Where would the Portal franchise be without portals? The very thought of that seems silly. Portals are the primary game mechanic in this title. Without it, you’ll just be running and jumping while a self-aware robot casually tries to kill you. Believe it or not, Valve considered taking portals out of Portal 2.

Portal 2 is shipping with a robust cooperative multiplayer mode. This mode isn’t just two players trying to see who can complete the testing chambers the quickest. Portal 2′s co-op mode is a totally different campaign than the single-player mode, and lasts just as long.

We let out a collective sigh of disappointment when we learned Portal 2 was being pushed back into 2011. The original Portal left us with fond memories of a homicidal robot and a cake that has been referenced way too many times since 2007. At Gamescom 2010, Game Informer learned from Valve that Portal 2 will be released on February 9, 2011 on PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Mac.

The weird and cryptic world that both Portal and Half-Life seem to inhabit was made just a little bit weirder today with the update that Portal was given.

Officially, the update reads, “Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations,” which of course makes absolute sense. Wait, it doesn’t make sense to you?

Unofficially, the new content adds puzzles involving buttons and in-game radios that, when solved, provide blips of sounds. As more people play, more will be uncovered but right now it all sounds very surreal. What else do you expect from Valve, though?