Full details on PS3 version of “Portal 2″ released – Steamworks support makes it more awesome

In the wee hours of the morning, Valve dropped the full details on the PS3 version of Portal 2, whose release marks the debut of Steam on this generation’s consoles.

Not only will each PS3 copy of the game include a Mac/PC copy for Steam – after linking your PSN and Steam accounts – but it’ll also include cross-platform (Mac/PC vs. PS3) multiplayer and cloud-based storage for your PS3 saved games.

This Steamworks-enabled title will also include cross-platform chat so you can talk to all of your Steam friends while you’re on the console. (Now, if they can make PS3s, PCs and Macs talk – why on EARTH can’t Sony get cross-game chat going? Just saying.)

“We made a promise to gamers at E3 that Portal 2 for the PlayStation 3 would be the best console version of the product,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “Working together with Sony we have identified a set of features we believe are very compelling to gamers. We hope to expand upon the foundation being laid in Portal 2 with more Steam features and functionality in DLC and future content releases.”

“We designed the Portal 2 PS3 experience to be very straightforward for gamers,” said Josh Weier, project lead on Portal 2 at Valve. “PS3 gamers will be able to simply drop the Blu-Ray disc in the PS3, link to their Steam account from inside the game, and all their Steam friends (on PC and Mac) will be visible and accessible for chat and game invites.”

Portal 2 will be out this April on PS3, Mac, PC and Xbox 360. It’s starting to look like the first three are becoming a big, happy family, while the 360…well, it’s being left out in the cold. I wonder how this will affect sales. Heck, at this point, if you even plan to get a PS3 and you’re a PC/Mac gamer, it’d be worth it to purchase the PS3 version of the game – it’s a 3-for-1!

I’ve got a couple of questions about how or if the additional copies of the game will be playable while you’re on the console version, and I’ve contacted Valve to see if I can get any answers. This post will be updated if I get a response. Namely, because of the PSN/Steam account linking, they’ll know if you’re online in either version, so friends may not be able to play together by any method other than the split-screen co-op without buying multiple copies of the game (I mostly wonder about this because I’d love to be able to play co-op with my husband while I’m on PS3 and he’s on PC without getting more than one copy of the game for the household, and I figure we’re not alone).

If Steamworks comes to more console titles, this could very easily change the face of console gaming. How exciting.