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Portal Gets A New Ending

Retconning your ending before even putting out a sequel is pretty wild, if you ask me.

So... something is up with Portal. Earlier this week, folks started dissecting some new files that appeared in mysterious patch. After decoding them with ham radio SSTV decoders, a bunch of even more mysterious images popped up, leaving people with a BBS phone number, some blueprints or something, and... a bunch of stuff labelled "dinosaur."

Another update was pushed out today, and this one makes changes to the ending of the game. Here's the new ending. Keep in mind that by watching this, you'll be seeing the end of Portal. The very end. If you don't want to see the end of Portal, don't watch this video, is what I'm saying. Portal ending ahoy. Watch out for "spoilers," if you "catch" my "drift."
  

  
 The bit about assuming the correct party escort submission position and the part where a robot or something drags you away is new, by the way.

I'm no super-sleuth, but I feel like I can say with some authority that Valve is up to something. Maybe it's a Portal sequel, maybe it's Episode 3, maybe Episode 3 is the Portal sequel, maybe getting all the radios and then beating the game unlocks the Borealis for use in TF2, or maybe they just got really unsatisfied with the ending in Portal and decided to shake it up for no reason whatsoever!

OK, it's probably not that. One thing I will say, though, is that it's kind of neat to use Steam's automatic patching to push sneaky stuff like this out to players.
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jeff

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Edited By jeff

So... something is up with Portal. Earlier this week, folks started dissecting some new files that appeared in mysterious patch. After decoding them with ham radio SSTV decoders, a bunch of even more mysterious images popped up, leaving people with a BBS phone number, some blueprints or something, and... a bunch of stuff labelled "dinosaur."

Another update was pushed out today, and this one makes changes to the ending of the game. Here's the new ending. Keep in mind that by watching this, you'll be seeing the end of Portal. The very end. If you don't want to see the end of Portal, don't watch this video, is what I'm saying. Portal ending ahoy. Watch out for "spoilers," if you "catch" my "drift."
  

  
 The bit about assuming the correct party escort submission position and the part where a robot or something drags you away is new, by the way.

I'm no super-sleuth, but I feel like I can say with some authority that Valve is up to something. Maybe it's a Portal sequel, maybe it's Episode 3, maybe Episode 3 is the Portal sequel, maybe getting all the radios and then beating the game unlocks the Borealis for use in TF2, or maybe they just got really unsatisfied with the ending in Portal and decided to shake it up for no reason whatsoever!

OK, it's probably not that. One thing I will say, though, is that it's kind of neat to use Steam's automatic patching to push sneaky stuff like this out to players.
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Barrier

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Edited By Barrier

WHAT?

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Legend

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Edited By Legend

New ending or not; the cake is still a lie. That's all that matters.

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V_Ben

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Edited By V_Ben

Well, Gabe Newell is on stage next week :-)

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averagegreg

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Edited By averagegreg

Valve need to hurry the fuck up and release episode 3

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Anathem

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Edited By Anathem

I'm ridiculously excited about potential announcements at the GDC.

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choffy21

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Edited By choffy21

Very creative way to basically all but confirm a sequel...

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GreggD

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Edited By GreggD

Valve, you so crazy. 
 
Seriously, though, I hope they finally bridge the two stories together (HL and Portal).

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Edited By TheHT

i know dude, it's awesome!!! btw is it really a retcon if you only ADD to the ending?

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thatfrood

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Edited By thatfrood

This, along with the news that Steam is coming to mac osx? Those Valve people are crazy. Crazy like a fox.

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MetalGearSunny

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Edited By MetalGearSunny

It's probably for the squeal. 

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Explosivo

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Edited By Explosivo

Have to completely a fresh game to see, can't load old games.  And if valve put the Borealis in TF2 they must win some kind of prize

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theveej

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Edited By theveej

EPISODE 3 !!!!

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PacManFevaa

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Edited By PacManFevaa

This isn't on the 360 then, is it?

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Pkshields

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Edited By Pkshields

This is how to get people excited for a new game

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Loomis2

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Edited By Loomis2

Is this just a Steam patch or an Xbox Live patch as well?  I guess I could break out my Orange Box disc and see but I'm taking the lazy route first.

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Gabriel

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Edited By Gabriel

I like Portal and all but.....EPISODE 3

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Brunchies

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Edited By Brunchies

It's awesome that a portal 2 is coming but I hope Valve hasn't forgotten about Episode 3. 

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teptom

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Edited By teptom

I love Valve so, so much.

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megalowho

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Edited By megalowho

this shit is fresh. go valve.

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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew

Very interesting...

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MisterBoss

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Edited By MisterBoss

HELL YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! I love me some Portal!

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Edited By august

They probably won't patch this on console. On pc patching things doesn't require you to jump through hoops of corporate bullshit.

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GalacticPunt

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Edited By GalacticPunt

Porting all recent Valve games and Steam to Mac is being strongly, STRONGLY hinted at:
 
 http://gizmodo.com/5484987/valves-mac-teasers-just-made-me-change-my-pants
 
Maybe sequels on top of that?  Gabe Newell is likely going melt some faces off at GDC.
 

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Sneakybadger

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Edited By Sneakybadger

"Thank you for assuming the party escort submission position."

   awesome   
also added the ending in 1080p (apparently)
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TobyD81

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Edited By TobyD81

Portal 2, Episode 3, Steam for Mac...any of these things is awesome on its own.

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ThatWasBrilliant

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Edited By ThatWasBrilliant

It's got to be episode 3. We already knew episode 3 was going to involve Aperture, etc.

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Edited By AndrewB

It's amazing how slowly most gaming news sites picked up on this considering they already knew that something was going on with the last title update. They should probably be keeping a close eye on this until Gabe gets his award and gives the announcement regarding this and all the Apple stuff.
 
And for a company that's supposed to be all about accessibility in gaming (specifically: subtitles), they didn't include subtitled text for the robotic voice.

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Milkman

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Edited By Milkman

NUTS!

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Edited By ArcBorealis

Portal 2 or Episode 3, or both, I'll take!  
 
Didn't experience this when I got the achievement this morning. Guess I'll try it again sometime later. 
And it's not so much a retcon as it is an addition to the ending.

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Edited By captain_clayman

SNEAKY!!!! 
 
dude, valve, hurry this shit up and show off some episode 3! 
i wanna see it! 
 
but don't have it come out until i can afford a new computer :D

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MadeinFinland

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Edited By MadeinFinland

i am EXCITED.

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Edited By ch3burashka

Is anyone else pissed that Valve is changing the original in order to make way for the sequel? People gave Bioshock 2 shit for being 'not necessary' because of the original's story. IMO, Portal was left fairly open-ended, so a sequel was plausible.
 
Also, what of reviews and the like? Outlets make big deals out of games that have day-one updates, groaning about the fairness of their reviews with or without the update. This 'revision' comes approximately 2 years (?) after Portal came out:
the update changes very little, but it sets a scary precedent in which developers feel comfortable with altering a product after it's come out. It's dirty, is what it is.

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jeffgoldblum

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Edited By jeffgoldblum
@CH3BURASHKA said:
" Is anyone else pissed that Valve is changing the original in order to make way for the sequel? People gave Bioshock 2 shit for being 'not necessary' because of the original's story. IMO, Portal was left fairly open-ended, so a sequel was plausible.  Also, what of reviews and the like? Outlets make big deals out of games that have day-one updates, groaning about the fairness of their reviews with or without the update. This 'revision' comes approximately 2 years (?) after Portal came out: the update changes very little, but it sets a scary precedent in which developers feel comfortable with altering a product after it's come out. It's dirty, is what it is. "
As far as Im considered they didn't add anything they just showed you an extra 5 seconds you didn't see in the original ending.
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Edited By Darkstar614

Yeeessss.
 
Also I don't think it qualifies as a "retcon" because they just extended it by 10 seconds. They didn't really change anything.

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Edited By TECHSev

why stop at portal, how sick would it be if they went back an updated endings to other games, for example Opposing Forces 

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babylonian

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Edited By babylonian
@CH3BURASHKA said:
" Is anyone else pissed that Valve is changing the original in order to make way for the sequel? People gave Bioshock 2 shit for being 'not necessary' because of the original's story. IMO, Portal was left fairly open-ended, so a sequel was plausible.  Also, what of reviews and the like? Outlets make big deals out of games that have day-one updates, groaning about the fairness of their reviews with or without the update. This 'revision' comes approximately 2 years (?) after Portal came out: the update changes very little, but it sets a scary precedent in which developers feel comfortable with altering a product after it's come out. It's dirty, is what it is. "
You're kind of a crazy person. They stuck 5 seconds on to the final cutscene in the game. This sets no dangerous precedents and the slippery slope you're worrying about is an imaginary one.
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august

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Edited By august
@CH3BURASHKA said:
" Is anyone else pissed that Valve is changing the original in order to make way for the sequel? People gave Bioshock 2 shit for being 'not necessary' because of the original's story. IMO, Portal was left fairly open-ended, so a sequel was plausible.  Also, what of reviews and the like? Outlets make big deals out of games that have day-one updates, groaning about the fairness of their reviews with or without the update. This 'revision' comes approximately 2 years (?) after Portal came out: the update changes very little, but it sets a scary precedent in which developers feel comfortable with altering a product after it's come out. It's dirty, is what it is. "
Yes, it's terribly frightening that this sets a precedent of companies improving their product after release, like Valve has already been doing for years.
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Echo

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Edited By Echo

Note to other developers: THIS is how you do a viral video game announcement.

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Xeiphyer

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Edited By Xeiphyer

Pretty crazy stuff!

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deadmonkeys

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Edited By deadmonkeys

Ah, so THAT's why Steam updated Portal.
 
The more you know!

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Edited By animateria

This is a triumph 
 I'm making a note here:
New Ending. 
 It's hard to overstate
my satisfaction.
Sequel Announcement.
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who want Episode 3.

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hatking

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Edited By hatking

Aaaaand you guys just jumped the shark with that retcon joke. :/
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Edited By strangeling

Okay... not going to watch that.  Going to go play through Portal again.  Such a great game. 
 
But... now the ending's been changed, will someone kindly point me to a video of the original ending.

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Edited By mattbodega

When will someone put a stop to the anamatronic robot menace that forces people to go to parties that are clearly murder oppertunities?
Are they gonna announce Portal 2 at GDC?

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august

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Edited By august
@MattBodega said:
" When will someone put a stop to the anamatronic robot menace that forces people to go to parties that are clearly murder oppertunities? Are they gonna announce Portal 2 at GDC? "
a) probably not and b) probably yes.
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Beb_Jobel

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Edited By Beb_Jobel
@CH3BURASHKA said:

" Is anyone else pissed that Valve is changing the original in order to make way for the sequel? People gave Bioshock 2 shit for being 'not necessary' because of the original's story. IMO, Portal was left fairly open-ended, so a sequel was plausible.  Also, what of reviews and the like? Outlets make big deals out of games that have day-one updates, groaning about the fairness of their reviews with or without the update. This 'revision' comes approximately 2 years (?) after Portal came out: the update changes very little, but it sets a scary precedent in which developers feel comfortable with altering a product after it's come out. It's dirty, is what it is. "

You know... Extending the ending is much different from changing it. This adds a few seconds onto waht has already been seen. Nothing was changed or taken out. instead, they simply showed more of what was going on.
 
And, have you ever played TF2? They've change the game tons of times, with a new one coming up soon! and guess what, it's more than two years after the release of TF2. OMG! Does that mean that TF2 needs re-reviewed every time they update? You need to ease up, son.
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posttimeskipsam

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Edited By posttimeskipsam

Valve, I'll be sending some NSFW videos to show my appreciation. 
 
 
I hope you guys are into Companion Cube porn.

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Edited By DMack
@Loomis2:  I was wondering the same thing.  I bet the update for the Orange Box version will come out in 2014, given their track record with TF2
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Edited By Skillface
@strangeling: The original ending is the same as the video, except fade out at 9 seconds and cut out the rest.