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| Keep an eye on Valve, even if you're not into games |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-04-14 20:34:24 |
| When I ask you to name the technology world's most secretive company, you'd most likely respond with 'Apple'. However, there's one other technology company that, while substantially smaller than the Cupertino giant, is quite possibly even more secretive: Valve. |
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| No Comment Title |
| By ano69 on 2012-04-14 20:59:37 |
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A console from Valve seems a smart move, but I don't think that's their way (they lack resources for this). A more appropriate way for them is to certify certain Hardware/OS combos, even licensing a system design to interested ODMs is a viable option, and then selling the service (in its current form). Going that way, for example any Apple hardware can be certified for running Steam apps. In fact, the Steam IS the granddaddy of all App*.* Stores and Markets and Google Plays around. Edited 2012-04-14 21:00 UTC |
 - Score: 1 |
| Comment by orestes |
| By orestes on 2012-04-14 21:58:30 |
| A console would be silly, and a huge money pit. A target platform to compete with DirectX leveraging more open tech... now that could be interesting. Valve's one of the few players in the industry who have the pull to make it happen. |
| - Score: 4 |
| Comment by marcp |
| By marcp on 2012-04-14 22:13:25 |
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Well, I was about to rant about previous post about Cook visiting Valve's HQ and I'm still up to it. Valve may just be an IT company, but they are concentrated on the gaming industry. I don't care for games. Heck, I don't care for augmented reality, stupid little gadgets that cripples you down by giving you even more useless info [like we just not have enough of this crap!]. I'm really tired with this weird shift that IT industry took. It almost become "fashion IT". I don't care about fashion, trends and other crap. I care for functionality, usefulness and good reason. And no - iPad is not usefull. People use it mainly for gaming and trivial tasks like socializing and posting the same old crap they post using regular PC's. And yes - tablet is a PC, just like goddamn console, and even your unhandy smartphone which makes you looking so freaking hilarious and stupid at the same time. D'oh! |
| - Score: 0 |
| RE: No Comment Title |
| By WorknMan on 2012-04-14 22:29:35 |
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> A console from Valve seems a smart move I'm not so sure about that. Since they've got their customers trained to accept the idea of 'buying' games they don't own (which is actually more like renting), I would assume that any console they released would be built around this model. That being the case, why not team up with OnLive and build that streaming service around steam? Broadband is getting to be so ubiquitous that there's almost no need to have anything but a thin client on the customers' end. Of course, purists would say that consoles are useful for having physical media, but again... Steam doesn't work around this model anyway. So as long as you're going to 'buy' games from an online store, might as well just have them stream it. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE: Comment by marcp |
| By WorknMan on 2012-04-14 22:39:53 |
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> And no - iPad is not usefull. People use it mainly for gaming and trivial tasks like socializing and posting the same old crap they post using regular PC's. Well, I agree with everything you said, except for tablets. I have an iPad myself, but don't have a single game loaded on it. Just because YOU don't find it useful doesn't mean anybody else wouldn't. The most useful thing I find is to use it as a MIDI control surface for software/hardware synths, esp since they released a port of Lemur for it. I also take it with me when I go on trips, because I find it more comfortable to use than a phone for long periods of time, and I don't have a specific need for a laptop that a tablet doesn't handle sufficiently. Plus, it's nice for reading/surfing while in bed, or on the crapper :) |
| - Score: 4 |
| This has been talked about before |
| By ronaldst on 2012-04-14 23:50:59 |
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But maybe it's a console without vendor specific gatekeeper. Think of it like like a 3DO where the gaming specs can be built by any company. Or like Microsoft tried to in the early 80ies with the MSX home computer. |
| - Score: 4 |
| Comment by RichterKuato |
| By RichterKuato on 2012-04-15 00:43:54 |
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I'm sure Valve is concerned about Steam being pushed out of the market by a more locked down Windows. But since they're a PC games company they'll have a hard time escaping that inevitability. Steam isn't a platform but a store. If Microsoft suddenly decides to block third party stores from their platform then there's nothing Valve can do about it. Sure it's possible they could come out with a Steam certification suite but all that would be pretty meaningless to hardware companies because Steam is a store not a platform. Maybe Valve can create a platform for Steam games but that's a whole new business they don't have any experience in. And it would be an uphill battle because their competition already has about 95%+ of the market. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE: This has been talked about before |
| By Darkmage on 2012-04-15 03:12:01 |
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3DO concept was ahead of its time, unfortunately. $599 US$? Check Digital optical media capable of playing modern content? check. It was essentially the PS3 of it's day. They even had plans to add tv tuner capability. The biggest problem was the 3DO had very few good games (mainly EAs) it was too expensive (VCDs noone would justify but they could justify Blurays on PS3). I think an "open" gaming platform will eventually happen. The arms race for the living room is already a self defeating race. No one is supporting what the pirates want, and that's why it fails to take off. Make a device, (or better a TV) that does MKVs, h.264 in all forms/resolutions, DTS/AC3/mp3/ogg audio formats, divx/mpeg/subtitles etc and you'll win the market for the living room. Instead we have this crappy war between Xbox 360 which streams well but has no Bluray support. PS3 which has Bluray, but sucks at streaming, and Apple TV which locks you to Apple's crap video store. Apple TV cannot win in this space, unlike iPod which plays the most pirated music around (mp3) in addition to the Apple store format. The Apple TV cannot play most of the pirate videos around (too many formats/codecs used) I find Samsung the most interesting one. I think they are missing a huge opportunity to sweep the market from under Apple/Sony etc, by just implementing all the formats correctly into their ARM based TVs. The media streaming built into your TV is a real game changer. Bypass all your crap set top devices and run your digital collection directly to your TV. Then just keep a Bluray player/game console around for optical media. |
| - Score: 4 |
| no |
| By kristoph on 2012-04-15 03:49:36 |
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Tim Cook would not go to Valve HQ to see if Macs can meet a specification. Tim Cook would go to Valve to make a deal with Valve's CEO that is of strategic importance to Apple. The reason Tim Cook went to Valve is because Apple is building an Apple TV (both of the current variety and an actual TV) where gaming will feature prominently. Apple want's Valve's games on that device but they want their 30%, they want Gamecenter, they want the use the App Store - in other words they don't want Steam. |
| - Score: 5 |
| Gaben IS the next big thing. |
| By tidux on 2012-04-15 04:09:22 |
| ...and that's another three months. |
| - Score: 1 |
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