Gotta say, I'm majorly tempted, but I know if I wait a while, it'll drop to $20, and then to $10. That blockbuster sequel currently sells for $29.99. This generous giveaway is probably a Steam-powered effort to drive Portal 2 sales. The one and only string attached is that you'll need a free Steam account and Valve's Steam download client. (Speaking of which, check out Rich Brown's interesting hands-on testing of Portal on four different Mac systems.)

Now it's free, free, oh glorious free! And not just for PCs, but also for Macs. It was originally part of Valve's The Orange Box bundle, then later a $20 standalone game. IGN called it 'quirky, clever, polished, and presented with a spark of a subtly evil humor.' GameSpot awarded it a 9.0 and an Editors' Choice. In case you're not familiar with it, Portal is regarded by many (myself included) to be one of the best games of all time. Update #2: Steam tech support just tweeted this fix: 'Please install the Steam client and try creating the account that way.' Reader Robert reports that this worked for him!

I'll update further if I learn anything more. My only suggestion is to keep trying, as I'm sure Steam's servers are overloaded. Update: Many readers have reported difficulty signing up for a Steam account. Specifically, from now until September 20, you can download Portal (PC and Mac) absolutely free. Just days after I finished playing Portal for the very first time (more on that in a bit), Steam is offering the game absolutely free.

Try portal 2 for free