Film and television quotes are so entangled with our language that their origins have become irrelevant to most speakers. We use Seinfeld-popularized neologisms and phrases constantly without considering who popularized them (“shrinkage,” “yadda yadda yadda,” “close-talker,” “not that there's anything wrong with that”). But games are a younger medium, and for a time were thought to be the... ... » Read More

6 May 2009

Guns that don’t shoot bullets

360 Feature | Portal

“Guns don’t kill people, bullets do.” But do they have to? Not at all, and in fact, this is all the destructive power you’re going to get out of shooting bullets. ... » Read More

15 Apr 2009

Five rules for introducing your girlfriend to...

360 Feature | Portal

I’m not a miserable sexist ass; I’m just a practical observer. One thing I’ve observed is that men and women are different (I figured that one out pretty early on). Since I’m a rational person, I’m aware that nothing is entirely one way or another. Even the divide between life and death is ambiguous (uh, zombies, amirite?). ... » Read More

25 May 2008

The coolest, funniest gaming images on the web

360 Feature | Portal

If evidence were ever needed of how culturally important games are these days, it's in the world of art. Between painters, photographers, comic writers and sculptors, the internet is packed to bursting with artists paying tribute to gaming and putting their own spin on our favourite iconography. Here's some of the best stuff we've found. ... » Read More

15 Jan 2008

The game credit sequences you'll actually enjoy

360 Feature | Portal

15th Jan, 2007 The end credits of a game are usually by far the worst part. We're not talking about the game's ending here. Those can be spectacular. No, what we mean is the actual credits themselves. Not only are they the visual death toll of another game over, but all they offer you in consolation is the boring visage of a lot of names scrolling up the screen. And these days it's a lot of names. Back in the 8-bit home computer days we usually got away with one guy's signature on a title ... » Read More

7 Dec 2007

Portal is the most subversive game ever

360 Feature | Portal

Dec 7, 2007 [Warning: The text you are about to read contains heady intellectual discourse and is not recommended for anyone made queasy by the discussion of feminist film theory or psychoanalytical signifiers.] Since its release two months ago, Portal has met with overwhelming popular and critical success thanks to its quirky physics and dystopian humor. Yet beneath the mainstream success lies the most subversive first-person shooter (FPS) ever created. Portal is essentially a feminist ... » Read More

7 Dec 2007

The ports that had no right to work

360 Feature | Portal

7th Dec, 2007 You know what its like. Youve just created a brand new videogame and you want to show it to the world. Youre proud of your creation. Its taken you months, if not years, to make and you want as many people as possible to share in your joy at its release. Itd also be nice to make a bit of extra money out of it. So you start porting it to different ... » Read More

15 Oct 2007

The cake is a lie

360 Feature | Portal

Oct 15, 2007 Weve all become rather enamored by Portal, which has been untangling the folds of our frontal lobes since its release last week with Valves Orange Box. While it may appear simple at first glance, Portal is jammed full of subtleties, Easter eggs, and easily repeatable tag lines that have been rapidly absorbed by the Internets collective cultural consciousness. If youve been on the wrong side of the space-time continuum for the last week and have no clue what were talking about, ... » Read More

12 Oct 2007

"Why Portal is perfect"

360 Feature | Portal

Oct 12, 2007 Ben Richardson is Content Editor for GamesRadar UK. The Orange Box is Valve's finest hour. Five triple-A games, one package, muchos satisfaction guaranteed. But it's a special bundle for more than simply its value for money, because The Orange Box contains the world's first ever perfect game: Portal. If you've read the discussion GamesRadar had with several mag editors, you'll know how most journalists feel about 'perfect' games and 'perfect' scores. Short version - such a thing ... » Read More

18 May 2007

Valve's industrial revolution

360 Feature | Portal

Back in 1996, two Microsoft executives quit their spectacularly high-paid jobs, formed a games company and made the best game ever. Twice. They didnt like the way retailers were throttling the industrys creativity, so they cut them out. They did what a lot of mod teams were doing, they hired them. They published any game they liked through their digital distribution network, however commercially risky, and saved several independent developers in the process. Their revolution was so successful ... » Read More

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