The first fruits of the threeA x Valve toy partnership we recently told you about have already been revealed. And in true collaborative style it's a proper crossover.

This creature is part-Companion Cube from Portal, part-Square². If you don't know what a Square² is, it's a little guy from Ashley Wood's World War Robot universe. If you don't know what the World War Robot universe is, boy are you missing out.

No word on price or release date yet.

Companion Sqaure [threeA, via Super Punch]

The first fruits of the threeA x Valve toy partnership we recently told you about have already been revealed. And in true collaborative style it's a proper crossover.

This creature is part-Companion Cube from Portal, part-Square². If you don't know what a Square² is, it's a little guy from Ashley Wood's World War Robot universe. If you don't know what the World War Robot universe is, boy are you missing out.

No word on price or release date yet.

Companion Sqaure [threeA, via Super Punch]

Damn society, always trying to put the safety of the many above the enjoyment of a few. That's why we can't have real Portal 2 turrets scattered about our homes, monitoring and usually protecting our valuables and loved ones. Thanks the amazing things retailer ThinkGeek we can now at least own an inflatable facsimile.

Revealed during ThinkGeek's 2012 CES spectacular, the Inflatable Portal 2 Sentry Turret has all the great features of the real thing, except it doesn't talk, light up, sing, or fire off a ridiculous number of bullets. It will, however, float in a swimming pool, so take that, realism!

From the official product description:

Drastic times call for drastic measures, friends of Science. Aperture Science had to make some cutbacks to the production line when OSHA shut down the main plant. Something about air quality or lead paint in the water pipes. Silly, really. That's what waivers are for. Anyhoo, we can't get you any real, bullet-firing turrets, but we did manage to hijack a pool float factory long enough to make a bunch of these inflatable ones

Now how much would you pay? $24.99? I sure hope so, because that's how much it costs. I'm sure ThinkGeek will let you pay more if your heart is set on it.

Portal 2 Life-Size Inflatable Sentry Turret [ThinkGeek]

DeviantArt user batman-n-bananas made a very fetching steampunk Portal gun. But what to wear with such a contraption? Why, mechano-Victorian long fall boots, of course, in which fancy modern tech is swapped out for reliable British steel.

These are wonderful. And while they fit the "Steampunk Portal" brief perfectly, I like to think they'd be just as suitable for a future in which Mary Poppins wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland, killing mutants with her salvaged umbrella swords.

Steampunk Portal Boots [DeviantArt, via Fashionably Geek]

If Portal taught me anything, it's that any machine possessing even the most rudimentary degree of artificial intelligence is a potential threat, so I think I'll just sit back and quietly enjoy the Automated Laser Corporation 20 watt fiber laser's rendition of Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive".

Reader Chris DePrisco had the incredibly irresponsible yet somewhat awesome idea of programming this automated laser to sing the GLaDOS summoning song, using what I am assuming is different levels of intensity to match the tones of the song. The markers are labeled with the lyrics of the tune, with the whole song resulting in the Aperture Science logo etched on a stainless steel plate.

It took quite a while to get it this far. Laser markers weren't really meant for making music and there are a few parts out of time but I'm sure GLaDOS would approve.

I've a feeling she would approve. She'd say so, just before reprogramming the laser to burn a stunning rendition of Portal 2's "Want You Gone" on Chris' torso in the shape of a massive torso-sized hole.

She's so lovable.

So far, toy company NECA seems to be doing a pretty good job with a license for Valve's catalogue of first-person shooters. But at the end of the day, NECA makes toys for the mass market, so what you'll be getting will be fairly standard stuff.

Over the weekend a potentially more exciting announcement was made: Valve will also be having toys made by threeA, a Hong Kong company who in this writer's opinion are simply the best manufacturers of action figures on the planet.

While threeA made a name for itself initially making original toys and figures based on its own properties, like World War Robot (whose artist Ashley Wood also helps run threeA), it's recently moved into licensed territory, making figures based on things like Real Steel.

They're also the guys behind the enormous, $500 Metal Gear Rex figure due out later this year.

It'll be very interesting to see what they can come up with.

Last night, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts held its awards gala, and Portal 2 took home Best Game as one of three video games to win in multiple categories.

Battlefield 3 was honored with best online multiplayer, audio achievement and the public-voted GAME award; Batman: Arkham City was the top action title, and Mark Hamill the year's best performer.

The entire list of winners is below.

You know that awesome Portal gun NECA was working on? The one everyone was excited about buying? As it turns out, folks were excited about selling it as well, and that excitement might have just gotten the amazing replica cancelled.

Kotaku reader Will passed along an email on Friday that he had received from online retailer Urban Collector regarding his preorder for the pretty portal-shooter. According to the message to the retailer from NECA, sellers jumping the gun on selling the gun have caused it to be delayed indefinitely.

We have received numerous reports of the Portal Device being presold, and in some cases, even wholesaled, even though allotments have not been announced or confirmed. Due to these circumstances, this item is delayed indefinitely.

The message further clarifies, "There is no release date and this item may never come to market ever."

Don't lose hope. This doesn't necessarily mean the Portal gun will never make an appearance; indeed it proves that demand is extremely high. I'm hoping it'll return again someday, with allotments strictly controlled and retail partners limited.

We've reached out to NECA for comment on the situation and will update the post should we receive further information.

For those curious, here is the NECA message in its entirety:

We have received numerous reports of the Portal Device being presold, and in some cases, even wholesaled, even though allotments have not been announced or confirmed. Due to these circumstances, this item is delayed indefinitely.

Please note that all orders for the Portal Device are being canceled and we are not taking orders at this time.

We will announce in the future when/if the item becomes available

Please consider your order canceled at this time if you have previously placed an order.

What does this mean? There is no release date and this item may never come to market ever. We have no further information than this.

If you wish to cancel, there is not preorder deposit penalty for cancelling, just reply to this email that you wish to cancel.

Thank you for your order and we will keep you informed of any new information on this replica as we receive it.

Update:According to NECA's Twitter, the doomy gloomy tone of the email may have been a bit much. The gun is still coming, the company just needs time to allot them fairly.

The Simpsons in 2012 is a largely irrelevant force. Still, from time to time it at least tries to appear relevant. Which is why, in tonight's episode, there's a fairly obvious Portal reference.

While Portal 2 came out almost a year ago, these shows aren't exactly made overnight, so I guess this is timely? It's also not bad, though obviously we'd need to see the whole/actual clip (something Fox isn't usually very good about letting the internet share, especially YouTube) to determine the important stuff. Like whether there was a blue portal laid down first.

Simpsons Portal [Reddit]

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This.

Needing an accessory for her steampunk Chell costume, DeviantArt user batman-n-bananas set about building a steampunk Portal gun. The results of which are here, and which are damn impressive.

Like all the best models, it's made of the remains of many random, strange things. Like teapots, pianos, hair gel pots, antique clocks, an old hairbrush and some coathangers.

Aperture Steampunk Handheld Portal Device [DeviantArt]