Heya. Been awhile since my last post. Anyway, before I get into this topic of Playstation 4 Rumors, there's something I got to address. Why I am not talking about World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Beta all lies down to this
I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ONTO THE BETA
Yet.
But don't worry. Soon as I get my hands on a Beta Key, I'm gonna hop right on there and give it a go.
Now, rumor has it the next Playstation is due out next year in 2013. Furthermore, it has been given the nickname Orbis. Now, rumor has it that, due to a new chipset, there will not be any PS3 backwards compatibility. Which means, if you have a steady flow of Playstation 3 games, tough noogies. But wait. It gets better, even if you're not gonna buy the next X-Box system.
Just like the next Xbox/Durango, we've heard from multiple sources that the Orbis will likewise have some kind of anti-used games measures built into the console. Here's how our main source says it's currently shaping up: new games for the system will be available one of two ways, either on a Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download (yes, even full retail titles). If you buy the disc, it must be locked to a single PSN account, after which you can play the game, save the whole thing to your HDD, or peg it as "downloaded" in your account history and be free to download it at a later date.
Don't think you can simply buy the disc and stay offline, though; like many PC games these days, you'll need to have a PSN account and be online to even get the thing started. UPDATE - Since some people seem to have taken this to mean the console requires an "always on" intenet connection, we've heard nothing about that. All we've heard is that you need to authenticate a new game online via the PSN.
If you then decide to trade that disc in, the pre-owned customer picking it up will be limited in what they can do. While our sources were unclear on how exactly the pre-owned customer side of things would work, it's believed used games will be limited to a trial mode or some other form of content restriction, with consumers having to pay a fee to unlock/register the full game.
It means one thing.
The Orbis is a full-fledged PC. Break out the Party Hats
So not only will your game be tied to one account, but the disc itself will not work on any other Playstation Orbis. Now if it only had a proprietary OS that makes Windows and Mac look Open Source, then it would be perfect. But this alone is causing doom and gloom to the used game market.
As a conservative, I believe the used game market is too liberal and is taking profits away from big companies, even if it says otherwise. It's just how the free market flows...cash to the pockets while the masses are out of luck. In fact, Sony went the extra mile and took down 2 PSP titles.
Over the past few weeks, hackers from Wololo.net claimed to have exploited code found in two downloadable PSP games, allowing for the playing of homebrew games on the system.
Those two PSP games were Everybody's Tennis and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, the latter of which was shown off with a hacker playing the PC version of Doom on Sony's new handheld. The Wololo hackers claim the exploits would only be able to run homebrew games and not pirated PSP or Vita titles, but it appears the platform holder isn't taking any chances.
Sony has now pulled both games from the PlayStation Store, and pulled them good: even if you've legitimately purchased the games previously, they're now no longer available for download.
It may all be for naught though, as the hackers claim that tools for making the most of the exploit are already done, and in the hands of thousands of users.
Two PSP titles down due to an exploit. Now Sony could have updated those 2 games to remove the exploit. But they're not taking any chances and took those games down. They won't let the liberal homebrewers take over the Playstation Portable.
So Sony, to angering the fanbase almost as much as Electronic Arts is doing, I salute you. Because if you had failed, you would have steered me away from Wii U to Playstation Orbis.
Works Cited
Kotaku Link 1
Kotaku Link 2
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
NPD February 2012: United we stand
Folks, I'm gonna do you all a favor and get the NPD out of the way early. But before we do that, I got 2 things to get off my chest.
First off, to all you 3DS owners. SEGA has started releasing their Game Gear titles onto the 3DS's eShop. That means more than just gobs of Game Boy games and only 2 Game Boy Color games. But it seems SEGA did more than just release 3 games on there(Sonic Triple Trouble, Shinobi and Dragon Crystal)
With the arrival of a new system on the 3DS Virtual Console -- the Sega Game Gear -- comes a new hardware emulator. And the one Sega and developer M2 put together is really, really nice! Nicer than I'm used to for Virtual Console games, honestly, and including a full suite of tweaks and features.
Do you want to play your game inside a tiny 3D Game Gear? You can do that. Would you like said Game Gear to be a rare limited-edition color variant? You can totally do that too. Excited by the application of more than minimal effort toward the presentation of retro games, I recorded this quick video.
From changing the screensize, to the changing of the Game Gear colors, to blurs and switching from Special to Original Framerate, it's all at the tip of your fingers. Now that's one thing the Game Gear has over the Game Boy on Nintendo's turf.
From the 3DS to the PC, it seems Diablo has finally gotten a release date. Set your calendars, May 15th is when Diablo 3 becomes available.
Diablo III finally has a release date: May 15, 2012. World of Warcraft players looking to grab a copy of Diablo III for free can still sign up for the WoW Annual Pass and get all of the rewards until 12:01am on May 1, 2012. After May 1, the Annual Pass promotion will be ending, so sign up soon if you're interested.
If you managed to sign up for the WoW Annual Pass before May 1st, you get this game for free. There's a catch. You must have the pass for an entire year or you may lose the game altogether.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. It's time for the Top 10 games of February 2012.
01. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)** Activision Blizzzard
02. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3, 360)** Square Enix Inc.
03. UFC Undisputed 3 (360, PS3) THQ
04. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts - 330K
05. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3) Ubisoft
06. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PC, PS2) Take 2 Interactive
07. Soul Calibur V (360, PS3)** Namco Bandai Games
08. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)** Bethesda Softworks
09. Twisted Metal 2012 (PS3) Sony - 221K
10. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts
This time. We're gonna go from the bottom to the top. At number 10, EA's Battlefield still continues to cause gamers to rage. At number 9, the return of Twisted Metal. At number 8, gamers continue to Fus Ro Dah(Or battle the Macho Dragon) in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim(Though rumors of a Elder Scrolls MMO is floating around). Soul Calibur V sneaks in number 7 with NBA 2K12 at 6. Just Dance is dancing in number 5 with the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning at number 4. UFC is still rocking out at Number 3, while Final Fantasy XIII-2 is at number 2. But what's preventing Final Fantasy from being number 1 is Call of Duty, who continues to blast its way through the Top 10 again.
But what about the Hardware? How did the PS Vita do? Is it the savior of gaming?
Xbox 360 - 426K (-20.4%)
PlayStation 3 - 360K (-11%) (PR Math)
Nintendo 3DS - 262K
Nintendo Wii - 228K (-50%)
PlayStation Vita - 225K (PR Math)
Nintendo DS - 135K
Nope. Maybe not. The Vita only managed to outsell the original DS, which isn't close enough to dying yet. The Wii manages to edge that out with the 3DS infront. The PS3 is still above it while the 360 is still number 1. That being said, it seems hardware sales took a beating.
Will March help turn around gaming hardware, or did Apple's iPad 3 decided to play Mr Troll? Stay tuned. And keep your eyes out next week as I discuss World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.
Works Cited
Joystiq
WoW Insider(Joystiq)
First off, to all you 3DS owners. SEGA has started releasing their Game Gear titles onto the 3DS's eShop. That means more than just gobs of Game Boy games and only 2 Game Boy Color games. But it seems SEGA did more than just release 3 games on there(Sonic Triple Trouble, Shinobi and Dragon Crystal)
With the arrival of a new system on the 3DS Virtual Console -- the Sega Game Gear -- comes a new hardware emulator. And the one Sega and developer M2 put together is really, really nice! Nicer than I'm used to for Virtual Console games, honestly, and including a full suite of tweaks and features.
Do you want to play your game inside a tiny 3D Game Gear? You can do that. Would you like said Game Gear to be a rare limited-edition color variant? You can totally do that too. Excited by the application of more than minimal effort toward the presentation of retro games, I recorded this quick video.
From changing the screensize, to the changing of the Game Gear colors, to blurs and switching from Special to Original Framerate, it's all at the tip of your fingers. Now that's one thing the Game Gear has over the Game Boy on Nintendo's turf.
From the 3DS to the PC, it seems Diablo has finally gotten a release date. Set your calendars, May 15th is when Diablo 3 becomes available.
Diablo III finally has a release date: May 15, 2012. World of Warcraft players looking to grab a copy of Diablo III for free can still sign up for the WoW Annual Pass and get all of the rewards until 12:01am on May 1, 2012. After May 1, the Annual Pass promotion will be ending, so sign up soon if you're interested.
If you managed to sign up for the WoW Annual Pass before May 1st, you get this game for free. There's a catch. You must have the pass for an entire year or you may lose the game altogether.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. It's time for the Top 10 games of February 2012.
01. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)** Activision Blizzzard
02. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3, 360)** Square Enix Inc.
03. UFC Undisputed 3 (360, PS3) THQ
04. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts - 330K
05. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3) Ubisoft
06. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PC, PS2) Take 2 Interactive
07. Soul Calibur V (360, PS3)** Namco Bandai Games
08. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)** Bethesda Softworks
09. Twisted Metal 2012 (PS3) Sony - 221K
10. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts
This time. We're gonna go from the bottom to the top. At number 10, EA's Battlefield still continues to cause gamers to rage. At number 9, the return of Twisted Metal. At number 8, gamers continue to Fus Ro Dah(Or battle the Macho Dragon) in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim(Though rumors of a Elder Scrolls MMO is floating around). Soul Calibur V sneaks in number 7 with NBA 2K12 at 6. Just Dance is dancing in number 5 with the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning at number 4. UFC is still rocking out at Number 3, while Final Fantasy XIII-2 is at number 2. But what's preventing Final Fantasy from being number 1 is Call of Duty, who continues to blast its way through the Top 10 again.
But what about the Hardware? How did the PS Vita do? Is it the savior of gaming?
Xbox 360 - 426K (-20.4%)
PlayStation 3 - 360K (-11%) (PR Math)
Nintendo 3DS - 262K
Nintendo Wii - 228K (-50%)
PlayStation Vita - 225K (PR Math)
Nintendo DS - 135K
Nope. Maybe not. The Vita only managed to outsell the original DS, which isn't close enough to dying yet. The Wii manages to edge that out with the 3DS infront. The PS3 is still above it while the 360 is still number 1. That being said, it seems hardware sales took a beating.
Will March help turn around gaming hardware, or did Apple's iPad 3 decided to play Mr Troll? Stay tuned. And keep your eyes out next week as I discuss World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.
Works Cited
Joystiq
WoW Insider(Joystiq)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Crying over a Massive Effected Ending
Folks, I am teed off right now as much as everyone else. As much as I have yet to play Mass Effect 3, I am angry because there is word that the ending to Mass Effect 3 isn't all sunshine and lollipops.
Many gamers have expressed disappointment with the ending of Mass Effect 3. Some are even demanding that BioWare change it. However, executive producer Casey Hudson said in a new interview that he's simply happy the ending has made an impact.
"I didn’t want the game to be forgettable, and even right down to the sort of polarizing reaction that the ends have had with people–debating what the endings mean and what’s going to happen next, and what situation are the characters left in," Hudson told Digital Trends. "That to me is part of what’s exciting about this story. There has always been a little bit of mystery there and a little bit of interpretation, and it’s a story that people can talk about after the fact."
Hudson adds that they do pay attention to fan's opinions. They'll take this feedback into account when they design additional DLC for the game.
It's like they took an idea from the original Deus Ex and slapped it on there for an ending.
But something has come up. It seems Destructoid's Jim Sterling has decided to go overboard and slap down the true fans. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare to scream.
I knew that quite a few BioWare fans fancied themselves better writers than the studio's own storytellers, but I didn't realize they'd go to the trouble of crafting their own ending to the Mass Effect trilogy. That's what they've done though, and there is strong demand for it to become more than fanfiction.
Mass Effect 3 currently offers three options to influence the ultimate outcome of Commander Shepard's story, but a significant portion of gamers find every choice too depressing for their tastes. They want the chance for a more positive, hopeful ending. They also want to feel like their choices throughout the game are more influential on its conclusion. There's a popular sentiment that Shepard's actions just don't matter.
A poll on the BioWare Social Network outlines a new way to close out Mass Effect 3, with 77% of the votes in favor of it. Another poll for a more positive end has 97% of 11430 voters in favor. A Twitter and Facebook campaign have also been set up to demand a "better" ending, either in a patch or offered as DLC.
This whole thing reminds me of Misery, where Kathy Bates' character grew so furious that the protagonist of her favorite books was killed off, she held the author hostage until it was rewritten. Obviously, a Facebook page is a little less scary than smashing a writer's ankles with a mallet, but the passion is still comparable.
I suppose it's a testament to how engaging Mass Effect has been, that it's prompted such a heartfelt reaction from fans. Still, to demand a game be rewritten via a patch to suit your own opinion of what makes a better ending could definitely be seen as a little arrogant.
No. Bad Jim Sterling. We have every right to whine and scream about like the Tea Party is to Obama. And now you make me wanna jump up and down whining and screaming till I get my way and no amount of spanking will convince me otherwise. So nyah. I'm betting even Kotaku is 100% agreeing with me, right? RIGHT?
My opinion of Internet petitions remains unchanged: They are worth the paper they are printed on. (Hint: They are not printed on paper.) They're a manifestation of the distorted expectation—cultivated in grade school—that First Amendment rights extend to your relationship with a private business.
That said, there's a particularly amusing poll out there, gathering 20,000 votes, demanding BioWare change the ending to Mass Effect 3. We've had our tips jar blown up with links to this movement. I have no idea where to begin with this.
Let's try to think of how BioWare, if it complied with this demand, would deliver such an alternate ending: Through DLC. That everyone would expect to be free—with all of the writing, voice acting and motion capture that a proper conclusion deserves. But at least we could be sure that it was developed after release! Oooh, but what if it uses characters that are already on the disc?
I think this is the sentiment that Christina Norman meant to impugn with her comments at GDC. Gamers are customers, yes. Customers' opinion of a product absolutely matters, and the maker of it absolutely should pay attention.
But the development of a creative work cannot be democratized and its revision to appease a vocal minority would surrender the creative freedom people claim to value in food fights over modding, takedown notices, trademark disputes, whatever. This is an expression of the writers and designers at BioWare, and if you dislike it, OK—there is certainly a lot of legitimate criticism of the outcome. But it is their statement, not yours.
What right does someone have to demand changes to the end of a story they did not write—and as this would, assuredly, be released as downloadable content—expect all of that labor for free? Because they'll refuse to endorse a product they've already bought?
What we're seeing is the Battlefield-ization of Mass Effect. A community that spews nonstop hatred of a game it bought at full price and plays religiously.
It's amazing to me how unhappy people choose to be in a leisure pursuit.
Aw come on Owen Good. You're suppose to agree with me on the Mass Effect 3 Ending sucks movement, not state your own personal opinion. And just for your consideration, Sonic made hating a franchise good, not Battlefield and not Call of Duty and definitely not Final Fantasy. Who wants to even go criticizing a franchise or touching it with a 100 foot pole when it has a Mama's Boy for a villain?
No doubt if we scream louder than Ann Coulter at a Liberal bar, we should be able to get a better ending courtesy of DLC that we have to pay an Arm and a Leg for. I mean, it's not like you're gonna criticize us for using a charity group to get our message out.
There is a group of people on the internet asking for changes be made to the way Mass Effect 3 ended. They are serious. They are so serious, in fact, that they've attached themselves to the Child's Play charity in the hope this makes them appear less "angry or entitled".
It doesn't work, of course, but bless them for trying.
The group, called "Retake Mass Effect", has a mission statement, which while acknowledging "it is the right of the writers and developers of the Mass Effect series to end that series however they see fit", very quickly goes on to "respectfully request additional endings be added", including "a heroic ending which provides a better sense of accomplishment".
There's a very big line to cross between being disappointed in the creative work of others and actively asking for it to be changed (or added to) to suit your own wishes. It never ceases to amaze me how often people don't see it.
Complain all you want about how a game ends, be as disappointed as your heart can humanly take, but don't ever start asking for story-telling by focus group. If you think game plots are bad now, wait until you see that dark future.
Oh yeah. Real funny. Real, real, funny. We have every right to use a charity to send our message across.
Works Cited:
Cinemablend
Destructoid
Kotaku Link 1
Kotaku Link 2
Many gamers have expressed disappointment with the ending of Mass Effect 3. Some are even demanding that BioWare change it. However, executive producer Casey Hudson said in a new interview that he's simply happy the ending has made an impact.
"I didn’t want the game to be forgettable, and even right down to the sort of polarizing reaction that the ends have had with people–debating what the endings mean and what’s going to happen next, and what situation are the characters left in," Hudson told Digital Trends. "That to me is part of what’s exciting about this story. There has always been a little bit of mystery there and a little bit of interpretation, and it’s a story that people can talk about after the fact."
Hudson adds that they do pay attention to fan's opinions. They'll take this feedback into account when they design additional DLC for the game.
It's like they took an idea from the original Deus Ex and slapped it on there for an ending.
But something has come up. It seems Destructoid's Jim Sterling has decided to go overboard and slap down the true fans. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare to scream.
I knew that quite a few BioWare fans fancied themselves better writers than the studio's own storytellers, but I didn't realize they'd go to the trouble of crafting their own ending to the Mass Effect trilogy. That's what they've done though, and there is strong demand for it to become more than fanfiction.
Mass Effect 3 currently offers three options to influence the ultimate outcome of Commander Shepard's story, but a significant portion of gamers find every choice too depressing for their tastes. They want the chance for a more positive, hopeful ending. They also want to feel like their choices throughout the game are more influential on its conclusion. There's a popular sentiment that Shepard's actions just don't matter.
A poll on the BioWare Social Network outlines a new way to close out Mass Effect 3, with 77% of the votes in favor of it. Another poll for a more positive end has 97% of 11430 voters in favor. A Twitter and Facebook campaign have also been set up to demand a "better" ending, either in a patch or offered as DLC.
This whole thing reminds me of Misery, where Kathy Bates' character grew so furious that the protagonist of her favorite books was killed off, she held the author hostage until it was rewritten. Obviously, a Facebook page is a little less scary than smashing a writer's ankles with a mallet, but the passion is still comparable.
I suppose it's a testament to how engaging Mass Effect has been, that it's prompted such a heartfelt reaction from fans. Still, to demand a game be rewritten via a patch to suit your own opinion of what makes a better ending could definitely be seen as a little arrogant.
No. Bad Jim Sterling. We have every right to whine and scream about like the Tea Party is to Obama. And now you make me wanna jump up and down whining and screaming till I get my way and no amount of spanking will convince me otherwise. So nyah. I'm betting even Kotaku is 100% agreeing with me, right? RIGHT?
My opinion of Internet petitions remains unchanged: They are worth the paper they are printed on. (Hint: They are not printed on paper.) They're a manifestation of the distorted expectation—cultivated in grade school—that First Amendment rights extend to your relationship with a private business.
That said, there's a particularly amusing poll out there, gathering 20,000 votes, demanding BioWare change the ending to Mass Effect 3. We've had our tips jar blown up with links to this movement. I have no idea where to begin with this.
Let's try to think of how BioWare, if it complied with this demand, would deliver such an alternate ending: Through DLC. That everyone would expect to be free—with all of the writing, voice acting and motion capture that a proper conclusion deserves. But at least we could be sure that it was developed after release! Oooh, but what if it uses characters that are already on the disc?
I think this is the sentiment that Christina Norman meant to impugn with her comments at GDC. Gamers are customers, yes. Customers' opinion of a product absolutely matters, and the maker of it absolutely should pay attention.
But the development of a creative work cannot be democratized and its revision to appease a vocal minority would surrender the creative freedom people claim to value in food fights over modding, takedown notices, trademark disputes, whatever. This is an expression of the writers and designers at BioWare, and if you dislike it, OK—there is certainly a lot of legitimate criticism of the outcome. But it is their statement, not yours.
What right does someone have to demand changes to the end of a story they did not write—and as this would, assuredly, be released as downloadable content—expect all of that labor for free? Because they'll refuse to endorse a product they've already bought?
What we're seeing is the Battlefield-ization of Mass Effect. A community that spews nonstop hatred of a game it bought at full price and plays religiously.
It's amazing to me how unhappy people choose to be in a leisure pursuit.
Aw come on Owen Good. You're suppose to agree with me on the Mass Effect 3 Ending sucks movement, not state your own personal opinion. And just for your consideration, Sonic made hating a franchise good, not Battlefield and not Call of Duty and definitely not Final Fantasy. Who wants to even go criticizing a franchise or touching it with a 100 foot pole when it has a Mama's Boy for a villain?
No doubt if we scream louder than Ann Coulter at a Liberal bar, we should be able to get a better ending courtesy of DLC that we have to pay an Arm and a Leg for. I mean, it's not like you're gonna criticize us for using a charity group to get our message out.
There is a group of people on the internet asking for changes be made to the way Mass Effect 3 ended. They are serious. They are so serious, in fact, that they've attached themselves to the Child's Play charity in the hope this makes them appear less "angry or entitled".
It doesn't work, of course, but bless them for trying.
The group, called "Retake Mass Effect", has a mission statement, which while acknowledging "it is the right of the writers and developers of the Mass Effect series to end that series however they see fit", very quickly goes on to "respectfully request additional endings be added", including "a heroic ending which provides a better sense of accomplishment".
There's a very big line to cross between being disappointed in the creative work of others and actively asking for it to be changed (or added to) to suit your own wishes. It never ceases to amaze me how often people don't see it.
Complain all you want about how a game ends, be as disappointed as your heart can humanly take, but don't ever start asking for story-telling by focus group. If you think game plots are bad now, wait until you see that dark future.
Oh yeah. Real funny. Real, real, funny. We have every right to use a charity to send our message across.
Works Cited:
Cinemablend
Destructoid
Kotaku Link 1
Kotaku Link 2
Friday, March 9, 2012
Steam through Smoke
For those of you who don't know what Steam is, Steam is an online PC service that allows players to purchase and download games to their hard drive, allowing them to play the game at the comfort of their own home. If you're like me, you also have a Steam account and a boatload of games.
However, there was rumors that Valve planned on creating a Steam Box Console
Valve may be developing a PC hardware spec to potentially package with Steam software in a "Steam Box" bundle, according to The Verge. Citing anonymous sources, the report aligns with comments Valve co-founder Gabe Newell made in an interview with former Ars staffer Ben Kuchera over at the Penny Arcade Report. The report is also supported by some recent Valve actions, including this patent for controller hardware last year.
If "Steam Box" rumors pan out, the software would be at the center of an open gaming universe that The Verge believes would be analogous to how Google handles Android. Actual devices may be made by a variety of partners (Alienware X51 is rumored to be working on an early version) and the underlying Steam Box software would be readily available to any company willing to partner.
That's right. Something that could give Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and even Apple a run for their money. The one system to be the end-all be-all system. No more need for new consoles or new PCs. You have everything in one box.
There were even word that the Steam Box was gonna be as powerful as today's PCs
Less than 24 hours since the website The Verge reported that Valve is working on a video game console, we've got what could be a photo of a prototype unit.
The image comes from the Twitter feed of Valve employee Greg Coomer. It was Tweeted on November 2, with the caption: "Built this tiny PC. i7 quad core, 8GB ram, Zotac Z-68 mobo w/ onnboard Nvidia mobile gfx. Runs Portal 2 FAST. "
Yesterday, The Verge reported that Valve was making a console—or at least a hardware standard—for Valve-supported gaming and that: "We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU."
The specs line up.
But take this with a grain of salt.
Wow. That will make the iPad3 blush in terms of price. That would rip apart the gaming industry and leave it with one system to rule all. Problem is, how do you upgrade the hardware on this beast?
But sadly, it seems Valve is not gonna go ahead with these plans.
Delay those dreams of a Steam Box competing with a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii. Valve Software is not making a gaming console in the near future and that the various rumors swirling around don't add up to them making their own set-top box.
"We're prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we're building boxes to test that on," Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said, referring to a new Steam interface that will make the online gaming service easily useable for people who want to play Steam games on a PC that's connected to their TV. "We're also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we've talked about a fair amount.
"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware."
Lombardi refused to flat-out say that Valve isn't working on a console. When I posted it to him this way—"What you're saying is, there's definitely nothing coming any time soon, nothing at GDC or E3, but what you're not ruling out is the possibility that, hey, maybe some day Valve would make hardware," he said, "I think that's accurate."
Valve. What are you doing? You were suppose to kill 3 birds with one stone and now you're backing down? This has been the biggest disappointment since the number of times you delayed Half-Life 2. If I were Rush Limbaugh, I would have pointed out how disappointed I am, except I would have gotten under fire like what happened a few weeks ago.
Works Cited
Ars Technica
Kotaku Link 1
Kotaku link 2
However, there was rumors that Valve planned on creating a Steam Box Console
Valve may be developing a PC hardware spec to potentially package with Steam software in a "Steam Box" bundle, according to The Verge. Citing anonymous sources, the report aligns with comments Valve co-founder Gabe Newell made in an interview with former Ars staffer Ben Kuchera over at the Penny Arcade Report. The report is also supported by some recent Valve actions, including this patent for controller hardware last year.
If "Steam Box" rumors pan out, the software would be at the center of an open gaming universe that The Verge believes would be analogous to how Google handles Android. Actual devices may be made by a variety of partners (Alienware X51 is rumored to be working on an early version) and the underlying Steam Box software would be readily available to any company willing to partner.
That's right. Something that could give Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and even Apple a run for their money. The one system to be the end-all be-all system. No more need for new consoles or new PCs. You have everything in one box.
There were even word that the Steam Box was gonna be as powerful as today's PCs
Less than 24 hours since the website The Verge reported that Valve is working on a video game console, we've got what could be a photo of a prototype unit.
The image comes from the Twitter feed of Valve employee Greg Coomer. It was Tweeted on November 2, with the caption: "Built this tiny PC. i7 quad core, 8GB ram, Zotac Z-68 mobo w/ onnboard Nvidia mobile gfx. Runs Portal 2 FAST. "
Yesterday, The Verge reported that Valve was making a console—or at least a hardware standard—for Valve-supported gaming and that: "We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU."
The specs line up.
But take this with a grain of salt.
Wow. That will make the iPad3 blush in terms of price. That would rip apart the gaming industry and leave it with one system to rule all. Problem is, how do you upgrade the hardware on this beast?
But sadly, it seems Valve is not gonna go ahead with these plans.
Delay those dreams of a Steam Box competing with a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii. Valve Software is not making a gaming console in the near future and that the various rumors swirling around don't add up to them making their own set-top box.
"We're prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we're building boxes to test that on," Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said, referring to a new Steam interface that will make the online gaming service easily useable for people who want to play Steam games on a PC that's connected to their TV. "We're also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we've talked about a fair amount.
"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware."
Lombardi refused to flat-out say that Valve isn't working on a console. When I posted it to him this way—"What you're saying is, there's definitely nothing coming any time soon, nothing at GDC or E3, but what you're not ruling out is the possibility that, hey, maybe some day Valve would make hardware," he said, "I think that's accurate."
Valve. What are you doing? You were suppose to kill 3 birds with one stone and now you're backing down? This has been the biggest disappointment since the number of times you delayed Half-Life 2. If I were Rush Limbaugh, I would have pointed out how disappointed I am, except I would have gotten under fire like what happened a few weeks ago.
Works Cited
Ars Technica
Kotaku Link 1
Kotaku link 2
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