Nearly two weeks ago, an update to Portal added radios throughout the game that contained hidden messages. A few days later, Portal 2 was officially announced, slated to drop October 26. Now it appears we'll have to wait until June to get more information on the highly anticipated sequel. When Valve's Gabe Newell received the Pioneer Award at the GDC Awards, a Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) appeared on the screen behind him. But this wasn't your ordinary BSOD, it was one created by Valve with a cryptic message from Portal's GLaDOS. When translated to EBCDIC, the message reads as follows:
GLaDOS
A fatal exception (S) has occurred at (U)(S) : (P)(E)(N)(D) in (U)(N )(T)((I)) *
(L)(E)(E)(E). The current application will be terminated.* Press any key to flood the facility with deadly neurotoxins.
* Press CTRL+ALT+DEL again to reinstate testing. You will lose any
Non-vital personnel and their progress through the current test.Press any key to continue _
"EEE" can be translated as E3, also known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which occurs on June 15-17 this year. So does this mean Valve is done with the cryptic messages about Portal for now? Seems likely. In the meantime, now is the perfect time to play Portal, if you haven't done so already. Released in 2007, the game won several Game of the Year awards and various other accolades, and was the surprise hit of Valve's The Orange Box.