Valve to Zap Open Portal 2 on October 26

By Nick Mokey March 5, 2010

Image used with permission by copyright holder

After a series of clues burrowed into a patched version of Portal earlier this week, Valve has finally broken its silence on the franchise. The big news: There’s a sequel on the way.

Game Informer magazine will break the full news in its next issue – the cover of which it teased online on Friday. The front and rear cover – with a blue portal leading outdoors and an orange portal leading in – hints at gameplay carried beyond the confines of the original game. The tagline: “Aperture Labs returns for the people who are still alive.”

The patched version of Portal, which fans have spent days poring over for every detail, contains other hints – the tale of which you can follow in over 700 pages of replies on the Steam forums. Players who completed a new in-game achievement received Morse code radio messages that suggest the game’s villainous AI, GLaDOS, was rebooting. Other radio messages had images coded into them, which hinted at a BBS login and password. Users who followed it that far found ASCII data and memos from the founder of the fictional Aperture Labs.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The GameStop product entry for Portal 2 further reveals that Portal 2 will drop on October 26, and that it will include “a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers.”

Valve will likely offer further details at next week’s Game Developer’s Conference, where it is also widely expected to reveal Steam for Mac OS X.

An updated ending sequence to the original Portal, posted on YouTube, alludes to just how the story for Portal 2 will begin.

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The best video games of October 2023: Mario, Spider-Man 2, and more

Spider-Man soars through the air in a biomechanical suit in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

October 2023 was one of the best months for video games in a long time. From the indie to the AAA space, there was a spectacular new game coming out every few days. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder arrived and improved upon their predecessors in almost every way, while indies like Jusant and Wargroove 2 hit the scene with fresh ideas. While the phrase “there’s something for everyone” is played out in the game industry, that truly felt like it was the case this month.
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Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Nintendo dropped a brand new 2D Mario game this month, and it's outstanding. Super Mario Bros. Wonder lives up to its namesake, eliciting a sense of wonder with its expertly designed levels that reward players who poke around in them and also feature Wonder Effects that can drastically change what players are doing on the stage. From singing Piranha Plants to a top-down perspective shift, Super Mario Bros. Wonder stays consistently fresh and creative the whole way through.
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Personally, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is my favorite game of the year and one that I know will appeal to gamers of all ages and skill levels. If you only play one game on this list, I urge you to make it this one. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2

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All stash locations in Alan Wake 2 and how to open them

Alan drenched in green light in Alan Wake 2.

FBI agent Saga Anderson and her partner, Alex Casey, are called into Bright Falls to investigate a murder committed by a strange group calling themselves the Cult of the Trees. These dangerous cultists are your main enemy in Alan Wake 2, and they put up quite a fight despite mostly using basic tools as weapons. They seem mindless and primitive, but the fact that they have a series of Cultist Stashes hidden all around the world suggests otherwise. These treasure troves are very well hidden, and they're protected with a small puzzle to try and prevent those who may stumble upon one from grabbing all the goodies inside. You'll find yourself short on supplies essentially all the time in Alan Wake 2, so scooping up some extra ammo and batteries is always welcome. Here is where you can find all the Cultist Stashes in Alan Wake 2 and how to open them.
All Cultist Stash locations
There are a total of 21 Cultist Stashes to find and unlock in Alan Wake 2. Each zone has its own set to find, and they all have different puzzles you need to solve to open them. None are missable, but some can't be obtained until you make story progress or get specific tools.
Bright Falls Cult Stashes

The first Cult Stash you can find comes as soon as you reach the town of Bright Falls for the first time. Instead of going straight to your destination down the block, turn around and head toward the dead end. Behind the truck will be a big locked box. To open this one, all you need to do is play a little game of Simon Says. The keypad will flash three buttons in a sequence that you simply need to repeat to open the box and grab the loot.

Gaming

How to open Prowler Stashes in Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man Peter Parker and Miles Morales fighting Kraven and henchmen

The Prowler, aka Miles Morales' uncle, has hung up his hood and retired from his life of crime by the time Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Even so, after a talk with Miles, it is revealed that he left quite a few stashes of materials around the city that, since he is under house arrest, he can't access anymore. Rather than let them go to waste, you're sent out to collect these little resource caches to use for yourself. These are an easy way to earn yourself some Rare Tech Parts, but the Prowler didn't just leave them out in the open. Here is a breakdown of how you can access Prowler Stashes in Spider-Man 2.
How to open Prowler Stashes

Once you get into the area where a Prowler Stash is, the hunt begins. The first step is locating the stash, which is camouflaged, so you need to use your mask to track it down. By holding down L2, you can scan the area and follow the sounds until you narrow down the correct spot. You have to aim at the right spot and be close enough to reveal it.