In the PC gaming industry, Valve continues to tread its own path. In addition to running Steam, the de facto PC distribution platform, the company has finally conquered the hardware side with Steam Deck, and continues to support some of the world's most popular games, while adamantly refusing to use the number "3". However, it is not as interesting as it used to be.

There are things that are funny in the context of a game and things that are simply funny; Valve falls into the latter camp, and for me it was in its richest form around the Orange Box era; Portal was hilarious, Team Fortress 2 was all about the laughs, and shortly after that came Portal 2 was the funniest game I've ever experienced, both as a single-player and co-op game, and watching the new video of Valve's Dave Johnson announcer pack, I realized that the studio still had it in them, perhaps because I was nostalgic for those days. I guess because I was nostalgic.

Well, it's 6 minutes long. It's Gabe Newell's behind-the-scenes look at the process of motivating voice actors. Employees wasting away on dog food. Studio kidnapping! And, to top it off, Gaven is on a yacht in a pink shirt, drinking cocktails, playing Steam Deck, and letting his men carry the potato phone.

This is, as expected, full of Portal 2 in-jokes, especially Gabe licking the potato phone before using it. Despite its length, Cave Johnson's one and only presence is not so much on display in this video, but it is clear that J.K. Simmons is back, and it is never too soon to be in the present moment.

Of course, the only bad news is that you have to be one of the Dota 2 players there for Cave Johnson to bark in the background. At least the other players can watch Gaben in all his glory.