“Portal 2” PS3 Steam Details

Holy monkey balls. We just received word from Valve about the much-hyped Steam support on the PS3 edition of “Portal 2.” As an avowed PS3 skeptic (in spite of the fact that I own one), no one would enjoy pronouncing this mountain a molehill more than me, but it’s just not possible. Sony and Valve have done incredible things with the PS3 edition of “Portal 2.” Hit the jump to read just how incredible.

So here’s a list of what’s going into the PS3 “Portal 2:”

–Cross-platform matchmaking, gameplay, chat, friends and achievements. So, in the proud tradition of “Shadowrun,” console denizens can mix and mingle with their PC brethren. This is incredible, and I completely approve, and yet I think we can all agree that PC and console gamers have evolved from brothers divided by a Berlin Wall-style medium difference, into separate castes, with different social mores and a dim view of one another. Tossing them together on the same playground should have…interesting results. You can also link with Mac gamers, all twenty seven of them.

-Steam Cloud. All progress in single or co-op is saved to the Steam Cloud, which allows you to resume from any PS3. This is good, because I like to buy a new PS3 once every few weeks, for no reason, and it sure is irritating when I can’t pick up from where I left off with the last one.

Okay but sarcasm aside, Valve employs this to a brilliant and surprisingly customer-friendly end: PS3 owners of “Portal 2” can enter a redeem code into their PC/Mac and access their game there as well. Even though these are the same gods among men who gave us “The Orange Box,” their generosity still surprises me.

-Steam Overlay. If you have a Steam account already, you can access it in your PS3 through “Portal 2.” If you don’t, you can set one up which will be valid on any other platform. The features will, apparently, be identical.

All of this is pretty remarkable, even for Valve. It’s not difficult to see why Gabe Newell and company abandoned the Xbox as their primary console, with Sony offering this kind of amazing integration. I would say that I hope Microsoft feels guilty, but honestly, Microsoft doesn’t have feelings.

Hit the Valve knowledge base to learn more:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5477-WPJM-9388

-AA

the mind is its own place, and in itself

can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n