Valve ARG Encourages Fans To Play Indie Games To Unlock Portal 2 Early

Disappointing gamers who expected an early release for Portal 2 today, Valve's countdown site now invites fans to play indie titles from its "Potato Sack" bundle to unlock the first-person puzzle platformer. Leading up to Portal 2's scheduled launch for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 next week, Valve has promoted the title through an alternate reality game hidden inside a "Potato Sack" bundle of 13 indie PC games, all of which have been discounted on the publisher's popular digital distribution platform Steam. The indie games, which include Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip Beat and Frictional Games' Amnesia: The Dark Descent, offer special Portal-themed content and hint at an early release for Portal 2. A countdown timer on the Aperture Science page led many to assume the much-anticipated title would unlock this morning. Once the countdown ended, however, the site revealed a GLaDOS@Home page that reads "Portal 2 Steam Systems Offline. Computer Power Required For Launch". The site indicates that it requires "CPUs", which it can access when users play games from the Potato Sack bundle, before it can unlock Portal 2. Gamers planning to purchase Portal 2 for home consoles and not via Steam (though the PS3 version will offer Steam features) will need to wait until Tuesday, when the game ships to stores.