Poll: Did you really feel sorry for the Companion Cube?

[chozo_hybrid]

Due to the misunderstanding that is the question, I will not answer in the poll.

I did not feel sorry for the companion cube: it's an inanimate object, and feels no pain. Rather, I was just sad. I had grown connected to my companion cube, and I didn't want to burn the thing. I wasn't sad for it, I was sad for myself.

I feel betrayed! Your answer would be no then, as you did not feel sorry for it.

True, my answer would technically be no. But in the context of the expanded question, that would also imply that I didn't care. I cared: I loved my companion cube. I just didn't feel sorry for it.

The question was did you really feel sorry for it, not did you care for it or not XD

 

[Oassis]

Its just a cube, so its VERY hard to feel bad for it...

 

[splatterguy734]

I lobbed it in without hesitation.

 

[Mr.Mudkip]

The reason I voted yes, and consequently feel sorry for it, is the same reason I can't be a jerk in any morality based game. It's simply my heart, my foolish human heart.

C'mon, it wasn't Megaton you were destroying there.

(as an aside, my first realization that my ex-wife was an airhead masquerading as a geeky intellectual was when she completely missed the point of Portal's writing---she couldn't comprehend what the game was trying to accomplish so she just went back to playing Team Fortress 2, Starcraft, and WoW.)

I know, but I can't help it. I tell myself it's not that big of a deal, but I'm a bit on the sentimental side. Megaton, strangely enough, was easy for me to destroy, but only after convincing myself it was for the greater good.(Don't ask.)

 

[Denamic]

I found those whole intentionally silly attempt to cause psychological stress hilarious.
Made even more funny to find the hidden rooms with other test subject's shrines to the companion cube, hinting that they succumbed to the mental trauma caused by the 'ordeal'.
The humour is deliciously dark.

Still... I kinda miss the companion cube... It was the only one who'd listen to me... :'(

 

[SimuLord]

The reason I voted yes, and consequently feel sorry for it, is the same reason I can't be a jerk in any morality based game. It's simply my heart, my foolish human heart.

C'mon, it wasn't Megaton you were destroying there.

(as an aside, my first realization that my ex-wife was an airhead masquerading as a geeky intellectual was when she completely missed the point of Portal's writing---she couldn't comprehend what the game was trying to accomplish so she just went back to playing Team Fortress 2, Starcraft, and WoW.)

I know, but I can't help it. I tell myself it's not that big of a deal, but I'm a bit on the sentimental side. Megaton, strangely enough, was easy for me to destroy, but only after convincing myself it was for the greater good.(Don't ask.)

The greater good? Even in the verklempt morality of the Capital Wasteland I can't rightly see that one. But what do I know? I'm the one who has only destroyed Megaton once...on a character I promptly deleted, as I'd created her with the sole purpose of seeing it for myself, not actually playing the game through as someone that evil.

I liked Lucas Simms and Moira Brown and Nova and Gob and all the rest. Plus, if you want to get all your SPECIAL stats to 10, keeping Megaton intact is part of the strategy (get to level 30, take Almost Perfect as your Lv30 perk, then get the bobbleheads.)

 

[Mr.Mudkip]

The greater good? Even in the verklempt morality of the Capital Wasteland I can't rightly see that one. But what do I know? I'm the one who has only destroyed Megaton once...on a character I promptly deleted, as I'd created her with the sole purpose of seeing it for myself, not actually playing the game through as someone that evil.

I liked Lucas Simms and Moira Brown and Nova and Gob and all the rest. Plus, if you want to get all your SPECIAL stats to 10, keeping Megaton intact is part of the strategy (get to level 30, take Almost Perfect as your Lv30 perk, then get the bobbleheads.)

I only blew it up once too, and then promptly changed sides when Dad expressed not anger, but solemn disappointment in me. I vowed to redeem myself, and so I did. As for my rationalization, I thought that the caps I gained could go to better weapons and such that I could use to do good.

I prefer to keep my character flawed, it adds to their appeal to me. And why play a role-playing game if you don't like you character?

 

[Lexodus]

Yes, I saw the joke (as explained earlier; it lampshades the whole 'growing attached to a character and then seeing them die' thing), but it worked; as a kid, I did have a fondness for boxes, and I also empathise too much with Chell's situation- that of being trapped like a lab rat, with only a single cube with hearts painted on the side for a friend. When I first met the companion cube, and GLaDOS told me it would be my best friend, I (again, empathising as Chell) created a bond with the cube as if it *were* going to be around for ever, but then I had to kill it.
As a kid, I cried when my brother logged into my account and abandoned my Neopets.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Sorry, no love or tears here.

Nobody here seems to get the point...

The whole point of the companion cube was it showed Glados's lack of understanding about humanity, yet at the same time her vindictive and cruel nature.

She attempts to manipulate your emotions through her limited understanding of human bonding and emotion by using an inanimate object with a love heart on it.

That's why it was funny, you weren't meant to feel attached to the metal cube even though Glados thought you would be.

It's amazing how many people don't get this. It seemed obvious to me.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Sorry, no love or tears here.

The whole point of the companion cube was it showed Glados's lack of understanding about humanity, yet at the same time her vindictive and cruel nature.

She attempts to manipulate your emotions through her limited understanding of human bonding and emotion by using an inanimate object with a love heart on it.

That's why it was funny, you didn't really feel attached to the metal cube even though Glados thought you would be.

It's amazing how many people don't get this. It seemed obvious to me.

This is part of the reason I started this thread, to see what people think the joke was, as I had no clue.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Sorry, no love or tears here.

The whole point of the companion cube was it showed Glados's lack of understanding about humanity, yet at the same time her vindictive and cruel nature.

She attempts to manipulate your emotions through her limited understanding of human bonding and emotion by using an inanimate object with a love heart on it.

That's why it was funny, you didn't really feel attached to the metal cube even though Glados thought you would be.

It's amazing how many people don't get this. It seemed obvious to me.

This is part of the reason I started this thread, to see what people think the joke was, as I had no clue.

By the looks of the replies, most people who played the game completely missed the joke too.

 

[Demons_Bane]

I little bit but when i killed it i knew i twas just another game mechanic not something to cry over.

 

[Tharwen]

No. It's just fun to play along with the Portal mentality.

I just found it amusing. Especially GLaDOS's speeches about the Companion Cube.
"The Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak"
Hurr hurr hurr... : D Funny.

"In the event that the cube does speak, we suggest you disregard its advice."

 

[Casual Shinji]

With all the insane fanbase squeeling, I can safely say that I hope that cube burns in Hell.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

No and I feel the compulsion to punch anyone who, even jokingly, says they did. It's not funny anymore. You people killed it just like you killed "the cake is a lie." Just shut up about it, you drove it into the ground within weeks of the game being released you cunts.

Half of them don't get the actual joke in the first place...

 

[icaritos]

I felt bad in destroying it simply because i though it could be useful (or funny) to carry it with me through the rest of the game.

 

[Danzaivar]

Sorry, no love or tears here.

Nobody here seems to get the point...

The whole point of the companion cube was it showed Glados's lack of understanding about humanity, yet at the same time her vindictive and cruel nature.

She attempts to manipulate your emotions through her limited understanding of human bonding and emotion by using an inanimate object with a love heart on it.

That's why it was funny, you weren't meant to feel attached to the metal cube even though Glados thought you would be.

It's amazing how many people don't get this. It seemed obvious to me.

^- Was about to write pretty much this.

It's (in my opinion) meant to be a twisted joke about how human empathy is seen through the eyes of something which has no sense of it, to show how arbitrary the whole thing is.

There are some people who won't realise that and worry whether or not they felt bad for the destruction of the companion cube. There are some people who will see through that and get the dark joke directed at an aspect of our psyche we're quite proud of as a species, to show how flawed it can be and how others may interpret it.

Then again, Portal jokes are usually of the 'in joke' sort which just get funnier as more people miss the point. It's one of the things that makes the game so critically acclaimed.

 

[Superior Mind]

I didn't but I appreciated why others would. Made me laugh to realise that the most charismatic and lovable video game character of that time was literally an inanimate cube.