Songs help express the emotions present in the ending of a game - especially if the ending is a creepy one. Meet the people who helped bring Portal's (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) GLaDOS to life as musician Jonathan Coulton talks about what it was like working together with Ellen McLain and Erik Wolpaw on Valve Corporation's puzzle game.

Meet the crew after the jump!

If you've hummed to the tune of Still Alive one too many times, or fantasized going into war with the invigorating sounds of Team Fortress 2 (Xbox 360, PC, PS3), then you might want to consider buying the original soundtrack of The Orange Box.

This disc full of unique audio goodness can be yours for the paltry sum of US$ 9.95. Check out the newly-released product in the full article.

The cake is not a lie. Well, at least it doesn't seem to be according to Valve Corporation's Portal  (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) holiday greeting video. Ok, we've been fooled before, but the video seemed sincere enough and had ample coverage of cake. It seems like a pretty nice gesture from the Aperture Science research corporation.

We're pretty sure that fans of the Half-Life series would want to see the video. Be sure to head on over to the full article where we posted it.

For those of us who purchased Valve Corporation's cuboid of FPS goodness, The Orange Box, out of town and found their games deactivated by Steam, fret not.

The company that gave us Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal have recently released a statement about this, explaining that the deactivations themselves are part of Steam's programming, and that users should purchase a legal copy of The Orange Box in their local stores (instead of buying outside the country to save a buck or two).

But why is Steam deactivating legally-bought games (even if they're from out of town)? Territory violation, that's why. Valve's own Doug Lombardi explains:

Valve uses Steam for territory control to make sure products authorized for use in certain territories are not being distributed and used outside of those territories.

In this case, a Thai website was selling retail box product keys for Thailand to people outside of Thailand. Since those keys are only for use in Thailand, people who purchased product keys from the Thai website are not able to use those product keys in other territories.

Well, at least we know that Steam works in that aspect. What should the users who found themselves locked out of their games do, then? Doug Lombardi suggests buying a legitimate copy of The Orange Box from their local store. Problem fixed, then?

Not quite. It seems that there are a few users who have already done this, and found themselves still unable to play, having trouble removing the illegitimate product key from their old accounts. Doug Lombardi responds to this by directing Steam users who are having this problem to contact Steam Support for the exact procedures on how to remove said key.

Valve Corporation's Portal (PC, Xbox 360)is one of those quirky games that ends up being remembered because something about was just too weird to be forgotten. Well, we've got something special for you today, and it comes in the form of the super quirky ending credits to Portal.

For those who don't know the actual setup for this game, here's a quick recap. In Portal, You play a woman who's mysteriously thrust into what looks to be a test for a company called Aperture Science. In this test, you've basically got to learn how portals work to make it past each room and eventually find out what's going on.

Along the way you'll be led (or misled, as the case may be) by a female voice, who may hold the clues as to what's happening. Needless to say, she also plays a pivotal part in the ending of the game, and without spoiling it for you, we can definitely say that she's not particularly human to begin with.

In any case, enjoy the snappy ending (supplied by musician Jonathan Coulton) to Portal.

Here are some new screenshots for Valve's coveted compilation of games known as The Orange Box. It contains the titles Half-Life 2: Episode Two (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), Portal (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), and Team Fortress 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC). It was earlier reported that the PlayStation 3 version will be a bit delayed while the other two will be meeting their October release date schedule.

Valve Corporation has a lot of surprises for each title. Episode 2, for example, focuses on expansive environments and non-linear gameplay. In this installment, players get to follow Gordon Freeman and the other characters leave City 17 and move to the surrounding wilderness.

Portal, on the other hand, introduces puzzle element in the FPS genre as it allows players to create portals on flat planes for instant travels. Linking two portals on different planes will result to a rather bizarre twist in geometry and gravity. Team Fortress 2, finally, will focus on multiplayer and strategy.

Aside from the above mentioned, The Orange Box compilation will also contain past titles Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One.

   

See the other screenshots after the jump!

For those saving up for the big games coming this holiday season, here's a bit of a good news. It'll only take a few bucks from your stash to get Valve Corporation and Electronic Arts' The Orange Box plus an invite to the on-going Team Fortress 2 beta. Some US$ 44.99 to be exact.

GameStop has listed The Orange Box with a US$ 44.99 price tag for a limited period - that's 10 percent off the original price. If you pre-order the compilation, you'll also have a chance to get an exclusive Team Fortress 2 invite to the beta program running from September 17 until October 10, 2007.

The Orange Box is a compilation of Valve video games which contains Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Half-Life 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 for the PC.

Check out the Read link for instructions on how to pre-order the discounted pack and secure yourself a beta invite.

Valve Studios programmer and designer Robin Walker has announced that the PC version of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Portal will both be getting achievements, much like those found on Xbox 360 games. This announcement confirms that the newer games in The Orange Box will come with this feature.

Walker gave word that the game will be giving you feedback achievement status, such as saying when you are close to achieving one, or have already finished getting it. We can only speculate at what they've implemented so far, but we're hoping that they include one for tea-bagging multiple opponents like in Shadowrun.

For those who haven't heard of The Orange Box, it is a compilation that includes Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Slated to be released as a download on Steam and at video game stores this October 9, many FPS fans have been very excited about it.

Bad news to those who have been waiting for the PlayStation 3 version of Valve Software's The Orange Box. It will be lagging behind the other version of the five-game pack, the ones for the Xbox 360 and the PC.

GameSpot was able to speak with Doug Lombardi, director of marketing at Valve, and got confirmation that the PS3 game compendium (Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal) will be coming a couple of weeks later than the other two versions. The PC and Xbox 360 versions are still snug on their placeholders with an October 9 release.

There was no reason given for the delay, nor was a new release date given for The Orange Box's PS3 debut, though online shops are reportedly listing it for a November 18 release. Stay tuned for more info regarding this.

Now, personally, I'm not much of an FPS fan. This title's got my interests quite piqued though: Portal from Valve Corporation, set to be released on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

While we've heard all about it since time immemorial, a lot of you (myself included) might still be a bit confused about how the game actually goes. For one, I was never really able to grasp the whole concept of how an "FPS-puzzler involving portals and warping space" would play like.

So, if you've got the same sentiments, feast your eyes on this E3 developer walkthrough. Portal, set in the Half-Life universe, will have you running through rooms (literally) with the help of a gun which can create portals. Kinda trippy too if you see the gameplay footage as seen below. You'll probably be using more of your brains and spatial-relations than FPS skills. Here's a game which will probably make Stephen Hawking proud.

Portal is to be released on October 9 as part of the Half-Life 2 bundle called "The Orange Box," which includes Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.