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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.
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

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deactivated-64c89b592b282

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Half-Life Episode 3: Portal 2, is what I'm expecting.

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Coleslaw893

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Edited By Coleslaw893
@animateria said:
" This is a triumph   I'm making a note here:New Ending.   It's hard to overstatemy 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. "
So much win in this post.
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deactivated-64ba3d2213a4d

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"   maybe getting all the radios and then beating the game unlocks the Borealis for use in TF2
 
I can confirm that this is unfortunately not the case :( 
Borealis in TF2 would have been awesome. 
All it unlocks is the Portal Gun in TF2 :(

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TheClap

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Edited By TheClap

If you leave cookies and milk out by the chimney, Gab Newell will finally give us a date for Ep. 3!

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i83N

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Edited By i83N

Sorry duders but it's not EP3 or Portal 2 i think the announcement that Valve will make is that Steam is comic to Mac OS X  with HL and Portal 1 
Here is a link on some leaked news  http://www.macworld.com/article/146840/2010/03/valve_mac.html

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strangeling

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Edited By strangeling
@Skillface said:
" @strangeling: The original ending is the same as the video, except fade out at 9 seconds and cut out the rest. "
Ah, thanks for the info.  So it's an extended ending, really.
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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

I have looked into this and it looks really awesome. I appreciate Valve for pulling our strings, Lost style, with something like this.

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GregariousGreg

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Edited By GregariousGreg

This means that you get your cake! :D

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Kyle

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Edited By Kyle

is the difference interesting enough to warrant replaying the game to see it, or should I just watch the video?

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august

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Edited By august
@i83N said:
" Sorry duders but it's not EP3 or Portal 2 i think the announcement that Valve will make is that Steam is comic to Mac OS X  with HL and Portal 1 Here is a link on some leaked news  http://www.macworld.com/article/146840/2010/03/valve_mac.html "
This whole arg is setting up plot elements for Portal 2. Contemplating that it's something other than that is ludicrous. Yes, Steam and Source games are coming for mac as well.
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AardvarkBarber

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Edited By AardvarkBarber

I honestly hope Portal 2 and EP3 are one in the same. 

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Druminator

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Edited By Druminator

Another reason Valve rules.

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ToxicFruit

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Edited By ToxicFruit

Wow, I played through the whole game again to see that ending with my own eyes before I came here. mind is blown

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xyzygy

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Edited By xyzygy

This is like Deja Vu. I swear I seen this ending before, I swear it.

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sjschmidt93

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Edited By sjschmidt93
@Toxic said:
" Wow, I played through the whole game again to see that ending with my own eyes before I came here. mind is blown "
I almost did this. 
 
Thank God I pressed play instead. I expected the change to be... a little bigger than that.
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dtat

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Edited By dtat

@SJSchmidt93 said:

" @Toxic said:
" Wow, I played through the whole game again to see that ending with my own eyes before I came here. mind is blown "
I almost did this.  Thank God I pressed play instead. I expected the change to be... a little bigger than that. "


 

I DID play through the whole game just now. I was a little disppointed with how big the change was, but at the same time, I hadn't played Portal in over a year, so it was worth spend an hour or so.
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applet0n

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Edited By applet0n

I'd actually rather that they didn't integrate HL and Portal, I wasn't such a big fan of Half Life but I loved Portal. 
 
That being said, a quick cameo wouldn't be that bad I suppose.

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ez123

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Edited By ez123

Any chance of them doing this for the consoles? I don't want to watch this , I wanna just played the game again. I'm on a new HD, an excuse to replay this game would be nice.

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august

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Edited By august
@ez123 said:
" Any chance of them doing this for the consoles? I don't want to watch this , I wanna just played the game again. I'm on a new HD, an excuse to replay this game would be nice. "
Doing this on consoles requires jumping through Microsoft and Sony's corporate rings and on 360 at least waiting weeks for certfification and maybe being forced to charge for content. So, no.
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HaltIamReptar

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Edited By HaltIamReptar

The tone of Half Life and Portal are so radically different, that I honestly think that you might be stupid if you're sure that Ep. 3 and Portal 2 are the same game.

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crusader8463

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Edited By crusader8463

There is no video......

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Nomin

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Edited By Nomin

Who gives a shit

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KillerBears

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Edited By KillerBears

Came here expecting to rage...but really, they haven't changed anything. 
Replace *fade to credits* with this, and that's all you really need to do.

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Deusoma

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Edited By Deusoma
@Kyle said:
" is the difference interesting enough to warrant replaying the game to see it, or should I just watch the video? "
You should just watch the video, unless you really feel like playing the game again. The difference is pretty minimal.
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AllanIceman

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Edited By AllanIceman

This is crazy!

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bushman17awd

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Edited By bushman17awd

does the update work for portal still alive on 360?
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Edited By Bgrngod

Sooo... to those of us that already beat Portal back when it came out.. we just get to be confused by not knowing about the "new" "canonical" ending that they patched in unless we watch it online?  They can't just make a fancy intro move in said sequel that clears it all up?
 
sigh
 
Taking advantage of patching to go just a tad bit in the wrong direction me thinks.  Features, maps, new chapters, bug fixes.  That all makes sense for a patch.  Flat out changing the story is lame sauce.
 
Not that it's a huge big deal or anything, it just seems kind of lame.

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FuzzYLemoN

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Edited By FuzzYLemoN

That is indeed wild.
I'll be interested to see if Portal 2 is as short as the first one. Something tells me the first one was intended to be more of a tech demo, and the sequel will be more fleshed out.

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Metroid545

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Edited By Metroid545

" maybe Episode 3 is the Portal sequel"
MIND BLOWN

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EvanFavreau

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Edited By EvanFavreau

Jeff, this is perhaps the best-written news story of all time. By the way.

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hellsing321

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Edited By hellsing321
@Bgrngod said:
" Sooo... to those of us that already beat Portal back when it came out.. we just get to be confused by not knowing about the "new" "canonical" ending that they patched in unless we watch it online?  They can't just make a fancy intro move in said sequel that clears it all up?  sigh  Taking advantage of patching to go just a tad bit in the wrong direction me thinks.  Features, maps, new chapters, bug fixes.  That all makes sense for a patch.  Flat out changing the story is lame sauce.  Not that it's a huge big deal or anything, it just seems kind of lame. "  
Its not some new fucking "canonical" ending that completely changes everything about the story of the game. Its literally just a 5 second extension to the original ending to hype up the announcement of Portal 2.  
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bybeach

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Edited By bybeach

Alright, just saw the 'added' ending. thats not suprising. They could have just implied it in Portal 2 and gotten a pass, least from me.  I would argue that it is in allowed territory. Look at it as the biginning for Portal 2. and i`m glad whats her name is still alive.
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stephengotlost

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Edited By stephengotlost

An Xfire-embedded video on GiantBomb. I didn't think it could ever happen.

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Zanthox

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Edited By Zanthox

I found this same xfire video just after the update on a forum... BLEW MAH FREAKING MIND!!!

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Edited By BeachThunder

Wait, did they just change the ending to reward those who found all the BBS clues? So if people failed to find all those clues would Valve had just left Portal's ending as it was?
 
Maybe there are clues lying around somewhere for ep3 and no one's found them yet. Maybe that's why ep3 is taking so long, Valve have been waiting patiently for years for people to find their esoteric clues :(

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thatfrood

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Edited By thatfrood
@BeachThunder said:
" Wait, did they just change the ending to reward those who found all the BBS clues? So if people failed to find all those clues would Valve had just left Portal's ending as it was?  Maybe there are clues lying around somewhere for ep3 and no one's found them yet. Maybe that's why ep3 is taking so long, Valve have been waiting patiently for years for people to find their esoteric clues :( "
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
That is brilliant! 
Valve, blaming their horrible belatedness with releases on the fact that the fanbase wasn't smart enough to figure out some riddles? That would be really hilarious.
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chrispti

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Edited By chrispti

played portal on the orange box and loved it. I want to buy it separately on arcade.

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MadeinFinland

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Edited By MadeinFinland

Here's an update of the forums up to page 35 of the thread:
 
 From what I've understood, the 32 characters are in fact a sort of mash code for an old dial-up modem BBS phone number. Apparently someone has connected through a dial-up network, but is being constantly disconnected due to everyone phoning in. BTW - The location of the phone number is around the same place that Valve was founded. Since it is BBS and therefore 'old technology,' it seems to be on the right track considering that all the sounds are named as 'dyno.' 
 
 
Also, Valve seems to be making fun of everyone. There is a gnome with a cake (the gnome from Left 4 Dead perhaps?), a mousetrap (perhaps referring to a lab rat), and also a pig in a gyroscope (which I believe means 'When pigs fly' - as to when they expect us to figure the puzzle out).

From there, I recently discovered that the thread was expanding faster than I was reading, so I decided to stop reading.

Valve is pretty insane.

 
 

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superpope

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Edited By superpope

Waitaminute.... GLADOS and the Geth are joining up? HL Episode 3 is going to be Mass Effect 3!
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KillyDarko

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Edited By KillyDarko

HL and Portal are (two of) my favorite games, so I guess I'd be happy with either a sequel for Portal or Episode 3, but if I had to choose.... goddammit, I want Episode 3!!!
In the Freeman with trust! :)

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deactivated-60339640361ae

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Half Life 2: Episode 3: Chapter 1: Portal 2

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GunnBjorn

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Edited By GunnBjorn

Retconning...?
New word added to my vocabulary.
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PolyesterPimp

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Edited By PolyesterPimp

wonder if you can use GMod to see a different view and see whats actually dragging the player...

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theMuse

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Edited By theMuse

This video reminded me just how aged the source engine is. TF2 doesn't show it, but any of the other source engine based games do.

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Edited By Darkstar614
@PolyesterPimp: Someone did that it's a weird box labeled Beans.
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deactivated-5e0e0ee2ea170

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@theMuse said:
" This video reminded me just how aged the source engine is. TF2 doesn't show it, but any of the other source engine based games do. "
 
Well Source is like 7 years old. Designed to be released in 2003, delayed due to that hacker who stole the Code. Frigging when you look at Half-Life and then Half-Life 2 that was a 6 year gap and man Half-Life looked so old. I think Source has done amazingly well to still look up to date. You can be playing Left 4 Dead and the character faces and animation still look better than most games today. The physics inside the game are still better than most other games around. Like you'll be playing an UE3 game and frigging all their worlds feel very static, rag dolls still have no weight to them.  
 
I love Source but it does need to be replaced with a newer engine and I'm hoping they'll use HL3 to launch it on.
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Meltac

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Edited By Meltac

This is why I love Valve.

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Shadow

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The cake was never a lie.  She's getting some cake.  All you need is faith

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Yakow_93

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Edited By Yakow_93

 I WANT PORTAL 2 AND EPISODE 3

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Aska

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Edited By Aska

I wonder where the party is...