Once upon a time during a podcast, I was asked what game I had played that had eluded to a  sequal but never delivered.  My response to this inquiry was quite simply; Portal.   A fantastic game unlike anything we had all seen at the time, and one that had us all quoting it for months after the hype died down.  The ending to this game was very open for more with the main character being alive, outside and [lo and behold] with portal gun in hand. 

My imagine immediately started working out possible tie ins to Half-Life 3, an inevitability in the Valve franchise.  Could it be that Gordon Freeman would happen across our poor lab rat, Chell, and together they would take on Aperture Science and Black Mesa in Co-Op awesomeness?  Arguements were posed that it would be too difficult to manage, and that perhaps my dream would have to stay… just a dream. 

Then I stumbled [a handy journalism tool] upon something that hit the web back in 2007.  Nearly three years ago, there was a mind and an idea to find a way to put the portal gun into Half-Life 2.   What is this insanity, you say?  Freeman, with a portal gun!?   Oh, it is true my friends and not only is it true and possible but it eludes to a future concept that might already be in the works behind a cleverly hidden cloak. 

So much time has passed for Valve to take this idea and run with it, and I would think they would find themselves edging into foolishness if they didn’t.  You would gain all of the Freeman fans, and all of the relentlessly-quoting-the-cake-to-be-a-lie Portal fans together in one big little guy takes down the big corporation battle for freedom!  Even if they didn’t manage to find a way to braid together the concept with the idea of a two-player co-op [see Resident Evil 5], there is no reason not to include the portal gun in another Half-Life game. 

Seriously, look at how awesome this could be.

All of us here behind the scenes at Fall Damage believe that all great developers get their start with nothing more than an idea, a dream, and a passion to see it through..  To celebrate and honor this ideal, we will be bringing you new games that we’ve found through our adventures.  Hopefully, this will mean that we will do our small part to see up and coming developers reach the rank and prestige of companies such as Level 5, Valve and Naughty Dog.

This week I would like to introduce you to a marvelous little game called Tipoli.  It’s a one button iPhone game with huge potential and unlimited fun brought to our eager hands by Proper Walrus and published by Divide By Zero Games.  If you are craving something indubitably addictive and you just happen to have an iPhone at your disposal than there is truly no reason not to go and get yourself a copy of Tipoli.

The good news gets even better once you hear that for the first week Tipoli is only 99 cents in the apps store!  Yes, you read that right.  Only 99 Cents, People.  So go out there, support those big time dreamers with even bigger ideas, and who knows what wonderous things we might see from them in the future!

Oh, and for those who want the game but just can’t be bothered searching for it?  [I know, the internet is a scary place. o_o]  Here is a direct link for download!  Or, if you want to read more about the developers themselves, and the process that Tipoli has gone through to become what it is now; here is a link for your reading enjoyment! 

And because writing a whole article with piles of information would mean that I’d have to pretend to be an actual journalist, keep your ears open for a future podcast [fingerscrossed] hopefully interviewing one of the Proper Walrus team!

Randomly lurking on the Gearbox forums today, I noticed a juicy piece of news. It seems that Gearbox has filed a new trademark document for something entitled ‘Borderworlds’. Pretty much seals the deal for a sequel, or maybe even a massive expansion/DLC pack for the original game that moves the focus to multiple different worlds (okay, I’m dreaming here, but it could happen!).

Borderworlds Trademark Status

During my morning lurk on the PC digital distribution websites, I stumbled upon the Direct2Drive 24 Days of Christmas Sale, where each day this month will see a different game on sale until Christmas Eve. Today’s sale is The Witcher Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut for 50% off, making it $19.99 until tomorrow morning.

However, I noticed something else very interesting. Mirror’s Edge appeared as being on sale for $4.95 according to their main page, which I jumped all over because I forgot to pick it up on Steam this weekend. However, after clicking the link, the price in the checkout was $19.95. Suffice to say, I’m a little disappointed. I wanted Mirror’s Edge for $5 D:

Still though, keep an eye on their website for the coming deals this month. Here’s hoping they have some awesome stuff coming up!

EDIT: Looks like they fixed it finally, about an hour after I first saw it. Mirror’s Edge is listed at $19.95 now. Sad day.

SECOND EDIT: Looks like this is going to happen every day of the sale, The Witcher is still listed for $19.95 until you get to the checkout. This amuses me greatly.

This week for the traditional mid-week sale, Zeno Clash is 66% off on Steam, allowing you to pick up this absolutely bizarre Source engine-based indie gem for just five of your US dollars and ten of their percents.

Zeno Clash is what I can only refer to as a ‘first-person-brawler’, with a lot of obvious inspiration taken from games like Streets of Rage and Final Fight in terms of gameplay mechanics, and some kind of crazy psychotropic substance induced fever dream for the setting. It’s also quite good, so I recommend taking a peek if you have five bucks burning a hole in your pocket.

You can head over to the Steam Store page and pick it up for $5.10 right here.

Apparently, this is no joke.  This is the actual piece of crap trailer that they are using to advertise the new King of Fighters movie.   Could it be worse than Mortal Kombat?  Could it be worse than that nightmare of a Chun-Li movie?  Dear God, I think it might be.  It looks to completely ignore all semblance of a story line that the original series had.  Am I wrong about this?  I’ll let you, the readers, clarify. 

Leave your comments, folks.  Are you ready to burn your eyes out too, or could it be passable as an enjoyable film if you just pretend it has nothing to do with KOF?

This just-in: Capcom has confirmed three new characters for Super Street Fighter 4, and teased at a fourth. Final Fight vets Cody and Guy, along with Street Fighter Alpha fan-favorite Adon, are going to be in the game when it drops, and promotional material has hinted that everyone’s favorite ninja from Street Fighter 3, Ibuki, will be returning as well.

Does this open the floodgate for other fan-favorites from the Alpha and 3 series? I’m rooting for Karin and Dudley, myself, but only time will tell.

Okay, so that title makes this seem a little more mean than it actually is. There is currently a Q&A session going on between Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata over the release of Super Mario Bros. Wii, which is posted for everybody to read. Iwata has been asking many questions on the history of the development of the Mario games, and it’s quite an enjoyable read.

Head over to the first page here, and you will find links to each subsequent page at the bottom.

Do gamers need more Dragon Age? From all corners of the internet the answer seems to be “Oh God YES!”

Bioware has heard your cries (and heartily anticipated them) and wiill be releasing another packet of DLC this holiday season. From the Press Release:

Return to Ostagar, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, summons players to a new quest in which they will return to the fateful battleground in Ostagar where the Grey Wardens were nearly wiped out. Players will discover King Cailan’s top-secret political agenda and go behind enemy lines to revisit a place that many feared had been lost to history.

Political intrigue for less that $5 on the XBL and PSN? Count us in!

I’ll be doing Thank Mods It’s Friday a little late this week, as I am at a LAN party today.

The post will be up on Sunday (LAN going on longer than expected!), have a good weekend guys!