Valve will indeed be making its own console

[seremtan]

if valve are bitching about win8 being a closed platform, they should do something with linux

[DTS]

A software company making an OS: That makes more sense than a software company making a console.

[Scarface]

speaking of which I just downloaded the half-life complete bundle from steam. I forgot how much fun the half-life game are, the game has aged well

[plained]

Valve Confirms Plans to Enter Hardware Business

"Valve is traditionally a software company. Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers," the posting reads. "We're frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we're jumping in. Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There's a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked."

I have no idea how this will end up.

My initial feeling is "good...someone wants to focus on an upgradeable console that allows us to swap out newer hardware so we don't look at dated graphics for 10 years" but there's a voice in the back my mind saying "they'll eventually be like any other business and will end up demanding a closed system." When it happens, they'll give the same excuses others have used and say "it was to protect our product's good name, viability, etc". I also have no doubt that Steam will be the only vendor allowed on the machine.

Meh. I just don't trust business types...too full of shit for their own good. These things always start off with good intentions and always end up being evil in some way and doing the exact thing they're trying to prevent.

Fuck you unfettered greed for turning me into a cynic.

i enjoy a slight optimistic upside feeling caused by my baseless assumption that they're using the "there's always room for one more!" reasoning , and that yes they have a great volume-done and have legitimate something-to-offer !

Seems like a waste of time to me. There have been plenty of new input devices and variations of mouse and keyboard but no one uses them because they suck and/or cost too much. As far as internal hardware goes, it is more about the game developers than the hardware developers.

ceo'in money! its distribution like a utility!

Oooooooo... I might just have to get myself a new console.

yeeaa good idea ey get two even!

More worried if I was Sony and Nintendo...

Nintendo imo wont have to worry for a long long time its just so much its own thing!

sony tho

Meh. I just don't trust business types...too full of shit for their own good. These things always start off with good intentions and always end up being evil in some way and doing the exact thing they're trying to prevent.

or, to put that another way: they start off beholden to the standard modern liberal delusion of 'capitalism with a human face', sell that idea to their customers (and even to themselves), then over time realise that the actual, real capitalist paradigm doesn't allow for 'nice guys', and that the only way to either grow the company or avoid going under is to be 'evil' (that is, 'evil' within the pseudo-moral framework of 'nice capitalism')

sorry but your cynicism is a product of that liberal delusion (of 'capitalism with a human face'), which is itself an ideological construct which exists to camouflage it's true nature. ditch the delusion, and your cynicism will go with it

nice guys cant do it ey it has to be cool guys, cool guys can cool thier way outof or into anything and it comes up awesome!

Oh no problem. Not bitching...just wondering out loud. Your guess is as good as mine as to how this whole thing turns out.

more business is good business!

So... why not just build their own alternative to a mouse/KB setup and stick with the PC, rather than make their own console? They could start releasing a series of games that use their new input device and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg for consumers that way.

not a bad idea!

This...

i thought so too!


i had a nice time spakin around this thread!

[andyman]

this is why i'm waiting to get a pc/console hybrid

[seremtan]

a quantum pc/console hybrid, please

[Transient]

indeed. I don't understand why people are celebrating this. To respond to GKY's comment; no you dont have to look at 10 yo gfx (cos gfx make a game amirite) but now you need 18 patches per game to run because there are near unlimited hardware combinations - the plague of PC gaming. and unless a patch is perfect, fixing everything without breaking anything else nor making any gameplay changes, people will have a fit. a syndrome GKY is well aware of.

guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.

then we get to this whole new input-device issue. many have tried to innovate (usually too hard) and it's either something gimmicky that dies after three forced games or people will desperately cry about the superiour m/kb combo. noone really wants new innovative input devices, people want innovative fun gameplay. the rest comes later.

Just thinking out loud here, as I'm completely out of my element talking about hardware, but couldn't some sort of standards system be put in place so that hardware/software conflicts went away? I'd love to not have to worry about whether or not my spiffy new video card would crash a specific developer's games because they focused on the competition's card rather than mine. Like the ESRB of hardware! On second thought, forget what I said. More problems caused than solved, methinks...

[Captain]

I haven't had any issues with PC games in the last 4 years. You people either need to play better games or stop gaming on Macs.

[Eraser]

I think the main culprit these days aren't the games but wonky driver releases from the hardware vendors.

[MKJ]

well, here we go

http://kotaku.com/5941793/valve-is-brin ... t-consoles

[SoM]

http://techreport.com/news/23541/nyt-va ... ty-glasses

[Transient]

well, here we go

http://kotaku.com/5941793/valve-is-brin ... t-consoles

I like their keyboard.