The daily waste of your time Episode 1: Portal (Flash version)

Like a lot of developers I like spending some time playing games. That much was obvious. Others call this 'wasting time'. Ah, whatever. I have loads of fun emerging in other 3D worlds and escaping a bit from reality.

The latest hype that I have noticed and experienced is the new game 'Portal' by Valve. You have to see it to understand it. Check the Wikipedia entry, the trailer for that or the 'E3 2007 Developer walkthrough'.

Various movies of players that complete puzzles/levels as fast as possible (called 'speedruns') are viewable on YouTube. For impressive runs, spoilers or hints you can check those movies.

There is also an alternate ending visible, where you get to visit (and not just see) the room with the cake and go outside. Look at the movies here and here. But, ... these are supposedly fake, as this video demonstrates. Haven't tried it yet. They would have made a nice April's fool day, though.

Wasted some time already? Here's more:

If you don't want to spend the meager 50 dollars on the Orange Box, go play the Flash version of Portal (Thanks to the guys at Mirabeau for pointing me in that direction).

That's your daily waste of time for this episode. Start thinking about how you are going to explain that in your timesheet before you visit the link. You have been warned.

And remember: the cake is a lie!