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The past week's bizarre pair of updates to Portal seemed to point towards an impending announcement of a sequel, and, well, they did. Game Informer has revealed that its April 2010 cover story is none other than ... Portal 2 -- which Valve has given a release window of "this holiday season." The magazine's site teases the 12-page feature, calling the game "a full-fledged, standalone sequel" with "new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists."

We'd venture a guess that one of those twists has to do with wherever the portal featured in the cover art leads to -- a misty, jungle setting where some sort of seemingly derelict facility stands, overrun with vines. The flip-side of the cover is (cleverly) a view back through this portal into a familiar Aperture Science setting. Finally, the single cover line mentions "the people who are still alive," a potential hint at a reason for venturing into the new setting in the first place.

The issue should be hitting subscribers' mailboxes soon. Check out the full covers after the break.

Source -- Game Informer
Source -- Valve

We've been hearing about Steve Harris's digital version of the soon-to-be relaunched EGM for quite some time now, and we're just one month away from the magazine's return to newsstands. However, if you're trying to get an early peek at what Harris has in store for EGMi: The Digital Magazine (that he's said will be released supplementally between print issues), now's your chance. But what's this? The mysterious unreleased "last issue"of EGM? It is!

As Harris puts it, "The links on this cover page aren't live yet - but they will be long before Summer arrives." Okay, okay, it might've taken a year for the issue to become available -- and yes, it might be full of content on games that have been out for quite some time now -- but hey, it's a chance to explore "layers and depth that you control." Doesn't that seem enticing? Well, we're not really sure quite yet, as the Screen Paper-based issue has yet to incorporate the promises we've been hearing since last September. With grand plans for the release of a digital magazine every week once the print mag relaunches, we'll certainly see how this shakes out soon enough.

What do these publications have in common: EGM, Games for Windows, Official PlayStation Magazine, Computer Games Magazine, Tips and Tricks, GMR, Xbox Nation, and Massive? Video games, sure, but all have also perished in the last five years. With the looming announcement of Apple's long-rumored tablet device, there's a chance that gaming magazines may finally be able to stop the bleeding.

It's no secret that just about every video game magazine out there is hurting right now -- save for the absurdly colossal Game Informer (its unique arrangement with GameStop provides the publication with a seemingly infinite subscriber base eager to save on used-game purchases and get extra trade-in credit). The magazine world in general has been hit hard by the evaporation of advertising dollars, and gaming publications have been subjected to some of the worst of that storm due to the movement of their traditionally tech-savvy audience away from print and to digital media.

However, Apple is rumored to be launching a device that could make magazines cool again and help the gaming print media crawl off its deathbed. The Wall Street Journal reported several days ago on information from anonymous sources that Apple has been in talks with several print media corporations, including Conde Nast, one of the largest magazine publishers in the world, to bring its publications to Apple's long-rumored tablet PC -- expected to be announced tomorrow, January 27, at a press event in San Francisco. The article speculated that Apple has plans to use this new device to redefine print media in much the same way that iTunes and the iPod revolutionized the monetization of music.

In the very same official Q&A where it finally responded to the complaints of the Rockstar Spouses, Rockstar brings up an old friend we haven't heard from in a while: L.A. Noire, the "innovative," possibly console-based, "Ellroy-esque" game that's been in development almost since its noir inspired Los Angeles setting was current. It says that we'll finally get a good look at the game and why it's supposed to be so great as soon as "next month" courtesy of "a big cover story." What magazine? That's still a hush hush, on-the-QT and off the record secret.

But said cover story (Time? Popular Science? Dog Fancy?) will reportedly contain information about why both the look and "the amazing new technology" of the game are worth the wait. We would say not to hold your breath, but everyone still holding their breath for LA Noire turned blue and passed out about a year ago. Still, we're interested, so we'll keep eyes peeled on the magazine stands next month.

[via G4TV]

Between John Davison recently promising a revitalization of GamePro, Steve Harris' purchase and subsequent relaunch of EGM (as EGM Now), and now the announcement of "Kill Screen" from Jamin Brophy-Warren and Chris Dahlen, it's been quite the year for gaming magazines. But Kill Screen seems to be taking a decidedly different approach to publishing, aiming its first print run at "2 or 3,000 copies," Brophy-Warren told us this afternoon.

With an editorial directive to thematically tackle game writing -- and no obligation to the traditional reviews/previews/news format due to a donation/subscriber-funded, non-profit approach -- Kill Screen intends to avoid the mechanical nitty gritty that plagues game writing. "A great example of that is with Brütal Legend," Brophy-Warren said. "Tim Schafer had to come out and defend the RTS elements ... When we talk about games critically, it's not going to be in that sense."

The first issue, the "test run" or "zero issue" as it's being called, will be finished in "the next week or two" and shipping by January. Brophy-Warren added that he's hoping the second issue will be ready for GDC, but he's not so certain. And as for the short initial print run, he says "Everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?" and encourages people to subscribe to insure they'll get a copy. We wish them the best of luck!

According to a recent post on CVG, the publishing partner of PC Zone magazine, the next issue of the latter will drop some knowledge on us regarding Splinter Cell: Conviction's multiplayer modes. CVG reports that the last issue of PC Zone teases an article on Conviction, claiming the piece will feature "hands-on, co-op reveal and a brand new mode."

If the game truly does have co-operative play, then we're kinda bummed about the aesthetic changes the title has undergone over the past year. Can you imagine: Secret two-man hobo operations to blow up a whole park's worth of hot dog stands? Party game of the year.

Considering the amount of concept art and leaked details we've heard concerning Disney Interactive Studios and Junction Point's upcoming collaboration, this might not come as a shock to you, but the cover of the next issue of Game Informer confirms the existence of Epic Mickey. Details are slim, but we now know that it'll be a Wii-exclusive action title and, based on the paintbrush grasped by the iconic rodent on the cover, we suspect it will incorporate the illustrative elements mentioned by an anonymous informant back in July.

Hopefully more details will surface when Game Informer's interview with Warren Spector goes live later today. For now, revel in the fact that the title is real -- and based on the art seen on the magazine's cover (the full version of which is posted after the jump), it might just deserve its "epic" designation.

Following the closure of Electronic Gaming Monthly by parent company Ziff Davis Media earlier this year (after nearly 20 years in the game industry), the magazine's original founder Steve Harris repurchased the rights and promised a rebirth for EGM. We ran into Harris at E3 2009 and cajoled him into speaking with us about his purchase. (He was a bit busy with business at E3, as you might imagine, thus we're talking a few months later.)

Though we're still a little ways off from the mag's December 1 "return," he gave us a few hints of what to expect, his explanation of how EGM Now will succeed financially where "old EGM" failed, and a few of his favorite games on the current-gen systems.

Hit the break for the whole thing.

It's a sad fact, World of Warcraft players, but an unavoidable one: You have to go to the bathroom. Though that most private of times was once filled with the WoW player's kryptonite (self-reflection) you can now while away the minutes with World of Warcraft: The Magazine, a joint endeavor from Future and Blizzard. The subscription-only magazine will launch simultaneously in English, French, German, and Spanish.

We're happy to see companies taking a chance on a new publication, and we think there's a shot that this more specialized approach can work. What we're a little bit less sure about is the price: $39.99 for four quarterly issues. Here's hoping the (admittedly advertising-free) content can live up to the premium charge.

Yes, 12-year-old Billy Caruthers, projected winner of the 2036 presidential election has decided to resign from his pending office in order to dodge controversy surrounding his pending extramarital affair. He -- oh, wait. We totally misread that headline. The president of magazine publisher Future US, Jonathan Simpson-Bint, is stepping down August 31 in order to start up his own business. Simpson-Bint has been working with the company for 18 years, and oversaw the launch of PSM, IGN.com and DailyRadar.com.

Future is currently looking for Simpson-Bint's replacement -- if you've got experience managing humongous publishing companies, yet find yourself working as a lowly fry cook at your local Carl's Jr., perhaps its time you gained some upward mobility.

Electronic Gaming Monthly, which died when UGO bought out the 1UP brand in January, is being resurrected by its original founder, Steve Harris. Harris, who started EGM in 1989, has regained the print and online publishing rights from Ziff Davis Media as part of an undisclosed agreement. Harris intends to relaunch the magazine in the second half of 2009 and says he has "exciting plans for the evolution of what will once again be a leading independent voice for the gaming community."

There's no word yet on whether ex-EGM staff will be making a return to the magazine, or if Harris is in talks with UGO to re-establish a partnership with 1UP, but more details are due to be revealed during E3 next week. We guess in this case print really isn't dead.

Wow, we knew Game Informer was doing well, but we had no idea it was beating out the big boys of publishing with a +3 Hammer of Smackdown. BurrellesLuce has released its list of top media outlets in 2009 for PR professionals and the performance of Game Informer either speaks to the power of its bundling with the GameStop Edge card, or the utter collapse of the rest of the magazine industry. The gaming magazine has a "paid and verified circulation" of 3,517,598 -- that's better than several marquee magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Cosmo and TV Guide.

In the blog category, Joystiq took the #19 spot. We're apparently doing well against the "Queen of all Media," Perez Hilton, according to Technorati's Authority Figures, so we thank all of you -- our loyal readership -- for that. Cheers!

Two top executives at GamePro magazine, President and CEO Daniel Orum and SVP and Publisher Bob Huseby, have left the company. GameDaily reports that Huseby will be joining Wikia, and Orum's next position is unknown. Concurrent with these departures is the arrival of Ziff Davis's Marci Yamaguchi Hughes as executive vice president and general manager.

GamePro Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director George Jones told GameDaily that the shifts were a "weird confluence of events that aren't related at all." He said that the publication is "in a really good place now," especially since the loss of major multiplatform competitor Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Remember when Ziff Davis went bankrupt last year, and said it wasn't actually bad news for its magazines? We're hoping that this isn't a similar situation, and that those two executives really did leave at the same time for basically no reason.

We've all likely been accosted by a Gamestop employee, at one time or another, about a subscription to Game Informer or a strategy guide to go along with the title we were planning to pick up or something. Well, it would seem that Gamestop is perfecting their craft, targeting folks with a need for exergaming with subscriptions to mags such as Cosmo and Redbook.

Unlike other solicitations from the retail giant, this is actually free, though, which is a big improvement for them. Upon purchasing select exergaming items of $35 or more (semi-full list of qualifying items can be found past the break), Gamestop will toss in a 12-month subscription to either Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Redbook, Good Housekeeping or O Magazine. Head past the break for the products that were mentioned to be part of this promotion.

Is the female or effeminate male in your life looking a bit chub after the holidays? Then stop on in at GameStop and get them a fitness game and a free 12-month trial subscription to either Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Redbook, Good Housekeeping or O Magazine. GameStop's "Sharpen the Mind, Shape the Body" promotion emphasizes fitness games and offers magazine trials on select purchases of over $35 until Feb. 22. We've listed a few of the "designated" products that are part of the promotion after the break.

If this casual gaming movement continues to explode, It's only a matter of time before GameStop starts offering scented candles, bath oils and potpourri. Hmm, but that means the stores will smell better. Curses, we're so torn about this trend.