Portal is free until Sept. 20

Good day, test subjects. Valve is currently offering its first physics-fracturing puzzler, Portal, for free until September 20. Valve was apparently inspired by the way educators are using Portal to teach mathematics, and is giving the game away to engage more students in the sciences ... and cake.

Deus Ex PC patch now live on Steam

If, while playing the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, your heads-up display inexplicably disappeared, don't worry! Your techno-magical eyeballs haven't fallen out of your cyberhead -- that was a bug in the programming (the game's, not Adam's) which was fixed by a patch that recently launched on Steam.

Other fixes in the update include a remedy for a plethora of crashes, frame-stuttering issues and an option to skip the logo screens whenever you start up the game. We wish every video game valued our time in this manner. Check out all the updates after the jump.

Don't worry (or do), PS Vita will have external battery peripheral

If the short-lived battery built into the PS Vita is a hang-up for you, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida shared some news with IGN which will either reassure you, or redouble your rage. "If you have not noticed we just announced the peripherals for PS Vita, as well," Yoshida said, "and one of the peripherals is the external batteries. So if you're flying from New York to San Francisco, or vice versa, you have no concerns if you have an additional external battery."

Xbox Live for Windows 8 shown at Build 2011, is basically Xbox Live for Windows 8

As was revealed by the Major earlier this week, Windows 8 touts heavy Xbox Live integration among its Metro layer's key features, but beyond the fact that it exists, little else was mentioned about the PC implementation of the console ecosystem. Thankfully, Microsoft's Build 2011 developer's conference has shed some light on the app, and it's pretty darn Xbox Live-y from what we can tell. The app utilizes the Metro UI found on Windows Phone devices and features pretty much what you'd expect: friends lists, leaderboards, fauxhawk-sportin' avatars, etc. Music and Video tabs were spotted but not demoed, and while real-time cross-platform multiplayer is still anyone's guess, Microsoft did laud the architecture's asynchronous multiplayer "between two Windows PCs, between Windows and a phone or between Windows and the Xbox 360." Pretty slick stuff for those out there who've had to suffer the slings and arrows of Games for Windows Live.

Hayashi: Ninja Gaiden 3's dismemberment-free gameplay adds meaning to the violence

Ninja Gaiden 3 won't feature the frequent decapitations and other freeform dismemberment of its predecessors. You may think of this as softening the impact of the violence in Team Ninja's famously brutal series, but it's intended to be quite the opposite. In fact, if anything, Team Ninja lead Yosuke Hayashi made it sound even more sadistic.

Astaroth and Viola join the cast of SoulCalibur 5

Dear Namco Bandai, Thank you for bringing Astaroth, our series favorite and tournament go-to character, back to the Stage of History in SoulCalibur 5. His glowing, infection-prone chest would have been sorely missed, as would his massive axe and memorable catchphrases like "Stay down!" or "Aruarghg!" Additionally, having your bevy of psychically astute brain institute graduates reach into the deepest, darkest corners of our subconscious was a brilliant move; Viola is the perfect combination of Freddy Krueger and Athena Asamiya, and is exactly what we've always wanted. Rest assured, our impassioned mailing campaign will now end. With souls still burning, The Joystiq Staff

Silent Hill: Downpour trailer channels Children of the Korn

Silent Hill: Downpour was always going to be scary; this we knew. What we didn't know was that it would be 90s quasi death metal turned Christian rock band scary. The latest trailer straight out of Tokyo Game Show gives us a look at the atmosphere in Downpour, accompanied by the tonal tunage of Korn. Downpour is the first Silent Hill game to not include music by Akira Yamaoka, and is instead composed by Jonathan Davis Daniel Licht, the man behind the music of Dexter.

Gears of War 3 weapon and character videos leak all over YouTube, cure what ails

Sure, Gears of War 3 may come out in a couple of days, but that knowledge alone isn't enough to quench the internet's insatiable thirst for juicy details. Information deprivation, when combined with insanely high levels of anticipation, can mutate into a virtually transmitted disease known colloquially as "Release Date Syndrome." The cure for Gears of War 3's specific strain of RDS is available over the counter and can be found both above and after the break. The treatment is only effective when ingested ocularly, and cannot be swallowed, administered intravenously, or given as a suppository. Please keep in mind that this treatment program has not been approved by the FDA, and as such may be taken down at any time. May cause increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, incoherent babbling and Release Date Syndrome.