Portal 2 is NOT worth $60

Sarcastic Gamer explains why Portal 2 isn't worth the full price tag of $60.

[PS3ROCKS]

I got Portal 2 for $35. Winning

[lociefer]

notice *sarcastic*

[MaxXAttaxX]

Sometimes I'm not sure if this site is serious or not.
Most of the time they're not even funny. They're just whining and piss me off LOL

Portal 2 is not "just about the same" as Portal 1. It is like 8 hours long. Longer than most 2 hour-long $60 games he plays. So GTFO.
Unlike the author says, yes you CAN play Co-op. You just need physically real friends to play it with. It's not like online is the only option.

I agree that most games are overpriced and undeserving of the $60 price tag. But Portal 2 I think is one of those games that are worth it, especially if you fancied the first game and are a fan.

[BeastlyRig]

it was $45 on steam!

[NiKK_419]

Again? God, these "articles" from sarcasticgamer are pissing me off, every other article is from them, they should be banned from n4g, this site is for news, not for laughs (or flamebait articles, but that's probably never gonna change)

[Zydake]

this article is right it's priceless to me i love this game even though i did pay 60 for it.

[zootang]

It is on the PS3 because you get 3 versions.

[guitarded77]

I got mine for $54 with release day shipping... it included the PS3 version and a PC download along with a $20 credit which I used with another credit to score LA Noire for $30, so I say yeah... totally worth it.

[DaCajun]

PS3 has only 2 versions PS3 and Steam because Steam covers both pc and mac since you can have steam on as many computers as you want but you can play on only one at a time. So stop being the fanboy and trying to spread BS.

Got mine for $44 at Best Buy(pre-order) done with single player now just waiting for PSN to come back up and sync with my Steam account then finish the co-op part. Definitely worth the money and hopefully Valve stay true to their roots and give us free DLC for the consoles like we get on Steam.

[dragon82]

I got the same deal on mine. I have completed the single player and co-op locally with my wife. I have also played it on my PC for a bit. Add in my $20 amazon credit and Portal 2 on PS3 is well worth the money I paid for it. :)

[palaeomerus]

Same here! $35 for the win!

[hassi94]

This article's basically saying get the game, but not for $60?

Well whatever - I haven't got it yet and won't get it till June 6th (exams over) so it'll be a lot cheaper then.

Also - Valve are releasing DLC for free on all platforms as well as mods on all platforms. It'll become worth it.

[christheredhead]

99% of the games that have been released this gen aren't worth 60 dollars. there are a lot of great titles, portal 2 included, but even so still dont equal a value of 60.....almost 65 with tax. that price tag is way over priced if you ask me. games do drop rather fast though so its easy to wait a few days or a week and get it at 40 or less.

[Gambero]

Good point. Portal 2 is already on sale for $40 at Best Buy/Game Stop

[ceedubya9]

Which I think is an okay price for this game. Although I still may look to rent instead of owning. The PS3 package does at least give you the pc version as an added bonus.

[Shadow0]

I usually try to only buy games that have 40+ hours of gameplay... That is why I am glad this article told me otherwise.

[za3redrum]

@Christherehead: Ever thought how much the development of a game costs? Programmers are working years on a game, so every game is allmost worth 60 bucks, else you never make a profit out of it.

[Rybakov]

there maybe development costs, but devs don't give us enough content to justify 60 bucks...and now a days with just giving half the game and then making us pay for the rest is really isnt fair to us...they should put of the full game and then if the game sold well they could put out full expansions like they use too which ended up being its own game in itself but added to the game its attached too

[Venatus-Deus]

But you would pay $20-25 to watch a 2 hour film at the cinema?

$50 for a 3 hour Broadway show?

$2 for a 5 minute song?

Plus... you can rent games.

We have it good. Live with it.

[darqwonders]

@Venatus-Deus

But that's the problem. Apart from the Broadway show, all those prices are smaller than $60.

People are more willing to part with money when it's a smaller amount.

Also, for the Broadway show argument, people don't go to Broadway shows every week. I maybe have went to 3 in the past 10 years. But video games I buy at least twice a month. That gets a lot more expensive if every game is $60

[Venatus-Deus]

@argoncalen

Man you missed the point.

Most games have a 7-10 hour SP. If you like the game you play it twice.

A good majority now have Co-op and MP.
I just finished SOCOM4 on Elite and that about 20 hours of SP play.

We get better valve for money that any other entertainment industry consumer.

[grailly]

people should start understanding that they vote with their money, so complaining that games are too expensive and buying one every other week is just dumb. If your unhappy with with pricing just stop buying games or wait for the price to drop. If we continue to buy 60$ games it's maybe that afterall, they are well priced

also the article is dumb, it asks the question if portal 2 is worth the 60$ and only talks about the amount of content, it doesn't talk about quality. It says that the portal 2 single player is worth 10 bucks because it's the same as portal's, which is completely wrong as it's at least 3 times as long ans has more puzzle elements.

he didn't like wheatly? WTF?!?

I must admit that if I'm in complete opposition with this article it's also maybe because my problem with playing games is a lack of time more than a lack of money; I'll go for quality over quantity any day. This is the kind of mentality that made rockstar add mexico to RDR and that generally make games repetitive. I guess some people like that.

Edit: am I the only one to have played portal 2 twice? It's quite replayable I think, it's a different experience once you know the puzzles

[Rybakov]

@venatus
i dont know what thearters you go too but i pay 5 bucks to go to the movies and im no where near any good broadway shows but i would easliy drop 50 for that cause people work hard to prefrom it night after night

portal 2 isnt worth 60 bucks only being a 5 hour game with puzzles that are so easy....the story was good but they could have done more id say its about 30 because it is made with quality

and @ Grailly

we live in a bad econmy around the world, we should be getting things cheap for expensive things we get out money worth for.....8 bucks for netflix is well worth it since i watch a lot a movies....a 5 hour game with very low game play replay is not worth 60 bucks because it doesn't keep me occupied or challenged and tho the story was good they could have some end cut scenes that tied in with half life 3 since the next half life is gonna involve Aperture science, and most likely Glados will make an apparence

[grailly]

I live in switzerland and pay 20.- for a movie in the theatre and 100.- for a videogame and that's considering a swiss franc is worth 1.1$ more or less. And I still feel like I get more utility out of my game purchases than I do from anything else I buy, but maybe I just love games to much.
I also buy nearly all my games day one because, here, unless a game flops hard, the price only drops a year or two down the road.

I think that once I finish the portal 2 coop I'll have played it for 20 or so hours, which equates to 5.- an hour. It's fine by me.

[Venatus-Deus]

@Rybakov

lol... the theater is worth it because they work hard for a couple of hours a night every night, yet developers aren't because they only work 60 hour weeks. *facepalm*

You just a kid.

I live in London and its about 15 pounds for a Movie ticket. That's about $25

[christheredhead]

i understand the work, time, man power and dedication that goes into making a game and i respect that as im sure its no easy task. yet its hard for me as a consumer to toss down 65 dollars for a game that is short, half way made, built for dlc or bug infested. the standard of the gen usually includes 1 if not all of those issues. on the flip side of things GOTY and ultimate editions are becoming more common as if developers and publishers are giving me a reason to wait. personally i do buy games at 60 dollars but those are few and far between. its been about 2 years since ive bought a game day 1 as ive realized it only takes a matter of a few days post launch for the price to drop. the only game i will be purchasing in the near future for 60 is the last guardian.

[wiggles]

I do the same thing. Game stop has Buy 2 get 1 used....EA has the insider deals where games can be 40% off, amazon does amazing things too. I did this ever since I bought Alan Wake for a full price. IT was a good game, but give it a month and it was like $40, maybe lower.

[Gambero]

@grailly

The article doesn't only talk about the amount of content. It says that you've experienced the puzzle solving mechanic, glaDos, etc all before. Another 8 hours of levels isn't worth $60 in the opinion of the author, because it doesn't bring anything new to the table.

He has his opinion, you have yours. Calling the article dumb because it isn't your opinion only makes YOU look bad.

[grailly]

I didn't criticize his opinion(except for the wheatly part^^). I criticized what he looks at to claim a game is not worth 60$. Portal 2 has awesome writing, characters, gameplay, puzzles and is original. yet he comes out and says its too short and is the same old thing; not taking into account that it's one of the best games this year/generation.

On a side note, if you're sick of portal, two and a half years after a 3hour game, I don't know what you think of FPSs.

[Shadow0]

No, games are not nearly worth 60 bucks, there was an article not too long ago that showed the highest budget games... High budget games still make usually way more than 300+ million dollars if you take the ($60*number of sales)-development costs... So games could start at a much lower price...

[OC_MurphysLaw]

While I am sure Portal 2 is worth $60 to many, the game itself doesn't appeal to me and thus why I chose to pass on it. For my two cents, Socom 4 is more appealing to me even though it may not be a fully "polished" a game as Portal 2.

[DFresh]

On PS3 it's worth it because you get Portal 2 on 3 platforms bundled together.
Buy it on PS3 also get it on PC/Mac.
$60 looks to be pretty cheap for 3 games bundled together.
$20 a piece.
That's not a bad deal.
Now if you got it on Xbox 360 or PC only.
I don't know maybe it's not worth the full value for a single player only game.
However if you get it bundled together on PS3 it doesn't seem like such a bad deal.

[il-mouzer]

on PS3 you only get 2 platforms, mac and pc are considered as one since by default when buying a game off steam you get it for PC AND Mac so quit your fanboyism.

[dragon82]

The game is still technically on 3 platforms though isn't it?? Not all things are compatible between PC and Mac therefore they are by default different platforms. Just because Steam decides to give you the game for either one with the same pruchase does not change this fact.

[il-mouzer]

by your logic then PC gamers have been given 2 games for free - and dare I say the SDK will add more value to the product, PC version of course

[AKS]

Of the games released so far in 2011, I'd rate the best of those as follows:

1. LittleBigPlanet 2
2. Portal 2
3. Dead Space 2

If any games released this year have been worth full price, I'd say it would be LBP2 and Portal 2. If you aren't interested in paying for even the highest quality games, maybe it's time to find a new hobby.

Also, this is a ridiculous argument:

" ...the first Portal was one fifth of The Orange Box and as a stand-alone game you could buy it for $20 ($10 if you were patient). The single player in Portal 2 is just about the same as Portal 1 so the question has to be asked, is the Co-op in Portal 2 worth an additional $40-$50?"

Just about the same? Portal 2's campaign was substantially larger, with much greater variety and clearly a much larger budget. And yes, an additional co-op campaign, including online and offline, split-screen play, adds quite a lot to the value.

So I guess if Valve gives us an awesome deal on The Orange Box that drives the prices of any of their related sequels down to no more than $10 a piece. Wow, I guess Half-Life 3 will only be $10 to $15? Sweet!!! /s And comparing the duration of this type of game to Bethesda's RPGs? Good grief...

The level of polish (I have the PS3 version and it runs beautifully, although I'm admittedly cockblocked out of access to my Steam version thanks to the PSN fiasco; damn hackers...) and integration of terrific features has also been overlooked by many. Quality adds much to the value from my perspective.

I guess the irony of the author criticizing Valve's supposedly weak writing within the text of this gawdawful "article" has escaped him entirely.

[AnonUser5555]

Translation by haters: "They gave us a great deal and took care of us before, and now we want to throw it in their face despite having included massively increased value."

[Gambero]

We're paying $60 for the same mechanic. A few new puzzles, even 8 hours worth, isn't nearly as exciting the second time around. GlaDos isn't as exciting as in the first because she isn't new to us anymore.

That's the point that the author was trying to get across.

[gcolley]

same game mechanic??? its portal what did you expect?

[Gambero]

@gcolley

I'm fine with the game being the same mechanic as the first one, but I don't want to pay $60 for something I've already experienced. Look at Bioshock 2. Same game as the first you could find it for $30 just months after it released.

The article even says at the end that you SHOULD pick the game up while it's on sale for $40 right now. The point wasn't that Portal 2 isn't a good game, it was that in his opinion it isn't a $60 purchase

[HeretoSpeakTheTruth]

of course its not worth 60 dollars its worth 100 dollars atleast we got a discount at 60 right

[AnonUser5555]

PS3 Version + PC/Mac voucher = Split with friend = $30. Duh, winning.

[Honest_gamer]

well its a good game, its funny but after u complete it once theres really nothing to do (as well as the co-op) it wasnt even worth the £43 i paid for it and i got a free pc version (not been able to activate it yet)

[Ares84]

Not worth $60???

I think everyone needs to look at that game and be their own judge.

For me, it was well worth it. The experience was fresh and new and very entertaining. I got 3 versions for the price of one. I can play a fun game together with my gf. That is $60 well spent for me.

Some people are willing to shell out thousands of dollars for a gas pump that was made in the 1920's or 1930's just to put it in their home or garage as a decoration piece that does absolutley nothing just standing there....now does that worth the thousands of dollars??? To me no, not a penny, but to others yes. One man's trash is the others treasure. So next time when someone comes out with an idiotic statement like this, just think about it.

[Gambero]

To quote your own comment: "I think everyone needs to look at that game and be their own judge"

The author was his own judged and made his judgment. You made yours. Who's is more valid? NEITHER.

You say that his statement is "idiotic" and then you say one man's trash is the others treasure. Which is it? Can everyone have their own opinion or not?

Just because his opinion is different from yours doesn't make it "idiotic".

[GameScrub]

I played the single player 6 hours straight yesterday to beat it because it was just THAT GOOD. At least for me anyways.

The twist and turns of the story, the hysterical dialog, getting deeper understanding of the massive story behind the world of Portal, the ridiculously fun coop where you work together or against each other is something that might not have had the same effect in a different form of media.

Portal is not just about the length of a game, it's about having an experience like no other. The desire to hear every word that they utter as you chuckle to them while solving awesome and FUN puzzles, is what makes Portal 1 and 2 worth the prize.

I can keep ranting on and just like the writer of the article had his opinion of why it wasn't worth it to him. I'm displaying mine.

[Fil101]

I'd love it if the first portal game was availible to purchuse from the ps store as i used to own the orange box but got rid of it after playing it to death, kinda miss portal and havn't yet got the funds for the secound.

[koehler83]

Some people's opinions...

[ILikeTurtles]

Got the PS3 (&pc/mac) version of portal 2 for 20$ (new)
No game is worth 60$

[koehler83]

I'm sure the people who make them just can't contain their appreciation for fans like you.

[ILikeTurtles]

I had a present card with 40$... +I have followed valve since the beginning fyi.

[Klaykid123]

Guys, this is made by SARCASTIC gamer. They're making fun of the haters.

[aviator189]

And Gamefly comes to the rescue for me.

[raiden-49]

i got portal 2 for 3€ :D

[kesvalk]

well, it's not worth for him, for me, it's very worth of the $60 price tag...

[DundahMifflin]

I sometimes forget these articles are sarcastic. I was about to say some, er, words.

[Veneno]

I agree with the article. and in addition the graphics are way behind the times. the source engine needs a new version. I don,t get how the 360 version could look inferior to PS3. This game by no means ws pushing the PS3 hardware.

[blackhammer]

I'd pay $25.

If I wait about a year or so, my desire will probably come true.

[solar]

i love fun. i love fun games. ill pay money for fun games. console gamers have the luxury of renting first then buy. which i envy.

[user9841288]

clearly portal 2 isn't worth the time. Another great piece of news Sarcastic gamer. Keep it up