Valve Considering Move into the Hardware Market
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Comments
81
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:34 AM
Hell yeah!Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:36 AM
I'd buy it.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:37 AM
As long as i finally get Half Life 3, i don't care how it comes!! :-pTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:38 AM
More money spent...... yay says my wallet.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:39 AM
What's up with the fat guy at the end? Took me like 5 minutes to scroll past him, i missed the entire episode of Big brother too! FuckTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:40 AM
besides left for dead.wich valve really didnt create.ive never played a game they actually made that i liked.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:40 AM
Depending on the approach they may take, I'm all for it. If it contains Steam and that's how you purchase games, that would be pretty sweet. For those that need something physical, they could buy a game card at a store (ex. Team Fortress 2), then enter the code in the system and voila! Instant game, no library clutter.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:40 AM
@5 He will eat you.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:41 AM
I tend to plug my laptop into my TV and use a wireless kb and mouse if I want to play something non-strategy (pretty much Half Life and HL: Blue Shift). Not sure a standalone console would be worth it in this case...Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:43 AM
All he pushes for is more fatty foods.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:47 AM
I'd buy that for a dollar! Valve have never let me down, so I'm sure if they do other types of business they will do just as well.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:47 AM
If there were a Valve 'console', it would be an instant purchase. Valve's work ethic, respect for gamers, attitude towards Indie, and their views on DLC would really shake up the console generation.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:50 AM
Too early to say if the console hardware would be any good ... if they even did. No point in getting excited until something more concrete arises.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:51 AM
Idiots with there fat jokes... Anyway I'm happy for a new console to be on the marketplace !Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:51 AM
Steam console = Sonintendosoft out of the market. Sounds good for me.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:51 AM
Poor fat Gabe is completely out of his mind. Finish HL3 at first.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:56 AM
So, we will see this console in 2019?Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:56 AM
I love Valve.xxxxTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 07:59 AM
Hope its worth the weight.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
i love valve but learned long ago to ignore most of what he says. not that i dont find the idea enticing but my worry is who would be the one to go, because if you look at it by the time the xbox rolled around sega consoles were all but extinct.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
I really hope they do not go into the console business. The consoles that are on the market today are already expensive, another name in consoles will only do damage. Plus the console market does not need to be oversaturated again like it was in the 80s and 90sTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:02 AM
I want this to happen just to see the PC fanboys flip out over their deity entering the realm of hell.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:03 AM
@14 *their Idiot...Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:04 AM
I'll drop my 360 for a Steam console any day. Valve>M$Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:07 AM
Worst idea ever.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:09 AM
Being a PC gamer as well as a console gamer and as much as I love Valve and Steam, I wouldn't want Valve to make a console. They're doing great in the PC business and I don't think I could keep up with anymore consoles if they made one.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:11 AM
Misleading title for the article, don't you think? They are clearly not considering making hardware, he just said they would consider it if they needed to. They don't. All he was trying to communicate was the need for certain aspects of the current hardware paradigm to change. It will, in new and interesting ways throughout the coming generation. Both Sony and Microsoft know they need to find ways to differentiate themselves and it will happen. What will also happen is game websites will continue to sensationally regurgitate throwaway quotes out of context to lure you into clicking on their shit.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:14 AM
Maybe they should finish episode 3 first?Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:17 AM
There's more chance of Whitney Houston releasing a new album than this being made. Shame really, it could be awesome...Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:20 AM
Incremental hardware updates? Sounds like a PC :-/ Also i'm not sure i'd call motion & voice control an outdated approach stolen from the PC.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:24 AM
IF this did happen and valve made a console of some sorts then I would happily sell my Xbox for it, In my opinion Valve is by far a better company when it comes to making games and managing steam, I would never look back on my decision.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:46 AM
"I would push them very hard to stop thinking of themselves as being a platform for everything that already exists and start betting on the inventiveness and the benefits that you would get by embracing a more open approach to the internet and game delivery and game business models and things like that." Sounds like a bunch of businesses-gibberish platitudes. He forgot to say "new paradigms" and "opens the door for new opportunities" and garbage rot like that... Besides, it sounds like BS. The wiimote, 3DS, Kinect, etc "already exists". No, they didn't. There's plenty of innovation there within the current console cycle... This would be a 4th console (xbox, ps3, wiiU, steambox) in addition to handhelds, PC gaming itself and stuff like onLIVE. Do we need yet another console??? I don't. This guy needs to focus on Half-Life 3, not a new console.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:46 AM
Bit risky considering the now famous valve time. You'd have the console in 2013 and still be waiting for a controller in 2020. I swear more L4D DLC was mentioned as CoMing out the same time as the delayed Portal 2 DLC...Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 08:55 AM
A company that has no experience in hardware should throw their ideas into the mix. Because they are not traditional hardware sellers, they will probably not follow the route that more "traditional" hardware sellers use. This could lead to crazy new ideas and innovation simply because they don't know the ropes yet. Could be a good thing.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:01 AM
I would definitly bye it. Having a Vavle console with the Steam at the heart if it all would be really awesome, especially if it would allow you to play any already owned games linked to your PC steam account. But personally i think it's just an idea and that it will probably not hapen that they will actually release a console :( Hope that if it's true the will first focus on Episode 3 and whem thats out focus on making a console. Starting to get sick and tired of waiting for ep.3, the entire idea of the episodes was so that they could release more in a shorter time frame. Hell the time they are taking to make ep.3 to could have made an entire new game.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:02 AM
I like Valve games but have never really considered myself a fan of the company. From what I'm reading all over the web is that the fans want new Valve games. Namely Half-Life 3. It seems a bit like 1 step forward and 2 steps back (I got an angry itch!) concerning this. If it takes them so long to provide fans with the Valve gaming experience they know and love normally then won't this delay things further. Almost feels like shifting attention. Valve Fan: When are we getting Half-Life 3?! Valve: We'll tell you when we're ready. Valve Fan: Okay but were going to lobby for it's release. Valve: Okay. Valve: Hey. Wait. We have some news. Valve Fan: Really!? Saweeet! (faints) Valve: (helps fan up) Yeah. Really. We might HAVE to release game hardware. Exciting isn't it? Valve Fan: (in Vader voice) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! You were supposed to bring balance to the force!Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:10 AM
They'll make it launch with HL3 and sell billions.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:29 AM
Valve makes anything, it's worth a look. Gabe: "We have no reason to believe we're any good at it", which tells me in his usual tongue-in-cheek semi-humble way that whatever it is they're doing is going to rock. if it's not fun they generally don't bother. @ dirge: like the Robocop reference, I was thinking of that exact line actually. @ FangFoom: Cold Stream for L4D2 has been in beta for a long while now on PC through Steam I think. No news when or if a console release is happening. I'd love an excuse to get back to L4D2 :DTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:34 AM
The prices on steam will definitely sky rocketTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:34 AM
Mr Anti Console himself wants to make a console?? We'll see. personally I would mind it if Gabe STFU every now and then.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:41 AM
@19 iseewatudidthar.jpgTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:42 AM
Personally, if you have that kind of attitude you can shove your console up your you know what when it comes out. If you have this kind of attitude toward it before it even comes out think the amount of support it is going to get when it comes out, maybe a little in the beginning to make it look like the give a hoot but later down the line absolutely none. So yeah, just by his attitude I think he should just stick to his pc. Love valve games, but don't like him at all.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:43 AM
isn't that guy at the end there Harry potter in like 5 years time? now Voldemort's dead, all he has left to do is eat chocolate frogs... Accio Half Life 3! bugger...that didn't work :/Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:44 AM
Valve needs to deliver what they've already promised before I'd be even a little tempted to believe this. And even then, it's not a good idea. At all.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:11 AM
There is a large difference that people have overlooked maybe its also the system software that gave is talking about, I mean how many of us customers wanted Xbox to become more media player/store than games machine, and the playstation that every patch removes one more feature that people like I would probably buy one, hardware updates would rock actually, consoles used to get them... Then "the big guys" turned up and started releasing many different versions of the same thing I think valve would make a better job than either Sony / me do on the OS side, all it would require is two memory slots (system & graphics), and changable cpu & you, this prolongs the life of the console, and is a lot cheaper than what Sony n MS did with releasing "slim" versions, along with countless other versions...maybe they'll even make hardware that lasts unlike either of them twoTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:16 AM
Could be a really good move, if Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo focus to much on "innovative" motion and tablet gaming and stray too far from the core controller gamer then valve swoops in after a year of frustration and us jumping around our rooms and drawing on tablets and they come in with a steam console developed towards a more core gamer experience using just a controller allowing online play and great games, and allowing you to get mods for your games like Skyrim. Then I think they will not only compete but survive. They will not dominate because nintendo and microsoft will deffinatly have the younger kids hookedTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:17 AM
Oh, and if they do make a console, and Sony & me stick to using discs, I know where in going....disc drives are too unreliable .... Specially if its in Sony hardware The days of the disc are gone, flash memory cards, cheaper, smaller, faster, use less power and can't get scratched But, they won't switch because they're too scared of piracyTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:22 AM
This is awesomeTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:32 AM
@#45 and @#46 I like the idea and competition usually benefits the consumer (less and less now though) but it takes a lot of resource to start in on the console front. For a while I didn't think Psone would make it. Same with Xbox. Sony and MS though were technically already well established in the hardware realms though. I say bring it on though. Hopefully it's not too pricey. I think it will be more like Rovi or Boxee though. To the future! Also the slims probably cost little to make. Some guy programmed some machines to make a different looking console and now they are just pumping them out. I know quite a few of my friends who upgraded and have read of many, many others who did the same. I bet they made money hand over fist on that.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:52 AM
I want them to do it simply so that Microsoft is forced to lower or eliminate the price of Xbox Live to stay a competitor. Also, Valve would have some kickass exclusives. They'd be able to build Steam into the system which already has a large community and great marketplace deals. There is really very little that's bad about this idea. The worst part is that the project would be on "valve time" which as we know means we might not see it for ten years when we'd all like to see it tomorrow.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 11:47 AM
If Half Life 2: Episode 3 isn't announced at E3 Gabe should be banned from food.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 11:48 AM
I love Valve, one of my favorite developers, but let's not kid ourselves here. They can't even get a game out in a decent amount of time, imagine how long the "steambox" would be trapped in "valve time." I look forward to playing it in 2025 :/Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 12:00 PM
It's Valve. Between them and Remedy you can't say noTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 12:01 PM
Might be worth the weight, who knows...Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 12:02 PM
oh god valve making hardware i don't think valve time can stretch THAT farTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 12:14 PM
@6 You're an idiot.. Steam is home to more games than you can imagine, not just Valve games! That means it would be like gamefly + your xbox = SteamboxTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 12:44 PM
Try giving me Cold Stream for the 360 first Valve!Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 12:53 PM
#52 said what I was gonna say...Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 01:16 PM
This is what the PS3 needs.. or PS4. Sony Hardware.. With Steam as the network.. fuck PSN.. I could possibly see that replacing my XBL.. and ofcourse the PoS xbox.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 01:51 PM
I wouldn't touch a console made by Valve. Hate there games, and Steam is terrible. I've have problems with many of the games I've bought from it, but my PC should easily run them, but Valve refuse to offer help.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 01:56 PM
Id buy one straight away. All hail GabenTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 02:05 PM
As long as Steam continues to exist in it's current PC form, I really wouldn't have any desire for a Valve console. The only games I play on PC are Team Fortress 2 and CS Source anyway.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 02:39 PM
Or you could make l4d3, but if you do... Make it more like 1 than the 2nd one.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 02:51 PM
i want my steamboxTuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 03:11 PM
Cold Stream for Xbox 360 please. And maybe Left 4 Dead 3.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 03:58 PM
If they had sales on all games like they do on Steam, I'd buy it. I think it would put MS and Sony in the position of having to lower prices on everything from games to the hardware. If people have a choice between MS, Sony, and Valve, and Valve prices are always lower, and the console is user friendly for developers and gamers Valve would be my choice easily.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 04:49 PM
@#66 And the others ready to jump on this bandwagon. I'm not sure if MS, Nintendo, and Sony will support this with their first party games. Some of those first party games are gems that I would not give up easily.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 05:05 PM
Absolutely could care less after seeing that fat ass Gabe flip flopping from calling the PS3 a "Trainwreck" to making that POS console the lead Development platform. This is also the reason why I am boycotting all EA and Rockstar games as well. All three of these developers stabbed us Xbox 360 owners in the back by making the PS3 the lead development platform, and I for one don't like it. It will be a cold day in hell before I use Steam, or buy a Valve, EA, or Rockstar game ever again. That fat ass chump Gabe is a Walking Contradiction and I care about as much about him and his Development team, as I do about PC gaming.. Which is NOT AT ALL.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 05:09 PM
valve wants to make a console? maybe they should call it 3D0 2. anyone remember that system? hahahahahahaha.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 05:10 PM
@ 40 You're absolutely right.. I hate him as well.. Fat ass walking contradiction.. Mr. PC gaming want's to make a console? He's out of his mind if he thinks I'm going to buy it.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 05:54 PM
@67 You can own more than one console so you wouldn't have to give up anything. And MS and Sony's first party titles wouldn't make it on to Valve's console if they made one, it would never happen. Right now my 360 is my main console for multi-platform games, but if Valve had a console that was cheaper to own I'd go to that for multi-platform games. I'd still have my MS or Sony consoles for their exclusives but all the other games would be bought on Valves system. I can see Valve not charging as much in royalties as MS and Sony, having more and better sales, and the Valves network would probably be more open for developers like Steam is compared to LIVE and the PSN. Right now MS, Sony, and Nintendo are it in terms of consoles. You want to put a game on one of them and it costs the developers a lot of money to do so. If someone makes a cheaper console and developers supported it MS, Sony and Nintendo would have to change how they do business imo.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 09:03 PM
lol at the cod losers that have no idea who Gabe is.Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:22 PM
I like how nearly anyone in here that made a comment that ISN'T singing Valve's praises got a thumbs down. Don't forget everyone, if you don't agree with me, you're wrong and should be penalized!Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 10:36 PM
time to sell my 360 & kinect plus all my games. i remember an E3 where a company announced this would happen. no more discs. i currently have no space for new games. ebgames trade ins is a joke too. so having an unlimited supply of games on a server is a very good idea. keeping track of it would be hard though. also people without a pc will need access to it for it to work. could be the future of gaming nowWednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 05:45 AM
I play on console because I dont have to upgrade it to play newest games. And when you play solo or multi player on console you know you got the same wxperience as everyone. Valve should make a new engine before making a console , source is outdated .Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 07:59 AM
Yup and then the fucking thing will explode as soon as you plug it in, because just look at L4D2's engine...yeah fucking great. Pieces of fucking shit they are.Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 08:29 AM
@#71 Yeah. I agree. I was just saying that because a lot of people are freaking out and acting like this would be the end-all platform. I don't think it could be. Plus we want the competition. It breeds better games granted it also makes it difficult for fresh ideas and independent thought. Also I live in BFE and my connection could be better so I worry if something like this would suck in my area as far as downloading. I like your way of thinking though. I would by twice as many games each year if the prices dropped by $15-$20. I know that's not happening soon but your point is valid. @#68 Depriving yourself of those experiencing only hurts one person. You. I feel what you mean but Rockstar and Sony used to sleep together. @#74 I like my discs. I love having them stacked on my shelves. If a buddy comes over (which is seldom because of kids) they usually comment on how many I have. It in a way gives me a small sense of pride. Ridiculous as that may sound. Also how would game companies pump out Collector and Limited items then?Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 02:08 PM
i just dont know if it will have the fan base it needs to really jump into the circle with xbox and sony... we will seeWednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 06:04 PM
@42, 57, and 65 (and anyone else wondering about Cold Stream on 360): I direct your attention to the most recent post on the official Left 4 Dead blog, where they say that "in a few weeks we will have another content update as we prepare Cold Stream to go into the Xbox 360 certification process." It's been testing on PC for a while now, because they can do it free there.Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 06:05 PM
Oh, and source: http://www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=7276Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 06:19 PM
No thank you, Gabe.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Anyone fancy the idea of a SteamBox? Because there's an outside chance you might get one. Valve are prepared to move into the console business, says Gabe Newell, for the good of the industry.
"If we have to sell hardware we will," co-founder and MD Newell told Penny Arcade. "We have no reason to believe we're any good at it; it's more we think that we need to continue to have innovation, and if the only way to get these kind of projects started is by us going and developing and selling the hardware directly then that's what we'll do."
Developing a console isn’t Valve’s priority, however. "It's definitely not the first thought that crosses our mind,” said Newell. “We'd rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do that. We think it's important enough that if that's what we end up having to do, then that's what we end up having to do."
Should the Portal, Half-Life and Team Fortress creators move into the console business, they intend on introducing some of their game development nous to the mix. "We're thinking of trying to figure out how to do the equivalent of the [Team Fortress] incremental approach in software design and try to figure out how would you get something similar to that in the hardware space as well."
Newell continued, “We just need to figure out how we can start giving these to customers and iterating on the design quickly enough without having to go off and buy ten million of them and then find out we did something mildly stupid and then having to throw them all away and start over."
Newell also reckons that the current platform holders are doing it wrong, thanks to their outdated approaches. "Internally developed proprietary graphics solutions on the consoles, they're all gone - everything in the console space is coming from the PC now, and I think that we really need to see the same thing in terms of just general attitudes about platforms."
"I would push them very hard to stop thinking of themselves as being a platform for everything that already exists and start betting on the inventiveness and the benefits that you would get by embracing a more open approach to the internet and game delivery and game business models and things like that."
So there you have it. A Valve console, with Steam at its heart and Achievements already built in? Chuck in Half-Life 3 as an exclusive launch title and it might just be impossible to resist. What do you lot reckon?
[Cheers Mix!]