The cake is not a lie! At least this Portal 2 themed cake, made by Redmond-based Mike’s Amazing Cakes. The Portal 2 cake is certainly one of the best looking gaming cakes we’ve seen in a while, but after all, it is made by a professional. Now all all we need to do is to have a little tasting to make sure the quality is up to Aperture Science standards. You hear us Mike? Send over a sample and testing will commence!

Valve is one of the most influence names in the gaming community with several of their hardest hitting games sure to go down in history. Of course they have the highly popular Half-Life and Counter-Strike series but they also have the somewhat newer Portal series. If you’re a fan of this series you’ll know that the company has recently released the second addition appropriately dubbed Portal 2 which includes things like co-op play and many new puzzles to portal your way through.

However, once beating both modes of the game there isn’t much you can do besides try to beat your own personal high score. Luckily, Valve has just remedied that today as well as they have just pushed out a level creator for the game. That’s right, you can now create your own puzzling levels for Portal 2 and all it takes it a simple download within the Tools sections of your Steam account.

Valve is one of those companies that turn heads with just about every title they put out on the market. If you’ve been paying attention yu’ll know that they have recently released Portal 2 which has received positive reception literally across the board. However, while the game is certainly a highly sought after one its $60 price tag may keep it out of the hands of gamers on a budget. If this sounds like you, you’re in luck.

It was just noted today that Kmart will be offering Portal 2 for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 for just $35 on Sunday, April 30th. Furthermore, it was also noticed that GameStop will be offering the PC version of the game for just $30 while the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will run $39.99.

If you haven’t picked the game up yet definitely keep an eye out for these deals as the game is said to be contender for Game of the Year.

Valve has seen hit after hit make it big on the market and their latest release Portal 2 is no different. This game expanded on the first title and gave gamers a full fledged arena to make their way through utilizing the iconic portal gun. However, while the second game is considered by most everyone to be a great game, some have said that it’s a bit short. Luckily, thanks to the emergence of online virtual retail outlets that’s nothing a little DLC can’t fix.

In fact, despite just hitting the market gamers are already wondering when Valve will get around to releasing the first Portal 2 DLC pack. Well, Valve’s VP of marketing Doug Lombardi has just come forth to say the following:

“We will be announcing some DLC for it, so folks can keep a look out for more content coming this summer.”

While this isn’t set in stone, Valve has been known to be good about releasing DLC for their titles so the summer is ddefinitely something to look forward to.

If you have Portal 2, how are you liking it?

All three major consoles currently on the market feature some sort of motion controller. The Nintendo Wii is pretty self explanatory while the Xbox 360 has the Kinect and the PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Move. While this is all fine and dandy for console gamers it generally leaves PC gamers in the dust when it comes to motion controllers – that is, if it wasn’t for Razer.

The reason I say this is because Razer has just announced today that their Hydra motion controller for the PC will be made available this June for $139.99 bundled with the critically acclaimed Portal 2. If you’re looking tog et down on the device early be on the look out in May as pre-orders are set to open sometime next month.

And, for those of you wondering if the Hydra will work with your favorite games your in luck as Razer has posted all 125 of of Hydra compatible games for your viewing pleasure here.

The original Portal was a breath of fresh air for all gamers, as it offered wonderful gameplay, lots of humor and style. All while being quite limited to only a few hours of gameplay and with minimalistic visuals. After much anticipation, the sequel is here, and it delivers across the board for any Portal fan — any videogame fan, period. Not only does it offer great puzzles, lots of humor, but also sports a wonderful story and characters.

Portal 2 has the same ground principles as Portal 1, you’re still armed with your trusty Portal gun, where you create entrances and exits to Portals in order to solve puzzles. Portal 2 ups the ante by introducing several new gameplay features, including gels that propel you, light bridges, tractor beams, jump pads and lots of other stuff. The puzzles are far more intricate this time, and are still based around the same principle: open the door to exit the level. Usually this is done by transporting companion cubes to activate a switch etc. And while the puzzles are a lot more intricate and complex, they never feel impossible, and you can usually beat any level with a few tries and some creative thinking. And you’ll be doing a lot creative thinking in Portal 2.

There’s also multiplayer in Portal 2, with co-op gameplay. Here, you play as two bots, and you have to work together to solve the puzzles and get through the levels. Teamwork in Portal 2 co-op is a must, and you won’t solve a single puzzle without working together. Since this can be a little tricky if you can’t talk to the person (Portal 2 supports VOIP), there are a set of tools you can easily access in order to communicate with each other — a great touch many games seem to be forgetting these days when it comes to co-op.

Visually, the game looks an order of magnitude better than Portal 1. But Portal 2′s visuals still don’t fully stack up with the recent shooters like Crysis 2. What the visuals in Portal 2 do, is create an amazing atmosphere, with wonderful lighting effects, shadows, and art design. There is a lot more details and style in the world, and despite still using the aging Source engine, it manages to be just enough for a game like Portal 2.

Overall, Portal 2 is the must have sequel to Portal, it offers everything the previous game had, only a lot bigger, better, and with a ton of new features (like co-op). It’s our first must buy game of 2011.

The Good:
Amazing gameplay and puzzles
Never feels frustrating or impossible
Lots of humor
Great atmosphere and story
Cp-op is a blast

The Bad:
Somewhat dated visuals
Too many loading times

Overall score: 9/10

Valve is one of the most influential game developers on the market today largely thanks to their highly successful Half-Life franchise. However, they have many different games on the market that have been causing waves including Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead. However, the release date for one of their highly anticipated games is quickly approaching and that is none other than Portal 2. While just about everything to be known is known about the game, there is still information coming out despite it having an April 19th release date.

Today, the information that was made known probably won’t come as as a good thing to many consumers – specifically those who have a PlayStation 3. The reason I said this is because Valve has just let us know that there will be no keyboard & mouse support for the PS3 version of Portal 2. Of coruse, this won’t come as too much of a shocker to those who are partial to game controllers but everyone knows that FPS gamers were meant to be played with a keyboard and mouse.

Are you getting Portal 2?

Valve is one of the more iconic game companies on the market today releasing heavy hitting titles like Half-Life, Counter-Strike and more recently, Portal. If you’ve been following this innovative puzzler you’ll probably know that the game’s sequel is due out for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Mac/PC on April 19th. If you just don’t want to wait a minute longer you’re in luck as Valve has just released a single player demo for the game. According to Valve, this demo includes the first 4 levels but is a “bit rough around the edges”. The best part? The download clocks in at just 975.7 GB. That way, if you start the download now it will be done just in time for Portal 58 in year 2050.

Grab the download here.

The newest Portal 2 ad shows just how trust is an important aspect of Portal 2, and that humans cannot be trusted, only robots can be trusted. And make sure to fire the humans who created the robots, then make better robots. The result: robots that can be trusted 6 seconds longer than humans. Yep, it’s another quirky Portal 2 ad from Valve and Aperture Science. Portal 2 hits the streets April 2 on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. If you’re looking to get the PC version, you can pre-order it now on Steam and save 10%, with a price tag of $45.

Portal 2 isn’t shy of eager fans out there who are anxious to get their daily dose of news regarding the upcoming Portal sequel. Well, here you have the entire opening sequence of the game, as presented and played at PAX. Of course, it’s not in the best quality, and we can’t really advise you to watch it all — instead of enjoying it when the game comes out. But who are we to deny you some Portal 2 news, anyways? Especially when it looks so good.