During a video game panel at Emerald City Comic-Con last weekend, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would be publishing a new concept art book for developer Valve’s hit sequel, Portal 2.

The book, titled The Art of Portal 2, gives fans a look at the game from initial concepts to the final product, with added insight from both artists and writers who have worked on the Portal game series. At 184 pages, fans will get their fill of mostly never-before-seen art, including looks at the Aperture Science facility, characters such as Chell, and the design process of Valve.

Over the weekend, game developers Stab Yourself released Mari0, a FREE downloadable game that takes the original Super Mario Bros. and adds portals.

Umm, WHAT?!!!!!!

Check out the game trailer here below and if you’re anything like me — a Super Mario Bros. junkie — you too will hyperventilating. Seriously, I’m bugging out now. I didn’t even know Mari0 was in the works, but now that I’ve seen the gameplay, I have one thing to say: WANT!!!

Video games? Booze?! Go on, I’m listening…I’m listening.

2011 saw some incredible video games released (mostly in that small chunk of fall when bunches of them were raining down on us), but what can make a great video game even better? Why, an adult beverage concocted in the name of these very same games, of course.

The Guardian’s Games Blog reached out to James Dance, owner of the video game bar called Loading and master of the mixological arts, to create some cocktails for six of 2011’s top video game titles: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, L.A. Noire, Portal 2, and Batman: Arkham City.

Continue on below to check out the recipes for each of these wild creations, as well as images of what they should look like!

TorrentFreak has released a rundown of the most pirated video games and movies of 2011.

Topping the list of games is the PC version of German developer Crytek’s hit sequel Crysis 2 with 3.92 million downloads, which is something of a surprise considering how many huge titles were released last year. It was followed by a much more expected name in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which was downloaded 3.65 million times for the PC. Battlefield 3, FIFA 12, and Portal 2 rounded out the PC list.

I saw this Portal-themed Christmas tree in my Google+ stream posted by my friend (by way of G+) Eddie McBride.

I don’t know who the creator is, but I love it and had to share it with you all. If you’re the person made this, 1) great job! and 2) let us know who you are.