Poll: Never heard of PORTAL?

[PhiMed]

So I was really excited about the release of Portal 2, and I actually went to the midnight release (something I never do anymore). I was really surprised to see an absolute mob scene.

Just as my faith in humanity and the gaming community was about to be restored, I saw a couple guys playing the new Mortal Kombat, and realized that it was being released on the same day.

While there's nothing wrong with MK, it's certainly not the "thinking person's game" Portal is, so I was a little disappointed. This was compounded when I struck up a conversation with a guy in line.

Me: "What are you here to get?"
Guy: "Mortal Kombat, same as everybody else.
Me: "Oh. I'm actually here to get Portal 2."
Guy: "What's that?"
Me: "Here." (showing him the box from a display) "The original was pretty awesome."
Guy: "Never heard of it."
Me: "It won several game of the year awards."
Guy: (regarding box) "Oh. Looks weird. And the graphics look old."

Now, it's entirely possible that he could've been messing with me, but I don't think he was. Here was a guy, involved enough in gaming to show up at a midnight release on a Monday night, who had never heard of the game Portal. Is it just me, or is this bizarre?

And, additionally, which game were you most excited about? Am I a starry-eyed idealist for thinking that Portal 2 is the more widely-anticipated game?

 

[Katana314]

While there's nothing wrong with MK, it's certainly not the "thinking person's game" Portal is, so I was a little disappointed. This was compounded when I struck up a conversation with a guy in line.

Pretentious-Man....AWAY!! Congratulations. You are claiming your popular game is more mature than another. What does it feel like to be the new Halo / CoD fan?

Anyway, I don't care about either, but I'd be kind of surprised if after all that ARG stuff and advertising everywhere, Portal 2 falls behind MK. I mean, MK has definitely existed longer, but I didn't think there was still so big of a fanbase for it.

 

[repeating integers]

He's not a gamer like you, I guess. He just wanted to pick up the new thing he could play to have a great time with his friends. Portal is very, very popular among the nerd community but that's about the extent of its reach.

 

[PhiMed]

While there's nothing wrong with MK, it's certainly not the "thinking person's game" Portal is, so I was a little disappointed. This was compounded when I struck up a conversation with a guy in line.

Pretentious-Man....AWAY!! Congratulations. You are claiming your popular game is more mature than another. What does it feel like to be the new Halo / CoD fan?

Anyway, I don't care about either, but I'd be kind of surprised if after all that ARG stuff and advertising everywhere, Portal 2 falls behind MK. I mean, MK has definitely existed longer, but I didn't think there was still so big of a fanbase for it.

No, I'm saying that a puzzle game requires more analytical thought than a fighting game. That's a pretty indisputable fact. If you want to argue that particular point, I'm going to just go ahead and assume you're trolling and ignore you for the rest of the thread.

 

[Katana314]

While there's nothing wrong with MK, it's certainly not the "thinking person's game" Portal is, so I was a little disappointed. This was compounded when I struck up a conversation with a guy in line.

Pretentious-Man....AWAY!! Congratulations. You are claiming your popular game is more mature than another. What does it feel like to be the new Halo / CoD fan?

Anyway, I don't care about either, but I'd be kind of surprised if after all that ARG stuff and advertising everywhere, Portal 2 falls behind MK. I mean, MK has definitely existed longer, but I didn't think there was still so big of a fanbase for it.

No, I'm saying that a puzzle game requires more analytical thought than a fighting game. That's a pretty indisputable fact.

Then prepare for me to dispute it. And I'm not even a fighting game person.

Portal has a number of interesting puzzles, yes. It often takes some pondering, looking over the test chamber, and the solution often feels very unique and interesting. I'm not going to degrade Portal's workings. But a fighting game is not automatically reduced to thoughts of "kill kill kill". To kill someone, you kind of have to first figure out HOW to kill them. The strategies of figuring out which combo to use when, the advantages of a particular character, keeping an eye on your ultra meter (or whatever they call it now), how to CHANGE your combo if something unexpected happens, what strategy your opponent is using and what weaknesses it has...there is quite a lot going on in the mind of a professional in the middle of a very fast-paced game. When you look at the network of decisions, I don't think you can automatically say it's a smaller network than that of Portal's puzzles.

 

[Space Spoons]

He's not a gamer like you, I guess. He just wanted to pick up the new thing he could play to have a great time with his friends. Portal is very, very popular among the nerd community but that's about the extent of its reach.

This guy's hit the nail on the head. It's a great game, and justifiably popular among gamers, but it's still kind of a niche thing.

No, I'm saying that a puzzle game requires more analytical thought than a fighting game. That's a pretty indisputable fact. If you want to argue that particular point, I'm going to just go ahead and assume you're trolling and ignore you for the rest of the thread.

That's a pretty close minded way of thinking, and it's not strictly true besides. People who don't really put much thought into how they play probably just mash buttons, but players who actually know what they're doing exercise at least as much analytical thought as a Portal player. In fact, I'd go so far as to say SSFIV, played at the highest competitive level, might be a little more analytical than Portal, because Portal's puzzles are generally static, able to be solved by a single solution and that single solution only, while the kind of obstacles you'd face in SSFIV are constantly changing and shifting, forcing you to reevaluate your strategy on the fly.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

While there's nothing wrong with MK, it's certainly not the "thinking person's game" Portal is, so I was a little disappointed. This was compounded when I struck up a conversation with a guy in line.

lol a competetive fighting game will always require more thought from the player then a fairly easy puzzle game.

And I'm more interested in Portal 2. But not extremely interested.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

The strategies of figuring out which combo to use when, the advantages of a particular character, keeping an eye on your ultra meter (or whatever they call it now), how to CHANGE your combo if something unexpected happens, what strategy your opponent is using and what weaknesses it has...there is quite a lot going on in the mind of a professional in the middle of a very fast-paced game. When you look at the network of decisions, I don't think you can automatically say it's a smaller network than that of Portal's puzzles.

It's more about being able to read movements of the other player than any of that really.

 

[JeanLuc761]

lol a competetive fighting game will always have more thought put into it then a fairly easy puzzle game.

I'm going to have to disagree...completely. Not to say that fighting games don't have an immense amount of thought put into them; character balance is a pain, but Portal 2 was clearly more thought out than the vast majority of games on the market.

The level design is sheer brilliance in every aspect with a near-perfect difficulty curve and a fair amount of super-challenging puzzles that keep the player guessing and inventing. The writing is some of the best in gaming (concise, hilarious and brilliantly acted).

Every single minute of the game is clearly a labor of love and top-notch design that probably took a lot of play testing to perfect.

Again, I'm not dismissing the complexity of fighting games but to say that Portal doesn't have as much thought put into it simply because it's a puzzle game is flat-out ignorance.

 

[kortin]

I never really liked Mortal Kombat. Portal however...*drool*

 

[GundamSentinel]

Are you kidding? I've been waiting years for Mortal Kombat, mashing buttons is way more interesting than clever puzzles and dark humor...

 

[Dorkamongus]

lol a competetive fighting game will always have more thought put into it then a fairly easy puzzle game.

I'm going to have to disagree...completely. Not to say that fighting games don't have an immense amount of thought put into them; character balance is a pain, but Portal 2 was clearly more thought out than the vast majority of games on the market.

The level design is sheer brilliance in every aspect with a near-perfect difficulty curve and a fair amount of super-challenging puzzles that keep the player guessing and inventing. The writing is some of the best in gaming (concise, hilarious and brilliantly acted).

Every single minute of the game is clearly a labor of love and top-notch design that probably took a lot of play testing to perfect.

Again, I'm not dismissing the complexity of fighting games but to say that Portal doesn't have as much thought put into it simply because it's a puzzle game is flat-out ignorance.

I believe he's talking about the gamers putting thought into the game, not the developers...

EDIT: I just reread his original post, and yours again... You could be right in your assumption, actually... sorry.

 

[Keava]

Lets face it, apart form some challenges from first Portal the puzzles aren't really that complicated. 9 out of 10 times you just need to find the spot where you actually can put portal, rather than think of some elaborate scheme. It's especially the case with Portal2.

Now as for the question. Maybe they don't care? I don't follow FPS releases or fighting games releases at all. If I wouldn't pop on Escapist I wouldn't even be aware new MK is coming out because it's not a genre im interested in. I can't name you any of the console exclusive titles of last months either because i do not own console.

Bottom line: Not everyone likes the same things. Simple.

 

[sushkis2]

HA!! Asking such a question like never heard of PORTAL to a nerd community such as this, would be like asking ppl at a catholic church "Ever heard of JESUS?"... and then I lol'd

 

[PlasmaFrog]

They're both great games in each perspective. So it's a lot like trying to compare apples to oranges here, even if they are completely different genres.

Portal 2 was great, simply amazing. Funny, riveting story driven by loads of fun gameplay and puzzles.

Mortal Kombat is an excellent fighter that has lived up to my standards as the worthy predecessor. I haven't been a big fan of the recent games, but this one has revived by interest.

Get them both, you'll not regret it.

 

[idodo35]

wierd i mean portal was ALL over the (gaming) news lately i cant imagine anyone who follows a gaming site didnt heard of it
another option is that this guy wasnt much of a gamer like those only intrested in sports games but he also liked other stuff like figters but not everything (you know what i mean? cause im not sure what i mean)

p.s. were in space!!! (portal 2s ending is SO awsome!!!)

 

[Halo Fanboy]

lol a competetive fighting game will always have more thought put into it then a fairly easy puzzle game.

I'm going to have to disagree...completely. Not to say that fighting games don't have an immense amount of thought put into them; character balance is a pain, but Portal 2 was clearly more thought out than the vast majority of games on the market.

The level design is sheer brilliance in every aspect with a near-perfect difficulty curve and a fair amount of super-challenging puzzles that keep the player guessing and inventing. The writing is some of the best in gaming (concise, hilarious and brilliantly acted).

Every single minute of the game is clearly a labor of love and top-notch design that probably took a lot of play testing to perfect.

Again, I'm not dismissing the complexity of fighting games but to say that Portal doesn't have as much thought put into it simply because it's a puzzle game is flat-out ignorance.

I meant that the player was required to put more thought into the game, not developers.

 

[Moc]

I really liked the original, and maybe Portal 2 will get a shot. too, after I finished school in about three months. Mortal Kombat, I think it looks nice, plus I liked fighting games, especially in multiplayer, but I only played a few at partys since I don't own ANY console. But guys consider this: Fighting games you could win by random button smashing, and don't even prentent like its not true.