – Fable: Lost Chapters
6 – Doom 3
7 – Conker: Live Reloaded
8 – Splinter Cell Chaos
9 – Star Wars: KOTOR
10 – SW: Republic Commando
11 – Star Wars: Battlefront
12 – Burnout 3
13 – Guilty Gear XX #Reload
14 – Gauntlet Seven Sorrows
15 -Call of Duty 3
16 – Ninja Gaiden Black
17 – Crimson Skies
18 – MechAssault 2
19 – Call of Duty 2
20 – Rainbow Six 3

I didn’t even realise that Fable: Lost Chapters was available as well as the original release.

Well, there goes my conspiracy theory.  Everything but mygamercard.net seems to know that I haven’t played anything other than my beloved Fable 2 since it was fresh from the box.  I don’t know whether to be disappointed or sad, since that was the only thing interesting happening in my life.  I mean, uh, at the time.  I’m a very busy person and this just happens to be a slow period.

So, Portal: Still Alive.  Anybody getting it?  Gotten it?  Stolen it?  I hear it’s not really worth the $15 or the time, since it’s just like the first Portal but not as good.  Still well-written and everything, but veteran Portal players may not think that the new puzzles are enough to warrant their money.  I’d probably get it if it weren’t $15 for two whole hours of gameplay, since the writing in itself is good enough to earn itself a play-through, but I’m cheap and I fully enjoy being a pessimist.

-Sugarface

My review of the Xbox Live Arcade’s latest, Portal: Still Alive, has been posted on Talk Xbox. Below, as always, you’ll find a short excerpt of the review as well as links to the full review.

“Last year, gamers were treated to a bit of a surprise hit in the form of Portal, one of the five games bundled in the Orange Box. It won many awards and mountains of praise for its relatively simplistic but amazingly deep puzzle gameplay and pitch black humor. It was challenging, addictive, repeatedly hilarious and most of all, incredibly fun. Well, Xbox 360 owning Portal fans have much to rejoice about now that Portal: Still Alive has made its way to the Xbox Live Arcade. Including everything that made the stellar original shine and more is always a good way to go when it comes to re-releases, but for those who have already experienced Portal when it was part of the Orange Box, is it worth 1200 Microsoft points? Well, there’s only one way to find out…”

Justin McBride – Talk Xbox

Full Review

As primeiras notas de Portal: Still Alive (expansão de um dos jogos da Orange Box, que estava entre os candidatos oficias a Jogo do Ano) não decepcionaram. Em 10 análises já feitas, nenhuma delas estava abaixo de 9, caracterizando uma média total de 91%.

Todas as análises destacam que as 14 novas missões não tem nada a ver com a história em si, mas são divertidíssimas, e rodam com uma excelente fluidez. O jogo está disponível na Xbox LIVE Arcade, por 1200 MS Points.

Portal kan ha varit något av det bästa jag stoppat i någon av mina konsoler någonsin. Och det är några spel, mina vänner. Det är några spel.

Jag undrar om man ens kan ha missat Portal. Kanske om man bott under en sten? Blivit bortrövad av fientliga aliens eller drabbats av en plötslig minnesförlust kanske? Hur som helst hör portal numera till den allmänna spelbildningen.

Vi har ju redan sen förut kunnat ge fingret till fysikens alla lagar på Xbox 360 om vi köpt oss ett exemplar av The Orange Box. Men nu har äntligen Portal anlänt till Xbox Live Arcade med undertiteln Still live och nya banor och utmaningar. 1200 mspoints får du hosta upp för att bli ägare till Portal: Still Alive.

Recuerden que a partir del día de hoy, Portal, el juego contenido en The Orange Box de Valve, estará disponible para ser descargado de XBLA.

Este juego es una versión mejorada, la cual contiene 14 enigmáticos niveles más, además de ofrecernos nuevos achievements.

Portal: Still Alive ocupa 630 MB, por lo cual se ha convertido en el primer juego de XBLA que requiere forzosamente de un disco duro (al rebasar los 512 MB de las memory cards). Ah! Y cuesta la módica cantidad de 1200 MS Points.

Remember, the cake is a lie.

Fuente: Xbox360Fanboy.com

Mercoledì 22 Ottobre approderà sul Live Arcade, Portal: Still Alive,  Il gioco conterrà tutta la campagna originale vista su Orange Box  più 14 mappe inedite e 6 nuove varianti avanzate. L’intero contenuto sarà scaricabile per 1200 punti Microsoft, e occuperà più di 600 MB.

Good evening, everyone. Not really anything ground breaking today, but there are a few follow-up stories to things that I wrote about earlier in the week.

After reporting that the Portal: Still Alive XBox Arcade game would be coming out soon yesterday, XBox announced that it would actually be coming out this Wednesday. The game, which will sell for 1,200 Microsoft Points, contains the original game and 14 new challenge maps and six advanced challenges for people to play.

In a follow from my XBox 360 Metal Gear Solid 4 story, the story that Morningstar published at the beginning of the week has been taken down. This came after Microsoft said that the 360 could handle MGS 4. I really can’t understand why Konami just can’t let this rumor die and confirm it already, maybe sometime in the near future.

That’s all I have for now. It’s been kind of a slow week, and I’m sorry about that. Just stay tuned for another update soon.

Microsoft announced today that Portal: Still Alive will bend reality on XBLA beginning next Wednesday, October 22nd. The title includes the original Aperture Science adventure, along with 14 new “exclusive” challenge maps and six advanced maps, complete with new Achievements. So, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Major Nelson tells us the game will be 1200 ($15). More of the same fun I hope!

Hello everyone. Didn’t find anything amazing jumping out at me today, so I’m going to be talking about a few pieces of obscure news.

The guys over at Gamerscore Blog posted Portal: Still Alive achievements this evening. While the list is impressive, and can be seen here, the thing that I noticed was that it is schedule to be released “very soon” on XBox Live Arcade. Considering this is supposed to be the actual sequel to Portal, I’ve been having an interest in this game for some time. If you can’t tell by my earlier reports on Portal: Prelude, I’m a big Portal fan. Look for me to pick this up when the game finally drops, hopefully before the end of this month.

On a quick aside, I definitely recommend getting Portal: Prelude for PC. While it is a lot harder then the original game (still stuck on the third chamber while I get used to keyboard/mouse controls), it definitely makes you think on your feet.

In ROM news, the English fan translation of Mother 3 will be available this week online for gamers to download. The patch will be able to put in the Japanese version of the game people have gotten from online to change the text from Japanese to English. For those that don’t know, Mother 3 is the sequel to Mother 2, or Earthbound in America. Earthbound gained a huge following after being released in America, but Nintendo has never found it necessary to try and put the sequel out here. So a group of gamers took it upon themselves to translate the game for gamers to play online. Look for the update later this week.

That’s all for my news update today. Look for a round-up tomorrow due to my schedule.

Video game modifications sure are something, aren’t they? The Unreal Tournament series, as well as Half-Life 2 have had some amazing mods, but Portal: Prelude raises the bar to a whole new level.

Portal: Still Alive was unveiled at Microsoft’s E3 2008 press conference, but that will not continue the story and will have miniscule new content. Hardcore Portal fans need a big experience to tide them over until Portal 2 is released, and that is just what Prelude will deliver.

While this may not be an official release from Valve, it will actually be longer than the original Portal, and have it’s own story-line, in which test subjects are observed by Aperture Science employees, meaning it is the pre-GLaDOS era. A main team of three people are developing the game, which will include “8 chapters, 19 test chambers, 48 challenges, 6 advanced maps,” already more than the original game, “and more than 400 lines of speech.” The game will only be available for PC Portal owners, but the soon-to-come download is said to be free. GLaDOS? No. Amazing offer? Yes!