Valve - If we have to sell console hardware we will

[Multi-headed Cow]

Fact is, we have no fucking idea what Valve have been doing behind closed doors all these years.

... and on Source engine no less.

Although to somewhat seriously address the point: Despite their vast revenues Valve is still a relatively small company. The most obvious answer to what they've been doing all of this time is probably the correct one: little to nothing. Outside of their super-expansions for L4D and Portal and an update of DOTA I doubt they've done anything on any new IP short of maybe brainstorming and concept art. I mean, Christ, HL2 Episode 3?

Valve's biggest problem is that the massive amount of money it generates through Steam only serves to stifle their creativity and production time frames. They probably wouldn't have to put out another game for the next twenty years and could still afford to pay all of their 'developers' to just sit around and spin in their office chairs.

On the topic of concept art, there was this mentioned about a year ago.
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/03/22/u...sts-brand-new-project-spoilers-gordon-absent/
Some better/more pictures from other articles if you're inclined to root around.

It's also worth keeping in mind that since Valve is basically independently wealthy and an independent company without being on the stock market, they seemingly just make whatever the fuck they want to. Assuming you trust interviews and articles by Valve employees, their process for starting a new game is sitting around bullshitting until they hit something the majority of the employees are excited about. L4D2 and Portal 2 and DotA2 all came from this, and supposedly the Glorious God Gaben of Mankind has said he's played DotA2 for 800 hours already. It kinda just sounds like nobody it Valve is that interested in HL3/episode 3.

 

[DarthBehemoth]

Valve's best feature is that it doesn't listen to the consoleturd crowd. An example of this is Portal. Nobody was asking for this kind of game, and even Valve doubted it's succes. But it turned out all fine in the end. Valve just knows how to please everyone. With Portal 2, I still remembered Dragon Age 2 and kinda was expecting the puzzles to be dumbed down, include guns or even bullet time nonense. But Portal 2 was just more of the same. Is that bad? Some might say yes, but wasn't more of the same exactly what the portal/valve/steam fanboys were asking for?

I bet this is why Half-Life 3 is taking so long. HL2 + Shiny new graphics just isn't going to impress people these days. They HAVE to incorporate some shit from COD MW3 into their games. They're just wondering what to tweak and what to leave alone when developing HL3

 

[Achilles]

This sounds far-fetched. Also, making an OS is not something a company the size of Valve can do.

Yeah I know. I was just theorizing on how Valve might have to respond in the (unlikely due to anti-tust issues) event that Microsoft "outlaws" them from Windows through mandatory use of the Windows Store.

 

[Oriental European]

Tags: Valve, Steam, Go Gaben.

Recently there's been chatter that Valve — the company behind the massively popular gaming service Steam — has been considering getting into the hardware business. Specifically, there have been rumors that the company has been toying with the idea of creating a proper set-top console which could potentially pose a threat to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell even recently told Penny Arcade: "Well, if we have to sell hardware we will."

We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU.

The devices will be able to run any standard PC titles, and will also allow for rival gaming services (like EA's Origin) to be loaded up.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/2/2840932/exclusive-valve-steam-box-gaming-console

 

[20 Eyes]

Gaben is playing chess while the rest of the industry is playing checkers.

 

[Whisky]

So it's basically a PC? Well, I guess that's nice, I mean, I've got one stronger than the specs so I wouldn't get it, but at least it sounds a shit-ton more powerful than the other consoles.

Would be kind of interesting if it gets made and really sells well.

 

[Metro]

Christ.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

It's probably just a Valve-branded PC (like AlienWare), with pre-installed Steam ('cause retards are too stupid to do that on their own).

 

[Kraszu]

i7? Why? There is no improvement with i7 over i5 for games, and it cost much more, guess they didn't care to change the perception that gaming PC cost 1k$ so expensive lolz.

But I guess that isn't important for the mainstream, most people are perfectly happy to pay 3 times more for the same hardware with a popular logo. Most people who will buy this shit will probably had no idea that they could just plug they PC to the TV, and will think that this is some technical revolution, not that they party like its early 90s.

 

[Metro]

But bigger numbers sound better!

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Are there gonna be Steam Box exclusives too that can't run on a normal PC? I still don't see the point in this, since the PC is already an open platform.

 

[Achilles]

Actually their point is to be the anti-Apple. A Steam console would be a great way to expand the PC audience and lure the general public away from other consoles.

 

[Infinitron]

Steam "console" should be a custom-built PC, designed to match the power of the current console generation plus X.
It would be a kind of technological parasitism. In acknowledging the consoles' general market superiority, it's possible to market a product specifically designed to outdo them in every way, and carve out a strong niche.

In other words, I'm suggesting that the SteamBox could use its own underdog position vis-a-vis the consoles as a marketing bullet point.

 

[Average Manatee]

The point is that normally PC sales have to bring in enough revenue on their own to support the business. Everyone knows that any pre-made PC is at least 2x overpriced compared to what a self-built PC would be (and another 50% when you consider that buying in bulk would cut your costs), thats because of all the overhead and bullshit you get when you bring in a middleman like Dell to sell it to you. OTOH, Valve can price the PC at competitive rates even if they don't make much profit, because steam sales would drive them (much like consoles). I doubt this will interest anyone already owning and building their PC, its to take a bite out of the consoletard crowd.

As for i7 vs i5, AFAIK the chips are fabbed exactly the same and the i5 is simply crippled later before sold. I bet that means that when bought in bulk the actual cost is really close (its already only like ~$60 at retail). Plus I'm sure Intel and Nvidia want this to succeed and bring back the high end PC market, so you can be sure they are both giving Valve the best deals they can.

The rest of the article also has interesting stuff. It sounds like Valve is really pulling out all the stops and putting their mountain of jew-gold to work

 

[TripJack]

will the valve box require an internet connection to boot

 

[Infinitron]

The point is that normally PC sales have to bring in enough revenue on their own to support the business. Everyone knows that any pre-made PC is at least 2x overpriced compared to what a self-built PC would be (and another 50% when you consider that buying in bulk would cut your costs), thats because of all the overhead and bullshit you get when you bring in a middleman like Dell to sell it to you. OTOH, Valve can price the PC at competitive rates even if they don't make much profit, because steam sales would drive them (much like consoles). I doubt this will interest anyone already owning and building their PC, its to take a bite out of the consoletard crowd.

As for i7 vs i5, AFAIK the chips are fabbed exactly the same and the i5 is simply crippled later before sold. I bet that means that when bought in bulk the actual cost is really close (its already only like ~$60 at retail). Plus I'm sure Intel and Nvidia want this to succeed and bring back the high end PC market, so you can be sure they are both giving Valve the best deals they can.

The rest of the article also has interesting stuff. It sounds like Valve is really pulling out all the stops and putting their mountain of jew-gold to work

Bingo! Excellent point.

 

[Cassidy]

Windows Store... now I remember why I decided to boycott Windows 8 besides its shitty iFag interface.

Once "Trusted" Computing fascism takes over I'll be among the last men standing to "turn off the lights" of free Internets and mourn such a terrible loss... and then become a technophobe as I'd never accept purchasing any IT device the government and corporations own and control instead of me.

 

[Infinitron]

Actually their point is to be the anti-Apple. A Steam console would be a great way to expand the PC audience and lure the general public away from other consoles.

Assuming their console will be closer to PCs than to other consoles. If that's the case, why aren't they calling it a Valve Computer or something like that?

So here's this new little cub we're going to sell. It's a cat. Let's name him "Rex The Dog", so both dogs and cats lovers will be interested.

Sounds promising and honest since day 1.

Nobody's calling it anything yet. They say 'hardware'.

 

[Kraszu]

Maybe market has a place from reasonably priced pre build PC with popular brand behind, and one that wouldn't look out of place in a living room, but I must first see the confirmed specs, and price to know what they are aiming at, they might just want to cash on Steam fanatics who will overpay for hardware with Steam logo for what I know.

Still i7 is pretty pointless, and every extra few backs count for the final price.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Well, this better be comparably as powerful as the Xbox 720/PS4.

I don't see this happening though if they wanna run a standard (or custom-made) Windows on it. Valve would have to provide it's own OS, which isn't a trivial thing to begin with.

 

[Kraszu]

Well, this better be comparably as powerful as the Xbox 720/PS4.

I don't see this happening though if they wanna run a standard (or custom-made) Windows on it. Valve would have to provide it's own OS, which isn't a trivial thing to begin with.

All Windows eats is 1-2% of decent CPU, and 1GB RAM completely negligible.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

I still don't think an i7 with 8GB RAM can beat some custom-made 6-8 core IBM PowerPC with 2GB RAM (if that's what we assume the next Xbox will have). Not to mention all the optimizations that go into such a closed system, plus the platform holder support that Valve cannot provide.

Nope, I don't think Valve wants/will compete with the Next-Gen consoles.

 

[Infinitron]

Well, this better be comparably as powerful as the Xbox 720/PS4.

I don't see this happening though if they wanna run a standard (or custom-made) Windows on it. Valve would have to provide it's own OS, which isn't a trivial thing to begin with.

All Windows eats is 1-2% of decent CPU, and 1GB RAM completely negligible.

Yes, people are constantly overestimating the amount of CPU power and memory that operating systems and "all those layers of abstraction" take up.

We're not in 1995 anymore, folks.

 

[Kraszu]

I still don't think an i7 with 8GB RAM can beat some custom-made 6-8 core IBM PowerPC with 2GB RAM (if that's what we assume the next Xbox will have). Not to mention all the optimizations that go into such a closed system,

There is no optimization everything is written for hi level API. The only optimization comes from developers knowing that they write games for exact specs.