I finally picked up the Box of Oranges, and I have to say that Portal is a breath of fresh air. The PC market has hit rock bottom for me, being flooded with generic FPS and nothing else, save for some RTS. Anything labeled RPG is westernized, meaning no androgynous heroes or blue hair. There hasn't been a good "funny" game since the 90s, with Psychonauts coming darn close.

Portal seems like something between Myst and FPS. You have the speedy reflex element of an FPS, but the thinking element of an adventure game. The puzzles are not hard or easy, just fun. The humor isn't insanely funny, but it makes the game stand out as being that much more enjoyable to play.

Why aren't more games like this? If developers have the funds to make all this shovelware, you would think that they could make at least one good game. All that Portal did was take a neat trick and build a whole game around it. There's no profanity, no violence, just solid gameplay and a good narrative. The sad reality is that games like this just raise the bar in vain, as nobody else wants to put out the effort.

"It should be noted that the weighted companion cube will never threaten to stab you, and in fact, can not speak"

Just part of my reasoning to why Portal is AMAZING.

But...the cake is a lie!

Remember when the platform was sliding into the fire pit and I said 'Good bye' and you were like 'No Way!' and then I was all like 'We pretended we were going to murder you'?

That was great.

Speaking of people who are still alive, the guys at Valve or Harmonix (can't remember which) spilled it that 'Still Alive' will be a downloadable track for Rock Band in the future. I'll see if I can dig up that article.

Portal 2 has also been announced.