‘Don’t be mad at Valve,’ insists creator of the canceled Portal 64 demake
The demake’s creator speaks out
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The creator of thePortal 64demake has urged fans not to direct their anger at Valve amidst the project’s cancellation.
Portal 64was a Nintendo 64-style demakeof Valve’s groundbreaking 2007 puzzler -Portal.Its developer, James Lambert, had intended the demake to run on real Nintendo 64 hardware before Valve pulled the plug on the project for good by issuing a cease-and-desist order. AsPC Gamer reports,Portal 64"depends on Nintendo’s proprietary libraries," hence the stricter approach, here.
In the wake ofPortal 64’scancellation, Lambert published a videoto his YouTube channelexplaining the situation. While news of the project’s cancellation is disappointing, Lambert stresses that he doesn’t think any less of Valve for the decision. “Don’t be mad at Valve here,” he says. “The project was probably doomed to be taken down from the beginning.”
Until recently, Valve has been fairly receptive and even supportive of fan-made projects. Famously,Counter-StrikeandDay of Defeatboth began their lives asHalf-Lifemods. InPortal 64’scase, however, it’s quite understandable that Valve wouldn’t want to muddy the waters by getting Nintendo’s own legal team involved.
Despite pouring over two years of hard work intoPortal 64, Lambert seems to be in high spirits, stating he’s “pretty happy with how far I got with it.” He adds that his plans going forward are to start work on a wholly original title developed “simultaneously for the Nintendo 64 and PC.
“That way[,] it’s an interesting project that runs on N64, but I also have a way to easily monetize that and have a wide audience of people who could buy it.”
Got a hankering to play some retro titles? Check out ourNintendo Switch Onlineexplainer as well as ourbest GBA gameslist which features many titles available to play as part of Nintendo’s subscription service.
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Rhys is TRG’s Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.
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